MLP: The Portal

Chapter 22: When In Equestria

"This world is very different from the mirror dimension human world… I feel like I look weird, do you think I look weird?" Twilight asked Starlight self-consciously.

"You're asking me? I think this whole place looks weird." Starlight answered in response.

"Fair enough. I just hope the girls are alright." Twilight said with a sigh.

"They couldn't have gone too far." Starlight said.

"In two weeks?"

"Eheh…let me rephrase that; they wouldn't have gone too far, I don't think." Starlight said.

"Probably not, but knowing Rarity, they've got to be staying somewhere." Twilight thought aloud.

"Yeah, that sounds about right, but then they don't have money to pay for anything. We've been scanning around this place for a day and we haven't seen anyp…anyone that resembles our friends, so where would they be staying at?" Twilight reasoned on the matter.

"Maybe they found help?" Starlight tried.

"Maybe, but from who? They don't know anyone here." Twilight asked.

"Twilight! Starlight! Check this out!" Applejack called to them. The other two went back up towards her voice, and they met with her and Pinkie Pie at the entrance to a forest trail.

"This is right up Fluttershy's alley. Any chance she could be 'round here?" Applejack asked.

"Maybe, but I don't see a whole lot of places to stay around here." Twilight said, looking around.

"Ooh, what about those funny looking rectangle houses over there?!" Pinkie pointed past Twilight to an apartment complex not too far down from the forest trail's entrance.

"I guess we could try asking around." Twilight said with a hum. The four of them all started walking down there.

"This place is so weird…what exactly are we?" Applejack asked.

"We are humans, Applejack: creatures that only walk on two legs and, apparently, come in different shades of beige and brown." Twilight said.

"Aww, but that's not nearly as colorful as Equestria!" Pinkie Pie said.

"And yet, somehow, your hair managed to stay a little pink." Starlight said with a chuckle.

As they approached the parking lot of the apartment complex now, they watched as a car pulled in. Once it had parked, Twilight took the lead in approaching the driver as he got out. He turned around, and flinched a bit in surprise.

"Hello there. Sorry to bother you. My name is Twilight." She introduced herself. The gentleman leaned against his car and nodded.

"Hey there. What can I do ya for, honey?" He asked smoothly.

"We're looking for our friends. Have you perhaps heard of Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, or Rarity?" She asked. The man shook his head.

"Nah, doesn't ring a bell. I'm Jamal though, pleasure to meet ya."

"Haha, that's a funny name!" Pinkie Pie laughed. Twilight quickly shushed her.

"Pinkie, that's not nice. Sorry, we're new around here."

"I can tell. What were your friends' names again?" Jamal asked.

"Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity." Starlight repeated for him.

"Hmm… Would one of them happen to have different colors in her hair?"

"That sounds like Rainbow Dash, yep." Applejack nodded.

"You've seen her?" Twilight asked.

"Not really, but I can tell you who is seeing her."

"And I know she'll be the death of me, at least we'll both be numb. And she'll always get the best of me, the worst is yet to come. All the misery was necessary when we're deep in love. This I know… This I know…"

As Alex sang along to his song, Rainbow Dash was playing one of his racing games. Rarity and Fluttershy were sitting at the counter waiting for Alex to serve them lunch, and listening to Alex's unconscious singing.

"You have a good voice." Fluttershy said.

"What?" Alex stopped, turning around. He turned his music down a bit.

"I said you sing well." Fluttershy restated her compliment with a smile. Alex chuckled awkwardly.

"Heheh, thanks. I'm alright, I guess."

"You're better than alright, darling. Trust me, Fluttershy and myself were once part of a singing group. We know a good voice when we hear it." Rarity said, which made Alex even more awkward.

"Ehhh alright alright." Alex said, hoping they would ease off.

"Do you do a lot of singing?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

"Eh, just for fun when I'm driving or whatever. I've sung at a few parties when I was asked or when karaoke's involved, but that's really the most I've sung in public." Alex answered. The girls nodded.

"I see. Well, perhaps if we ever get you to Equestria you could sing with our group." Fluttershy said.

"Your group?"

"Yes: the Pony Tones, darling. We're an a cappella group. It consists of Fluttershy and myself, and three other members that we'll have to introduce you to." Rarity explained. Alex nodded.

