Spelling and formattiong corrections made 2020, June 11.

Lumberman leaned heavily against the car with a shotgun in his hands, a tactical-looking Mossberg 590 Shockwave.

"Chris, tell me again that you're sure that you know that you saw what you saw."

Chris held tightly to his rifle, a wooden Remington Model 700 with a scope.

"You fucking saw them both yourself. So unless this scope is super fucking broken, or we're both having the same hallucination at the same time, I'm pretty sure we both saw a white unicorn and two pegasi."

Becky raised her bottle.

"Fuck yeah! My Little Ponies!"

Kelly sat sipping out of another bottle.

"Okay. Y'all need to stop pretending like that's what's actually out there. It has to be something else."

Chris stood idly by, watching the four make their way down the hill.

"I know what I saw, and I know what I'm still seeing. It's them, but… real. Or... surreal?"

Sniff looked onward, totally clueless of anything related to what they were talking about.

"I'm I the only fucking adult in this group that doesn't know about this fucking kid show?"

Lumberman rubbed his still aching head.

"Don't lump me in with everyone else, Sniff. I only know about it because Chris kept leaving their shit out in the open at his house. Little stuffed animal ponies, DVDs in his Xbox, web pages open on his laptop."

Still struggling with everything, Lumberman laid out his case, ending with a scoff.

"Tried telling me they were Pokemon or some shit."

Kelly slipped in between her sips.

"I know about it because I used to sell their stuff at my shops."

Becky had no quips about it.

"I got bored sitting at home. It was on TV, so I watched it."

Sniff didn't like being out of the loop like this.

"Okay, they're almost here. What are we supposed to do if this shit is real? I mean, how'd they get here? How do cartoons come to life?"

Lumberman tapped the shotgun against his leg.

"Well, we'll be sure to ask them as soon as they get here."

The garage was silent as they all pondered how what they were seeing was possible and how it was connected to them. What it all meant.

"Hey, Chris," Becky asked her first question, getting his attention. "Which one do you have a crush on?"

Everyone but Chris snickered. He turned away, looking flustered as he gripped the gun tighter.

"Fuck off, Becky."

They watched as their friends slowly closed the distance. What seemed like a longer time than what it had taken them to get up the hill ended anticlimacticly and finally delivered them back to the house.

Benny had started feeling well enough to walk on his own during their trek, though Rarity stayed close to him, insisting that he keep at least one hand on her in case he needed support again. Fluttershy hovered over his other side, in case he lost his balance, she would be there to catch him.

Cerb was out in front of the other three, meeting Chris and Lumberman at the entrance.

"Ugh, guys. So we got some news." Cerb intentionally played with his voice to try and sound coy.

"Yeah, the ponies. We see 'em." Lumberman said blankly.

Becky leaned forward off the wall and waived, somewhere between embracing drunkenness and some detachment from reality.

"Hi, Rarity! Hello Fluttershy!"

Rarity seemed to be taken aback, being addressed by name by a group of strangers. Alien strangers at that.

"Ugh, hello... people."

She looked up to Benny, not appearing very sure of herself.

"It is people, right? Did I say it right?" She looked back to the other humans again. "You'll have to excuse me, I'm a bit more nervous than usual today. New… people, to meet. Explosions. Kind of a crazy day, I'm sure you understand."

Becky was no longer lucid enough to notice or care about her lack of tack.

"It's okay, diamond pony. We all got blew up today."

Liquor was doing wonders for her linguistics.

Fluttershy softly spoke as she landed and walked in to take a closer look at the new guest to Equestria.

"Oh my, how terrible."

Rarity addressed them again.

"Well, you all seem to be holding up rather well, all things considered."

Becky held up her bottle proudly.

"That's 'cuz I'm drunk!"

Lumberman set the shotgun down on the hood of the car.

"I have a concussion."

Kelly pointed to Becky.

"I'm just focused on taking care of her."

Sniff wanted nothing to do with this and added his opinion to softly express his disinterest.

"I'm so lost and confused, so I don't know what to think or how I should react."

Chris just awkwardly grinned like an idiot.

Benny stepped up to the group, trying to make the best of the situation.

"So, formal introductions."

