Chapters The day started off as any ordinary day would have. I woke up, took a quick shower, well.... MY definition of a quick shower anyways; got dressed and plopped right back in bed and got on the computer.
My name is Jack, by the way. My room is decently sized with my hats hanging wherever I could find a spot and has a window that looks out to a bradford-pear tree that I climb sometimes in my boredom or when I wanna read a good book. Around noon, I started to get kinda bored of just derping around on the internet. So I shut down my computer and walked outside to climb my tree. It was a nice sunny day out so I stayed up there for a while just reflecting on how things were in the world.
The day stared off as any other day would have. I got up at the crack of dawn, jumped into the lake that was underneith where I decided to build my house to wake myself up and waited for my marefriend to come help me turn some of the water into steam so I could re make the cloud stairs that some jerk pegasi had busted up while I was sleeping. As I was paddling around in the lake, I saw her start to come down the path. I dove under water and when she got to the edge of the lake. When she came up to the bank I jumped up out of the water and splashed her. She screamed as she tried to block some of the water from her face to no avail, I had gotten a direct hit on her.
"Jeez, JetWave!! You almost gave me a heart attack!" She said as I started laughing.
"Aha.. sorry bout that, but you think you'd have gotten accustomed to me splashing you somehow every time you come out here in the mornings"
"You're lucky I still come out here seeing as how you do something like this every morning..." She said in fake irritation.
"I'm also lucky to have a marefriend who is willing to put up with my antics and still be seen in public with me" I said as I trotted out of the water and sided up next to her.
"It helps when she's almost as weird as you" She said with a giggle as she nuzzled my cheek. "Now c'mon, those stairs of yours aren't going to build themselves" She said as she walked into the water to start making it steam. Me being my cheeky self, I came up from behind and pushed her in.
"JetWave!!"
"Ahahahahaha!!!!" I guaffed as a sphere of water was dropped on my head, leaving me soaked and my marefriend laughing.
"Oh, it is ON now!" I said as I pounced on her.
We played around for awhile before getting any actual work done, and even then that was full of play as every now and then I would smash a steam step into her face and cause her to flinch as it harmlessly dissipated around her and she would throw an orb of water she had been forming in secret at me. When we finally finished she said that Bon-Bons coltfriend was in town and that we were welcome to join them on a double date this weekend.
"I'd love to!" I exclaimed.
"Great!" She said just as her watch started beeping. "Ugh, I have to go.. Band practice."
"Awwww, ok.. Maybe this year you'll be able to play at the gala with octavia."
"That would be fun, even though the lyre dosen't get as loud as the chello."
"It's still just as beautiful though." I said as I nuzzled up beside her, causing her to giggle and nuzzle back. We were interupted by her watch beeping again.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Shut up already!" She yelled at her watch. "See you tomorrow JetWave!"
"Bye Lyra!" I said as she ran off back towards town.
After I had been up in my tree for awhile, I decided that I should probally go ahead and climb down, but I missplaced my foot and started to fall. It wasn't a very long fall, it was rather short actually; but I was falling head-first so I figured I would end up with a sprained neck or shoulder from the impact. I hadn't closed my eyes yet because I don't fall very often and I always find the entire sensation kind of neat, unless it's from leaning back in a chair to far and thinking that you're about to die of course.
After Lyra had left, spent most of the day working on my cloud garden. Of course being on a cloud kinda limits what you can grow in a garden so I was mostly just changing what the wind had done to change it back to how I had originally had it. As I stepped back to look at my work, I took a step to far back and fell off the edge of my cloud.
It was moments like this that I was glad that I had built my house over a lake that way I wouldn't get hurt when I hit the water. But this time I never hit the water.
I fell through some kind of hole that held my house outlined in the sky in it. As I looked around where I was falling at, I noticed I was in some sort of tube, the walls of which were some sort of swirling black and grey ether; with another hole at the other end that was looking up at a tree. I seemed to be heading closer to the hole that had the tree in it and when I got to about the mid-way point of the tube, I saw the strangest of creatures. It looked like a monkey, but it didn't have any hair except on top of its head and was wearing clothes, certiantly not anything I've seen a monkey wear; and he was too tall to be a monkey and didn't have a tail, maybe it was a gorilla? I didn't have time to think on it for long because we passed each other only briefly and a split second later I hit the other hole and everything went white....
The world around me was upside-down and the ground was quickly taking up most of my field of vision. Natural reaction had caused me to blink when I was about to hit the ground, though instead of seeing red flashes against the black background of my eyelids that one would normally see after an impact; I saw that I was floating on the inside of what seemed to be a swirling cylinder of black and white ether with portals at each end. One, that I presumed I had just fallen through; showed the tree I just fell out of as if you were laying on your back and looking up at it. The portal at the other end showed a brilliant blue sky with the puffiest clouds that you've ever seen floating across it with one that I could have sworn looked exactly like a house.
It seemed that I was moving towards the one with the clouds and away from the one with the tree. Once I neared what seemed to be the mid-way point between the two portals I thought I saw another body floating towards me, it wasn't human by any means, it seemed to be that of an.. equine? Nah, surely not. This equine had a hazy blue color coat, mud-orange mane and tail with golden highlights on the tail, big blue eyes, and I daresay he was wearing a fedora. I didn't get a good look at him because we were going in opposite directions at rather decent speeds and I didn't have time to think of him much afterwards because it wasn't too long after he was gone that I hit the portal with the clouds and everything went white....
When I awoke from my daze I was on the shore of a small lake. As I sat up I saw the lake sparkle out of the corner of my eye, when I looked I saw the house-shaped cloud from before being reflected on the surface, there were a few ripples so it was slightly distorted.
I looked up to see it in the sky and there was no doubting it, it actually WAS a house made out of clouds, floating about 2 stories above the lake surface. I didn't have my glasses with me when I fell through the portal and I can't see long distances very well with out them, but from what I could tell it wasn't a very big house. It seemed to be only one story with what looked like a garden, or at least a cloud formation made to look like a garden; with a statue to the left of the door and a staircase leading up too it. The two materials that made up the staircase were very different from each other. They started out being made of earth from the bottom going up and when you were about a quarter of the way to the top, the earth stairs stopped and stairs made up of clouds finished the assent. I walked over to them thinking that if half of them are made of rock then surely wherever I am walking on clouds was possible.
When I reached the top of the grounded stairs I was quickly proven wrong with my theorizing by way of having my foot go straight through the first cloud step I tried to use. At the risk of loosing my balance, and falling for the second time today; I squatted and grabbed the stairs that were actually tangable, shaking slightly.
"Well.. so much for that idea" I mumbled to myself as I looked back up to the house of clouds.
I had really hoped that I would've been able to talk to someone up there about where I was and about that strange fall. Even though the earth staircase only made up about a quarter of the stairs overall, I could still clearly see that the house wasn't just a floating mass of cumulonimbus. Even though it was gentle, I could still feel a breeze blowing that ought to have made it blow away by now.
