Chapter 2: Revelations and Answers
I know I said it would be a while before another update, but this chapter was already partially written so I decided to post it up. Warning, it is LONG. God I can't believe this is one chapter, but whatever.
And, as usual, I only own my OC characters.
Carl's House- Night
"Hey, come on Carl, wake up. I'm sorry if I scared you."
"That ain't gonna do it, what in the hay did ya do to him sugarcube?"
"I just showed him what I really looked like and he passed out."
"Oh for the love of Celestia, Twilight you don't just show yourself like that. Geez I thought a brainiac like you would know that."
"You know this isn't helping anypony Rainbow Dash."
"What do you think we…um…we should do, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Ugh wha….am I surrounded by girls or something?" Carl thought groggily as he began to come to.
His vision was still quite blurry when he initially opened his eyes. He began to rub them so he could make out the six colorful figures that stood in front of him. As his vision came back to its full power, his mouth dropped open in pure shock at the six cartoon ponies sitting in front of him, looking exactly as they did in the show. They were Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. As for their size, they were about two and a half feet in length on all fours, but could reach one's chest or chin is standing on two. They were either looking at him with concern, or in Pinkie Pie's case, with an excited smile.
"Oh! He's awake! Hi! My name's Pinkie Pie and I'm so glad to meet you! I love to meet new ponies, or animals, or…whatever you are. Sorry, I forgot what the Princess said about you, but I'm SUPER excited to be here!" She was cut off when Rarity put her hoof up to silence her.
"Enough darling, can't you see we've traumatized the poor boy enough without you pestering him."
Carl was too stunned to even faint anymore. Here he was, on the floor of his bedroom staring into the faces of the six cartoon ponies that he watched every night in the secrecy of his own room, doors locked and all.
Twilight noticed the look of shock on his face and walked up to him. "Carl, are you all right?"
"Um yeah…" Carl said, rubbing his head, "I'm just wondering what bastard put LSD in my beer."
"LSD, what's that?" Twilight asked.
"Ohhh, Ohhh! I think I know! Isn't it an acronym that stands Laughing Sugary Donut? Oh I'd love some LSD right now!"
Carl mentally face-palmed at this, "Wow, one minute of being awake and I've already corrupted their minds. Great job Carl." Carl groaned and shook his head. Twilight put her hoof on his shoulder.
"You don't believe we're really here, do you?"
Carl shook his head. "No, I don't."
"Well, we're right here in front of ya. Do ya not believe yer own eyes or sumthin'?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah I mean, come on." Rainbow Dash said in an aggravated tone. She then looked at Carl. "What do we need to do to get you to believe that we're real?"
"It's not that simple, you're asking me to forget what years of experience and maturity have taught me…."
"Ah can help ya with that." Applejack walked up, turned around, and bucked Carl in the gut. Carl collapsed in pain.
"Applejack!" Twilight shouted angrily. "Why did you do that?"
"What? Ah did it to prove to him that we're real. After all fake things don't hurt. Besides, ah didn't buck him too hard."
"I think I have internal bleeding." Carl mumbled from his position on the floor, clutching his abdomen.
"Pft, wow Twilight, how did you get stuck with such a drama queen? I hope the guy I'm partnered with is cooler" Rainbow Dash said.
Carl looked up at that, "Partnered with? What do you mean partnered with?"
The six mares looked at each other before looking back at Carl, who was now even more confused than he was when he first woke up, and that was saying something. Twilight sighed, "Carl, we need to talk to you about why we're here."
"We aren't here just because you're a fan of our fantastic show or because Twilight accidentally cast a spell that sent us here." Rarity chimed in.
"Well, there go two of the main explanations that fan-fictions use." Carl mumbled before he looked back at the girls. "But then why are you here."
"Ummm. Princess Celestia sent us….I hope that us being here isn't too much of a problem for you." Fluttershy said, looking down and nervously pawing her hoof on the carpet, her big eyes looking up nervously at Carl.
"Oh God the typical "cute Fluttershy" moment, must…resist…giving in….. to…d'awwwwww…fuck it's hard." Carl thought.
"Anyway, first let's start from the beginning. We know that you've seen all of our adventures." Twilight said. "So you don't have to worry about us thinking that you're stalking us."
"That's good. But, how do you know?"
"Celestia told us about y'all here on Earth before we left." Applejack said.
"Hey, I have a super-duper-quick question. Are we, like, celebrities here?" Pinkie Pie asked in her typical, excited manner.
"Yeah, yeah you are, definitely." Carl said. Pinkie Pie let out a squeal of joy and hopped around the room. He then turned to Twilight. He raised his eyebrows and motioned with his hand for her to keep going.
"Oh sorry," Twilight said, blushing. "Well then you know all about our battle with Discord, correct?"
Carl nodded.
"Well, when we trapped him in stone…."
Carl held his hand out. "Let me guess, he got out?" Carl asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, technically yes, but not in the way you'd expect. You see, his body is still in Equestria. It's just, his soul isn't." Rarity finished for Twilight.
"His soul isn't?"
"He abandoned his body to find another world to inhabit, a world where he could grow stronger, a world of chaos." Twilight said.
"What do you mean?"
"Ugh! Does she have to spell it out for you?" Rainbow Dash asked, again annoyed, "Discord found this little universe of yours and came here. He is now in a human form until he can gain his powers back and take over both this world and Equestria. Geez, now I feel like an egghead for explaining it. Thanks a lot." She crossed her arms angrily and looked away, pouting.
"So, Discord is here?"
"He is trying to build up his strength so he can turn back into a Draconequus and take over both universes?"