"Okay. Well, I like a cappella. I've always wanted to be a part of something like that."

"Perhaps we could give you a demonstration of one of our songs?" Rarity suggested.

"Sure. I'm down for that." He said as he turned around and paused his music before going back to finishing up making them lunch.

As he finished up, Rarity and Fluttershy began to quietly discuss amongst themselves how they were going to sing their song between just the two of them. It took a little deliberation, but they quickly came up with a plan, and as lunch was served, Alex and Rainbow Dash turned their attention to the two of them with excitement and anticipation.

"We're ready." Rarity said with a nod.

"Alright." Alex nodded, leaning back against the opposite counter and listening intently. The girls looked at each other and began to sing:

"Trot outside and you see the sunshine. Something's in the air today. Sky is clear and you're feelin' so fine. Everything's gonna be a-okay.

"If you listen carefully, on every corner there's a rhythm playing…

"Then it happens suddenly, the music takes you over and you'll find you've got the music, find you've got the music in you. Find you've got the music, find you've got the music in you.

"Everyone's sayin' you should learn to express your voice, but if talk doesn't seem like it's the answer luckily you have a choice.

"When you find you've got the music, got the music in you. Find you've got the music, got the music in you, got the music, got the music in you.

"There's music in the treetops, and there's music in the vale. There's music by the river, and there's music in the grass. And the music makes your heart soar in reply.

"When you find you've got the music, you've got to look inside and find, find you've got the music, find you've got the music in you!"

When they had finished, Alex began to clap a bit, looking incredibly impressed. Rainbow Dash chuckled and clapped as well.

"That sounds good between the two of you." Rainbow Dash commented.

"Thank you, dear. Obviously some parts had to be filled in since it's just us two, but we made it work." Rarity said with a smile.

"What do you think?" Fluttershy asked Alex.

"That was…amazing! Ya'll were harmonizing and passing lines back and forth. Man! That was really impressive." He said with a grin. The girls giggled.

"We're glad you like it. You should hear how it sounds when all 5 of us perform." Rarity said with a giggle.

"Oh, I'm sure it sounds awesome. Do you have beat boxing in your a cappella group?" Alex asked curiously. The girls drew a blank expression.

"Beat boxing…? What is that?" Fluttershy asked. Alex's eyebrows folded a bit.

"You've never heard of that?"

"Perhaps we have, and just never heard the technical term for it." Rarity said.

"Probably. It's like…keeping a beat just by making noises with your mouth."

"…how?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Uh, well…let me just show you. Rarity, Fluttershy, would you mind singing the song again, just a piece of it?" Alex requested. They shrugged and nodded, taking a breath before starting again.

This time as they sang, Alex, after nodding along for a bit, began to beatbox to it, adding a new liveliness to the song. The girls singing glanced at each other, and began to nod along to Alex's beat, using it to keep in time with their song.

"It goes like that." Alex said, catching his breath after they'd gotten through about the first verse and chorus.

"Now that is awesome." Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

"I think it's clear now that we should introduce you to the group." Rarity said with a laugh.

"It's been such a long time though, Rarity, are you sure we can get in touch with all of them?" Fluttershy asked. Rarity nodded confidently.

"Of course we can, darling. They're in close reach, I'll just send a few quick letters out." Rarity said.

"I admit, I wanna hear more of what you guys have got after hearing that." Alex said with a chuckle.

There was a knock at the door in that moment. The four of them all turned towards the door, then the girls looked towards Alex, whose eyebrows had furrowed deeply.

"Is that Evan?" Fluttershy asked hopefully.

"No… I wasn't expecting anyone today." Alex said as he came up to the door and opened it up.

"Hello, are you Alex?" The girl standing on the other side asked. Alex tilted his head a bit, glancing at the other three girls standing behind her. Then she took another look at the girl in front who had asked the question.

"Didn't I see you walking around the other day?" Alex asked slowly.

"Umm…actually yes! We bumped into each other. Sorry."

"It's fine. Um, what can I help you with?" Alex asked.

"Hi, uh, I'm Twilight, and these are-"

"Twilight?" Alex asked.

"Twilight?!" The girls exclaimed from inside Alex's apartment.