Tyler was lying on his back, Twilight's weight on his chest. They had made it through the portal in time. A sigh of relief escaped him, knowing full well the Descendants were unable to follow them now. However, much to his surprise, there was a certain noise in the air that rang several alarm bells. A noise he didn't hear in a very long time now. It was distant, but distinctive. Looking into the clear orange evening sky, he saw it. An object he didn't see in a very long time either. It was an airplane. And its jet turbines were audible as it roamed the sky. Shaking his head, he stemmed himself up.

This had to be a mistake. Once sitting up, he recognized the others were coming to their feet and hooves as well, little by little. The journey through the portal seemed to have left everyone dizzy to a certain degree. Rainbow looked over to Fluttershy, a bit of worry in her voice.
"Hey, Fluttershy... Do you have a hard time flying as well?"

The yellow mare nodded and landed.
"It wasn't so difficult before we went through the portal... Now it seems so hard to even stay in the air. Like my wing muscles aren't used to this."

Rarity, upon cleaning herself from the dirt, shook her head slightly.
"Girls, believe me... I can relate... Somehow my magic doesn't work as I remember. I need much more power to do even the easiest things. It seems we're down to mere earth ponies now."

Rolling her eyes, Applejack couldn't but grin.
"Oh no! Whatever shall we do?” Looking over to Pinkie, she smirked. “Right, Pinkie?” That smirk however withered in an instant, as Pinkie seemed upset about something. “What is it?”

Looking up, the pink mare shook her head.
“I can't do it anymore!”

The others looked at Pinkie Pie.
“What? What is it?”

Taking a look at her hooves, Pinkie arched a brow
“My bounciness! It's gone! This place is weird. Like... the wrong kind of weird!”

Tyler stood up and looked around. The nature sure seemed different as well. Then again, an all too familiar feeling came up with this place.
"Brace yourself for a big surprise, folks: This isn't Equis, this is Earth."

Leaning against a tree, Flynn shook his head.
“Also known as the Everfree Planet.”

In an instant, Lyra's eyes went wide and her pupils shrank down to tiny dots.
"Wha- waddya mean? Earth? Are we actually on the human world?"

Looking over to the mint-coated unicorn, Tyler nodded.
“That's what I think, Lyra. Ponies don't have airplanes.”

Jumping up, Lyra then rested her front hooves on Sam's chest.
“Sam!?! Do you know what this means?”

But Sam only smirked and shook his head.
“Sure! It means we're in trouble! Not only are we to return to Equestria, we have to return to Equis as well now first!"

Holding a hoof to her heart, Lyra closed her eyes with a smile.
“Entering the human world... Calm yourself, heart of mine... This is the chance of a lifetime!” Looking at herself, Lyra frowned a bit. “Odd... I thought there would be some sort of transition or change, once we crossed over into your human world. Like you guys did, when you came into our world. You told us it made you stronger and all that, not to forget your special talents.

Flynn shook his head.
“Don't look at me. I tried it just now and only twice as fast as a normal human here on Earth. My superspeed is limited now... And I think this limitation goes on and on until I return normal again...”

Tipping her chin in thought, Lyra thought for a moment.
“So there is no empowering for us like in Equestria... It seems to be more of a de-powering here on the human world... Bummer! I hoped for something more interesting and more of use?

Sam rewarded this with a chuckle.
“Like what? Did you think you girls would all turn human with clothing and tanned in the colours of your coats?”

This prompted Lyra to giggle along.
“Yeah, you're right, Sam... That would look so very silly for a human.”

Sam looked over to Twilight, visibly worried about the situation.
“I thought the portal was supposed to lead us back to Equestria... Not to Earth...”

Giving Lyra a short glance, Tyler then looked over to Twilight.
“Twilight, can you open the portal again? This time to Equestria?

Looking up to him, Twilight nodded before she turned to
“We can give it another try... Lyra? Rarity?”

Coming to Twilight's side, the white unicorn gave the situation her best smile.
“I do hope we don't use up all of our magic with this, Twilight...”

As their horns began to glow, Twilight returned the smile.
“Don't worry, we will be in Equestria in just a second...”

And before them the portal rose up anew. But just before Twilight wanted to step through, Tyler held her back.
“Let me go first... Whatever happens on the other side... I think I should be the one taking the first blow...” Twilight arched a brow, but rewarded this with a smile. Once more, he was concerned for nothing more than her well being. But just as Tyler stepped near the portal, he could see the landscape on the other side. The land seemed to be Equestria no doubt, but there was something off. He could hear something, like a rumble in the distance growing louder.

And all of a sudden, an army of pink ponies bounced into view and across the landscape.
“Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!” A thousand identical voices yelled this one word and a beam of magic was shot at the portal.

As the portal closed, Sam looked over to Twilight.
"Let us never open the portal to this parallel world again.

Twilight shook her head in disbelief.
"Agreed! Alright... This was definitely not the Equestria we wish to go to...” Taking a look over to Lyra and Rarity, Twilight gave them a nod. “One more time?” Both unicorns exchanged some glances and nodded in reply. There was still enough magic left in them.

But as the portal opened for the second time, a sudden commotion became audible on the other side. Ponies yelled and shouted angrily at someone, the ponies and humans knew all too well by now. It was Discord and seemingly he was stripped of all his powers, for he was tossed back and forth, kicked several times, until a hand grabbed his jaw and lifted him up by it. The next sight the friends could see through the portal was simply unreal. Another Tyler, Rachel and Flynn stood there, dressed in black dull leather, highly decorated with medals and banners. After he lifted Discord up, this other Tyler looked around at the other ponies with a smile, as presenting them Discord like a trophy.
“Now you will see true Inquisition Ranger justice!”