"Pretty much." Fluttershy said quietly.
Carl turned to Twilight and pointed to her, "And, you turned yourself into a human and came to be because….?"
"Oh, actually I was never a human; I just cast a spell that made all humans see me as one. I never physically changed. I was a pony the entire time, I just messed with your mind a bit." She said proudly.
"So projecting false identities by messing with the brain of another individual?" Carl asked. Twilight nodded, still smiling in pride. Carl chuckled. "Not bad Twilight, that's actually a pretty cool spell." Twilight brushed it off, but still blushed at the compliment.
"Please, call me Twi. We're going to be working together anyway." She gave him a warm smile that could probably melt a glacier with its cuteness. Carl quickly snapped out of it. And by "it" I mean his state of "d'awwwwww", which climbed to near diabetic proportions since he woke up.
"Why do you keep saying that? What does it mean that we'll be working together?" Carl asked.
"There are six human males that represent your world's Elements of Harmony. And your element is the same as mine, magic. Therefore, we are paired together."
"So what you're saying is that I am an Element of Harmony for Earth, and there are five other as well," he asked and waited for Twilight to nod before he continued, "And we need to stop Discord from gaining his strength back here and overpowering both Earth and Equestria?"
"Yep, about sums it up!" Pinkie Pie said happily.
Carl nodded, "Okay, I'm still mulling over the possibility that someone drugged me and you don't exist. Either that or someone performed Inception on me so I think you six are real, God-damn you Christopher Nolan."
"Don't you mean Coltopher Nolan?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
"Who?"
"Duh! Coltopher Nolan; he's the best director in all of Equestria!" Rainbow Dash shouted excitedly. "His movies are smart, awesome, and kick so much flank!" She pumped her fists into the air (what? Would you expect Rainbow Dash not to like a pony version of Christopher Nolan? Well I believe she would and that's all that matters, even if his movies may be a bit "brainy" for her tastes).
"Wow, just….okay I'm going to lie down until this drug wears off." Carl said, going over to his bed and falling onto the mattress. He let out a groan. Rarity ran up to him.
"Wait, darling! What if you got somepony else to see us and if they do, then you know we're here." Rarity asked.
Carl looked up at her, "First isn't "somepony" in this world, it's "somebody", and secondly…that's actually not a bad idea Rarity." He nodded, pulling his phone out, "Hang on, I'm going to call my friend."
James' House- Night
Ryan had finally arrived to James' house after leaving the party. Ryan supported James from his car to his front door by acting like a "crutch" for him. James' body was as limp as a fish that had just been hooked. His shirt was stained with his vomit as well as alcohol.
"So….how….how was the party?" James mumbled to Ryan.
"It was awesome man, just awesome." Ryan said somewhat unenthusiastically, still rubbing his swollen eye with his free hand. "You were, truly something I'll tell you what, singing KISS songs and shit. You truly rocked the night away."
"Haha….good to…"hic"…to know man." James opened the door to his house and entered. "And the king….hic….has arrived to his palace!"
Ryan chuckled, "Good night man."
"Peace my brotha' from a conservative motha'!" James said with a laugh before he entered the house and began to air-guitar and sing "Detroit Rock City". Ryan shut the door behind James and laughed some more. He was on his way back to his truck when he heard his phone go off.
He looked at who was calling and picked up, "Carl, what's good? I thought you'd be asleep by now."
"I know man, some stuff came up. Listen, could you come over for a minute, I need your help with something."
"Uh yeah, sure. I just dropped James off so I'll be over in about fifteen."
"Okay, sounds good."
Ryan hung up, a perplexed look on his face. "Why would he be calling?" He thought to himself for a second. He then shrugged and got into his truck and started off to Carl's house.
Carl's House
Carl pocketed his phone and rubbed his eyes, "Okay, my friend will be here in a little bit. Now if he sees you, I'll know you're real because he doesn't drink or do anything like that. He's like the male version of Mother Theresa with that stuff."
"Um…what does drinking have to do with anything?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight leaned into her ear and whispered and Fluttershy nodded. "Oh, that's right. I remember the Princess told us about that. We don't have anything like that on Equestria."
Carl looked surprised. "Seriously? Wow, with all of the partying that goes on there, I thought that you'd definitely have something like alcohol."
"Look, Carl, no offence to your world but I didn't have much fun at the party we were just at. I mean the music was too loud, people acted like…well…like they weren't themselves. And based on what Celestia told me, it was due to the stuff people were drinking, right? Alcohol, was it?"
Carl chuckled, "Yeah, your parties seem much more innocent. Ours are a bit more on the chaotic side. Here you'd probably need to be hammered to actually enjoy yourself, which is why my friend Ryan hates going to parties."
"Oh what does hammered mean! Hang on!" Pinkie then pulls a hammer out of nowhere (literally nowhere) and raises it above Twilight's head. "Hang on Twilight; I'll help you enjoy parties here!"
"No! Pinkie, that's not what I meant! I meant drunk, not hit with a hammer! I'm sorry for the confusion."
"Oh, okey dokey lokie." Pinkie smiled and tossed the hammer behind her. It landed with a "thud" on Carl's carpet.
Carl sat on his bed and began to talk more with the six girls, discussing the internet and other aspects of human life that Celestia didn't really go over with them about. He even showed them his iPod and had them listen to music on it. It was interesting, really, to see what their tastes were. In the short amount of time they had before Ryan arrived, Carl had made Twilight into a Hans Zimmer fan and Rainbow Dash into a Van Halen and Guns N' Roses fan.
