Applejack awoke very suddenly, not recognizing whatsoever the room she was in nor when she had fallen asleep. She glanced around, very slowly gaining familiarity with her surroundings. Where was she?

Then, flashbacks hit. All memories returning to her head like a wrecking ball colliding with a dam. She was far, far from home. No real way of getting back, at least no way within reach. Her family was there, her life was there, and now it was gone. The thoughts overwhelmed her beyond what she could handle. Her breaths became sharp and short, thoughts of home filling her entire existence.

She was alone. No family, no orchard, nothing familiar.

"Applejack?" she heard a voice in the distance, but it barely penetrated her panic. She suddenly felt a weight at the side of her bed that made her flinch.

"Applejack… it's alright. Take deep breaths. Everything's going to be okay…," the soft voice was becoming a little louder. Applejack began to recognize the voice; Fluttershy.

"Shy," the panicked girl choked out, "I'm all alone. Everythin' is gone."

"Don't think like that," Fluttershy replied soothingly, "You're not alone. All your friends are here with you. Your life isn't gone, we're just in an unfamiliar place, that's all. We're all here with you. And you'll be just fine. We have Olly to help us."

This statement stopped her thoughts in their tracks. Olly.

"Whenever I miss home, or worry about my animals," Fluttershy continued, "I like to think that we're here for a reason. Olly needs us right now. My animals will be okay for a while; Olly needs my attention."

"Olly…" Applejack choked out again, beginning to ponder Fluttershy's reasoning.

She began to recognize her surroundings as she thought of the peculiar boy they had met in the woods. The boy who took all six of them under his wing, and spared no expense to make them comfortable in this strange new world.

Olly; the boy who, for whatever reason, kept on trying to be strong, when Applejack had noticed time and time again that he needed support. The boy whose family was sparsely spoken of, and barely seemed to exist.

Olly; the boy without a family. The boy who needed her more than anyone else did at that very moment. If anypony understood how to be family, it was her. She needed to be that family for him.

She wasn't alone. On the contrary: she was needed now more than ever.

"Thanks, Shy," Applejack said with a breath, "I'm sorry ya had to come see me like that.."

"Oh, don't worry about a thing," Fluttershy responded with a small smile, "We're all missing home. Everypony has had their moment sometime or another since we've gotten here."

"Still, thank ya," Applejack smiled weakly, rubbing her eyes and attempting to put her thoughts together.

"You know…" Fluttershy started, "It might help if you go see him."

Applejack quietly made her way up the stairs, careful not to wake up Rainbow or disturb the rest of the house. She jumped suddenly when she saw a shadow out of the corner of her eye, but took a breath of relief to see that it was just Olly's skittish cat.

"Hey there, critter," she whispered, attempted to pet the animal.

However, as she did so, she noticed a dim light coming from the living room. She froze in place for a good minute, then slowly stood up to cautiously make her way toward the spectacle.

What she was met with was not at all what she expected.

Laying in front of her was the boy she had been searching for; phone lit up and laying across his nose, and his eyes clamped shut in an uneasy slumber. Carefully, the girl attempted to move the phone from his face, only to be met with a disturbed groan.

"Oh sugarcube," she shook her head, "At least you're getting some sleep…"

The sight of Olly's sleeping face was always a little reminder of when they first met, and how alarming of a spectacle the entire day had been…

Applejack awoke very suddenly, not recognizing whatsoever where she was nor when she had fallen asleep. She glanced around, very slowly gaining familiarity with her surroundings. Where was she?

All she could remember was the Canterlot library, a flash of light… and then what? Her head pounded, and she reached up to massage it, only to be met with the most strange and unfamiliar feeling of touch she'd ever been met with.

"What in the hay…?" she began to ask herself, only to glance at her hooves and see… definitely not hooves.

"AJ?" a voice pierced her thoughts, startling her into glancing up, "Is that you?"

The strangest creature she'd ever seen was staring directly at her. Completely shocked, she backed away until her path was blocked by a tree. There was no escape from the creature. She clamped her eyes shut in fear and prepared for the worst.

"Applejack! Calm down! It's me, Twilight." the creature shouted.

Applejack opened and eye, "Twi…?"

"Yes," the creature whispered, "Take a breath, everyone's here, I know it seems strange but I've been here before… I think."

Applejack took a breath to come to her senses, and once again let her head strength take control of her actions.

"Twilight, how in the hay did we get here?" she demanded.