The ponies on the other side began to cheer, while the humans on this side of the portal simply gulped. Inquisitor Marshall then spread out his arms and addressed the crowd before them.
“We do not ask for your friends! Or your loved ones!”

In the next moment, Discord was thrown to the ground.
“We do not want your tired and sick!”

Raising her fist, Inquisitor Higgins then shouted:
“It is your corrupt we claim!”

A boot was pressed onto Discord's head, pressing it into the dirt.
“It is your evil that will be sought by us!”

“With every breath we shall hunt them down!”

“Each day we will spill their blood until it rains down from the sky!”

The boot was removed from Discord's head and Marshall helped him up.
“Kindness! Loyalty! Honesty! Harmony is a myriad of principles which every being of every faith can embrace.”

“These are not polite suggestions.” Inquisitor Jones continued, “These are codes of behavior. And those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost to her, our beloved princess!”

Looking around, Inquisitor Higgins shook her head.
“There are varying degrees of evil, we urge you lesser forms of filth not to push the bounds and cross over...” She then pushed the shotgun barrel deep into Discord's neck causing him to look down and she leaned down to him. “...into true corruption, into our jurisdiction.”

Stomping his heavy boot onto a bench, Inquisitor Jones then looked at the surrounding ponies and gestured at Discord.
“But if you do, one day you will look behind you and you will see we three and on that day you will reap it.”

“And we will send you to which ever afterlife you wish. “

Now going into formation behind the Draconequis, the three inquisitors raised their guns for the impending execution. Begging for his life, Discord shook his head in terror, not daring to look at them directly.
“No! Please! You humans are crazy!”

But their sentence was clear and no plead would soften their hearts to spare this poor chaotic soul. It became a sight that forced Fluttershy to look away and pressing her hooves against her ears as strong as she could.
“By Celestia's eternal will
We vanquish this chaotic ill.
Power hath descended forth from thy hoof,
That our hands may swiftly deliver thy power's proof.”

Gritting her teeth, Inquisitor Higgins pointed the shotgun barrel at Discord's head
“In nomine Solaris,...”

Marshall held the sub-machine gun with an icy expression towards the temple.
“et Luna,”

Inquisitor Jones' eyes glared down coldly to the Draconequis, cocking his gun.
“...et Spiritus Concordia.”

The portal closed just as the gunshots went loud.

Tyler closed his eyes slowly shook his head, before he turned to the others. This had been a glimpse into total madness. Looking at the other humans, he put up a genuine smile.
“You know? Suddenly I'm happy to be the way I am.”

Flynn nodded slowly, also aghast of the scene he just witnessed.
“No shit... Seeing myself as a pawn for a tyrannical Princess Celestia, as inquisitor and executioner...” Looking over to Rainbow, he smiled. “You like me better the way I am now, right?”

“Definitely!” Rainbow agreed.

Tyler looked over to Fluttershy and knelt down to her.
“You know we would never do that to him, do you?”

The timid yellow Pegasus nodded, wiping away a few tears.
“Y-yes... Just another bad universe.”

Looking up to Rachel, Tyler nodded over to Fluttershy.
“Rachel, why don't you take her and give her some distance for now? I don't want her to see all these horrible things. Maybe the next will get even worse...”

Rachel nodded and conversed a bit with the Pegasus while the others sighed in frustration.
“One last time?”

“Alright... But this really is the last one, Twilight.”

Both unicorns nodded and once more, the portal was opened before them, revealing a bright sunny day in Equestria. Another Pinkie Pie was visible now, as she smilingly ran towards another Applejack, Rarity and Twilight, what already prompted the friends to sigh in frustration. This wasn't the world they were looking for, either.

But right when this other Pinkie Pie reached the others, she slammed the other Twilight's head clean off, what caused the others on this side of the portal to gasp in shock. The next thing Twilight knew, her tail had been pulled and in reflex she had closed the portal, much to the relief of the others. A silent sobbing came from her right side and Pinkie's warm embrace was suddenly around her. The pink mane flattened and Pinkie's ears dropped when she silently wept into Twilight's shoulder. Patting Pinkie's head, Twilight shook her own.
“Pinkie Pie, that wasn't you. I know you would never do that to me.”

Sam came to Pinkie's side and rested a hand on her head.
“We all do. Just a different Pinkie Pie in an alternate Equestria... Our Pinkster would be too busy making us smile than to even think of harming us.” With a relieved “Yeah...” Pinkie turned around to him and gave him a warm hug as well, nuzzling him thoroughly. While patting her head and rubbing her back, Sam looked up to the others. “So we can't have have a portal back home as we don't know how to make it fit to the Equestria we are aiming for. Maybe we are lucky to even be on this version of the human world and not in who knows what of a cyberpunk alteration. Now what?”

Now a wide grin formed on Flynn's face.
“The solution is simple. We go back to Equestria the way we three went to it.”

Rachel looked at him.
“You mean...?”

“Yes! Bermuda Triangle and we'll get ourselves a 'one-way' ticket to the Everfree Forest way before the Descendants even reach Equestrian soil.”

Tyler nodded in thought. Whatever the reason they were on Earth, they couldn't simply go back the usual way. That is, not the fastest way. Fortunately there seemed to be other means to go back to Equis, but going them was a major undergoing and they didn't have the luxury of time on their side.
“Alright. Girls, I want to do this by the book. I doubt that any airline is letting you on board. They would probably scream their living guts out and call the authorities. First thing? We'll find a shelter. A motel or something. Then we'll find out where we are and get some financial means. Next something to eat and a transport of sorts... Anything to get us to the next airport. Wherever we are, an airplane is our best choice to get back to Equestria by the end of the coming day.”

Rachel nodded in agreement.
“Sounds like a plan, humans here would not understand the importance of our current situation... It is more likely that we would make the breaking news with talking ponies.”

