Guinea pig

Forks. Washington State

“Good morning, Forks!” announced radio alarm clock. “This is your ever-present Rick Warner and Green Pine Radio. Today we are expecting a rare case of clear and sunny weather, so get up as soon as possible and arrange a Saturday hike or a pleasant walk around the area..."

A hand reached out from under the blanket cocoon and irritably slapped the device’s button, interrupting the morning radio DJ's positive speech. The young man, who held the hand, rolled over on his back and pulled the blanket up to his waist. The body has clearly woken up, but the brain itself did not want to and the "subordinate" was not allowed to leave the arms of the lover Morpheus. Being a “night owl”, the young men had great difficulty getting up at eight o'clock in the morning, especially on Saturday.

“Why did I set the alarm in the first place?” was the first coherent thought in his slumbering mind.

Oddly enough, the guy couldn't remember. These were the summer holidays, the days when you could take a break from College with forced awakenings and the accompanying biorhythm riot that kept boy up late playing video games or reading books because he just couldn't sleep.

Lucky for a night owl to be born in a family of early birds as an allergic person in a family of cat lovers!

The young man was about to ignore the forced awakening and go back to sleep, but the next moment a small hurricane burst opened the door of his room, jumped into the air, and landed with a full swing on the guy's stomach, knocking all the air out of his lungs.

“Brother, wake up! You'll sleep all your life!” hurricane screeched in the squeaky voice of a twelve-year-old girl.

The dream was gone, replaced by a growing sense of exasperation.

“Gertie, get out of my room! This instant!” the boy shouted, taking a fresh breath.

The black haired girl jumped off the bed and pretended to whimper:

“Mom, Newton is bullying me!”

“Call me Newton once again and I…” the boy hissed, but a loud shout interrupted his threats.

“NEWTON CASSIUS MOORE! DON'T YOU DARE HURT YOUR SISTER!” it was his father shouting, then he added more gently, “Come down, breakfast won't be waiting for you! Have you forgotten that Terry and Madison are picking you up in half an hour?”

The little demon named Gertrude gave a triumphant grin, dodged a fraternal slap on the head, and with a final show of her tongue left the room.

Newt (as he preferred to be called) got out of bed, yawned and stretched, heading for the closet. From the mirror on the door a sleepy-eyed face of a twenty-year-old boy of medium height, quite muscular for a skinny build, looked at him. The comb was doing its best to fix the unruly jet-black hair, which in addition to the sky-blue eyes was some kind of "genetic calling card" of the Moore family. However, Newt painted his bangs white to make them stand out from his family. He put on a pair of faded jeans and a black and yellow long-sleeve t-shirt and went downstairs.

At the dinner table, father was waiting with a newspaper and a cup of coffee, mother was busy with washing dishes in the sink, and sister was eating her second toast with jam. And the fact, that this same jam was smeared almost all over her face, none of the parents noticed obviously. Newt silently began to eat the cheese macaroni and sausage on the plate in front of him. Richard, the head of the family, looked up from the morning paper only for a sip of coffee, Catherine put the juice in front of her son and went back to dishes, and Gertie made a face at Newt when their eyes met. The young man shook his head condescendingly.

'Girls grow up earlier... yeah, right!'

I wouldn't say that Newt didn't love his sister, but in one moment she went from being a charming little bundle of happiness to a royal pain in the ass. Gertrude either picked on him or behaved outrageously, always trying to set Newt up, and the most offensive thing was that both mom and dad believed her. Well, you know children can't lie it's an axiom! And it is unclear whether all the younger sisters are like this or when mom and dad made her, the stars have aligned in the wrong way.

In fact, the parents, no matter how you look at them, were completely different people. Pragmatic, strict, old-school Richard and calm, balanced, friendly Catherine. The elder Moore works as a financial analyst in a bank, and mother worked as an accountant in a branch (after Gertie was born, she finally became a housewife). They met at a private corporate event. Under other circumstances, Newt thought, these two could not meet in any other way. No, the Moore family was average: a husband and wife are faithful to each other, quarrels happen, but rarely, children are loved, enough to live on with the rest. It’s just a young man sometimes had the feeling that everything in their family is unwittingly and purely out of obligation. Probably this feeling visits everyone who finds out that he was created when his parents were drunk. Richard, being an adept of the old school, took the responsibility without delay, and Catherine in general was not against it, especially at that time she was dreaming of marrying a respectable man.

And there's this fatherly fetish for outdated names. It was Newt’s father idea to name his son Newton Cassius Moore and his daughter Gertrude Rosalind Moore. Does anyone else in two thousand nineteen call their children like that?! No?!

“Though not named Francis or Dick, thanks for that,” Newt thought at the time.

Just as the boy finished his hygiene, a car horn sounded from the street. Newt could recognize Terry’s Cadillac among a thousand others. Grabbing a backpack and saying goodbye to his family, the guy ran out into the street.

Waiting for Newt in the driveway was the aforementioned turquoise Cadillac 1959, driven by Terry Wilson and in the passenger seat behind the driver sat Madison Reed. They both saw Newt and waved at him, as he slumped into the seat next to the driver and put his backpack under the seat.

Newt had known Madison since early childhood: their parents have met on the playground, the two of them had been inseparable ever since, and the world had never seen a stronger friendship between a man and a woman. And those flaming red hair, honey-brown eyes and a scattering of freckles on a pretty face had not changed over the years. But when the time came for the Moore heir to take an active interest in the opposite sex, Madison drew a large circle around them with chalk and put a sign "Friend zone". Newt confessed to her in high school, but even after a few years he still couldn't accept the fact that the girl he was crazy about only saw him as a friend. He didn't interfere with her personal life, but he declared a cold war against all the guys who hung around her.

Newt met Terry on the first day of elementary school, sitting next to him in a classroom. Terry Wilson was a plump young man with ash-blond hair sticking out from under his cap and a short goatee beard. There was always a faint smell of engine oil from Wilson Jr., because he had spent his childhood in his father's garage and, unlike Newton, had given up on college by going to work as an auto mechanic for his father's firm. In fact, this Cadillac was a random find of Wilson Sr. in a certain car dump. When it was first brought into the yard, it looked more like a rusty trough, but Terry took up this "constructor for children from seven years old" and the retro legend was back on the move in all its glory.

During the summer, Terry often called Newt and Maddie to spend some time somewhere. A lake, a movie theater, a shopping center, or just a car tour along familiar roads. In general, it wasn't just parents who kept Newt awake during vacation. But today Wilson Jr. was driving them to his uncle Vernon's ranch. It was a great place for a picnic, communion with nature and horseback riding, for which all this was originally started. But the younger Moore has not been very happy about these trips for two reasons: first ‒ the last time a particularly obstinate mare threw him off her back, and the guy had to spend the rest of the summer in the hospital with a broken leg; and second ‒ Terry's cousin Caleb, who is dating Madison, comes to the ranch in the summer.

Vernon Wilson's ranch was three kilometers from the city. It was a vast area, surrounded by a wall of tall pines on one side and a mountain range on the other. This land was occupied by a two-story beige cottage with a large garage that could hold a tractor, a stable for ten horses, a spacious barn, a pasture and a field for planting tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, and corn.

As the Cadillac pulled up to the porch, Mrs. Wilson came out. She was a thin woman in a blue housecoat with white flowers, a brown apron and a purple kerchief tied around her hair. The small lips on her shrunken face broke into a smile when she saw her nephew.

“Terry!” she exclaimed.

“Aunt Dorothea!” the guy jumped out of the car and hugged his favorite aunt.

Madison and Newt followed slowly.

“Newt! Maddie!” the woman's green eyes shone when she saw her nephew's friends.

Mrs. Wilson flew up to them and kissed them both on the cheeks. Newt didn't like this kind of affection even from his own relatives, but he didn't show it.

“Madison!” a new voice called.

“Caleb!” the girl turned and threw herself into the arms of a stripped-to-the-waist guy in torn jeans and brown sneakers.

Caleb was a year older than Madison and had already graduated from college. Ash-blond (the Wilson’s family trait) with blue eyes, six-pack abs and impressive biceps. The guy's torso glistened with sweat in the sun, making him look like an Apollo.

'A life-sized Ken doll,' once called him Newton.

After breaking a kiss with the girl, from which Moore Jr. prudently turned away, Caleb noticed the guys and walked over to them. After exchanging hugs with Terry and shouting: "Bro!" his cousin held out his hand to Newton. Caleb either didn't really notice or ignored the fact that the brunette was not very friendly to him, since the smile a la “dentist's dream” didn’t leave the blonde’s face for a moment. Newt, however, just out of courtesy shook his hand.

"You're just in time," Caleb said, releasing Newt's hand. "Dad and I were just finishing shoeing the horses.”

"Then we'll go check on him," Terry said, leading his friend by the shoulder.

The boys turned the corner and followed the well-trodden path to the stables. Newt knew perfectly well that Terry had done this on purpose so that he wouldn't stare at his cousin when he cooed with Madison.

“And what did she find in this model from a gay magazine?” the dark-haired man snorted.

“You're actually talking about my cousin,” Terry reminded him without rancor.

“You could have supported me, the friend you are!”

“Caleb is as much my friend as you are, Newt, so I'm not going to take sides.” Wilson Junior was beginning to get a little annoyed with his friend's behavior. “And grow up already, for God’s sake! Madison is not the last girl on Earth.”

Terry said the last two sentences a couple of yards ahead of Newt, anxious to get away from the company of his ever-discontented friend and see his uncle as soon as possible. Moore Junior did him the honor of not trying to catch up, but instead took a leisurely walk to the stables.

The familiar wooden building greeted him with the equally familiar smell of hay, horse dung, and the occasional whinny from the stalls. The far stall on the left was ajar, and from it came the sound of uncle Vernon’s and Terry's voices, accompanied by the tapping of a hammer. Newt walked slowly between the stalls. Ten stalls were occupied by five stallions and five mares, all of different ages and colors. Vernon Wilson usually sold foals, so Newt didn't see much of them.

One of the mares, however, he knew very well. A thoroughbred triennial red horse with a chestnut mane and a white mark on the forehead. When she saw the boy, she poked her head out of the stall and snorted so much that drops of saliva were on his face.

“Hey to you too, Spitfire,” Newt said sarcastically, wiping his face on his sleeve. “Make no mistake; I'm not happy to see you either.”

"Hi, Newt!" Vernon Wilson shouted, a plump, tanned man with a walrus moustache, wearing beige trousers, a red checked shirt and a yellow wide-brimmed hat. “Decided to say hello to your ‘favorite’?”

“Yeah, in her dreams she is my favorite,” the dark-haired man snorted at the horse. “Especially after what she did to me.”

A single memory sent a painful pulse through the once-broken tibia.

“Well, it's no one's fault that you decided to show off in front of Madison.” Terry shrugged as he left the paddock. “And we warned you that Spitfire is a ‘character’ and you should treat her like a woman.”

Wilson Jr. went to the horse and stroked its head, and Spitfire accepted his caress. This sight caused another bile surge from Newt.

“Terry, I don't care what you do with her when no one's looking, but you don't have to be so open about it.”

Vernon chuckled, holding his stomach, but Terry's eye twitched.

“Newt, I brought you and Madison here to rest and relax, not for you to spoil everyone's mood with your disgruntled mumble." Terry frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

“All right, boys, that's enough,” said uncle Vernon, hugging them both. “Newt, really, why are you grumbling like an old-timer?” he ruffled the boy's hair, and the brunette made a grimace of displeasure. “Don't worry, no one throwing you against Spitfire, I have a horse just for you.”

Newt got a middle-aged bay Hanoverian mare named Lilac, although she could still give a head start to young studs if she wanted, but she was calm, docile and obedient.

The boys spent the rest of the day riding horses around the pasture. Even Newt, who was skeptical at first, enjoyed it, not being afraid to gallop and jump over obstacles. At the end of the day his posterior hurt, but it was worth it.

Late in the evening, when uncle Vernon and aunt Dorothea had already gone to bed, the boys and girl moved on to the second part of the cultural program ‒ a night in the woods. They lit a fire, spread out sleeping bags, and Caleb brought a crate of beer and chips. They started telling each other scary stories.

“A black silhouette stopped by my bed," Newt said, making his voice as sinister as he could muster. “It felt as if I were paralyzed: couldn’t move, couldn’t scream. With my eyes wide open, I stared at the figure, which was flat as if it had been cut out of paper. Suddenly it leaned over me and was so close to my face that I almost fainted from fear. It had no eyes, no nose, no mouth, like a shadow, but I could feel this gaze studying me intently. Like it wanted to examine my features carefully, and so, leaning even lower, the shadow slowly tilted its head to the right and then to the left. Then the figure straightened, moved away from my cot and disappeared into the dark corridors of the house. I never saw it again.”

The boy finished his story and looked expectantly at his companions. They just sat with a bored look from the very beginning of the story and continued to do so till the very end. Terry broke the silence.

“Sorry, man, but it's not even close to scary.” he could hardly see straight, what made Caleb and Madison laugh.

“Your zombie story was also stupid, not scary,” retorted Newt, probably the most sober of the group, because he didn't like beer much and took small sips just to get his throat wet.

"Well, zombies are classic." Caleb shrugged, emptying the remains of his bottle into his mouth.

“Vampires must be classic too then, since Maddie’s story passed,” Newt said not without sarcasm.

“Come on, Newt,” Madison said, yawning as she settled more comfortably on Caleb's chest, the beer already making her sleepy. “Don’t be a sore loser.”

“Screw you, guys,” snorted brunette, but still took the flashlight and reluctantly wandered into the thicket.

It's probably for the best. Caleb and Madison, like opposite poles of a magnet, just wouldn't want to get away from each other, and as for Terry, if he goes into the woods in this state, they will have to look for him with the dogs in the morning. So Newt took on the role of the humble lamb and went for firewood.

The woods around the ranch were so dense that it felt as if the trees were slowly surrounding you, a feeling that was doubly unpleasant at night. Beyond the pale patch the darkness was almost palpable, so impenetrable was it. It was a moonless night, and the light from the stars did not reach this far. The same impenetrable silence was broken only by the crackling of crickets, the croaking of frogs by the river in the distance and the occasional hoot of an owl.

Meanwhile, Newt wandered on, searching the grass between the trunks for twigs, which gradually gathered in his left hand into a small bundle. Before he knew it, he had reached the entrance to an old abandoned mine that had been there since Forks was founded, and Terry's ancestors had owned it for generations. Eloquent signs “No entry”, “Dangerous” and “Collapse” were clearly put here for a reason. Even when Newt, Terry, and Maddie were little, uncle Vernon had strictly forbidden them to come near this place.

“There's nothing for you three to do there! The pillars of this mine are held on their word of honor. If the mine collapses, it will bury you with it!” he said at the time.

Newt would have just turned around and walked back, if not for one thing: the entrance to the mine always had been carefully closed with an iron mesh gate with a heavy barn lock, but the gate was wide open, and the lock was lying nearby in the grass; or rather what was left of it, in strange dark purple spots, as if it had been doused with something like acid. But that wasn't the only thing that caught the boy's attention: a patch of light caught movement in the shadow of the tunnel, as if someone had hurried to hide so that they wouldn't be discovered.

“Hello? Who's there?” Newt shouted, approaching the entrance cautiously.

Expectedly, no one answered. Meanwhile, Newt's mind was in a real battle.

‘Well done, go straight to the maniac's lair. No instinct for self-preservation,’ one thought screamed.

‘What kind of maniac would make a lair in a mine that is about to collapse?’ echoed another.

‘Well, if not a maniac, then a bear!’

‘Bear? In Forks? Are you serious? Now bears can spit acid?.. Probably, teenage hooligans. The figure seemed to be short.’

‘Well, even better! Junkies or vandals.’

‘Well, junkies or not, if the next morning there is a title in the newspaper about teenagers who were buried by a rubble in the mine, I will not forgive myself for being there and doing nothing... Just to catch their hands and send them home. This is private property, after all.’

With that thought in mind, Newt took a deep breath, let it out, picked up a thicker stick from the brush, and stepped inside. The tunnel met him with stone walls, dusty air, and the smell of rotting wood coming from the pillars. It all looked like one sneeze is enough for everything to collapse. But other than that, nothing came into the light of the flashlight.

“Stop hiding! I’ve seen you, show yourself!” Newt shouted.

His voice echoed off the walls, and there was a slight crack like a board breaking in two, and dust rained down from the ceiling. Newt put his head in his hands, fearing the worst, but after a few seconds, he took his hands away and dusted himself off.

“Look, whoever you are, you don't belong in there unless you're looking for death,” the guy said, lowering his voice to a half-tone and moving cautiously down the tunnel. “And to die under a rubble is not the most noble of deaths.”

The only response was silence, which was gradually broken by a kind of... hum. So long, otherworldly, accompanied by the noise of water or the ringing of precious stones. As Newt rounded a bend, he saw a pale blue glow in one of the tunnels, and the hum grew louder. The boy had no idea what it could be, but for some reason his heart jumped to his throat, and the flashlight almost slipped out of his sweaty palms. The young man swallowed nervously and began to creep cautiously along the tunnel.

There was a dead end around the bend in the tunnel that ended in a stone wall, but this particular glow came from the wall itself. On the surface of the time-polished stone, contrary to the laws of physics, a liquid seemed to be held, which shimmered in all shades of blue and made circles on its surface. And the hum that Newt had heard before seemed both intimidating and inviting in the immediate vicinity. But the person to whom the shadowy figure belonged was not there.

Newt switched off the flashlight and walked carefully to the wall. Slowly, he reached out and touched it. The mysterious liquid immediately enveloped his fingers, and the place of contact shone brighter. The liquid felt neither cold nor hot, as if the air had suddenly become liquid without requiring a couple of hundred degrees of Celsius. The boy took his hand away and looked at his fingers, which had not a drop of this mysterious liquid left on them. Newt was about to try to dip his entire palm in, but suddenly he was hit in the back, and the young man fell headfirst into the wall.

Instead of the expected impact, Newt seemed to sink into the water, only he didn't lose the ability to breathe... or scream. The next moment he screamed at the top of his voice, because something caught him and carried somewhere, performing turns like a roller coaster. Although he was floundering in space matter, faster and faster rushing through some frames that look like mirrors, until with a slight pop he flew out somewhere and hit the stone floor face first... It seems he broke his nose.

Breathing fast and moaning in pain, Newt rolled onto his back and put a hand over his aching nose. Four-legged figures in white protective coveralls and gas masks suddenly surrounded him. The guy with wide-open eyes looked from one to the other convulsively, meeting only the emptiness of the darkened lenses.

“Who... are you?” he asked, his voice trembling.

In response one of the unknown figures held a small spray can to his face and pressed the valve…

***

Newt still remembered an incident from his childhood when his father took him fishing. Just the two of them, father and son, a wooden boat, and a pair of fishing rods. There was little biting that day, and the younger Moore soon grew bored, even leaned his fishing rod against the side of the boat. Suddenly the float went underwater, the line jerked, and his rod went overboard with it. Newt tried to catch it, but he tripped over the side and fell into the water. It was the beginning of April, and the water was icy. His muscles were quickly frozen by the cold, and his wet clothes became a heavy weight, pulling the boy to the bottom. The receding bottom of the boat, the inability to move or breathe, the deepening darkness of the depths, and the fear of imminent death ‒ these were the things that stuck in Newt's memory and still made him wary of swimming in the lake, preferring to wallow on the shore.

And the feeling returned as he slowly opened his eyes and realized that he was under water. Adrenaline surged into boy’s bloodstream, making his body flail convulsively. Fear gripped Newt's chest like a tight vise as he realized that his arms, legs, and torso were strapped tightly together, and that a mask was snugly attached to his mouth, from which a rubber tube ran somewhere outside the tank in which he was. The view was blurry because of the water, but through the glass cover the guy could see a spacious room, flashing lights and monitors of strange equipment, as well as four-legged creatures in protective suits and gas masks scurrying to and fro.

But most of all Newt remembered someone sitting in a chair, like a king, on a steel platform in the center of the laboratory. To begin with, the figure was anthropomorphic and it wasn't wearing a protective suit with a gas mask. The unknown man was dressed in blood-red armor with a turquoise Cobra symbol on the chest. It was not just the water that made it impossible to see his face: he was wearing a helmet with a horn protruding from the front, and a turquoise visor seemed to repeat the symbol on his chest, representing a Cobra ready to throw. The Cobra, as Newt called it, was leaning on the arm of a chair and seemed to be looking at him with interest.

“Who are you? What do you want to do with me?!” the boy shouted, still tugging at the unyielding straps.

But if all he heard was an unintelligible mumble, then his captors on the other side of the glass didn't hear anything at all, continuing to talk about something, write something on tablets and look at monitors. Suddenly Cobra looked somewhere to the left and nodded to the Gas Masks. They stopped running like ants and quickly dispersed. But what scared Newt most was a device with three tall cylindrical glass columns that looked like a lethal injection apparatus. The guy looked at his elbow bends in anxiety, but there were no tubes. When the figure in the gas mask pressed something, and the piston in the first cylinder began to descend, displacing something gaseous, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, Newt realized with horror that this something was not going to be injected through his veins. He twitched and screamed with redoubled effort, shaking his head in all directions, trying to shake off the mask: it was better to choke than let them inject this stuff into him. But the mask was also tightly fixed to the head; so as a result, the human only exhausted himself and broke his voice.

And the mysterious substance from the machine suddenly hit him in the throat with the taste of metal, alcohol, and frosty mint, causing Newt to cough sharply, which otherwise did not prevent the gas from reaching his lungs. Gradually, the fog began to appear in his head, and muscles relaxed, the desire to resist disappeared, his head fell back, and heart slowed down. The longer the guy inhaled the gas, the more frequent and shallow his breathing became.

Suddenly the young man's body jerked violently, his eyes rolled back, a new cry escaped from his throat, and his muscles began to cramp painfully. At first, it seemed that nothing else was happening, but then a small spark began to light up in the area of the heart. With each passing second it grew more intense, until it became a powerful, blazing, unbearable fire. But this bright light did not last a minute. The supernova born in Newt’s heart seemed to be fading... and not. This light began to fill his lungs. And then the entire chest began to emit a quiet light, as if the dragon itself was filling its lungs with heat before spewing flames from its mouth. This did not stop the spread of the mysterious substance through the human body. It continued with the blood, through the arteries and capillaries, and returned with the veins, covering the whole body in thin lines. Newt was now like the World itself, with its luminous meridians drawn across it. At last, the light was almost gone, the newly formed core no longer glowed, nor did the threads, but the eyes still shone, radiating light and a semitransparent haze. While boy’s body was suffering from the pain caused by an unknown substance, the mind simply fell into emptiness, and the body in the bio-capsule went limp.

***

The first thing Newt encountered during his next awakening was a terrible headache, as if he had been banging his head against a wall, then it was played like a drum, and finally someone was kicking it instead of a football. The last time boy felt this way after a dorm party at the end of his first year of College. There were a lot of people, a lot of cheap booze, loud music, and the next morning Newt woke up with the headache described above, naked, in a strange room and in a pile of the same naked bodies. At that moment, Newt quickly found his clothes (not all he came in, but that’ll do), quietly got out of the room and set itself the task to erase the incident from memory. That same day, he swore on the Bible that he would never again be a part of such unrestrained fun... and signed up for a physical.

Overcoming the painful throbbing in his temples and forehead in response to the slightest movement, Newt, wincing and moaning, raised himself on his elbows, and then with a sudden movement that caused no less sharp pain took a sitting position. When the fog cleared before his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that his clothes were gone. Instead, he was wearing white cotton pajamas that had come out of nowhere and no shoes on his feet. And boy was sitting on a stone floor covered with an old dirty red carpet with golden images of the sun and moon. It must be the reason why his vertebrae ache and crackle.

“Wha-?” the pain was immediately halved when Newt raised his head and looked around. “Where... What?”

The guy was in the middle of a huge dark hall, apparently an abandoned castle. Around him, the floor was littered with fragments of ceiling and windows, and behind him on a platform that led up to a small staircase were two thrones, orange-yellow and dark-blue. Above the latter hung two matching tapestries: one with the sun and clouds, the other with the stars and moon. All of the above time clearly did not spare, because it looked like a huge monster took a bite off everything around, but again and again it did not like it and spat out.

