Dinner on the farm came before I knew it. I wasn’t hungry, since we didn’t eat too long ago, but we were invited and I wasn’t going to say ‘no’ to the idea of seeing all the ponies together and going to bed with a full belly. The table was swarmed with chairs from every corner of the house. Dining guests spilled out into the living room, where we sat.

To my surprise, not all the ponies on the farm did show up to dinner or stay. Most notably, Fluttershy was missing. The others said she was out walking the property to watch for other ponies coming. Apparently she usually ate alone anyway. Twilight did show up to fix herself a plate, but she took it to eat alone on the porch with a book and also to ‘keep watch’.

The front door opened while we were eating and I expected Twilight or Fluttershy. Instead a new yellow pegasus pony, this one with cyan hair, showed up at the door. Her name was Sunshower Raindrops and she was immediately brought in to meet everyone present and help herself to a good home-cooked meal.

Not too much later Fluttershy did show up, but this time with two more ponies in tow. They introduced themselves as Lemon Hearts and Sunshine Clouds. Big Mac seemed excited by that news and stood up to greet them.

“Ah ha! I knew it! Like two weeks ago I was flipping through pictures in a photo album and I was saying the names of my old friends out loud. Sure enough, my tongue slipped and I said your two names.”

Big Mac hugged both of the newest mares at the same time. Sunshine giggled.

“Evan? Evan Smith? Wow. Haven’t talked to you since high school, dude! But damn, it’s great to see a friendly face. Or, well, a pony version of an old friendly face!”

“It’s great seeing you too,” Applejack said as she got up to hug the now-familiar ponies. “And if you hadn’t guessed, I used to be Jack.”

“And now you’re AppleJack!” Sunshine Clouds said before laughing in elation. They were understandably ecstatic to be here. “How long have you all been ponies??”

“It all started May 1st. How about you?”

“It was the first week of May for us,” Lemon Hearts said with a nod.

“I didn’t start to turn into a pony until May 11th!” Raindrops chimed in. That surprised me a bit. I must have lost track of time at some point. Probably at Carrot’s place or after being ponynapped. Not that the date mattered anymore.

“Oh wow, who did you used to be?” Lemon Hearts greeted the other new guest. She looked about the group and spotted me eating at the living room coffee table, awkwardly with another beer from Applejack. “Hey, is that Berry Punch??”

Another round of happy greetings and stories were swapped. Recollections of crazy adventures and funny anecdotes carried on well past dinner clean-up. We were at almost twenty ponies now plus Sweetie Belle’s sister, Angie. The house was nearly overflowing with ponies.

Eventually Applejack wanted to show the newest ponies to the barn before retiring. Apparently all of the ponies were taking shifts watching for anyone coming onto the farm: for potential trouble and to make sure the new refugees had someone to welcome them. The two farm ponies were taking morning watch, so Applejack was ready for bed.

Ruby and I volunteered to keep Rarity company on the porch overnight. Not that I wasn’t tired, I was sure I was going to fall asleep. My legs felt like lead weights and my full belly wasn’t much better. The barn felt like a long way away when you had spent most of the day walking then eating. Secretly, I also wasn’t ready for any potentially awkward moments with Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth. We didn’t speak much during dinner.

Fortunately, Rarity accepted our company. Shining Armor was also on overnight watch. He was going to do perimeter sweeps. After a chaste kiss between the two, Shining set off on his patrol. Not much later than that, I nodded off to the pleasant sounds of nature occasionally punctuated by Ruby and Rarity talking.

Rarity’s cell phone ringing was what woke me back up. From the side of the conversation I heard, it was Shining Armor. More ponies had shown up at the entrance.

“My, a whole little caravan,” Rarity exclaimed aloud for our benefit. It wasn’t long before two pairs of headlights slowly came down the driveway towards the house. I stood up and slowly stretched out my sore legs: front then back. Meanwhile Rarity turned the porch light on.

Both of the cars looked loaded down with food and camping supplies. The ponies crammed into the remaining space looked relieved to finally spill out of the cars. There was a human driving the lead. I was surprised I immediately recognized him. Then I saw the pony who was driving the other vehicle with her magic.

“Minnie!” my daughter shouted as she bounded off the porch towards the blue unicorn.

“Pinchy? Pinchy!” Minuette said as she spotted my daughter and caught her in a jumping glomp and proceeded to relentlessly nuzzle her. On fumbling hooves I followed down the steps towards them. Minuette spotted me approaching and hit me with that beautiful smile, relief and joy in her eyes. It infected me before I was dragged into her embrace too. “You’re okay!”

“I am! Are you?” I asked my found friend I wasn’t letting go of. I rubbed my fuzzy face against hers and instinctively sniffed at her mane; I needed to know she was really here. And she was: with every sense short of licking her I was sure: she was here. My strangely mint-scented friend was hugging and nuzzling me back.

“I’m okay; we’re okay!” she affirmed to me. I looked up at the rest of the new arrivals searching for familiar faces. I recognized Chad: he drove the first car. Everyone else though, the ponies I did recognize, were just ponies I had seen on the show.

They weren’t here...

“Hello, everypony! My name is Rarity,” she announced over the happy but tired ponies. “You’ve met Shining Armor but in case he didn’t, allow me to introduce you to Jack and Mac’s Pony Farm.”

Some of the assembled ponies cheered and started talking over each other.

“Oh, if you would, please, it’s very late. I’m sure you all must be exhausted from your trip.”

“I’ll take it from here, Rare,” Applejack called from the house’s opened screen door. I turned to see her step out, followed by Big Mac right after. I was sure they had gone to bed. And unless she slept with her hair ties in, she had put them back in and donned her hat: maybe trying to give the best first impression possible. There was murmuring coming from the group: some clearly recognized the farm ponies.

“Like Rarity said: welcome! I’m Jack and this is Mac. We got a lot of ponies in the house already but we’ve cleaned out the barn really well. It’s got blankets and there’s plenty of room for you and all your things. If you'll follow me, it's this way.”

The farm ponies and Rarity began directing the ponies towards the barn. Chad approached Minuette and got her attention by scritching her behind the ears.

“I’ll pull the cars around,” he told the blue unicorn looking up and backwards at him. Minuette nodded quietly.

I watched him walk back to the second car and begin the slow and careful process of turning the car around without hitting anyone. The car's headlights helped light the way towards the barn.