Tyler looked over to Rachel and both exchanged smiles and nods.
“Precisely. Fortunately for us it is getting dark already... So we should be able to sneak you girls into a motel room without getting you noticed...”

* * * * *

Five minutes later, the ponies and humans arrived at a street and peeked out of some bushes, inspecting the fast driving vehicles. Shaking her head in confusion, Applejack looked at the others.
“What in tarnation?”

A confused look the others shared with her. Looking over to the humans, Twilight turned her head to Tyler.
“What are these? They look like some sort of carriage, but nopony's pulling them...”

“These are cars!” Lyra replied before Tyler could react in any way.

“Come again?” Rainbow asked, a confused look on her face.

Sam chuckled.
“Lyra is right. We don't use horse powered carriages anymore for a long time now. It would be too inefficient to breed and feed all these horses. Like the tank that we used back in Equestria, humans have built machines that run on fuel. So instead of magic moving the wheels or something pulling a cart or carriage, a liquid is burned and a machine inside turns the wheels to propel the car.”

Applejack wrinkled her nose.
“Well, by the amount these things stink, Ah guess they aren't healthy to be around. Maybe the Flim Flam Brothers would have a great time with these, but Ah think they're stupid. No machine can replace a hard workin' pony folk. Besides: How are we to cross the street? These 'cars' are so fast they would run us over!”

Giving her herd mate a smirk, Twilight charged her horn and with a certain flash, the group was at the other side of the street. While AJ chuckled over the fact that she forgot about teleportation spells, Tyler looked back at the street.
“Good aiming, Twilight.”

But the alicorn shook her head.
“Actually I aimed for the trees over there. I guess if I would have aimed for the edge of the street, we would have landed right in the middle of it. From now on, we should use our magic with caution and only in an emergency. If the effect is so weakened, we have to ration it.”

As they reached a variety of buildings, the ponies recognized the obvious advertisement. 'Old Donald's Motel Inn' said the neon sign high over the street. The area seemed to have many of these motels. When Tyler looked at the sign, he shook his head.
“Oh God help me... Of all the places we had to land in we land the Land of the Free.”

Flynn grinned and looked over to Sam and Rachel.
“America!”

This caused Rachel to pump her fist.
“Fuck, yeah!”

Tyler nodded to the others and gestured them to stop.
“Alright. I'm going into the office and ask about the details for a room. As soon as I'm set, we'll get you girls out of the open.” Everyone nodded and Tyler set course for the office. He came back for them ten minutes later and nodded. “OK... Mr. Donald in there gave me a strange look for asking if I first could get the key to the room, but I assured him to get the money for the room in the next hour, so let's get the ponies in right now before I organize some cash for us.” Taking the long way around the building, the humans and ponies avoided lighted areas as best as they could and made haste to pass where it was unavoidable. At the end of the building Tyler then opened the door and one by one, the mares all entered and settled down in the room.

Approaching the TV, Lyra sat down on her haunches and looked around.
“This must be a television set! Now where is it?”

“The what?” asked Twilight.

“The remote! Sam told me that humans change the moving pictures in the television set with a remote. Oh if only BonBon would be here. I'd love to show her around...” Lyra replied.

Shaking her head, Twilight's glances jumped from Lyra to the TV and back.
“No, I meant what are you talking about? How can you know all these terms? Did Sam told you about it?”

Waving the thought away, Lyra shook her head with a smile.
“Well, he told me something... but my main information source are my dreams! I always dream about Earth. Sometimes I see stuff from Earth in my dreams. Sometimes children, sometimes inventions. I think I have a connection to Earth.”

Hearing this, Twilight's eyes widened.
“Lyra. I think you're the reason we're here.”

Lyra's smile withered in an instant.
“What?”

Twilight nodded and eyed Lyra for a bit.
“Yes! I believe that your connection to Earth helped us to find this one human world among the many parallel worlds out there, where Tyler, Rachel, Flynn and Sam are from. Your connection altered the coordinates of our first portal. Thus, we didn't went to Equestria, but to the human world.” Lyra looked down, unsure if she should be thrilled or unhappy about this. Her connection seemed to have altered their plan to escape. Twilight noticed this and shook her head with a genuine smile. “Don't worry. The situation hasn't changed at all. We still have to go to Equestria. You brought us to the one place the Descendants could never get us.” This prompted the mint-coated unicorn to look up. Her smile returned.

Tyler patted her head and nodded as he handed Lyra the remote.
“You and Sam show them a bit about our world through the TV. Sam, no action or horror movies without supervision. I don't want them to get a wrong idea about our world.” Turning over to Flynn, he nodded towards the door. “Flynn! Come on, you go with me as we pay the room and get some food.” Flynn nodded and both men left the room while Sam sat down on the couch and switched on the TV while the ponies gathered around him.

While Tyler and Flynn were in the office, a young woman left it as a little boy came in
“Mommy! Mommy! There was a pink pony at the window that waved at me!

Looking at her son, the woman shook her head in frustration.
“Jason? First a blue blob and now a pink pony! I told you a hundred times to cut the crap about your imaginary friends!”

“But Moooom...”

“No buts! You are grounded for telling stories, young man!”

Tyler heard these words with a swollen vein on his forehead. 'God damn it, Pinkie...' Looking up to the motel owner, he handed over some papers with his signatures.
“And you said we can get some cash around here? I mean I already asked of you to give us a room without proper ID or cash at hand, I at least want you to have proper cash in time...”

“Don't worry...” the old man on the other side of the desk replied, “an ATM machine is right here around the corner. I'm sure four young people have good reasons to go into a sleazy motel room...” Tyler gave a forced smile and shook his head, while they were on their way to the door.