Having regained my balance from before, I sat down and looked around at the house and the landscape. There were a few trees and bushes scattered about here and there and a peaceful looking forest in the distance. Then my eyes fell on the lake. The staircase I was on was flanked by it to the left and the water seemed to be deep enough for a high dive off into. I considered the idea for a moment and eventually thought, why not? I was just wearing my old gym shorts and a button up flannel after all.
I took off the flannel and walked down to a height where I wouldn't feel queasy, folded up my flannel and jumped into the water. The water was cool and refreshing, the perfect temperature for the warm summer day it seemed to be here. I hadn't even noticed I was sweaty from wearing that flannel until the water washed over me. I played around in the water for most of the afternoon, jumping off of the stairs many more times. I Decided that I should probably find somewhere safe to stay the night when I noticed that the sun was beginning to set behind the forest that now looked as though any vile creature could come out of it during the night.
Even though it was a few miles away I still didn't want to be anywhere near it by nightfall, so I grabbed up my flannel and started walking away from the lake, in the opposite direction of the forest; and kept my eye out for anything that might make a decent shelter for the night. I lucked out by finding a log cabin a small ways away that seemed to be in pretty good condition. It was a bit smaller than most homes, but only in way that I would have to duck before using the door. I knocked at the door expecting no more surprises for the day, just hopping I would be able to rest. I was once again proven wrong in my thinking when the owner of the cabin opened the door.
Standing in front of a small oven, a gray coated mare with an eye that never looked directly at you was cleaning up from the nights dinner when a knock came at the door of her meager abode. She crossed the small distance from the stove to the door with a few hoof-trots to find the strangest of creatures looking down on her through the door. It was so weird looking, it was almost like a monkey but it only had hair on top of its head and had a different set of appendages at the ends of its hind legs. She wondered for a second if all of its hair had gone to its head because it had enough to drape down to its eyebrows, then she noticed that it was also wearing clothes, something that no normal monkey would do. It was wearing a pair of black flip-flops, orange shorts, and a sweat-stained button down flannel. It looked as though it was about to speak but never got the chance as the door was slammed in its face with a shriek. Inside the cabin, a young unicorn filly had just been woken up by her mothers shriek.
"What is it mamma?" the unicorn asked. She was answered by being scooped up in her mothers hooves and carried to hide in the corner.
"Hush Dinky, there's a monster out there!" her mother replied.
"All the way from the Everfree?" Dinky asked.
"I can't think of anywhere else a monster could come from." there was another knock at the door. "You see?!" Dinky's mother pointed out as she and Dinky looked out the window.
"Whats with all the commotion?.." A brown stallion asked as he came into the living room, having just been woken up. He was greeted with a gigantic hug from the wall eyed mare half in affection, half in seeking refuge. "There's a MONSTER out there!!" she cried into his collar.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it" he said as he pried her off of him and pulled out a peculiar looking device. As he looked out the window he couldn't help but let out a laugh that made Dinky's mother's face flush in frustration as he put the device away. "That's no monster." He chuckled as he opened the door. "I'm terribly sorry about before sir, is there any way we can assist you?" he asked.
"Umm.. yeah, I was wondering if it would be ok if I could stay the night here, as long as it isn't too much trouble." I said looking towards the wall-eyed mare warily.
"No trouble at all! Come in!" He said as he stepped aside to let me in.
I came into a small living room with a stove on the far right wall from where you come in through the front door, three small couches around a circular coffee table to the left, a hall leading back to where I assumed the bedrooms and bathroom were, and a simple clock above the stove. In the corner made by two of the couches closest to the window I saw the mare from before cowering with who I assumed to be her filly. "Have a seat, I'm sure that after today you must be tired if my guess as to where you come from is right." the brown stallion said as he gestured for me to have a seat on one of the couches. I sat on the one closest to the door, noting that it had clearly not been made for someone my size. The wall eyed mare got up and scooted towards the corner at the back of the house away from me, the young filly simply got up and took a seat at the couch across the coffee table from mine.
"Again, sorry about before." the stallion said with a sigh as he shut the door.
"Oh no, it's quite alright." I replied lightheartedly
"Good, good." He answered with a smile. "Anyways, I suppose introductions are in order." he said as he sat down on the couch adjacent to mine "My name is Time Turner, though people have taken to calling me Doctor Whooves." He chuckled as he gestured to himself.
"This is Derpy Hooves-"
"I told you I don't like being called that!" Derpy interrupted.
"Ah, she speaks!" Turner quipped, motioning for her to come have a seat by him; which she did grudgingly until he nuzzled her cheek, causing her to lighten up as she nuzzled back. I saw the young filly making barfing motions at the unfolding scene.
"As I was saying, this is Derpy." He whispered something in her ear after introducing her a second time which caused her to close her eyes and wrap a wing around him with a smile. "And the one pretending to puke over there is Dinky." Turner smirked as Dinkey straightened up after being pointed out.
"Hi." She said.
"Hello." I responded.
"So what can we call you? I highly doubt your name is human." Turner asked.
"Heheh, My name is Jack. It's very nice to meet you all."
"It's very nice to meet you too now that I know that you're not going to eat us!" Derpy said with a smile.
"Quite the change of heart?" Turner quipped. This earned him a jab in the side and a giggle from me and Dinky. "So I take it from your wife's reaction that humans aren't very common here?" This almost placed a look of horror on his face while it placed one of sheer joy on Derpy's as she tackled him in a hug. Dinky simply face-hoofed at this.
"We.. actually aren't married." Turner said, now on the floor under Derpy.
"Oh, could of fooled me." I said. This seemed to only make Derpy hug tighter. "Anyways, as for your question.... Good grief! Is that the time?" Turner said as he caught eye of the clock. It read somewhere around one-thirtyish.
"Well, you know what they say, 'tick tock goes the clock'!" He said as he climbed up out of Derpy's grasp with a bit of effort. "I'll answer any questions you have in the morning, but for now we should all go to bed." He said as he got everyone herded down the hallway "You can sleep on any of the couches out here, I'll bring you a pillow and blanket to use"
"Thank you, Turner. Good night"
"Turner.. I like it!" He said as he went back to his room.
As I waited for him to come back with some sleepables, I looked around the room. It was a nice little place, there was a window next to the door where I came in and one on the wall to the left overlooking the silhouette of a small shed outside. The stove was a simple gas stove with four burners and a pot sitting on one of them. As I was looking around, Derpy flew in with my sleepables. "Thank you." I said with a smile as she handed them to me.
"Tomorrow, I had better learn just as much about you as you do about us before you expect get one Muffin out of me." she said with a serious tone and face as she stared a hole into me with one eye and one into the wall with the other before flying off to her room. I was sort of confused but I decided to shrug it off for the night and get some sleep.