The way he spoke seemed like he was trying to keep a level tone to prevent any more excitement than the two mares needed.

"Everyone, this is Rarity and Fluttershy."

He pointed to each of them respectfully, though the names should have been self-explanatory.

"Fluttershy, Rarity, these are our friends. This is James, we call him Lumberman."

He gestured to the dark-skinned gentleman leaning against the far side of the metal contraption.

The two names seemed to confuse Fluttershy and so she asked, "Why do you call him that?"

Lumberman leaned more into the car.

"I'm a builder and a licensed contractor. They call me Lumberman because of all the woodwork and construction I do."

Fluttershy beamed.

"Oh, I get it. Hello, Mr. Lumberman. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

Lumberman half-assed waived back in response.

Benny picked up after Lumberman's weak introduction.

"The silent one is Chris."

Chris motioned to speak, but no words crossed his goofy smile.

Benny noticed how flagrantly Chris was displaying his hunting rifle, which probably wasn’t good for appearances.

"Hey, you mind putting away the Thirty Ot Six, there, Dead Shot?"

Chris clumsily turned and made his way back into the house.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

Both Rarity and Fluttershy took note of the long instrument Chris held. It seemed similar in nature to the item that Lumberman was carrying before. It must have been something important if it had to be put away or just not supposed to be out in the open.

For Fluttershy, it was a passing thought, and she instantly put her focus on meeting more of these new humans. Rarity however thought to herself about what type of application the Thirty Odd Six, or whatever it was called, could be used for.

Benny moved on to the next few people in the room.

"The ladies in the back there are Becky and Kelly, or Drip-Drip."

Rarity perked up, abandoning her questions on the long thing with numbers for a name. Perhaps some of these creatures had names given to them to match talents, just like ponies did.

"Oh, another nickname. What does Drip-Drip mean? Is she a plumber?"

Kelly giggled.

"Well, actually—"

Benny cut her off as quickly as he realized the potential fallout of explaining that her nickname was in reference to her libido.

"Forget I said that. Don't worry about it. Lastly, we have Peter."

Peter smiled deviously.

"You can call me Sniffles."

Benny didn't want their new Pony friends to be led down into the history of the roads Sniff traveled.

"Nope!"

"Or Sniff," He responded, egging Benny on intentionally.

He didn't need to know much about the ponies to figure out that Benny was trying to avoid dirty talk.

Cerb quickly countered, hoping Sniff wasn't actually trying to go into his pervy history.

"Shut up, Pete."

Rarity and Fluttershy looked at each other, both seemed to understand that there was some form of embarrassment that Cerb or Justin (the human's choices of nicknames were so odd and interesting at the same time), were trying to avoid, but it seemed like they were also missing something entirely. After they both acknowledged each other's lack of understanding, they again faced the group of newcomers.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all." Rarity said, taking a bow.

"Yes. It's so nice to meet new friends." Fluttershy added.

Everyone seemed to smile and nod in agreement but added nothing else, leaving the air to grow silent again. Kind of odd, since it seemed like even though there were a million questions that could be asked or conversations to start, none of them were brave enough to take that initiative.

That was, until Becky, who was fueled with liquid encouragement or had lapsed into a drunken state of lack of self-control.

"So how'd you two get here?" She asked, almost sounding intentionally cute.

Rarity looked up to Cerb and then back to Becky.

"Well, your friend Cerb here led us to your house, you see. It wasn't much of a walk for us, actually."

"No," Becky replied, getting a bit more animated with her arms. "I mean, how did you come to Earth, here to us?"

Cerb spoke up before either of the two mares could correct her confusion.

"Becky, perhaps we should have done the introductions last."

Cerb's interjection drew everyone's attention.

"I can't explain any of this yet, but it's not the unicorns and them that have come to Earth."

"What?" Becky's voice uttered a clear sign of anger in its tone.

Drunk or not, if the ponies didn't do the traveling, that only meant one thing.

Lumberman stood up straight, already knowing what Cerb wasn't telling them.

"No…”

Benny tried to calm the quickly unsettling nerves as the news was being broken to them.

"Yeah, I know. This all sounds crazy, and you're obviously wondering where we are if we're not on Earth."