Newt tried to get to his feet, which were clearly of a different opinion, because the next moment he was face down on the floor again. Spitting and coughing the dust in his mouth, he made a second attempt, getting down on his knees to begin with, then crawled to a large boulder nearby, gripped it more firmly, and used it as a support to keep himself from falling on shaky legs. Leaning against the rock, Newt finally allowed himself to catch his breath. The carpet on the floor at least a little delayed vegetating of bare feet.

The fog might have cleared, but the boy's mind was a mess. What happened to him? The last thing he remembered was sitting around the fire with Terry, Caleb, and Madison. Then he went into the woods to get firewood, saw that the door of the usually locked abandoned mine was wide open, went to check... and then only fragments: mirrors ... creatures in gas masks... a bio-capsule… and Cobra. The last time Newt had such a wild dream was after the Dorm party, and for the record, he had barely touched his beer. Or not?

Suddenly, from the far corridor leading to the hall, there was a shrill cry from two young girls, and a sound like the clatter of hooves was rapidly carried away. After that there was another oppressive silence. And Newt just stood there with a puzzled expression on his face, not even knowing what to do. Did he frighten someone or was it not because of him?

“Hello?” he ventured. “Is anyone there?” there was only silence. "Sorry for intrude, I don't remember how I got here!.. And for that matter, where exactly is ‘here’?” he said the last part to himself.

There are no ruined castles in Forks, not even the city's pride the Twilight Tour could provide one. Did they go to Seattle or Portland in the middle of the night? Then how did they get inside? Such castles are usually guarded... and in better condition than this one.

The question remained unanswered, and a rumbling sound came from the corridor followed by a shout:

“Well, tapestries or not, I’ve had just enough of secret passages, mysterious presences and unappreciative castles!”

It was a woman's voice, but it wasn't Madison's. This voice could belong only to a high-born prissy girl or a flighty lady. Then Newt heard another woman's voice, a little lower, softer, and a little squeaky:

“But we can't leave now! Not with Angel lost in this dangerous old castle! He could be trapped under crumbling statue or locked in a tower without food, or water, or any friends at all!

Judging by the sobs, whoever this Angel was, he was very important to the girl. But what are they doing here? Some hippies broke into a protected area for the lulz? Or were they drawn here by the ghost stories? Judging by the sounds of approaching footsteps, more like the clop of hooves, these two girls were not far away. When he was sure that he was on his feet, Newt ran into the darkness of the corridor to the left of the thrones and hid around the corner. God protect him, he didn't know what kind of people they were or what to expect from them.

“Angel! Ange-e-e-el!” the squeaky girl screamed.

“I'm sure we'll find him,” said the noblewoman.

The sound of clattering hooves grew louder, and the next moment into the hall came galloping… A horse? No, judging by the size it's more like a pony. Standing on all fours, she was as tall as Newt's belly, with snow-white fur, a purple-blue mane and tail that seemed to have been curled up with a flat iron, and huge blue eyes. But the special feature of this mare was the drawing (tattoo?) on the rump in the form of three diamonds. And protruding from her frontal part was a horn.

‘Do I see a real living unicorn in front of me right now?’ Newt had to cover his mouth to not give away his presence.

In any case, the unicorn mare stopped at the foot of the thrones and stared somewhere above them, uttering a loud cry.

“Did you find Angel? Is he okay?” a squeaky voice came from the doorway.

“They are perfect!” the white unicorn exclaimed, and then Newt realized who the noblewoman's voice belonged to.

The young man again clamped his hand over his mouth at the last moment to stifle a gasp of surprise.

Not just a unicorn... but a talking, goddammit, unicorn!

The lady's interest seemed to be in the tapestries that hung above the thrones:

“No castle in its right mind could possibly object to my restoring such exquisite works of art!”

The squeaky voice belonged to another pony mare that had followed the white unicorn in. The only distinguishing feature, in addition to her lemon-yellow fur, long pink mane and tail with a curl at the end, turquoise eyes, and an image of three pink butterflies on the rump, was a pair of folded wings.

‘Is it a pegasus?!’ Newt wanted to pinch himself harder, but he still couldn’t force himself to declare his presence. Although even if there were talking ponies in the gas masks, it weren't the fillies that had brought him here, or the boy's absence wouldn't have gone unnoticed.

“Oh, they're lovely, Rarity, but I have to keep looking for Angel,” the yellow Pegasus said in that recognizable timid and slightly squeaky voice. “I hope he doesn't think I've given up him.”

She turned and walked back, and the unicorn (‘Rarity is her name?’) climbed onto the blue throne.

“I am right behind you!” shouted Rarity, she closed her eyes closed and she tensed. Mare’s horn glowed with a soft blue light, the same light enveloped the entire tapestry with the moon, and an unknown force tugged it, but even so it did not hurry to remove itself from the wall.

“In… a moment,” Rarity moaned, trying to remove the stubborn tapestry.

Suddenly the sound of an organ cut through the dead silence of the ruins, making Newt jump, then he got tangled in his own feet and fell backward. Another sound and suddenly the throne on which the unicorn stood spun wildly back around its horizontal axis with her. When the rotation stopped, Rarity was somewhere behind the castle wall.

The yellow pegasus turned back and looked around the room, calling for her friend. The sound of the organ along with Rarity's scream drowned out the boy's fall, so pegasus mare didn’t think of checking the left corridor.

“I know hiding is not your sense of humor, but please let this be your joke," pegasus said in a pleading trembling voice as she slowly made her way to the blue throne.

She was pitiful to look at: the pegasus shrank as if she wanted to be even smaller than she was, and her slightly closed eyelids seemed ready at any moment to save her mistress's eyes from some terrible sight. On the one hand, here was a chance to try to make contact and find out what was going on, and on the other Newt felt in his gut that his appearance would only frighten her more.

Instead, this was successfully handled by the damned organ. The pegasus flew into the air in a flash, screamed aloud, and was no less quickly away, still screaming.

Newt got to his feet and dusted himself off.

“What the heck is going on here?” the boy mused aloud as he emerged from his hiding place. “Like it’s not enough of talking ponies then give me a castle that lives its own life... Wherever I am, it's definitely not Forks anymore.” Newt sighed and sauntered out of the room.

Beyond the arched doorway, he was met by a deserted stone corridor, there was nothing but an oppressive gloom, unlit torches, and draughts that gradually made him shiver. The lack of shoes didn't help either, because the toes were already numb, and small stones on the floor kept pricking boy’s feet. The risk of catching a cold increased exponentially.

Newt found himself at an intersection: one road led to an even more eerie corridor with rows of horse legs protruding from the walls on either side, holding torches (‘I hope they're not real’); it was impossible to see where the road to the left led, but the corridor in front led directly to a staircase somewhere up, where the light was coming from.

“Rainbow! Hello!” an unknown female voice with a distinctly rustic note echoed off the walls, coming from somewhere in the corridor to the left. “I guess if I don't find you, I win by default, right?”

Newt didn't want to check who it was, much less find out what kind of crazy game these ponies were playing. Instead, he went slowly up the stairs.

“Of all the castles in Equestria, this is by far the most ungrateful!” Rarity's voice came from above.

‘Equestria?’ Newt paused for a moment. ‘What is this... or where is this?’

The stairs led to a large hall where there were several similar corridors on the opposite side, and on the left two mirrored stairs led to a small balcony. Newt ducked quickly around the corner when he saw several ponies out of the corner of his eye, they were backing up and looking around in fear. Here he saw the familiar white unicorn and yellow pegasus, but with them were two other ponies. One without wings or horn, with an orange coat, a blonde mane and tail, green eyes and the pattern on her side in the form of three apples, the mare was wearing a stetson hat. And another pegasus mare, only with a sky-blue coat, a rainbow mane and tail, fuchsia eyes, and a pattern on her side in the form of three-color lightning shooting out of a cloud.

‘OK, here goes nothing’ Newt took a deep breath and walked out of the hall.

“Um... excuse me,” the guy began, slowly approaching and holding his hands out in front of him in a conciliatory gesture.

At that moment, a bolt of lightning lit up the hall, a thunderclap shook the walls, four pairs of eyes stared at him... and then all four mares screamed loudly.

“The pony of shadows!” the blue pegasus screamed the loudest, cutting through the air and bouncing off the walls like a pinball.

The rest of them just started running around the room and yelling, not looking where they were going.

“I'm sorry, I‒” Newt broke off, jumping out of the way to avoid being hit by an orange pony. “C-calm down!” he got out of the way of the yellow Pegasus. “I didn't mean to frighten you, and I don't want to hurt anyone!”

“I was only trying to restore ancient art!” the guy didn't notice Rarity, who was covered by the fallen tapestry.

The blow knocked all the air out of his lungs, not to mention the fact that the horn would clearly leave a bruise. Newt was thrown back against a pile of rocks, the sharp edges of which bit into his back. The pain cleared his mind a little and allowed the adrenaline to get into his bloodstream in time, because the cowgirl knocked down an already damaged by time column, which began to fall directly on the guy. Newt rolled away and coughed at the dust that rose in the air.

“Ange-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-el!” yellow pegasus screamed at the top of her lungs.

Newt tried to get to his feet again, but the orange pony leaped over a fallen column and hit him in the jaw with her head, knocking Newt over, and falling head over heels.

“ALRIGHT! EVERYONE, STOP!” someone shouted from the balcony, and the room was lit up with a purple glow covering everyone present by this same glow. Ponies and human were frozen in place in the same positions and at the same point where they had been a moment ago.

Literally, Newt's mouth and eyes were the only things that could be moved, and everything else was either restrained or paralyzed. The cowgirl froze in a half-turn with her tail on her face, the yellow pegasus clung to a fallen column, the rainbow-maned one hovered in the air, and Rarity sat under a fallen tapestry. The unknown voice belonged to a purple unicorn (‘How many of them are here?’) that appeared out of nowhere at the foot of the stairs.

“I don't know who you are, but thank you,” Newt said. “I thought I was going to be trampled alive.”

The fillies stopped looking at each other, their eyes darting to him, and a new wave of horror crossed their faces. The purple unicorn came closer and released her friends, they dropped to the floor and immediately stood behind her, while Newt remained where he was, unable to move.

“What in tarnation is that?” the cowgirl asked, pointing a hoof in his direction.

“I-it talks!” the white unicorn gasped.

“First of all, I'm not ‘it’, I'm ‘he’,” Newt said, almost hissing. “Second, yeah, try to imagine, I can do a lot of things. And third, it gives me great pleasure to talk to you on the floor.” the latter was said with as much sarcasm as possible.

The purple unicorn extinguished her horn, and the glow around the boy disappeared. Actually, on closer inspection, the purple mare had not only a horn, but also wings, as well as purple eyes, a dark blue mane and tail with a pink and purple stripe, and a pattern on her side in the form of a six-pointed star. And of all the ponies present, she was the only one who looked at him not with ‘What is he?’ but rather with ‘How did he get here?’ manner.

Newt got to his feet and dusted himself off; of course, the once snow-white pajamas were hopelessly ruined. Because of his height, the fillies had to look up at him, and they didn't dare get any closer.

“What’s gotten into you?” the guy continued to be indignant, he was drove insane by all what is happening. “I thought of you as civilized creatures. Or is this how you meet people?”

The fright was replaced by surprise and bewilderment, and lilac mare was even more ashamed than the others.

“Do you understand me at all?”

The ponies looked at each other spasmodically and nodded in unison.

“Yeah, right,” Newt said, tapping his forehead with his fist. ”If I can understand you, then it’s only natural that you can understand me. Although, it is a curious coincidence to meet a colorful ponies who speak English and not some Abracadabra.

“Erm... what now?” the cowgirl asked.

“English,” Newt repeated, now it was his turn to be puzzled.

“We speak the Universal Equine Dialect,” said the purple ... unigasus? Pegahorn?

“Well, in my world your language is called English... and speaking of worlds, because it's obviously not Forks, where am I?”

“You are in Equestria, the continent of Equus, the planet Eden,” said the unicorn with wings. “But I wonder why do you look like that?”

“Like what?” the guy's left eyebrow shot up. “Rumpled, untidy, and confused? There is an obvious explanation for this.”

“No, why do you look like a human instead of a pony?”

It put Newt in a state of great confusion.

“I'm sorry I don't understand your question. So you've seen humans before, after all?”

“I have, but my friends haven't,” said the purple mare. “Forgive them for that.” then she startled, as if she had remembered something. “And we got off on the wrong hoof. What kind of Princess of Friendship am I?.. What's your name?”

“Newton Moore,” the human said.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Moore-“

“Just Newt and no ‘mister’ stuff,” the boy interrupted.

“Okay… Newt, my name is Twilight Sparkle,” the purple pony said, and the other mares came slowly out from behind her and stood in a row. “This is Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity.”

“Well, briefly we've already met,” Newt said, the others only awkwardly dug their hooves into the ground.

“We're sorry,” Fluttershy said softly, hiding her face behind her pink mane.

“Yeah, we kinda messed up the first impression.” Rainbow Dash scratched her head and gave an awkward laugh.

“It’s nothing,” grinned Newt. “When I first saw Rarity and Fluttershy, I was half scared and half surprised too. And, Twilight, you said you've seen humans before, so they exist in your world?”

The purple mare shook her head.

“I've met humans in a parallel world where there's a Canterlot High School, and all the ponies here have human counterparts there. You're not from CHS, are you?”

Another puzzling question.

“I don't pretend to know my world from A to Z, but if we had something like that, I think I would know about it,” Newt said.

In the eyes of Twilight lit up strange sparks, which, as Newt will learn soon, means, that the mare has activated the mad scientific interest mode.

“I've read that there are other human worlds, but portal mirrors were lost centuries ago,” she said, lost in her own thoughts, and then turned her attention back to the man: “Do you remember how you got here?”

“My memories are pretty vague,” Newt said, because he didn't really want to remember what had happened. “There were some mirrors, yes, but I didn't come here by accident. Someone kidnapped me, I don't know who, because I didn't see their faces. I only remember some kind of lab, ponies in hazmat suits and gas masks, and there was a man in red armor with the sign of a Cobra on his chest.

It was hard to tell from the reaction of the ponies whether they were too stunned or didn't believe him.

“They did something to me,” Newt continued. “I don't know exactly what, but they pumped some gas into me and I passed out then woke up here. And judging by your reaction, unless you're a natural actresses, you didn't bring me here.”

“Uh-uh-uh.” none of the mares opened their mouths, from behind their backs appeared a small purple dragon with a green crest from the top to the tip of the tail and green eyes with a narrow pupil. “We usually save Equestria and bring magic of friendship to the world, not steal creatures from other worlds.”

“Angel!” Fluttershy exclaimed, rushing to the white rabbit that accompanied the dragon and hugged him tightly. “Finally I’ve found you! Don't scare me like that again!”

‘So much fuss because of a little rabbit?’ Newt thought.

“The magic of friendship?” boy asked, returning his attention to the dragon. “Saving Equestria? Are you some kind of Justice League of the local spill?”

The ponies blinked, and the dragon gasped in surprise, but then cleared his throat quickly, puffed out his chest, raised his right paw, and exclaimed:

“Rejoice, human! You have the honor to stand before five of the six Elements of Harmony! Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and The Element of Magic!” he began to point at the mares in turn. “Rainbow Dash, The Element of Loyalty! Applejack, The Element of Honesty! Fluttershy, The Element of Kindness! And Rarity, The Element of Generosity!”

The ponies looked at the dragon with a mixture of surprise, confusion, and perplexity. And the yellow pegasus, when her turn came, hid her face behind her mane again.

“And the last but not least is me,” said the dragon, pointing at himself with his thumbs. “Spike Brave and Glorious, Savior of the Crystal Empire!”

Newt was not particularly impressed with the dragon's performance.

“If only I knew what you are talking about.” the man rolled his eyes. “And, no offense, but I have a hard time believing that an overgrown lizard can be anyone's Savior, let alone the whole Empire.”

Spike's eyes widened, he frowned, turned red, clenched his paws into fists, and panted. He did not look threatening, but cute and funny. The girls tried to hold back, barely allowing a smile to appear on their faces, although Rainbow gave a loud, unabashed squeal and burst out laughing.

“I'm not a lizard, I'm a dragon!” Spike snarled, which caused everyone else to laugh out loud, because he looked like a child who claims to be an adult.

“Okay, you said about six elements, but why are there five of you?” Newt asked, changing the subject to calm the dragon and not embarrass him any more.

“Pinkie Pie is still in Ponyville, she is ringing the school bell today,” Rarity said for the first time. “She doesn't have anything to do here... and we weren’t expected here too. What were you doing here, Twilight?”

“I've been searching the local library for information about the box from the Tree of Harmony,” said the purple pony. “And what were you four doing here?" she asked the other ponies. “I thought it was strange when I saw Angel why he wasn't with you, Fluttershy.”

“Oh... he was with us,” yellow Pegasus hesitated. “until Rarity and I got trapped…”

“I decided to look for tapestries for restoration, and Fluttershy kept me company,” the white unicorn explained. “And yes, during our search, we came across several traps and hidden doors.”

“And what about you two?” Twilight asked Rainbow and Applejack.

“We've been competing with Applejack all day to see which one of us is the bravest pony,” started rainbow-maned pegasus.

“We’ve tried everything possible, but remained in a draw and therefore decided that what can be a better test of your courage than a scary old castle?” the cowgirl finished.

The organ that had startled Fluttershy earlier began to play again. The mares and Spike quickly clung to each other, and Newt jumped up and looked around frantically, trying to determine the source of the sound, but it seemed as if the music was coming from everywhere.

“The P-pony of S-s-shadows,” Spike stammered, covering his eyes with his paws.

‘Brave and Glorious, indeed!’

“Don't be silly,” Twilight's voice quavered. “It's just an old ponytale.”

“Then who do you think is playing that?" Applejack's eyes were narrowed with fear, and cold sweat ran down her forehead.

“We're going to find out,” Twilight said and went in the supposed direction of the sound source.

The ponies, the dragon, the rabbit, and the human went back down to the basement from which Newt had come, only turning the other way at the intersection. The music was getting louder and with the local acoustics it not only hit the ears, but also seemed to penetrate the brain. The unknown organist's style had the characteristics of Bach, Mozart, and Handel, but for the most part the music was more like skillful improvisation than particular composition.

And now they were in front of a room from which came the music of an organ. Peering around the corner, they saw what was probably the most intact room in the entire castle. In the dimness you could still make out the high ceiling, four side corridors, and a carpet path leading from the doorway to a small staircase, which in turn led to a very ordinary brass organ. On either side of it, mirrored stone statues of pegasi encircled a pair of tall candelabra that provided the only illumination. But this is not the main thing. A hunched figure in a black raincoat sat at the keyboard, apparently unaware of their presence even after a loud collective sigh.

Twilight stepped forward and began slowly sneaking up on the unknown figure. The others, including Newt, just stood there gaping at her. Halfway up the stairs, the purple pony grabbed the cloak with her magic and yanked it off... Not a ghost, not a monster, not a demon, but another pony. Soft pink fur, dark pink mane and tail that resembled cotton candy, blue eyes and a pattern on the side in the form of three colored balls.

“Heya, guys!” she exclaimed. “Did you know I can totally play the organ? Because I didn’t!”

Her voice was so high-pitched that it hurt Newt’s ears.

“Pinkie?” exclaimed mares and dragon in unison.

‘So this is Pinkie Pie. Speak of the devil,’ the man remarked to himself as he and the others moved closer.

“Check it out,” said the pink pony and played a short tune.

“You are the Pony of Shadows?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering in front of her.

“The pony of what?” Pinkie asked without looking up from the keyboard.

“See? What I tell ya?” Twilight said firmly.

“I thought you have to ring the school bell for week,” Applejack said, looking at her pink friend in confusion.

“Oh yeah, I only had to ring it like five minutes. They said I was good enough” the pink pony tapped a few keys in time with her next sentence: “Nah, can’t imagine why.”

Her friends just rolled their eyes.

“So I decided to throw ‘Finish ringing of school bell’ party , but I didn't have any bluebells, and you can’t throw a ‘Finish ringing of school bell’ party without bluebells.” Pinkie wasn't just talking, the words were coming out of her mouth like machine-gun fire, and she was either gesturing or fiddling with the keys on the organ. “So I went to the Everfree Forest to pick some, but it started to be so chilly that I had to wrap myself in the tarp I'd brought for the flowers. And then I saw Fluttershy and Rarity, but they went into the castle before I could invite them to my party. Luckily, I followed them inside so I can help with your party!” she stopped playing and turned fully to them.

“What party is that?” Rarity asked.

“Ah… ‘The everypony come to the scary castle and hide from each other while I play the organ’ party?” she finished her sentence by tapping the key again, only now the tile Spike was standing on jumped and he flew back somewhere.

“Duh,” Pinkie smiled and bounced off the organ.

Newt usually tried not to jump to conclusions or be prejudiced, but this pony was already getting on his nerves. He couldn't even tell which was more annoying: her chatter or the nonsense she was saying.

“Is she even sane?” Newt whispered to Applejack.

“Not a chance,” the farm mare snorted.

“Oh, and who's our new friend?” the pony and the man in their brief dialogue did not notice that the pink misunderstanding was near them.

Pinkie was leaning forward, looking at the boy with the broadest of good-natured smiles. Newt stepped back slightly, saving his personal space from a rude intrusion.

‘We just met. Isn't it a little early to be called friends?’ the young man didn't say this out loud.

Twilight, realizing that the human was speechless (‘Yes, Pinkie has this effect on everyone,’ she noted), took the initiative:

“Pinkie, this is Newt ... the human. Newt, this is Pinkie Pie, The Element of Laughter.”

“The pleasure is mine,” the guy manages to say just to be polite.

“O-o-oh,” the pink pony said, her pupils filling up the white of her eyes, her smile widening, and the boy felt uncomfortable. “Nice to meet you, Newt the Human!” her surprise faded instantly and she bounced toward the exit.

The boy followed her with a confused look.

“A piece of mah advice,” Applejack said to the human, giving him a little poke in the side, “NEVER try to figure out what Pinkie says or does, or your brain will go kaboom.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” Newt drawled, continuing to stare at the pink misunderstanding.

***

Sometime later they were all sitting in the tower of the castle. A circular room with a sofa on the one side, a bookshelf on the other, a small table in the center and miraculously intact stained glass windows with familiar images of the sun and moon. A hole in the ceiling provided natural light for Twilight, who was leafing through a book, and Spike was sitting next to her also reading. Pinkie Pie was skipping around the room, Rarity was sewing a tapestry, Fluttershy was stroking her pet, and Rainbow and Applejack were arguing in low voices about who had won their argument. As for Newt, he paced the room and looked around. It wasn't that he didn't want to start a conversation with someone, just that he didn't want to distract them from their business.

“I swear this is going back where I found it just as soon as I return it to its former glory," Rarity said, breaking the silence as the needle in her magic grip circled, creating stitch after stitch on the tapestry.

“Now don’t go running off again,” Fluttershy scolded the rabbit. “Oh, I can't believe I was so frightened. Guess I let my imagination get the best of me.”

“Ah think we all did,” Applejack said.

“I always let my imagination run away from me then it comes back with cake!" Pinkie exclaimed suddenly.

The girls simply ignored her, and Newt followed their example.

“Well, it's good to know that wherever your imagination is getting away from you, a good friend can help you rein it in," Twilight said, looking up from her task. “And even though I didn't find out anything about the mysterious chest, I’m glad I was here to help all of you.”

“You certainly did that, Twilight,” Rarity smiled.

Their atmosphere of warmth, unity, and friendship affected Newt as well. He caught himself on the fact that he no less happy for them, smiling and it's just nice to be with them, even though they barely know each other.

“No doubt about it,” the young man interjected. “Today you saved me from a very ungenerous death.”

This caused everyone to laugh, if only a little nervously.

“Sorry again, Newt,” Rarity said.

“It’s nothing,” the guy said. “The reaction was pretty much expected. In this situation, I'm just glad I met someone reasonable and not the one who kidnapped me.”