“How are you and Chad doing?” I carefully approached the immediate question first.

“We’re still friends,” Minuette began diplomatically. She looked back at us and gave a gentle smile. “He got cold feet that day. We didn’t start dating knowing I was a unicorn from another world, you know?” Minuette chuckled. “Even if we could change back, I don’t want to. So, we want different things now. He still cares though, we're just giving it more time. He’s just scared. We all are.”

My daughter hugged our blue friend. Minuette enthusiastically returned it and I wrapped my hooves around her until the two separated.

“Is Carrot Top here?” Minuette asked next. The look on my face was all the answer she needed. “Oh…”

“We broke out of the first place they took us to but… I was just slowing her down so I distracted them. I couldn’t even run in a straight line. If we hadn’t split up they would have got both of us,” I briefly explained. I’d have to get into the methanol poisoning and Luna’s intervening later: there was another pony not accounted for. “Where’s Comet Tail?” To my relief, Minuette’s face broke into a soft smile before she answered.

“He volunteered to stay at Carrot’s place in case you came back,” Minuette explained. That sounded like him. “He couldn’t stand the thought of you three coming back and no one being there. We didn’t think it was safe to leave all these ponies there and we didn’t want to leave directions to find us so we’re dropping these ponies off then going back to stay with him.”

“Darlings, is everything alright?” Rarity interrupted. I looked up at her and then around us. The group was leaving us for the barn so we started following after, trailing behind the car. Ruby did something slightly new to me and cast a soft, white beam of light ahead of us with her magic. Minuette grinned down at the display in awe.

“So, who’re all your new friends?” I asked, gesturing towards the ponies ahead of us. Minuette seemed to like my phrasing.

“They’re the ponies we were looking for. Diamond Tiara and Braeburn? We found them! The little one is Diamond. Braeburn’s the one wearing the hat. They knew about another friend turning into a pony and… one just kept leading to another! -oh. Except Lyra. We just found her! She was just... walking down the road alone.” I looked over the ponies again. I was interested in getting to know all of them but especially her: ‘Lyra’ sounded familiar.

Chad brought the cars around to the barn and we all started unloading everything. There were clothes and random personal possessions but the majority of it seemed like camping supplies and food. There were several cases of jarred food and the writing on them seemed rather familiar. I didn’t say anything until I spotted a framed picture in the backseat and went to grab it.

In the picture were two old strangers, a middle-aged stranger and a very young Carrot Top in the picture. Or more accurately a very young Claudia Hayes. It had to be then: some of this stuff was from Carrot Top’s homestead. I looked over at Minuette who caught me staring at her. I showed her the framed photo.

“We took some of her food and a few things that seemed important. We figured it’s what she would want. In case she didn’t go back there,” Minuette explained. Or if we never saw her again...

“As soon as we’re done here I’ll go check on Comet and get a truck or something for the rest of the stuff that’s salvageable,” Chad added. I could imagine they came back to a pillaged mess.

“If you’ll have me, I’d like to help you with that. I figure I owe Carrot an apology: the least I can do is be right with her friends,” Braeburn, the gold-colored one with the hat, offered to Chad.

“Me too! I’m coming back!” Minuette spoke up.

“No you’re not. You’ve been up for over a day now: you’re staying and sleeping,” Chad firmly denied. Minuette didn’t fight this which must have said something about how exhausted she actually was behind her regular enthusiasm.

“Hey, yeah, that reminds me...” Applejack responded. “Rarity? You and Shining Armor should get to bed. You’ve been up since yesterday morning.”

“I do need my beauty sleep…” Rarity agreed tentatively. “Are you sure? It’s not morning yet.”

“It’s close enough. This isn’t that much earlier than when Mac and I usually wake up.”

“Shiny? What do you think?” Rarity asked the unicorn who I was quickly identifying as her partner.

“I think... we should do one more round,” Shining suggested then gave her a mischievous ‘look’. I don’t think I was supposed to notice that. “It’ll give you guys time to finish unpacking.”

“Sounds good! Thanks for the help,” Mac agreed while loaded down with luggage. I saw Rarity and Shining Armor leave for the end of the driveway, looking more at each other than keeping a lookout. Considering how busy the house was now and how much work they put in today, I’m sure they needed the time alone.

There were so many ponies now and I hardly learned anything about them while we unpacked and got things into the barn. There was Braeburn and his best friend Caramel. From what I remember Carrot Top telling me, Braeburn was Diamond Tiara’s boyfriend but I’m not sure how that worked now, seeing as Diamond Tiara looked even younger than my daughter and Braeburn was an adult. There were also two ponies named Daisy and Lotus, I think. I wasn’t sure of their human relation to the others. And then there was Lyra. Who seemed to be off on her own but quietly helping. The only thing that seemed to be hers was the hoodie she was wearing, weighed down with one or two things in the pouch pocket.

Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth were happy to help us. Whether they were still up or we woke them up, I didn’t want to ask. Raindrops woke up and started helping at some point when I wasn’t looking. Meanwhile Sunshine Clouds and Lemon Hearts peeked out from a stall in the back. By the time they were up, we were just settling in.

Most of us seemed too stimulated to sleep now, but still too tired to keep standing around. So instead of sequestering away in separate stalls, we took more straw kicked down from the loft by Cloud and Blossom and built a rough circle of blankets and pillows on top of it, right in the center aisle.

We did the headcount when we were all settled in: there were now more ponies in the barn then there were in the house. Not all of us were sleeping in the barn though.

Braeburn and Caramel volunteered to go back with Chad, a six hour drive back to Creighton. I overheard Diamond Tiara ask Braeburn to help her set her tent up before he left. The pony who I thought was Daisy was keeping her company out there. I assumed Diamond wanted more privacy and just wasn't comfortable around all of us yet.

For the rest of us, fortunately we had Minuette. She introduced me to the ponies she came with and I introduced her to the ponies I met on the farm and on the way to the farm.

“...and when we finally found her, we realized she wasn’t alone at all! Daisy was with her the whole time!” Minuette wrapped up explaining how she met most of these ponies. The pony who she was talking about just smiled at the retelling. She seemed tired, understandably. Most of us had a very long day of traveling.

I glanced over at the one pony who had been the quietest and most separate from the group: Lyra. I wondered if she was quiet because she was tired from traveling the furthest.

