David woke slowly, peacefully, in the soft glow of Celestias sun. Rob had already woken up, David could tell, because the smell of death and burnt food mixed with anger was floating in the tranquil morning air. "Not looking forward to this." David sighed before rising and walking down the hall to the source of the atrocity. Rob was standing behind the counter, frying pan handle in mouth, smoke rising from it.

"Oh, mornin' David! Just makin' some grub." Rob said from between clenched teeth.

"Murdering it, more like it. Take that off the heat and open a window for Celestias sake." David said, sitting on the couch and promptly yawning. Rob muttered under his breath and did as he was told. David noticed todays paper already on the table and, with some difficulty, picked it up and began to read. At least until he noticed the date. "Shit, we need to get to Canterlot! We have a weekly meeting with the Princess today!" David said with a slight tone of panic in his voice.

"Calm down, David. I'm sure we got time." Rob said walking to the door. David managed to get it together and followed Rob down the stairs and to the train station. They had almost reached the station when Rainbow Dash fluttered down from a cloud she had been napping on.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Rainbow said, walking in step with them.

'Fantastic.' David thought. "Oh, hey Rainbow. We were just headed for Canterlot. We have some business with the Princess." David said, avoiding what 'business' they had to discuss.

"Cool, is it alright if I come with you?" Rainbow asked.

'Here we go...' David thought. "Uh, its kinda personal, to remain with the Princess, Dusk, and I. Sorry, maybe you can come next time." David said, stepping onto the train and closing the door before Rainbow could respond.

'Huh, that was weird. Maybe Twi knows something about it.' Rainbow thought to herself as the train pulled out of the station. She flew over to Twilight's library to see if she did know anything about this meeting. She was the Princesses’ faithful student after all.

Golden Oaks Library, In Twilight's Bedroom

Twilight was dreaming of yesterday, the most amazing, wonderful, incredible time she had. Yesterday was undoubtedly one of the happiest days of her life. A smile formed on her face in her sleep as she dreamed about it. Until she was woken up by Rainbow Dash fluttering inches above her. The two ponies stared at each other for a moment before Twilight decided to break the silence. "Uh... can I help you, Rainbow?" Twilight asked. Rainbow took a moment to formulate her thoughts.

"Yeah, do you know what Paladin and Dusk are doing heading to Canterlot today to meet with the Princess?" The cyan pegasi asked her. This caught Twilight off guard. She didn't know about Paladin and Dusk even going to Canterlot again after the personalized thank you from the Princesses.

"Uh, no, I didn't know that they were headed for Canterlot. Why?" Twilight asked. "And can I get up now?" She added, and Rainbow floated over to the floor and looked at Twilight.

"Well, you're Celestias student, so I thought that you would heard of something at least. Don't they go every week and the same time?" Rainbow asked, recalling the past month or so. Twilight thought about that as well. It did seem odd that they would go every week to meet the Princess.

"I'm sure it’s nothing, Rainbow. I'll talk about it in my next friendship report, ok?" Twilight said, stretching and walking downstairs.

"Alright. But I still want to know what's up. See ya later, Egghead!" Rainbow said bursting through the door. Twilight just stared after her, confused at what exactly just happened. 'Oh, maybe I should have told her Paladin is my coltfriend. Oh well, maybe next time.' Twilight thought as Spike walked in rubbing his eyes.

"Ugh, why are you up so early, Twi?" Spike said followed by a yawn.

"It was just a visit from Rainbow Dash. Let's get ready for the day, shall we?"

Canterlot, In the Throne Room

"Hello Princess. How are you today?" David asked the monarch.

"I am well, David. Though I am afraid I have some bad news for the two of you." Celestia said with a concerned expression on her face.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up. Ya said the scribes would be done within a month. It's almost been a month." Rob said, impatient and concerned. Just because life had been going well here in Equestria didn't mean Rob didn't miss his home more and more every day. Celestia looked at the two with a mixture of pity and sadness.

"We have identified the spell that brought you here. There are two problems, however." David and Rob exchanged concerned glances. The Princess continued. "It is a Chaos spell. Chaos magic is normally not usable by ponies, and we will have to find somepony that can use it. Problem two is the nature of the spell itself. There is a link, weak, that holds the summoned creatures to their point of origin." Celestia paused as the two humans continued to look saddened at the increasingly bad news that was given. She felt tears begin to gather in her eyes. "The link disintegrates after a maximum of five minutes post-summoning." Celestia closed her eyes as a single tear feel to the floor.

David looked at her in disbelief. Rob looked at her with confusion and sadness, unsure of what that meant. "What- what do ya mean 'disintegrates'?" Rob asked after a moment. Celestia opened her eyes and looked at Rob.

