Description
It was close to dawn as Celestia’s sun was slowly creeping up behind the hills to begin the day. Inside the Golden Oak library Megan and TJ were still sleeping soundly in their guestroom after long and tiring yesterday.
Megan slept in the warmth and comfort of the only bed in the room. TJ on the other hand was sleeping in the basket on the floor in a rather uncomfortable position. He had spent most of the night trying to fall asleep before eventually finding a position he was most comfortable with. As much as he dreamed of sleeping in a real bed, the thought of Megan sleeping in a basket seemed unfair after everything she had been forced to put up with. But he didn’t let it bother him. Megan after all was his best friend since foalhood and he wasn’t going humiliate her like that.
TOK! TOK!
TJ’s ears twitched and he awoke to the sound of knocking. He tiredly opened his eyes and quickly realized it was close to sunrise. ‘Man… What a weird dream…’ He silently yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eye. ‘I dreamed that Megan and I were in a magical world of wonderful po-’
TOK! TOK!
“TJ? Megan? Are you guys awake?”
Upon recognizing Twilight’s voice, both TJ’s eyes immediately shot open and popped his head up from the basket. “Oh uh..!” He quickly remembered what had happened yesterday. He heard the sound of Megan still sleeping in the bed and began to sweat.
‘If she comes in and sees us like this she’ll realize who the REAL master here is!’
Thinking quickly (or not at all), TJ quickly leapt from the basket and into Megan’s bed. He landed hard on the mattress and caused a spring effect that launched her up into the air and sending her diving straight towards the basket just as Twilight opened the door.
SPROING!
THUD!
“Wakey wakey~! Eggs and Haybakey~!” As Twilight stuck her head in, TJ was rubbing his eyes and ‘waking’ up from underneath the bed covers while Megan clumsily fumbled around beneath the blanket of the basket before popping her head up, looking rather dazed and confused.
“Oh good. You’re awake.” she smiled. “Rise n’ shine sleepyheads. Breakfast is ready downstairs. We’ve got a big day today.”
TJ yawned and stretched his hoof. “Alright Twilight. We’ll be right down. Ready to get up Megan?”
“Uh wha-? What happened..?”
“Good. I’ll tell Spike to set the table. Don’t take too long.” She then backed up, closed the door and trotted back downstairs. TJ drew a happy sigh of relief. His action had saved them both from sudden scrutiny.
However, he was not out of the woods yet. He swallowed nervously and carefully approached Megan as she sat up.
“Um… You okay Megan..? Sorry…”
Megan rubbed her head and tried to make sense of what had happened. “What was that-?” She then blinked and looked around the room looking rather surprised. “What? Where am I?”
“Megan?”
“It was a dream, wasn’t it?”’
“What was a dream?”
“That we were taken to a crazy world of insane po-” She suddenly stopped and stared at him. “And you talk…” TJ just smiled. “So wasn’t a dream…. Yesterday DID happen.”
TJ pursed his lips. “Yeah…”
“Bummer…” Megan slumped down in the basket and looked rather cresfallen. “I really thought that everything had been one crazy dream and that we would be back at the farm…”
“Sorry…” He decided to try and sheer her up. “Look on the bright side Megan. It’s a new day and another adventure outside just waiting to happen.” It seemed to work as Megan smiled a bit.
“You’re right Teej.” she giggled.
TJ felt relieved that Megan was smiling. Just as long as she didn’t question his action just moments ago…
“By the way Teej… Why did you jump on the bed like that?” She yawned while scratching her head.
TJ swallowed nervously. “Well… You see I…”
Megan then noticed the basket she was in. “What’s with the pillow and the blanket?” She picked up the blanket and sniffed on it. “It smells like… Teej… Why does this blanket smell like the one we use back home?”
“Eh… Because I…” He sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “…I slept there…”
Megan blinked before bursting into a laugh. “You slept here? In the basket?! Now why on earth would you sleep in a small ba-?” She suddenly stopped. “Wait a minute…” She looked around the room. “One bed… Basket on the floor…” It soon dawned on her and she frowned. “This is my bed, isn’t it?”
“Em...”
“This is MY bed!” she growled as she turned around and grabbed him by the ears, pushing her face against his. Her face was utterly red. “I WAS GOING TO SLEEP ON THE FLOOR LIKE A COMMON DOG?!?”
TJ gulped. He closed his eyes and braced himself.