"The spell," Twilight sighed, "I had thought it would simply contact Canterlot High, but it seems to have transported us here. All of us."

Applejack glanced behind Twilight to see a group of the strange creatures. As she analyzed them; however, she began to notice an uncanny resemblance to all of her friends. Twilight's words were confirmed, and the two slowly stood up to conference with the others.

"So how're we supposed to get back?" Rainbow questioned almost instantly, having a Wonderbolts tryout to worry about.

"Well," Twilight pondered for a minute, "I don't recognize this location, but I'm sure we can locate the portal. Canterlot High can't be far from here."

"But will we be able to utilize it?" Rarity perked up suddenly, "I recall Princess Luna stating that it could only be opened on a certain full moon."

"I'm not sure," Twilight sighed, "But we'll never know until we get there."

However, just as she said this, she examined her surroundings once more. Suddenly she wasn't so confident in her abilities to find Canterlot High.

"Twilight?" Pinkie jumped in front of her, "Why the loooong face?"

"I don't know for sure," Twilight frantically looked around, "Suddenly I'm not so sure this is the same dimension as Canterlot High. Everything seems slightly… different."

"Different how?" Applejack asked.

"Bigger," Twilight stated simply, "Much larger and much darker. The species are the same, judging by what we've transformed into. But we're somehow different. Everything seems slightly different."

"Oh my… what are we supposed to do now?" Fluttershy was suddenly shocked.

Before anyone could ponder the question any further, they were all interrupted by the sound of loud, panicked footsteps heading straight toward them.

"Hide, quickly!" Rarity decided, as each of them scurried off behind different trees.

Applejack lead the group into hiding, attempting to remain level headed in this new situation. Peaking from behind the tree altered her vision slightly, but she was able to make out a smaller figure coming toward them at full speed. She felt Twilight at her side, no doubt leaning out and witnessing the same events.

"Maybe they can help us," Twilight said quietly, almost to herself. But Applejack heard.

She looked out again to see the figure slow down and finally stop, leaning against a nearby tree. He was a creature just like them, but slightly smaller, and with a much shorter mane. He seemed to gasp from exhaustion, holding an object close to his face and fiddling with his hair.

"You can't hide, Pretty Boy!" a voice in the distance rang out.

"Pretty Boy…" Twilight said again, "Maybe we can ask him for help…"

Before anypony could protest, Twilight stepped out from behind the tree and started to approach the boy. There was an intense silence as she got closer, and everypony awaited a reaction.

"Excuse me… um… Pretty Boy?" the words managed to escape Twilight's mouth.

In what seemed like slow motion, the boy turned to face Twilight. They stared at eachother for a minute, and before Twilight could finish her thought or ask him for help, he turned again and began to run into the distance.

They all stood dumbfounded. The intense silence was just amplified by the sounds of his footsteps.

"Wait!" Twilight finally called, beginning to run after him. Just as she took off, Rainbow Dash jumped out from her hiding place and began to run with her, much more easily catching up to him than the former.

When he noticed the two chasing him, he seemed to slow slightly and turn to his left, where Pinkie Pie jumped out from behind her tree and decided to join in on the fun. The boy looked desperate, turning to his right and running full speed in Rarity's direction.

"Please! wait up!" Twilight tried to plead with him. Fluttershy, who was standing near my hiding place, leaned toward me and whispered, "I don't think chasing him is the best way to reason with him."

Strange, Applejack thought, Fluttershy was still timid, but treating the creature as an animal she'd take care of. Then again, it was a creature unlike any they had ever seen. Perhaps Fluttershy considered him an animal.

Rarity, not being one to chase, simply stepped out from her hiding place and blocked the boy's path. He seemed shocked, turning in every directly and seeing each girl closing in on him. Applejack heard the boy seem to desperately groan, and he turned directly toward her, running at her hiding spot at full speed.

"Applejack," Fluttershy reasoned, "Don't scare him. He might help us if you just ask him nicely. Let him calm down."

Applejack considered this for a minute, "Well, there's no way we'll be around for him to calm down if we let him run away."

And with that, Applejack stepped out from her hiding spot, taking advantage of the boy's desperate state to grab his shoulders. She made eye contact with him for a split second. She detected pure fear in his eyes, something she hadn't witnessed in a long time. She now began to comprehend what Fluttershy was saying.

He backed away from her slowly, now surrounded by a girl standing in every direction. He was completely trapped.

