Chapter One
"…Do you know you are my very best friends?" James sang along with the end of the theme song of his new favorite show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Most of the time, he watched the show in the quiet, solitary comfort of his bedroom. James was a sixteen year-old boy. That meant he was in high school. People could get beaten up or stuffed in lockers for being a boy that liked something as "girly" as My Little Pony. Being a 'brony' had something of an underground movement feeling to it. He hid this fact from most people, except at home or on the Internet. Here he could be himself, and follow the exploits of what people called the "Mane 6". He settled himself on his bed, ready to find out what trouble the ponies were going to get into today.
Suddenly, a head poked around his door. "James, are you seriously watching that girly show?" The condescending voice belonged to his thirty year-old brother Bryan, who was at this moment, staring at him with a look that seemed to combine pity, surprise, and a bit of something else that James couldn't immediately identify.
"Yes I am, and I happen to enjoy it. Is there a problem?" James replied in a tone that suggested that he was not in the mood to be picked on about it. It seemed to James that ever since their mother had died and Bryan had taken the three younger boys in, that Bryan had been trying to mold him into what he felt James should be, not what James wanted to be.
"No, no problem at all. I just think that perhaps you are a bit old. Enjoy your show." With that, Bryan closed the door and his footsteps could be heard heading down the hall and back to the kitchen.
Out of nowhere, a mass landed on top of James. He went to throw whatever it was off, but just before he could lift it, he heard a familiar voice say, "Whatcha watchin'?" The young boy rolled off of James, and James identified the mass as his youngest brother Dylan.
"It's called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dylan." James answered while Dylan was watching, entranced.
"Who's that? What's she do? Is that a *dragon*?" Dylan's questions continued throughout the thirty minutes that the show was on television. Once James turned the television off, Dylan looked at him and said, "Bryan's just a poopie-face. That show was good. Can I watch it with you again next time?"
James chuckled. "Sure you can, squirt. As Pinkie would say, it isn't a party unless your very bestest friends are there." He then led Dylan down to the dinner table. James could see that his other younger brother, 10 year-old Thomas was sitting at the table waiting for dinner.
Bryan came out of the kitchen as the other two came around the corner into the dining room and smiled at them. "Just in time for dinner you two. Sit down and let's eat up."
James and Dylan took their customary spots at the table and the four of them had a quiet dinner. Dylan and Thomas, who got very upset if you didn't call him Tommy, talked about the week they'd had at school, and how they were adjusting to their new classmates. James listened and nodded in all the right places, while Bryan was asking questions.
After dinner, they all helped clean the table and then James and Bryan tucked the two younger boys into bed. James kissed them both goodnight and proceeded to his own bedroom. He logged onto a few of his brony message boards to respond to some of his friends in a place he felt comfortable. After a few hours, he was finally tired enough to go to sleep, so he changed into his night clothes, and crawled into bed. The house was quiet and the night was peaceful, so he drifted into a restful sleep.
James was abruptly awoken later by something or someone jumping on him and forcing something on a string around his neck. There was a quick flash and he was no longer lying on his bed, he was lying on the floor of what looked to him like a semi-transparent, gem-shaped room. "What in the world is this?" He exclaimed as he pressed his face against one of the facets of this gem-room he appeared to be trapped in.
Looking out he could make out his bed sheets and the fact that the gem-room seemed to be sitting on them. Suddenly, the room shook, and his view changed. It seemed like he was moving through the air, and then he stopped. Above him, he could somewhat make out what appeared to be the muzzle of a young horse, but he couldn't be sure.
Soon, he was bouncing along and he could make out muffled voices… "I got this one." a voice directly above him, which appeared to come from the horse, said.
Another chimed in, "There are three others here in this house. Should we bring them too?"
A third voice joined the conversation. "Let's do it guys! I think they might miss him if we take him and not them."
James couldn't see much after that. In a short while, he saw another quick flash, and there was a quiet clink against his "room", which he could only guess was another gem hitting against the one he was apparently contained in.
Not long after that, he heard the other two voices return. "Done", "Me too", they said.
"OK. I'm using the bottle to get us home now." This was said by the creature that James's prison was apparently being carried by. James heard a faint crash and then with a cry of pain, he passed out.
The three foals appeared back in the dreary, out-of-the-way hut that belonged to the zebra striped pony named Zecora. Spike jumped up when they arrived, and Zecora looked up from her bubbling cauldron. "Ah, there you are my little dears. Your return calms my fears." She stirred the glowing brew in her cauldron. "Did you catch the bronies that can help us save all the ponies?"
"Yep, we sure did Zecora!" Apple Bloom answered and brought forth the four gems that contained the four human boys that the fillies had just captured.
"Ah, that is very good little one; now place them in my cauldron and watch, for the magic has just begun." Zecora instructed.
Apple Bloom did as she was instructed and dropped the four gems into the bubbling cauldron which bubbled more as Zecora chanted and stirred. She then dumped the cauldron over, spilling the four gems onto the floor.
Slowly the gems shattered, and where they had been lay four ponies of varying sizes and types. The largest of them was a pegasus pony with wings that looked a bit mechanical in nature. He was black with a red and white mane, and a red braided tail. His cutie mark was a strange multi-colored skull.
The second largest was a winged unicorn, which was very unusual. His body was the color of molten rock, red speckled with yellows and oranges. His wings were red, and very fire-like. His mane and tail looked like flames of red and yellow. He seemed old enough to have a cutie mark, but strangely, he did not.
Next up was a unicorn foal that was cyan colored with a red zebra-like pattern, and a white mane and tail.
The smallest pony was a pegasus foal that was all white with a black and red striped mane and tail.
Spike looked shocked. "You turned them into ponies? Are they zombie ponies?"
Zecora laughed. "No, they are quite alive my friend. Though this one came out quite odd indeed, in the end." She indicated the winged unicorn pony.
The four boys stirred and moaned all at the same time. The fiery one opened his eyes slowly and lifted his head, looking around for a moment, his eyes fell on the trio that made up the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and his mouth dropped open. "Um… Is this some crazy dream?"
Zecora stepped forward and leaned down to him. "I'm afraid not my dear. You are in-fact, actually here."
The orange pony whipped his head around after he heard a scream behind him. The scream came from the black pony. "What in the world is going on? I'm a freaking pony! Someone wake me up, quick! JAMES!"
"Bryan? Is that you?" The orange pony asked the black one.
The black pony looked at the orange one and gasped. "James… Are you a pony too?"
Before James could answer, the other two ponies had jumped up and the smallest one was jumping around. "We're all ponies! And look, look! Bryan has a cutie mark!"
Bryan, who had become the black pegasus pony looked at his flank. "What kind of crazy cutie mark is that?" He then continued to mumble about crazy nightmares and that he was going to kill James when he woke up.
Tommy, the cyan unicorn was simply looking around and taking it all in. "James, what is goin' on?"
The orange pony replied, "I don't know squirt. But I bet Zecora does." He made sure that his youngest brother was OK, and after seeing him over talking with the three fillies, he figured that he would be all right for a while. He then turned his attention to Zecora. "Ok Zecora, if this is all real, tell me what in the world is going on."
Spike interjected. "The bearers of the Elements of Harmony have been captured by someone along with Princess Luna, and we don't know where they are, or what is going to happen. We need your help!"
James stared for a moment, dumbfounded. "What can we do?" He said finally.
"Of all the things that we could do, the best thing was to depend on you. Great things you have inside, but for now we must all hide." Zecora said in her rhyming speech. "We must watch the darkness on its approach. For the four of you are our last hopes…"