The Other Way Around

Chapter 2

"Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike."

Standing in the kitchen, I waved at each of the ponies and dragon as I listed their names. All seven plus myself had awkward smiles on our faces. My mom, after a moment of silence, just shrugged and said "Okay, have fun.", and went upstairs. It didn't surprise me; she doesn't care who I talk to, so long as we're both polite.

My dad, on the other hand, had his eyes closed and was rubbing his temples very hard. He made his way upstairs, mumbling the words "Asprin. Tylenol. Bed." over and over. I turned to the group and asked "Okay, so what do you wanna do?" The seven of them exchanged glances.

Pinkie piped up "Well it's too quiet! Let's JAM!" She punctuated the last word by striking what I assume was a dance move. I led them into the living room and turned on the stereo. I pulled my IPod from my pocket and plugged it in. I set it to play one of my favorite songs, then cranked the volume. The guitar blasted and the singer began to belch lyrics that I had yet to understand. Pinkie and I were the only ones banging our heads to the song, while the other six were desperately plugging their ears with pillows, tissues, and other things, never once resorting to hooves or claws. After about a minute in, the song suddenly cut short. I turned to see Twilight standing there, her hoof covering the pause button.

Rarity, after pulling the tissues from her ears, and obviously trying to hide her annoyance, asked "Dear, could you play something a tad... Easier on the ears?" She gave me an innocent smile, while her eyes pleaded for me not to play that four-minute hell spawn ever again.

Pinkie took up a pouting position on the couch and mumbled "Party pooper McPooper pants.... Hrrrm...."

I thought for a minute. "What kind of music were you thinking of?"

Rarity gestured at my IPod. "What do you have in your.... Device.... Over there?"

I picked it up and began scrolling through the genres, listing them off as I went.

"Thrash Metal?"

"No."

"Classic Metal?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Screamo Metal?"

"Oh Celestia, no."

"Rock?"

"Not happening."

"Alternative Rock?"

"Still no."

"80's Rock?"

"I'm sensing a theme here..."

"Rap?"

"Better, but too many swears."

"Jazz?"

Rarity stamped her hooves in happiness. "Yes! Oh Celestia, yes! Please, that would be perfect!"

I gave her a quizzical look. "You sure? I mean I could probably find a rap song without too many-"

Rarity threw her hooves on my shoulders and pulled my face near hers. "NO! WE PLAY JAZZ. EARS NO BLEED. UNDERSTAND?"

She breathed heavily, her chest visibly moving to her breathing, her eyes wide.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash took Rarity by each of her forehooves, one flying, the other using magic, and together they laid her down on the couch. Rarity's mane was frizzled, and she was mumbling incoherently. I unplugged my IPod from the stereo and pulled out my earbuds, plugging them into the IPod instead. I set it to play one of my favorite jazz songs, then I stepped over to Rarity, who was resting on her left side, her face buried in the couch cushion. I plugged one earbud into her right ear, then gently lifted her head and placed the other earbud. I hit the play button, and almost immediately saw her relax. Her breathing fell into a steady rhythm, and her body lost it's tension as she fell into a deep sleep.

I looked at the remaining six, one at a time. My eyes landed on Twilight, who I asked "So... Does Rarity get that stressed out that easily?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not usually. I guess the stress of choosing a song, small as it may be, was coupled with the stress of being in a new world, and I guess she just... couldn't take it."

Rainbow Dash asked "Well, I'm bored. Isn't there anything to do around here?"

I was about to respond, when my cell phone rang in my pocket, and the ponies jumped and began looking around.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, whipped it open, put it to my ear, and asked "Hello?"

"Hey, Jacob. How ya doing?" It was my friend and neighbor, Will, also known as BAN3 on Xbox.

I replied "Doing good. How about you?"

"Fine. Say, you mind if I come over today?"

That was when I panicked. I placed my hand over the phone's reciever and whispered "Guys, my friend wants to come over. You need to hide or something!"

Twilight tilted her head and asked "Why?"

I replied "Unlike me, most people are not used to colorful, talking equines."

Applejack spoke up "Well, if he's yer friend, then Ah'm sure he won't do nothin stupid."

Rainbow Dash added "Yeah, and if he does, BAM!" Rainbow punched her left hoof into her right, earning her a glare from Twilight, and a look of concern from the always quiet Fluttershy.

I put the phone back to my ear and stated "Yeah man, come on over. I must warn you though, i have some... other friends over."

Will, who knew about my obsession with ponies, asked "Brony friends?"

I began to stammer. "N-not exactly, but-"

"Great, I'll be there soon."

When he siad soon, he meant it. He lived not two blocks away from me.

I looked at the ponies plus Spike and stated "Do not do anything to freak him out. He and I are used to seeing and doing strange things, but this sort of pushes the envelope for us."

