It was a quiet day in Ponyville. Twilight, having thought back to her magical duel with Trixie, was reading up on age spells. She was in the middle of firing up a test spell to try on a potted flower, when Ryan came downstairs. "Hey Twilight, what's going on?" He asked. That simple question caused Twilight to lose focus, and as a result, the spell shortened out, and exploded into a giant shockwave. "Oops." The teen stated. "Sorry." The alicorn sighed and gave a small smile. "Uh...Twi?" Ryan asked abruptly. "When did that happen?" He pulled out a hand mirror, and held it up in front of Twilight's face. There where there was normally a streak of lavender there was a streak of grey!
"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Twilight chanted in panic.
"Oh crud." Ryan said in realization, spotting the book Twilight was reading. "That didn't happen to be an age spell did it?"
"Mmhm." Twilight nodded. Suddenly, the rest of their pony friends came bursting into the room.
"OH NO!" Ryan shouted. They all had been affected by the age spell! Specifically, their manes had turned grey, and some lines had appeared in their faces. "Guess it was only you girls." He said, looking into his mirror and finding no trace of difference to his body. "Ugh, this is all my fault. If I hadn't distracted Twilight when she was using the spell, none of this would've happened." Ryan walked over to the table where the book sat. "At least we have a recipe for a cure in here." He said. The teen scanned the pages. All the while, his pony friends were visibly growing older and older. Rarity took a look in the mirror and cringed.
"Could you be a dear and hurry up?" She asked the teen.
"Uh oh, this isn't good." Ryan said at last.
"Your telling ME!" Rarity asked as she studied her wrinkled face in the mirror.
"Not just you six aging, but the cure." The human relayed. "To make it, we need the fur of a manticore, a scale from a hydra, and-." He broke off as a retch escaped his throat. "-And a pint of blood from both Celestia and Luna." Strictly speaking, it had said 'the royal pony sisters' on the page, but Ryan felt it pointless to be so formal. "And worse, none of these ingredients are easily accessible. Each has its own proverbial 'safeguard' to protect it. But don't worry, I'll get everything needed. You six just stay here." Ryan saw Twilight about to protest. "No." He said firmly. "The spell is eventually going to slow you down and weaken you. I don't want that happening where there's danger." He knelt town to the purple Alicorn. "Think you could get me to Canterlot Castle with a teleport?" The teen asked.
"I'll try." Twilight told him. Luckily, the spell hadn't been activated long enough, and Twilight was successfully able to zap Ryan into Canterlot Castle.
"Princess Celestia!? Princess Luna!?" The human called as he speed-walked around the castle. "I need you both, and it's urgent!"
"What is it Ryan?" Princess Celestia asked.
"An age spell has gone awry, and it's aging Twilight and her friends to death!" The teen explained. "The cure requires one pint of blood from both you and your sister."
"How did this happen?!" Princess Luna asked. This was the part Ryan had hoped to avoid.
"Uh...I accidentally caused Twilight to lose concentration when she was testing the age spell we're talking about?" He phrased it like a question, afraid of the possible anger the Princesses could throw at him. When none came, the teen sighed. "I just want to help them." He reached into his back pocket and took out a couple of syringes. "If I may?" he asked the Princesses. The princesses nodded and held out their forelegs. Ryan pressed the needle of each syringe into their respective foreleg, crimson liquid flowing into them. "You know, I've never thought of you as real ponies like Twilight and my other pony friends." The human piped up as he emptied the two syringes into vials. "That is, in the sense that you have lived for so long, you seem like goddesses that have taken pony form to live among their subjects." After corking the vials, the teen was about to leave, when he realized where he needed to go to get the other two ingredients. "May I borrow some of the Royal Guard?" He asked Celestia. "The cure requires a scale of a Hydra, and we all know how dangerous they are. Not to mention the Everfree itself."
"Mmhm." Princess Celestia nodded.
