I look up at the man in front of me, sweat stinging my eyes. I don't care about the pain anymore, all I want is to win. To put forth so much resistance, that those who oppose me, fall underneath my enormous force. I will protect my men with my life, and they will bring glory to our homeland. In all reality, I'm not talking about some European war, I'm talking about football. Good, painful, American football.
My name is Thomas Stone. I am the left tackle on the Redtown Raider's Varsity football team. I am six foot four inches tall, I weigh two-hundred and twenty-four pounds, and I am mad. It's the fourth quarter, six minutes left to go. We're on our second down, eight yards from the first down marker. God am I angry. This is the first real struggle we've had to fight, our first six games equaling a fight with pie. A piece of cake. I can't even think straight I'm angry! Anyways, back to the game.
I put my left hand down, and slide my left foot back a tad. I lean forward with just the perfect amount of weight , and listen for the snap. "Ready..." I hear. My heart is thumping fast. This is it. A few more milliseconds pass, but leave feeling like minutes. "Go!" I snap out with my left foot, squatting below my opponent. My hands meet his chest, share a few words, talk about the weather, and then the rest of my body makes the connection. He grunts, my body decimating any power his own had, and I send him back three feet to land on his back.
Now for the hard part... I think to myself. With their right end out of service, I now have to protect the running back from the middle linebacker, who incidentally, was headed right towards me. "Thanks!" I yell at him, before squaring my shoulders at him. The horror and fear etched onto his face is by this point, very apparent. He knew what was coming, and knew there was nothing to stop it. I squatted my hips, and threw my arms into him, making the connection. I then forced my entire body weight into him, sending us both crashing to the ground, taking out the left dog who was trying to catch up to the ball along for the ride too.
"GUUUUUUFHH!" He let out as a muffled scream/cry. Still not sure which. It sure was funny though. I stood up, and offered my hand to him. He looked around for a second, noticing the play was over. He grabbed my hand and pulled himself up, giving me a pat on the back, which I returned. The running back, Garcia, had taken it to the house. I smiled, and ran down field. I got into position for the extra point, and noticed a bright flash off to my left, behind the bleachers. I thought nothing more than Oh cool. I'll be in the newspaper. The kick sailed through, and we were now up 42-35. Four minutes and thirty seconds left in the game.
I jogged off the field, and stood on the sideline. Coach Meyer walked up to me, and slapped my shoulder. "That was one hell of a block, Stone! You made that play for us!" He screamed at me, a grin on his face. I smiled in appreciation of his compliment.
"I try coach. Thanks!" I said with a jump in my step. I walked over to the trainers, and grabbed a bottle of water. I removed my helmet, and raising it to my face, I squeezed the bottle and began to waterfall. I was god dang thirsty. I received multiple pats on the back and butt, and many "great job out there"'s from my teammates. I smiled. These are my brothers.
I set the bottle back down, and noticed something a little odd. Another bright flash, but this time it wasn't behind the bleachers or anything. No, the bright flash had appeared around me, then went away. Nobody seemed to have noticed though, so maybe I was just really tired or something. I shrugged. Better get back to watching our defense hold them for the game.
Four minutes and twelve seconds later, we ran onto the field celebrating our seventh victory.
I put on my jacket, the red 'R' on the front left displaying who I was for, and walked out of the locker room, and onto the football field. I walked onto the black track, and then onto the green turf field. The smell of sweat, pain, and victory was still present. With the turf squishing beneath my feet, I walked over to the silver bench and sat down. With my hands in my pockets, and my gray beanie keeping my head warm, I leaned back in a very exposed position.
I breathed deep and smiled. This, was what I lived for. To fight others, and to win with my team. I relished the scent of turf, and the oncoming rain storm made its own scent present as well. This is one beautiful night. I heard the sound of footsteps behind me on the concrete bleacher foundation. Probably just some janitor coming to clean up the mess, or a kid who forgot their coat. Eh, whatever.