“You said they did something to you,” Fluttershy said awkwardly. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine, I guess. But when I woke up here, I had a terrible headache and could barely move because of my weakness.”

“Don't worry,” Twilight said, “when we get back to Ponyville, I can check you out and see if there are any changes.”

“Are you are a doctor too?” Newt chuckled. “Besides, how do you know about human physiology and anatomy if you don't have any humans around?”

“That's our Twilight,” Rainbow said with a grin. “Egghead.”

“Hey!” purple pony exclaimed, frowning, but then turned her attention back to the man: “I picked up some books about humans from the Canterlot School library, so I think I'll figure it out.”

“You're not going to dissect me, are you?” Newt asked, feigning fear.

“No,” Twilight said with a chuckle. "Though I’m very interested to see how the human body works firsthoof.”

“Twilight,” Spike squinted from under the book, "do you remember when you were a kid trying to figure out how a camera works? You didn't put it back together.”

The comment made mares laugh, but human's insides turned cold.

“Spike, I'm not going to risk our only specimen for scientific interest,” Twilight said with a condescending shake of her head. “I am The Element of Magic and a Princess of Friendship, not a mad scientist.”

“One doesn't interfere with the other,” snorted the dragon. “When you're up all night reading books that I can't even pronounce, or making a schedule for every day and freaking out if something doesn't go according to plan or right on the minute, what's not crazy?”

The princess wanted to argue, but Newt distracted her:

“Twilight, I still didn’t ask what are you? Are your parents a pegasus and a unicorn?”

“I'm alicorn, you dork,” the purple pony said with a condescending smile. “Alicorns are not born naturally. I used to be a unicorn, but Princess Celestia ascended me.”

“I'm not sure I understand... Who is she? And what does ‘ascended’ part mean?”

“Princess Celestia and her sister Luna rule Equestria together. Celestia is mistress of the Sun, and Luna is mistress of the Moon and the World of Dreams.”

“What do you mean by 'mistress'?” more and more questions, and a little answers.

“They move the sun and moon in the sky, changing day and night,” Twilight said. “I know it's not necessary in the human world, but they've been doing this for thousands of years.” Twilight forestalled the obvious question.

“So the alicorns are some kind of gods?” Newt couldn't imagine the power it would take to be able to do this.

“You could say that,” said the purple pony. “Celestia and Luna are very highly regarded in Equestria.”

“But why would they make a simple pony their equal?”

“Princess Celestia has a school for gifted unicorns in Canterlot, where I once went," Twilight began. “For my outstanding achievements I became her student. I lived in Canterlot for most of my life, until one day the Princess sent me to Ponyville to oversee preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. This is what you get in return when you want to warn of danger, and they tell you ‘Go make some friends’,” she said, not without a grin, drawing laughter from her friends.

“But it was for the best, wasn’t it, darling?” Rarity smirked.

“So was for us,” Rainbow shrugged.

“What kind of danger?” Newt asked.

“You see, a thousand years ago Princess Luna was very jealous of her sister because the ponies didn't appreciate the beauty of the night and her as a Princess. Succumbing to her grief and resentment, she turned into a monster that called itself Nightmare Moon and wanted to plunge Equestria into eternal night. Celestia was forced to banish her to the moon, where her younger sister was locked up for a thousand years. And just on the day of the Summer Sun Celebration, they prophesied her return. Nightmare had come to the festival and kidnapped Celestia, and the six of us had gone to this castle, the Castle of the Two Sisters where Celestia and Luna had once lived.”

“Then it's no wonder there are symbols of the sun and moon everywhere,” the guy chuckled.

“So,” Twilight continued, “here we found the Elements of Harmony that Celestia used to banish Nightmare Moon. And because we were the perfect embodiment of each of the six elements, we were able to use them to destroy Nightmare Moon and return Princess Luna-”

“Since then, we've gotten to know each other better, defeated villains, saved ponies, spread the magic of friendship, and mended relationships,” Pinkie interposed, firing a machine-gun burst of words at us. “And Twilight succeeded in the magic of friendship so much so that Princess Celestia decided to ascend her. Now Twilight is the third Princess of Equestria.” when party pony finished her verbal barrage, she smiled broadly and made a squee sound.

“Heh, yeah, that's about it,” Twilight said with a grin.

“I understand the general outline, but you'll have to explain a lot to me to complete the picture,” Newt said. “Though I don't think there's anything else I can do, since I can't go back.”

“Oh-oh-oh,” Pinkie said, “you're going to love Ponyville… Wait, so you're new in the town?” she leaped into the air and screamed loudly: “I JUST HAVE TO THROW YOU A WELCOME PARTY!”

Her scream made the walls tremble, and for a moment it seemed as if the floor was about to give way beneath them.

“A party?” Newt looked down.

“Yes, Pinkie is the best party planner,” Spike said. “The Element of Laughter, after all. And she organizes a welcome party for every new person in town, even if they're passing through.”

“Don't bother, really… “ the boy felt awkward.

“No refusal,” sang the pink pony. “I like to organize parties, it's my pleasure and not a burden at all.”

***

Unknown to the six ponies and the human, two blue lights were watching them intently from the shadows.

***

«Dear Princess Celestia,

I took your advice and explored the library in your old castle. I have not found anything about the box from the Tree of Harmony, but instead the girls and I found a human. His name is Newton Moore and he looks exactly like a human, not a pony, which means he is not from the world of Canterlot High School. Newt (as he asked to be called) says that he was kidnapped by some ponies in protective suits with gas masks and someone in red armor with the sign of a Cobra. Does that mean anything to you? Newt also said that they did something to him, and I can tell you more when I examine him. Newt shows no signs of aggression towards us or ill intentions, only a lack of understanding of our world and a healthy curiosity. He will be under my supervision at Ponyville, unless you make some other arrangement.

Your former but still devoted student,

Twilight Sparkle»

The Serpent of Faust

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“Once more, this terrible forest, full of dangerous creatures, is very close to the town, and ponies calmly live here without worries?” Newt wondered as he and the six ponies, the dragon, and the rabbit walked along the road.

If he thought the nighttime woods around the Wilson ranch were creepy, this one just broke all records. Trees that look like monsters with wide gaping hollow mouths and clawed paws branches that seems to be able to grab you at any moment. Eerie sounds in the distance, which could not be made by any animal known to the human. And between the trees in the pitch-black darkness a pairs of yellow lights glittered, like eyes belonging to a horde of creepy monsters that follow your every move, waiting for a gawking victim. But with all this, the Elements of Harmony walked confidently along the road, completely without looking around. Only Spike, for Angel's amusement, flinched at every rustle.

“If you don't turn off this road, you don't have to worry about your safety,” Twilight said.

“Zecora lives here all the time and even goes where no one dares to go,” Pinkie chirped, following them with her strange bouncing gait.

“Who is Zecora?” asked Newt.

“The hermit zebra,” Applejack said. “She's some kinda shaman or healer, so if traditional medicine doesn't help or there's an unusual case we ask for her aid.”

“The more I find out, the more questions I have,” the boy chuckled.

“It's okay,” said Twilight. “I think we have something to ask you too.”

“I, for one, am very interested in your clothes,” said Rarity, coming up alongside the human and examining him closely. “I don't know why, but in my head I have hundreds of better versions of what you're wearing right now.”

Each of them has already told Newt about their occupation.

“I'd appreciate some new clothes, Rarity... and a pair of shoes,” said Newt, who was getting tired of squirming at every rock under his feet.

“I don't make shoes, but I know someone who can help you. I'll bet he'll swallow his hammer for the prospect of a variety of activities.”

“And I have a book on human fashion so you'll have something to focus on,” Twilight said.

“Have no doubt, Newt, you'll be the most fashionable human in Ponyville,” the white unicorn said with a wide smile. “U-ugh, I'm just trembling from overflowing inspiration!” her pupils were the size of saucers to prove her point.

“Um... Newt,” yellow pegasus said softly to the boy, if they hadn't been walking in silence most of the time, he probably wouldn't have heard her.

“Yes, Fluttershy?” noticed her young men.

She hid her face behind her mane again.

“Um… I just wanted… to ask… What do you eat?”

The guy's eyebrows jumped up at a slightly inappropriate and strange, in his opinion, question. But when the other five stared at him, it was clear that they were very concerned.

‘Are they afraid I might want to eat them?’ Newt chuckled to himself. ‘Okay the rest of them, but Twilight has already met humans... Although she met them in a parallel world, so who knows what customs those people have.'

“Humans are omnivores, but we don't eat ponies, if that's what you are concerned about,” the man replied, but he couldn't resist teasing the shy pony. He looked her over carefully from head to hind hooves, smiled broadly, and said, “Though I must admit you look delicious, Fluttershy.”

Yellow pegasus gave a startled squeak and hid behind Rainbow Dash. Newt's words elicited a mixed reaction from the fillies: Twilight snorted into a hoof, Pinkie's face turned into an expression of animal horror, Rainbow and Applejack bared their teeth, ready to jump to their friend's defense at any moment, and Rarity and Spike exchanged nervous glances.

“C-calm down, I was just kidding,” Newt said, holding up his hands.

The mares relaxed, looked at each other, and laughed along with Twilight, though it was more of a hysterical laugh, and Fluttershy was the color of boiled crayfish.

“You said in your world there are ponies too?” asked Rainbow Dash, hoping to smooth things over.

“Yes, but like horses, they are not intelligent. People use them as sledge or draft animals,” the guy replied.

“What are ‘horses’?” Applejack asked.

“That's... how do I explain this?” Newt thought seriously, because this is the first time he has ever explained to someone something that is clear and elementary to him. “In general, horses are like big ponies.”

“Very big?” asked Pinkie.

“Well, about two or three times the size of an average pony.”

“Wow!” said the farmer pony in awe. “They'd be useful on Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Yeah, you don't have to pay them, just feed, water, shoe, and clean up dung.” chuckled Newt.

Applejack grimaced as if she had a toothache:

“Ah think Mac and I can handle on our own.”

“We're almost there,” Twilight said.

The forest ended getting to a more open area. The day was drawing to an end, and the setting sun was turning the cloudless sky purple. A little further to the left of the path was a small two-story cottage, the roof of which seemed to be overgrown with thick grass. On the roof, on the eaves and on a tree near the house, like Christmas decorations, hung birdhouses and other houses for animals to suit every taste.

“Who wouldn't be afraid to live so close to the Everfree Forest?” Newt wondered aloud.

“Oh, this is... my house,” Fluttershy said.

‘Well, that explains all the houses and birdhouses.’

“And I think I'll go,” said the yellow pegasus shyly. “I've had enough impressions for one day, so now I want to rest.”

“You're not alone in this, sugarcube,” said Applejack. “I feel like I'm going to sleep like dead tonight.”

With that, we said goodbye to Fluttershy and her pet, and went down the road. In contrast to the Everfree Forest, the trees of this area were sparse. To the right of the path, the Sun River meandered through the trees, then joined the Rolling River and emptied into Marigold Lake. And on the left side, in a perfect straight line through the trees ran the Great Valley River, which had previously flowed under the bridge to the Fluttershy’s house.

Newt could see the roofs of the houses sticking up from a distance. And if initially Ponyville in his mind was more like a village or small town, then as he approached with the mares closer and closer he was convinced that it is quite big town. After crossing the bridge over the river mentioned earlier, the man, ponies and dragon found themselves in a spacious city square, in the center of which is located the Town Hall that looks like a three-layer cake. And the guy was grateful that there was asphalt under his feet in the city. Across the square, like mushrooms after a rain, were houses of various shapes and sizes, isolated and clustered.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie were the next to say good-bye, and together they went somewhere to the right across the square and the two-way wall of houses. Because of the time of day, there weren't many ponies on the streets, but even so, Newt noted again how different they all were: different colors and combinations, different ages, different jobs, different cutiemarks. An embarrassment of riches and imagination was amazed!

Well, no one doubted that even among the remaining onlookers the human would quickly draw attention. The ponies, which had been walking or chatting with each other, stopped dead with their mouths open and eyes the size of saucers. Silent piercing glances followed the guy for several minutes. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike all smiled awkwardly and waved as if to say that everything was fine. Gradually, the dead silence began to turn into a buzzing as if a swarm of angry bees had flown into the city, and the stares that accompanied the guy like a searchlight became more and more numerous.

When it seemed to Newt that the pony’s eyes were already burning holes in him, he couldn't stand it:

“Stop staring! Haven’t seen a human before?!”

The ponies were instantly silent and pale, and Newt's companions lost their color as well and were covered in cold sweat. There was a tense silence. The boy and Twilight looked around, expecting the townsponies to either run away in panic or grab torches and pitchforks.

Suddenly, a mint-colored unicorn with a brilliant blue mane with a white stripe, amber eyes, and a lyre-shaped cutiemark popped out of a nearby house.

“Did someone say ‘human’?” she turned her head like a meerkat until she noticed the direction of the crowd's gaze.

“Oh, no.” Spike's pupils turned into two points.

“What is it?” Newt became even more nervous.

The mint unicorn crossed the distance between them in record time, and the green blur slammed into Newt, knocking all the air out of his lungs. And in the next moment, the guy having flown a couple of meters found himself sprawled on the ground. And the strange unicorn was jumping on him like on a trampoline trampling him into the ground and looking at him too closely. The boy would have been embarrassed if he had had something to breathe, because even a strangled mumble would have left him short of air.

“It's a human! A real human! And you didn't believe me!” the mint unicorn screamed with delight.

A cream earth pony with a blue mane and a blue stripe, azure eyes and a pattern on her rump in the form of three candies came to the aid of the unfortunate guy. She reached down and grabbed the mint unicorn by her ear with teeth, pulling her away.

“Ow-ow-ow,” the unicorn wailed until the cream mare let her go. “It hurts!”

“Lyra, get a hold of yourself and don't forget your manners,” the cream-colored earth pony scowled.

The rest of the Mane Six helped the human sit up and catch his breath. Newt was gasping for air like a stranded fish, and his chest and stomach felt as if everything that could be crushed inside had been crushed.

“Are you... sure... you don't... knock... each other... down... when you meet?” the man barely managed to say.

The cream-colored earth pony blushed and smiled awkwardly.

“Excuse my girlfriend, Mr. Human, she's very impressionable,” she said.

‘Did she just say ‘girlfriend’? And as if it’s something completely natural?’

Newt wouldn't call himself a homophobe, but he still considered same sex relationships as something that shouldn’t be flaunted.

After this painful and awkward scene, the inhabitants of the city seemed to relax and even began to come closer in order to get a better look at the unknown creature. This time Twilight came to the rescue, creating a purple magic ring around her. It expanded and gently repelled the gathering crowd.

“Well, you’ve come, seen and now go home,” alicorn said firmly. “This human is under my supervision, but he is not dangerous, so you'll have all time of the world to make an acquaintance with him. And now he needs rest.”

The townspeople looked at each other and slowly but obediently began to disperse. Someone was glaring at Newt again, someone was just whispering to each other. The mint unicorn and the cream earth pony were also walking slowly. Finally the human obsessed pony waved and said:

“My name is Lyra, by the way, Lyra Heartstrings. It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Human.”

“Newt,” the guy said, holding on to his battered stomach, a forced smile on his face. “Yes, very nice.”

“And my name is Sweetie Drops,” said the earth pony with the image of candy on her side. “If Lyra ever bothers you, contact me.”

“Bon-Bon, don't be a bugger.” the minty unicorn puffed out her cheeks like a child.

“And you behave yourself properly,” Sweetie Drops scowled, following her. “Honestly, why do we need foals when I already have one?”

“I'm not a foal! I'm your girlfriend!”

What their conversation went on no one heard. Rainbow broke away from the group and flew up to the cloud city of Cloudsdale, so Twilight, Spike, and Rarity accompanied the human all the way to the Golden Oak Library on their own. The white unicorn may have been a little out of her way, but she insisted on getting the book she wanted today.

It turned out that the library was not named so symbolically and not for the sake of it. The front door, windows, and balcony were carved right into the trunk of a very old oak tree, even if the ‘golden’ part was embellished. It was amazing how it still had a lush green crown, because inside, as befits the building, there was a large round room. It was filled with bookshelves carved into the walls, a reading table in the center, three doors separating the kitchen, bathroom, and basement entrance from the reading room, and a winding wooden staircase led to the second floor of Twilight's bedroom. The equestrian doors were obviously not designed for taller creatures, so Newt had to duck as he entered.

‘At least you don't bump your head against the ceiling.’

“Spike, please find a mattress in the closet,” the unicorn said to her assistant, then turned to Newt, “Is it all right if I make your bed downstairs?”

“I don’t mind at all,” the boy said. “I'm so tired I could fall asleep right where I'm standing.”

“You're my guest and my guests don't sleep on the bare floor,” Twilight said flatly, then pointed a hoof at one of the doors, “The bathroom is over there, and there are towels in the closet. I should wash your clothes, but I don't have a change for you.”

“I had other clothes, but the kidnappers took them,” Newt said and pointed at himself, “And under this… pajamas I don’t have anything either.”

“It's all right, darling,” Rarity said. “Come to my boutique in the morning. I think I'll make you some ‘prototypes’ by then, and when you have free time I'll take your measurements seriously and make something more interesting.”

“You can make clothes for someone by eye?” Newt asked.

The seamstress lifted her chin proudly.

“Work as much as I do and you'll sew with your eyes closed.”

“Wow, that's... impressive.”

While the seamstress and the man were talking, Twilight had already returned with the book she had promised to Rarity. The cover was plain, but the gloss contrasted sharply with the material of other books in the library.

“I'm afraid it's going to take too long with the shoes,” sighed the former student of Celestia, “because I won't see the shoemaker before morning, and it's not a quick task to make a pair of any shoes.”

“Nonsense, Twilight,” Rarity said. “If you have a book about human shoes, I'll be happy to bring it to Forge Heat right now.”

The second book didn't take long to disappear into the unicorn's saddlebag.

“I hope I can pay you girls back when I have the money,” Newt said, feeling a little uneasy.

‘I mean, they're so willing to help someone they barely know. I have to pay them back somehow, right?’

“Don't be silly, Newt,” Twilight said. “You're in trouble and we're helping you. I understand that the human society works a bit differently, but it is not necessary to turn gratuitous assistance into an exchange of services.”

“Besides, Forge and I would be happy to diversify our activities,” Rarity said, turning toward the door. ”If you want to pay us back so badly, you've already done it, so don't say another word about money.”

“You're too kind to someone you barely know,” Newt said.

“That's how friendship works,” Twilight said proudly, smiling.

“What's the size of your shoes, by the way?” Rarity asked as she stepped out the door.

“Seven,” the man said.

“See you tomorrow, Newt,” the white unicorn said and disappeared through the door.

“See ya.” the guy waved at the door and turned towards the bathroom.

Inside the cramped space almost flush with each other were a bathtub, a sink, a cabinet with a mirror above it, a shelf with towels and bathing accessories, a washing machine, and a toilet that was quite low for an adult human. It was also impossible to sit in the bath without bending your knees, but the inconvenience was insignificant.

Newt waited until the tub was full then sank into the hot bliss with some satisfaction. The water seemed to wash away not only the dirt, but also fatigue, muscle pain, anxiety, and perplexity. As his body softened, the men allowed himself to lean back in the tub and close his eyes. The steam in the air misted the mirror, water droplets settled on the tile, and boy’s vision blurred. Newt wished that all this was a dream and that, like now, he had actually dozed off in the bathroom and overheated. This would be a logical explanation for talking colorful ponies, unknown scientists in gas masks, and an even more mysterious person ‒ if it’s a person ‒ in a suit with the sign of cobra.

But the divine powers did not respond to his prayers. The only answer was a knock on the door and Twilight's voice.

“Newt, are you all right? You've been there for almost an hour. Aren't you afraid of overheating?”

Through the drowsiness that overcame him, the boy straightened up and leaned his hands on the sides of the bathtub

“Yeah, yeah, just a moment,” Newt muttered sleepily.

Steamed legs turned into a pair of macaroni, which is why, getting out of the bath, the guy almost fell. But it was nice to feel clean again after a tour in the old dusty castle and a walk through the forest barefoot. Newt couldn’t say the same about the pajamas he was wearing, but it's only until tomorrow, right?

‘And I'll never wear it again.’

A mattress, a pillow, and a blanket were waiting for him next to the table in the reading room. And from the kitchen came the sounds of scuffling. Twilight sat at the head of the table and not without appetite, sometimes sipping tea, ate pancakes, which were lined up like a tower of Pisa on a plate in the middle. Newt had a hard time suppressing a chuckle when he saw the dragon in the pink apron with hearts. Spike was standing on a stool by the stove, apparently finishing the last of the pancakes. From the sight of a delicious stack, the human's stomach rumbled loudly reminding his master that he had not had a morsel to eat all day. Alicorn giggled with her mouth full and motioned for him to sit down at the table.

The table, of course, was also low, so Newt had to sit cross-legged, but the cutlery was just right. Spike expertly tossed the last of the pancakes onto his plate and joined in the meal. The guy himself hurried to take some pancakes from the top of the stack, pour them with maple syrup and pour some tea in his cup. Taking a fork, Newt cut off a triangular piece and put it in his mouth... I swear, if he thought his mother's pancakes were the best in the world and incomparable, now he could officially declare that Catherine Moore had a rival.

“It's delicious, Spike! Amazing!” Newt exclaimed, leaning more heavily on the food.

“I know,” the dragon said smugly. “They call me Brave and Glorious for more than one reason.”

“You can't die of modesty,” Twilight said without malice.

“Hey, Newt is the first in all this time to compliment my cooking skills other than you.”

“He has a lot to praise. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about,” Newt said, finishing his stack at record speed.

It was becoming dark outside. Spike took care of the dishes in the sink, and Newt volunteered to help him, so that he could do something in return for his rescuers today. Twilight, meanwhile, turned off all the lights in the library except those on the second floor, and called the lights out. Spike went with her to the second floor, and newt settled down on a makeshift sunbed. I must say the mattress was quite thick and soft, so the guy did not even feel that he would spend the night on the floor. He usually found it difficult to sleep in a strange bed, but that night sleep overtook him almost immediately.

***

In his dream, Newt saw again the laboratory, the bio-chamber, ponies in protective suits with gas masks, and Cobra. What had already been done to him was repeated, and no effort was enough to set free. And the Serpent gave an unnatural distorted cold laugh, as if satisfied with himself.

Morning in Equestria greeted the human with sunlight in his face and the sounds of scuffling coming from the kitchen. Without opening his eyes, Newt shifted, sat up, stretched, and yawned. When his eyes opened, the boy realized that he was awake at an unusual time for him ‒ the hands of the wall clock showed only seven in the morning. And to do him justice, Newt didn't feel sleepy, but quite rested, even if the shock of yesterday hadn't completely left him, and full of energy for today and now.

After all, complaining and whining won't change his position. He is where he is, whether by a freak accident or a bad fate, and he has what he has. And, as we know, you either do what you can with what you have or you don't ‒ this is a poor choice almost all our life. And the delicious smells from the kitchen suggested that what Newt could do right now is have a breakfast.

Twilight and Spike were already at the table. Alicorn sipped her coffee, ate her chamomile sandwiches with relish, and read the morning edition of the Ponyville News, while the dragon gnawed with a deafening crunch on the precious stones in the bowl before him. Newt grimaced as if he'd eaten a lemon, wondering how the dragon hadn't lost his teeth yet.

“Good morning, Newt,” Twilight greeted him warmly, setting the paper aside. “I hope you slept well and we didn't wake you up too early.”

“No, I'm fine,” the man said evasively, sitting down at the table. There was a plate of fried eggs in front of him and a bowl of vegetable salad next to it.

‘Well, it looks like I'm going to have to go on a vegetarian diet while I'm here,’ the guy chuckled to himself.

“After breakfast, I will begin your examination immediately. I hope you have enough patience, because this may take a long time?” asked alicorn.

“If it helps to figure out what was done to me and why, I'm willing to put up with it,” Newt said decisively. “I think when we're done, I can finally get some proper clothes and shoes.”

“Then let’s not waste a minute.”