“So Lyra, long day?” I asked her. The mint pony perked up from the spot on the ground she was staring at and looked at me. I saw her ears fold back down a bit in reservation but she did answer.

“Yeah. A lot of driving. Then when we ran out of gas we walked,” she admitted. I noticed she said ‘we’ but I wasn’t sure if it was okay to pry.

“Where are you from?” I asked instead.

“Well, he… uh, I was still in school when it happened. I was working on my masters… ” she said before muttering “in liberal studies- but uh... I’m originally from the Kansas City area.”

“No kidding??” Minuette asked. “A lot of us are from there too! Missouri or Kansas side?”

“Oh? Missouri. I’m from this town called Lawson. You’ve... probably never heard of it,” Lyra explained.

“That’s where I’m from! And Berry and Ruby!” Minuette said excitedly.

“What? No way…”

“...Tyler?” Ruby spoke up. “Tyler Hawkins?”

Lyra stared at my daughter, confused and almost... scared? She looked around at the rest of us as if she was just now realizing something before looking back at my daughter.

“Do you know me?”

“I do. I used to go by ‘Brianna Peters’,” my daughter explained. Lyra perked up at that.

“Wait, Brianna? The girl who drew my album covers back in high school?” Ruby nodded. Lyra looked at Minuette then at me and something seemed to finally click for her. “Woah. Then… I bet you’re Monica! And... Brian? Brian Peters?”

‘Monica’ giggled a bit at that but nodded. It felt surreal being addressed like that again.

“Yeah, but I’m Berry Punch now,” I corrected. I was going to add ‘or Berryshine’ but decided against it.

“Right, of course. So how’s being a mare treating you?” she asked. I looked at my daughter and nuzzled with her a bit before answering.

“I don’t mind anymore. You?”

“Yeah, I eventually got over it too. I still like girls, I can still pee standing up, ...really, what’s changed?” she answered with a slightly goofy smile on her face. Her whole demeanor seemed to have suddenly shifted. It must have made her feel better realizing there were some ‘familiar’ faces here.

“Wow. What are the odds?” Lemon Hearts asked the group. “We knew Jack and Big Mac from school too. It’s like the curse didn’t separate us.”

“Maybe it couldn’t,” Sunshine replied contemplatively. I saw Raindrops quietly smile at that from the corner of my eye. It was an interesting thought and I saw the rest of the group reflecting on it as well. I noticed Lyra’s expression seemed the most sour of the bunch though. She saw me looking and seemed to quickly cover that up by switching gears.

“But, hey, Berry here was the man back then! People would come hear me play just because she brought alcohol,” Lyra gushed.

“Heh, yeah…” I remembered those little get-togethers. I knew places that didn’t card me. Not to mention what I could steal from my dad. He certainly couldn’t keep track of how many beers he had. “Do you still play?”

“I do! That’s how I got into my university in the first place. Just… not a lot of guitars lately,” Lyra said as her magic flared and she pulled a small harp out of her hoodie pocket- or I guess, it’d be a lyre. It looked like it was made of gold lacquered wood. I couldn’t help but look back at her flank: her cutie mark looked very similar. The major difference was her mark had three strings and this instrument had seven. “When I was changing back I saw this in the history department and something about it just… spoke to me. I thought it had something to do with the curse somehow so I broke in with some friends and stole it but… I guess I just really wanted a lyre again.”

“And you knew how to play it?”

“Well, eventually. I… picked it up,” she said before deflating slightly. “I’ll show you tomorrow. I’m kind of tired right now.”

“Long day?” Blossomforth suggested. Lyra quietly nodded in agreement before carefully stowing her lyre back into her hoodie. She then proceeded to lay back down, a bit on top of it, almost protectively. “...it is getting pretty late.”

“Basically really early at this point,” Cloud Kicker added before stretching all six limbs and then casually letting one of her wings drape itself over Blossomforth. Blossom seemed to like the gesture. Maybe Cloud could be just affectionate when she wanted to be. Otherwise I don’t know how her friend handled her. Cloud caught me looking and smiled at me.

“Berry, you want to sleep together? Your friends and I could make a little cuddle puddle back in my stall. I got plenty of bedding back there,” Cloud offered a seemingly innocent gesture.

“Oh that sounds cozy!” Minuette said as she stood up to accept the offer. My daughter stood up to follow Minuette. With everyone else there I suppose it would be less awkward.

I saw other ponies talking about sleeping arrangements. It seemed almost everyone had at least one other pony to sleep with. The major exception being Lyra who hadn’t gotten up since laying back down. Minuette saw that too.

“Lyra?” Minuette called to her. Lyra looked up from her spot on the ground. “Don’t sleep alone: you’re an old friend. Join us.”

“I’m fine…” Lyra tried to dismiss it.

“Please? For me?” Minuette asked. Lyra looked at the blue unicorn for a moment then at my daughter and me before getting up and following us back.

There was indeed a lot of straw and blankets back here. I didn’t even notice any 'smells' I would have expected. Maybe the scent of my friends just covered up anything I would have noticed. They weren’t an offensive scent either: five soft, warm friends, old and new, created a cocktail that had a base of earth and sunshine with various grasses, a splash of thunder and maybe a hint of some kind of mint. It was comforting, like a nightcap. It was exactly what I needed.

I remembered someone trying to wake me up but I didn’t want to. I enjoyed the warm straw and dreamless sleep a little longer. My whole body was sore but not necessarily in a bad way: I was recovering. There wasn’t an entire day of walking in front of me. No hiding from humans. No foraging or scavenging for food. I could spend the whole day in bed if I wanted.

I reached out for another warm body to hold but didn’t find one, just blankets and pillows. I groggily opened my eyes. Nobody was there. Thinking they were all behind me I rolled over and searched again. Everyone was gone. Literally everyone got up.

I would have been worried, instead of just confused, but I heard ponies talking just outside in the aisle. I guess they were letting me sleep. I climbed out of the still warm straw and blankets and slid the stall door open.

There were a lot of ponies in the barn but none that I recognized. Or not exactly anyway, There was a unicorn nearby who just put down her bag. I thought I knew her from the show.

“Excuse me?” I asked her. She looked at me a little warily. “Are you... Trixie, right?”

“Of course Trixie is Trixie,” she agreed, putting on an air of confidence. “Are you a fan of hers?”

“Not exactly. I just know you from the show,” I admitted. That seemed to make her lose interest and she went back to unpacking. I wasn’t done though. “My name is Berry Punch. Did you just arrive?”