"Thanks." Later, he and a few of the guards entered the Everfree, when a manticore jumped out. "Wait!" Ryan shouted just as the guards were about to attack it. He walked up to the beast, looking it in the eye. SLURP! The manticore licked the side of the teen's head. "I knew I recognized you." Ryan said. "You're the same one Twilight and my other pony friends helped." He gasped. "Those same ponies who helped you need a cure that requires the fur of a manticore. Can I take some fur from you please?" The manticore nodded. Ryan quickly pulled out another vial, and ripped some off the fur from the manticore's body. After putting it in the vial and corking it, the teen waved as he lead the way into the forest. It was hours before they stopped to rest. They were by a lake. "Give me your spear." Ryan said abruptly to the nearest guard. The guard raised an eyebrow. Just do it." He said. "I need defense as well ya know." The guard nodded and then handed it to him. RAWR! A Hydra rose out of the water, and lunged its left head straight at Ryan. Eyes shut, the teen lunged forward as well. When he heard the sharp spear point squish into the skin beneath the Hydra's scales, he grabbed the handle with both hands. "I feel guilty for doing this, but it's for my friends!" Ryan cried. He slid the spear to his left, tearing a layer of scales from the Hydra's neck. "RUN!" The teen cried, following his own advice. the layer of scales was still stuck to the spear point. "I'm going back to Twilight's castle." He said to the guards. "You all go back to Canterlot and tell Celestia I'm taking care of things." The guards nodded and did as they were told. "GIRLS!" The human cried, bursting into the same room from earlier. The ponies were looking terrible, more wrinkled and grey than ever. But luckily, between then and when Ryan had been teleported, the ponies had gotten a cauldron for the cure, and had put it in the fireplace. Going and quickly kneeling by the cauldron, the teen pulled out the vials of blood and manticore fur. He added them to the boiling water in the cauldron. "One of the ponies must've added this water.' Ryan thought. Yanking the layer of scales from the spear point, the teen snapped a single scale off, and put it in the cauldron. "Girls it's okay," He said, still sitting but turning to look at his friends. "I did it! I've got the cure!" Eventually, the cure was ready. Ryan found a ladle, and used it to pour the mixture into six glasses. But time was wearing thin. "Girls?" Ryan asked, checking on them as he poured the sixth helping. Nothing. "GIRLS!?" Ryan shouted, dropping the ladle and turning back to look. They all lay on the floor. "NOOOOOOOO!" He screamed. The teen crawled over to Twilight. "Please!" he started to tear up. "I can't lose you now! PLEASE!" Tears leaked from Ryan's eyes, landing in Twilight's fur.
"Ryan..." Twilight groaned.
"I'm here." The teen said. He showed her the glass in his hand. "Open your mouth. You have to drink this." Twilight nodded and started drinking. Instantly, Twilight's skin began to tighten, and the gray in her mane faded back into it's lavender-and-purple color. Ryan quickly helped the other five ponies drink the cure, and they were soon all back to normal. "YES!" Ryan shouted, victorious. "You all alright?" He asked.
"Mmhm." Everypony agreed.
"That was very brave of you." Twilight said as she wrapped a foreleg around Ryan.
"I suppose." The teen said. "Hey Rarity, I think I can see some grey right above your left eye." The unicorn shrieked and grabbed a mirror. "Just kidding!" Ryan said. He burst out laughing.
"Very funny." Rarity grumbled.
"Just glad I managed to do this." The human said. "Although..." He looked to the scales he had ripped from the Hydra. "Don't know what we're going to do with that." He squeezed everyone in a group hug.
"Oh Ryan." Rarity cooed.
"I like you girls, you know that?" The human asked.
"Mmhm." Everypony nodded.
"We like you too Ryan." Applejack assured him.
"Though Twilight?" Ryan turned his full attention to the purple alicorn.
"Mhm?" Twilight asked.
"Let me know when you're going to use a spell." The teen told her. "We don't want anything like this happening again." Twilight chuckled.
"Understood." She said.
THE END