True to her word, as soon as Newt took the last sip of coffee, Twilight hurried him to a chair in the center of the room, forced him to strip to the waist, and she took a pile of equipment from the closet with electrodes that she connected to a boy, and covered herself with books dedicated to people. Alicorn like a bee fluttered between books and devices that blinked, sawed and registered some graphs, in parallel mare chuckled, frowned thoughtfully and wrote something in her notebook. The sight was almost mesmerizing.

All this set of understandable and not very clear actions continued until Twilight decided to take Newt's blood for analysis. Then, as soon as she looked through the microscope, the filly's eyes almost popped out of her head. No less fussily, she removed the helmet from the man's head, tore the electrodes from his torso, pushed the devices aside in a group, and used her magic to pick up a scroll.

As she unfolded it, Twilight touched the center of the paper with her horn. A rainbow-colored alchemy circle appeared under the man's feet, then, brightening, several huge rings rose into the air, spinning asynchronously around Newt. Nothing happened at first, but then boy looked at his hand. It was as if someone had injected a phosphoric solution into his blood, and the veins were swollen and protruding above the skin glowing with a soft blue light. In the area of the solar plexus, a small ball shone most intensely, from which, like appendages, lines radiated and covered the entire body of the human.

“Newt, did you say there is no magic in your world?” Twilight asked, left eyebrow rose to her forehead.

“At all,” the boy answered in perplexity.

“Only my scanner shows that you have a magic core in its infancy,” alicorn said and undid the spell. “I can't tell you exactly how much you'll be affected by its development, but I can still see a picture of the earth pony's magical channels.”

“Do earth ponies and pegasi have magic too?” Newt asked.

“Yes, but they can't use it like unicorns,” Twilight said. “Earth ponies are stronger and more resilient, while pegasi are faster and can walk on clouds.”

The man replayed the scene from the lab:

“So the gas they injected into me was magic?”

“That explains how you got it and it doesn't rule out the possibility of passing it on…” alicorn frowned. “I've never seen anything like this before, though.”

“Why would someone want to implant magic into me and kidnap for it?” the madness that happens to him has crossed the threshold again. “And then leave me in the middle of nowhere instead of locking it in a cage!”

“By the way, maybe the fact that you ended up in the Castle of the Two Sisters is not really an accident,” suddenly brightened up Twilight, took a large scroll from the shelf and unfolded it on the table.

“How so?” approached her Newt.

The scroll turned out to be a map of Ponyville with a small portion of the surrounding area, particularly the Everfree Forest. Under the magnifying glass, Twilight moved her gaze between two points on the map ‒ ‘Zecora's Hut ‘ and ‘Castle of the Two Sisters’.

“Those who kidnapped you are clearly interested in keeping you alive. And the Castle of the Two Sisters is one of the few safe places in the Everfree,” the Princess mused. “The kidnappers probably wanted to remain incognito, so they avoided Ponyville and Zecora for fear of being discovered.”

“Do you think the lab is around here?” Newt pointed to the rest of the forest. “Don't get me wrong, I want to find out who they are and why they did this to me, but based on what you've told me about this place, it's going to be search for a needle in a haystack... with elements of survival.”

“I wonder if my guess is correct where did this laboratory come from in the Everfree Forest?” Twilight rolled up the map and placed it back. “But I don't think the scientists there are stupid enough to base it somewhere in dangerous territory.”

“There may be other logic: settle the base in dangerous territory to make sure no one goes there,” Newt said, pulling pajamas shirt over his head.

“Until we know for sure, that’s just wild guess,” Twilight said. “But as a version it is worth checking.”

“You want to go into the Everfree right now?”

“We'll get your clothes first and then gather my friends,” Twilight said. “Before deciding which part of the Forest to go to, we should ask Zecora if she saw anything unusual. After all, she knows the Everfree like her own tail.

Alicorn slung her saddlebags over her back and headed for the exit.

“Spike!” she called from the doorway. “Keep an eye on the library until I get back!”

“Yes, ma’am.” the dragon saluted without looking up from the comic.

Alicorn went out into the street with the human. The day promised to be sunny and completely cloudless ‒ the weather team did not sit idle. And the citizens of Ponyville were already flooding the streets: the younger children were playing with their parents, the older children were still at school, and the adults were working or just loitering and enjoying the anticipation of the new day.

Newt again, as if by a snap of fingers, attracted the attention of passers-by, but under the disapproving gaze of Twilight they immediately scattered like startled pigeons. More than the unknown creature the locals were obviously only afraid of falling out of favor with the Princess.

Sugarcube Corner was the first stop in their current plan ‘Find the secret lab’. Actually, as if trying to live up to its name, the store building looked like a gingerbread house from the fairy tale about ‘Hansel and Gretel’, only not edible (Newt personally checked). The doorbell tinkled cheerfully. The interior of the building was no less colorful: patterns on the walls, bright colors, carvings on the columns in the form of sweets ‒ everything literally screamed that here any child will find their little Paradise.

There was a small queue at the counter where Pinkie Pie worked. Pink pony took orders and money, ran to the kitchen in the back room and gave ponies the required pastries, all of that she did with a speed that Flash or Quicksilver would have envied. Reminding himself not to worry about how Pinkie was doing something that violated the laws of physics and common sense, Newt and Twilight walked around the line to get closer.

Looking at the showcase, the boy felt as if he hadn't had breakfast at all. From the abundance of inviting cakes, brownies, muffins, doughnuts, cookies and other pastries the eyes looked in different directions, and the mouth was filling with saliva. There was an involuntary desire to absorb everything that was hidden behind the glass in one sitting.

Pinkie Pie waved them:

“Hi, Twilight! Hey, Newt!”

The ponies in the queue all turned their heads, recoiled from the human, and immediately bowed to the Princess, all in perfect unison. Twilight ignored them and got right to the point:

“Pinkie, we're going to need you today, so if Cakes doesn't mind, I'd like to borrow you for a while. If anything, it's a matter of national importance.”

“O-o-o-o, are we saving the world again?” you could see the starry sky in the pink pony's dilated pupils.

“Very likely,” said alicorn vaguely.

“Then what are we waiting for?!” Pinkie was even more excited than she needed to be.

She stormed up to the second floor and returned a moment later with a huge backpack, apparently thinking about it too much, because Newt noticed that she had a tent, a coil of rope, and an ice pick among other things. Fortunately, Twilight dissuaded Pinkie to carry it all with her.

Rainbow Dash was found on the way to Rarity. Pegasus was dozing on a cloud, having finished with the morning shift of the weather team. When you live in a world where certain things like the day-night cycle or the weather happen by themselves, it becomes incomprehensible to the mind that somewhere it can be so easily controlled.

Applejack was standing behind a counter in the market. She didn't particularly want to leave her stall, especially since there was no one to replace her, but when Twilight brought the farmer up to speed, she agreed.

The Carousel Boutique was located in the one of the outskirts of the city. True to its name, the front of the cylindrical pink-and-blue building did look like a carousel from carnival, but without the horses, music, or garlands. More precisely, the horses were there, but only in the form of sculptures on the second floor.

The doorbell announced the arrival of customers. Inside, on the first floor there was a huge circular room that was filled with the familiar pink and blue tones, as well as images of hearts and diamonds on the walls. The space was filled with mirrors, mannequins with dresses of different colors, tastes, and manners, mobile screens, and a small podium in the center of the room.

“Rarity, are you home?” Twilight shouted when no one came to meet them at least a minute later.

There was a stir from the back room, then a clatter, something fell, someone cursed, and finally the white unicorn came out to them. Rarity's appearance left much to be desired: her hair had fallen out of once-perfect purple-blue mane and was sticking out in all directions, her small red horn-rimmed glasses couldn't completely hide the bags under her eyes, and she was draped in rags of multicolored fabric like Christmas tree garlands. Apparently, she hadn't slept much today.

“Oh, it's you.” the businesslike look that had been carefully displayed before was instantly replaced by the usual one. “Come on, make yourself comfortable, you're just in time, and by the way, I've just finished the last prototype of Newt's clothing. And Forge Heat delivered the shoe samples right here.”

The unicorn, without any coffee, instantly cheered up and disappeared back into the workshop, returning a moment later with a pile of levitated clothing. Newt felt uncomfortable again that someone had sacrificed their sleep for him, but he didn't bring it up because he was guaranteed to be dismissed.

Hiding the guy behind a screen, Rarity began to hand him samples of clothing one by one. Shirts, one-colored or two-colored t-shirts of different types were offered as outerwear. Trousers, breeches, jeans and shorts were offered as bottoms. Some things might be small or large for Newt, but on the whole Rarity was right about his size. The young man didn't count on bright prints and flashy lettering.

When it came to shoes, no one expected sneakers, but the provided sandals, sleepers, deserters, boots, shoes and loafers were just right. To be honest, the boots usually weren’t present in Newt’s wardrobe, but you don't look a gifted horse in the mouth as they say.

The fitting took a long time, while Rarity selected various combinations of clothing for the boy, and the fillies together evaluated his appearance. However, Rainbow did not take an active part, limiting only to ‘Lame’, ‘Not bad’ and ‘Twenty percent cooler’. Newt eventually settled on cream breeches, a blue t-shirt with black short sleeves, and cream sandals; the rest of his clothes were neatly folded, packed, and set aside.

“Are ya going to be alright in all this stuff?” Applejack asked him. “The sun is going to be merciless today.”

The guy was taken aback, trying to come up with a clear explanation, but Twilight explained everything much better:

“It is considered indecent for humans to walk the streets without clothes, no matter what the weather.”

“But Newt, you're not in the human world, you're in Equestria, so you can and should act like a pony,” Pinky Pie said.

“N-not in this case, Pinkie,” the man blushed. “I'm sorry, but I'd rather go in my clothes, and ponies won't like me naked, trust me.”

When this was done, the group, including Rarity, set off in the direction of the Everfree Forest, intending to pick up Fluttershy along the way. Applejack wasn't lying: the midday sun was indeed so hot that it looked as if mares and a man were walking on a hot pan. For a moment, Newt really wanted to undress, because he was sweating profusely, and he didn't even have to imagine what it would be like for fillies who were naked but covered in fur. Fortunately, Rainbow got a large enough cloud to hide the entire group under its shadow.

Soon they were at the door of a small cottage on the edge of the Everfree Forest and knocked. Yellow pegasus reacted with an enthusiasm that was the exact opposite of Pinkie's:

“You want to go to the unknown parts of the forest? You don't know how dangerous it can be!”

“If the laboratory where Newt was held is really here, then we can find out who the scientists are and what they want,” Twilight explained. “I don't know where they came from, but I don't think they're doing anything legal or approved by Princess Celestia.”

“What if it’s not here?” Fluttershy asked. “What if you're wrong?”

“Maybe she's right, Twilight,” Newt said. “Is it worth the risk because of a version that is nothing more than a wild guess?”

“I wouldn't bet the last bit on that guess, but I still think it's not a coincidence that you ended up in the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Rarity drawled in the style of her favorite character Shadow Spade.

“We'll ask Zecora to be sure,” Twilight said.

The path to the hermit's hut branched off from the main road. Even though the fillies said it was as safe as the road to the Castle, there was still an air of unease. Even in the violins of the local crickets, it seemed, not the strings but your nerves, and the further you go the more complex the chords they take.

It was not a long walk, but the hut itself did not seem hospitable. If he didn't know, Newt wouldn't have gotten within a kilometer of it. As if borrowing an idea from Twilight, Zecora settled inside of an old unsightly tree, the branches of which were hung with colorful bottles, and the trunk ‒ with eerie-looking masks, from the windows spilled greenish light, and on the door swaying from the slightest breeze hung a dreamcatcher. It looked more like the home of a swamp witch than a friendly herbalist.

The mares came closer and knocked on the door.

“Zecora, are you home?” Twilight shouted.

Footsteps sounded from inside, and the door opened. A middle-aged zebra stood on the doorstep, in sharp contrast to her home, although from Newt's point of view it was more like a zebra-painted pony, even her cutiemark had a sun-shaped image in the style of some African tribe. She had a black-and-white Mohawk on top of her head, a huge earring in each ear, and several rings on her front left leg and neck. Large blue eyes regarded the unexpected guests with interest.

“Princess Twilight, Elements of Harmony…” Zecora spoke in the voice of a wise woman with a rich African accent, but stopped when she saw Newt. “And interesting creature I’ve never seen. Though I find a certain affinity with the ape kin.”

“Um... Hello,” the man said, looking down slightly and waving. “My name is Newt and... yes, in my world, according to Darwin's theory, humans are actually descended from apes, so you're not far off the mark.” Newt came out of his stupor and spoke more confidently. “Have you ever seen anyone similar to me?”

“No, I'm afraid I haven't,” zebra said. “Not animals but plants are my special talent.”

‘Does she always speak in rhymes?’ confusion was reflected on the human's face, but Zecora did not pay attention.

Zebra opened the door wider and motioned them inside.

“Come into my house and we'll talk. The way here wasn’t just a walk."

Unlike Twilight's library, the hermit's hut was furnished in a minimalist style, although it was more extravagant in design. There were even more masks on the walls than on the outside, and in the center of the room stood a huge cauldron on coals that gave off the greenish light, and the shelves carved into the walls were filled to the brim with various kinds of vials, jars, bottles, and phials.

“We wanted to ask you something,” Twilight was first to broke the silence.

“No one comes here just to say ‘hi’,” grinned Zecora. “But if you seek answers, I am your ally.”

“Have you noticed anything strange lately?”

The question put a zebra to a standstill:

“The curiosities in this forest have a wide range. What exactly do you mean by ‘strange’?

“Have you seen ponies in white suits and gas masks?” Newt asked, looking up from studying the contents of the cans, though he wasn't sure if zebra knew what a gas mask is.

Zecora put a hoof to her chin and thought for a moment.

“I've seen once ponies in strange costumes and masks, they’ve been collecting plants in flasks.”

“Why didn't you tell anyone?” alicorn demanded.

“A lot of ponies here pass by when they want some herbs to supply. And there’s no need, Princess, for you to be angry, if I did something wrong I’ll fix it gladly.”

Twilight's features smoothed, and she took a deep breath.

“Can you show me at least where you saw them?”

***

The ponies, zebra, and human found themselves near a small grove in the Northern part of the Forest. Here, in contrast to the places they had already visited, the trees were unsightly, but with a lush and dense green crown, from which long vines hung. The grass was so high that it would have been difficult to walk through it without a machete. But there were almost no flickering lights, no watching eyes, and no terrible sounds.

An ominous silence fell over the place.

“I saw them here,” Zecora said without rhyming for the first time.

“Look!” Applejack shouted, and everyone rushed to her.

On the ground, among the trampled grass were clearly visible hoofprints that led somewhere deeper into the grove.

“Ah don't know how long ago, but someone must have been ‘ere,” the farmer mare said.

“They may be the ones we're looking for,” Twilight said decisively. Let’s go”.

The tracks were lost in the tall grass and then reappeared. Soon a second, a third, and a fourth set of footprints joined the trail, and it was obvious that there were a lot of unknown ponies. A question was brewing.

“And... what's the plan?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering over the group as usual. “I wouldn't mind breaking in where they're hiding and show them how to mess with us, but it's not really our style.”

“Diplomacy, darling, diplomacy,” Rarity drawled in her usual way. “In a civilized world everything is decided by diplomacy, brutal force can wait. We should first find out who are they, listen to what they have to say, and then draw to conclusions.”

“I hope they have either a good explanation or a good excuse…” Newt said, frowning, “or I'll blow the hell out of them and leave no stone unturned. And then sue them for medical manipulation without the patient's consent, and I'll drag them through the Supreme courts of all fifty States!”

Usually not prone to aggressive behavior, the human was in solidarity with the rainbow pegasus in the desire to give those scientists, whoever they were, a good thrashing.

“We'll stick to Rarity's plan and then see what happens,” Twilight said, and the group walked the rest of the way in silence.

The tracks led them to a small clearing in the center of which was a cave under a stone canopy. The hoofprints stopped at the entrance. Twilight and Rarity lit their horns, and the gloomy clearing was lit up with purple and soft blue light. The tunnel in the cave descended with a short stone staircase. At the end of it, the pony, zebra, and man came up against a rectangular sliding iron door. There was a large red sign in the form of a six-pointed star with a grain of wheat looped around it.

“I've never seen a sign like this before,” muttered Twilight, shifting her attention to a panel on the wall.

There were two lights on it, red and green, a lever and a plug that looked like it was for a card. Alicorn yanked the lever up, but a red light came on in response, and a nasty beep came from the speaker.

“We can't get in without an access card,” Newt stated with a look of doom.

“All right, step aside,” Twilight said suddenly and stood in front of the door like a bull about to pounce on a red rag.

All obediently took a step back. The horn of alicorn shone with an intense purple light and the next moment it released a beam that Twilight used as a welding machine or lightsaber to make a circular hole in the iron door. Clearly pleased with herself, alicorn pawed at the cut-out piece, which clattered to the floor splitting in two, and blew on her bangs.

“And… open,” Twilight said smugly and went inside.

“Couldn't we just knock?” Pinkie Pie asked following the others.

“It's strange that no one has come for our path to block,” Zecora rhymed.

Another small flight of stairs led down ending in another iron door. The unicorn beams picked out the dirty white walls and general desolation of the room. I wonder how anyone could live here at all.

Suddenly, the need for magic light was no longer there, because the bulbs above their heads were lit up in turn. The ponies, zebra, and the man looked at each other, startled.

“Did someone touch somethin’?” Applejack asked warily.

“I swear it wasn't me!” Pinkie squeaked.

They just kept going. The second door didn't require an access card; there were only two buttons on its panel. Twilight pressed the left button and the door opened. Behind it was a large circular room lit by fluorescent lights. Three doors similar to the previous separated the side rooms from the Central one. A staircase next to the entrance led to a room on the second floor that looked like a server room. The walls were lined with various types of equipment, and against the background of a somewhat abandoned room ‒ peeling paint, cracks on the walls, thick layers of dust and spider webs ‒ it contrasted sharply with its novelty. And in the center of the room on a steel platform stood a single red upholstered chair. Newt walked around it and saw the steel bio-chamber he had been in earlier, installed horizontally and opened.

“This is the place,” the boy said.

“But where is everyone?” Applejack asked, heading for one of the side doors.

“Maybe they're on their lunch break,” Pinkie suggested, stopping abruptly at a large oval glass window where an anthropomorphic figure stood motionless. The pink pony tapped on the glass. “Hello! Are you alive?”

“Pinkie!” Rarity shushed her. “In the name of Celestia, just don't touch anything!”

Newt, attracted by the fashionista's remark, moved closer with the others and peered. The anthropomorphic figure behind the glass was almost two meters tall, in thick dark gray futuristic armor and an irregular helmet, with the symbol that pony and man had seen earlier on the door on its chest, and a rifle clutched in a death grip. It was not a man.

“It looks like a security robot,” Newt said. “But why didn’t it attack us?”

At this time, in one of the side rooms, Applejack found a hydroponic farm filled with plants from the Everfree Forest, as well as growboxes, lighting fixtures, aeroponic installations, air flow dividers, sprayers, and living walls ‒ the dream of an amateur gardener without leaving the house. There were bags of fertilizer in one corner of the room and a device unknown to the farmer, which she didn't dare touch, sat on a table in the other. Pony was so shocked by what she saw that no sound came from her tongue to call out to her friends.

In the Central hall, Twilight found the same device. Both alicorn and Newt instantly recognized it as an antediluvian computer, one in which the monitor and keyboard were combined, and with an ancient operating system like GM-NAA. The Princess and the human decided to try it on. They clicked a button in the lower-right corner of the screen and waited. A green flash appeared on the screen for a moment, something hummed inside, and the next moment a familiar sign appeared in a white-green tone, but this time with the inscription: ‘Faust Industries’.

“Faust?” Twilight's left eyebrow shot up.

“Does that mean anything to you?” Newt asked.

Alicorn ignored his question because the next moment a sign appeared that raised even more questions: ‘Station Everfree System Loading’, and the loading line running under it.

“Is that what this place is called?” alicorn and the man jumped as Rarity suddenly appeared behind them. “Station ‘Everfree’?”

“But whose station?” asked Twilight Sparkle. “Who are those ‘Faust Industries’?”

The question remained unanswered, and the next moment the focus shifted abruptly.

“Girls, help!” shouted Fluttershy from the other side of the room.

The pony and the man ran toward it. Inside another room were large glass cages containing a tree wolf, a manticore, a sea serpent, an Ursa, a swarm of parasprites, a hydra, a giant bat, a giant owl, and a basilisk (the glass of its cage was a two-way mirror, so anyone could look at it without being turned to stone). Yellow pegasus struggled against the impenetrable glass of the cage, behind which the sea serpent, familiar to fillies from their first visit to the Everfree, lay exhausted, devoid of its former colors and gloss, barely alive. However, other forest creatures looked no better. No one wanted to imagine what terrible things were being done to them, because Ursa Minor, the most fearsome and aggressive of Everfree creatures, looked at the arriving ponies with indifference and a silent plea for death.

Rainbow grabbed Fluttershy and began pulling her away from the cage.

“Shy, it's no use, don't!” said the rainbow pegasus.

The good-natured pegasus struggled with uncharacteristic strength and sobbed:

“No, we need to save them!”

The terminal was found here, though, of course, it took eternity to load.

“Come on!” urged it Newt.

Finally there's a menu in which a list of the species contained in the cells. Selecting the line ‘Sea serpent’, the boy went to the following options: general information, anatomy, physiology, experiments, open the cell. It would seem to be a victory, but no: the computer requested a confirmation password.

“Damn it!” Newt swore and slammed his fist down on the table. “We can't open it without a password!”

Twilight shot a magic ray through the glass, but to the surprise of everyone present, it ricocheted and burned a hole in the ceiling.

“Anti-magic impenetrable glass?” surprised Twilight Sparkle.

“You can do something, can't you?” Fluttershy pleaded.

Alicorn shook her head sympathetically.

“It's not enchanted glass, it's a very rare mineral that's resistant to magic.”

Yellow pegasus, bursting into tears more than ever, rushed to the terminal and began furiously clicking on the keyboard, but, of course, received only a response: ‘The password is incorrect. Try again’. Newt felt as sorry for her as he did for the animals on the other side of the glass. No matter how monstrous they are, no one deserves to be treated like this. The boy scooped up the pegasus mare and hugged her, she struggled, and screamed, and kicked painfully at his chest, but he did not let go. The t-shirt was gradually getting wet from the poor filly's tears.

“Fluttershy, we can't help them, we need to get out of here,” Newt said as gently as possible.

Pegasus stopped resisting, she wrapped her hooves around the guy and just cried. Newt felt extremely uncomfortable, and the color was gradually creeping up to his face, but he tried to keep his composure.

The pony and the man left the room and returned to the Central room. Fluttershy's sobs subsided, and she wiped her eyes and gently pushed her to let go.

“Are you all right, Shy?” Rainbow flew up to her.

She nodded, sitting on the rump.

“Just give me a little time,” Fluttershy said softly.

No one wanted to leave her alone, but they still decided to listen to her request, the door to the local ‘menagerie’ was carefully closed.

Ponies, zebra, and man decided to look around again. The third door led to a living area with rows of bunk beds, a bathroom, and a kitchen, but the only indication of recent activity was a smaller layer of dust and the remains of fresh food in the refrigerator.

In the Central Hall at the end of the room there was a steel arch with a strange panel on the side, like a child's toy with connectors for cubes.

“What is it?” Rarity asked.

“This is a portal,” Twilight said, running her hoof over the panel to the right, “but there are no glyph coordinates. Without them, you can't tell where it leads.”

“Ah thought so,” Applejack said. “All indications were that the local scientists had just packed up and left.”

“Heh-heh-heh, no, you just came on a non-working day.”

The unknown voice made everyone's heart sink. Eight pairs of eyes immediately darted toward the server room on the second floor. There, leaning on the railing, was a familiar anthropomorphic figure, but this time Newt was able to see it in more detail. Scarlet armor with a turquoise cobra symbol on the chest was complemented by an intricate network of black tubes that turned into a kind of collar around the neck. A red helmet with a turquoise visor that looked like a ready-to-throw cobra, its tail sticking out like a second horn in addition to the first. On the forearms were strange iron bracers in the form of whether long spikes or tentacles.