"Please," Twilight started again, "Please… we just…"

"This is priceless!" A low voice suddenly interrupted. They all looked to see a group of creatures, much bigger and more intimidating than Pretty Boy. None could say a word as they approached.

"I've never seen these girls around before," one of them mumbled to himself, then made eye contact with Pretty Boy with a smirk, " They don't even know you and they're already after you, Pretty Boy! Man, you must just be disgusting."

Applejack looked down at Pretty Boy's face, and all she could read was… defeat. Whatever fear the group had caused him was gone, and replaced with a sadness that she could only compare to somepony who had accepted their fate.

Twilight must've noticed this look as well, because she quickly shook her head and began to approach Pretty Boy again, "We don't…"

But before she could finish her statement, one of the older boys rammed through the group of girls, pushing Pretty boy to the ground. All the girls backed away, watching the creatures empty his books into a puddle and begin harassing, torturing, the smaller boy on the ground. Before Applejack could even comprehend what was happening, she was pulled behind her tree again.

All ponies observed in horror from their hiding places as Pretty boy was beaten, yet he didn't make a sound. Guilt plagued Applejack's mind. This was all their fault.

As mud was rubbed through the boy's hair and down his face, Applejack noticed a look of shock coming from Rarity. Complete horror.

"They're completely ruining his hair," she quietly squeaked, not able to take her eyes off of the trainwreck that played out in front of them.

Applejack could do nothing but watch. Part of her wanted to jump out there and do something, but her feet seemed glued to the ground. She glanced around and assumed her friends felt the same way she did.

When the other boys stepped away from Pretty Boy, his legs had been significantly beaten and his previously pale skin was covered in an ugly brown. The small boy was noticably shivering with his face buried deep into the cold, muddy puddle.

"Smell you later!" was the final shout heard as a ball of wet snow was thrown at the boy's neck, only worsening his shivering, and causing laughter from the group of boys. Yet Pretty Boy continued to remain silent as the boys exited the woods. Save for subtle shaking, he didn't move an inch.

Once the other boys' voices were distant, and those left in the trees were met with silence again, the girls began to leave their hiding places, approaching Pretty Boy slowly. They were stopped in their tracks as he began to sit up, spitting out the mud that had entered his mouth in the struggle and very cautiously rose to his feet.

"Those poor books," Twilight mumbled to herself.

"Books?" Rarity whispered desperately, "Just LOOK at his poor hair! I have to fix it. I have to tend to that mess."

"Rarity," Fluttershy interjected seriously, "Do not touch him. You'll only scare him."

Applejack glanced back over to the boy, who was solemnly putting his soaked books into his dirty backpack. Twilight began to approach him again just as he was turning to leave the woods.

"...Pretty Boy?" she approached with caution.

He stopped in his tracks, and slowly turned toward the group of girls. His features twisted into what looked like a scowl, but Applejack could see small hints of moisture in the boy's eyes.

"What! What do you want from me?" he choked out, obviously trying to sound tough.

The girls were all taken aback, leaving an extremely thick silence in the air. All the while, Fluttershy subtly held Rarity back from lunging forward into the boy. Applejack couldn't quite understand how his hair what her primary worry at the moment, but she did her best to ignore it. She simply tried to formulate the right words to say to the new face.

"Well?" he choked out again, still shaking, "I'm not resisting… Come at me! I've got time for another round!"

"Pretty Boy…" Twilight stepped into him, causing him to flinch slightly, "We don't…"

But before Twilight could finish her statement, whatever was brewing in Rarity's brain finally snapped. Fluttershy could not hold the fashionista back any longer as her instincts took over and she lunged into the boy with a simple shout of, "YOUR HAIR!"

"Rarity!" all the girls shouted at once. But it was to no avail. The boy's scowl was morphed into a look of sheer terror. He staggered back just as Rarity was about to grab him, causing his unstable and beaten legs to tangle and trip. Pretty Boy fell backward in what seemed like slow motion, and his head hit a fallen log with a loud smack.

The group gasped as the boy lost consciousness in a matter of seconds.

"Oh dear!" Fluttershy covered her mouth in shock. Realizing her mistake, Rarity kneeled down next to the boy and quickly scooped his head into her hands.

"I'm so sorry," Rarity whispered, swallowing her pride and sitting down on the nearby log, allowing the injured, muddy head to rest in her lap.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Rainbow asked, "We don't know where or what we are, we don't know how to get home, and our only means of getting help could be dead!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight scolded, "He's not dead. And everything will be okay."