But just as they arrived, it slammed open and a Mexican looking young man entered, looked at them for a second, but ignored them as they seemingly were not the ones he was looking for. While passing them, Tyler and he bumped into one another, earning Tyler a harsh “Hey! Careful, ese'!” Approaching the front desk, the young man shook his head angrily.
“Donald! How often have I asked of you to do something about these voyeurs of room 12?!? They keep peeping!”

“Enrico, You're not shy, are you? If you have a problem-”

But Enrico interrupted him with slamming his hand onto the desk.
“They don't peep on me, you old, lousy man! They peep on Maria! Each day after bath time! She's barely twelve! If you don't talk some sense into them, I'll call the cops!”

This earned Enrico a serious glare from old Alec Donald.
“Oh, alright... You're right, this goes too far... I will have a...”

By that time, Tyler and Flynn had left the motel office. Looking back to the office, Flynn shook his head as they approached the ATM machine.
“Tyler, how are you planning to get us some cash? I kinda left my credit card in Equestria.”

Looking at Flynn, Tyler arched a brow.
"Credit card? You use that crap?" He shook his head and looked at the cash machine. "It boggles my mind that you Americans still think that living on the tick and the American Dream are still things worthy to achieve."

“What do you mean, Tyler? Everyone wants to achieve the American Dream...”

But Tyler wasn't having it.
"Yeah... You know? You have to be asleep to dream. And I don't know about you; I for one intend to go through life awake."

Flynn merely rolled his eyes.
“No, I don't mean that, Tyler. An affordable house, a good and decent job... That's something everyone wants. I mean I want a decent job to take care of Scootaloo once this shit here is over. Anyway, what are you doing?"

Concentrating on the task in front of him, Tyler tapped several displays on the smartphone he suddenly held.
“I'm not against prosperity, Flynn. I simply doubt it's as easy as they want to sell it to us. Problems don't vanish with a credit card, they start with one. As for what I'm doing here... I nicked that other guy's smartphone. Got me some apps to get me access to the machine here.” After a few mechanical noises, the ATM spat out some one hundred dollar bills and Tyler took the money, waved it into Flynn's face. “You see? Easy money...”

Flynn was simply dumbfounded.
“You can do that?”

Patting his shoulder, Tyler smiled and gently tossed the mobile phone over to Flynn and he caught it.
“Sure, want a free smartphone? Here, free phoning as well, they won't charge you a thing.”

Shaking his head in disbelief, Flynn looked at Tyler with wide eyes.
“How can you know how to do all that?

“I wasn't always the nice guy I'm in Equestria now. Let's keep it with that, OK? Come on, we'll have to pay for the room and then do some shopping. I'd rather do that with you than with Rachel... Should save us quite some time...”

* * * * *

Two hours came and went by in which Tyler and Flynn were absent to buy some food. Taking the bus for now, they made it back later carrying four heavy bags full of items from the grocery on top of some canned food and other stuff. Knocking at the door, they waited and after a short glimpse through the window, Rachel opened them.
“About time you two come back...”

While Pinkie bounced on the bed, making the headboard bang against the wall with every jump, Rachel took the shopping bags Flynn and Tyler were carrying. They went to unpack the items out of the bags, when suddenly there was someone knocking at the door. Hasty glances were exchanged until Tyler's lips formed the word “Hide!” The ponies nodded hastily and while Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie Pie hid under the bed, Applejack, Fluttershy, Lyra and Rainbow Dash hid in the other two rooms.

Once they were sure that it wasn't possible to spot the ponies, Tyler and Rachel opened the door while Sam sat on the bed and Flynn on the sofa. In front of Tyler and Rachel stood an older man, about 40 years old, beard, baseball cap, flannel shirt.
“Hey, folks.”

“Hey, how can we help you?” Rachel answered.

Taking off his baseball cap, the man then leaned against the frame of the door with his arm.
"Name's Bill. The truck over there is mine. Uh, listen folks, how do I put this in words? I was young once as well, OK? And if a foursome is your way, fine with me... But I can't get to sleep next door if there's constantly this banging at the wall!" Right now Rarity and Twilight shot angered looks over to Pinkie, who grinned with a bad conscience.

Tyler and Rachel looked at each other and their jaws literally dropped, before they nodded frantically.
"Oh, umm... We're sorry! We will stop with that for now.”

“That would be appreciated.”

The trucker nodded and returned to his own motel room as Rachel closed the door.
“Not. One. Word. Jones.”

Tyler fought the urge to break into laughter.
“The thought alone is ridiculous...”

While they continued to unpack the items from the shopping bags, Twilight looked at all the dollar bills on the table, she wondered. It was paper currency, not golden bits as the ponies were using in Equestria. Maybe gold was too valuable here. Tyler often spoke about limited resources and that mankind waged wars in the past both long ago and recently for the sake of precious ores. Certainly this paper money was some sort of surrogate currency, replacing the coins of metal they've had before. But how did Tyler manage to get so much of it in such a short notice of time?
“Where did you get all that money?”

“From the cash machine down the road.” Tyler answered truthfully.

“And what did you give in return?”

“Nothing.”

Now Twilight's brows arched in surprise before her face grew more stern.
“You stole it!”

Tyler's movement halted completely, before he sighed and looked over to her.
“Unlike Equestria, they only pay you here after a months worth of work. And that is not the amount of time we have. And since selling the Elements to the Pawn Shop is way out of the question, I had to come up with something. Either that or risking being punched to death for asking Rachel to sell her body.”

Rachel shot him a glare.
“Damn straight I would kill you for that!”

Twilight thought for a moment. He had a valid point. They came into this world without anything of value he could sell and the only thing that would come close to jewelry were the Elements of Harmony. And right now they truly didn't have the luxury of time with Princess Celestia held captive by the Descendants and an armada on its way to Equestria. A frustrated grumble escaped her.
“I can understand that, but that doesn't mean I approve of it.”