Eventually, the doorbell rang downstairs and Carl stood up to go answer it.
"All right guys, you six have fun playing with my iPod and I'll be right back." He jogged off.
Because his sisters and mother were very heavy sleepers, the doorbell didn't get their attention at all as they slept soundly in their beds, which made Carl thank God for this lucky trait that his family was "blessed" with. Except for when he overslept his alarm and missed the bus; that always sucked.
When Carl opened the door, he saw Ryan standing outside, a casual, yet inquisitive, look on his face.
"Hey man, what did you want?"
"I need you to come upstairs with me right now and tell me what you see in my room."
"Um….okay? Should I be concerned?" Ryan said somewhat uneasily. Carl rolled his eyes.
"It's nothing bad, I swear. Actually, if it is real, you'll think it's awesome."
"Awesome you say, hm?" Ryan asked. Carl nodded and Ryan gave a small shrug. "Why the hell not, lead the way!"
The two friends climbed the stairs to Carl's room, where the sounds of six girls giggling could be heard. Carl quickly got in–between Ryan and the door to stop him from entering. He looked at Ryan square in the eye.
"Look dude, you've got to promise me, above all else, that you won't freak out or scream at what you see."
Ryan raised his right hand and said. "I swear to the good Lord Jesus Christ that I will remain calm." Carl breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good, because it's going to blow your mind." He opened the door. Ryan stepped into Carl's room and his eyes suddenly went wide as he saw all six ponies in front of him, sitting on Carl's bed with his iPod. Carl shut the door and turned to see Ryan and the girls' reactions. They all stared at him and Ryan gave Carl his answer to the question "are the mane six really in my room" with one, long syllable.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh…" Ryan droned.
"Ooohhh another human we can throw a party for!" Pinkie pie jumped into the air, "Do you like parties? Oh wait I forgot to ask you what your name was. What's your name?"
Ryan snapped himself out of his trance and looked down at the excited Pinkie Pie.
"My n-name, is…R-Ryan." He muttered, looking at each, individual pony in front of him. "Wow this is unbelievable. I can't believe you're all real."
"Well believe it, 'cause I don't want Carl to keep calling people up for proof. This room is crowded enough as it is." Rainbow Dash said with her typically annoyed tone.
When Ryan laid his eyes on Rainbow Dash, his favorite pony on the show and possibly favorite cartoon character of all time, he turned a bright red and looked away from her. She noticed this, "Hey, dude, are you all right?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I am. Thanks. It's just; it's an honor to meet all of you."
Now when Ryan said "all of you" he did mean all of them, definitely, but he also used it as a way to avoid saying "you" directed only at Rainbow Dash. Carl noticed his blush and how much he was clearly holding back in regards to his emotions. But he thought it was just him holding back his fan-boy-gasm. He tapped Ryan on the shoulder.
"Um Ryan, can I talk to you outside?"
Ryan turned to Carl and nodded. Both boys left and shut the door. As soon as the door was shut, the six ponies began to laugh.
"Oh my gosh, did you see how he acted around us? It was like we were his heroes." Twilight giggled.
"Yeah, especially Rainbow Dash over here. I think he has a bit of a crush on you." Rarity said suggestively.
"No." Rainbow Dash said defiantly, "He doesn't have a crush on me, he just knows how awesome I am. And who'd blame him?"
"Um Twilight, darling, if you don't mind, I was wondering if you know how to figure out who the other five elements are." Rarity asked. Twilight put a hoof to her
Twilight shrugged, "I don't know, the only thing that the Princess told me was that they'd know each other," her ears perked up at that, "Wait, hang on I'll be right back girls."
She left the room, using her magic to open the door. Twilight ran towards the front door of the house. Outside, Ryan was having his fan-boy attack.
"Okay Ryan, listen, you just need to calm down."
"How can I calm down dude? Do you know how awesome this is? We're living every bronie's dream! The mane six are in your house!"
"Yeah, I don't need to be told that."
Suddenly Ryan stopped with his excitement as a serious thought crossed his mind. "Wait, why are they here anyway? Did Twilight mess up one of her spells or something?" Ryan asked.
Carl was about to answer when they heard someone, or somepony, clear their throat behind them. They turned to see Twilight standing there, looking at them.
"Oh hey Twi, what's up?" Carl asked as he tried to get used to calling her "Twi", as if he were friends with her for longer than two hours.
"Not much. Ryan, could you come here for a second?"
Ryan nodded and walked over. Twilight got onto her back-legs and put her fore-hooves onto Ryan's chest. She put her horn, which was glowing purple, against Ryan's heart and closed her eyes to concentrate on something. Ryan was somewhat nervous at having Twilight do this to him, but he didn't complain. After all, it was too cool not to get bit excited at what was happening. Twilight's eyes went wide and she stepped off of Ryan. She gave him a big smile, which confused Ryan.
"Hey Rainbow Dash!" she shouted up the stairs.
"Yah?"
"Get down here!"
Again, thank God Carl's sisters and mother were heavy sleepers.
With bullet-like speed, Rainbow Dash zoomed down the stairs and landed right next to Twilight. She went into a military salute. Ryan chuckled at this, "Typical Rainbow Dash." He thought happily.
"Calm down R.D." Twilight said before she turned to Ryan.
Rainbow Dash relaxed from the salute, "Why did you call me down here Twi?"
"Well I just checked Ryan out and it looks like we found our second element." She smirked, "He's the Element of Loyalty."
With that, Twilight looked back to Ryan and gestured her hoof towards him. Ryan just stared at them both. "Wait, what do you mean I'm the Element of Loyalty?"