“Trixie has been here since last night,” she stated matter-of-factly. That didn’t add up, I didn’t see her in the group, unless I missed her somehow? She was also just now unpacking. Maybe she had been hiding until this morning.

“...Oh. Okay,” I responded clumsily. I looked over at the other ponies in the barn. A lot of them were chatting among themselves. So I turned back to Trixie; might as well give it a shot. “Have you seen a little filly running around? She’s kind of pink.”

Trixie snorted. “You’ll need to be more specific than that,” she said. I supposed there was Diamond Tiara here now too.

“Well, have you seen a blue unicorn? With blue and silver hair?” I tried. She stared at me expectantly and waited for me to get it.

And I did eventually: Trixie’s a blue unicorn with silvery-blue hair.

“Oh... not you. Sorry,” I apologized and backed away. “I’ll go look for them.”

Trixie went back to whatever it was she was doing and I went to the barn door. I stopped in awe when I saw the state of the farm.

There weren’t just new ponies settling down in the barn. There were new ponies out on the farm too. A lot of new ponies. Ponies talking and laughing with one another. Foals chasing each other and playing. I recognized some of these ponies from last night but there were just as many that I didn’t know. So many colors, so many faces. It was surreal to see so many ponies when days ago we felt so alone. Now, there was practically a tent city forming. If it weren't for the humans sprinkled here and there and the growing field of parked cars, it would have been easy to imagine I woke up somewhere other than Earth…

“This place is starting to look like a music festival, huh?” I heard from beside me. I turned to my side to find it was a unicorn with wild blue hair wearing plastic purple-framed glasses sitting just inside the barn.

“Oh. Uh, yeah,” I agreed. That was an accurate description with all the tents. All we were missing was a stage or two.

“Cool scars by the way, dude. You get mauled by a bear or something?” the unicorn asked.

“Vinyl!” the grey earth pony sitting next to her scolded. Her friend turned to me. “I’m sorry, miss. She has no filter.”

“I didn’t mean anything by it, I’m just saying you look cool,” Vinyl defended. I could clearly see her eyes through the glasses: there was no malevolence there.

“It’s fine,” I assured. “They’re actually from timberwolves.”

“Woah. You fought wolves?” Vinyl said in awe.
“Timberwolves specifically, like the wooden kind? It was kind of a one-sided fight,” I admitted while I gave the lines across my back a quick glance. Maybe the stripes did create 'wonder'.

“Daaamn~. Nice! And I thought a couple of Diamond Dogs were a pain!” Vinyl commented. Before I could ask her if those were dogs made out of diamond, Blossomforth had swooped down next to me.

“Oh good, you’re awake! Minuette wanted me to check on you. She said she ha-” Blossomforth stopped when she saw who I was talking to.

“Had what?” I coaxed out of her. Blossomforth looked back at me and smiled sheepishly.

“Oh. She said she had good news.” This sounded like something I wanted to hear. I turned from her to the ponies I had been talking to. The gray pony waved me off.

“You look busy now. Perhaps we can exchange stories later, if you’d like?” she suggested.

“Definitely!” I agreed. Ponies seemed to like the timberwolves story and I was curious how they got away from the police, if I was remembering correctly from the notebook. In my imagination, Luna just appeared as Nightmare Moon and went ‘Terminator’ on the police station.

“...Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name,” the gray mare realized. “My name is Octavia Melody and this is Vinyl Scratch.”

“I’m Berryshine Punch, or just Berry Punch,” I said, wanting to try out ‘Berryshine’ but backing down immediately after it came out. I looked at Blossomforth and saw her standing back behind me, apparently in awe or reverence to the two I was talking to. So, I helped her out. “This is Blossomforth.”

“It was nice to meet you both,” Octavia said her goodbye. Vinyl nodded.

With that, I turned to Blossomforth who looked at me, then gave them one more glance before she started leading me towards our friends. We were walking in mostly silence until she broke it.

“That was Vinyl Scratch!” she finally burst, starting to flap her wings and hover.

“Do you know her?” I asked. I did know her, but only by second-hand reputation. I didn’t know exactly what she was popular for.

“Every brony does! She’s the coolest!” I wondered how somepony could be cooler than Rainbow Dash so now I was intrigued.

“I don’t think I saw any episodes with her. Does she show up in later seasons?”

“Uh… kind of? She’s a background pony. She was in Suited For Success… for a bit. Then she was the DJ at the wedding!”

“There was a wedding?” I asked. I was missing a lot of episodes I guess.

“Yeah, at the end of season 2. Between Shining Armor and Princess Cadance?” she explained. This was the most I ever heard Blossomforth talk. Clearly she was a big fan of the show. What she said surprised me though.

“Shining’s married? But what about Rarity?”

“What about her?” Blossomforth asked as she led me towards the front porch, still flying overhead.

Ponies shouting and screaming from behind us ended our conversation. We turned to look. Coming our way, being closely escorted by Shining Armor, was a tall, black… horse-like creature. Their legs were full of holes, like Swiss cheese-like holes, and a translucent blue ‘mane’ clung to her head like it was wet.

“It’s The Queen of Evil!” one pony yelled as she scattered with several other ponies. Others just watched, at a distance or approaching. Some waved at her.

“Bonbon??” I heard from behind me on the porch then saw Lyra dart off in the direction some of the ponies were running.

“Woah, it’s Queen Chrysalis,” Blossomforth brought my attention back to the very tall and dark horse-bug-person. Rainbow Dash swooped in from somewhere to meet Shining Armor and Chrysalis. I didn’t know who this was, but I assumed the title the other pony gave her was an accurate one. At the very least, this queen was a big deal.

“Oh hey, Berry! You’re up!” I heard from behind me on the porch again. This time I turned and saw it was Minuette leaning over the porch rail, likely checking what the commotion was about too. “Come on up, we’re having brunch!” Minuette invited before sitting back down again. I gave the Chrysalis situation one last look, then the direction where Lyra had run off. Things seemed to be taken care of and I wasn’t going to eavesdrop if Lyra was catching up with someone. So, Blossomforth and I went up onto the porch.

We quickly found them. Minuette and Ruby were sitting off to the side on the porch, eating alfalfa out of some bowls. My minty friend waved us over, grinning ear to ear, barely able to contain herself.

