Smokey Arrival
Chapter 4:
The morning after
Written by: Slayerbrony

Twilight woke up with a yawn and a stretch, feeling the wondrous rejuvenation that came with every good night’s sleep. Levitating the covers off of her form, she hopped out of bed, giving one more stretch of her hind legs before looking over at her little dragon assistant. Watching the drake snore softly for a minute or two, she trotted out of her room, quietly closing the door, before heading down to check on her guests.

As she went down the staircase, she noticed that the human was not on the couch, but laying on the floor with his dragon friend curled up against his side. Smiling softly at the sight, she walked over to make sure the two were still asleep before a very noticeable stench made her scrunch up her nose in disgust. Looking around for a moment, trying to find the source of the odor, her vision finally settled on the human. Twilight shook her head as she remembered how he had been out in the wilderness. She walked over and nudged his foot, making him groan in annoyance. When he didn’t get up, she poked his foot harder making him push her away with his fabric covered foot.

Huffing in annoyance herself, she let her horn glow before pinching Chad’s arm with her magic. The human yelped and shot up, clutching his left arm in pain. He shook his head and glared at Twilight for a moment before yawning.

“Why...” Chad began before he yawned again, smacking his lips to try and get rid of the morning breath taste that had settled on his tongue. “Why did you do that?”

“To get you up. No offense, but you don’t exactly smell... Pleasant.” Twilight said plainly before she put a hoof over her nose to keep the smell from getting to her again. “If you wouldn’t mind, could you please go bathe? There is a bathroom upstairs.”

“Oh I can’t possibly smell that ba-” He began as he lifted his arm and took a small experimental sniff before gagging slapping a hand over his mouth and nose, letting his arm drop back to the floor to let the stench be somewhat dampened. “Okay... Nevermind. Where is your bathroom, again?”

“Upstairs, first door on the left.” Twilight said, her hoof still clamped over her nose.

Chad nodded and stood up before heading up the steps and walking along the hallway. Finding the bathroom, he opened the door and looked around the room. It was somewhat primitive, but considering the style of buildings and the fact that they had candlelight meant that technology was probably not all that advanced in this age. Not to mention how everything was shrunken down by a good six inches.

All in all, it was a normal shower aside from its rustic and smaller look. Not one to complain, he stripped and turned on the shower, quietly yelping as the ice cold water woke him up and stung slightly before the warmth of the hot water began to seep into his skin, making him sigh in relief.

Twilight heard the shower go off and sighed before looking back at the dragon that lay in the middle of the floor. She frowned slightly, letting out another sigh as she considered the dragon's presence in her library. The dragon seemed more tame than feral, remembering their last encounter with a wild dragon. Plus with her being smaller meant she would be less of a hassle should she actually think to get hostile.

Filing away this information for later, and resolving to watch the dragon in the meantime, she walked into the kitchen and set up the stove along with a small pot for tea. Twilight gave a small sigh as she filled up the teapot and added a bag of mint tea. As she finished setting up the pot, a certain purple and green drake called out to her.

“Twilight! Why is there another dragon in the library?” he said in a confused tone. She walked into the room and found Spike staring at the blue dragon in the middle of the floor.

“Don’t worry Spike, she is just here with a... Friend.” Twilight said giggling slightly at the little drake. Spike didn’t stop staring at the dragon, as if he was expecting her to jump up from the blanket and pounce on them. “Don’t worry Spike, but we do have guests, so would you mind getting breakfast started?”

“Yeah sure, Twilight!” Spike said cheerfully as he jogged into the kitchen. There was a good minute or two before the sound of pots and pans crashing to the ground was heard, making Twilight wince. “I’m okay!”

Twilight just rolled her eyes as she giggled and looked to Sapphire, whom was lazily raising her head and looking around. She stood up and stretched out, letting her claws extend out a bit further, and let out a big yawn, showing her impressive set of pencil thick, needle like teeth. Twilight shuddered slightly and shifted a bit nervously as she sat up and straightened her posture. Even shrunken down she still towered over Twilight by a good head or two. Sapphire snapped her vision towards Twilight, making the purple alicorn flinch slightly, before sighing and stretching her wings out and letting out a relieved sigh as a small pop came from both of her wings’ joints.