"It means that we will have to find a way to re-establish the connection with your home world before we can send you back." Celestia said with sadness layered throughout her voice.

"But... but... no. No. NO!" Rob yelled and ran out of the throne room, off to the Stone Garden. David continued to look at the floor in shock.

Celestia felt more tears roll on her cheeks as she looked upon the utter despair they must have felt. "I am so sorry, David." She said with as much sincerity and compassion she could muster. David muttered something that Celestia did not quiet hear. "What was that?" She asked.

"We are never going home, are we?" David said just above a whisper, looking up at Celestia with tears welling in his eyes as well. Celestias heart sank down into the floor as she simply looked at the crushed human, words escaping her.

A member of the royal guard entered the room. "Sorry to interrupt Princess, but there is a stallion going mad in the Stone Garden."  He said.

"Is he destroying anything?" Celestia asked.

"No ma’am." He replied.

"Leave him be than. Ensure nopony disturbs him. He has received some very sad news."

"As you say, Princess." He responded slightly confused, but loyal to the monarch without question. He rushed out of the room to secure the Stone Garden with his comrades. David continued to stare a hole in the floor, tears rolling down his cheeks.

In the Stone Garden

Rob ran as fast as he ever had, not knowing where he was going. He found an area devoid of ponies and proceeded with losing his shit. He stomped on the ground, bucked wildly, cursed everything and anything he could think of, ran the Garden however he could, until eventually he slumped down in defeat and began to sob. His thoughts raced through his mind at a million miles an hour, his siblings, his mom and dad, his home, his farm duties, everything about his life, all shattering in his mind. His body shuddered from the force of his sobs, his throat aching from his groans of pain and helplessness.

He hadn't noticed that a cyan colored pony had alighted next to him until she put her wing around him and he turned to sob into her shoulder. The pair sat there for a long time, all the despair and sadness leaving him in great heaves of tears. Eventually, he calmed down enough to realize that he was crying into somepony. He looked up to see Rainbow Dash looking at him with a sad look of concern. "S... sorry, Rainbow." Rob said quietly.

"It's ok. I don't mind Dusk. Really." Rainbow said, attempting a weak, sad smile. "I can't stand to see friends upset." She said, pulling him closer. Rob remembered that David had said for her not to come, yet, he she was.

"Wait... what are ya doin' here, Rainbow? Didn't Paladin say not ta come?" Rob asked. Rainbow looked surprised and remembered that he had, in fact, told her not to come with them.

"Oh, uh, well, I... uh... dang it." She sighed. "I followed you guys because I thought you had been acting weird. I was looking all over for you when I saw you run here." Rainbow explained. Rob stood up, breaking the embrace, thinking about Applejack.

"Thanks fer bein' here, but I should go get Paladin." Rob began to walk the direction he came from. "Oh, and, uh... let us tell everypony else what happened here... alright?" Rob asked, stopping and looking over his shoulder.

"Sure thing, Dusk." Rainbow said and took to the sky. Rob wondered into the throne room after a few moments and found David staring at the floor, a small puddle of tears at his feet, the silence of the room broken occasionally by the soft *plop* of tears dropping down. Celestia had been looking at him the entire time, trying to find the right words to say. Rob walked over to his friend and sat down.

"Look... I know how ya get when shit like this happens... but, we gotta head back ta Ponyville. Back ta Twilight." David looked up at him when he mentioned Twilight.

"I... I guess you’re right, bro. We need to explain what has us so down, huh?" David said.

"And Rainbow let me cry with her in the Garden. She followed us but didn't hear our little talk or where we even were." Rob said, feeling warmth crawl into his cheeks. David looked back at the ground.

"Uh, good, I guess." David said. "Anyway, let’s go. Princess, while today was... dark; I still have faith that you can find a way home for us." David said looking up to her. Celestia managed a sad smile.

"Thank you, David. I will personally make sure we find a way home for you."

In the Void

Discord was as giddy as a schoolfoal. The spell he cast had finally, FINALLY sent something into that world. He had cast that spell ages ago, at least it felt like ages, time was a touchy subject in his current place of habitation. And being the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony didn't help either. Regardless of the concept of time, his plan was starting to come to fruition. The humans had caused not as much chaos as he had hoped, but did get a good amount. Discord had been collecting the small amount of Chaos energy that Equestria had to offer, and it was miserable. It was like trying to fill a bucket with a dripping hose.

And he had used a lot to get these sorry chaps here in the first place. But no matter, the 'bucket' was almost at where it was when they came here, and Discord was having so much fun tracking their progress. The relationships would come in handy in the next phase of the plan. Yawning, Discord decided to take a nap. He had a lot more to plan for when he escaped this miserable expanse of nothingness. The thought of causing chaos freely once more filled his head with flying pigs and chocolate rain from cotton candy clouds.