“And… and instead you let me sleep in your bed…” Her anger quickly faded and her voice softened. She then suddenly kissed him on the muzzle. “Thank you.” TJ’s eyes went wide as he blushed.
Megan then stood up, brushed herself and straightened her hair. “Well, come on Teej. Let’s not keep our hosts and breakfast waiting.” she said as she opened the door and exited the room. TJ just sat there, literally frozen as he tried to comprehend what had just happened.
-----
The library was still in a bit of a mess after last night’s party as Megan came down the stairs, with confetti and streamers still littering the floor. She had to admit, the party was pretty wild (at least the parts she was around for). She took a brief moment to stop and look at the books on the shelves. She did a bit of reading herself back home and was a bit curious to go through a few volumes. She wanted to know more about this strange land and its ponies.
However, the scent of breakfast and a rumbling tummy soon changed her mind and she headed for the kitchen. Once she arrived, she saw Twilight busily preparing the meal while Spike setting the breakfast table.
“Oh hi Megan!” said Twilight as she noticed Megan come into the kitchen. “Did you sleep well? I really hope you did. You’ll have to excuse Spike. Spike likes to sleep in a basket so he naturally assumed-”
“It’s okay Twilight.” said Megan smiling as she waved it off. “It was all fine. I was actually sleeping in-” before she could finish that sentence, she nearly forgot who or what she was talking to. If she found out that she had slept in the bed instead of TJ, she would probably see her as a monster. “-BLISS! It was a real bliss sleeping in that basket! I swear I have never in my life slept so well!”
‘Phew! Nice save there Megan.’
“Really?”
“Yeah! In fact, it beats sleeping in a bed any day.” For TJ’s sake, as well as her own, she had to keep up the charade.
“That’s great! Then I won’t have to order that extra bed after all.”
“Ye- Wait… What? Extra bed?”
“Yes. I felt a bit bad for not taking you into consideration after we brought you and TJ over here and I wasn’t really sure if a basket would meet your accommodations. In fact, I kind of thought you would get mad. But since you liked it so much, I suppose there’s no problem.”
“I… Uh…”
“Speaking of TJ, breakfast is nearly ready. What’s keeping…”
“Here I am.” answered TJ as he suddenly came into the kitchen. He sniffed the air and took in the wonderful scent. “Mm… Smells good.”
“Good morning TJ! Hope the bed was too your liking?”
“Oh yes! I slept like a foal. I couldn’t imagine sleeping anywhere else.”
“Good to hear it.” Twilight smiled. “And you’re comfortable that Megan slept in the basket? She told me she really liked it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah Teej!” Megan walked up to him and winked. “In fact, I wouldn’t dream of sleeping in a soft BED after such a wonderful night in the basket, right? It’s not like we need another one, right?” She winked some more.
TJ stared at her, looking a bit confused. He then seemed to get what she was saying, smiled and winked back. “Of course we don’t need another bed. That basket was just perfect.” Megan facepalmed and silently groaned.
“That’s good to hear. Now please, you and Megan take a seat and we’ll have breakfast ready in a sec.”
Both TJ and Megan found their chairs and sat next to eachother. “Boy! That really smells good!” He then leaned over to Megan and whispered. “Good job by the way. She really thinks you slept in the basket.”
“Yeah…” she whispered back. “And you know what? Since I liked it so much, she doesn’t need to order an extra bed for me like she originally intended.” she grinned.
“Well that’s- Wait… Extra bed…?”
“Yeah! Isn’t that wonderful?” she spoke through her clenched teeth. “And since you said it was just perfect, I suppose it’ll just have to do…”
“Uh…” TJ suddenly had a really bad feeling he would not be sleeping in a bed anytime soon. Changing his mind now would only raise questions. “Great…”
“By the way, I forgot to ask. How was your sleep?”
“I slept rather well.” He felt a slight kink in his back. “More or less… I even had this really strange dream about a dark winged unicorn pony. She was really beautiful…”
“A dark winged unicorn..?” Somehow that sounded familiar. “How..?”
Before she could ask, Spike suddenly appeared with two plates in his claws. Each plate had two sandwiches with dandelions, a side of egg and two strips of… hay? “Hope you guys like dandelion sandwiches with eggs and Haybacon.”