"Wait?" Sniff blurted out, not even hiding his anger over this news. "What do you mean we're not on Earth? Where the fuck are we? What the fuck happened out there?"

Sniff pointed out over the hill Benny and Cerb just returned from for added effect. He needed answers.

Cerb stepped in front of Benny, making himself a barrier between him and Sniff.

"Calm down, dude. We're still trying to figure that out. We don't know how or why we ended up here."

Sniff didn't back down.

"Here? Where the fuck is here?!"

Fluttershy and Rarity shrunk back from the group. The atmosphere had quickly thickened with animosity as nearly all the new guests to this reality ran a flurry of curses and questions.

The garage was flooded with the words "Why?" "How?", and "Where?" as well as a that "fuck" word. Did they mean "buck"? It seemed to be used in the same way, though they also used it in ways that didn't make any sense. Unless somepony could be a "bucking idiot"... Applejack, maybe?

Chris had, at some point, rejoined the group and was trying to yell over everyone else.

“You’re over re-acting!”

Lumberman snapped at his friend's rapid acceptance and calm approach to their situation.

"Of course, you'd be fine with this! This is a Brony's fucking wet dream come true."

Chris fired back.

"Are you really gonna go there? Right here, right now?"

The rest of the ponies had made their way over the hill and were now within spitting distance of Rarity and Fluttershy.

The disjointed pieces of the conversations that could be made out, let the ponies all know what they were arguing about. They tried to hold a good composure, though it was hard to while knowing just how unlikely it seemed there was any way to get them home. It was even harder for Twilight, Starlight, and especially Trixie. Those three had the added guilt for the roles they played that actually allowed this to happen.

Rarity was approached from behind by Twilight.

"So I take it this is them not taking the bad news well?"

Rarity sighed, having seen how quickly the arguing escalated.

"If by bad news, you mean being told that they've been dumped onto an alien planet with no explanation on why or how they got here, and by bad you mean that they're having a screaming match about it-"

Rarity looked back at everyone in their private piece of chaos. "… than yes. Your powers of analysis and deduction are as ever-reliable, Twilight."

Twilight sat down next to Rarity and watched as they continued to yell and scream at each other.

"I don't think this is going to be like any of our normal friendship problems we usually have to deal with."

Pinkie Pie interjected from behind.

"Nah. I think you're worrying too much, Twi. I mean, Nightmare Moon, Discord, Changelings, and Tirek were all pretty tough, but we took them out in less than a day. How hard can it be to calm down a house full of trolls and golems?"

No pony bothered to correct her, although Rainbow flapped heavily, rejoining the group and landing in line with Pinkie.

"Yeah, we've helped ponies, dragons, griffins, and every Princess in Equestria." Rainbow Dash playfully flicked Twilight's shoulder with her wing. "Even helped you more than a few times."

Applejack joined up from the other side of Rainbow Dash.

"I think what we're try’n to tell ya' is that together, we can darn near do anything we put our minds to."

Fluttershy turned back and smiled, just as cute as could be.

"Once we figure out how they got here, the sooner we can figure out how to help them get home. And I just know if any group of ponies can do it, it's us."

Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack instantly lost that bright feeling of inspiration that they shouldn't have had in the first place. The short-term problems would be no problem at all compared to interdimensional travel they have yet to figure out.

Rarity perked up a bit after catching some of that misguided hope.

"Of course. With the collective knowledge of magic between you and Starlight, I'm sure we can figure this all out."

She turned back to confirm her encouragement, but Twilight avoided eye contact. She turned to the others, but they also averted their eyes. It was only Fluttershy who didn't look away, but she seemed just as clueless.

Moving just enough to look behind all of her friends close by, she found Starlight, who also wouldn't look her in the eyes as well. Trixie, however, looked straight down to the ground.

Rarity had that sinking feeling building up.

"Did we miss something on the walk down here ahead of you?"

Twilight raised her eyes up to see the humans still yelling and making odd gestures with their upper fore appendages. She carefully spoke loud enough so Rarity and Fluttershy could hear her, but not the bickering humans.

"Yes, we know how they got here."

She turned her eyes to Trixie, who was still staring down at the dirt.