Coming to their side, Rachel shot Tyler another glare until she turned to Twilight.
“Whatever he did, this will come in handy. I'll take the rest of this as advanced payment and get us a a means of transportation. Maybe a van or something so we all fit in.” Taking the money, Rachel then left the motel room.

Not five minutes later, Flynn gasped, prompting everyone to look at him.
“I just thought of something...”

“What? What is it?”

“Our folks! They might want to hear that we're alive and kicking.”

Sam, however, shrugged.
“Flynn, do you think this would be wise? I mean, we disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. They probably think we're dead. Have fun trying to explain to your folks all about the cuteness overload we're coming from.”

Raising his arms, Flynn then shook his head and looked down.
“Well I have to tell someone I'm OK. Even more so when they believe we're dead! Saying I'm OK would be the least I could do! My mother, my brother...”

Tyler looked over to him.
“It would only beg some questions... Where have you been? Why haven't you give us notice earlier? Bla, bla, bla...”

Sam nodded and pointed over to Tyler.
“He's right. It's not only about you or me being OK... It's also about the relationships we've been building up. We learned to be cool about it, even Rachel began tolerating it... But for someone who never met one of the girls here, they would probably think that we should be thrown in jail for being with ponies.

“I guess so...” Looking up again, Flynn held a bottle up to Sam. “Hey Sam! A beer?”

Taking the beer with a wide grin, Sam leaned back.
“I won't say no to that.” As he took a gulp of the cold beer, he closed his eyes in delight. “Hmmmm... Yeah... That really hits the spot!”

Tyler grumbled a bit, but smirked.
“Too bad it's not a Foster's... That would make my day complete for now...”

Taking a sniff at the beer, Lyra arched a brow.
“That's stronger beverage than cider, isn't it?

Pinkie on the other hand took a gulp, followed by a delighted giggle. AJ on the other hand went into the kitchen.
“Whoohee! Ah don't know about ya'll, but Ah'm starving! Whaddya got for us there?” As she looked through the shopped items, she found several vegetables and apples. But just as she wanted to take a good bite, Tyler snatched it out of her hooves. “Hey! Sugarcube, what's with ya?”

Flynn looked over to them and frowned.
“Come on, Tyler... They have to eat something!”

Tyler looked into Applejack's uncertain face and nodded in defeat.
“Oh alright, but let's wash it thoroughly.”

Coming to their side, Twilight arched a brow, shaking her head as she looked up to her herd mate.
"Tyler, what is with you?"

Giving a harsh sigh, Tyler looked over to her while washing the apple.
“I don't like the idea of exposing you girls to this environment. I mean we already see it. There is no magic on this planet or this our human universe. Unicorns can't use magic and Pegasi can't fly. Probably earth ponies can't use their strength either. I think the only reason why you can still do the things you usually do is because of the elements. Just look at Lyra. She can't do magic at all. That's one confirmation I get for this theory.”

Looking over to the two of them, Lyra then looked down.
"It's not so bad... Sam helps me."

Sighing, Tyler lowered his head.
“Look, it's not that I don't want you to see Earth, alright? I'm just worried. Because if you ponies can lose your magic here on Earth, maybe you might lose more than that.”

Twilight now looked up to him, a touched smile on her lips.
"We won't lose ourselves, Tyler. I'm with you on that. I won't let that happen." Nuzzling him a bit, she then became stern for a bit. "But why wash the apple so thoroughly?"

Sam took the vegetables and shrugged.
"He's got a point there, you know? With all the pesticides and fertilizer we spray over these things... Healthy as they might be, even us humans might catch an allergy. And we are somehow accustomed to that. It's not too far fetched to think that you ponies might be affected more from this, since you come from a world we would deem purely biological farming.”

Twilight eyed the apple for a moment, frowning a bit. Tyler spoke of several billion humans on Earth at some point in the past, it seemed probable that they exposed their food to chemical agents to repel pests. A hidden danger she wouldn't think of coming from a world were there was no such problem.
“Earth seems to have many things we don't know about. I trust in you to help us to keep out of harms way, but please don't overdo it.”

Applejack was handed her apple and took a bite out of it. Chewing a bit, she let the taste tingle a bit on her tongue.
“Hmmm... These apples have some sort of aftertaste. Maybe because they grew on non-equestrian soil?” Twilight's eyes followed Tyler. He tried to protect them from everything now, but in doing so slightly forgot that they were adult mares.

* * * * *

Later that night, the ponies had gathered in front of the television set and seemed eager to learn about the human world as they used the TV as some sort of window to the world. After a whole hour of the Discovery channel for Fluttershy, whose eyes widened with glee at the sight of elephants, there was an hour of some extreme sports for Rainbow Dash and an hour of teleshopping and fashion channels for Rarity. By that time, Rachel had returned and nodded over to Flynn.
“And?”

“Well, sometimes they sleep a bit, sometimes they watch TV.”

Lowering her voice, Rachel leaned over to Flynn.
“Do you think it's wise for us to expose them to this? There are some human habits they shouldn't take to Equestria. One of them is becoming a couch potato.”

But Flynn shook his head.
“They need to get some rest and something to get distracted a bit. It was stressful enough and we're not yet through.”

While determining what to look next, Twilight zapped a bit through the channels.
“Do me a favor, Sugarcube and switch over to the 65. There was some nice channel with a creek.”

Rainbow, however, shook her head.
“Nope! We should totally watch that action movie 'Buy hard' on 47!”

“65!”

“47!”

While they argued, Twilight zapped through in slight boredom. They've watched all those channels before. Suddenly, however, she zapped through to the next channel and her eyes popped open at the sudden sound of heavy moaning. The arguing behind her stopped in an instant and AJ corrected her Stetson.
“Is that...?”

Twilight nodded, a wingboner forming behind her.
“I think that is some sort of erotic showcase, yes.”