“I'm sorry to interrupt your tour,” the stranger continued. “And I'm sorry for the mess: I wasn't expecting any guests today. I'd offer you some tea, but I'm afraid you would reject.

His voice was like the raspy voice of an old man speaking in a cave, but sharp as broken glass and chilling to the bone with its cold sarcasm. No one could have such a voice, which means that whoever is hiding behind this mask, the suit distorts his voice.

“Cobra!” Newt hissed, recovering, as he met his nemesis with both excitement and horror.

“You were close,” said Cobra. “But actually... my name is Blood Stalk.”

“Blood Stalk?” Twilight asked, puzzled.

“That’s right” Stalk pointed a finger at her, then, grabbing the railing with one hand, leaped down with feline grace.

The pony and the man immediately grouped together, and Twilight leaped forward, her horn alight, and a purple magic dome formed around Blood Stalk, preventing him from getting any closer. The serpent’s reaction was interesting, to say the least. He tilted his head to one side, as if to say, “Are you serious?”. Seeing that alicorn was not joking, he shrugged, as if to say, “All right” and waved his hand. From the wristband on his right hand, the tentacle lengthened and its sharp end bit into the magical barrier. At the point of contact, a crimson spot appeared which expanded and then, causing the audience to gasp, crumbled to dust creating a hole in its place. The same tentacle lengthened even further, darting like lightning towards Twilight, wrapping itself around her neck and burying its sting in the bridge of her nose. The concentration, of course, faded, and the dome disappeared. The filly stared at the tip of the stinger with pupils the size of pinheads, shivering and sweating as she did so. The others after such a spectacular demonstration did not dare to do anything.

“Ay-ay-ay, you break into my house and attack me when I just want to talk.” Stalk clicked his tongue. “I thought better of you, the Princess of Friendship.” then he looked at the others: “Didn't your mothers teach you not to behave like that?”

He's either out of his head or mocking them.

Oddly enough, Fluttershy, trembling and tearful, was suddenly emboldened by his statement.

“Didn't your mother teach you not to treat animals like that?” a yellow pegasus pointed an accusing hoof at him.

The others stared at her in disbelief and silently asked, "Fluttershy, what are you doing? Don't make him angry!". If Stalk was surprised, it wasn't visible under his helmet.

“Oh, I'm really embarrassed,” wailed Cobra theatrically, putting the palm of his left hand to his forehead. “Let's settle this amicably, without ‘Animal Rights’ advocates, okay?”

No, he's definitely mocking them.

Newt's nerves, already taut as a string, began to crack, and inside the young man began to boil, experiencing a rage that was half with some... disappointment that the mysterious villain who had haunted his nightmares was actually a mentally ill buffoon. The boy's feet took him to the serpent with a quick step, his teeth gritted, and his fingers clenched into a fist, biting into his palm until it bled.

“STOP FUCKING WITH US!” Newt snarled and swung a right hook, not caring that he would rather get hurt than do any real damage to his opponent.

Stalk caught his fist in his left hand and squeezed it until it crunched, causing the boy to wince in pain and settle on his bent knees. The serpent at this time looked somewhere in the side and seemed to think. Newt could have struck again, but it had been made clear to him that it was highly unwise to attack an armored warrior with his bare hands.

“One point six,” Stalk mused. “Not bad… But not enough!” with that, he pushed Newt away with such force that boy fell on his back and skidded a few meters, ending up next to the Elements of Harmony again.

Ponies and zebra rushed to help him up. The guy, hissing in pain and rubbing his fist, squeezed out through his teeth:

“What's ‘one point six’?.. What's not enough?”

“Your Hazard Level,” Stalk replied, not bothering to explain. “It was hard to predict how fast you would be in your progress, but you are still doing well. Reach three point zero and you will be rewarded… Until then, keep the consolation prize.” with that, he pulled two objects out of nowhere from behind his back and threw them at the man's feet.

The first item was something that looked like a smartphone, at least according to the touch screen, but the case was rather bulky and oddly shaped, with a rectangular connector for something and a pair of wheels at the back. The second item was a small, translucent yellow bottle with black rims that literally fit in the palm of your hand. The case was shaped like a lion's head, with a cylindrical gem inside, and the top of the bottle ended in a cap with the letters ‘L/S’ printed on it.

“Why did you do this to me?” Newt didn't appreciate the gift. “What’s in it for you?”

“What? For what? Why?” Stalk sighed in mock resignation. “Curiosity is not a sin, but if I tell you everything now, it won't be interesting to read anymore.” he turned his head to the side and spoke to an empty space as the audience stared at him in disbelief: “No one likes spoilers, am I right?”

“Hey, usually I break the fourth wall in fanfics!” resented Pinkie

“Apparently not,” Stalk shrugged and released Twilight from the grip of his stinging tentacle, returning it to its original position. “Well, it was nice talking to you, but I've got some work to do. Don't forget to close the door when you leave.

Again, as if out of thin air, in his right hand was a device that looked like a small pistol, with a wide gunpoint, a tangle of tubes and wires on the panel, and a slot under it that holded a similar bottle. Only it was translucent black with a gold image of a snarling cobra on the case. Blood Stalk raised a hand over his left shoulder, pointing the gun away from him.

“Ciao.”

“Get down!” Newt shouted to the fillies, expecting a fan of plasma projectiles as in some cosmic odyssey.

However, this did not happen. Instead of plasma or laser beams, the gun released a jet of black smoke that thickened and enveloped the serpent. When the smoke cleared, he was nowhere to be seen.

The man, the pony, and the zebra looked at each other nervously, drawing themselves upright and breathing a sigh of relief. However, they did not have to relax for long: a siren wailed throughout the room colored in the red lights of flashing beacons. A timer appeared on the terminal screen triggering a one-minute countdown, and a woman's voice spoke over the speaker:

“The self-destruct Protocol has been initiated. All personnel are requested to leave the facility.”

They all immediately started to leave, and Fluttershy darted towards the room with Everfree creatures, but Rainbow blocked her way and dragged her along with them.

“We can't leave them!” Pegasus cried again.

“Fluttershy, if we don't leave now, we won't be saved either!” Rainbow shouted.

And the time was getting shorter. Reluctantly, the yellow pegasus headed for the exit with the others. Once outside, they ran as they had never run in their lives, trying to get away from the epicenter of the explosion. Even on pure adrenaline, it was hard for Newt to keep up with his four-legged friends, but he still kept up the pace.

The explosion thundered with such force that their ears popped, and the ground momentarily gave way under their feet, causing the ponies and the man to fall flat. Behind them, a column of dust, smoke, and fire rose into the air, and from the crater that formed, chunks of earth, concrete, and metal flew in all directions, from which Twilight had thoughtfully protected the group with a magic shield.

A couple of hectares of forest were gone. From the underground station remained one memory.

***

“No! No-no-no-no! Argh!” Twilight snarled, throwing books around the library. “It's all wrong!”

Newt, dodging another ‘projectile’, asked:

“What's ‘wrong’? You still haven't told me what you're looking for.”

“I look for any mention of Faust Industries, but all I find is Lauren Faust!” alicorn said, sounding overly emotional.

“Who's Lauren Faust? Could she have something to do with this?”

Twilight sighed and calmed down, beginning to speak in a lower tone:

“I don't think so. Loren Faust in pony’s mythology is the Ancestress of the Alicorns, the wife of Cosmic Void the all-Father. According to legend, they created this world together, weaving it out of dark matter and light. They created the sky and the earth, day and night, grass and trees, rivers and lakes, seas and oceans, islands and continents, animals and birds. Some creatures were given intelligence by Loren and Cosmic to grow and develop, to cultivate plants, to mine underground ores, to build cities. In order to maintain order in Eden, the Ancestress and all-Father sent their children, the lords of the Sun, Moon, Love and Friendship.

“But you said you were just a unicorn before? Or you just being modest about your noble birth?” Newt smiled slyly.

“No, I'm not a daughter of the gods, that's hundred percent sure.” Twilight didn't respond to the joke. “And according to legend, at some point the ponies rose up and overthrew the alicorns, and they just disappeared.”

“Well, where did Celestia and Luna come from then? They have parents, right?”

“I don't know,” Twilight said. “Princess Celestia never told me about her parents, and when I asked she always tried to change the subject. It must be painful or unpleasant for her to talk about it.”

“Okay, the alicorns can't have anything to do with this,” Newt said. “But then who? The only Faust I can think of is doctor Faust from the legend of my world. He sold his soul to the devil in exchange for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures.”

“I don't know,” Twilight said sadly. “Whoever this Blood Stalk, he was obviously in no hurry to make himself known, because he knew that we wouldn't find anything suggestive on the station other than the name itself... And now we can't go back and look carefully any more. Not to mention that I have no idea yet what Stalk meant by Hazard Level. No, it is clear that we are talking about magic power, but what to take as a starting point? In what units does it measure? And what should happen when you reach three point zero?”

There was a moment of silence between them, but then Newt suddenly remembered about the ‘consolation prize’. The previously discovered slot on the smartphone seemed to fit for this unusual bottle. Newt turned the cap forward on it and inserted it into the socket. At first, for some reason, he thought that this is a kind of charger, but the result exceeded all expectations. The wheel over the connector moved forward, the mobile phone jumped out of his hands, and from the speaker came:

“BUILD CHANGE!”

Defying the law of conservation of mass, the smartphone expanded in size, the screen folded twice, then together with the rear part folded again, the second wheel turned forward, and the steering wheel took the correct position relative to the wheel. A red motorcycle that looked like a Honda XR 230 landed in the middle of the library, except that the front headlight was shaped like a cogwheel sticking out, and the gas tank had a white symbol on it that looked like the two halves of a cogwheel connected by a tube.

“Wow!” that's all Twilight said. “Even in the world of the Canterlot High School, where technology rules, I've never seen anything like this.”

Newt moved closer to examine the unexpected bonus to the consolation prize. On the handlebars of the motorcycle was a small touch screen with a speedometer, as well as buttons for the helmet, phone, GPS, calls and messages.

“All this is great and everything…” drawled the guy. “But I don't know how to drive a motorcycle.”

Rising Hazard

View Online

Somewhere outside Equestria an elderly dirty-white stallion with a short mop of dark gray hair and in a brown kimono sat in his office.

The oval-shaped room, the design of the expensive interior in gold and dark brown tones, and the dim light of yellowish lamps seemed to highlight the golden surfaces of products and furniture, which abounded in this office. From the carpets on the floor to the writing materials on the table ‒ everything literally screamed about the wealth and desire for luxury of its owner.

The office owner's desk was littered with piles of papers and folders, behind which a black desk plate was hidden with gold lettering in bold: ‘CEO Cog Wheel’.

The director himself, his eyes narrowed, was writing hard and intently on parchment, occasionally pausing to put back on the bridge of his nose the large glasses with sharp-angled frames that were trying to slide down. The muscles in his cheekbones twitched, a vein throbbed in his temple, and the tip of the pen pressed so hard on the paper that it tore and left blotches.

Cog Wheel was very annoyed about something.

The next moment, the source of his irritation appeared in the middle of the office from a cloud of black smoke.

“Yo, boss,” said a warrior in scarlet armor with the sign of a cobra on his chest, imposingly plopping down on a low sofa and crossing his legs. “Sup?”

The director's eye twitched.

“Sup?” repeated Cog Wheel as if he'd heard an insult. “I should ask you what's up!” he mimicked Stalk, gradually rising to a higher pitch. “You don't seem to realize what happened!” Cog thumped his hooves on the table, and the papers flew in all directions like startled pigeons.

“What happened? What happened?” Stalk drawled as if he was being picked on for a mere trifle, while examining his fingernails, if he could see them under his gloves, of course. “Kaboom ‒ that’s what.”

“It's not just 'kaboom',” hissed Cog Wheel, “it’s a hole in my budget, wasted valuable specimens of plants and animals, as well as time and pony resources to catch some animals, like Ursa or cockatrice!” the director was furious not just because of what Stalk had done, but more because his response, if any, was slow to show through the turquoise visor. “Not to mention that you let them discover us!”

Blood Stalk sighed and leaned back on the sofa.

“It's not my fault that Princess Twilight is too smart for her own good. Besides, what did they find out? Except for the name itself, no-thing-at-all”

“If she's really that smart, especially as a student of Celestia, then you already put Faust at risk of being discovered!” Cog Wheel didn’t want to let that go, to Stalk’s greatest irritation. “Now our operations can become a hundred times complicated and all because of your carelessness!”

“Twilight is undoubtedly smart, but not that smart... And Celestia won't lift her cake-filled flank from the throne,” snorted Stalk. “So, Wheel, you worry too much, make sure that your pretty face won't get any wrinkles,” chuckled the Serpent at his own comment.

The director's expression changed to a sneer.

“Laugh all you want, Stalk, but don't forget to whom you owe everything you have now.”

“Yeah-yeah,” drawled the Serpent, getting up from the sofa and heading for the door, anticipating the logical conclusion of their little dialogue, “you pay ‒ you're in charge here.”

“That’s why you don't have to forget about it.” frowned Cog Wheel. “Now get out of my sight!” he made a dismissive gesture with his hoof.

“As you wish.” waved Stalk and hurried out of the office.

Once on the other side of the oak arched door, the Serpent did not hurry to go about his business. With his back to the door, he turned his head slightly to the right and said so that only he could hear:

“Yes, Wheel, you pay... but you don't OWN Faust.”

***

Newt's heart skipped a beat, his stomach felt like it was tied in a knot, his hands were shaking, goosebumps were running down his back, and sweat was running down his temples in three streams. The last time he'd felt this way was when he'd opened a college invitation letter or received test results. And now this feeling came back to him again, when he decided to sit behind the wheel of the gifted phone-motorcycle.

It was the day after their visit to the Station ‘Everfree’, just after noon, and Newt was standing in the middle of the dirt road that ran around Sweet Apple Acres in a big circle. He was looking at the vehicle below him like at rodeo bull that he has to hold out for at least eight seconds.

Giving up trying to find out something about the mysterious organization, Twilight returned to what she knows best ‒ teaching friendship lessons. She had put together a whole socialization program for Newt in Ponyville, and it began with the fact that young men had to spend the whole day with one of the princess's friends. Newt had nothing to do anyway, but getting used to the new world, like its inhabitants to human, is more a necessity than a whim. After all, the sooner ponies stop gawking at him like he is some exotic animal, the better.

To Newt's delight, Applejack was first on the list. He couldn't explain why, but for some reason the farmer mare felt closer to him, even though they had only exchanged a few words. Perhaps it was because Newt had always been attracted to ordinary people... or in this case, the ponies that went about their business, did not get into trouble, considering themselves better than others, and knew what they needed from life.

Of the Mane Six, Newt didn't want to spend time with Pinkie Pie alone, because a day with her, to his opinion, promised to be a hurricane of madness, colorful balloons and confetti, as well as the pink pony's ever-open mouth, as if she were at a dentist's appointment.

Newt was endlessly grateful to Rarity for the new clothes, but he found a little more common ground with her than none ‒ she was a prim upper-class girl, he was a typical representative of the middle class. The well-fed does not understand the hungry, as they say.

Rainbow Dash was a brash, arrogant, self-confident, and boastful tomboy, Newt didn't like this type of girls. Although personally he didn't dislike the cyan pegasus, finding her competitive streak, passion for winning, and love for rather cruel pranks tolerable to some extent.

With Fluttershy everything was difficult. She is so shy that trying to start a conversation with her is like talking to a rock. She immediately blushes, hides her face behind her mane, and is speechless. In fact, Newt thought it was kind of cute that the yellow pegasus was acting like an anime character, but it didn't help a productive contact.

Newt liked Twilight as a person too. It is clear that the title of princess did not spoil her in any way, and she still remained the overly inquisitive unicorn that Princess Celestia once took under her wing. You could talk to Twilight about anything that was, as Rainbow put it, ‘too eggheadish’. Newt considered himself a highly educated person, but in Twilight's case, sometimes she was an insufferable know-it-all. And that was both exciting and exhausting, especially when she says something in a language that only she could understand… But if anyone could explain this world to Newt, it was her.

”What's up with this Lyra Heartstrings?” Newt asked. “You said there are no humans in your world, so how does she know about them?”

“Yes, there are no humans in our world,” Twilight confirmed. “I'm not going to claim that I know still unexplored Far Lands, but certainly humans don’t exist in Equus. Yet there is one myth, as old as princess Celestia, about humans who once inhabited Eden. Lyra, let's just say, was particularly fond of it, but over time this hobby off hers turned into obsession... for which, by the way, she was expelled from the School of Gifted Unicorns. Because she has been driving crazy all the professors with her scientific works and propaganda of anthropology.

“It's hard to fight alone against the world,” the boy chuckled, somewhat sympathetic to the mint unicorn, but then he remembered another question that interested him: “And if I understood correctly your society is very tolerant of same-sex relationships.”

“You mean Lyra and Sweetie Drops?” Twilight asked. “Well everyone has their own opinion about this, but, in general, yes. This kind of relationship is more common among mares than stallions, because Equestria has experienced more than one war in the past, and stallions have died on the battlefield. Unicorns even invented a spell that allowed two mares to have foals, but as a result, only fillies were ever born, which further increased the gender imbalance.”

“How did Equestria not turn into the Land of the Amazons at this rate?”

“At a certain stage, a decree was issued according to which, as to the results of the population census, mares who are in a same-sex marriage received permission or not to have a child by magical influence. Stallions were not concerned, because they always took children from the orphanage, but many mares wanted one hundred percent their own children.

So today Newt had to spend the day with Applejack. Probably nothing unites two creatures better than working together in the garden. The boy did not have to knock his feet on the trees, from his height he could easily pick apples and put them in the basket. And in general, some of farm work was easier and faster for him, to surprise and envy of the cowboy mare. Newt himself, unaccustomed to hard work, was surprised at his stamina and slightly increased physical strength. Obviously, the Hazard Level is beginning to show itself.

At the same time, the young man met the Apple family. In addition to Applejack, her grandmother, older brother, and younger sister also lived on the farm. Granny Smith was a shriveled, splinter-thin old mare (Newt didn’t dare call her a nag); green in color, with orange-red eyes and an apple pie cutie mark, an orange handkerchief with red apple patterns tied around her neck, and her gray hair and tail were tied in a tight bun. I must say, the human did not particularly surprise her. I quote, “I've seen lotta strange creatures in my life, and you're not the weirdest yet, Newt” - end quote. After that, she continued to doze in her rocking chair.

Applejack's brother, Big Macintosh, was a massive red stallion with a yoke around his neck, a dark orange mane and tail, green eyes, and a large green apple-shaped cutie mark. Big Mac's surprise was expressed only in his gaze, and he was a colt of few words, mostly ‘Eeyup’ and ‘Nope’.

But there was no end to Applejack's little sister. Apple Bloom, that's her name, is a little filly about eleven years old, yellow coat, red mane and tail, a big pink bow on the back of her head, orange-red eyes like Granny Smiths, but she didn't have a cutie mark. The younger Apple, grinning from ear to ear, hopped around Newt like a grasshopper and bombarded him with questions as good as Pinkie Pie. In particular, she was interested in why the boy does not have a cutie mark, and offered to join Cutie Mark Crusaders. Applejack had to step in and find her something to do, otherwise Apple Bloom would not buzz off so easily. After that Newt was glad that he was not able to interfere with the younger sister of Rarity or Scootaloo. Although now these CMC surely won’t leave him alone.

It wasn't that Newt didn't like children, but rather that they existed in a parallel universe for him. Even having a little sister didn't change, if not reinforce, that attitude. Young man was in no hurry to become a father in his twenties, like his classmates in college... and had no one to do that with, for that matter.

After lunch, Applejack decided to relax under the shade of one of the trees, and Newt kept her company. The afternoon sun was still merciless, but trees of Sweet Apple Acres seemed to favor their owner and her guest, giving their shade with a welcome coolness. Then the guy remembered about the device that weighed down his pocket.

“BUILD CHANGE!”

The red motorcycle landed in the middle of a dirt road. Applejack lifted her hat from her face and watched the man's actions with interest. Newt walked slowly to the bike, as if he were about to tame a wild horse, swung his leg over the seat, and lowered it to the running board on the right. Paying attention to the touchscreen and remembering the button with the image of the helmet, the guy pressed it. A white motorcycle helmet with red stripes and a transparent visor materialized over the back of the motorcycle, which was an enlarged bottle with the image of a lion.

‘Hmmm, farsightedly,’ Newt thought as he immediately slapped it on his head. So there was at least a scanty sense of security.

There was a time in Terry's life when motorcycles became a temporary obsession. The guys were sixteen at the time, and Wilson Sr.'s garage had a pair of Kawasaki Z1s... well, the temptation was too much. Newt loved the feeling of freedom, the wind blowing in his face, the endless snake of the highway, and the excitement of racing with Terry. That's just one of the turns Moore Jr. did not slow down, as a result of the sudden braking boy went into a skid and ended up on the side of the road. That day Newt suffered more spiritually than physically, because his body got off with a bruised knee and a couple of abrasions, but he got such a scolding from his mother. He was grounded for two weeks and made to swear on the Bible that he would never get on this ‘suicide machine’ again in his life.

“Newt, what are you doing?” Applejack snapped the guy out of his memories.

Newt turned to the farmer mare, then seemed to come to his senses, “Oh, it's a motorcycle. A type of ground transport… Like a cart, but designed for one or two and not needing a harness.

“So it’s driving on its own?” the mare wondered.

“Technically, yes, but…“ Newt said with a mirthless grin, “you have to be able to ride it.”

“Can you?”

“Well, let’s find out,” the man sighed and began to remember how Terry had taught him.

‘So, we start the engine, remove the side rack, squeeze the clutch on the left, turn on the first gear with the pedal down, give in to the gas, smoothly release the clutch and start. A piece of cake.”

Well, as it usually happens, everything turned out to be much more complicated.

At first, Newt let go of the clutch too abruptly (worth noting that he was holding it with four fingers instead of two) which caused the bike to jerk forward just as sharply, and the engine stalled, the boy's legs clattered, almost toppling over on his side. His heart skipped a beat in surprise.

“Okay, take two,” Newt said to himself, catching his breath, and pressed the starter button again.

This time he managed to pull away and drive, gradually picking up speed. Applejack stared after him in awe. But even then newbie made a mistake − Newt sat with his elbows outstretched. The obvious consequence was that when the front wheel went into a hole in the road, the boy lost control, and the steering wheel in his hands began to shake. The bike went off the road, and Newt flew into the bushes. The vehicle was stuck in a dense thicket, and the man flew over the steering wheel, sprawled nearby on the ground. Felt more hurtful than painful.

“Newt!” Applejack ran to him. “Are you okay?”

Boy sat up, grunting, and threw off his helmet in annoyance.

“I… think so!” the guy said, rubbing his bruised back.

The farmer mare made sure he didn't break anything and helped him up.

“Is this really necessary?” she asked nervously. “Looks dangerous to me.”

Newt smiled as sincerely as he could, no one was laughing at him, but he still felt humiliated.

“You just have to get used to it.”

The man approached the stuck motorcycle and pressed the smartphone button on the screen. The transport jumped out of the bushes, shrank in size and regained its original appearance, landing with a fancy smartphone and a strange bottle in the palm of the guy's hand.

“That's enough riding for today,” young man said grimly, heading toward the farm. Dinner must be ready.

Suddenly, a gray pegasus with a blonde mane appeared in the path of the pony and the man, carrying a mail bag. Her flight was more like that of a butterfly... or a drunken swallow. In the next moment, Derpy (that's her name) was blown sideways and smashed right into one of the apple trees. The impact of her face against the trunk brought her normally slanted eyes to their natural position for a moment, but only for a moment. Dusting herself off and rummaging in her bag, Derpy handed the letter to Applejack.

“Urgent delivery,” said Derpy, and then she was gone, completely unaware that several letters had flown out of her bag.

Newt shook his head condescendingly.

‘How come she hasn't been fired yet?’