"Sort of... But as much I'm sure we can help them feel welcome and help them get situated, I don't know how we can get them home… or if that's something we can even do."

Fluttershy brought the tips of her wings over her mouth.

"Oh, dear. Is it really that bad?"

"Yeah…" The low voice of Trixie joined in. "… it is."

Rarity grew alarmed. Their eyes they all kept averted. The lack of hope. Then Trixie looking more demoralized and broken than her appearance at the start of her Way-To-Go-Dumb-Dumb-You-Really-Messed-It-Up-This-Time Repentance Tour (a working title).

"You mean—"

Trixie was quick to answer the obvious.

"I mean, it's the kind of problem only the Great and Powerful Trixie could create." She turned her head away, a bit of self-loathing taking over her tone. "Only now, it's one not even the saviors of Equestria can solve."

"Trixie, you stop that, right now. It was an accident, and we'll find a way home for them," Starlight confirmed, trying to console her friend. "...I hope."

Twilight figured at this point that they should try to stop the infighting with the humans and see what they could do in the meantime to help.

"Okay, girls. Let's do what we do best. But for now, let's not mention that we know anything about them being brought here. I'm partially to blame for this as well."

Twilight's admission shocked those who weren't aware of the gift of books that were used by Trixie earlier.

"Rarity, Fluttershy," Twilight commanded. "We can fill you both in on what little we do know later. For now, let's give our new guests a warm Ponyville welcome and show them what Equestria has to offer."

They all nodded in agreement and started to make their way to the open garage, only to stop dead in their tracks at the sound of glass shattering against the wall above all their heads. The tinkering and chimes of a broken glass bottle and what little of its contents weren't consumed, all splashed down hard on the cement below. Not only were the ponies holding fast in a sudden state of shock, everyone inside the garage was as still as statues, save one.

"We're not fucking staying here! I am not staying here!" Becky stood behind the bickering group, fuming mad. So mad that she had cucked the bottle against the wall just to shut everyone else up. Her anger somehow seemed to have sobered her up, as well.

"I don't have the goddamn luxury to wait!" Her voice grew a bit hoarse (no pun intended) near the end.

"Excuse me." Twilight's voice cautiously made itself known. "I know this must be very confusing, and maybe a bit frightening, perhaps, but all of us here are ready to help in any way that we can."

Twilight walked farther into the group, and everyone moved aside to let her enter. A mix of uneasiness from not wanting to upset a magical creature with powers they couldn't fathom and a bit of not wanting to deal with a pissed-off Becky. Both seemed like a bad day waiting to happen.

"I take it you are all friends here, right?" Concern and confidence clearly present in Twilight's voice.

Becky's anger was losing its way to fear and despair. It was also rather disarming to be approached and counseled by a fictional cartoon character.

She folded her hands under her arms and looked away.

"Yeah, we're all friends here."

"Well…" Twilight walked up closer to Becky. "—is this any way friends should be treating each other?"

No one responded. The silent consensus was an obvious no. Honestly, they all knew that real friends don't yell and scream at each other. Or at least they knew that friends shouldn't, but none of them were about to admit just how often they actually did yell at each other.

Becky was growing more frustrated with this whole situation, though. It started with a tapping of her foot, then a rocking of her leg.

"No"

More tears welled up, thinking of how her life link was an infinite distance away.

"I'm sorry, we all want to go home." She wiped a few tears that were pooling up out of her eyes. "Obviously."

The rocking of her leg spread up to her hands and arms, blood rushing to her face, the flush too bright to hide. It was getting too difficult to deal with where they had found themselves.

"But I really, really, need to get home," Becky pleaded.

Twilight gave a sympathetic smile.

"I know, and I know what it's like to be taken away from your home and thrown into a world you don't recognize. I know how it feels to not know when, how, or even if you can make it back."

Becky sniffed once, still shaking.

"You mean like when Starlight kept changing the past, and you kept coming back to a different future?"

Twilight smiled brighter. She found some common ground that they could share and use to relate to her with.

"Yes, I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to come back to the home that I knew and remembered. I didn't even…"

Twilight just realized that this new creature knew about the events of her final battle with Starlight. Of course, everypony else was standing with their mouths agape as soon as she had said it. Somehow, Twilight was the last to pick up on this.