"You're Earth's Element of Loyalty, just like Carl is the Element of Magic for Earth. Therefore, you're partnered up with Rainbow Dash." Twilight said.
Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan, and he looked back at her. She gave him a heart-warming smile.
"So I'm partnered…with…Rainbow Dash?" Ryan asked in shock and Twilight nodded.
Ryan just stood, unmoving, and held back all of the joy that he felt at that moment to a tolerable degree. He then spoke, in as calm a manner as he could; "Not gonna lie, that's freaking awesome."
Rainbow Dash chuckled, "You're such a fan-boy. I think I'm going to like having you as a partner." She said with her enthusiastic smile. She then extended her hoof and Ryan knelt down to "brohoof" it. Not sure if that's what it would be called with one of the mane six, but I digress.
"Ditto." Ryan said happily. Carl decided to save Ryan from himself by changing the subject.
"Hey Twi, maybe we should go back into my room before neighbors see you guys." Carl suggested. Twilight gave a small nod and all four went back inside the house.
Back in Carl's room, the eight of them all talked and connected for a before they noticed the time.
"Oh geez, it's late. Listen I need to head back home now." Ryan gestured to the door and started to get up. Carl got up too but Ryan stopped, just thinking about something else. "Hey, you know I could take two of them off of your hands if you want. After all, hiding six ponies would probably be difficult."
"Good point," Carl pondered, putting his hand to his chin, "okay, if you want you can take Rainbow Dash and one more."
"Applejack." Ryan said almost immediately. Carl looked at him with curiosity at Ryan's quick answer. Ryan shrugged, "What? She and Rainbow Dash are best friends. It only makes sense."
"Okay, you take them and I'll keep the other four. And don't have any more fan-boy spasms, deal?"
"Deal." Ryan and Carl shook hands.
Meanwhile at a Diner
Waitresses began to make their last rounds to the few customers that remained in the small diner. Two customers sat in the corner of the diner, laughing with each other. One was Mayoral Candidate Jacob Hanson; the other was none other than Brett Howard.
"So then they told me, that's not a hat! That's his hair!" Mr. Hanson said with a laugh. Brett also laughed at that.
"That's brilliant, just brilliant."
They each took a bit out of their food. Mr. Hanson swallowed some of his sandwich.
"So how's the wife Brett?" he asked.
Brett shrugged, "She's good, nothing much to say."
"Are you sure you like working for Mayor Drocsid?"
"Positive," he said, looking up, "he's a really nice person once you get to know him. A bit eccentric, but he has many admirable ideas."
"Well, we'll see come debate time whose ideas are more "admirable" to the public." Mr. Hanson chuckled, "Every campaign ad he pushes against me will tell me everything I need to know about him as a person. Whether he's cut-throat or has some shred of humility."
Brett laughed, "You always were good at deciphering people." Brett took a sip of his coffee and reached for his coat. "And I know you already told me that you would not pull out of the race for anything."
"That is correct, Brett, and don't you even try to convince me otherwise." He said flatly, "You may be on the other side of the political fence as me, but I still like you as if you were part of my own campaign team, after all, we're friends."
Brett wiped his mouth with his napkin. He let it fall to the table and gave a dark smile, "I'm sorry Jacob, but that's just not good enough for me."
Mr. Hanson gave Brett a quizzical look when he suddenly felt his throat closing up. His eyes went wide as he looked at Brett, who was intently staring at him, a black aura forming in his eyes and around his head.
Slowly, Mr. Hanson was lifted into the air, about three feet above the table, with his legs dangling and gurgling noises coming from his throat. The waiters and people who were finishing their meals watched in horror at what was happening in front of them.
Brett slowly began to change as the black aura engulfed him. Mr. Hanson watched in horror as the light disappeared; revealing a dark, black Unicorn with a mane and eyes that were steel grey.
"Brett?" Mr. Hanson gurgled out.
"Not quite," Obscure Darkness muttered, "In this form, I prefer Obscure Darkness."
With that, he rotated his hoof and Mr. Hanson's head turned quickly and violently to the right. A loud "snap" was heard as his neck broke. Obscure Darkness threw his body across the diner into the window, causing his body to smash through the glass and land in a bush just outside. Obscure smiled and looked around at the waiters and patrons that were staring at him.
"Oh now we can't have witnesses can we?" he chuckled evilly as the black aura once again surrounded him. "Allow me to show you my gratitude for a lovely meal."
All of the waiters and customers were too frightened to move as he blasted out a huge aura, destroying the entire diner and killing all people inside. Slowly, his body lowered and he looked around at the rubble that was once the diner.
Fire and debris surrounded him. Bodies were strewn across the ground around Obscurity, who could only smile at the scene.
"Chaos runs this world, and chaos shall destroy it. Elements of Harmony can't grow in corruption." With that, he closed his eyes and teleported away, leaving the mess for the fire department and EMTs.
Street- Night
Ryan was almost back to his house with Rainbow Dash and Applejack in the back seats of his car. He had mixed feelings at the moment. For one thing, he was with his two favorite characters from the show, one of whom he had a crush on.
The other feeling was anxiety. You see, since Ryan was an only child that meant his parents had an extremely close relationship with him. While this was a good thing in many respects, it also led to a lack of privacy. He also knew that he'd have to find a way to sneak them into the house without his parents noticing.
"Ryan, are ya okay? Y'all seem stressed out over somethin'." Applejack asked, leaning forward with her hooves on both the driver's seat and the passenger seat.
"I'm just trying to figure out how to get you guys into my house without my parents noticing." Ryan said with a sigh.