I awoke to a faint poking in my side which I found to be from a young unicorn's horn being jabbed into my belly. after I rubbed the fog out of my eyes I sat up with a huge yawn, causing Dinky to step back.
"Mornin' sleeping beauty." She said sarcastically, holding her nose to fend off my morning breath.
"Mornin'" I replied, not being one to care about sarcasm when I first wake up.
"Hey there Jack, how did you sleep?" Turner asked as he came into the living room and gave Derpy a hug, which she returned in kind.
"Pretty good, whats that smell?" I asked, sniffing the air.
"Oh! My Muffins!" Derpy called as she ran to the stove and turned it off.
"Muffins? But they smell.."
"Breakfasty?" Turner quipped. "I'm not sure how she does it, but she makes the best... Well, any kind of muffins really."
"They smell delicious!" I said, taking in the intoxicating aroma as Derpy set them on the table.
"Try one!" Turner said as he handed me one.
"Thanks!"
When I went to take a bite though, Derpy smacked it out of my hand with a glare.
"Mom! What was that for?!" Dinky scolded as she sat down.
"Answers first, then Muffin." she deadpanned, causing Dinky to sigh.
"Ah yes, I said I would answer your questions this morning didn't I? Well ask away!" Turner said, handing me another Muffin.
"Thank you, and for every question that Turner here answers for me, I'll answer one of yours Derpy; hows that?" I asked, guarding my Muffin from her so she couldn't smack it away again.
"Fine... but don't call me Derpy!"
"Well what do you want me to call you then?"
"Ditzy Doo Whooves! Mailmare Extrordinair!" She said full of moxie as her wall eye did its thing, causing Dinky to giggle as she ate her Muffin while Turner simply face-hoofed.
"Umm.... How 'bout I just call you Ditzy?"
"..fair enough..." she said as she lowered herself down next to Turner. "Now, where were we?" As soon as Turner had asked that, there was a knock at the door. "I got it!" I said, ignoring the concerned look I got from Derpy as I got up. When I opened the door there was a Unicorn mare with a mint green coat and Lyre branded on her flanks, somthing that would definantly be a question of interest.
"Who's at the door Jack?" Turner asked from the living room. "A mint green unicorn." I answered. "Hi Lyra!" Derpy said, now floating right behind me. "How'd she get there so fast?" I thought to myself.
"Hi Derpy." She replied with a smile.
"Is there somthing you need?" Turner asked, also behind me now. "How'd HE get there so fast??" I thought again.
"I was just wondering if either of you had seen JetWave, I went by his house this morning to help make some steam so he could re-build his stairs but when I got there the stairs were still intact and two pegasi that had been smashing them said that he fell into the lake yesterday and that they hadn't seen him since." She explained, seeming very concerened.
"Nope. Can't say that we've seen him either." Turner said.
"Ok, thanks." She said with a smile I could tell she had to force a little.
"Hi Lyra! Come in! Come in!" Dinky called from the living room.
"Haha, OK Dinky."
"Would you like us to go check with you? He might have just been out when you went by before." I offered as we all came in and sat down in the living room.
"But.. you wouldn't be even be able to make it to the front door, only Derpy would." She said.
"Really? Why?" I asked.
"Oh! Yes, you see, JetWaves house is on a cloud and normally only Pegasi are able to manipulate cloudstuff." Turner answered me.
Really? Well, that explains why I couldn't use those cloud stairs before. "So JetWave is a Pegasus?" I asked.
"No, He's actually an earth pony like myself." Turner answered, earning a confused look from me.
"I'll explain as we eat, help yourself Lyra!"
"Thank you Doctor Whooves!" She said as she picked up a Muffin in a golden aura and proceeded to eat it. Yet another thing to ask about.
After breakfast, we all headed over to JetWaves house and I was re-capping with Turner about everything he had explained to me as I ate one of Derpy's delicious breakfast muffins.
"So, I'm in the land of Equestria; That's ruled over by the Princesses of the day and night, and everyone here is a pony of some sort."
"Yep."
"And the three different types of ponies are Earth, Pegasai, and Unicorn; Unicorns being able to preform magic, Pegasai being able to fly and manipulate the weather, and Earth Ponies being inherently strong."
"Correct."
"But JetWave is an Earth pony that is able to manipulate the weather because his Cutie Mark gave him that ability, and the Cutie Marks of most ponies generally shows what their special talent is or gives it to them?"
"That pretty much sums it up right there."
"Crazy..." I said. He merely shrugged at that.
"Here we are!" Lyra said as we got to a familiar looking lake. It was a fairly cloudy morning, but there seemed to be one shimmer on the surface of the lake that out-shone the others. "I'll fly up there and check on him." Derpy said as she took off towards what I now knew was JetWaves house.
"Hey, umm.. Turner?" I whispered over to turner.
"Yes?"
"This is where I came into this world..."
"Really?"
"Yeah..." I said as I pointed to where I had washed up on shore when I regained conciousness here in Equestria. "Well, that is rather interesting..." He said, then it seemed like an idea had popped into his head. "Go see Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville! She'll be a purple unicorn with a pink star as a cutie mark living in the Ponyville Public Library!" He said with an air of sternness. "I'll check around here some more to see if I can find anything."
"Thanks Turner." I said as I took off running, then coming to a halt and running back to him. "Umm... Which way?" I asked sheepishly. He chuckled and pointed with a hoof, I thanked him again and ran off in that direction this time.
It didn't take long before I came across a small town I assumed to be Ponyville and even less time before I passed a sign that said "Welcome to Ponyville!" It was a nice little place, I had entered into a neighborhood area of the town and saw a few ponies going about their business as I walked down the street. There was an poofy orange-maned mare tending to her garden, a cream coated mare with a light pink and navy mane and tail getting her mail from Derpy who had just landed next to her, I waved but I don't think she saw me.
It was late morning when I got into town and the clouds had cleared up from earlier. As I entered town, I realized that I had no idea where the library was or even what it looked like, so I decided to ask a pink mare with balloons on her flank working on the strangest of contraptions I had ever seen for directions. "Excuse me," I asked. "do you know where the town library is?" As soon as I had started talking, her head perked up out of what I assumed to be an oven on the machine, revealing a mane that can only be described as cotton candy. She whipped her head around quickly, I half expected to be splattered with the sugary treat; and let out a huge gasp.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" She exclaimed excitedly, bouncing up and down as she talked. "I can't believe it! I was just sitting here, working on my Welcome Wagon Mark IV when I hear a new voice that I've never heard before! And I knew it was new because I know everypony here in Ponyville! *gasp!* You're not a pony! You're a.. a... What exactly are you anyways Mister? Are you some sorta shaved monkey? Oh! Or, you're a monkey.. That never had any fur to begin with!! But, no.. You've got that fur on top of you're head, so that can't be it, and you don't have a tail." She said as she looked at my backside. "*gasp!!* OHMYGOSH I still don't know your name! What is it?" she asked as she finally stopped bouncing around.
