MLP: The Portal

Chapter 27: Tour of the World

"You know, it's a good thing I trust ya'll, because otherwise you would not catch me dead out here, the police eventually would." Evan said as he, Alex, Starlight, Twilight, and the others all made their way into the woods where this had all began.

"Don't be so dramatic. It isn't that far." Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle.

"I'm a little nervous." Alex admitted with a chuckle.

"Why?" Starlight asked curiously.

"First time on another planet, you know? Just pre-travel jitters." Alex answered with an odd chuckle. The 9 of them stopped.

"Alright, this is the spot. Ready, Starlight?" Twilight asked. Starlight nodded.

"Ooh! This is so exciting! I can't wait!" Pinkie exclaimed excitedly. The girls all chuckled, and the 9 of them stood in a circle.

"Alright, guys. Here we go." Starlight said with a nod.

As Starlight and Twilight charged up the spell, Fluttershy took Evan's hand gently in hers. Rainbow Dash, seeing this, glanced to Alex standing next to her, and did the same. Alex looked down at her, his expression revealing no change, but he held her hand.

The portal opened beneath their feet, and in they went…

They appeared out the other side in the map room of Twilight's castle, all in pony forms. Immediately, all eyes went to Alex and Evan as they began to inspect their earth pony bodies.

Evan looked much like himself already, with a light brown coat and dark brown curly thick hair that formed an afro. His tail was short and bushy, and his cutie mark showed a wavy piano keyboard.

Alex on the other hand had a darker blue coat with a longer black mane that divided like spikes, drooping around the back of his neck and slightly over his eyes. His tail was similarly long and wavy, with light brown eyes and two connected quarter notes for his cutie mark.

"Woah dude, this is weird already." Evan grunted a bit as he stretched his new limbs out.

"I have muscles in places I didn't have muscles before." Alex said, shuddering a bit. The girls simply chuckled, watching this all play out.

"How are you supposed to move around like this?" Evan asked.

"It's easy! Just one hoof in front of the other behind the other at the same time as the first one!" Pinkie Pie answered.

"Thanks, Pinkie…" Alex said with some sarcasm, moving a hood forward. "Hold on, shut up. I'mma figure this out."

"We didn't say anything." Fluttershy said with a small laugh.

As Alex slowly and uncertainly slid his hooves forward one at a time, he began to feel out a comfortable walking pattern, and began to trot forward. As he did so, Evan observed, and started to do the same. Before long, they had it figured out.

"Ay, look at me! I'm a walking pony! Check it out man, I'mma goooo left!" Alex said, changing directions and continuing onwards.

"Haha, good to see you adjusting so quickly." Twilight said with a smile.

"I guess once you get over the weirdness, it isn't actually all that different, just with four legs…?" Evan said. The girls nodded.

"Yeah, that's about right." Applejack agreed.

"It sure feels that way, doesn't it?" Starlight nodded.

"So, on with the tour of the world?" Alex asked with an excited smile.

"Sure." Twilight said with a smile.

"Ooh, can I show Evan my house?" Fluttershy asked quickly.

"Sure." Twilight nodded.

"Good, because I really need to check in on Angel Bunny and the others." Fluttershy said with a nod.

"And I just came to see ya'll here. I gotta get back to the farm." Applejack said.

"I really should check in with the Wonderbolts too. I'll catch up with you later, okay?" Rainbow Dash said to Alex.

"Yeah."

"You can meet us at my boutique, darling." Rarity said to Rainbow Dash before she left.

"Ooh, I'mma go make some cupcakes for you when you're done going around!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, zooming off.

"I'll go with Fluttershy and Evan." Starlight volunteered.

"Guess that leaves just us three." Rarity said to Twilight and Alex.

"Let's get going then." Alex said with a nod.

"Wow, it's like a village town." Alex said as his eyes scanned all of Ponyville; its buildings and the ponies passing by.

"This is Ponyville, where we usually hang out at." Twilight said as an introduction to the area.

"It seems nice." Alex said with an approving nice.

"It is very nice, darling, and the ponies that live here are all wonderful. It's truly a nice place to be." Rarity said with a smile.

"They all look pretty cheerful," Alex observed with a comment. "So where to first?" He asked.

"I'd like to take you to my boutique, darling, and fix you up with a nice new mane cut. It's growing a little long." She said with a giggle, shuffling his mane a bit. He swept it with his hoof.

"Heheh, thanks for letting me know. I'll trust your judgment with that." Alex said with a laugh.