"Can we get into your room from the outside?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yeah, but it's on the second floor."
"That's perfect! I could fly me and Applejack up to your window and you could let us in."
Ryan nods, "That's actually a great idea. God why didn't I think of that? Thanks Rainbow Dash."
"Please, call me Dash." She said smiling. "After all, we are both elements of loyalty."
"And y'all can call me AJ if ya'd like. Ah know it's easier than say'n "Applejack" all the time." Said Applejack with a smile as Ryan nodded.
"Okay, cool." Ryan said with a smile as he turned his attention back to the road.
Now, Ryan was what many people would call an "escapist", where he would always imagine scenarios like this and wish it could happen to him. Any time he would read MLP human in Equestria stories, or ponies on Earth stories, he would become depressed, knowing that it wasn't possible.
Well, until now that is.
Ryan slowly pulled up into his driveway he pointed to the side of the house.
"My room is over there, I'll gesture you in when I get up there and you can fly up."
Both Rainbow Dash and AJ nodded. Ryan got out of the car and opened the back door to let the two ponies out. He gestured for them to go to the side of the house as he made his way to his front door. He knocked on the door and his mother opened it up. She smiled at him.
"Hi Ryan, how was your night?"
"Chaotic and noisy, you know how parties are."
She laughed "Yes I do, come on in."
Ryan made his way into his house as his mother shut the door. He kicked his shoes off and walked over to his father's office, where he was placed in front of the computer, paying bills. When he saw Ryan's face, he looked up over his round glasses and smiled.
"Hey Ryan."
Ryan smiled, "Hey Dad, what are you doing?"
"Just some bills, nothing interesting. How was the party?"
Ryan shrugged, "Some alcohol, some grinding, typical teenage fun."
"You didn't drink, did you?" his father asked sternly. Ryan shook his head.
"No of course not, Dad, you know I won't touch beer at least until I'm of age."
"You know you don't always have to be such an angel," he said, "I mean, I'm glad you don't drink as I don't think you should be doing so. But I just hope you aren't acting "holier than thou" about it."
"No of course not." Ryan said. "I respect others' choices as long as they accept mine."
Ryan's Dad smiled and nodded, "Good for you."
Ryan smiled and then let out a fake yawn, "I'm sorry Dad, I'm…yaaawwwnnn…..really tired. I'm gonna hit the hay, I'll see you tomorrow."
"All right, good-night Ryan. I love you."
"Love you too." He then proceeded to go to the stairs when he called out to his mom, "Good nigt mom! Love you!"
"Love you too Ryan!"
Ryan jogged up to his room and shut the door, making sure to lock it. He quickly walked over to the window and opened it. He looked down to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash talking to each other. Ryan whistled to get their attention. They both looked up.
"What took ya so long?" Rainbow Dash whispered harshly.
"Sorry about that, I just had to say hi to my parents." He gestured to them. "Come on up."
A few seconds later, Rainbow Dash flew through the window while carrying Applejack, and put her onto the floor of Ryan's room. Ryan quickly shut the window and locked it. The two ponies looked around at Ryan's room. They both seemed impressed.
"Wow, ya'll got a nice room here Ryan."
"Ha-ha, thanks AJ."
"Yeah, why is it so much bigger than Carl's?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Carl started to get nervous, he hated talking about how his parents were rich because he didn't want to sound self-conceded.
"Well, you see my parents both have really good jobs so they tend to, oh God how can I say this without sounding self-appreciating? Um….." Ryan couldn't think of what he wanted to say. Applejack extended her hoof.
"Say no more, ah understand. You're parents make a good amount o' money."
"Yeah, that's it." Ryan said.
"I think that's great, good for your parents. Why are you so nervous about telling us?" Applejack asked with some confusion.
"Yeah, what's the big deal?" Rainbow Dash asked, "I mean, if I was rich I wouldn't be so nervous about telling others. In fact, I'd probably be bragging about it non-stop, which wouldn't be right, but that's how I'd act."
"Ya got that right," Applejack said before turning to Ryan, "and if there's anyone who can appreciate hard work, it's me."
"Me too." Rainbow Dash added cheerfully.
Ryan was at a loss for words. His entire life he'd always been afraid of telling people that his parents were rich for fear that people would become jealous or think that he was being rude or inconsiderate. In a matter of a minute, both Rainbow Dash and Applejack managed to make him feel more confident in tat aspect.
"Wow, t-thank you."
"You still didn't answer our question about why you're so timid." Rainbow Dash stated, taking a step closer to Ryan.
"Well, you see, Earth is a lot different than what I assume Ponyville is." Ryan sat on his bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Okay, let me ask, how do ponies act towards people with more money than them? Are they jealous?"
Both ponies looked at each other and shrugged, "Eh, you'll get the occasional envy, but typically everypony is mighty respectful of each other's income." Applejack looked at Ryan quizzically, "I assume that's not the case here?"
Ryan chuckled, "Not even close. Actually it's probably the opposite of what you'd expect. The stereotype is that the rich always trample on the poor, and it has been true in many cases."
He sighed as his two friends trotted closer to him and looked at him with eager eyes, pleading for an explanation.
"But here in Wilmont, at least recently, it's been the opposite. If you're rich, it doesn't matter what you do for your money, or how hard you work. You are the enemy. For the past few years this has been the case, especially with the economy and the high unemployment. The local government wanted to shift the blame so they began to push it towards the people who are….like my family."