I had to stop my head from spinning before I could answer her. "I'm Jack, an-" I was about to tell her what I was but then she got going again. "Hi there Jack, I'm Pinkie Pie! But of course you already knew that, heheahah! OH!! I just HAVE to Introduce you to my friends, *gasp!!!* and then we can throw you a PARTY!!" a spray of confetti erupted from out of her mane, at least I think that's where it came from; as she jumped. "Oh, you're going to LOVE the party I'll get together for you!! My brain is already being SWARMED with ideas for what all we can do!" She started bouncing down the street as she was talking, I had to catch up to her quick before I lost a shot at finding out where the library was.
"W-wait! Pinkie!"
As we walked and talked, well, more like she talked and bounced while I listened and walked; we came across an orchard. "Oo!! This is where my friend AppleJack lives! Here! Hold this!" she she said as she bounced up particularly high and plucked an apple from a tree and handed it to me "Now you've got an Apple, Jack!" I couldn't help but laugh at the really bad joke she had just made as we came up to an orange pony with her mane and tail done up in a ponytail and a very nice stetson on her head as she was about to buck one of the many apple trees around.
"Hiya AppleJack!" Pinkie shouted just as AppleJack had kicked the apple tree, causing it to spill its contents into the buckets waiting below. "Howdy there Pinkie, who's yer friend?" I wasn't quite sure, but I thought I saw her mumble something under her breath. "This is Jack! He just got into town today and-" Pinkie Pie had suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence, something I honestly never expected in a million years.
"Pinkie?" she inhaled sharply and then...
"I'msosorryJackbutIneverthoughttofindoutifyouwereaboyoragirl!!"
At this, both me and AppleJack brought our respected apendages up to say hello to our face.
"Eheheh.."
AppleJack responded to this with just a sigh. "Anyways, Ah'm AppleJack. As ah'm sure y'all already found out." she said as she extended her hoof.
"It's very nice to meet you AppleJack." I said as I shook her hoof.
"Ah shucks, jus' call meh AJ! It sure as heck's less of a mouthfull."
"Heheh, will do."
"Now Ah hate ta be all 'hey an' go' 'specially seein' as how ah jus' metcha, but ah still got work that needs doin, maybe we can get aquainted proper after Ah'm done." she said as she trotted over to another tree.
"Would you like some help AJ?" I asked.
"Shoot, ah ain't got much left ta do, but don' really wanna repeat of what happened the last time Big Mac was outta commision.. Alright partner, Ya got yerself a deal! Jus' go and get them trees over there harvested an' we'll call it a day!" she said, pointing to the trees in question.
"Will do." I said as I scurried up into one of the trees and tossed the apples into the buckets below.
"I'd love to stick around and help out you guys out, but I have A LOT of preparations to take care of before tonight!"
"No worries Pinkie, ah'm Definitely lookin' forward to it."
"Great! cause it's gonna be super-duper funtastic! With dancing, and streamers, and cake, and balloons, and..." Pinkies voice got smaller and smaller as she hopped away from the acres while me and AJ worked.
"So, y'all excited bout tonight?" AJ asked as she knocked the apples out of another tree.
"What happens tonight?" I asked back as I sent more apples into the buckets below before moving on to the next tree.
"Oh yea, yer new so y'all don't know how fun Pinkies partys are yet." she said as she sent more apples into the awaiting buckets. "You'll find out tonight."
"Are they really that good?" I asked as I tossed more apples out of my tree. "Oh yea! You'll have a, *grunt* Blast!" As she released her last kick though, A little more than just apples fell out of her tree.
"Rainbow! How long have y'all been nappin' up in that there tree?"
"Ugh.." was the only response she got as a cyan pegasus mare with a rainbow mane and tail stood up from the apple bucket she had landed in. "I wasn't napping! I was training myself!"
"Ta do what? fall asleep faster than the average mare?"
"No! To see how long I could lie in a tree with my eyes shut before I fell asleep!" At this point I had jumped out of the tree I was in. "Anyway, Did I hear something about a Pinkie Pie Party?"
"As a matter'a fact, ya did. She's throwin' a welcome party fer Jack here." AJ said as she pointed her hoof at me. "Hi there." I said calmly. Rainbow flew up to me and was looking me square in the eye, as if trying to get me to make some sort of move that would challenge her.
"What exactly are you?" she finally asked.
"Rainbow Dash!" AJ pipped up with no lack of scorn. I only chuckled. "It's alright AJ, I'm a human." I said, answering Rainbow.
"I have no idea what that is."
"Well it's obviously what he is! Now Jack, since y'all were kind enough to help with today's harvest," "unlike some ponies Ah know" she said under her breath, giving Rainbow Dash a look. "I will not take no fer an answer when I say that yer gonna be havin' lunch here"
"Oh, I wouldn't want to impo-" I was cut short as my stomach protested to what I was about to say and earning me a chuckle from AJ. "Y'all were sayin'?" she said with a smirk. "Heheh.. I suppose a small lunch wouldn't hurt."
"Small? Heh, yer bout to learn that the only thing small you'll find in that kitchen is mah 'lil sister Applebloom helpin' Granny Smith." AJ joked as we all started heading for the little farm house beside the barn.
Floating above the lake and JetWaves cloud house was somthing so peculiar that you would think you were seeing things if you didn't do a double take, and even then you might still not believe what your eyes were telling you. Because what you would see would be a blue police-call box with the letters T.A.R.D.I.S. printed above the door. Inside, a very busy Doctor and Derpy Whooves worked hard to find something that shouldn't be in existence.
"Anything on the scanners yet Ditzy?" He called as he was working on a the wiring of the central doohickey in the middle of the room that should not have been as big as it was with a small device that looked a lot like a screwdriver.
"I'm still getting normal readings Doctor." She answered, thankful that she didn't have a lot of mail to deliver today.
"Well keep your eyes on the screens, you never know what might happen as the clock ticks on." the room fell into relative silence as they each worked on their tasks until it was broken by a sharp BEEP. "I think I've got something Doctor!" The Doctor immediately crawled out from under the thingy he was working on and dashed over to look at Derpys screen "There. It's small, but it just might be what we're looking for." He said as he pointed to a yellow blip on the screen filled with blue and pink blips.
Author's Note
And yes, the shed that Jack saw outside their house before in the darkness was actually the silhouette of the T.A.R.D.I.S.
"Wow, this looks amazing!" I said, looking on at the table of food that was laid out before us, completely filled with apples and apple products of all kinds. "Ehyup. We got, apple fritters, apple frys, apple jam, apple dumplings, some of the best apple cider that y'all are gonna ever taste, and best of all..." AJ stopped to build suspense as her, Apple Bloom and Big Mac looked as thought they were about to unveil the biggest pumpkin in the county fair. "Granny Smiths Super Special: ZAP Apple Pie!!" they all said in unison, pointing to a pie that seemed to simply shimmer.
