Dash and I made our way to the town hall. Although I did get a few glances there was no panic, no screams, and, much to my pleasure, a few polite nods.

When we got to the message board I discovered Dash was right about slim pickings, there were only three choices; a single room above the joke shop, a one bedroom apartment with shared bathroom, and a cottage. I quickly made my mind up and took the oldest flyer down. "The cottage. That's the winner. Lets go check it out." We looked at the address.

Dash was excited, "Hey, that's close to where I have my house, and the rent is good. I winder if it's... nah... it's got to be one of the cottages at the bottom of the hill. Hah, lucky for you, I class up any neighbourhood I'm in." She flashed me her trademark confident grin, and we headed out.

Dash pointed out her cloud house, it was not far from our destination. It was... ok, how do I describe Dash's house? The best I can do is a Salvador Dali painting of a greco roman temple. In 3D. With rainbows. Don't get me wrong, it was stunningly beautiful, especially in the late afternoon sun, but it made my eyes hurt to look at it.

We made our way to the cottage to check it out. It was not, in fact, one of the lower cottages. It was at the top of the hill and it was... not a great place. The outside walls needed a coat of paint or three, there was a broken door window, the roof needed to be re-shingled before winter, on the bright side the foundation looked solid from the outside, and aside from some junk that had come in from the broken window, it looked clean from the outside. Dash looked in the through the loft window and said it looked okay.

Dash settled down beside me after helping me inspect, "What a flank hole. That place needs to be burned to the ground before it's good enough to be condemned."

I grinned, "This will be perfect! I see so much potential here."

She looked at me with concern and put her hoof on my arm, "Are you sure, Alex? It's gonna take a lot of work and bits to get it up to reasonable shape. I mean, I know you're swimming in bits, but still..."

I put my hand on her hoof and looked at her, "Miss Rainbow Dash, I truly appreciate your concern, but this will give me something to do," I put my hands on my hips and looked at the wreck of a building, "and time to think. I'm going to be here a very long time and I want to spend some time deciding what I'm going to do. No better way than building a home." I smiled happily at my soon to be new house.

Dash and I entered the Carousel Boutique, me happy with my choice, Dash sure I made a mistake. I was greeted by Rarity and Applejack sitting at the table with cups of tea, just looking at me with knowing smiles, and with, I don't know how else to describe it, but, bedroom eyes.

Rarity broke the silence, "The gallant knight returns."

I was confused. Dash's expression went from confused to, again that weird appraising look, directed at me.

Applejack added, "That was mighty neighbourly, what you did."

Dash turned to her friends, "And get this, he knew ponies are way stronger and tougher than him, and he did it anyway. He stood right there between Scoots and Coins. It was awesome." She giggled, "Old Coins didn't know what was going on! That sour horse-apple took off like a rat!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Please, don't make a big deal out of it. All I did was let my daddy instincts take over before my brains could stop me." I gestured to Dash, "She's the real hero here, she was there like a flash! By the time I got there it was all over. As far as I'm concerned, she was the Lone Ranger, I was Tonto." I was greeted with blank stares. "Batman and Robin..." Still nothing. "Cake and Sprinkles..." That worked. I smiled and tapped Dash on the shoulder, "She's the real hero."

Dash blushed, "Hey, what's cake without sprinkles?"

I then did something I have not done in a very long time. I blushed. I actually blushed. I literally couldn't remember the last time I blushed. It was a release, like years of repressed blushes suddenly all jumping to my cheeks at the same time. It felt good. It felt... cleansing. And it was over as fast as it had happened.

Before they could start stroking our egos again I stood straight, clapped my hands together, smiled and declared, "So, change of subject. Rarity and Applejack, how am I fixed for spending money?"

Applejack tilted her hat back a little, "Well, sugarcube, you might have a few bits to throw around. Now, this here is just an estimate, and it'll take months to turn it all to bits, but we reckon at current market prices, you're looking at north of seventy six million bits, less our share. We'll get a more exact number later on. Just to get ya started, me an Rarity scraped together about two thousand bits. That should keep you for the first two or three weeks. Oh, and expect to spend about half on food this time of year."

I blinked a few times, "Well, if you can only get that much," I stopped their protests, "I'm kidding! I'm joking! That's... that's... wow..." I sat heavily on the ground, and said quietly, "Thank you guys. I don't know what to say. But I'm making you guys two promises." I started counting off on my fingers, "I will not sit around eating grapes and getting fat, I will use this to provide something this community needs, and I will use this to help those who can't help themselves." I thought for a moment, "Wait, that was three, no worries, just pretend I said three."

Applejack gave me another appraising look, "That sounds like a mighty fine set of goals."

Rarity nodded at Applejacks comment, then put her glasses on her nose, and referred to some papers. She smiled, "I have some contacts in Canterlot for the metals who are agreeable to our needs, as for the jewellery and the jewels, well, there was not much we could do. The shape is all wrong, and they would have to be modified, as for the style, I'm afraid the current fashion is more," she seemed to be looking for a nice way to say something, "complex. Finally, I'm afraid to tell you that the stones are simply too small. At best these would be used to make jewel dusts."

I thought for a moment. "Would Spike like them? He eats gems, right?" Thinking back to earlier today, "We... didn't hit it off. I'm not sure what I did. Anyway, a friendly peace offering?"

Rarity's smiled warmly, "I'm sure it was a simple misunderstanding. My little Spiky-wyky is such a dear. I know he will appreciate them."