Derpy Hooves was known throughout Ponyville, and Cloudsdale including, for her legendary clumsiness. It wasn't her fault, of course, that she had to live with a squint, but who knew the details when a piano was dropped on his head? According to the Mane Six, Derpy is a sweet and kind-hearted muffin eater, a single mother to boot, who would die for her daughter, Dinky Hooves. That's just the lack of intelligence, light infantilism and clumsiness does not create a positive image of her.

Applejack tore open the envelope with her teeth and quickly ran her eyes over the letter. Her eyes widened as she read, until she suddenly took off abruptly and ran towards the town.

“Hey, wait for me!” Newt shouted after her, falling far behind his four-legged friend.

***

“So what's the rush, Applejack?” Twilight asked as the Mane Six, dragon, and human found themselves on a train bound for Appleloosa. “Can you explain, normally this time?”

Yes, the farmer mare was not generous with details. She literally stormed into the alicorn’s library, causing a commotion, repeatedly yelling that they need to get to Appleloosa urgently, and only calmed down when the whole group was on the train. It was a long way to this town, so there were rows of bunk beds on either side of the small trailer. Naturally, Newt had to double up to fit on one of them. The carriage was empty, so ponies, dragon, and human could talk late into the night without fear of interrupting anyone.

“Ah got letter from Braeburn. They have a new conflict with buffaloes, and it's not just verbal sparring,” Applejack said. “The situation was already tense, because of bad harvest town folks got fewer apple pies than usual, and bulls demand more and more. It comes to the point that they attack the town and cause minor damages.”

Newt was brought up to date along the way. Buffaloes, in humans understanding, were the local equivalent of the Indians, the natives, and the inhabitants of Appleloosa are pilgrims. Based on the name, the town was mostly inhabited by Applejack's relatives, including her cousin Braeburn, who actually sent her the letter. Territorial wars, in Newt’s opinion, were the most meaningless, because the parties most often argue not about who owns this or that piece of land, but rather whose pride and greed are greater. Pinkie, Rainbow and Spike were on the side of the buffalos at the time, the other on the side of appleloosians, but in the end the compromise won. So why are bulls now unwilling to understand and make concessions?

“But yesterday someone kidnapped the chief's daughter, Little Strongheart, and now Chief Thunderhooves is blaming the town folks,” Applejack continued.

“Did buffaloes see the kidnapper?” Fluttershy asked.

“They say that saw ponies in white suits and masks, and armed anthropomorphic figures,” repeated Applejack her cousin’s words from the letter. “But bulls do not bother: they stubbornly insist that no one but appleloosians are profitable to kidnap the chief's daughter. Do you think it’s…”

“Faust?” Twilight and Newt both voiced their thoughts at the same time.

“But why would they do that?” the boy asked.

“Why not?” snorted Rainbow Dash. “Very much typical of this Bran Stark character.”

The rest of the audience looked at each other, simultaneously snickered and laughed loudly under the puzzled gaze of the blue pegasus.

“Actually, its Blood Stalk, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie said through tears and laughter.

“Who cares?” the cyan pegasus rolled her eyes.

“Still, why would Stalk kidnap the chief's daughter?” asked Twilight Sparkle. “If he wanted to frame appleloosians, he would have done it quietly.”

“Or he was counting on the fact that, given the current conflict, buffaloes wouldn't be looking for anyone to blame for too long,” Newt said.

“What if Blood Stalk wants to do something to her like he did to Newt?” Fluttershy mumbled warily.

“Obviously, we won't find Stalk unless he wants to find us,” Twilight said, annoyed. “We'll have to go in from the other end. If we explain to buffaloes that they were wrong, I think they'll believe us.”

“Leave it to me!” Spike volunteered proudly. “They'll listen to me.”

“Let's hope so,” said alicorn. “In the meantime, let's go to sleep, because tomorrow is clearly going to be a busy day.”

All the lights went out at the same time, plunging the car into the darkness of the night. Ponies and dragon wrapped themselves in blankets and quickly fell asleep... but Newt had a little problem with that.

***

It wasn't a pleasant night for a human. Because of the position he was trying to fit into on the bed, the next morning everything hurt as if he was sleeping on the bare ground. And because of this ‘clackety-clack, clackety-clack’ it was simply impossible to fall asleep normally. Newt envied Rainbow because she was snoring like a tractor, and Rarity even had to put earplugs in her ears.

It was early morning, mares and dragon were still asleep, but the man saw no point in trying. He crunched his stiff joints and sat up, deciding to brighten up the wait by admiring the scenery outside the window. Picturesque green forests were replaced by the scenery for a Western-style movie. A barren desert with sparse cacti, rocks where lizards basked in the dawn sun, a lone bull's skull, and rolling tumbleweeds. It was hard to imagine that in the middle of this lifeless land, an entire city with an apple plantation was located like an oasis.

“Newt?”

The human turned around. He expected Applejack to be awake at this time, but she continued to sniff peacefully. Apparently, without roosters, you can't wake her up. Alicorn was sitting on the bed, covered to the waist with a blanket.

“Why aren't you sleeping?” she asked in a whisper, so not to wake the others.

“I can't sleep,” Newt said, deciding not to complain about the uncomfortable bed. “I can ask you the same question.”

“If I don't stay up late reading, especially since we didn't go to bed late last night, I wake up early.”

“How far is it to Appleloosa?” Newt asked, returning his attention to the scenery outside the window.

“About an hour.”

The man only grunted in response, expecting this hour to drag on like a snail. Silence wasn't going to make time go any faster, so Newt decided to strike up a conversation.

“I hope we're not too late, and something irreparable hasn’t happened.”

“I hope so,” Twilight sighed. “I didn't understand much about Blood Stalk and Faust... almost nothing, to be honest. Therefore, Stalk’s actions seem spontaneous and incomprehensible to me. It's clear that Faust is some kind of research organization, but for what?

“There must be other stations like the one we found in the Everfree Forest,” Newt said. “Though, it will be a waste of time to look for them at random. And Stalk obviously won't tell us about them. His lights are definitely not all on upstairs, but if he's a scientist, then his actions must have some logic that we don't yet know. And who is he is a million-bit question. It’s hard to believe that he is a human, like me... but you never know.”

“There's something else I'm interested in,” Twilight said. “How long has this organization existed? And why does it make itself known only now?”

“Do you remember the interior of the station?” Newt asked. “The equipment was new, but the building itself was slightly abandoned. So either it was there before, but was used for something else…”

“Or Faust has been around for a long time,” Twilight finished. “I went through all the archives at the Ponyville town hall, but the underground building in the Everfree Forest was never mentioned. And there are no records of what happened before Ponyville was founded.”

“How old is the town?” the boy asked.

“In Granny Smith's time Ponyville still didn’t exist, so it's about eighty years old, give or take.”

“Then it's really strange,” the man said thoughtfully.

***

A little later, our heroes arrived in Appleloosa. The town looked like a typical Wild West settlement: apartment buildings, a tavern, a sheriff's office, a post office, a couple of shops, and a clock tower. It was all made of wood and covered with apple patterns, as if to remind them of what the settlers were doing here. However, the picture of the beautiful town was broken by the defensive fortifications on both sides and the scaffolding that surrounded some of the destroyed buildings like a spider's web. Even the railway station got damage: part of the walls and roof were missing. Apparently, the day before the fight was serious.

At the exit of the train, pony, dragon and human were met by a yellow stallion with the same color of mane and tail, but with a darker shade, green eyes, also the image of a red apple on his flank. He was wearing a brown vest and hat. When he saw the newcomers, he broke into a smile, flew up to them and reared up, exclaiming:

“Welcome to Appleloosa!”

It must have been Braeburn. His positivity and overflowing energy caused confusion, especially in human. As if reading the group's thoughts, the smile instantly disappeared from face of Applejack's cousin.

“I am glad you have come at last, my dear cousin,” said Braeburn, turning to his relative with a grave expression. “I wish the occasion was different... especially for our new guest.” the stallion seemed to notice Newt just now, giving him a small smile.

Braeburn showed no fear or morbid curiosity, to which boy was both grateful and surprised. Had the news of him already spread so far? Apparently, in a society where there are no phones and the Internet, word of mouth works especially effectively.

“The town is now recovering from another raid,” Braeburn continued, beckoning the group to follow him into the town. “Buffaloes are doing more damage to the town every day, and they won't stop until we give Thunderhooves his daughter... which we don't have, and we're tired of telling him so! But he won't listen to anything!” the stallion's voice rose sharply to a shout.

The town was hit harder than ponies, but there were also those who suffered different injuries. Fortunately, fractures are the maximum.

“If this goes on, we won't be able to feed ourselves, let alone pay tribute to buffaloes.”

Then Braeburn showed them the town's apple plantation, which had been torn down like after tornado: here and there among the fruit-bearing apple trees were gnarled stumps, and somewhere trees were completely uprooted and felled. Applejack looked like she was about to faint.

“Seriously, what's gotten into them?” expressed Rainbow the general indignation. “We've come so far in our time to come to a compromise, and this is how they thank us?!”

“I remember that buffaloes are not very civilized, but this is beyond the pale.” Spike frowned.

“We need to put an end to this as soon as possible,” Twilight said firmly, stamping her hoof. “Spike, Rainbow, Pinkie, do you remember which way the herd is?”

“If they haven't moved anywhere, yes,” said the pink pony.

“Let’s not waste a minute then.”

But as soon as they were within the town limits, the ground vibrated under their hooves, and a long rumble came from somewhere in the distance.

“W-what's going on? Fluttershy asked nervously.

“It has begun.” Braeburn's eyes narrowed.

A bell rang in the tower, and the town ponies scurried in all directions, some standing on the defenses, and some hiding in their homes.

A wall of dust was rising from the horizon, and a dense ring of buffaloes could be seen rushing forward, sweeping away everything in their path. The town ponies prepared catapults, but this time the projectiles were not pies, but stones. The ponies waited for the herd to get closer, then let loose a hail of rocks in their direction. The gaps appeared in the dense formation of the buffaloes, and the fallen knocked the rest of their hooves, but even so a good number reached the city. The town folks on the defenses barely had time to retreat before the outer defenses were blown to smithereens, and bulls swarmed over the city like a locust. The town ponies, who had taken up positions on roofs or haystacks, threw stones, but this did not help much, because the angry bulls knocked down everyone and everything that came in their way.

“Run for your lives!” Braeburn screamed.

Mane Six, dragon, and human scattered, avoiding the sharp horns and heavy carcasses on their hooves. Twilight's magical shields helped her friends and town ponies avoid an unpleasant encounter, but soon the group split up, and everyone was on their own.

Applejack jumped on the back of one of the buffaloes, who kicked, trying to shake her off, but the experienced cowgirl only took advantage of this, directing it at its kin. Rarity ran into the tavern. Rainbow swirled around the bulls, confusing them and causing them to crash into something or collide with each other. Spike hid in one of the barrels nearby, only to be kicked like a soccer ball by one of the bulls, and dragon, screaming, flew off somewhere outside the town.

As for Newt, he dodged between the bulls, bounced out of the way, and basically did everything he could to keep his ass from being impaled on horns. His eyes were darting in all directions, adrenaline was pumping, breathing was ragged, and his aching muscles were already making themselves felt. It reminded boy of playing dodgeball in high school, when he somehow avoided being bombarded with balls. Only getting hit by the ball on the head is not a risk of getting a few broken ribs or being trampled to death.

Fluttershy had apparently forgotten how to fly in the heat of the confrontation, running back and forth or trying to hide under a cart, only to have her makeshift shelter shattered into splinters the next moment. As she ran to the side, she tripped over a piece of building and fell face down on the ground. Just then one of the buffaloes was rushing towards her, the distance between them rapidly closing, and yellow pegasus was in no hurry to recover.

“FLUTTERSHY!” Newt shouted, jumping out of the way and running towards her.

The pegasus rose slowly, but when she saw the bull charging at her, she only gasped and covered her face with her hooves, preparing for the inevitable. In the next moment, someone pushed her aside, the world around her tumbled, and Fluttershy only had time to notice how the buffalo that almost knocked her over collided with the human…

“NEWT!!!” she screamed with tears in her eyes.

However, something strange happened. The buffalo continued to run, and a cloud of dust rose in front of him, which covered everyone present, causing them to stop and cough. Finally, the bull stopped too, flopping to the ground as the dust began to get into his eyes and mouth. When the cloud cleared, everyone could see two furrows in the ground behind the buffalo. In front of him, Newt stood on both feet, clutching the horns in a death grip, looking dazed, panting and covered in a cold sweat. Young man finally seemed to peel off his hands and look at them. His fingers were trembling, and there were symmetrical burn marks on his hands. On shaky legs, Newt took a few steps in a random direction, his heart threatening to burst his chest, the boy continued to look at his palms, hardly believing in what had just happened.

There was a pregnant pause.

And suddenly, from somewhere above, there was a soft clap. Everyone present turned their heads and saw on the roof of the tavern a familiar anthropomorphic figure in scarlet armor with a turquoise cobra sign on his chest.

“Looks like you're getting stronger, Newt,” Serpent said, interrupting his sarcastic applause.

Even those who wanted to continue the brawl forgot about it and focused their attention on the new person.

“Blood Stalk!” Newt hissed, finding his voice.

“That’s me,” the scarlet warrior bowed mockingly, looking around at everyone present. “As much fun as it is to watch, I don't want you to kill each other. All the more so, Monsieur Thunderhooves...” he snapped his fingers, “I have just what you're looking for.”

Two stormtroopers (security robots from the station) appeared next to him, restraining a young red buffalo female, she was tied up, a gag was inserted in her mouth, but this did not prevent her from twitching and bellowing, but to no avail.

“Little Strongheart!” exclaimed the chief of the buffalos, and then instantly changed in the face, “Who are you? Why did you kidnap my daughter?” he asked sternly.

“Because I knew that little princess, her friends and my little experiment would be guaranteed to arrive here,” Stalk replied, undeterred by the bull's anger.

Newt clenched his fists and teeth in anger:

‘Experiment?!’

“I must admit it was amusing to see you savages so ready to attack the appleloosians, even though my ponies made a mistake and allowed themselves to be discovered. I haven't laughed like that in a long time!” Stalk laughed his icy distorted laugh that made goosebumps on everyone’s skin.

The town folk cast disapproving glances at the buffalos, who looked down guiltily and dug their hooves into the ground. Mane Six looked at each other in bewilderment, throwing lightning bolts at Serpent.

“Well, you got what you wanted... I don't really know why. Now let my daughter go!” Thunderhooves barked.

“Yeah-yeah, sure,” said the Serpent, jumping off the roof, the stormtroopers remained there, and one of them pointed the barrel of a rifle at the cow.

Everyone present gasped and tensed, ready to rush into battle at any moment, but they were afraid for the safety of the chief's daughter.

“I'll just check something,” said Stalk and took out a device from behind his back, similar to a handheld barcode scanner.

He moved a little closer to Newt, pointed the device at him, and pulled the trigger. A fan-shaped blue beam scanned the man from head to toe, then light evaporated, and the device beeped softly. The Serpent glanced at the screen, grunted contentedly, and tossed the scanner at the human's feet. On the small screen, there was only a number: ‘2.4’.

“You're close, Newt,” Blood Stalk said triumphantly. “Consider this another gift from me, so you can keep an eye on your Hazard Level,” he snapped his fingers, and the stormtroopers jumped off the roof after him.

Stalk extended his right hand to the side, his palm enveloped in a cloud of black smoke, from which emerged what looked like a black sword with a tangle of wires to match his gun, a pair of toggle switches and a red valve.

“Steam Blade,” the sword announced its name.

With a sharp swing that took everyone's breath away, Stalk cut the ropes that held Little Strongheart, and the stormtroopers let her go. The young buffalo female spat the gag out of her mouth and ran to her father. The Serpent managed to return to the roof with the stormtroopers while the crowd was distracted.

“See you soon. Chia-o,” he said, about to pull the trigger on his gun, but Twilight stopped him.

“Wait!” she shouted.

“What now?” Stalk asked with displeasure.

“I have some questions for you,” said alicorn. “What is Hazard Level? How do you transfer magic to someone? And most importantly, why Newt?”

Stalk gasped in surprise, as if he'd been waiting to be asked.

“Mind if I start with the second question?” the Serpent asked, bursting with desire to answer that very question, “As you already know, I've introduced a special gas into Newts body. But the question is what this gas is? Can you answer that, Twilight?”

Twilight paused thoughtfully, and Stalk looked impatient. Just as alicorn opened her mouth, he spoke again:

“Well, of course not.” Stalk suddenly became cold and seemed to lose interest in everyone around him. “This, my dear, was only concentrated natural ether, collected from all points of Equus and slightly modified by my humble genius. I named it... Nebula Gas.”

“Nebula Gas?” alicorn asked in surprise.

“And Hazard Level is two things,” Stalk continued, counting off his fingers. “The first is a natural susceptibility to magic, and the second is the power of magic itself. You see, Princess, the lower Hazard Level, the higher the risk of not surviving the instillation of Nebula Gas... No-no, the subject will not die, although this outcome is likely. He becomes a monster called Smash.”

Newt's stomach turned cold. It turns out that otherwise he could turn into god knows what? But where does he have susceptibility to magic, if his home world does not have magic at all?

“Newt here is just the rare case when he not only did not turn into a Smash, but can further increase his Hazard Level. Three point zero is the minimum threshold for what I have prepared for you.”

“And that is..?” asked the boy, who was getting tired of the guess-why-I-do-this-and-that game.

“What an impatient fella,” Stalk chuckled. “Do not open presents until Hearth’s Warming Day.” he threatened with a finger and laughed.

The ponies and buffaloes stared at him in bewilderment and a silent question: ‘Is he a few peanuts short of a nut case?’

When he had finished laughing, Blood Stalk took his pistol in his hand and pointed it away from him.

“Now I must take my leave.” and he disappeared into the black smoke along with the stormtroopers.

Everyone present sat in place for a while longer, as if digesting what just happened, while Little Strongheart cried her heart out in her father's hooves. From the horizon, the figure of a small dragon appeared, slowly waddling towards the town.

“I'm fine!” shouted Spike, then added to himself, “If anyone's interested.”

The rest of the day appleloosians and buffaloes spent clearing perpetrated damage.

“Please, accept my apologies,” said Chief Thunderhooves to the settlers. “Someone who is in debt is me. Ponies of Appleloosa owe us nothing.”

The buffaloes pledged to help town residents with rebuilding and cultivation of new apple trees. Mane Six, dragon, and human were also not standing on the sidelines. Little Strongheart didn't remember where she was taken when she was kidnapped, or where she was held, because most of the time Stalk put her to sleep with something.

***

The train to Ponyville took six mares, dragon, and human late in the evening. All the way to bed, Twilight couldn't get enough of the scanner Stalk had given them. The strange thing was that during this time, Newts Hazard Level had dropped to two point three, although it did not fall below. And when alicorn tried to scan herself or her friends, the device gave out an error, which there was no explanation for. Giving up trying to get anything out of the scanner, Twilight put it aside and began to think about everything that Blood Stalk had told her, taking into account today's events.

“If I understood correctly, stressful situations and strong emotions increase your Hazard Level,” Twilight said after a while. “It's like the average unicorn's magic is enhanced in a critical situation.”

“That explains why Stalk wanted us there,” Newt chuckled, looking down at his bandaged hands. “And if I was lucky enough to survive the procedure, does that mean he was abducting someone else from my world, or just comparing in general? Because there's no magic in my world, but somehow, according to Stalk, I'm receptive.”

“Maybe you're just a lucky chance, which is why Stalk is so interested in you?” Rainbow said, yawning.

“What he wants from me is what I can't figure out,” the boy said, frowning. “What has he prepared for when I will reach three point zero?”

“He won't tell us that until you've reached the right Hazard Level,” Twilight sighed. “But I hope he doesn't want to hurt you, since you're so important to him.”

Looking down at his hands again, Newt chuckled to himself, “Yes, he doesn’t. And if I were trampled alive, what then?”

Deciding to leave hard thinking till the morning, ponies, dragon and human turned off the light and went to bed.

***

Somewhere near the monitor, a warrior in scarlet armor sat and looked thoughtfully at the images of six well-known ponies, in the ‘Hazard Level’ column of which was written: ‘Error’.

“Very interesting,” Blood Stalk said thoughtfully.

The name is Build

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A few days later, it was another beautiful morning in Ponyville. The weather promised to be warm, sunny and cloudless. Adults gradually left their homes and went to work, children hurried to school, stalls were slowly opening at the market ‒ the city was coming to life yet again. At an easy trot, Carrot Top was dragging a cart full of fresh carrots to her stall, when suddenly, running like crazy, a local human jumped over her. The yellow mare was prevented from being outraged by a rainbow whirlwind that swept through the air after him. The cart, rolling head over heels, scattered carrots all over the market and shattered into pieces.

Newt couldn't remember how long he'd been running, and he wondered how he wasn't exhausted yet, but he didn't dare to slow down.

“You can't escape your fate, Newt!” Rainbow Dash shouted to him from above.

The boy abruptly turned the corner shouting back, “Leave me alone, Rainbow Hitler!”

When Twilight made the discovery that stressful situations and strong emotions increase Hazard Level, she decided that physical activity should also help the cause. And it helped, slowly but surely, now Newt’s Hazard Level was two point five. It did not want to go any higher, and Rainbow Dash approached the issue with too much enthusiasm, bringing young men to physical and mental exhaustion. Sometimes he didn't have the strength to just walk to the library. Even today, when they were going to spend the day together, rainbow-maned pegasus did not find anything better than training, and Newt definitely did not sign up for this.

After another turn, which Rainbow flew safely due to her speed, Newt saw his salvation in the ‘Sugarcube Corner’. Almost knocking down the door, he literally fell inside, plopping loudly on the floor, which scared the hell out of the visitors. The boy was gasping for air like a stranded fish, his breathing was hoarse shallow and frequent, sweat trickled down his face in rivulets, and his tired muscles ached unbearably.

“Newt?” Pinkie Pie peeked out from behind the counter and immediately ran up to him. “What happened?” she asked worriedly.

The guy was about to squeeze out something articulate, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed a rainbow trail that flashed on the street, he crawled under the counter on all fours with the last of his strength.

“Oh, are you and Dashie playing hide-and-seek?” the pink pony's head suddenly appeared upside down, almost giving human a heart attack.

“Save me,” the boy whispered, pressing himself against the wooden wall, his heart skipping a beat when the doorbell rang.

Pinkie's hind hooves clicked in front of him.

“Hi, Dashie!” the party pony waved to her in greeting. “Have you decided to take a break from training with Newt?..” Pinkie did her best to look puzzled. “By the way, where is he? Shouldn't you spend time together today?”

“I'm looking for him myself,” the rainbow-maned mare snorted. “And I'm absolutely sure that he ran here. Have you seen him?”

“N-no, I haven’t.” sweat trickled down the pink pony's forehead, and her eyes darted from side to side.

Rainbow raised her left eyebrow and moved closer to the counter, glaring at her friend almost point-blank.

“Pinkie, you're a worse liar than Applejack. Where is he?”

“Oh, he...” Pinkie panicked more than ever, her eyes caught a glimpse of the man, who ran his fingers over his lips. “He’s putting on lipstick!” she said with a big smile.

“What?” Rainbow's bewilderment was comparable only to that of Newt’s.

When Pinkie realized what she just said, she looked down and glanced at the guy again, he waved his hands in front of him.

“He's swatting at flies!”

Newt jerked his thumb to the side, silently saying, “Take her away!”

“He's hitchhiking!”

The boy slapped his face and ran his palm over it.

“He’s... wiping the wall with his face?” now Pinkie herself was staring at him in disbelief.

“What are you looking at there?” Rainbow pushed her away and immediately beamed, while the human turned whiter than chalk. “Aha, gotcha!”

The pegasus fished him out from under the counter and dragged him along.

“Come on, slacker, you have twenty more laps around the Sweet Apple Acres and two hundred push-ups…” Newt struggled desperately. “And stop twitching, you are heavier than you seem.”

“Have fun!” the pink pony waved at them, giggling nervously.

“Pinkie, help me, you traitor!" the man screamed in a voice that was not his own.

And that’s after not long ago that he started to like the party pony.