"Wait? How do you know about what happened between me and Starlight? How could you know?" Twilight asked, raising her voice and losing all of her prior composure.

Those events were secret. Only Starlight, the Elements of Harmony, and those of the Royals knew about what happened there.

Becky momentarily stopped her shaking, wondering why Twilight would be surprised by this. Did they not know they were a cartoon show?

"I… I watched it. I watched both of you. I saw the episode."

She sniffed hard again and cleared more tears that had started to stream down. The dynamic between the two had shifted, since Twilight had been put in a compromising situation.

Starlight took a few steps forward, wanting some answers.

"Hold on, you watched me and Twilight go back in time, and all the different versions of the future we created?"

Starlight now worried that perhaps this might be some type of trap. Those secrets should not be the type of events just anypony could say they knew.

Chris and Benny knew that Becky was probably saying way too much, too fast, but neither wanted to step in this late into this revelation and muddy things up even further. The others were all in the dark and utterly ignorant of what was being described.

Still, Becky was confused at the pony's confusion, probably because she was drunk.

"Yeah, there was a civil war with King Sombra, the Flim Flam brothers being douches and tearing everything up, umm…"

Becky had a bit of difficulty with her drunken recall, but her thought break went uninterrupted as the others were flabbergasted by just how much she already knew.

"Ugh, Zecora thought you were a changeling because Chrysalis had taken over and didn't know who you were. Oh, and another one where Nightmare Moon took over."

Twilight and Starlight stared at each other, just blown away. Something was unworldly wrong about this, and their eyes told each other just as much.

Twilight turned back to Becky; the purpose of their confrontation was about to change.

"Just how much about us do you know?"

Becky had to think about that. The sixth season had just started. That’s a lot that should have been covered.

"I dunno. A little bit about your time getting into Celestia's school, but mostly everything else from you coming to Ponyville and up til' Apple Bloom helped the tap-dancing pony get his cutie mark.

Rarity started to speak but stumbled upon her words.

"Th-Th-That was only a few weeks ago."

Starlight turned her attention to Benny, remembering what he mentioned earlier.

"Benny, when you told Trixie that you and the daughter would watch Trixie's show, did you watch it the same way she was watching us?"

Benny hesitated, trying to figure out the best way to phrase his explanation… too late now.

"Yeah, pretty much. But we can't choose what we get to see, and we can't watch you all the time or anything like that. We can only see what the show broadcasts."

Twilight cocked her head to the side a bit.

"Somepony broadcast Trixie's shows that she performs?"

Deep down inside, Trixie was infuriated at someone broadcasting her show. She didn't fully understand what that meant, but clearly, she wasn't getting paid for it. However, her guilt kept her quiet. Though she did make a silent vow that she'd be taking some pony to court over this.

"Umm… no… That's not how it works for us," Chris answered for Benny as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a smartphone, examples at the ready. "I can maybe better explain."

All eyes turned to Chris, who was holding his phone in his hand.

"This is going to sound crazy to all of you, probably just as crazy to us when you told us that we were in your world, not our own."

The ponies drew in closer, wondering what in Equestria he was going to say to better explain this to them, and what the little black rectangle thingy in his hands he was tapping on was for.

After a few short seconds and some more tapping, a noise came out for the little shiny thing. No, not just a noise, it was music. A song... a song with their voices.

He turned the small, shiny, rectangular device around to show them a blur of moving colors. No, this was something more complex and intelligently designed. A window showing illustrated versions of them that moved on their own. Awkward looking cartoon versions of themselves, but it was unquestionably them.

"You Pie sisters have just about the sweetest family traditions."

That was Rarity's voice, no mistaking it. "Every year, you set aside a special day to spend with each of your sisters?"

No pony could believe what they were watching and hearing, most especially Rarity.

"My word. How did somepony record my—"

Pinkie moved her hooves to clamp down Rarity's mouth.

"Shh, I can't hear myself talking," the pink pony instructed in a raspy stage whisper.

Rarity moved her eyes back to the video of them walking through Manehatten.