"So people hate you guys just because you're rich and they associate you with other rich people who are actually jerks?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Ryan shrugged his head, "Yeah, but it's only the extreme nut-cases. But the amount of nut-cases is increasing. It's getting out of hand, especially with the anarchist gangs that have been forming here. Not to mention all of those assholes at school who keep taking my things and beating me up because of it."
"That's terrible." Rainbow Dash said. "I couldn't imagine anypony having to go through that."
"Thanks Dash."
Suddenly Applejack and Rainbow Dash went up and hugged Ryan.
"Well, we don't care how much you make. You are our friend." Applejack said.
"Thanks you guys, I really appreciate it."
They broke the hug and looked at each other.
Ryan chuckled, "Wait, why are we talking about something so depressing, I'm here with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, two of the coolest ponies in Equestria." The two looked up at him and smiled at the compliment. Ryan shook his head. "Do you guys want to do anything or just go to sleep?"
The both agreed that sleep was probably for the best, especially considering how late it was. Ryan decided to let them have his bed for the night and he'd take the floor. The next day he'd find a way to make sure they could have the guest room.
Maybe tell his parents? After all they were almost like his best friends; they'd probably be cool with it.
Nah, not yet at least.
Ryan pulled out his sleeping bag and got in. He reached up to the lamp beside his bed. The two girls looked at him with smiles on their tired faces.
"Lord I'm probably going to get diabetes from all of this cuteness."
"Good night girls."
"Good night, Ryan."
"Goodnight sugarcube."
With that, Ryan turned the light off and entered his dream, suddenly less exciting than they used to be.
Carl's House- Night
Everyone was asleep in Carl's room. Because his mother never went into his room without asking, and because he had a lock to his room, he could afford to have Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity all laying on his bed with him.
He initially wanted to sleep on the floor, but they refused to let him do so.
"Darling this is your house and you should sleep in your bed." Rarity said earlier.
"No, I won't have you guys sleep on the floor." Carl hissed.
"Well then we can all sleep on the bed!" Pinkie Pie said.
That was about fifteen minutes ago, now everypony was asleep on Carl's bed, only Carl was awake. The four colorful ponies that lay in different areas of his bed initially made him feel uneasy, but he eventually got used to it. Now it was comforting.
But he was concerned about where Discord could possibly be, or rather who he could be. Was he someone in power? Someone he knew? A friend of his? He kept mulling these thoughts over when he felt Twilight tap his shoulder. He turned to see her looking at him.
"Hey Carl." She whispered, "Look, I'm sorry about earlier tonight. I didn't mean to freak you out that much."
Carl smiled, "It's okay Twi."
"So you aren't mad?"
"How could I ever be mad at any of you girls?" Carl asked with a smile. Twilight smiled back at him.
"Why am I your favorite anyway? I mean, it probably has something to do with us being connected by our elements but, I'm just curious what you did you like about me?"
"Well let's see, where do I begin?" Carl began, Twilight looking at him with great interest; "You're smart, you're kind, and you always seem to be the moral compass for your friends. I really like that, not just because I wish more people were like that, but because I wish that I was more like that."
Twilight closed her eyes with a wide grin, satisfied that she meant so much to someone.
"I bet you're more like that than you give yourself credit for." She whispered, "You're a very kind person Carl."
Carl smiled back and reached his hand out. Slowly, he stroked her mane. She responded by happily nuzzling into his hand. Her violet eyes were open and looking directly into his own violet eyes. He puts his hand down and blushed profusely.
Twilight giggles and closes her eyes again, "Good night Carl."
"Good night Twilight." Carl said, but he didn't go to sleep. He was too much in though at why he just reacted like that. I mean, sure, he always thought Twilight was cute, but he never felt like it was anything romantic.
Now he wasn't so sure.
James' House- Morning
James let out a groan and puts his hand to his forehead in pain.
"Fuck me, what happened last night." He mumbled. He felt like shit. His head felt like it was going to explode, he felt like he had pressure behind both eyes, and he felt a mix of nausea and dehydration. He stood up and walked over to the bathroom just across the hall and shut the door.
He jumped into the shower and began to try to wash away the hangover. Streams of water ran down from the top of his head to his feet, and then into the tub. It danced around his feet before going down the sink.
James clutched the wall that surrounded the tub, crouched down, and vomited bile. He then gagged and slid down the wall onto his hands and knees. He began to cry silently, not happy with how he was acting at that moment, strands of vomit dripping from his mouth and landing in the water around him.
The strange thing is, he got drunk a lot and it never bothered him. But for some reason, this particular time, he felt bad about it; and he couldn't figure out why. Most of the time he'd just feel like garbage when he got home and felt the need to drink, which he made sure never to tell his parents.
Slowly, he made his way back up to his feet and let the shower water rinse the vomit and tears off of his face.
When he finally finished, he dried off, got dressed, and made his way down the stairs.
At the bottom of the stairs he saw his two parents and his older brother, Patrick. Patrick was the gifted child, the one that his parents clearly favored. The one he always competed with and his parents always used to patronize James with. They would say, "Why did you get a B? Patrick got an A- on the same test when he was your age?"
He knew that his parents were disappointed in him. He also had a feeling that any slip-up that he made while he still was under their roof, such as caught with beer or watching "My Little Pony", would result in him being thrown out in the street in shame.
He sat at the table as his father began to talk with Patrick about a new pair of soccer cleats that he was planning to buy him for his first year of college soccer at Stanford.
Yes, he was both smart and an athlete, the stereotype of the Stanford poster child.
During the time at the table, no one said anything to James as he ate in silence. That was another reason he connected with Caroline. She was the only person who seemed to appreciate his presence in this world. Not only did his visits with her improve her attitude, but it also improved his as well. He always felt happier after talking to her, knowing that someone out there actually saw worth in him.