***

The day before, it was Pinkie Pie's turn. Newt was going to the ‘Sugarcube Corner’ that day like he was going to hard labor. It was early in the morning, so there were no visitors yet, and the bakery greeted the human with a downright ominous silence. In addition to the above, the dim room, overturned chairs on the tables, wet stains on the floor (thank God, it was water) added to the feeling that a pink monster was hiding somewhere and is about to pounce.

Actually, the ‘monster’ did not take long to wait. Humming to herself, Pinkie Pie pranced out of the utility room and closed the door behind her.

“Oh, Newt, already here?” she exclaimed as if she hadn't expected him to arrive on time.

Even if the guy was a ‘night owl’, which sometimes you can hardly wake up, he was no stranger to the concepts of punctuality and ‘if you promised something, do it’.

“Well, are you ready to please Ponyville today with pastries from a human?” the pink pony was really glowing with enthusiasm, which cannot be said about Newt.

Actually, that's why he was here so early today ‒ to help Pinkie with the first batch of pastries. But whether from lack of sleep or from dislike for Pinkie Pie, the boy could not boast of reciprocal enthusiasm.

“Let's get this over with. If we start earlier, we'll finish earlier,” Newt grumped in response, not hiding his mood for today's pastime.

“Oh, no-no-no-no-no, that won't do!” Pinkie shook her head. “The dough loves smi-i-i-iles!” the pony put on her biggest smile, which, in Newt's opinion, was more frightening than infecting with joy. “If you cook the dough with such a sullen look, then the baking will be bad.” with these words, she began to push the human towards the kitchen with her head.

“Pinkie, the dough is the dough. It's inanimate!” in addition to the general discontent, irritability began to grow inside the boy.

“When you make dough, you put a piece of your soul into it,” the pink pony continued, simultaneously putting a chef's hat and an apron on the guy, which was clearly not the right size for him, “It's like your foal. It needs tenderness, care and smiles... but only in right proportions ‒ this is the most important thing!”

“Thanks for the vivid allegory,” Newt grumbled, removing the hat from his eyes and fighting the urge to ask if she really knows where children come from, “but I don't see how this will change anything.”

At this time, Pinkie laid out the necessary ingredients and kitchen utensils on the table and opened the cookbook to a random page.

“Just start, take the first step, as my grandmother used to say, ‘It's a strange thing, Pinkie, to go out of the door. It seems to you that you are near the house, and now you are already in the lair of a fire-breathing dragon,” the pink pony answered with a mysterious squint.

Now, directly at the kitchen table, Newt was not skeptical about the process, but rather fearful. Over the past couple of years in college, he practically did not cook anything for himself, preferring semi-finished products and hasty lunches. And it was a pity to waste the ingredients that someone paid for on culinary experiments, which may turn out to be unsuccessful.

All you have to do is take a cup of flour!

Add it to the mix!

Of course, Pinkie couldn't do anything without songs. At the same time, she showed Newt how to mix correctly, in what proportions and what kind of appearance should be in the end. In the course of all this action, the kitchen, which was cleaned to a shine, was instantly covered with dough stains and traces of spilled flour, and the sink was bursting with dirty dishes. The first pancake, as they say, but this did not upset Newt too much, because it turned out better and better.

Now just take a little something sweet, not sour!

A bit of salt, just a pinch!

Baking these treats is such a cinch!

Add a teaspoon of vanilla!

Add a little more, and you count to four,

And you never get your fill of...

Cupcakes! So sweet and tasty!

Cupcakes! Don't be too hasty!

Cupcakes! Cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!

When the first batch was poured into molds and sent to the oven, Newt stared in horror at the timer ‒ twenty minutes. Such a seemingly small period of time dragged on at the speed of a snail. The boy walked back and forth in front of the stove and nervously chewed his nails, catching himself on the thought that he acts like a newly-made father in front of the delivery room.

When the timer chimed, Newt's heart skipped a beat. With trembling hands, he took a potholder, opened the lid of the oven and pulled out a couple of molds with steaming cupcakes. Surprisingly, they were burned only a little, but otherwise they looked almost like a picture in a book. For tasting, Newt and Pinkie took one and cut it in half, it's more convenient to keep it that way, because it's hot, and they made sure that it's not raw inside. Swallowing nervously, the boy took a bite from the edge…

Delicious!

Of course, it was like walking to Canterlot to get to Pinkie’s level, but it was not bad. And with the cream and sprinkles it even got better!

“Just today, hurry up to try the pastries from our local human!” Pinkie advertised later the products to the first visitors.

Some eagerly rushed to buy, others skeptically, but in the end everyone was satisfied, praising Newt's first attempts at baking. It was nice for the boy to look at the joyful residents of Ponyville, felt good inside.

Definitely the day was not in vain. Newt looked at the pink pony next to him, who was putting coins in the cash register and giving out orders. Yes, she can be excessively energetic, strange, annoying with her chatter, as well as a violation of the conceivable and unthinkable laws of physics and common sense... but she is the most positive person he ever met. One thing he could say for sure.

“You know, you're okay, Pinkie Pie.” Newt smiled.

“Thank you.” the pink pony smiled back. “So do you, when you're not grumbling like an old-timer.”

This statement initially put Newt in a stupor, but then he just laughed. It's not the first time he heard this from people, but from Pinkie's mouth it sounded like a compliment, not a reproach.

***

Newt didn't remember when he returned to the library, but he knows for sure that the first thing he did is plopping on the bed. And the next morning greeted him with the feeling that no matter how much he slept, it would not be enough. The muscles were bound by soreness and weakness, there was heaviness and a slight fog in his head, as if the boy had not trained to exhaustion the day before, but drank as if there’s no tomorrow.

At breakfast, he barely exchanged a few words with Twilight and Spike, dozing off and picking at the fried eggs with a fork, almost untouched. There was no appetite, as well as the mood to do anything at all. Newt didn't remember who he had planned to spend time with today, and if he did, he would have postponed it indefinitely. Twilight's voice brought him out of his trance:

“Newt, can I ask you a favor?”

“What is it?” the boy muttered, without taking his eyes off the plate.

“Can you go to Applejack's and get some pies from her?”

Finally, Newt looked up from his plate and stared as if through Twilight.

“Why can't Spike do it?”

“I... um.” the dragon looked down.

“I'll need Spike in the library,” Twilight said in a slightly trembling voice. “Please?”

“Alright.” Newt put down his fork and silently headed for the exit.

Today, the weather team decided to cover the sky with clouds, as if to match the mood of a human. The young men did not remember whether it was promised to rain today or not, and it did not matter to him. The prospect of getting a little wet was the least of his worries. Hunched over, hands in the pockets of his shorts, Newt walked sullenly to the Sweet Apple Acres, not noticing anyone or anything around. Inwardly, he cursed everything that came to mind: Rainbow Dash, who clearly could not correlate the physical capabilities of a pony and a human; his own Hazard Level, which seemed to froze at two and five, otherwise perhaps this rainbow-maned Gregg Berhalter would have leave him alone; and why the hell Twilight needs these damn pies today?!

‘Why don't they want to leave me alone?’ Newt asked himself. ‘Am I asking too much? Just a little time for myself!’

In the next second, as if from a memory lapse, the man was in front of the door of the Apple house. After a short knock, several seconds passed before footsteps were heard. When the door opened, it was none other than Applejack who stood on the threshold.

“Oh, Newt, hello, come on in!” the farmer pony’s eyes lit up, and she hurriedly let the guest into the house, escorting him to the kitchen. “You're just in time.”

Nothing has changed in the Apple house since the last visit here. Everything is modest, but with taste, and there are signs of apples everywhere to remind you where you are, in case you already forgot. Big Mac, apparently, managed the household, Apple Bloom, of course, at school, so there was no one in the house except ginger pony and Granny Smith. In the kitchen, there were five freshly baked fragrant apple pies on the table, which, apparently, Newt was going to take to the library. Without saying a word, the boy just put it on top of each other and took it in his hands.

“Newt, why are yer not yerself today, neither ruddy, nor alive?” the elder Apple said, looking up from the oven.

Applejack seemed to have only just paid attention to the state of the human and became noticeably sad herself.

“Rainbow must have squeezed all the juice out of him again,” the farmer pony said, remembering when she had exhausted herself.

“Atta boy!” the reaction of Granny Smith led the audience into a stupor. “Just appeared in Equestria and already hooked up with a mare, but not just anypony…”

“Not in this sense!” Newt and Applejack exclaimed in unison, the boy even briefly came out of despondency, which was replaced by embarrassment and irritation.

He headed for the exit as quickly as possible.

“I think Twilight says thank you,” Newt muttered as he crossed the threshold.

On the way back, the young men stared unseeingly in front of him again, wanting to get to the library as soon as possible. Probably, if a meteorite fell next to him right now, he would not blink an eye. Once in town, Newt did not pay any attention to the fact that the town was suddenly empty, he did not even give it a second thought. As if on autopilot, he went from point A to point B.

And here it is, the cherished door to the abode of dusty old volumes and fancy words! Holding a stack of pies from the bottom with one hand, Newt opened the door with the other, not paying due attention again to the fact that the room inside the Golden Oak was suddenly plunged into pitch darkness. And just as suddenly, as soon as the man's foot crossed the threshold, the light came on, illuminating the crowd of town ponies, who exclaimed:

“SURPRISE!”

Colorful garlands hung along the walls, and a banner reading ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ was placed across the entire width of the room, colorful balloons, confetti and tinsel flew into the air, and someone blew the party whistles.

Newt jumped in surprise, slipped on the door mat, and the pies in his hands flew into the air. Then everything happened as if in slow motion: the boy, under the gasps of the ponies, sprawled on the floor, hitting his back painfully, and the apple pies, turning over in the air, fell on him like an airstrike.

BOOM! BANG! TINK! CRACK!

There was a pregnant pause.

Newt, as if paralyzed, lay on the floor, feeling Granny Smith's culinary masterpieces spread with a sweet mass over his face and clothes (Rarity had already plopped down on her fainting couch that came from nowhere). Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack, the last one was walking right behind Newt some distance away, rushed to pick the boy up from the floor. The pie mold peeled away from his face, clattering on the floor. Newt looked like a mess: his hair was stuck together, pieces of dough and stuffing stuck to his face, and his once-clean clothes were covered with wet dark spots.

In the silence that hung there was a barely suppressed giggle, which turned into a full-fledged laughter. Pinkie Pie rolled on the floor and pounded her hoof, unable to stop. The ponies around looked at her some with surprise, some with condemnation, and someone began to giggle softly. Looking at her, Newt felt the morning melancholy in him instantly disappear. It was the last drop in his metaphorical thicket of patience, and a mixture of fatigue, irritation, humiliation and resentment poured over the edges.

“WHAT'S SO FUNNY, YOU IDIOT?!”

The laughter died down instantly turning to a proper silence in the library; the pink pony stopped rolling on the floor and stared at him with eyes the size of saucers.

“Do you think it's funny when someone is in an awkward situation? Is it funny when someone is hurt?!” the jam on the boy’s face was bubbling like on a stove. “Is this the Element of Laughter that you represent?!”

Newt also said a lot of unpleasant and even obscene things. With each word, his voice grew louder, each new gesture with his hands seemed more aggressive, each step he took more and more dominated the defenseless pony. And now, standing close, he seemed not a confused weak human, but a terrifying and bloodthirsty manticore. A dam suddenly appeared on the stormy river of human sayings, when Pinkie sniffed, and tears poured out of her eyes in a fountain. She took off, rushed past the guy to the exit, knocking him down again, and sped off in an unknown direction.

Newt was lying on the floor, but that didn't make him any angrier. On the contrary, there was no trace of anger left, and a feeling of guilt and shame prickled in his heart. After all, what Newt couldn't bear was seeing a girl crying, especially if she was crying because of him.

“Pinkie, wait!” the rest of the Mane Six rushed after her in pursuit.

Newt jumped to his feet and hurried after them, wiping jam from his face with his sleeve as he ran. Naturally, he couldn't keep up with the ponies, so he fell behind very quickly, but he still tried his best. And Pinkie Pie could compete in speed with Rainbow Dash or Applejack when she wanted, so the others had little more success catching up with her.

Soon Pinkie was simply lost from sight.

Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy were standing in the middle of the street and looked around in confusion when Newt caught up with them on his last breath and doubled over.

“Rainbow, try looking for her from above again,” Twilight said, the blue pegasus nodded silently and soared into the sky.

When the boy caught his breath and raised his head, he met four pairs of disapproving looks.

“Lad, you’ve had a few too many just now,” Applejack said first.

“You may not have been completely wrong, but it was too much,” Fluttershy added a little more quietly, but no less sternly.

“That's no way to treat a lady!” Rarity snorted and turned up her nose.

Twilight was also about to say a few pleasantries to Newt, but Rainbow Dash interrupted her, “I see her! She's in the Everfree Forest!”

The ponies immediately took off and ran in the indicated direction. Newt seemed to have a second wind, because he found the strength to run again. Or was it just the desire to apologize to Pinkie Pie that motivated him?

When the ponies and the human were on the edge of the forest, they heard a heart-rending scream, “HELP!!!”

“Pinkie, we're coming, hold on!” Twilight shouted back.

“What could have happened? We are on the outskirts of the forest, even timber wolves don't come here!” Applejack voiced the general thought, maneuvering with the others between the trees and breaking through the bushes.

“What's the difference? Our friend is in trouble!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed from above.

Breaking through another bush, the ponies and the human were at the clearing, where they saw a familiar figure in scarlet armor. Blood Stalk with one hand was holding Pinkie Pie, who was kicking wildly.

“Let her go!” Twilight shouted.

The Serpent slowly turned his head in their direction and lazily raised his hand with a pistol. Twilight reacted immediately and tried to take the gun away with her magic before it was aimed at them. And she even managed to stop Stalk’s hand, but not for long. After flickering a couple of times, the magic dissipated. Blood Stalk continued to raise his hand, as if he didn't notice Twilight's efforts.

“What?!” Twilight was prevented from being surprised for too long by two shots, at the last moment she created a magic shield, which the plasma charges collided with.

For Stalk, this served as a sufficient distraction, as he let out a jet of black smoke from the gun, disappearing with Pinkie Pie, but before that he waved his hand as if saying goodbye.

When Twilight dropped the magic shield, Newt rushed to the Serpent.

“Pinkie!!!” the boy shouted, making a jump right into the smoke.

His hands only groped air, the last thing that disappeared in the thick smoke was the gleam of a turquoise visor, and the man, after making several coups, sprawled on the ground. Newt coughed from the smoke that got into his mouth and slammed his fist on the ground in anger, growling in despair.

He not only offended Pinkie Pie, but also gave Stalk the opportunity to kidnap her.

But the question is why?

***

Whether you guessed it or not, Blood Stalk tried to remain stoic in any life situation. Only now, at this very moment, he was experiencing an emotion known to everyone on the path of life.

Annoyance.

The Serpent was the one who considered the unsuccessful outcome of the experiment to be the result nevertheless... But not when nothing happens!

He looked from the bio-chamber, which contained the Element of Laughter, to the computer monitor and thoughtfully rubbed the bridge of his nose, which, of course, he could not reach because of the helmet. The pink pony had not turned into a Smash, and her Hazard Level was still impossible to determine.

NOTHING has changed!

How is this possible? What is he missing?

“Sir?” one of the Gas Masks addressed him. “Should we repeat the instillation?”

It cost Stalk a huge effort not to break the monitor with the scientist's head. But, as I already said, he always tried to keep his composure in everything and not lose face in front of his subordinates.

“Drain the medium from the chamber,” Stalk ordered.

The scientist nodded silently and pressed a couple of buttons. The liquid flowed out of the bio-chamber through special tubes, then it assumed a horizontal position, and with a hiss of air, the lid fell back. Blood Stalk walked slowly to the open bio-chamber and stared at the pink pony in silence. The Element of Laughter no longer tried to resist or scream. She was unnaturally calm for a prisoner.

“If you wanted to treat me with a hookah, you could just say so.” what unsettled Stalk the most is a fact that she was also mocking him. “But I have a complaint to your hookah man: he overdid it with mint... And your place is too uncomfortable. Not everyone, you know, likes to be tied up and surrounded by strange machines. And the uniform of the service staff is frightening…”

Blood Stalk had heard a lot about the oddity of the party pony, but at the moment he could not decide whether she was still mocking him or got sawdust for brains.

“I'm sorry, but I won't even give two stars to your establishment...”

The Serpent wasn’t listening anymore, he went back to the computer and fiercely began to search for something in it.

“Hey, I'm talking to you!” Pinkie Pie shouted, the mask muffling her voice, which Stalk was infinitely glad of. “Since you failed to impress me, then your idea is doomed to failure from the very beginning.”

Stalk once again studied her profile in detail and came across one little detail that intrigued him very much. He grunted enthusiastically and returned to the bio-chamber.

“Since we have already finished the revision, can you let me go? Otherwise, my friends will come here and your ‘Book of complaints and suggestions’ will be filled from cover to cover...

Stalk knocked on the wall of the bio-chamber to shut her up.

“No one will come for you,” Blood Stalk said, mincing every word, but at the same time maintaining a neutral tone. “No one knows where you are, and no one will be able to find you. You are completely alone here and no one will help you.”

“Ha!” Pinkie chuckled. “You probably don't know Twilight. She's incredibly smart and will be able to find me in no time.”

“I wonder how will she do it? the Serpent propped his chin on his palm in feigned interest. “This facility is located deep underground and protected from any detection magic. Not to mention the fact that outsider won’t be able to enter here, and the sign posts are not installed anywhere.”

“Heh-heh-heh, silly,” the pink pony smiled smugly, “your machines can't beat a genius like Twilight. And in the Everfree Forest your conspiracy was simply terrible,” she said the last phrase, stretching the word ‘terrible’.

”Since you are so sure of this, let's wait for your friends together,” said Blood Stalk as if he found a lost foal and offered to wait for its mother.

Several ponies in white protective suits and gas masks were grouped near the bio-chamber, waiting for order.

”Untie her and take to the test subject room. And treat the guest nicely, we are not savages here,” the Serpent said, moving away in an unknown direction.

The scientists cautiously began to unstrap the belts and pull the pink pony out of the bio-chamber. Whether because of an argument with Stalk, or because of complete confidence in her friends, Pinkie Pie did not resist or express dissatisfaction at all, even when she was dragged somewhere by force.

The test subject room was small and snow-white, there were only a spring bed with fresh starched linen, a small table screwed into the wall, a sink and a toilet.

The door behind the party pony slammed shut and the lock clicked. The silence was deafening for Pinkie Pie, because she was so used already to the hustle and bustle of the pony scientists, the flickering lights and the squeaking of strange devices, the hiss of pneumatic devices. Something scuffed on the floor, and Pinkie turned to see a tray with what appeared to be vegetable soup, a couple slices of bread and a glass of juice pushed through the hole at the bottom of the door. The pink pony shook her head and headed for the bed. Jumping on it, she stared at the door, expecting that at any moment her friends would come to her rescue. She won't be here for too long, right?

***

There was no clock in the room, so it was hard to tell if a minute, half an hour or an hour had passed. But when a tray of food was pushed through the door for the second time, it was probably time for dinner. Pinkie wanted to ignore the second meal, but the persistent sucking in the pit of her stomach forced her to abandon this idea. For dinner they brought a plate of macaroni with cheese and a cup of tea with a bun. After finishing the simple meal in one bite Pinkie handed the tray back.

When the pink pony began to yawn, she realized that several more hours had passed, and it was already time to go to bed. There was no commotion, no shouting, and no panic outside the door during all this time.

The rest of the Mane Six are getting late.

“No biggie, it's just that this station is far-far away and they need time. The girls will definitely save me,” Pinkie Pie told herself, falling asleep.

The next day she was woken up by a tray of food that was pushed under the door. A bowl of oatmeal porridge, a stack of cookies and a cup of tea ‒ not the most favorite dish, but the menu was not offered here.

At some point, the pink pony just got bored. She called long and hard for someone, looking out of the tiny square window in the door, but no one came. Pounding on the door insistently, she also failed to attract attention to herself. The silence began to weigh on her ears, and the walls seemed to narrow, making the room even smaller. But, fortunately, there was a lot of stuff in Pinkie Pie's mane. In a few hours, a hurricane seemed to have swept through the small snow-white room, polished to a shine: now children's drawings with colored crayons were dotted on the walls, confetti and tinsel were lying on the floor, and in the epicenter of this mess a pink pony was checkmating an imaginary rival, or rather herself.

No one paid any attention to Pinkie's pampering either, even the one who brought the food did not stay near the door for a long time. Little did the party pony know that her room was surrounded by a sound-proof enchantment, so she rather saved herself from the oppressive silence than irritated someone and attracted attention to herself.

At some point, the usually bubbling energy began to run out. Playing chess, cards and tic-tac-toe with yourself is fun, but eventually boring. Dinner had been swallowed a minute earlier, so it’s a waste of time to wait for the locals until morning. That evening, Pinkie Pie looked at the now decorated wall for a long time. One of the drawings (probably in the style of expressionism) depicted our Mane Six before emitting a rainbow ray. Elements of Harmony. Parts of whole. Always together.

Always… Together...

‘What if Blood Stalk is right and they'll never find me?’ Pinkie shuddered at her own thoughts. ‘Why did he kidnap me in the first place? What was he trying to do?’ I wonder why she didn't ask that question earlier. ‘The same thing he did to Newt...?’

At the memory of the human, the pink pony remembered their last conversation, and tears came to her eyes again. Pinkie was sad not because of what he said (although it was hurtful), but because she really behaved incorrectly. Considers herself a friend of everyone, but at the same time did not help a friend in pain… Can she even call herself a ‘friend’ now?.. Not just to Newt, but to anyone?

With heavy thoughts, she fell into a deep sleep.

It was as if a second later Pinkie Pie woke up to the fact that someone was shaking her. Her eyelids barely opened, and her head was buzzing. The internal clock told the pink pony that it was the middle of the night. Who would want to wake her up? Turning her head with difficulty, through her bleary eyes, she saw Blood Stalk sitting on the bed.

“Wakie-wakie, eggs ‘n bakey” the Serpent sang, finally removing his hand from the pony's side.

In any other case, Pinkie would have been scared, but either drowsiness or unshakable confidence did not constrict a single muscle on her face. She already had her back turned to Stalk and also turned her head to the opposite wall.

“It's not very polite to talk to someone with your back turned,” Stalk said reproachfully.

“What do you want?” Pinkie Pie asked calmly and with certain indifference, without turning her head.

“How unfriendly,” said Stalk with mock resentment. “And here I thought you could use some company. I suppose, it's boring to be alone in four walls? No one to talk to, nothing to entertain yourself with, and the unknown is unnerving… Depressing perspective, isn't it?” with the last phrase he seemed to want to get under Pinkie's skin, but she did not succumb to provocation, on the contrary ‒ she was even angered by this feigned empathy.

“You can enjoy your mockery while you can.” Pinkie finally turned her head and grinned at him. “Soon Twilight will leave no stone unturned here, and you will say goodbye to another of your stations.”

“And where is she?” Blood Stalk spread his hands. “Are you sure they're even looking for you?”

“They are my friends! Of course they're looking for me!” Pinkie turned abruptly and got out of bed. “You may not understand, but I know it perfectly well.”

For a while she stared very intently at Blood Stalk, at the place where his eyes approximately should be and persistently tried to see something there, but could not see anything.

“You said that Twilight is a genius. If that's the case, then right now you should be free with your friends. Isn't that right?”

His voice... this voice was cold, so emotionless that the poor pony almost shivered.

“I think I'll ask you this question again. Are you sure they're even looking for you?

For a second, just for one second, Pinkie was confused. The very thought of it terrified her, but the faith in her friends did not leave her. It seemed that the previously fading flame of hope flared up with a new force.

“Yes! Pinkie Pie shouted. She had never been so sure of anything in her life as she was now. This fire, the fire of hope, could be seen by everyone who has eyes. The flame of hope burned brighter than the Sun itself.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Blood Stalk started laughing. It seemed to pony that he was laughing with all his heart, if he even has one. He laughed from the bottom of his soul, if such a thing can exist at all. Even though the pink pony had never heard such a laugh, she knew for sure that it was so. She was puzzled… confused. He was laughing at her, so pure and so sincere that she didn't know how to react. What can she say?