Then the footsteps stopped, and I swear I could hear the sound of wing beats and electricity. I pushed it aside in my mind and looked up at the stars that were slowly becoming covered by the clouds. Then a noise was heard so faintly, but yet it held so many images. Click. I jumped up and turned around, expecting to see some rival school junkies facing me with their trademarked switchblade out. I raised my fist in a defensive posture, ready to fight. Needless to say, it wasn't necessary as I was easily lifted into the air, and put right at eye level with a flying rainbow haired girl, who I must say, was very attractive, minus the blue wings.
"What the hell?" I questioned aloud, laughing my head off. Either I was really, really tired, or someone secretly drugged the water. I continued laughing, and the confused expression appearing on it's face made it even worse. "BAHAHAHA! What are you?!" I screamed out, laughing my ass off. This is great.
"Me? I'm the great flyer and future Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash!" It said in a rough female voice.
"You are huh? Well, I'm the fastest flyer in the world. I bet you can't beat me." I challenged, my lip curling.
"You're on."
"Okay then. Just let me down, and we'll begin." I answered sarcastically. This chick is pretty gullible I thought, As soon as she lets me down, I'll just take her down full nelson style and..Oh great there's two of them. I touched down on the squishy turf, and saw another girl with dark purple hair with two pink stripes, but with a horn and a pair of wings, looking at the turf with a disgusted expression.
"How do you eat this grass?!" She questioned me with a full mouth. I fell over and began to laugh my ass off again. God dang, this is great! "What..Rainbow, what's it laughing about? Is it something I said?" She asked her rainbow headed friend.
"I dunno Twi.. but it's pretty contagious." She snickered. The purple one shot her a look of pure, unadulterated hate.
I finally began to calm my laughing, with only my side in stitches. I put my knee on the ground, and stood up to my full height. The winged human things looked at me, fear now present on their faces. They stood about five foot six tall, which was a little near my chest. "You were eating turf there, little lady." I answered to her question.
"Tur..turf? What's t-that?" She stuttered, "You're tall..." She squeaked out. Her pupils looked like pins, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Turf, my friend, is fake grass. It's made of artificial fibers that are woven into a field," I gestured around with my hand, ignoring the comment about my height, "like this one."
She spit out the grass, and began rubbing her abnormally long tongue off. I laughed at the display. Suddenly, the rainbow one appeared in front of my face, a scrutinizing look on her face. "What?" I asked.
"We're gonna race, remember! C'mon, lets go!" She said and then sped off into the air. About thirty feet away, she looked back. "You comin' or what, ape?"
I did not like being called an ape. Or anything other than a human for that matter. "First of all pipsqueak, I ain't an ape." Oh god my southern side began to show. "I'm a human being, a homo sapien. Secondly, does it look like I have wings?" Luckily she got the message and flew down to her friend who was still trying to clean her tongue. Did I mention it was a really, really long tongue?
An awkward silence ensued, with me slowly beginning to process what these things were. A winged girl and a horned girl with wings. Huh. That's different. Finally, the purple one finished cleaning her tongue, and began to hit at the ice with a rubber chicken in an effort to break it. "So...ummm... Mr. Homo... I mean..sir..I mean...Oh what is your name?!" She asked rather loudly, angry at her own stuttering.
I chuckled at her stumbling, and decided formalities were in order. "My name is Thomas Stone. I'm a football player, a student, and a huge supporter of joking around." I smiled, and she smiled back. Good. This is going well.
With her smile wide on her face, her mind began to crank gears, and after processing what I said and what was needing to be said, which only took about two seconds, began to speak. "I am Twilight Sparkle. I am the, or, er, was the personal protege of Princess Celestia." She said with a cute smile, her cheeks a slight red.
"That's really cool, actually. Y a ti?" I asked the rainbow one, who only looked at me with a confused expression. I sighed. "And you?"
"Sure!" She answered, her face lighting up. "I am the fastest flier in Equestria, the future Wonderbolt Captain, and the extremely good looking, Rainbow Dash!" She answered while beginning to fly in the air. "I am sure, you have heard of me." She smiled, landing on the ground.