“We found Carrot Top!” Minuette went right into the good news. I was shocked and relieved. The last time I saw her neither of us were in a good situation. I looked around the porch.

“Where?” I asked, not seeing her.

“She’s at her place! Chad just called and said she showed up this morning while he was gone. She's tired but she’s okay,” Minuette explained. I could imagine Carrot’s exhaustion: it was probably similar to mine for the last few days. Except I couldn’t imagine the loneliness she must have felt traveling for days alone back to where she was captured, not knowing who would be at her ransacked sanctuary, if anyone. I'm glad Comet Tail was there.

“When are they coming here?” I asked.

“As soon as everything's packed up. Or most of it. They said they’d call when they’re on their way.”

Finally, we would all be back together again. I looked over at Blossomforth who was quietly happy for us. I reminded myself she and Cloud Kicker should have been there at the homestead as well but they were captured.

There should have been someone else there as well.

No, two someone else's.

“Nathan and Mom should be here too,” I finally told my friends. They seemed to like that idea.

We couldn’t contact Mom or Nathan directly. I had smashed Mom’s phone and it probably wasn’t replaced yet and I didn’t know Nathan’s phone number. Not to mention Nathan didn’t have a car anymore either. Fortunately, there was a simple solution to this.

“Minnie? Do you think Chad can pick up Mom and Nathan on the way here?” Ruby suggested.

“I’m sure he could!” Minuette agreed.

“If Nathan isn’t home he’ll be at work. He still works at the grocery store,” I added. It was important to me that neither would be left behind. Minuette called and told Chad the plan. I thought about asking to speak to Comet Tail or Carrot Top, to know they're alright, but I knew they were and what I really wanted was to see them again.

So after Chad agreed to get them, it was now only a matter of waiting. I settled down next to Ruby and Minuette passed the alfalfa.

The late morning bled into the afternoon. I watched ponies come and go into the farmhouse. It was mostly the Mane Six and their friends but there were also new arrivals who had issues or were looking for their favorite ponies.

Cloud Kicker eventually came to get Blossomforth to go see a pony she called ‘Eepsqueak’. I wanted to stay on the porch, not feeling up to going anywhere. As long as we stayed out of the way no one minded. It was a nice spot and eventually some other ponies joined us in the shade of the house. Chad had called and said they were on their way and now I was desperate for any distractions. Luckily, every pony here had a story to share.

One nice unicorn named Harmony Trebleheart sat with us for a while with her cousin, Little Horn. I immediately liked Harmony and it wasn’t just because she offered to share her Alberta Pure vodka, which, after discussing it with Ruby, we agreed I could have one drink. She was sharp, sarcastic and absolutely doting on Little Horn. She was part of a large group, some of whom came all the way from Vancouver. She told me her story and Little Horn was determined to add to it every step of the way. I sipped my vodka out of one of her cups from the RV she drove, because with the increasing number of ponies on the farm cups were becoming hard to come by, while she told me about how her group grew until the apartment complex she owned couldn’t hide them anymore. She managed to network and moved a ton of ponies. With a combination of cloud, human companions and car they managed to cross the border.

Some time during ‘story time’ Minuette got another call: they were here. We got up to go find them and I thanked Harmony for the drink.

“Yeah... I better be on my way too. Gotta make sure Mayor didn’t lock the foals in a hot car or something,” Harmony joked as she got up to go check on her own friends.

“What?! Mayor Mare wouldn’t do that!” Little Horn said, not catching the playful tone.

“Hmm, probably not,” Harmony agreed with a mischievous grin before picking up Little Horn with her magic and setting her on her back. She looked to us. “Come find us sometime. L.H. and I are gonna be staying in the RV with the British Columbia license plate. Can’t be too many of those.”

We said our goodbyes then I got Ruby on my back. I felt more secure with her there and I was anxious to see my friends again. Feeling ready now, Minuette and I headed up the driveway towards where the cars parked.

I looked around at the cars, curious where they all came from. They were mostly from nearby but occasionally one jumped out, like a Winnebago from New York. I saw regular vehicles like a Land Rover or a Ford Taurus but there were some eccentric cars too. There was a storm chaser van, for like a news crew, and a black van that looked straight out of the A-Team TV show complete with red wheels and pinstripes.

Then I spotted the rental van I was looking for. I also saw Mom’s van. I didn’t go towards that just yet though because I saw who was helping Chad, Braeburn and Caramel unload. My best friend as a human, the father of my foal, was here.

As I approached with my filly on my back Comet Tail spotted me and gave me a relieved smile. Staring at those brilliant blue eyes I started grinning back like an idiot. There was so much I wanted to say and I had such a rush of emotions seeing him perfectly safe but no words came. Instead, without even letting Ruby down, I hugged my yellow stallion friend.

I nuzzled into his warm neck and I felt his foreleg around mine. I felt a part of my sanity returning while leaning against him. He was my rock as we turned back to ponies and now he was here again. I finally let go and looked at him again. He still had a soft smile for me.

“You okay?” he asked.

"I am. You?"

"Better now," he said with an approving smile.

I felt Ruby reposition on my back slightly but she stayed put. I was reminded I wanted to tell Comet Tail I knew about him being Ruby’s father but it was such a weighty issue and all I wanted right now was to bask in the presence of my friends.

Chad and the two stallions were helping move things towards the amassing pile of supplies near the barn but I heard a distinct voice from the back of the truck that pulled my attention away from Comet.

“Hey, Comet, have you seen where the cocoa pow-” she said before cutting herself off. I looked up and spotted her at the back of the supplies. In the shade of the truck I could still see her orange curls coming towards the front. As she got closer I could see her hooves had been stained brown and green, as if she had escaped a garden… or had been trudging through the wilderness for days. Her brilliant emerald eyes, the definitively second prettiest green eyes on the farm, were complemented by a green bandana now tied high around the neck, perfect to hide any marks that might be there. I saw her eyes search over me the same way I did her and I could tell from the distress on her face she was looking at my ‘stars’.

There were no words to give, there was too much to say and nothing needed to be said. She was full-on crying by the time she got to me and silently put her stained forelegs around my neck. I hugged her back and felt my daughter gently slip off my back. I used that to sit down and hug her better and gentler.

“Hey,” I whispered into her ear. She sniffled hard at that and held me tighter.

“I was so worried about you,” she whispered to me. I nuzzled into her. She smelled like grass, dirt and something distinctly herb-like. Almost like the leaves to a carrot: bitter but wholesome and with a hint of something sweet just beneath the surface.