"—by picking a different location, every year. We see the sites all day, and swap gifts at sunset." Pinkie's voice, a perfect match, came from the little magic box Chris held.

Pinkie jumped up in the air, gleefully celebrating.

"Ah! Oh my gosh! I totally remember telling you that, Rarity! Right, Rarity?"

Rarity glared at her friend who wasn’t taking any of this seriously.

"Yes, Pinkie. I was there, remember?"

Pinkie smiled an open smile.

"Well, duh. Of course, I know you were there. I'm the one who invited you."

All the ponies gathered closer together, huddling around this strange new device that was replaying a day in their lives in a perfect recreation. Well, a perfect cartoon recreation, but perfectly captured every moment nonetheless.

Twilight stepped back and away as the video showed Pinkie begging Rarity for help with getting Maud a gift.

"I don't understand. This doesn't make any sense."

Twilight turned to confront Becky.

"You have the ability to watch our every move and remake it as a cartoon? Just who are all of you?"

Becky started getting more antsy and emotional again.

"Princess, you just missed all the introductions before we started yelling at each other. My name is Rebeca Langdon, or Becky, whatever. But I don't claim to know how any of this shit works or why a cartoon show is the same as this world. I just really need to go home. Okay? I can't stay here long. Seriously."

Twilight stood with a more aggressive stance, wings erecting upwards.

"We already said we'd help you, but I need some real answers before we start doing anything to—"

"She's dying, Twilight." Sniff's words cut Twilight's ultimatum short of getting to the demands she was about to make.

Everyone in the room just about felt their hearts stop. Everypony even dropped their attention from watching themselves on Chris's phone.

“Sniff!” Kelly punched him in the arm, hard.

He winced and grabbed his bicep where she had struck him.

"Ow! Damn it!"

Cerb started to scold him as well.

"Dude, you can't just—"

Sniff fiercely protested, not letting them lessen the seriousness they were dealing with.

"No! Y'all can fuck off. I'm cutting through the bull shit and getting straight to the point of urgency here," He glanced back to Becky. "I'm sorry Becks, but I'm not pussyfooting around this shit."

Sniff looked down to Twilight, then to the other ponies as Chris paused the video. It was time for another introduction.

"For all of you ponies that just showed up, you can call me Sniff." He refrained from even hinting at any jokes. "My friend Becky here is really sick, that's why we can't stay here. So unless you can magic away her medical problems, she needs to get back to her doctors so she can get her special medicine that I doubt any of you can make for her."

Chris turned the screen off on his phone and pocketed it; the warm welcome was over.

"Okay, priority one should be finding a way home, but in the meantime, I probably know the most about the show that I just showed you and can give the best explanations. So that takes care of that problem, Princess."

Benny patted Chris on the back.

"Thanks, man."

The mood for all the ponies was now darker and turning grim. Trixie felt like her heart was breaking inside. Fluttershy was all but ready to cry, and Rarity was not too far behind with eyes watering up.

Twilight lowered her wings.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea. What do you need? Medicine-wise? If you tell us what you have, I'm sure we will be able to help. We might even have a cure. We actually have surprisingly high-quality health services here in Equestria."

"I really don't think you can help me out, Princess," Becky said mournfully. "I'm sorry, I need to sit down."

Kelly moved up to her friend.

"Don't worry, hun. Let's get you inside, okay."

Chris tried to get their attention, knowing that wasn’t going to be the best idea.

"Ugh… the house is really torn up inside." He looked back to Benny. "Explosion and all, ya know."

Benny hung his head.

"Fuck me. I don't even want to know." He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Okay, I got some lawn chairs I can pull out for us. We'll deal with cleaning the house later."

Benny gestured to Cerb and Lumberman.

"Mind giving me a hand, guys?"

The three made their way into the house through the busted door and into the disaster zone that was his home.

"Awe, fuck me twice over, Captain!" Benny's voice echoed from in the house.

The mess inside was just as much every bit as bad as he could have imagined. For the others, there was an awkward salience that hung in the air. Everypony was at a loss for what seemed like the right thing to say or any comment on their situation.