I put my finger to my chin, and let out a long sigh. I moved my finger, and answered, "Only one of those things is something we can agree on. Your name doesn't ring a bell."
Now right now, I could say the expression on her face was funny, because it really was. She did not expect me to not know who she was, but something else caught me off those tracks. It was the purple one, and her horn was glowing. Her face was pale.
"What's wrong, er, miss Twilight?" I asked, my heart beginning to beat quickly. The glow around her horn began to stop.
She gulped, and her eyes became even smaller than they were before. "Rainbow.. we're not in Equestria anymore."
.
"Oh god!" I said, "this is news to me!" I began to laugh at their expense. "I mean, this is a funny joke and all, but seriously, it's going too far now, and I have to get home soon." I continued laughing until I noticed something that was out of place; they weren't laughing. At all.
Rainbow decided to speak up first, ignoring my rude comments and laughing, "We're not in Equestria anymore..?" She questioned her purple friend in a small, scared voice. I stopped laughing.
"No. I don't know where we are."
They both looked around the field and stands, fear streaking their faces with tears. They hugged each other, and sniffling, Rainbow Dash looked at me expectantly. "What's wrong you guys?" I asked, my heart beginning to break from this scene in front of me.
"What do you mean, what's wrong you big ape? We don't know where we are and you're laughing at us!" She screamed at me with anger stabbing wildly around trying to hit me. I just looked at her with a blank expression, my mind beginning to turn gears slowly, and was really in need of a good oiling.
"This isn't a joke... is it?" I asked her, my mouth going dry.
"You don't think?!" She yelled back in return with less blood lust.
"Oh shoot.."I began to realize what was happening, "Okay..I'm at a loss here girls. Tell me what happened."
It was Twilight who looked up at me now, tears staining her face. She sniffed and brushed her hair out of her face before talking. "I was trying something that's never been done before. I was trying to do a Sonic Rainboom like Rainbow can, because no alicorn has ever done it before." She paused, letting the train connect to tracks. I nodded, not knowing what half those words meant. "I was able to reach the speed right under what was necessary, so I closed my eyes to work harder and push myself further, and when I opened them I was under what looked like a big metal staircase with things like you sitting on it, and I was one of them too. Rainbow had been flying next to me, shouting at me to go harder and faster,so when whatever happened to me, it happened to her too." She finished.
I could only look at her like she was crazy, because honestly, she was. There is no way she could fly I mean that's jus..Oh wait, she has wings. "What were you before turning into one of..well, me?" I asked.
"I was a pony, an alicorn. Rainbow was a pegasus." Something began to stab at the back of my mind, and I realized what she was saying was true.
"Thomas.." Twilight looked at me, sorrow filling her eyes, "can you help us?"
Minutes later, I had two pony-people sitting in my truck. It was a good thing I had bought my own vehicle instead of letting my parents get it. I got to choose what I wanted, and for eight grand, a 2003 Tundra was perfect. I had it all souped up with the best stereo equipment I could afford, blacked out rims that went great with the red paint, and a pretty cool sticker on the back window that had my name. God dang, I love this truck, I thought to myself while turning on the truck and letting the heater run.
After getting both girls set up with the seat-belts in the truck, I turned to Twilight. "Twilight, this is going to sound ridiculous, but if I am going to help you.." I paused thinking for an easy way to say this, "can you remove the horn and wings? It looks ridiculous." Good going there, knucklehead.
Luckily, she didn't notice my rude comment, or kept it to herself. "Yes, I have a spell that can hide them, but I'll still be able to use magic. Is that okay?"
"That's fine." I answered, still questioning whether she could actually do magic. It seemed ridiculous, but I mean.. they could fly. Her horn began to glow, and a few seconds later, both her horn and both wings were gone.Guess that answers that.
"What was that for?!" Rainbow asked. She was obviously very insulted.
"To keep you safe." I answered.