“I was worried about you too,” I told her. Finally after one more nuzzle we broke away to see each other again and collect ourselves. Carrot Top traced a hoof across my chest.

“What did they do to you?” she asked, almost in a hushed whisper. I realized what she was thinking when I saw her eyes roaming over me again.

“They didn’t do this. We ran into some monsters.”

“You mean non-human ones?” she clarified. I nodded. Before I could get into details Minuette saw her chance and went in to hug and nuzzle Carrot Top next. I glanced over and saw Pinchy hugging and talking quietly with Comet Tail before she joined Minuette in hugging Carrot Top a moment later.

I would have probably gone back to hugging Comet Tail instead of smiling at him and my friends if I didn’t then realize Nathan and Mom had snuck up on us while we were hugging and didn’t want to interrupt. Mom looked well-dressed with makeup on. I made eye contact with Mom for a moment and felt myself shrink slightly. There were a lot of mixed emotions on her face and probably on mine too. I had to remind myself why I invited her. I knew they could both see my new marks. I hoped Mom could also see Ruby didn’t have any.

Instead of dwelling on her stare I turned back to Nathan. He looked clean besides his scraggly facial hair. In a way, it made him look playful and it fit his smile. I rushed to greet that smile with my own overjoyed one. Then I stood up on my hindlegs and he squatted down and we met halfway to hug. He had a strong hug for someone with one arm still in a cast.

“Good to see you,” I told him.

“You too.”

I didn’t have to feel guilty about Mom standing there and watching the affection for long before I heard Ruby.

“Mom!” Ruby shouted and I pulled away from nuzzling Nathan’s own fuzzy neck to look. Ruby ran towards our mom. Mom finally had a smile on her face. She squatted down to pick Ruby up and held her like a baby.

“Oooh,” she said before kissing her. “You made me worried! Why didn’t you call??”

“Uh, someone stole my phone,” she gave the half-truth and I could see it hurt her a bit. I could tell Mom could see right through that facial expression too. Mom looked at me, wanting answers.

“Hi, Mom,” I started.

“Brian,” she greeted me and then “What happened?” she asked as direct and as diplomatically as she could.

“Yeah, we’ll explain,” I agreed. I saw Braeburn and Caramel had stopped unloading things and went to go organize the supplies to give us some space. Even still, I didn’t want to have this conversation out here: catching Mom up would be difficult and I had other things I wanted to tell her.

“Hey all!” Applejack announced nearby. If someone was expecting it, they could have probably heard that as a y’all. “If you’re just dropping off, you can stay here ‘til you go. If you’re staying a while -and all ponies and families with ponies are welcome! -when you finish unpacking you can park over there, in the lot with that big moving truck!”

There were talks and planning among the nearby ponies after her little announcement. I saw her turn our way and walk over.

“Hi! I’m Jack. Are you all family?” Applejack asked as she looked around our group, specifically at Mom and Nathan. I finally let go of Nathan and dropped back down to all fours.

“This is my fiance,” Minuette said, putting a hoof against Chad’s leg. Applejack nodded.

“Right. I recognize you,” she agreed and looked towards the others.

“I’m their mom,” Mom explained as she gestured to the Pinchy in her arms and at me. Applejack smiled and nodded at that but I saw her eye up Nathan too. I wasn’t about to lie to the Element of Honesty. I hoped she would understand if I explained it well enough so I came to his aid.

“This is my old friend, Nathan. If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t be here,” I explained. Jack thought about that for just a second before smiling and nodding at Nathan.

“All family then!” she determined. “You’re welcome to find a place to stay but I can’t offer any special accommodations for humans.”

“I was going to find a place to stay in town,” Chad explained, apparently feeling awkward at admitting that. Minuette didn’t react strongly to that, apparently expecting it.

“I’ll probably do the same then. I’m too old to be sleeping in a barn or on the ground outside,” Mom joked good-naturedly to the pony in charge. I nudged Nathan’s side to get his attention.

“You can stay in the barn with us. If you want,” I insisted. I wasn’t going to leave him out of the group again.

“Yes, you can, Nathan,” Carrot Top added to it. “I didn’t open up my home to you. To either of you.” Carrot Top glanced at my mom. “If I had been more generous we wouldn’t have been separated in the first place.” Minuette put a foreleg around Carrot Top’s back and nuzzled the side of her face before looking up at Nathan.

“We’d love to have you,” Minuette chimed in. I saw out of the corner of my eye Comet Tail quietly nodded in agreement.

“Oh. Okay,” Nathan agreed a little shyly, probably not expecting all the attention. His smile and the head rub he gave me seemed clear though: he wanted to stay. I looked back over at my mom.

“Applejack? Is there some place Mom and I could go to talk in private?”

“Hm? Oh, sure. I guess you could borrow my room for a bit?”

“Wait, private? Both of us, right?” Ruby asked from Mom’s arms.

“No... Mom and I need to talk about some things,” I admitted and looked at our mom. “I’ll catch you up on everything else too. It’s... related.”

The group looked unsure by this and Comet Tail came up to my side.

“Are you sure?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah,” I assured. Comet Tail quietly nodded and accepted that. My thinking was there was a lot of heavy stuff to deal with. For her with her children and with how I’ll process her reaction to it all. I decided I wanted Mom’s genuine reaction and I wasn’t sure if she would be able to give it if she was surrounded by my friends supporting me. I also felt like an apology would seem more sincere in private.

For her part, Mom seemed confused right now.

“Is this about why you became cartoon ponies?” Mom asked, looking at me then our daughter, catching the tone and looking worried. Ruby nodded and hugged Mom.

“Everything’s okay! It’s just… heavy,” Ruby explained vaguely. She looked at me, slightly worried as well. “Right?” I nodded.

“I promise it’s okay. We just need to talk. One on one,” I explained.

I gave my friends and daughter one more hug and then I took Applejack up on her offer. Mom and I awkwardly, quietly walked to the house, going around the ponies going here and there. After going in, I checked to make sure she was still following. I got a glimpse of Pinkie Pie as we passed by the kitchen and as we went through the living room I saw some ponies were watching the Friendship is Magic cartoon. We headed down the hall to the room Applejack had directed us to. Looking around the bedroom I spotted a Vinyl Scratch plushie still sitting on the desk here: we were in the right place.