Dash and I examined the notice, and proceeded to the owner of the cottage. It was the suit tailer, a nice old unicorn stallion, blue coat, with a fancy coat hanger for a cutie mark, who greeted us. Interestingly, he didn't even bat an eye when I walked in. In a friendly voice, "Are you looking for a new suit young fellow? I'm, afraid I only do ponies at the moment, but my son will be back from Canterlot in a few weeks. He's taking a course on interspecies tailoring. He'll fix you right up."

"Well thank you sir. I'll be sure to come back. But I'm here for the cottage. Am I in the right place?"

"You bet son. Have you seen it yet?" I nodded, "And you still want it?" I nodded again. "Okay, it's in... monstrously bad shape." He chuckled at his own joke. "So, it's 250 bits per month, plus last month, plus a 100 bit damage deposit."

I cocked an eyebrow, "What happened to the last damage deposit?"

"That's all a 100 bits would fix."

Oy. "And, no issues if I spruce the place up a bit? You know, paint, windows, roof, little things."

"Knock yourself out youngster."

I started counting out coins.

"All right, when do you and your marefriend want to move in?"

Dash blushed and sputtered. I chuckled, "No, we're just friends, and it's just for me." I smiled a little sadly.

The old unicorn winked, "It's the year 1005 son, I don't judge."

We finished changing bits for keys and signing papers. I thanked him for everything, and we left. As Dash and I made our way to the cottage, I walked slowly as Dash hovered beside me. I kept staring at the key in my hand, smiling.

"Alex," she sounded annoyed, "what's the big deal? So you rented a house. Once Applejack and Rarity get converting you'll be able to buy or build any house you want. I don't get it, what's the big deal?"

I sighed, still looking lovingly at the key, "I haven't had a home for longer than I was alive, back 'home', Dash." I turned to look at her, "This key and this place is the first bit of hope, and I mean real hope, I've had in a very long time." I took a deep breath, "and you Dash, you're the first real friend I've had in a very long time. Until now, my 'friends' have just been allies of convenience, always their convenience... " I stopped, embarrassed. "Sorry, I shouldn't be dumping on you. You just meet me, and I'm sounding like some desperate loser. Forget I said anything." I angrily shoved the key in my pocket, upset at myself for slipping, and started walking faster. It was just so damn easy around her, I felt so comfortable.

I felt a hoof on my shoulder and I stopped. "Alex, you're right, we are new friends, but we are friends. I know you've had some weird times, and I know this is the first place you can... decompress. I mean, if you're still doing this next year, well then, you're being whiny," She smiled warmly, "but, for now, you're my friend, and friends listen.", her smile changed to her confident smirk, "also, it doesn't hurt that you're fairly cool."

Once again today, I blinked, processing what I had heard, then smiled wearily, "Thanks Dash. I guess I have too much cynicism and not enough faith." I smirked and pointed a finger at her, "But for the record, you're the coolest and you know it." We both chuckled at the ego stroking and kept going.

It was getting late in the day when we got to the cottage. A few hours had not improved it. Inside, it was a little musty, and there was some junk inside around the broken window. The main room was big and took up most of the lower floor. There was a small kitchen and bathroom, and the stairs lead to a nice open loft.

Dash helped me open the windows to clear the air. It was getting dark and I was getting hungry. We then went out to grab a bite, on me of course.

Looking at the menu, I asked Dash, "Would you like the steamed vegetable and flower stir fry? That's what I'm having."

She looked at the menu and choked, "Are you nuts? That's 50 bits!"

I looked at her, shrugged, and smiled, "So? I'm rolling in it and...", I looked down shyly, "I wanted to thank you. Thank you for taking a whole day out for me. I appreciate everything you've done Dash, so the least I can do is buy you a nice dinner, and I promise," I put my left hand on my heart, right hand up in the air, "no bread." We both snickered at that and had a lovely meal.

In the early evening coolness, we walked back to what I now thought of as 'my place'. Amazingly, it had still not magically improved. I commented that I needed a musical montage to speed things up. Dash looked at me weirdly, then smirked, "You're weird Alex." Seemingly realizing what she said, "But, in a good way." Relieved that she had caught herself in time, we said our goodbyes.

I called 'home' and gave Ann an update, reassuring her this was the real deal. Everyone her was so nice, and even the one 'villain' I met today was, at worst, a rude twit. Dan would not be home for about 3 weeks my time, so he'll have lots to catchup on. My daughter asked where all the ponies were, and I had to explain they had all gone to bed, but they will be back in a little while. She accepted that, and trundled off to do all the things little girls do. I wished Ann good night and logged out.

I thought about that wonderful gift Reed Richards had given me. While he couldn't get me home, at least he could allow me a fairly standard internet connection back home with what was essentially a self repairing laptop with its own power supply. When I was 'surfing' it connected for fractions of a second. Nice to send emails, read the news, write my 'fanfic' (names changed of course), browse the web, etc. While I was connected with Skype, the two universes temporarily synced, but it was limited to about an hour at a time. Even if I disconnected and reconnected right away the universes would spring back to their normal time ratios while disconnected. You simply couldn't cheat the system. And here, it meant that each day in Equestria equaled about 10 minutes back 'home'. The time difference meant the exchange of information was mostly one way. Not much happens in about 10 minutes. It also meant that Ann and the kids were sleeping for about two months at a time.

I laid out my bedroll and reflected on the events of the day; made good friends, made an enemy, made a home. It's been a good day.