Looking over to the TV, Rachel rolled her eyes.
“Oh great... Jones! The girls found the porn channel. I guess their innocent minds are forever ruined.” Tyler grumbled displeased, but continued to eat.

As the next scene showed up, Rainbow grinned.
“Oh! That's a great thing to do; I tried that with Flynn once!”

Applejack on the other side could only cock her head in disbelief.
“What in tarnation? Now that's ridiculous! Ah don't believe that's possible.”

But the cerulean mare showed to the screen.
“You see it happening right there, Applejack.”

Fluttershy stared at the screen in a mixture of amazement and embarrassment. She didn't look away, but the heat in her cheeks made her aware that she had to be blushing. Such an open display of intercourse. She never saw two humans having intercourse. Then again, she never witnessed intercourse with any single human and it would never occur to her to ask Tyler and his herd to watch. Such an open display of such an intimate act was not to her liking, so after a while, she turned away.
“I... I wonder if Grinko is alright...”

Patting her head, Rachel gave her a reassuring smile.
“I'm sure he is. Oh, girls... You watch the crappiest shit ever. As if any woman ever wants to deal with the aching back after a pile-driver.”

Looking up, Rainbow chuckled.
“I bet I could take it. Flynn takes me in a pace that is usually faster than what these slowpokes are performing.”

Looking over to Tyler and Sam, Flynn shrugged as he took another sip of his beer.
“One has to love the honesty and openness among mares...” All three men chuckled in unison on that.

Rachel on the other hand, shook her head and took the remote from Twilight as she sat down beside her.
“Seriously, Rainbow. I don't need details about your sex life with Flynn. What else is on?” While switching through the channels, there was an old black and white movie on, as a young boy stood in the wild yelling the name of Fury.

When a black stallion galloped through the picture, the ponies cocked their heads. Rachel snickered about this.
"Right... I take it Horses obviously don't look the same here as in Equestria..."

Throwing her mane over her shoulder, Rarity gently shook her head.
"They do make an entrance. But I think our stallions are way more appealing like these animals."

“Rarity, I didn't know you ponies deem horses animals since you're equines yourself.”

Arching a brow, Rarity gave her human friend a questioning look.
“Rachel... Darling, horses don't talk, do they?”

Taking a seat next to Lyra, Sam began to caress her back while looking at Rachel
“It's the same thing as with us humans and monkeys, Rachel. On their world, ponies have evolved, horses have not.” Lyra sat up right, enjoying the careful strokes on her back.

Finishing his meal and beer, Tyler looked over to the others before heading towards the couch.
“We shouldn't be awake all that long. Tomorrow, we should head straight to an airport and get us a plane. A private jet or something.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the break room near his office, Rick Marshall was addressed by his colleague Ben Miller.
“Rick! Guess who used an ATM machine in Roseville, California?”

Looking up from his coffee, Rick arched a brow.
“Sacramento? What do you have for me, Ben?”

He followed Miller into his office, where he activated a DVD-player.
“They've send it over to us via internet the moment they recognized him. The ATM's internal camera caught someone you're looking for. I take it this will make things interesting now.”

Seeing the empty screen-show the ATM video feed gave, Rick frowned a bit. But his eyebrows arched up and his eyes widened as he saw Tyler in front of the machine and taking a big pile of cash while talking to someone.
“Well I'll be damned...”

Miller patted Rick's shoulder.
“Seems to me we got our next hot clue of where that guy is, huh? Good thing that some habits are hard to break. The machine was near a couple of inns, the area there is filled with inns. Seems to me Tyler Jones is getting active again after being gone for so long. And he has accomplices...”

Looking at Tyler's face, Rick nodded.
“Ben? Call the bureau we have in Sacramento.” Miller exchanged a glance with Rick, as the agent simply nodded. “We begin.”

* * * * *

At the same time, somewhere else in California, a swath of destruction ran through a place only fifty meters from where Tyler and the others arrived on Earth. Unnoticed by them was the trench as something heavy had plowed itself through the ground and seemed to had bounced across the ground with great force. Then, in a tool shed, the object stopped its journey, yet not before smashing the door out of its hinges and bringing the tool shed into a complete disarray. Black arms and hands laid over the tools, as the humanoid Changeling lied unconscious in the shed.

Slow and steady breathing was audible from him as sparks of electricity came from a ripped cable from the ceiling. Then, all of a sudden, the Changeling menace opened its eyes and got a grip on its surroundings in order to stand up. A few short checks for injuries passed the time before he stepped outside. His already torn clothing was never replaced after his fight in the Ranger Headquarter, after his unfortunate defeat. If only the mind bug had been more of use to him...

The last thing he remembered was being in a laboratory on board of Nagohod. Not only did they removed the mind bug and disposed of it, but also they injected something into him. A dosage of radiation they told him what was already done to an earlier form of Changeling. His genetic memory searched for something similar, but all he could find were the memories of a little filly.

Useless memory snippets for now. However, he remembered Princess Lamira stating that the end result might be something quite extraordinary. Whatever that meant. Looking at his hands, he attempted to accumulate some magic in them, but utterly failed to do so. Shocked, he searched for an explanation. He was charged with magic, so why was it so difficult to perform spells? But as he tried as he might, his right hand transformed into an insect claw. Mimesis' eyes opened wide.
“That's interesting...” His hand transformed back after a bit of concentration and he looked at the horizon. This place he was in, it denied him the magic he had absorbed, but with these new abilities he was able to pursuit his target.