After he finished eating, he went back upstairs and slammed the door to his room, questioning if his parents even noticed that he was down there eating. James sat at his desk and got onto his computer, which had Call of Duty wallpaper. After a while, he sighed and closed his laptop.
Dream- Equestria
The sunlight reflected off of the clouds as Ryan flew above them. He was a Pegasus with a dark blue coat and light blue and yellow mane. He looked to his left and saw Rainbow Dash flying alongside him, giving him a little smile.
He returned it and flew closer to her. They both kiss and Rainbow Dash quickly grabs Ryan into a hug as they continue to fly. They are going up vertically now, looking deep into each other's eyes.
"I love you Ryan." She said, nuzzling her head into his chest as they go higher.
Ryan smiled back and wrapped his hooves around her before lowering his muzzle to her head and kissing it.
"I love you too Dashie."
Her red eyes looked up into his own, they were full of love, much like the love Ryan felt at that moment for her.
The sun got brighter and brighter until it was a blinding white.
Ryan's House- Morning
Ryan shot awake, breathing heavily and sweating in his sleeping bag. He looked around and saw that it was about nine O'clock in the morning. He heard knocking at his door accompanied by his mother's voice.
"Ryan, sweetie, are you all right?" she asked.
Ryan got up and walked over to the door, "Yeah mom, I'm fine."
"Why is your door locked?"
"I just like some privacy is all." He said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Okay, well I'm heading off to work. There's some cereal out for you when you're ready to come downstairs."
"Okay Mom, thanks. I love you."
"Love you too sweetie."
He listened as his mother's footsteps went down the stairs and the front door shut. He sighed and pressed his head against the door of his room.
Suddenly he remembered the dream. His eyes shot open and he shook his head. He turned around to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash still asleep in his bed. Quickly, he slipped out of his bedroom and went into the hall bathroom. He washed his face and looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes no longer having the look of exhaustion; rather they showed a look of fear and confusion.
"Okay Ryan, just get a hold of yourself. It was only a dream." He muttered.
But it wasn't just a dream, and he knew it.
Ordinarily he would never tell anyone about his crush on Rainbow Dash, but he never felt the need to. After all, she was just a character of fiction only the day before. But now that she was in his house, in his life, he was freaking out.
"Just let it go, it's over. Get on with your day Ryan. Just get on with your day." He whispered before he left the bathroom, still a bit wet, and returning to his bedroom. But as he left the bathroom, he suddenly was startled by Applejack, who had snuck out of his room and was standing in the hallway with a worried expression on her face.
"Ryan, are ya okay?" she asked,
"Yeah, AJ I'm….I'm good."
"Why are ya all wet?" she asked, walking up to him.
"I just washed my face."
Applejack gave Ryan a skeptical look and shook her head, "Ya should know better than to lie to me. What's really going on? Is something bothering you?"
"I told you I'm fine AJ." Ryan said sternly before trying to get by the orange mare in front of him. She got into his way.
"Nu-uh, ya ain't going back into this room until ya tell me what's really on ya mind."
Ryan let out a sigh, trying to think of a quick, and believable, lie he could tell her.
"And don't try to lie your way out of this, because ah'll know."
"Out of all of the characters who caught me after that bizarre dream, it had to be Applejack, the Element of Honesty. I am truly the definition of Murphy's Law."
He sighed and decided to tell her about the dream, but as quietly as possible so they wouldn't wake up Rainbow Dash, though that was near impossible as she slept in a near-comatose state. When he finished, Applejack looked at him with confusion on her face.
"So, ya like Rainbow Dash?" Ryan nodded. Applejack then smiled. "Shucks, is that all your worried about?"
Ryan raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"Well for one thing it was a dream." She said, "And two, there nothing wrong with having a crush."
"Even when my crush is on a pony and I'm a human?" Ryan asked and Applejack nodded. Ryan sighed and rubbed his head. "Look, you can't tell her anything about this, got it?"
Applejack nods, "Ah promise you that your secret is safe with me."
Ryan nodded and sighed, "Thank you AJ."
Applejack then let Ryan by so they could wake up Rainbow Dash from her deep sleep. He got to her side of the bed and shook her.
"Ugh….ten more minutes." She groaned as she rotated so she was face-down in the pillow. Her mane was suffering from a slight case of bed-head and in Ryan's opinion, as many fan fictions have described, it was adorable.
"Come on Dash, you need to get up." Ryan said as he gently shook her shoulder. He looked up at him and chuckled.
"Sorry," she sat up in the bed and let out a small yawn, "I usually sleep in pretty late."
"I can see that." Ryan said smiling before gesturing her to follow him.
Applejack watched this from the open door and chuckled a bit to herself. Rainbow Dash got up and slowly flew out of the room.
"Are your parents home?" she asked.
"No, otherwise I wouldn't have let you out of my room."
Applejack followed her downstairs, leaving Ryan alone in his room. He sighed and walked over to his desk, where he sat and let his head fall. He groaned in stress over the situation. He did trust that AJ wouldn't say anything, but he was still concerned about why he had these feelings.
Why couldn't they just go away?
He then heard his phone buzzing. He looked at the ID and saw that it was Carl. He sighed and picked up.
"Hey Carl, what's up?"
Carl's House- Morning
Carl was standing in his kitchen with his cellphone, talking to Ryan. His mother had gone off to work, and his sisters were both in school, as their summer vacation didn't start for another few days.
The four ponies were sitting at the table behind him, eating some toast and dry cereal that he made for them, which they enjoyed.