Me and Rainbow Dash clapped at the big reveal. "Awesome! Now can we stop talking about the delicious food and actually eat it?!" She said causing everyone to laugh.
"Go right ahead Y'all!" AJ proclaimed.
There was no need to tell us twice as we all grabbed our plates and quickly began to fill them. "So what exactly happened to your shoulder Big Mac?" I asked the crimson stallion as we all sat down to eat. "Dislocated it while Ah was plowin' the fields fer the new sapplins we're gettin' in soon" he answered before taking a bite out of a red gala.
"Which is why he ain't wearin' his watchamacalit right now, cuz the doctor said that it'd get in the way of his shoulder gettin' better" Apple Bloom pipped up, then taking a sip of apple juice.
"Ah think it's called a 'yoke' Sugarcube" AJ corrected, taking a bite of a fritter.
"Now where was it y'all said you were from sonny?" Granny Smith asked me with a mouthful of dumplings.
I was about to take a bite of ZAP apple pie when she asked that. "That's... A bit complicated to explain"
"SURE it is" Dash said, in an accusing sort of way.
"Now there ain't no need for takin' up THAT kinda tone Rainbow Dash! If he don't wanna talk about it, we ain't gonna force it outta him" AJ said, causing Rainbow Dash to to huff in response.
"Thank you AJ" I said, now patting my full stomach. "And thanks for lunch, it was delicious! Especially that ZAP apple pie"
"Why thankya kindly there Jack, Ah'm just glad y'all managed to show up while the zap apples were in season so you could try it fresh" Granny Smith said with a smile.
"Well" AJ said as she stood up. "Ah gotta go into town and have Rarity mend a hole that SOMEpony made in my hat when she fell outta a tree earlier"
"I said I was sorry!" Rainbow pipped up with a mouthful of Jam covered apple frys.
"I'll go with you, I have to head into town anyways" I said, also standing up from the table.
"Well, ah sure would 'preciate the company! And don' get me wrong or nothin', but sometimes ah jus' can't STAND that mare without somepony there ta keep me in check"
"AWWwwwWWW.... But I was gunna introduce ya to my fellow crusaders!" Apple Bloom whined.
"Heheh, maybe next time kiddo" I said with a smile as me and AJ were walking out the door.
Me and AJ had a nice long talk as we walked to the Carousel Boutique about what life was like for a farm pony. "Wow, and you still almost beat them even when they turned off the efficiency filter on their machine?" I asked as we walked through the Ponyvile market. It was a slow day there with only a few stands even set up. "Ehyup, and it's a good thing that it didn't keep all the branches it sucked up outta the cider, otherwise we coulda lost the farm!" She said as we rounded the corner and walked up to a circular shop that was very ornately decorated that fit its name Carousel Boutique perfectly. "Those brothers sound like a real piece of work" I said as we entered the store. Inside was a white unicorn with a curled purple mane and tail levitating multiple pieces of fabric and bringing them closer and further from her face one at a time. "No.. no.. no.. Heavens no!" I heard her mumbling to herself as she did so.
"Howdy there Rare!" AJ said as we came in.
"Aha!" she said as she dropped all the fabrics she was levitating except for a navy blue strip as she ran over to get some more just like it and then to a dress on a pony manikin and proceeded to sew it on.
"Ahem!" AJ cleared her throat, snapping the mare out of her dress making daze.
"Huh? Oh! AppleJack! How long have you been standing there?"
"Not too long, ah could use yer help. Y'see, ah managed to tear a hole in my hat. Think y'all could give 'er a patch job?" She asked, holding out her hat in her hoof. Rarity took it up in her magic and proceeded to examine it. "Hmm.. moderate sized hole, just above the ear on the left side.. this shouldn't be too difficult. I'll start right away!" She said as she set it on her table to begin working.
"Great! ah really would hate to be without it at the party tonight" AJ said with a smile.
"Oo! A party! What's the occasion, Darling?"
"Pinkies throwin' Jack here a welcome to Ponyville party"
"Hi" I said.
"Oh I'm terribly sorry sir! How rude of me" she said as she turned around.
"My name is Rarit-EUAGH!!" She said with as shriek as she saw me for the first time. "was my apperence really that off-setting?" I thought.
"Land sakes, Rarity! What is it?"
"Y-your.. Your clothes.." At this, AppleJack did a simple face-hoof. "My clothes?" I asked as I looked myself over.
"S-surely you don't go around in those.. rags, Darling" Rags? Ok, fair enough they aren't really something I'd leave the house in on a regular basis. But rags? "I generally only wear them around the house, but I was kinda.. thrown from it recently"
"Oh my.. You poor poor dear! I'm terribly sorry... I know! I'll make you an outfit" I was a bit confused at this, and it wasn't until I noticed the look of pity I was getting from AppleJack that it hit me what was happening "W-wait wait! I think you misunderstood what I meant by thrown from home. I have a home! It's just really far away!" I said, trying not make either of them think I was homeless.
"Shush, Shush! I WON'T hear another word of it! If Pinkie is throwing you a party tonight, then I INSIST on making you something to at least look presentable and not like you just rolled out of bed!" She said, now pushing me towards a miniature stage that was nearby. "I'm terribly sorry AppleJack, I know I said I would start working on your hat right away but I simply CANNOT allow this to go unattended!" She said as she pushed me on-stage.
"No worries sugarcube. Jus' bring it by at the party tonight."
"Oh, I don't know.. Am I invited?" She asked as she levitated a tape measure over to me and started taking measurements. "It's Pinkie Pie. Ah wouldn't be surprised if the whole town was invited!" AJ retorted as she made for the door. I gave her a desperate look to say don't leave me here but she either didn't notice or REALLY didn't want to be anywhere near here while Rarity went back into "fasionista mode". "Please, Miss...."
"Rarity, Darling."
"Rarity, I don't have any money. And I don't want you to be doing this without pay."
"Pay? Nonsense! In your case I'm willing to make an exception. Besides, I've never made a suit for a bi-ped before so this is really mutually beneficial for both of us" she said as she undid my flannel with her magic and took it and my gym shorts off.
"Those stays on!!" I said quickly as I grabbed my aura surrounded boxers before she could pull them off. She gave me a look of confusion before shrugging and releasing her hold on them.
"So tell me darling, what style do you want me to create for you?" She asked me, with no lack of flare.
"I'm really not that picky, just as long as it can breathe" I said, starting to feel slightly embarrassed about being up on a stage in nothing but my undergarments. That apparently wasn't enough for her "Oh come now Darling, surely you care more about your appearance than that! Now tell me, WHAT! Is Jack's style!" She said, looking up at me with determined eyes. I actually got to thinking about it and then realized that my legs and mid section weren't the only things that were exposed up here. "I do normally wear a Fedora" She visibly brightened up at that. "Yes! Good! I shall return!" She said as she ran off to the back room.