Approaching a hill, he looked into the sea of lights emitting from the city. His eyes glowed with fierce green over the sight. “What the?” 'Is this... a completely new world?' A grin formed on his face as his brain started to think of the possible things to do in a world. He had to be cautious, had to learn about the habits to help him infiltrate the places he had to go. What worked for his advantage was the fact that no one in this place knew about Changelings, so the effect of surprise was on his size. In the distance, he could sense the magic of others. In this world without any magic, his senses seemed to be sharper and could sense magic users in the distance. Not well enough to pinpoint their exact location, but enough to sense the vague direction. His targets were near.

And another thing was near. Drunken stupor. Laughter. Down below he could see them, a group of three young men, humans like the rangers, yet clothed differently. Their hair in unfamiliar cuts and color, it confused him a little bit that humans did that. Probably to stand out. As he came closer, the three of them, one of them pointed over to him
“Hey... What's wrong with this picture?”

Recognizing Mimesis was barely clothed, the punks started laughing.
“Enter the amazing dark Hulkster, hehe... You OK, buddy?”

With a blank expression, Mimesis stared at the one who had asked him. This was troublesome. He wasn't one of them, had to start with his disguise before they realized that he was a danger. Fortunately they seemed to have no clue at all. Playing along might be the best option for now until he was certain he could handle them.
“I'm OK... buddy...”

Snipping his fingers in front of Mimesis' face, one of the others shook his head.
“Man, that guy is tripping. I don't know what stuff he took to dress up like this”

Another hand knocked on his chitin plates as the chuckles continued.
“Check it out! He even wears protective sports gear of some sorts. Quite a costume he made himself there.”

“It's the wrong time of the year for a costume, man... Halloween is a couple of months away!”

The Changeling's eyes closed a bit more. Criminal subjects, nothing anyone would miss anytime soon. He was lucky and could continue with his preparations right away.
“Your clothes... Give them to me! Now!”

This tone, however, didn't came to the liking of these gang members as the first already held up his butterfly knife.
“Fuck you, asshole!” Two more knifes were now held up and Mimesis eyed them silently. Then, all of a sudden, his throat began to form a large bulge and in the next moment, a watery spray of greenish vomit shot out of his mouth, directly at the gang member to his right. Reeling back in disgust, the gang member suddenly realized that his arm was beginning to dissolve rapidly, almost melting away like butter in a microwave oven. Acidic fumes arose from the arm and among the screams Mimesis felt a sudden collision at his left side. The other gang member had tried to stab him, yet failed to do so. The blade only slipped to the side, since the chitin was too hard to penetrate. Turning to his left, Mimesis grabbed the second gang member by the neck.

While the human struggled in the choking tight grip, the Changeling's head began to quake while his upper and lower jar cracked open, revealing four mandibles with razor sharp teeth on them. With a gurgling growl, the four jaws surrounded the head of the screaming gang member, his fellow member paralyzed in fear.

A sickening crack came from the inside of his four mandibles and a mixture of human blood and brain tissue squirted out between them. Leaving the corpse slump to the ground, Mimesis then turned to the last remaining gang member, who crawled backwards in sheer terror. The mandibles grew back to jaws and Mimesis eyed the man in front of him.
“Well, now... About these clothes...”

The young man nodded and started to undress.
“OK.... OK!!! Just stay away from me, man!” Once the clothes were all on the ground, Mimesis nodded at the young man. “Thank you... Why didn't you do so in the first place?” His jaws suddenly opening, he leaped at the naked young man, whose screams echoed through the night.

* * * * *

In the motel room, Twilight rose up from the bed with a shriek, sweat in her face.
“Tyler! TYLER!!!”

Jumping up from the couch, Tyler looked around in the room, finding Twilight with the other ponies on the bed. Twilight's shriek awakened them and they looked up to their spooked friend.
“What?!? What is it?”

“We have to go! Now!

“What? Why?”

Shaking her head in hysteria, Twilight shed some tears.
“Mimesis! He followed us to this world!”

Rachel shook her head and laid down again with a sigh.
“Oh, Twilight... You had a nightmare. That's all... Get back to sleep.”

Tyler looked into Twilight's worried face and they looked into each others eyes, until he smiled and nodded. Packing their stuff, he woke up the others, what caused Rachel to roll her eyes.
“Jones! What is with you?”

But Tyler didn't react much to that, he simply continued to pack in haste whatever little stuff they had left.
“I'm not going to argue with you, Rachel. When I learned something from the past, it's that Twilight has a thing for her bad dreams coming true. At least when it comes to Changelings.” Twilight, although still tired, smiled at this. He took her seriously from the first second. Pointing a finger at Rachel, Tyler cocked his head. “Tell me you have a car out there...”

Shaking her head in disagreement, Rachel pointed to the door.
“Yes. A used Chevrolet Van, an Explorer; driver, co-driver, 9 seats. Took the rest of our money.”

Nodding, Tyler gave Flynn a slap at the back of the head.
“Rise and shine, ranger! Have an eye on the girls for me for a second, OK?”

Waking up, Flynn stood up with a mumble and woke up Sam as well. One by one the friends became awake, although still tired and sleepy while Tyler and Rachel went outside in a hurry to get the van.

Shaking his head as he saw the big van, Tyler grinned.
“You know, Rachel? Normally I would make a remark about American cars and how unnecessary big they are... But this here in our current situation? It's just fine!”

With another shake of her head once they entered the van and started the engine, she rolled her eyes.
“Thank goodness he's satisfied...”

They parked in front of the door and Flynn opened the large side door. Once sure the coast was clear, he waved the girls in and one by one, the ponies entered the car, uncomfortable being cramped in such tiny space. Lyra went in first, seemingly with no problem. Much unlike the others, who had difficulties sitting upright. Applejack shook her head in frustration.
“Ah don't like this... But hay... If ya'll say it's that urgent, Ah guess there is no helping it.”

Tyler looked back through the mirror and grimaced.
“Sorry, honey. I know it's uncomfortable for you girls to sit like that, but it's better than you all bumping into each other at every turn we make.”