After that, the two of them mostly just stared at one another, waiting for the other to say something or move. The tension was thicker than molasses at this point, but was quickly broken when a voice called out.

“Um, Twilight? Could I get a towel up here?” Chad asked from the bathroom as he was poking his head out of the open door. Twilight let out a relieved breath before turning and walking to the stairs.

“One moment!” she said as she hurriedly walked up the steps and grabbed a towel from the closet and walked over to the bathroom before knocking. Chad opened up the door, just a crack so he could poke his head out, careful of where he was standing so he did not show any of his assets.

“Thank you, could you just, uh, pass it here please?” he asked holding out a hand. Twilight just shrugged and levitated the towel into his grip. He thanked her again before closing the door. Twilight simply waited next to the door, mostly because she didn’t want another awkward moment with the dragon. Five minutes later, he emerged wearing his old clothing except for his shirt, which he had in his left hand while the towel was in his right. “Oh hey, Twilight. Where would you like me to put this?”

Twilight glanced at him and her eyes slightly widened at him. Now that he was properly bathed, she could see his physique. He had a well toned body, not so much that he was bulging with muscle like a certain pegasus she had seen around town, but in such a way that you could tell he did something to keep shape. She must have been staring because she was brought out of her stupor by Chad snapping his fingers in front of her eyes.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked as she shook her head and looked up at him to see his ice blue eyes again. She quickly nodded and blushed as she realized what she was previously doing. “Alrighty then. Do you by chance have a trash can? I need to get rid of this rag...”

“Yes, it’s in the kitchen. Come on, my assistant is making us breakfast,” Twilight said with a smile. Giving one in return, Chad followed Twilight down the stairs and into the main room where Sapphire was examining the walls around her.

“Morning Sapphire!” Chad said in a happy tone. ‘Who'da thunk a shower would be such a godsend? Oh well, I don’t smell like shit AND I am in a good mood now. Win-win!’ “Sleep well?”

“Quite well, thank you. It’s much easier to fall asleep when you are laying on something soft.” She said nodding before turning to Twilight and gave her a small smile. “And thank you for allowing us to stay in your home.”

“O-oh! It’s, um... No problem at all!” Twilight said pleasantly surprised about being thanked by this dragon. Giving a small smile she gestured to the kitchen with a hoof. “Come on, let’s get some breakfast.”

The human and dragon nodded, both with smiles gracing their lips. As they walked into the kitchen, she found Spike humming a small tune to himself as he flipped a set of pancakes in the pan. After gesturing for her guests to sit down, she walked over to the baby drake before tapping him on the shoulder to gain his attention. He turned around and grinned at Twilight.

“Hey Twilight, I almost got breakfa-” He began before he looked behind Twilight to see a strange hairless being sitting at the table with the dragon from the living room. His expression told Twilight he was about to have a small panic attack.

“Spike it’s okay! They are friendly, and they’re my guests.” Twilight said soothingly, putting a hoof on his shoulder since he was standing on a stool. He fidgeted a little as he looked at the two before Twilight rolled her eyes and chuckled. “This is Chad and his friend Sapphire. They are just staying for today so that Rarity may get him a new set of clothing.” She looked to the human and dragon before saying. “Chad and Sapphire, this is Spike. He is my number one assistant.”

“Sup!” Chad said, raising a hand and giving a small wave as Sapphire bowed her head towards Spike.

“Hey...” Spike said, waving back and then going back to his pancakes. Twilight just giggled and went to the table and sat down across from Chad and Sapphire.

“So, Chad. Now that we have a little spare time, would you like to tell me how you got here?” Twilight asked as she floated a quill and parchment to her.

Chad scratched his chin, feeling a little stubble that had been neglected, as he thought back. “Well to be honest, I don’t know how I got here, but I guess I could tell you what I remember,” Chad said making Twilight smile and nod. “Okay, where to start?... Ah! I was walking home from my... Previous job and I walked by this alleyway that held a strange glowing light.” Twilight nodded again as she prepared to write when it got to the actual transportation. “Normally I wouldn’t bother, but something about it was almost drawing me too it. The best analogy would be a Moth to a light, almost literally. Anyway, I walked over to the glowing thing and reached out to grab it to see what it was, and next thing I know I feel like something has grabbed me and is pulling me into the light.”