I was left standing on-stage in my boxers. "Well, at least no one can see me." I said, instantly wishing I hadn't when a white unicorn filly with a pink and lavender mane and tail walked in from upstairs. When she saw me, her cheeks turned from their normal white color to as red as Apple Blooms mane as she turned around and walked back upstairs.
Rarity came back in levitating all kinds of hats different sizes and styles in her light blue aura. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that! I ordered all sorts of different kinds to base outfits around. Sadly I haven't had the time as of late and they've just been sitting back there in that room gathering dust!" I browsed them all until I finally laid my eyes on one. A brown fedora with a brim that went all around the base. "That one." I said as I pointed to it. It floated closer to me and I took it and placed it on my head. A perfect fit! "I love it! It's just like the one I have back home!" Rarity continued to smile as I said this. "Now, we just have to assemble a style that circulates around it... A good hat like this requires at least medium effort put into the outfit in order to pull it off!" I nodded as we started talking about what to put into my outfit.
It was starting to get dark by the time I left Rarity's place with my new outfit, an earthy green and brown short-sleeved button up with brown khaki pants and the hat I had picked out. I was about to walk out the door when I remembered why I came to town in the first place. "Oh! Do you think you could point me in the direction of the library?" I asked.
"Why of course Darling, it's just down the street there in that old oak tree." She said, pointing with a hoof. "Thank you." I said with a tip of the hat as I started walking out that way. It was a short walk and I soon found myself at the front door of the library. As I walked in the lights were dimmed and then they suddenly turned on in a flash of light and a big "SURPRISE!!"
Surprised is definitely how I felt as I walked into the library's main room. True to her word, Pinkie had decorated it with balloons and streamers in every conceivable hue you could think of and there seemed to be a karaoke machine set up in the back by the stairs. The table in the center of the room was assorted with a variety of different types of party foods and a punch bowl in the center. The floor was covered in confetti from where they had welcomed me just now, and the room was filled with guests, some I recognized right off the bat from having either met them previously or having seen them throughout the day. "Oh dear, did I miss the big surprise?" An elegant voice from behind me spoke up.
I turned to see Rarity coming in through the door with AJ's hat held in her aura. "'fraid so Rare." AJ said as she walked up to get her hat from Rarity, I have to say it was kinda odd seeing her without it. "Oh well, at least I managed to mend your hat before the party got too underway." She said, handing AJ her hat which she promptly returned to her head.
I was about to walk over to snag myself a cupcake from the table when a very energetic Pinkie Pie jumped up in front of me with a blow of a party horn. "Hiya Jack! Cupcake?" she asked as she held out a cupcake.
"Thanks!" I said, gladly taking it.
"I bet you're really surprised aren't you? I remembered when you first came into town, you asked me where the library was and that was when I got the idea to throw you a surprise party here! I knew I was risking the surprise part of it by telling you I was throwing you a party but you didn't know where it was going to be and THAT'S when I got the idea to make it a suprise! And.. OOO THAT'S GENIUS!" She said as I turned my cupcake into a sandwich. "Huh? Oh, haha! Yeah, Ya get more in your mouth and less on your face like this." I said, taking a bite out of it. "I gotta try that now!" she said as she bounced off to get a cupcake.
As the party got underway I had struck up conversation with Lyra from this morning. "So what is it that you are again?" She asked, studying my figure.
"A human."
"And these things are called feet, right?" She asked as she held my hand in her hooves.
"Hands actually, my feet are what I walk on." I corrected, pointing to them.
"Oops, my bad." She giggled. "And this little appendage on your hands right here is the only thing keeping the other four from being practically useless?" She stated, poking at my thumb with her hoof.
"Yes, pretty much everything I want to do with my hands I have to use my thumb as well." As I said this I saw out of the corner of my eye a mare that had fit Turners description of Twilight Sparkle perfectly. "Could you excuse me for a moment Lyra?" I said as I got up, pulling my hand out of Lyra's hooves who wanted to ask me more questions about their functions.
"Are you Twilight Sparkle?" I asked as I approached her.
"Yes, I am. And you must be Jack." She said as she held out her hoof.
"Very nice to meet you." I said as I shook her hoof. "I was told by Time Turner that you might be able to help me get back home?"
"Of course, I can send a letter to the Princess immediately asking her to send enough money for you to get back to your home town. Now where is it you live? Mane-hatten? Fillydelphia? I hear there are quite a few oddities out there." she asked as she levitated a quill and pen in from upstairs.
"It's actually a bit more complicated than- wait, oddities?" I asked as she grinned sheepishly. "Never mind, I'm not from this world."
"What exactly do you mean by 'this world'?" She asked. I was about to answer when Pinkie Pie jumped in and grabbed us both in a hug. "Why are you two talking about messy theoretical stuff? This is a PARTY!" She said as she jumped away, then jumped back. "And by the way, have either of you seen JetWave? I invited him, but no one has seen him since yesterday. Not even Lyra!" She asked. "No, I can't say that I have. I really wanted to run a few more tests on him to understand how such a drastic ability could be granted by just a Cutie Mark." I'm sure that I visibly shuddered as Twilight said that. "Don't really blame him for not showing up with that thought in mind" I thought to myself. "Awww! He's missing out! Oh well, BACK TO PARTYING!!!" she cried out as she pulled a cannon out of nowhere and shot off a bunch of streamers, confetti and a.... large purple lizard?? I saw Twilight chuckle as she bounced off.
"She's got a point, we can talk about this later. For now, let just enjoy your party."
"Agreed." I said with a smile.
After a few more cupcakes, a lot of rounds of pin the tail on the pony, and one slightly awkward run-in with that filly from Carousel Boutique, who turned out to be Raritys little sister and one of those "Cutie Mark Crusaders" Apple Bloom was talking about at lunch today; I was starting to get a little run-down. So I walked outside and saw a rather tall tree with branches that were low enough for me to climb next to the Library, so I proceeded to do so.
Once I found a branch that I liked that was about level with the balcony at the back of the library, I got my self comfortable and laid back on it as I reflected on what all had happened today and all the ponies I met.
After awhile, I saw what looked to be a yellow pegasus with a pink mane come out of the library, I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl since I didn't have my glasses in this world; I could see a bird fly down and land on a wing that had been extended for it though. After what seemed to be a short conversation between the two, the bird flew off and I saw the pegasus start to fly up towards me. Once she got up near me I could tell that she was in fact a mare with a rather long pink mane and tail and three pink butterflies as her Cutie Mark.