"But she did get one thing right!" Pinkie chimed in, "What are we going to do now?"

"Well, I certainly think that our first priority should be helping this boy," Fluttershy quietly offered her opinion, "After all, we are responsible for all of this happening to him."

"Shy's right, ya'll," Applejack finally got her head back in place, "If we hadn'ta chased him like that, he would of never been caught by those others. This is our fault, we gotta help him."

"Fluttershy, dear," Rarity started, "Could you examine where he hit his head?"

Fluttershy thought for a minute, "I would… but imagine if he were to wake up to me prodding and hurting him. He needs to warm up to us. Although it should be treated soon, I think it'd be better to leave it until he wakes up."

"And what if he doesn't?" Rainbow asked.

"He will," Twilight stated confidently, "But until then, he's our responsibility."

"But how do we start?" Pinkie Pie asked suddenly, "Do we wake him up?"

"No, no," Fluttershy pondered, "I personally would try to take him somewhere more comfortable. Maybe clean him off…"

"We'll have to attend to his head injury as soon as we can," Twilight decided, "Along with… any other injuries that may have surfaced today…"

"We don't even know where he lives!" Rainbow Dash interjected, obviously completely panicked after the entire ordeal.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't live anywhere, the way those others were treating him…" Applejack whispered almost to herself. Then a sudden thought occurred to her, "Why were you so desperate to talk to him anyway, Twilight? I mean, we could've found someone else, or even waited for him to come back..."

"I just thought he could tell us where we are… or rather, what we are… and I really saw no other option at that point. I saw an opportunity and pursued it," Twilight stumbled over her words slightly, still shocked from the events that had occurred.

"That… poor little thing," Fluttershy worried as she stared in Pretty Boy's direction, replaying the events in her head and shuttering as the effects were laid out in front of her.

"It's okay, Fluttershy," Applejack sighed, leveling her thoughts, "He's going to be fine."

"You don't know that, Applejack!" Rainbow shouted defiantly, then realizing she overdid it added to her statement, "I mean… he hit his head pretty hard."

"P-Pretty Boy?" Rarity suddenly broke the conversation, her eyes on the boy laying in her lap. The blonde boy stared at her for a minute, then quickly rolled out of her lap and rose to his feet. Applejack could see the fear in his eyes as he backed away, not taking his eyes off of them. Until, suddenly, he lost his balance; desperately clutching his head and reaching out for something to keep him stable.

"P-please… please be careful, Pretty Boy," Fluttershy softly warned, "D-don't push yourself too fast.

Fluttershy attempted to approach him in order to hold him steady, but he backed away with a growl, "That's," he took a long, deep breath, "My name isn't 'Pretty Boy'"

"Then why were those guys…?" Rainbow Dash started to ask.

"It's an insult," the boy quickly interjected, with a sad crack in his voice, "They call me that because they think I look like a girl."

"Oh… I-I'm sorry," Fluttershy apologized.

"What's your name, then?" Twilight curiously intervened.

He paused, looking the girls up and down, obviously deciding whether or not he could trust them. Eventually, he took a breath and let his guard down.

"Olly," he sighed, "Just… call me Olly."

Applejack sighed as she examined Olly's sleeping face. Although he seemed relatively peaceful, there was no doubt in her mind that his sleep was being haunted by something. After all, he rarely got any sleep to begin with. There had to be a reason why.

She paused; he never had let any of them examine the bump on his head. She considered it for a minute, but then decided against it, as to move him would risk waking him.

She glanced around the dark house for a minute, the only real light coming from Olly's phone, illuminating his face in a dim glow.

Fluttershy was right; it was painful to think about home, and being in this world was extremely difficult and strange, but she had a job to do. She needed to be in this world, at least for now. Olly needed someone to be his family, and she was the best candidate.

Olly needed all of them. And, in some strange way, they needed him too. They would get through this together.

"Sleep tight, sugarcube," Applejack whispered, making her way over to the other couch and closing her eyes, "I'll be right here when ya wake up."

Hey There!
Very important chapter, here. I know it may seem repetitive, but I believe that it's really important, especially after all the critiques I've been getting, for the reader to understand how the ponies see Olly. What Olly portrays as annoyance and acting tough, the ponies interpret as fear.

Just an interesting look into the depths of the story!

I'm already working on the next chapter, so it should be out pretty soon!

~~nwtp-dreamer