Mom shut the door behind us and it felt like everything outside had slipped away.

“Sure are a lot of you,” Mom commented. I silently nodded and for several seconds wondered if this was the right choice. “So, what is this about?” she said, breaking the silence.

No, I wanted to make amends, I reminded myself of the thoughts I had in the back of that truck. This would be easier in private.

“...please sit down,” I said, gesturing towards the chair, trying to buy myself more time. She probably should, anyway. For her sake and so she looked less imposing.

Mom complied and with the seconds it bought me I decided to start with the important part first.

“I’m sorry,” I began. “I'm an alcoholic. I know I abuse it. It used to be all I looked forward to. It... ruined me. All of this would have been easier if I didn’t drink. But I do. And I’m sorry. I’ve done a lot of self-reflection and… I hurt you. I yelled at you. I scared you. I take after Dad and I was a terrible son. You have every right to hate me.”

Mom nodded at my admittance. “You did hurt me...” Mom agreed. After a moment she added. “...but I don't hate you,” I looked at her face, looking for something to tell me the words didn’t mean what they did. “You might have looked like him and drank like him but you’re not like your father; I don't hate you."

“You’re lying! I was never good enough for you! You gave up on me!”

“You pushed me away,” she said, shaking her head. “You loved your sister. You had friends who weren’t just like you. You were always more sympathetic to people... just not to me.”

I didn’t see it that way.

“You blamed everything on me. You thought I was selling drugs! You thought turning into ponies was my fault!”

“I did,” she agreed. “I… was scared. I’m sorry about that. I knew you were unemployed then you showed up at my door needing a place to stay, with an expensive stuffed animal for Brianna? I was scared we were going to get caught up in something.”

This was her pattern! Her taking the high-road like this, rewriting the truth…

I was angry at this woman and looking at her… and then I stopped.

I brought this woman here to apologize. I wanted to make amends. There was no point to blame her. I saw the conflict rising between us and wondered how she could be this delusional.

Either Mom misremembered, she lived in her own world, she was blatantly lying... or I was doing some of that. There was the possibility I was just yelling at an old woman who didn’t understand why I was yelling. She did say she was sorry...

“I’m sorry,” I apologized again.

“I know,” she said. “That’s why you’re not like Greg.”

That broke me. I sniffled then fought the tears until I knew I lost against them. As a last resort I rubbed them away with the back of a hoof.

“Sorry; I cry a lot now,” I explained.

“You always cried a lot,” Mom disagreed. “When you were little anyway. Greg didn’t like that though.” She reflected and I did too. I hadn’t thought about that in forever but that sounded true. “I wish you had a better father figure.”

I quietly nodded.

“You know...” Mom started. “...after you moved I would pray something would happen and you’d turn your life around. Hopefully before you got into worse things and something bad happened to you. I imagined you’d come home and we'd talk like this and be a family again. After Brianna told me about the car wreck I was hoping that was what would wake you up.” She looked at me hopeful. “I couldn’t in a million years guess it’d be you turning into a little purple horse.”

“Heh. Yeah,” I agreed awkwardly. I didn’t know Mom prayed regularly. Especially not for me. I felt bad though, because I had a lot more to tell her still. Things I knew she wouldn’t like. After finding shaky, common ground, it was time to test it.

“So, before I was Brian, I was Berry Punch,” I began. Mom looked skeptical about this.

“You mean you were Brian before you were Berry Punch,” she tried to correct me. I shook my head.

“A little over twenty-five years ago something happened in another world, a world full of colorful, talking ponies and magic. And some creatures there know evil magic and curses. There is a creature named ‘Discord’ and he took over their world. He cast a curse on the ponies to send them away to this world where they would forget what happened and would look like the creatures here. The curse was supposed to last exactly twenty-five years and when it expired, the ponies would remember their last moments, how they got here, and then their bodies would turn back to their old selves,” I stopped and finally looked up at my mom. She seemed slightly confused.

“You think you’re from another world? Aliens?” she asked, skeptically.

“Basically. But instead of from outer space we’re from, like, here but a different dimension; like a different timeline where ponies appeared instead of humans,” I did my best to explain it simply.

“Brian, you’re not an alien. Neither is Brianna. I gave birth to you,” she defended herself. “I think you’re just confused.”

I shook my head. “No. The memories are too vivid. We all remember being sent here now. I remember a mountain on fire and creatures covered in ash. I remember us hiding in caves. And... it's not just memories. I met Discord. Here! It was horrifying. He’s not fully in this world yet, he was like a ghost, but he was strong enough he could make monsters,” I explained as I gestured to my chest and pointed at my back. After a few seconds I realized I was looking away in self-consciousness. I looked back up to check her expression. She looked conflicted and distraught.

“...monsters?” she asked. I nodded. “Where was Brianna?”

“Behind me. Unconscious,” I explained. “She was exhausted and I couldn’t run. Discord wouldn’t let us escape.”

“Where were all of your friends?” she asked. I sighed and looked down at my hooves shamefully. That was when I caught a glimpse of the stars across my chest. I felt a weak smile form. They were there, in a way. They were kind of here now too, if I kept them in mind. All of this would require some explaining to Mom though.

So, I told Mom how the last week or so had been. I left out as much sex and violence as I could, but I told her about the ponynapping, the rescue, the run in with people, the run in with Discord, my task from the dream princess, and the miracle over Des Moines and how it was basically just a long walk from there.

“I thought that rainbow explosion might’ve been related to this,” Mom added. “Especially after I got that call from Monica’s fiance.”

After a moment of silence Mom sighed and looked at me with softer eyes now.

“...that all happened?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “You do believe me, right? That we’re from another world? That Discord sent us here?”

“...I don’t really have a choice, do I?” she asked somberly. “All these ponies. How hurt you are. What Nathan told me Ruby could do: magic.” I watched her try to swallow this pill again. It looked difficult for her.

“You’re my son; you’re Brian,” she fought. “I carried you and Bri for nine months. I raised you until you left home; I’m your mother. No matter what happens, that doesn’t go away.”

“I know. You’re not wrong,” I admitted. “We’re still your kids. But twenty-five years ago, before I was... your son, I was this.” I pointed at myself. “I was a mare, a female pony, and Brianna was Ruby first, she was my daughter. I gave birth to her too.” Mom seemed to take the rewording a bit better, but I could tell she was upset: I was taking her worldview away, how she viewed her children.