I put the truck in reverse and backed out of my space in the parking lot. Switching to drive, I drove around a corner and reached the exit. I switched on the blinker turning right and drove onto the street. Not much traffic tonight, I thought to myself. "So.. you girls hungry?" I asked. It was an odd question to ask after meeting them, but hell to it, I was hungry.
Luckily, it wasn't as stupid as a question as I thought, and it turns out they were both pretty dang hungry. Now, I don't know what ponies eat, probably mostly grass, but I don't think they eat meat, so where can we go.. I looked at the street, lights lighting up signs for liquor stores, fast food restaurants, and car washes.I kept driving until one place popped out in particular, a sandwich deli, which was actually know for its salads in my town.Perfect.
I turned on the right blinker, and turned into the parking lot looking for a spot. Finding one near the back I parked, and looked at my two occupants. Who, incidentally, were either wide eyed and breathing heavily, or fainted some time back.
"Huh.." I mumbled out. This was not something I expected to see. My driving skills were not that bad..."Rainbow, you okay? We're here to get some food." She nodded quickly, and unlatching her seat-belt the way I had shown her, leaned forward to wake her friend.
"Twi.. wake up. He took us some place to get food." She gently grabbed her friends shoulder, and not so gently shook it.
"HUH? WHAT?" Twilight asked drearily, "OH DEAR CELESTIA NOT THE TRUCK!" She screamed trying to back up further into the seat.
"Twilight! We're not moving anymore! It's okay! We're just here to get some food!" I said in the hopes she would calm down. To my luck, she did calm down, and we got out and walked into the restaurant. We walked to a table, and were within seconds, attacked by two waiters who seemed the want to fight over our table. After eyeing each other a for a few seconds, a tall girl with brown hair cut at her shoulders walked up to the table.
"Hey Thomas!" She greeted me, "How was the game?" She was smiling with her white teeth at me.
"Hey there Autumn," I smiled, "It was good. I made the winning play."
"You did?! That's great!" She gasped for air, conjuring up her second sentence, "Must have been one heck of a block! Well, what can I get you three to drink?"
Before I could open my mouth to answer, Twilight spoke up. "Three waters please." She smiled at Autumn, who smiled back and walked away. I rolled my eyes and opened up my menu, the girls following suit. Autumn walked back and placed our waters on the table.
"You guys ready to order?" She asked. We all nodded in response and she looked at me first.
"I'll get the Roast Charlie, with baked chips." I answered. Oh god I couldn't wait for that delicious, melt in your mouth sandwich. The chips were good too. She looked at Twilight and Rainbow next.
"I'll get the Caesar Salad." Twilight said.
"I'll second that."
Autumn left with the order, and we sat there in an awkward silence that was comparable to the first. I decided to grow a pair and spoke up first. "I don't drive that bad, do I?"
Rainbow began to chuckle, and Twilight's face turned a bright red. It was pretty cute watching them laugh and embarrass each other. Finally, Twilight started to laugh too, and answered my question. "No, I was just really scared, that's all." She smiled innocently at me, and I grinned back. These two are a hoot.
We talked some more about inane subjects, like Twilight eating turf and Rainbow's apparent obsession with the Wonderbolts. "It's not an obsession guys! Seriously!" She said, her face growing red.
"Sure.. sure." I said, grinning at her. At that moment, Autumn walked back to our table carrying three plates. She set both salads in front of the girls, and the sandwich in my eye sight. She smiled and walked towards another table that was newly filled, once again staring daggers at the other waiter.
"So.. what's with you and the waiter?" Rainbow asked, ready to get some revenge on me. Challenge accepted.
I looked at Rainbow, deep into her eyes, into her soul, and said, "She's my neighbor." Rainbow looked shocked at my display and answer, but before she could say anything, I burst out into laughter. "So where are you two going to stay tonight? I mean, it's almost night."
They looked at each other, a brief look of fear flashing across their faces. They obviously did not think this far ahead. "Well, Thomas. We were hoping.. that you could let us stay at your house." Twilight said. A fake smile perching her lips.
I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Figures."