"Um..... H-hi.." She said with a voice as smooth as buttermilk as she was flew next to my branch, partially hiding behind her mane. "Hi there, I'm Jack!" I said, holding out my hand. She almost seemed to recoil at my voice and for a moment it looked like her wings were about to go stiff. "O-oh!" She said nervously.
"I'm.... Flutt..sh.." Her voice trailed off as she was introducing herself, hiding behind her mane more and more. "I'm sorry, couldn't quite hear your name." I said, withdrawing my hand as it became apparent she wasn't going to shake it.
"I'm.. Flutter..." She said again. "Flutter? That's a very pretty name, quite fitting if I may say so." I said as she squeaked and hid completely behind her mane.
After awhile of awkward silence between us I noticed that her wings were shaking more and more as they flapped. "Would you like to have a seat?" I asked, patting the branch I was sitting on. "Ok...." She whispered as she landed on the branch, wings instantly snapping shut. The entire branch was shaking as she trembled. "Would it be ok if I asked you something?" I asked, treading carefully as I could tell this mare was easy to spook.
My efforts were in vain as she jumped when I spoke. "O-of course!.." She said with a squeak, less hidden by her mane than before. "Why are you so nervous? It's not like there's anyone out here judging you." I said, seeing her snap up and look at me. No longer trying to hid behind her mane. "Well... I.. I guess that it's......." She said as she fiddled with her mane with her hooves "It's just..... I'm just not very good around new ponies.. or any ponies really, for that matter..." I couldn't help myself but chuckle.
"Clearly, I'm not a pony though." I said with a smirk.
She jumped up when I said this. "Oh! No no no! Of course not! I-I didn't mean to offend you..." Again, I couldn't help but laugh a hearty laugh as I patted her head. "What was in that punch?" I wondered briefly. I felt both her and the branch jolt as I did that. "There wasn't anything offensive said." I could have sworn that I saw a tear begin to pool in her right eye when she looked up at me.
"Cm'here, you look like you could really use a hug." I said, holding my arms out. She got up and floated into my lap as I wrapped my arms around her. She was still shaking, but not as much as much as she had been before.
"Now, tell me what about me is making you so nervous." I said in a calm level voice.
"W-well.... I.. I..." She seemed to be on the verge of tears. I started to stroke her mane in an effort to calm her down, to no avail. And then, she let it all out.
"Nothing! I don't know why I'm so scared of you! In fact, there isn't anything scary about you! But I'm still so nervous and I don't know why!! And.. And... And I just don't want to be so afraid of everything anymore!!!" She said, crying into my arm after she opened herself up to me.
I held her close and stroked her mane more until she had calmed down and I released her from the hug. "S-sorry.... I-I'm not usually that outspoken...." She said, hiding behind her mane again. "Don't be. It's never good to keep all that bottled up like that." I said. "If you ever feel like you need to tell somebody something, talk to me about it."
She seemed to smile behind her mane as she nuzzled back into my arms. "Thank you...." She said as she calmly started to doze off in my now tear-stained shirt.
I was starting to drift off as well and it wasn't long before I fell into a deep sleep. Never noticing a rainbow hued mane poking out of a cloud that had been floating just above the library ever since I'd been out here.
Apologies and more bonding
The next morning was easier to wake up to than I thought seeing as how I had spent the night in a tree, then I realized that I wasn't in the tree I had fallen asleep in. I was on a cloud! I immediately started to panic, knowing that it could drop me at any second. "Relax, I packed that cloud tight enough to were even you wouldn't fall through." I heard a masculine yet obviously female voice call out. I looked up to a cloud slightly higher than mine to see Rainbow Dash leaning back in it.
"O-ok" I said, voice trembling at the thought of being up so high.
"Hey! That wasn't easy to do! So quit freakin' out and look around!" She said as she jumped off her cloud and proceeded to fly around. I dared a peek over the edge of my cloud, staying as low as I could. The view was great. I could see the whole town from up here and all the way out to a small cottage at the edge of the Everfree just past the lake I woke up at.
"Wow..." I said, jumping back as I almost lost my balance.
"I know, right?! Pretty awesome to be up this high, ain't it?" Dash said as she flew up behind me, almost scarring me off of my cloud.
"Y-yeah" I said shakily. "Why am I up here though? And how? Last time I checked, I fell asleep in a tree." I asked. Partially out of curiosity, but mostly because I was so freaked out at being up so high. She seemed to loose some of her charisma when I asked this. "Well, y'see.. I kinda feel like we got off on the wrong hoof yesterday... And after I saw how you treated Fluttershy, I flew her home and packed this cloud for you 'cause I wanted to, well.. y'know...." She mumbled something inaudible at the end.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"I said! I'm..orry..." She said a little louder.
"Still didn't quite hear ya, what?" I asked, teasing with her at this point.
"I'm SORRY!!" She shouted, nearly bursting my eardrums, note to self, do NOT tease Rainbow Dash; I had to wait a second for my ears to stop ringing before I could answer her. "It's quite alright, apology accepted." I said, holding out my hand as she shook it. "Great! Phew, now that I got THAT off my chest, I gotta go show Scootaloo some new tricks. Later!" She said as she started to fly off.
"Wait!! How do I get down?!" I yelled before she could get out of earshot. "Oh! Right, heheh... Sorry" She said as she flew up next to my cloud. "You might wanna hold on, tight." Before I could even question what she said, she flew far off into the sky and came zooming back right into the side of my cloud. Sending it rocketing off towards the ground in the distance with a boom. Rainbow twinged as she saw where I was heading.
"Miiiight have over-shot that a little bit..."
It was a nice day at Fluttershy's cottage. The sun was shinning and the various animals she cared for were all happily making their various calls as she came around to bring them breakfast. All of that was interrupted when a cloud came rocketing in and landed right next to the stream that ran in front of her house.
She quickly ran over to see what had happened, finding a small crater and a tottering human inside it. "Ohmygoodness!" She said as she ran over to me. "Are you ok, Jack?"
"DoN't wORry, honEy.." I babbled. "The RAin won't drop TOO hard..." I then proceeded to black out.
When I awoke, I was lying on my back and my face and shoulders were damp. I let out a cough and looked up to see a relieved Fluttershy standing over me, along with a little white bunny that had a bit of a look to him and a few other animals. "Ugh... What happened? The last thing I remmeber was being bucked outta the sky by Rainbow Dash." I said as I sat up, causing everyone but the bunny to take a step back.
"Well.. Um.. You landed in that crater over there," she said, pointing at the crater. "And then you tottered around for a second, calledmehoney," That last part she said quickly, almost with a blush. "And then you passed out in the stream right there."
I was still on what she said I had called her.
"What did I call you again?"
"H-honey.." she said, obviously blushing this time.
"Oh" I said, awkwardly rubbing the back of my neck "Heheh, sorry 'bout that."