“Fasten your seat-belts!”

This left Rainbow Dash stumped.
“Seat-belts? What the hay?” But Lyra already caught on and fastened her belt first. Once seen the example, the ponies did the same.

The car began to move and Pinkie yelled in excitement.
“Yeah! It's like a mobile party!”

Tyler's eye twitched a bit as he drove on.
“Pinkie!”

“Alright, alright... Are we there yet?” Little did they know that once the van drove off, an all too familiar shadow approached the inn from the other side.

* * * * *

On the next morning, the area around the inn was silent except for some vans and trucks driving by. The binoculars in his hand, Rick Marshall looked at it. 'Old Donald's Motel Inn' It was then when the radio sounded off with several whispers.
*Krz*“Unit One, ready!”*Krz*

*Krz*“Unit Two, ready!”*Krz*

*Krz*“Unit Three, ready”*Krz*

*Krz*“Understood. All units ready and waiting for the Go.”*Krz*

The units were in position now and readied themselves. Any moment now they would storm the place. Two of the units looked at each other and nodded. They were ready as they could be. And then the Go from Agent Marshall came. Hand signs were silently exchanged with the others until the counter was on. Three fingers, two fingers, one... The doors were kicked open and the SWAT units stormed the lobby of the inn and the motel rooms. Orders were shouted and one by one the chatter over the radio grew silent.

Rick frowned a bit. It was too silent. Normally either someone stupid enough to resist would pull out a gun to start a shooting or there were screams of children or women being in the way. But now... There was nothing. A certain anxiety came up in him. In a place as big as this, any reaction would be better than nothing. Inside, the members of the SWAT team looked around at destroyed rooms, ransacked and searched. The air was thick and heavy, the sights in front of them hard to stomach. One of the team turned away and threw up. This was when the commanding officer of the SWAT unit raised his radio.
“Uh... Agent Marshall?”

Rick answered on the spot.
“Yes! What is it, O'Reilly? Did you get him?”

Shaking his head, the SWAT commander took a gulp before he raised his radio again.
“I... I really can't tell, sir. Someone got something here, that's for sure. You better come and see for yourself.”

Ben and Rick exchanged some glances before they entered the motel room. But as soon as they stepped over the door sill, the sweet stench of vomit, mixed with the stench of burned flesh filled the air. Arching back in revulsion at the stench, both agents grimaced.
“What in God's name...?”

The sight before them was horrifying. Several bodies, some limbs and torsos seemed molten away, like someone placed wax figures all over the place and held a torch near them. There was a young woman, laying on her side. From what Rick could saw, she wasn't injured. Slowly shaking her shoulder, he tried to get any sign of life from her. Her body then suddenly cantered and rolled over to her back and Rick arched back in shock and disgust. Her right half was molten away to a reddish goo that was now dripping from the many, or rather this one large wound. He turned away. Running for the door, he left the room and gasped for fresh air. His guts were in an uproar, everything protested against these sensations. The smell, the sights, the squishy sounds... Too much! Pulling himself together, he took one deep breath after another. He had to control himself in front of the others.

Coming to his side, Ben Miller shook his head in revulsion.
“This is sickening... What kind of person does this? Do you think Jones was on to us and eliminated them to wipe off all hints towards him?

“No... Tyler Jones is a hacker, not a chemist and he has no background of murder. He would've hacked their bank accounts, he wouldn't turn them into human smoothies.” Rick had to burp on this. Still the urge to throw up was in him. Bending forward, he rested his hands on his knees and took deep breaths. Something was wrong here. All of a sudden this simple case of one hacker on the loose turned into a freaking nightmare. Droplets of sweat pearled from his forehead as he opened his eyes once again. “Ben, make some calls. I want the nearest airports under strict surveillance! Some syndicate seems to be after Tyler Jones besides the FBI and NSA... We have to make sure he doesn't slip through our net. And I want Jones before they get to him!”

Taking note on his smartphone, Ben Miller nodded before he turned to his colleague.
“That would be McClellan Airfield and Mather Airport... Uh... Rick, are you sure about that? You think a syndicate assassin is spraying acid all over people? Just to get rid of eye witnesses as he hunts for Tyler Jones?

“Ben, you saw the place in there. An acid potent enough to liquify people in a matter of what? Seconds? I may not be a chemical expert, but this I know: Such an acid, no matter what kind, doesn't come cheap and needs to be manufactured in a lab.”

Miller now raised his hands arching a brow.
“Now hold it... Rick, you're serious, aren't you? You mean Tyler Jones is messing with some kind of drug cartel and they've sent some acid killer after him? This is far fetched!”

Taking in a deep breath, Rick got up again, the urge to throw up gone.
“Is it? This guy messes with the military and NSA, what makes you think a drug cartel is different to him? And you've been in there, Ben... You've seen these people!”

Ben Miller looked over to the inn. The gory sight in there truly was out of the ordinary. From the profile he knew that Tyler Jones had a tendency to evade trouble, not to cause it. Ever since they started their investigation about him, the movements they backtracked, the people they interrogated about Jones... Nothing pointed at something Jones being violent in such a manner. Rick had a point there. However, looking over to his colleague, Ben slowly shook his head.
“OK, maybe Jones didn't do this. I can go with that. Still... Rick, I don't know. That guy is probably a lot of things, but a vigilante-hacker going against a syndicate all by himself? What's next on the list? Batman?”

Coming to their side, the SWAT commander nodded to them.
“My men have secured the area, sir. The other rooms were either empty or filled with bodies. All rooms were ransacked. Whoever did this, searched for something or someone.

“Thank you, O'Reilly...” Rick replied. Looking over to Ben, he took out his phone. “I'm not sure what he is, Ben. But I know what he will become now: Tyler Jones is the most wanted man in California!”