“Why are you laughing?! Don't laugh!” Pinkie was screaming. Crying, she shouted after him as he left through the open door, “Don't laugh at me!” the door closed. “Don't laugh!”

Satisfied, Blood Stalk continued his way in a great mood, for the first time in so long you could see a sincere wide smile on his face.

“Laughter is really a terrible weapon.”

A day passed, then another, then a third. Pinkie Pie had stopped crying. Her tears were over. But bad thoughts were still swarming in her head. In this deafening silence, they became louder and louder, angrier and angrier, more and more sad. It was as if the howling dead souls had gathered around Pinkie in the cemetery. Every day the pony lost her colors. Then, with each passing hour, her mane became straighter. And finally, every minute she was getting grayer and grayer. An exhausted, emotionless, lonely little pony... got lost.

When the door opened again, she no longer reacted to anything, just lay there and did not move.

“So, little chatterbox, let's repeat our experiment, shall we?

***

The past week was a living Hell for the residents of Ponyville.

Pinkie Pie was abducted, but neither her trace nor the trace of the kidnapper was ever found. Search teams were created, which combed every centimeter of the Everfree Forest and the surrounding area. Messages were sent to neighboring towns, in which the procedure was repeated, but the outcome was always the same ‒ not a single hint, not a single message.

Twilight Sparkle has already forgotten what a sleep is. With heavy bags under her eyes and a coffee pot under her hoof, she tore through the heavy volume after volume, looking for a new ways to find her friend. She hoped to find at least an approximate location with the help of Pinkie's hair, the map and the enchanted spinning top. But the top only jumped on the map like a mountain goat.

Perhaps, vainly alicorn expected that everything would be so simple. She still couldn't wrap her head around the incident in the Everfree Forest. Blood Stalk's suit and weapons create interference in the magic field! This is not something impossible, but a very ancient and very complex enchantment that could not be carried out by everyone. So, wherever Pinkie Pie is now, this place is protected from detection.

Twilight grumbled and threw away another book that wasn't useful. Over the past years, she has had many stressful situations when it seemed that there was no solution, although some of these situations were nothing but her OCD paranoia… But there’s really none! She tried everything she could, but it was no use! So now what? Alicorn didn't want to give up, but what can she do?

The others were doing no better. With each new search party, the mood of the ponies fell more and more, and hope hung in the balance. Newt had the worst of it. He was already consumed by guilt and anxiety, and the town ponies did not improve the situation either.

Exactly like humans! Ponies, as it turns out, also liked to poke their hooves and look for the guilty ones. Newt did not deny his guilt at all, he was crammed into search teams and tried to help in every possible way, but in the process he caught sidelong glances, heard whispers behind his back and condemning statements in his address. The rest of the Mane Six were divided into two camps: Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow avoided him; Twilight and Applejack were polite and cold.

By the evening of the seventh day, everyone was exhausted. Each new search ended in disappointment and frustration. The unknown forced them to build thousands of assumptions, one worse than the other, but no one, alas, could jump above his head. Twilight sent letters to Princess Celestia every day, but she, apparently, could do little more, and the result was just as disappointing.

That evening, the remaining of Mane Six and Newt were sitting in the library. Spike was no less exhausted, because he had to clean up the mess arranged by Twilight every day almost every minute, even the help of Owlicious only slightly simplified his task. Those present, without saying a word, tried to have a dinner, but a piece did not fit in the throat. The only positive thing was that there was a kind of truce between Newt and the girls. If Blood Stalk had originally intended to kidnap Pinkie Pie, he would have done it anyway, he was just given a lucky chance, that's all.

Newt didn’t feel too pleased.

Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had neither strength nor desire to go home, so they all stayed the night at Twilight. Everyone's sleep that night was shallow and restless.

***

The next morning, the sun barely appeared over the horizon, and no one was sleeping in the library. However, I did not want to get up either: the fatigue that had accumulated over the past week simply did not allow me to do this. So for some time those present continued to lie in a half-dozen state, while the sun rose higher and higher.

The ponies, the human and the dragon would have spent the rest of the day like this, but suddenly there was a crash and screams from the street. Fully awake, those present rushed out into the street. The town ponies were rushing away in panic, the reason did not take long to wait.

“What's that thing?” Applejack pointed a hoof at a strange tall black creature.

It walked on two thin legs, and was very skinny itself, a pair of long spider-like hands ended in three fingers with long claws, and instead of a face it had a sad white theatrical mask with blue drops of tears painted on it. The creature made a terrible sound like a distorted crying, it smashed everything indiscriminately and attacked the ponies that caught its eye.

“I thought she'd be happy to come home.”

The ponies, the human, and the dragon looked up sharply and saw Blood Stalk, who was sitting on a branch, swinging his legs.

“You!” Rainbow Dash snarled.

“Where's Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked, almost growling.

“Right in front of you,” the Serpent indifferently pointed at the creature that looks like a doll.

Hearts of our heroes sank into their stomachs, their eyes became the size of saucers from shock, and a startled sigh escaped from their mouths.

“What... what did you do to her?!” Rarity screamed, barely holding back tears.

“This is what happens when Hazard Level is insufficient to tolerate the instillation of Nebula Gas,” Stalk replied, ignoring the frowns, bared teeth and readiness to pounce.

“You little!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed and flew towards him.

At the last moment, Stalk, holding on to the branch with the bends of his knees, leaned back and jumped down from the tree, and the pegasus crashed into the trunk. As soon as Stalk landed, Twilight fired a magic arrow at him. With one swing of the Steam Blade, he parried the attack, and alicorn used several more attacking spells, but only pushed the Serpent away without causing him obvious harm. As if losing patience, Blood Stalk flipped the toggle switch on the blade and turned the valve twice.

“ELEK STEAM!” announced the sword.

Lightning sparked on the surface of the blade, the Serpent swung the sword, sending a massive electric charge towards Twilight and her friends. Alicorn created a magic shield, when the lightning collided with it, she had to strain to hold it. The charge crackled deafeningly for several seconds before disappearing.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” said Blood Stalk, as if to children. “I think, you should save the town, not fight with me.”

As if Twilight had just remembered about the monster terrorizing Ponyville. She gave Stalk a withering look and beckoned the rest of the Mane Six to follow her.

“We're not done yet!” Rainbow spat at Stalk, rubbing her bruised forehead and heading after the others.

Newt remained where he was, fists clenched, teeth bared, puffing and glaring at Stalk with a hateful look. He had never hated anyone like this before, not even Caleb Wilson.

“I'm getting goosebumps already. Would you stop looking at me like that?”

This creature (certainly not a human or a pony) did something to him, hurt his friend, and also has enough conscience (or lack of it) to mock and clown around!

A friend?

It might be a strong word, but Newt couldn't deny that he had become attached to the Mane Six over the past time. They helped him in everything, promoted socialization in Ponyville, and in general did not leave him alone to survive in this world. It's worth a lot. Therefore, he will repay them in the same way: he will do everything for the sake of his friends.

“GIVE HER BACK!” Newt growled, sputtering.

“I'm sorry, but it's impossible,” Blood Stalk replied emotionlessly. “You see, the experiment conducted with you turned out to be very successful and it gave me brilliant ideas. I remembered the result of a very old research and decided to repeat it with minor improvements. As you can see, it’s a brilliant success. The little pony turned into a synthesis of her worries, fears, and phobias. This is called a Smash. And this is irreversible.” with each sentence, his voice became harder, colder and more mysterious. It was as if he was sharing a revelation with him. “Although, who knows? This experiment is a trial, the results are not collected. Anything can happen. Maybe she will explode in a couple of minutes.” at the end, Stalk spread his hands, as if he wanted to show his ignorance.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Newt literally broke off the chain and, forgetting about past experience and the instinct of self-preservation, attacked the Serpent with his fists.

Naturally, since he did not act methodically, but purely on emotions, his attacks were random and predictable. Stalk didn't even try to attack back, he just blocked the blows and dodged, which made the rage in Newt boil like magma. He wanted to protect his friends. He wanted to teach a lesson to the one who hurt them, but could not match his opponent. Your own weakness is so annoying!

“It's not something personal anymore!” Newt said through his teeth between blows. “You did something to me and this could remain between you and me.” just when the boy started to run out of breath, it was like a second wind woke up in him. “But you hurt my friend... and this is unforgivable!” the blows suddenly began to break through the block and hit the armor. “I don't know who you are, but be sure I'll find out, and then… I WILL CRUSH YOU!”

Newt put his maximum strength and hatred into the last blow. His fist collided with Stalk's breastplate. At the point of impact, the air seemed to heat up, and the force threw the Serpent away, causing him to fall backwards. Newt, panting, stood with his fist outstretched, not believing his own eyes.

“Hazard Level three point zero,” Blood Stalk said slowly, grunting and getting to his feet. ”You're finally awake, Newt!” he said solemnly, spreading his hands.

For a moment, the boy was lost in confusion. He examined himself: neither the second pair of hands nor the third eye. Nothing had changed, and he did not feel particularly different.

“Are you still mocking me?” Newt hissed, his rage rising with renewed vigor. “Fucking with me, you bastard?!”

The guy attacked Stalk again with his fists. He did not resist and seemed to allow himself to be beaten. Newt’s hands were already starting to hurt, and his knuckles were knocked into the blood, but the adrenaline served as a good painkiller. At some point, apparently, the Serpent ran out of patience. Suddenly, he blocked a right hook, grabbed the boy by the neck with his other hand and abruptly threw him to the side. The human hit his back against a tree and fell flat on the ground. The impact knocked all the air out of his lungs. Newt assumed the fetal position and began to gasp for air, like a stranded fish.

“Well, diaper baby, have you finished your little tantrum?” Stalk asked mockingly.

Newt was able to breathe again, but he was still lying on the ground and glaring at the Serpent.

“While you're fooling around here, your friends have a problem.”

Only now the boy saw in the distance how the girls were desperately fighting with the monster. Twilight's spells didn't work on him, only angered it more. The Elements were more likely to discourage it from further destruction and attacks on residents than to cause him real harm. Or did they deliberately not attack in full force, because they believed that Pinkie Pie was still in there?

“Magic does not work on Smash, and simple brute force will also achieve little.” said Stalk, closely watching the battle.

Newt struggled to his feet, holding onto his bruised ribcage.

“And why are you telling me all this?” the boy gritted out.

“Because your finest hour has come.” Blood Stalk turned to face him again.

“Mine? And what can I do if even Twilight can't?”

“That's why it was necessary for you to reach the Hazard Level of three point zero.” the Serpent fired a jet of smoke from a pistol into his left hand, and a moment later a small black suitcase turned out to be in it. “Only you can beat the Smash and return your friend to her former state.”

“Return?” Newt was speechless for a moment and stared at Stalk with a dazed look. “Um... ah... wait, you just said…”

“I know what I said,” Stalk grumbled, lowering the suitcase to the ground and squatting down. “I lied about that. But it was for a good cause.”

Stalk clicked the rivets and opened the lid. At the bottom of the suitcase was an incomprehensible device. It was black, had two slots in the front, next to which there was something like a small turbine, and a pair of gears and several silver tubes under it. There was also a small crank lever on the side of the device. On the inside of the lid were several colorful bottles, similar to the one that Newt inserted into that smartphone. However, for some reason, the blue and red ones were separate from the others. They were the ones that Blood Stalk extracted along with this device.

The Serpent approached Newt and put the device to his midsection, forcing the boy to recoil, a yellow belt flew out of a strange mechanism on the side and wrapped around the human’s waist. The device made a strange sound, as if it was activated. Next, Stalk took one bottle in each hand, shook them slightly and turned the caps forward. Turning the red bottle upside down, he inserted it into the right slot, next to the turbine.

“RABBIT” a voice came from the device, a hologram appeared in the air in front of the slot, repeating the image on the bottle in the form of a rabbit's head.

The blue bottle went to the remaining slot.

“TANK” the same thing happened with this bottle.

Then the holograms mixed, forming the letters "R/T", and the belt announced:

“BEST MATCH!”

The turbine began to change color from red to blue, like a Christmas garland, and music similar to the noise of some mechanism sounded from the device.

All this time, Newt stood rooted to the spot, staring at the belt with his mouth open.

“What's that supposed to be?” he finally found his voice.

“This is the quintessence of my genius and the alpha of the ‘Kamen Rider Project’. I present to you... the Build Driver!” the Serpent announced solemnly.

Newt didn't say a word, but his face clearly showed a sarcastic statement ‘This surely speak volumes’.

“What am I supposed to do with it?” this phrase was no less sarcastic.

“Have you ever played with Jack-in-the-box? The principle is the same: turn the lever all the way.”

“And then what?”

“You'll see.” Stalk was about to leave, but suddenly turned around, “Oh, and don't forget to say ‘Henshin’.”

“What?”

“You’re on your own now. Ciao.” and again Stalk disappeared into the smoke, leaving a puzzled Newt, who quickly looked from Smash to the belt. The girls were already noticeably exhausted, and the monster was becoming more and more frantic.

‘Okay, here goes nothing.’ with this thought, the boy grabbed the lever with his right hand and began to turn it forward.

The lever turned at first with some resistance, but then, as if greased at the last moment, it began to rotate much easier. The turbine turned with it, the device vibrated, as if dozens of gears and pistons were in motion in it. And the music that the belt issued with the first turn of the lever was replaced by a mixture of the sound of pistons and electronic music.

Newt suddenly released the lever when two transparent plastic tubes came out of the belt under the bottles, one of which bent forward, and the other snaked back, something red flowed down one, blue on the other. Steel parts and pipes burst out of the ground, forming a frame around the human. And the plastic tubes, combined with the frame, formed something similar to the plastic sprues from the model kit. From the liquid that flowed through the tubes, armor pieces in red and blue were formed in the center of sprues.

“ARE YOU READY?” was heard from the belt when the incomprehensible construction was completed.

“Ready for what?” Newt asked, looking at the formed structure around him in confusion, and then remembered what Stalk said to him. “H-henshin?”

As soon as he said this word, the sprues slid down the tubes, the boy only had time to gasp when the structures slammed into him, donning him in a suit of armor. The sprues disappeared, and several jets of steam came out of the cracks in the armor.

“HAGANE NO MOONSAULT! RABBIT-TANK!.. Yeah!”* announced the belt to the accompaniment of techno-rock music.

Newt looked at himself from head to toe, dumbfounded. The armor he was now wearing consisted of red and blue segments with black ones between. There was a large spring on the left thigh, and a tank treads on the right foot. On the helmet, the left visor was in the shape of a rabbit, and the right one in the shape of a tank. From the inside, the helmet reminded the one of Iron Man’s: it was as if boy was looking not through lenses, but at a small screen with system messages on the sides. An inscription appeared briefly in the center at the top: ‘Build System Online’.

The monster that the remaining of Mane Six were fighting came into Newt's field of vision, young men gathered his thoughts, decided to leave self-admiration for later, and rushed to help at full speed. Although the armor was not heavy, there was a slight overweight to the left side. What surprised human the most was the speed with which he moved, as if in one moment he became an Olympic marathon runner. When Smash dropped Applejack and was about to strike with its claws, Newt jumped up, punching the monster with his left hand. The blow threw the monster a couple of meters away and knocked it over.

“Twilight, girls, take the town folk to a safe place!” Newt commanded, not taking his eyes off Smash, who had already recovered. “Leave it to me!”

“Newt?” Rainbow exclaimed in disbelief. “Where did you get that?”

“I'll explain later! Do what I say!” the guy got into fight with the monster again.

“How will you do it?” Twilight shouted, but decided to leave the question rhetorical.

Just because she saw how Newt's simple physical attacks caused more damage to the monster than her magic. The monster doll was waving its claws furiously, but the guy easily dodged them, launching counterattacks.

Newt would never call himself a trained fighter, as he usually didn’t get into fight, but now, in a fight with Smash, it was as if he had awakened reflexes that had not been there before. At some point, out of the corner of his eye, the boy saw a system message: ‘Available Weapon: Drill Crusher’. And he didn't notice how he read it out loud. Two transparent tubes reappeared from the belt, from which something similar to a sword was formed in front of Newt, only instead of a blade it had a large conical drill bit.

“DRILL CRUSHER!” a voice came from a strange weapon that seemed to hang in the air waiting for it to be picked up.

So Newt did, at the last moment repelling the monster's attack with a slash, he dodged another monster’s attack with its claws and stabbed Smash in the chest, then, taking advantage of the monster's confusion, struck it with a cross-shaped slash.

Pale green gas began to evaporate from the surface of the doll's body, the monster, as if disoriented, staggered from side to side, and its crying began to resemble cries of despair.

“Pinkie,” Newt called her, “I know you're still in there.”

Smash stopped and turned to him, falling silent.

“You are a strong pony, fight!” the boy exclaimed, slowly coming closer. “It's not you! You would never want to destroy Ponyville and attack your friends!”

There was a short pause, after which the monster suddenly screamed and inflicted probably the strongest attack with its claws, from which Newt flew several meters away, tumbling. A system message about significant damage to the breastplate appeared before his eyes.

“Usually, it works,” Newt said in disbelief.

The monster ran towards him. An image of a Drill Sword appeared on the screen, the animation showed that it has another mode. Where an ordinary sword has a cross-guard, there was a connector for a bottle on one side, and a connector into which an inverted drill can be inserted on the other. Newt rolled to the side, dodging the monster, grabbed the Drill Crusher that he had dropped during the fall, and switched it to Gun Mode. A plasma projectile knocked the monster to the ground again. Another system message appeared in front of the boy's eyes: ‘Turn the lever again for the final attack’.

‘The final attack?’ Newt stared in fright at the monster, which barely got to its feet and was clearly not going to resist.

Only you can stop the Smash and return your friend to her former state.

Newt gathered all his determination and grabbed the lever on his belt.

“I hope it works.”

Again, a mixture of the sound of pistons and electronic music, but now the guy's body was covered with red and blue energy, and the spring on his left leg shrank.

“READY?! GO!” the belt exclaimed.

Pushing off with his left foot from the ground, Newt jumped high into the air before flying forward. He extended his right leg and got into position for a kick.

“VORTEX FINISH!.. YAY!”

The treads on his right shoe moved. When Newt collided with Smash, the treads grinded against its body igniting sparks, and the strike with a massive explosion threw the monster away.

The world was plunged into a snow-white void…

***

Pinkie Pie, gray, malnourished, with a straight mane, sat with her head down in the middle of a white void. There was the sound of someone's feet splashing on the water nearby, but she didn't pay attention.

“Pinkie Pie!”

This voice… She slowly turned her head and stared blankly at Newt, who was breathing heavily, as if he had just gone through another execution with Rainbow Dash’s training. But he was smiling, and his eyes were shining either with joy or with tears.

“I finally found you!”

Pinkie turned away from him and stared at her reflection in the water under her hooves.

“Have you been looking for me?” she said quietly and emotionlessly.

“Well, of course! The girls and I’ve been restless for a week trying to find you!”

“Why all of sudden?” she asked, still without emotion. “I annoy everyone, I talk incessantly, and the ponies laugh not WITH me, but AT me, because all I do is make a fool of myself.”

“Who told you that?” Newt asked worriedly.

“You!” for the first time, emotions appeared in her speech. “And you're right! I'm annoying, stupid, useless, dimwit freak!..”

“STOP IT!” Newt jumped up to her, grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him.

Tears were pouring out of the poor pony's eyes in a stormy stream. And Newt let out a few stingy male tears, barely restraining himself from crying with her.

“And what's worse ‒ I'm a terrible friend!” pink pony said through sobs.

“Pinkie, please forgive me!”

Pony stopped crying for a moment:

“What?”

“I'm sorry for what I said to you. It wasn't true!” Newt held her face in his hands so not to break eye contact. “People also tend to say thing they don’t mean when they are angry. It's just ... Rainbow Dash was overly persistent in her training, not thinking that it was physically too much for me. I understand that she meant well, but I was physically and mentally exhausted. I just wasn't up to a surprise party, and that little incident pushed me over the edge…” the boy paused to sigh. “I didn't want to hurt you. And I certainly don't consider you a bad friend! Yes, you can be annoying and pesky, but we are all not without quirks. Do you remember how you said that I grumble like an old-timer?” pony nodded silently, the corners of her mouth slightly raised. “That's what I'm all about, always dissatisfied with something,” Newt remarked, not without self-irony. “But friends should not be similar in everything, they find a common ground despite the differences.”

“Friends?” Pinkie Pie looked hopefully at the human, life appeared in her eyes, and the fur became a couple of tones brighter.

“Of course.” Newt put his arms around her and held her tight. “If you ever start to doubt yourself, remember that you are an Element of Laughter, and this says a lot. You make the ponies around you happy...” the boy pulled away and looked into her eyes. “You're a wonderful friend, Pinkie Pie... my friend.”

The pink pony smiled, sniffing, and there were still tears in the corners of her eyes, but they were already tears of joy. Suddenly for himself, Newt stretched out his hand and poked her nose with his finger, saying, “Boop”.

Pinkie squinted at her nose in disbelief, which made her face look ridiculous. Newt couldn't help but laugh softly. The party pony looked at him for a few seconds, puzzled, as if she didn't know how to react to this. But in the end, she relaxed and let go of her worries, laughing along with him…

***

Newt dropped to the ground and laid the fallen monster on his lap. Smash began to emit a green glow, deforming until it shrank and acquired the external features of a pony. The glow gathered in a small ball in Pinkie Pie's chest and left her body. Having risen a couple of meters above the ground, the ball changed its shape, the glow disappeared, and a small pale pink bottle appeared to the world, similar to those that were in the Build Driver. It fell to the ground next to the unconscious body of the pink pony. Newt picked it up, it had a picture of a birthday cake with three candles on it. He was prevented from thinking about it for too long by the remaining of Mane Six who ran up to them.

“Is she alive?” Fluttershy asked, startled.

The pink pony's chest was heaving, and her pulse, although slightly slowed, was also there.

“Yeah, just unconscious,” Newt said.

A system message appeared before his eyes: ‘For detransformation, remove the Full Bottles from the belt and turn the caps to the sides’. The boy did so, the armor disintegrated into thousands of red and blue particles, which quickly disappeared into thin air. The ponies looked from the belt, to him, and to the bottles in his hands.

They all had a lot of questions.

***

“SURPRISE!” the crowd of Ponyville residents exclaimed.

Colorful garlands hung along the walls, and a banner reading ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ was placed across the entire width of the room. Colorful balloons, confetti and tinsel flew into the air, and someone blew the party whistles.

Newt shyly covered his face with his hand.

“You guys! You shouldn’t have…”

“Not another word!” Pinkie Pie sang, handing him a glass of punch. “I promised to give you a welcome party, and, as you know, Pinkie-promise cannot be broken!”

She happily galloped off into the crowd, offering everyone a punch. Newt, lazily sipping his drink, watched her with a mixture of worry and surprise. A couple of days passed, almost all this time Pinkie Pie, as if in a coma, lay unconscious. And when she woke up, she did not remember anything from the moment of the incident at the first party. She forgave Newt and, to the surprise of everyone, almost instantly became… Pinkie again. The terrible metamorphosis had not left any other visible changes on her, and the Hazard Level scanner again gave an error when trying to scan her.

‘It's probably for the best that she doesn't remember anything,’ Newt sighed to himself.

“And now it's time for PINA-A-A-A-A-A-ATA!” the party pony shouted loudly.

The ponies immediately crowded around her, and Newt did not stay in the tail. The answers to the questions will wait until tomorrow. And today they are having fun!

***

Blood Stalk, sprawled in a chair, thoughtfully examined the images of the embodiments of the Elements of Harmony.

“So they can create Full Bottles... Omoshiroi**,” he drawled excitedly. “What kind of Bottles will be obtained from the others?”

* jap. 'Fullmetal Moonsault!' Rabbit-Tank!.. Yeah!
** jap. 'Interesting'

Forgotten tale of Equestria: Unity. Book 1

by Get_in_Gear

Guinea pig

The Serpent of Faust

Rising Hazard

The name is Build