“Dandelion sandwiches? With eggs and… Haybacon?” muttered Megan as she inspected her plate. Aside from the eggs, everything else seemed more like edible for a horse. Curious, Megan picked up a sandwich and took a bite. She chewed it thoroughly before swallowing and didn’t feel pretty well after that.
She then tried the Haybacon strip. And it tasted pretty much as expected… Hay. She pushed away the plate and looked enviously at TJ who heartily enjoy his meal.
“This is great!” said TJ, munching on a piece of Haybacon. “This is the best breakfast I’ve ever had! Way better than just eating apples every morning!” He then noticed Megan looking at him with a rather sad expression. He swallowed nervously. “Well it is...”
“Everything alright Megan?” asked Twilight from across the table. “Isn’t the breakfast not to your liking?”
“No! It’s alright! I’m just… Not so fond of… hay and dandelions…”
“Why not?” asked Spike while munching on his own sandwich. “I mean, I prefer gems as much as the next dragon but this really isn’t half bad.” Somehow Megan felt gems wouldn’t make a better substitute or hay. Not to mention it would be worse and rather bad for her teeth.
“Here! If you don’t want it, I can finish it for you.” said TJ, having already finished his plate and was now drooling over hers. Megan sighed and gave him the plate.
“Here you go. Enjoy…” As TJ wolfed down his second helping, Megan just sat back and sighed. She then noticed a bowl with fruit on the table and casually helped herself to an apple. She took a big bite and swallowed. She sighed some more.
‘The tables have really turned…’
-----
“By the way… You guys mentioned a party today..?” asked TJ as he was finished with Megan’s plate.
Twilight, having recently finished her breakfast looked at him rather surprised. “That’s right. It’s a party long planned by Pinkie Pie ever since we started looking for you TJ.”
“Me?”
“Yeah!” added Spike. “It’s going to be a momentous occasion because the princesses will also be there.”
“The princesses..?” TJ suddenly got excited.
“That’s right. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They’ll be coming here to meet you in person.”
“Meet me?” He nearly fainted. “Did you hear that Megan? They’re coming here to meet me! ME! TJ!” Megan just munched some more on her apple. TJ then realized something and turned towards Twilight again. “But why? What’s so special about me?”
Twilight’s smile suddenly faded and her ears dropped. She remembered back to the party and what Applejack had said. She eventually decided it was time to tell the truth. “TJ… I’m afraid I haven’t been totally honest with you TJ. The reason why you are really here is because of an ancient prophecy...”
“A prophecy?” asked Megan, becoming interested as well. “What prophecy?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know much about it. I only know what Celestia showed me and she instructed to find the Seventh Element.”
“The Seventh Element?” Both TJ and Megan asked in unison.
“You see TJ, my friends; Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and I represent what you might call the Elements of Harmony; Magic, Loyalty, Kindness, Honesty, Laughter and Generosity. But the prophecy speaks of another element. An element still unknown to us all, even princess Celestia isn’t sure what it is.”
“Wait! Are you sure you have the right pony?” asked TJ. “I mean, I’m just an ordinary stallion. Am I really the element you were sent to find?”
“The prophecy was rather vague, but it speaks of a pony not from our world and that this pony would possess the Element that would light our darkest hour. With Celestia’s help, I was able to see beyond our world and I saw images of both you and Megan. I used what knowledge I had and with the help of my friends I was able to find a way to cross over to your world and bring you here. The rest you know.”
“Wow…” uttered TJ. “I’m an Element… Darkest hour? What does that mean? And what Element am I exactly?”
“I’m afraid I can’t really say. Only the princess might know for sure but she hasn’t given me any answers yet. She will arrive in Ponyville later today and hopefully she’ll explain everything…”
Megan had really quiet thoughout Twilight’s explanation. She normally didn’t believe in prophecies, but then again she never believed there to be a world of magical ponies. And whatever this ‘darkest hour’ was, it sounded pretty bad.
“What is so special about these Eleme-?” Before Megan could finish her question, there was suddenly knocking at the door.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
“Now I wonder who that could be?” Twilight got up from her chair and trotted out of the kitchen towards the front door. “I wasn’t expecting any visitors this early.”
She opened it and…
“SURPRISE!”
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A rough morning for poor Megan. At least she had a good night sleep.
More light has been shed and it seems TJ is destined for something really special. But what is it? Will the Princess have the answer? And who just made a surprise visit?
We’ll find out in the next sometime after Christmas
MLP, Megan, TJ © Lauren Faust/Hasbro/Hub