Twilight quickly scribbled down the notes and tapped her chin as she thought of what the light could have possibly been. “What happened after that?” she inquired looking at Chad who groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Thats... Where it gets a bit nasty,” Chad said sighing. “What happened next is kinda of a blur, but what I remember is when I was well... Um. I kinda was projectile vomited into this world.”

Twilight blinked and tilted her head in confusion. “You arrived... By being thrown up?” she asked cringing a bit. Chad closed his eyes and nodded. Twilight opened her mouth and closed it several times as she tried to think of a response to that. Finally she came up with, “How?”

“Well I don’t know to be honest. I was just kinda... Puked out by Sapphire here when she was big and then I freaked out and passed out,” Chad said scratching the back of his neck and Sapphire groaned a little bit at the memory. “Next thing I know, I am waking up in a cave with her, she questioned me on how I got here and then the rest is just history.”

He may have left out the whole part where he was screaming like a little girl while he ran from Timberwolves, but that wasn't vital information. Twilight nodded as she looked over her notes. Something didn’t add up to the inquisitive purple alicorn. You couldn’t just touch a magical essence and get sucked in, you had to have a second equal power for the exit and have a trigger. Letting out a sigh, she decided to figure it out later. Just as she did that, Spike hopped off of his stool and placed a large plate of pancakes onto the table along with a pot of warm mint tea, pouring a cup for everyone at the table, himself included.

“Here you go everypony!” he said in a cheery tone. Twilight thanked her little assistant before looking over at Chad and Sapphire to see the former drooling at the sight of pancakes, making her giggle slightly.

“Well don’t be shy, eat up! Spike makes some of the best pancakes around,” Twilight said as she got herself a couple pancakes and drizzled some syrup onto them before beginning to eat. Chad didn’t even bother with the syrup and simply piled at least six pancakes onto his plate before devouring them with a gusto. Sapphire simply plucked one of the few pancakes that remained before nibbling onto the fluffy breakfast food. After a moment her eyes opened in surprise and she shoved the whole pancake into her mouth.

Spike simply blinked as he watched more than half of the pancakes go missing from the plate he set them on before chuckling to himself and discreetly giving himself a pat on the back for still having ‘The skills.’ They all enjoyed their breakfast of pancakes and tea, giving many compliments to the chef, before Chad felt the undeniable itch of the need for his addiction. He sighed and reached into his pocket to see his box of cigarettes, but quickly realized that he still didn’t have a lighter to light them. He groaned in annoyance before looking around and seeing the candles placed along the walls and the lamps on the desks.

Raising an eyebrow, he looked to Twilight and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to look at him with a smile. “Hey, Twilight, do you possibly have a box of matches I could use?” he asked.

Twilight tapped her chin for a moment before nodding and glancing over to her desk. Her horn glowed as she levitated over a small box of matches to Chad, who gratefully accepted them. Taking several matches and placing them in the empty space of his cigarette box, he then pulled a single cigarette out, tucking it behind his ear. He handed the box back to Twilight, furrowing his brow

“Wait, wasn’t I supposed to do something today...? Oh, shit. I have to go to... What’s-her-name’s place for new clothes!” Chad said facepalming. Twilight stopped and looked at a clock that hung from her wall before giggling and shaking her head.

“You don’t need to worry, her store isn’t even open this early in the morning. And her name is Rarity, Chad,” Twilight said, giggling as Chad just groaned and looked out the window to see the sun wasn’t that far into the sky. He facepalmed once more before he heard a loud belch erupt from behind both of them. Spike just let out a small embarrassed cough before he picked up a scroll in front of his toes and held it out to Twilight.

The purple alicorn took said scroll and unrolled it as Chad just raised an eyebrow as the curious alicorn as she quickly read through the scroll before giving a smile. She simply took a scroll and quill and began to scribble onto the scroll. She was writing so fast Chad thought he saw a small line of smoke rise from the scroll before she let out a relieved breath and levitated it over to Spike. “Please send that off, Spike.”