"Hey I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me later, we're supposed to meet James at the mall."
"Oh shit, you're right. Well, can we text him and tell him we can't make it? I mean, we can't leave the girls alone. Can we?"
"True, hang on…" Carl covered the mouthpiece of the phone and turned towards the girls, who were having their own conversation at the table. "Hey Twi! Could you cast a spell that would make all six of you look human to other people?"
Twilight swallows some of the toast that is in her mouth and turns to Carl, nodding. "Oh yeah, definitely." She uses her horn to pick up a napkin and wipe some stray jam off of her face, "just let me know when you want me to do it."
Carl nodded and turned back to the phone. "Yeah it'll work."
"Great! Listen, I'm going to make AJ and Dash some breakfast and I'll come by to pick you guys up."
"Okay great, I'll see you then."
Ryan hung up and Carl followed suit. He turned to the table, where all four of the mares were looking at him.
"So what is the plan Carl?" Rarity asked as she delicately placed her piece of toast down onto the plate.
"We're going to the mall later to meet up with a friend of ours."
"Oh a mall! I love shopping!" Pinkie Pie shouted enthusiastically.
"Wait, you have malls in Equestria?"
They all nodded.
"Öh yes they're so wonderful." Fluttershy said.
Carl nodded, "Well, all right then, I guess it's off to the mall. Hang on I'll be right back."
Carl ran upstairs and threw on a pair of jeans and a Nike t-shirt. He grabbed his wallet and keys and ran back downstairs to see the four ponies cleaning his dishes. His mouth hung open in shock.
Fluttershy and Pinkie were bringing the plates over to the sink, while Rarity and Twilight used their magic to clean the plates off.
"Um….okay." he thought.
"What are you girls doing?"
"Öh, we're cleaning your dishes…I hope you don't mind." Fluttershy muttered as she put a plate down next to Twilight.
"A-are you kidding?" Carl asked with a smile, "Thank you four so much. But, why would you do that for me?"
"Well it's the least we could do to say thanks for letting us stay here for the night." Twilight said, turning and giving Carl a small smile.
"You…you really didn't have to though. I mean, you girls sleeping over was much more of a delight for me than it was for you. After all, ."
"But we wanted to!" Pinkie said, grabbing a wet scot towel with her mouth and walking over to the table to wipe it down. He put the towel onto the table and looked up at Carl. "I mean, you are our friend."
Carl smiled and let out a chuckle, "Well I really appreciate it, thank you."
After the four finished cleaning the kitchen, they talked a little more before hearing a car horn beep out in front of the house. "Well, that's Ryan." Carl muttered.
They were about to go out when Carl stopped them.
"Hang on. Twilight, what about the spell?"
Her eyes looked confused for a minute until she finally remembered, "Öh yeah! That's right!"
With that her horn glowed for a few seconds, and then stopped. Carl looked at Twilight in confusion.
"Üm Twilight, you still look like a pony." he looked around as the others, "all of you still look like ponies."
"I know," Twilight said with a smile, "I altered the spell so that only you and Ryan can still see us as we are, but everyone else will see us as humans."
Ryan chuckled, "Okay."
"Twilight can we go, I'm getting impatient." Rarity whined. No sorry, complained.
Carl nodded, "Äll right, let's go."
They all went out of the house and started towards Ryan's SUV. Ryan told Applejack and Rainbow Dash to stay in the car and he got out to meet Carl. He looked concerned.
"Carl, what do you think you're doing?"
Carl gave him a confused look, "What do you mean?"
"I can't fit all eight of us in my car," Ryan said, gesturing to the four ponies behind him, "it's not a Suburban. And besides, don't you think they need some sort of disguise?"
"They already have one." Carl said, "Twilight cast a spell so that other people will see them as human girls and we can still see them as ponies. Twilight did it last night at the party, but we saw her a a human, remember?"
"So Twilight wasn't actually a human at the party?"
Carl nodded and Ryan shrugged. "Okay, fair enough. But that still doesn't settle the issue about my car."
Carl thought for a second and looked around, his eyes settled his garage. Inside was his father's old 1994 Chevy Caprice that his mother never drove, but couldn't get rid of because it was something that reminded her of Carl's father. Carl knew there was still come gas in it and nodded.
"Twilight! Rarity! You two come with me! Everypony else get into Ryan's truck."
Carl ran back into the house to grab the keys out of his father's old desk. When he got inside, he went to his father's office, which was now the house library, and went over to the desk. He opened the door and took out the car's keys. His eyes fell onto the picture of his father and he looked at it for a few seconds. Some
He didn't hear the hoof-steps approaching.
"Carl are you okay?"
He looked up to see Twilight looking at him with concern.
"Um yeah I'm good." Carl said, wiping his tears away. "I was just remembering my father."
He held up the car keys. "The car we're taking was his. We haven't driven it since he's died."
Twilight walked over and put her hoof onto Carl's thigh. "Are you okay? I mean, we don't all have to go with you. I can watch over things here."
Carl shook his head, "No it wouldn't be fair to leave you home Twi." He looked down at the keys, "And its fine, I mean, it's been years since he's died." Carl smiled and started out. Twilight watched him go, noticing as he wiped some tears out of his eyes as he walked off.
"I'm not letting him get off the hook that easily." She thought as she followed him.
She would ask about his father, but not now. For now, it was time to go meet James at the mall.
Okay, now there probably won't be another Chapter for a while, as I haven't started the third one yet, but, like I said, when I find more time it'll get done.
Thank you for reading and please review if you'd like. :)