“We still refer to you as Mom, you know,” I explained, trying to help. “She calls us both ‘Mom’.”

“But I bet she wants to stay with you, doesn’t she?”

“...for right now at least, I think,” I admitted. “But I won’t keep you from her.” I was really glad Ruby wasn’t here now while we basically discussed her custody.

“So are you going to be living here?” Mom asked. She already thought she knew the answer, that we weren't coming back with her. Unfortunately I had a worse answer.

“We’re going to find a way back to Equestria and stop Discord. It’s the only way to make sure we’re safe,” I explained, skipping over the ‘how’. The ‘how wasn’t important right now.

“Is Brianna going?” Mom asked. That was the intent. I nodded.

“You could come with us?”

“...what’s over there?

“Towns, a few bigger cities, A lot of rural farming… I think most of the ponies left are here. So it’s probably been neglected all this time-” I started before she cut me off.

“-and monsters? Like the ones that attacked you?”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “ There’s a lot of mythological creatures. Some nicer ones, some meaner ones-” Mom started shaking her head, done with entertaining the idea.

“Brian, I couldn’t live like that. You shouldn’t either. There’s no way it’s safe there,” Mom disagreed with the plan. I wasn’t angry though.

“Even if humans stopped ponynapping us, we have to stop Discord. Otherwise Earth isn't safe either,” I tried explaining to her. She looked like she was at a loss.

“...will you be able to come back?” Mom asked.

“...I don’t know. Depends on how the way back works.”

“You two are all I have. You know that, right? My life doesn’t have meaning without you,” Mom admitted. That hurt but I understood. Without Pinchy or my friends, I didn’t see the value in living either.

They were our higher power.

“If there’s a way back, we’ll come,” I promised. “Maybe after ‘we save the world’… we’ll even come stay with you for a while?” I suggested.

“I hope you do,” Mom agreed solemnly.

That was that then.

We sat in silence for a moment longer before I thought to address something that kept coming up in the conversation.

“Was there something else?” Mom asked, apparently reading the apprehension on my face. I wasn’t sure if it was just expressions being hard to hide as a pony or her familiarity with me.

“My name isn’t Brian anymore. It’s Berry Punch,” I explained, hoping she’d get it. I think she did but she looked reluctant.

“...okay, I’ll call you Berry Punch."

She didn’t though. Not that day. I hoped the next time she came by she would. I thought that would be the next day. She said she was going to stay nearby but I don’t think she did. She didn’t come back to the farm. At least not before we left for Equestria.

Before that though, Mom and I rejoined our friends. Minuette and Ruby were cheerfully filling in details to Nathan and Chad. Carrot Top and Comet Tail looked like they had been mostly just listening. I was surprised to see Cloud and Blossom found us again and were standing around with us too.

Looking around, our group a little too large to be clustered onto the porch like this, I was a bit in awe. There were so many of us just wanting to be near each other. Surrounded by all these people I felt safer; warmer. Carrot Top and I made eye contact. I think she could feel it too.

I looked back at Mom and wanting to distance myself from the conversation neither of us left particularly happy with, I looked away and turned to Nathan instead.

“Did you guys get the tour yet?” I asked Nathan in particular. I knew Mom didn’t really get a look around.

“Uh, no,” Nathan said.

“We were waiting for you,” Comet Tail told me. Comet Tail and I exchanged a smile. I looked around and Carrot Top and Chad both looked like they needed to catch up on sleep. Carrot might have wanted to wash up first too. Maybe the barn would be the right place to start first then. I looked up and checked on Nathan. It looked like he was looking in that direction.

“Where first, Nathan?” I asked for his input. Nathan looked around at the group of ponies looking at him for directions and shrunk a little. Then, he regained his composure and looked back where was looking.

“Is… uh, is that Vinyl Scratch?” he asked, pointing with the arm in a cast. I peeked between the porch rails and spotted Vinyl in the direction he was pointing.

“Yeah! We just met this morning. Come on, I’ll introduce you!” I offered.

There was a lot of unpacking left to do, Chad and Carrot Top needed a nap, I still needed to catch up with them, and Mom looked ready to go. For now though, we led Nathan into the crowd of ponies to introduce him to some and show him around.

Raindrops probably refers to Sunshower Raindrops who doesn't have a fic associated with her to my knowledge. Lemon Hearts and Sunshine Clouds also don't have a fic to my knowledge, but there were tentative talks in the forum years ago. 'Sunshine Clouds' is not a canon character. She was included in the original fic to show that it's okay to use OCs in side fics. Diamond Tiara's personality and backstory is inspired from Five Score, Divided by Derp. Go read it if you want a taste of what she was like as Meredith. (The Derpy and Vinyl from that story are ignored: as the story stands at 3.6k words they don't interact with her and aren't her friends) Braeburn's human name, Ben, was lifted from Snowflakes & High Stakes, which sits at 2.5k words. Curious about what's going on with Lyra and Bon-Bon'? Go read about it! Lyra is based on Tyler Hawkins from the cancelled but inspired Changing Strings and Other Things! Alt To my knowledge Caramel, Daisy and Lotus do not have a story where they are a focus but they are known to cameo from time-to-time. Is Trixie acting suspicious? Did something happen last night? What's the deal with Chrysalis? Perhaps there is something larger going on... My Carrot Top's human name was stolen from Bubble Pops and Orange Tops. While it's only 1.5k words, "Claudia Hayes" was too perfect as a compliment to both Golden Harvest and Carrot Top. Her personality is a bit similar too. But it's also somewhat similar to Cynthia from Changing Anatomies. Carrot Top being a bit of a no-nonsense foil to goofballs seemed like a common theme. Some of her personality was also inspired from Lunaverse and from the songs Beyond Her Garden/Beyond Her Tomb. Harmony Trebleheart, Little Horn and friends are from On Our Own. There may be hints to other characters that will be more obvious later on...

Edited a line from Vinyl Scratch to fit in with another author's vision on January 3, 2023. Original:

“Timberwolves specifically, like the wooden kind? It was kind of a one-sided fight,” I admitted while I gave the lines across my back a quick glance. Maybe the stripes did create 'wonder'.

“Haha, I bet. Kicked those things’ flanks, huh?” Vinyl suggested, not quite getting that I was on the losing side. Before I could correct her Blossomforth had swooped down next to me.