“Can do Twilight!” Spike said happily before he took the scroll into his claws along with taking a deep breath and breathed his emerald green flame over the scroll, letting it turn to ash and smoke. Chad just blinked and then furrowed his brow as he tried to comprehend what he just saw. Twilight saw his expression of confusion before speaking up.

“His dragon fire is enchanted so the letters get sent straight to the Princess,” Twilight said. A look of comprehension dawned on Chad’s face and he nodded.

“Instant messaging by dragon fire. That’s cool,” Chad said he shook his head. This world confused him beyond what he thought possible. “So... What was on the letter, if I can ask?”

“Oh nothing too bad, just the Princess saying she wanted us to bring you to her as soon as possible. I wrote her back saying that we needed to make a few arrangements for you before we brought you to Canterlot, seeing as you need some new clothing and all that,” Twilight said giving him a winning smile.

“Oh. Alright then,” Chad said with a smile before furrowing his brow. “So what do we do until your friend’s shop is open?”

“You mean Rarity? Well... Her shop is usually open around six or seven in the morning, so I’d say we should actually get moving right now,” Twilight said as she looked outside. Chad raised an eyebrow again as he looked outside as well, only to see the soft orange glow of the morning highlight the cobblestone roads that lay outside of the library.

“Why? Is there like a street patrol or something that’ll attack us?” Chad asked, making Twilight roll her eyes and shake her head.

“No silly, but I don’t think the ponies that live in the town will react well with seeing an alien wandering through the streets with a dragon by his side,” Twilight said, giggling and making Chad scoff.

“I am not that terrifying am I?” Chad said, giving a mock hurt expression, making Sapphire snicker from behind them and Twilight roll her eyes again.

“It’s not you, but the ponies of Ponyville are a bit... Easily startled,” Twilight said as she levitated a saddle bag onto her back and loaded it with her usual supplies of a few books on Equestria and things that reside in it, and parchment and quills for notes, just in case. “Just stick close to me and I will help whoever does see you calm down quickly.”

“Alright, try not to be big and scary. Sounds simple enough,” Chad said clapping his hands together and giving her a coy smile. Twilight just shook her head and giggled before letting Spike climb onto her back before walking out of the library and looking from side to side. “Okay, Chad and Sapphire, come on!”

The small group walked through the streets of Ponyville, keeping quiet for the most part, aside from the occasional question asked by Chad, and watching for any ponies that might see Chad. Thankfully, they didn’t attract any unwanted attention as they arrived at Rarity’s boutique. Chad examined the building while Twilight knocked onto the door.

“Coming~!” Rarity’s voice rang out in a singsong tone before the door swung open and the marshmallow unicorn was standing there with a smile on her face. “Oh hello Twilight! And Chad, I am so glad you came!”

“Hey Rarity, we are here like you asked,” Twilight said smiling before Rarity saw Sapphire standing next to Chad, looking at the building curiously.

“Um, who is the blue dragon?” Rarity asked Twilight in a hushed tone, making Twilight giggle.

“Don’t worry Rarity. It’s just Sapphire, although I would go hide your gem chest because I don’t know if she has self control like Spike when it comes to jewels.” Twilight said as Rarity nodded.

“Alright, come in everyone! I’d like to get started as soon as we can!” Rarity said enthusiastically as she walked into her home. Chad bent down to enter the building along with Twilight and Sapphire before standing up and looking around the interior of the building. It was very... Elegant could describe what Chad thought of the place. It certainly gave off the ‘proper’ look.

“Now, Chad, if you would, can you follow me so we may get started with the measurements?” Rarity asked as she took out a notepad and pencil along with a long measuring tape. Chad took in a hesitant sigh before, somewhat reluctantly, following the eager white unicorn.

They walked into a separate room, Rarity making sure no one else followed due to it being a very delicate process and not to be disturbed. As they got everything ready Rarity asked a rather odd question. “Chad, would you be a dear and take off your clothing?”

“Wh-what?” Chad almost squeaked out, his voice going up in surprise.

“Well, I can’t make you comfortable clothing if I can’t get accurate measurements, can I?” Rarity asked with a giggle lining her words. Chad let out a nervous sigh and began taking off the few pieces of clothing he had left. His shoes, socks, and pants all laid in a neat little pile off to the side and he was left in his plain navy blue boxers.