Becky was clearly upset about her ailments. Kelly was concerned for Becky. Chris wanted to talk more about the show, but thought it would be inappropriate at this point. Poor Sniff didn't want to say anything else and risk elevating tensions or souring the mood for the ponies even further, if that was even possible. There was nothing good for the ponies to work with.

Finally, the silence became too much, and Becky meekly spoke under her breath.

"It's called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis."

Twilight cocked her head, a bit embarrassed that she either didn't hear it correctly or had no clue as to what Becky just said.

"Idiopadic?"

Becky started again, with a louder and clearer voice.

"Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. It's a disease where the soft lining of the lungs don't grow normally. Instead of the soft spongy cells that should grow back, mine grow back hard and don't take in oxygen."

Becky's admission did nothing to improve the sad demeanor they were all experiencing.

"Oh my… that's… that's terrible." Replied Twilight with an honest voice of compassion.

Fluttershy fluttered over closer and plopped down to all fours.

"Oh, dear, that just sounds absolutely horrible. Does it make it difficult to breathe?"

"Sometimes," Becky muttered.

The three guys emerged from the house, arms full of folding chairs.

"Hey, we're gonna set 'em up out in front where there's more room," Benny informed them all as he passed the ladies.

Within only a few short moments, ten chairs were folded open in what little shade the house provided. The seven humans took their seats. Twilight and Rarity sat in two of the open chairs while the others opted to either sit or lay in the grass. All were formed up and positioned in a nearly perfect circle.

Becky picked up where she left off, thankfully less visibly affected by the booze.

"So, yeah, sometimes it's hard to breathe. Though mostly it's just a lot of coughing that doesn't stop."

Fluttershy was sitting close to Becky, near her feet.

"I don't know if they will help, but I've helped some of the woodland creatures with different herbal remedies when they had difficulty breathing. Seasonal allergies and coming down with the cold or flu. But if even just to give a little comfort… if you wouldn't mind, that is,” she offered, her voice trailing off lower and lower in the shy manor Fluttershy is so well known for.

Seeing how gravely this human needed help, Twilight had to offer her support.

"I know there are many spells that deal with breathing or making breathable air. Between all of the spell books I have in my own personal study, plus Celestia's vast libraries in Canterlot, and what's available in the Crystal Empire, I'm sure there is something we can find to help."

Starlight sat up with some gleaming optimism.

"I'd be more than willing to help, too. Plus, I'm sure my friend Sunburst can help us. If you've seen him, he's a very smart unicorn with a vast knowledge of magic like Twilight and myself."

Becky answered back, trying to sound grateful.

"I know about him. I'm glad you two were able to reconnect again, by the way." She held a smile for a moment. "But that's only half of my problems."

She sighed again, gently rubbing her hands together, then up and down her arms.

"I also have a Neurodegenerative disorder. The doctors don't really know what kind it is or how to treat it."

Becky noticed in her peripheral all of the pony's faces. They all wore the same expression of concern. Each of them was tentatively waiting for the rest of the information. It was as if they knew something just as horrible was about to be revealed, but there were all of these alien words that created such a gap in their understanding of each other.

Not wanting to let the dead air sit any longer than it already had, Rainbow Dash pointed out the obvious.

"Ugh, I might not be the brightest pony of the group, but I don't think even our eggheads know what that is."

"Rainbow Dash, don't be so rude," Rarity scowled.

Twilight gave a sympathetic look, hating to have Becky explain what was likely another uncomfortable subject.

"I'm sorry, but she's right. I don't think any of us understand what you're describing."

"No, it's fine. I pretty much expected that I'd have to explain this, too," Becky said in defense. "I have a hard time having to explain it even back home."

She took a moment to collect her thoughts, thinking about how to best explain her condition.

"Basically, it affects all the motor muscles in the body that allow me to walk and move all work by the brain sending signals through the nerves to them. All of those nerve cells are dying."

She took another short pause. Thinking how to put to words an explanation in a way they would understand.

"I can't run, I'm no longer even strong enough to carry my own groceries most of the time. My muscles get exhausted a lot faster than other people's would, and my lungs don't help out much either."

Rainbow Dash seemed to really be hit hard by these concepts, given how physically active her own life was.

"So, you can't play sports or anything like that?"

Becky scoffed, or laughed; it seemed like a bit of both.