"So, this is your place?" Evan asked, staring up at Fluttershy's cottage. Fluttershy nodded.

"Mhmm. What do you think?"

"I see what you were sayin'. It's really out here in the woods, but it's nice. It's like a tree house." He said.

"Thank you. I can introduce you to Angel Bunny." Fluttershy said, opening the door for him and Starlight to enter.

They entered to find Discord hastily trying to keep all of the animals calm, and not succeeding at that. However, once all of the animals saw Fluttershy, they immediately began to rush towards her joyously, embracing her before Discord swept her up in his own hug.

"Thank goodness you're back, Fluttershy! I was taking care of all of the animals while you were gone. I had everything completely under control." Discord said proudly.

"Is that why everything is broken?" Starlight asked. Indeed, a lot of furniture and plates were broken on the floor, swept to the side but not disposed of.

"Oh dear. I'm sorry, Evan, it seems the animals grew restless because I was gone too long." Fluttershy apologized. Evan didn't respond though, for his eyes were stuck on Discord.

"We'll help you clean up." Starlight offered.

"Yes. We'll all help, won't we?" Fluttershy asked, directing her attention to the animals. They all nodded.

As they all began to set to cleaning, Evan inched closer to Fluttershy, staying close to her side while still wearily eyeing Discord. As they made their way to another corner, finally Evan asked about him in a low voice.

"Hey, Fluttershy?"

"Hmm? Yes?"

"Wh-what is that?" He asked.

"What is what, Evan?"

"That dragon-y thing."

"Oh, Discord? He's a draconneques." Fluttershy answered.

"He looks freaky dude."

"Oh, don't say that," Fluttershy said, her brow furrowing a bit. "He's very nice. He's one of my best friends."

"Okay…well, I'mma just stay close to you."

"Okay… I don't mind." Fluttershy said softly, with a reassuring smile.

Rainbow Dash quickly landed at Rarity's boutique after getting an earful from Spitfire about what she missed and how hard she's gonna have to work to bounce back from her time gone. She didn't mind it too much; she just wanted to get back.

She entered the boutique, but didn't see Alex and the others immediately, like she expected to. At first she figured they had left, and was about to go out, but then she caught ear of Rarity talking towards the back.

"You know, darling, you have a lovely mane for a stallion! It's quite soft and smooth, it flows very well. You know, with proper care and attention, I can make it even more fabulous than I already am!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Heheh…okay?"

Rainbow Dash made her way to the back, where she found Rarity washing Alex's hair and brushing it while Twilight looked on. She fell in step next to Twilight, watching with a strange expression on her face.

"What are you doing?" She asked Rarity.

"Hmm? Oh, Rainbow Dash, you're back! Alex's mane here was a little unmanaged, so I offered to fix it up for him. I'm almost done, as a matter of fact."

"Are you really? We've already gone through about half a dozen wash-throughs. Surely this can't be the last one." Alex said sarcastically.

"Oh, hush. That was simply to get all of the stray hair out. Now, I can style it. I already know exactly what I'm going to do with it." Rarity said.

"Alright." Alex said as he brought his head up.

"He just got here, and you're already trying to style him." Rainbow Dash said as Alex lifted his head and Rarity began to dry it some with a towel.

"Well, it's the least I can do, after all. Besides, he wishes to be presentable, as he should." Rarity replied, beginning to style his mane with a brush as well as some product.

"He looked fine to me before." Rainbow Dash said, feeling awkward immediately after saying it.

"Well, what's the harm in improvement then?" Rarity said, glancing at her with a subtle wink.

"What exactly are you planning on doing with this?" Alex asked, curiously watching her in the mirror trying to figure out what Rarity was going for. It appeared to him as if she were simply brushing his mane upwards with a slight tilt.

"You'll see, dear. You'll love it when you see it." Rarity assured him.

"If anypony knows how to fix up a mane, it's Rarity." Twilight said with a chuckle.

Indeed, Alex began to see it taking shape as she began to part the mane into spiked sections, creating a cartoonish hair style. Alex began to smile in approval, nodding when she had finally finished.

"You're right, I see it, and I love it." Alex said.

"Wonderful!"

"Thanks, Rarity."

"You're very welcome, dear."

"What do you think?" Alex asked, turning towards Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash began to blush slightly, but it wasn't enough to be noticeable.

"It looks good." She said, seeing that this whole crush thing was going to be a lot harder to deal with than she thought…