“I thought I said all of your clothing darling,” Rarity huffed as she looked at Chad with an annoyed tone lining her features.

“W-well, I would, but humans don’t exactly have any other way to keep ourselves-” He paused for a sheepish cough. “-decent...”

Rarity raised an eyebrow before her eyes widened and a cherry red blush was painted onto her cheeks. “Y-you mean...”

“Yup, just kinda hangs there...” Chad said looking everywhere but at the unicorn. Both the unicorn and the human shared a very bright blush before Rarity cleared her throat.

“Well, I suppose you should leave those on and we simply make do,” Rarity said as Chad quickly nodded. Even though he was thankful he wasn’t naked as Rarity measured him, he couldn’t help but see her staring at him on occasion. After she was done, she let out a small annoyed click of her tongue before grinning and beginning to sketch onto her pad. “You are done darling, now before I get to work, is there anything specific you would like to be made?”

Chad just blinked before nodding and giving a small smile. “Well... If you wouldn’t mind, could you make me a hoodie? I lost my old one.”

Rarity nodded before furrowing her brow. “Darling, would you care to tell me what a ‘hoodie’ is?” Rarity asked. Chad hummed for a moment as he stepped off of the pedestal and began to put his clothing back on. He searched for a moment before he realized he threw his old shirt into the trash back at Twilight’s home and sighed.

“It’s like... Really it’s just a normal coat only with a hood instead of a collar. I’ll draw one for you if you’d like,” Chad said as Rarity nodded and levitated a parchment to him along with a pencil. After a minute or two, he had a base idea of what a hoodie looked like. “Um, sorry if I am not the best artist.”

Rarity took the drawing and nodded. “Thank you, Chad. I will do my best to make you what you asked for,” she said with a warm grin.

“Heh, thank you for doing this for me. Seriously, it means a lot,” Chad said in an appreciative tone. Rarity just giggled and let him walk out of the room as she began to get her ideas down. He walked out and found Twilight talking to Sapphire about ponies’ lives and dragons’ lives and how they were similar and different.

“So when you find a mate that you want to be with, you stay with him?” Sapphire asked as Twilight nodded with small hum. “That doesn’t seem very effective. What if other females wish to mate with him?”

“Then they discuss it a little bit and if they are both up for the idea, they make a herd!” Twilight said happily.

“Interesting...” Sapphire said as she lifted a claw to tap her chin before she saw Chad and smiled. “Hello, Chad! May I ask you a question?”

“I don’t see why not,” Chad said shrugging as he walked over and sat down with his legs crossed.

“Does your kind form herds when two or more females want a certain male?” she asked innocently which made Chad blush slightly before chuckling.

“Naw, humans don’t have herds,” Chad said making air quotes with his fingers. “But we do have polygamy in some areas of our world, although most places it’s illegal.”

“What, why?” Twilight asked tilting her head.

“Well to be honest, there has never been a need for it. Plus it’s frowned upon if you sleep with another person while you are dating someone,” Chad said shrugging again. “Personally, I could care less how people lived their lives because if they are happy, why should I care?”

Twilight gave him a smile and an approving nod as they sat and talked about their worlds, cultures, and other things revolving around their lives. They shared tons of laughs and a few embarrassing comments, mostly Chad poking fun at Twilight while Sapphire was sitting there confused, before they all heard something rather peculiar.

“Does anyone else hear someone cranking something?” Chad asked before there was a loud thunk and he felt something large and heavy collide with his body, sending him forward onto the carpet. Sadly, he wouldn’t be able to see what hit him as his head had smashed into the floor, leaving a small dent in the carpeting that would take more than a little magic to fix, and his vision began to fade into unconsciousness.

As his mind began to fade out, he could only hear the panicked and angry voice of Twilight as she shouted at someone and Sapphire growling angrily. The only words he was picking up was “Sandbag,” and “How!?”

Author's Note

And thanks to DarkPhoenix for editing this chapter of my story. Seriously, check him out. He is awesome. Anyway, due to some issues going on, I may or may not get backed up on making Chapters. But I will try my best to get out a new chapter when I can! Anywho, thanks for reading everyone, you are all amazing!