"No, not in a long time. The most I can do is rest up for the weekends so I can drink until I'm numb enough to dance through the pain."

Pinkie perked up, thinking she might have found a kindred spirit amongst these humans.

"Oh! You like to dance! As in, you like to dance at parties?!"

Becky couldn't help but smile at Pinkie's innocence and hyperactive joy.

"Yes, Pinkie. I don't go to school anymore, can't get a job, and then I get so bored just sitting at home listening to my mom bitch and…" She cleared her throat. "I mean, complain about money and doctors that I make sure to have as much fun as I can on the weekends. Or on a fight night, like tonight was supposed to be."

"Fight night? That doesn't sound like fun," Pinkie said with a bit puzzled, but still excited at the potential to party with a new species.

Benny chimed in, knowing this was going to need some clarification.

"Fight night is when we watch professional fighters beat the crap out of each other in the UFC," Benny said, giving a moment of pause for dramatic effect. "The Ultimate Fighting Championship."

That seemed to get Rainbow Dash's attention, making her jump up in the air, fluttering in place.

"You guys get to watch ponies fight it out in a Championship?"

Starlight turned an annoyed glance to Rainbow Dash.

"They're called humans, Rainbow Dash, not ponies."

Rainbow Dash grinned sheepishly at Starlight, it was an honest mistake after all.

"Oh, right, humans.” She turned back to Benny. “That's so awesome, though!"

Rainbow stood upright, fluttering in the air with her hooves on her hips, and struck a victorious pose.

"I'm actually a black belt in Karate, ya know."

"The fuck?" Sniff said, clearly caught off guard. "How the hell does a horse learn Karate?"

Kelly slapped Sniff upside the back of his head.

"Be nice."

Sniff apologized as best he could while glaring at Kelly.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Rainbow horse. I didn't mean anything by it. Still trying to adjust to this pony world."

"Meh, we're cool," Rainbow said, holding no resentment.

A few of the ponies and humans snickered and chuckled at their interaction, but Starlight had a question gnawing at her that hadn't really been addressed yet.

"Um, Becky," Starlight said with a cautious look that was hidden behind a forced smile that quickly faded. "Just how serious are these illnesses that you have? How much trouble are you in without your doctors if Fluttershy and the rest of us can't find a cure or spell to help you breathe?"

As soon as the question was asked, she could tell that it was the wrong question to ask by how quickly the expressions on every human face changed. It was like she asked when the funeral was going to be before some pony had even passed away.

Becky almost seemed to shrink in her chair, knowing how no one liked talking about it.

"Right now, my breathing problem is manageable, so long as I don't do anything stupid and overexert myself. But eventually, I won't have enough healthy cells in my lungs to breathe on my own, and I'll need an oxygen tank just to get by. But from there, it won't take long until my lungs can't take in enough oxygen at all."

Becky's words were cold and frighteningly calm, making all the ponies all the more uncomfortable with what they would be dealing with.

Stuck in her thoughts, Becky held her tongue for a moment. It seemed like more questions and comments were wanting to be made, but she continued with her explanation after a short reprieve. Her words came off even colder, almost robotic in nature.

"Then, with my nerve issues, I'll eventually be too weak to walk. Then too weak to move on my own. And around that same time, I'll have so much nerve damage that it will start to affect my vital organs as well. Like my heart, liver, intestines, and lungs."

There was no response the ponies could find, sympathetic or otherwise.

"Either one of these diseases would cut my life expectancy down to only about fifteen or twenty years from now. Working together, my doctors say I have less than five."

The ponies had never heard of something so inescapably heartbreaking.

Becky had a drawn-out moment of silence. Her eyes hinted at something more to say, but there was a clear sign of hesitation to say it.

"… but I only have enough meds for the next 24 days. Without them or my other breathing treatments, I don't think I'll last more than two."

This was a brand new struggle the ponies didn't know how to tackle. No, this is the new lowest benchmark of inescapably heartbreaking news.

"I don't even know which one will kill me first." Becky's words were lifeless in expression.

Twilight and Starlight faced each other, both forlorn to find some resolution.

By Celestia, what misfortune and suffering have been brought to these lands?