The six of them nodded. I grabbed a blanket from the end of the couch and draped it over the still sleeping Rarity. I then went to the bottom of the stairs and yelled up "MOM! WILL IS COMING OVER!" This got me a simple "OKAY!" from somewhere in the upper level.

I looked out the window, and there was Will, walking down the street. I guessed i had thirty or so seconds before he reached the door. I grabbed two tall glasses from the cupboard and set them from the counter. I then grabbed a bottle of Coke from the fridge and poured it in both glasses.

Just as my hand shut the fridge door with the bottle inside, the doorbell rang. I ran over to the door and opened it. Will stood there grinning. We high-fived, and he walked in. I walked past him, grabbed the two glasses of soda, and handed one to Will as he walked into the kitchen.

I mentally prepared myself as he walked past me into the living room. Most people I know would yell, or scream, or call the police, or a combination thereof.

Will walked back into the kitchen and looked at me. He sipped his soda, his face having a look of utter annoyance on it.

"Jacob?"

I sipped my soda and asked "Yes?"

"Why are there ponies in the living room?"

"I told you I had friends here."

He blinked, his expression unchanged. "I thought you said you had no pony anything going on."

I leaned back against the counter and took another sip. "No, I said I had no brony friends over."

He sighed and said "Whatever, can we still play some Mortal Kombat?"

I nodded and we headed upstairs to my bedroom. I turned on my Xbox, popped in the disc, and handed a controller to Will. The main menu popped up with a picture of Scorpion landing a vicious uppercut to Sub-Zero's jaw. We selected one-on-one, me going with Kitana, and Will going with Scorpion. Just as we were about the start the match, a pink blur came through the door and put her face into my friends' face.

"Hi I'm Pinkie Pie! Jacob is my friend, and since you're his friend, you're my friend too! I gotta throw you a welcome party! But wait, I'm the newcomer, so I need the welcome party! But I can't throw a welcome party for myself, that's silly! Maybe you can mphmmmhphmm!" Will had placed his hand over the pink mare's mouth, though she kept talking as if he never placed his hand there. She stopped talking while the other ponies plus dragon walked into my room.

Will facepalmed. He looked at me and said "What happened to a nice afternoon gaming?"

I shrugged. Twilight Sparkle caught on and said "Oh, were you about to do something, because we can leave if-"

Will waved and said " Nah nah, you can watch. Watch me kick Jacob to the curb."

Will beat me, and the fatality he performed was none too kind. The ponies all stared with mouths agape, with Twilight Sparkle currently emptying her stomach in the toilet.

Rarity finally asked "What... Was that?"

I turned to her and stated "A fatality."

Will added "I won, so I had the option of performing a cool finisher, and I did."

Fluttershy, who was cowering under my bedsheets, just whimpered.

I looked at him and asked "How about we do something a little less bloody?"

He rolled his eyes and said "Fine, let's do Portal 2."

I grinned and grabbed the disc. Twilight walked back into the room as I put the disc in the tray and watched it slide back into the console.

The main menu with a picture of GLaDOS lying on the ground appeared. We selected co-op mode, and soon we were right where we left off last week, on a particularly hard puzzle we were working on.

Twilight, not sick anymore, seemed intrigued by our portal guns and asked "What's this?"

I explained the game to her.

"The game is called Portal, and the reason for that name is because the charcter has a Dual Portal Device, or better known simply as a portal gun. You use it to create two portals that are connected two each other. Anything going into one portal comes out the other completely unchanged."

Will added "In this mode, we work together to solve puzzles, and thus we both have portal guns, for a total of four portals."

Twilight seemed confused. "That seems too easy. Aren't there any stipulations or restrictions?"

I added "Two actually. One, we can only use our portal guns on white walls, forcing us to solve puzzles in specific ways."

Twilight pried "And the other-"

"Very good. You’ve really come together as a team. Thanks to the one of you who appears to be doing all of the work."

"We have a sarcastic computer insulting us at every turn."

Applejack asked "How do ya'll concentrate when yer bein' insulted like that?"

Will replied without turning his head from the screen. "You just tune it out after a while."

After a good hour of gaming, we went back downstairs. Will left and went back home, so I decided to just nap on the couch. As soon as I laid down and closed my eyes though, I felt a blanket being laid on top of me. I looked up to see Fluttershy with the end of the blanket in her mouth. When she realized I was looking at her, she blushed and looked away. I stood up, and did what every brony dreams of doing. I slowly wrapped my arms around the mare, eliciting a squeak. I felt her hooves tentatively place themselves on my shoulders. We stood there for a while, before Twilight looked at the clock and realized how late it had gotten.

That night, the eight of us all slept in my room, with Fluttershy sleeping on top of my bed covers. It was the best night's sleep I have ever had.