"Oh no! Don't be!" She said as she jumped up towards me. Her blush fading a little, and then returning, A bit brighter. "I actually.. wouldn't mind if you.... you would call me that again?" She said, almost like asking permission. I couldn't help but giggle.
"Sure thing," I took a pause. "Honey."
Her face exploded in a smile as she grabbed me in a hug. It was short-lived as the little white rabbit from before tugged on her mane and made a series of gestures. "Oh dear, I almost forgot! Thank you Angel." She said as she released me "I'm terribly sorry Jack, but I still have to finish feeding my animals breakfast. They've been waiting so patiently." She said as she flew off toward her cottage, Angel seemed to punctuate this with a nod.
"Would you like some help?" I offered, earning a shocked look from the rabbit. She stopped instantly and turned around after a second. "Oh, I wouldn't want to impose... You are my guest after all." She said rather meekly. "Nonsense! I'd be happy to help!" I said with a smile. She beamed as I said this.
"OK!" She said with the most charisma I had seen from her since I met her. Angel seemed to only look back and forth between us in confusion from her sudden boost in morale.
After we had finished feeding the animals she asked if I wanted to stay for tea, I kindly told her that I really wasn't a big fan of the stuff and I started heading for the door.
"O-oh.. I have other drinks besides tea! What would you like?" She said as I stood up. "Hahaha. I'm FINE, really." I said as I reached the door. I felt something tug on my shorts as I was about to open it though.
I turned around to see Fluttershy holding onto the right leg of them in her mouth, looking up at me with the biggest puppy dog eyes you've ever seen. "Please, stay a little longer...." I could hear my heart break as she said those words.
I leaned down and placed my hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I really do have to go. I'll come back and visit later, Promise!" I said, standing back up.
"Ok, But.... But you better!.. Better make it a Pinkie Promise!!" She said. I was confused until she started making a a series of gestures with her hooves. "Cross your heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in your eye. Hush Angel!" she said as the bunny made his one series of communicative gestures after she finished. I let out a chuckle at this.
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." I said as I repeated the motions she had just done. She smiled and gave me one more quick hug, waving goodbye until I was out of sight. Needless to say I wanted to stay a little longer, but I still hadn't properly talked to twilight about getting home yet.
The path from Fluttershy's cottage to town took me by the Whooves' cabin so I thought I would pay them a visit. When I knocked at the door I was not greeted by Turner nor Derpy as I was expecting, I was greeted by Dinky. "Hey Jack, what's up?" She asked as she opened the door.
"Nothing much, just passing by on my way to see Twilight and thought I'd say hi." I said, looking around as I tried to figure out how to phrase my next question. "Are.. You old enough to be home alone?"
"Huh? Home alo.. Oh! I'm not alone, my big sister's here!"
"Big sister?" As I asked this, I heard a voice from inside asking who was at the door followed by a loud crash that caused both me and Dinky to flinch. "Eheheheh.... She's a little clumsy." She said as a pink unicorn with glasses and a purple mane walked up behind her.
...And then fell on her face.
She got up and rubbed the back of her neck with a sheepish grin. "Hi there, I'm-"
"This is my big sister, Sparkler!" Dinky cut-in with a jump that almost caused Sparkler to fall back on her flank.
"Yeah, I'm Sparkler," She said, Grabbing Dinky up. "And this is Dinky!" she said as she gave her a noogie.
"He already knows who I am sis!" Dinky said from under her sisters hoof. "Heheh, well it was nice to meet you Sparkler. Tell your Mother I said hi and thanks for letting me stay here." I said as I started walking off.
"Will do! But didn't our dad fill you in on the basics of Equestria?" Sparkler asked.
"Turner?" I asked as I looked back to see Dinky was trying to tell her to shut up non-verbally.
"Yeah!" She almost yelled, even though I was still only a welcome mat away. "It's really complicated." Dinky said flatly.
"Don't you have to be somewhere?" She said before I could ask anything else and making me remmeber what I was doing. "Oh Yeah! Thanks Dinky!" I said as I ran off towards town. "Bye girls!" I yelled back. They waved back at me and went back inside. I cringed as I heard another crash come from inside as soon as they had closed the door.
Not very long after my own visit, there was another, softer knock at the door of the Whooves cabin.
After a bit of running, and a short detour when Lyra pulled me over to have lunch with her and her best friend Bon-Bon; I was standing outside the library.
"Just a second!" A young boys voice called as I knocked. It swung open to reveal a very sleepy looking dragon. "Hey Jack, come on in." He yawned, beconing me inside. It looked really different when it wasn't decorated for a big "Welcome to Ponyville" party. There were still streamers and baloons here and there, but the majority of it had been cleaned up.
"Thanks Spike." I said as I walked in.
"Some party last night huh? I'm surprised you're even up seeing as how that was your first Pinkie Pie Party." He yawned again, a little louder. I chuckled at this "I left early."
"You left your own party early? wierd."
"I'm not much of a crowd person." Spike only shrugged at this.
"Is Twilight here?" I asked.
"You just missed her! She steped out with Time Turner and Derpy to go help them with somthing they were having trouble with." He explained. "You're welcome to stay and wait for them to get back if you want, there's plenty to read." He said, guesturing to pretty much the entire main room.
"As tempting as that sounds, I'm gonna have to pass. Besides, if it's what I think it is, I think I might finally be going home." I said, leaving the confused dragon to tend to his duties of cleaning up the library.
Not long after I left the library, there was another knock on its door. "I'm Coming!"
When I got to the lake, I found my susspecions to be correct when I saw Turner, Twilight, and Derpy sitting on the shore next to what looked like a police callbox.
"Hey guys!" I called out. I got a simutanious "shhh!!" From him and Derpy. As I got closer I could tell that Twilight was wearing an ornate tiara that was glowing faintly with her horn and her eyes were glowing with a white light. I asked Derpy what was going on as I sat down by her.
"She's trying to find the string that will open a portal to get you home." She explained.
"We found it in the T.A.R.D.I.S. here, but I don't think that a police box materializing on your front lawn and you steping out of it would be good for your neighbors sanaties." Turner finished up, just as a hole began to appear on the surface of the lake undernieth JetWave's house. "Ah, that would be it right out there." He said as he pointed to the hole with a hoof.
"Awesome! But, how am I gonna get out there?" I asked as I gazed out to it. "Hmm, good question. Twilight has to keep all of her focus on the portal so it stays open." Turner said.
"And I, uh.. tend to end up droping heavy loads I carry." Derpy admitted sheepishly. After she had pointed that out, we all heard a small squeak from somewhere. "Did you guys hear somthing?" Turner asked, looking around.
"I said, I'll do it." A small voice sounded from behind us.
We all turned, except for Twilight; to see Fluttershy standing behind us, face hardend.
"Well that solves that problem. Go ahead and take him out there! I'm not sure how long Twilight will be able to hold the portal open." Turner said. I held my arms out as she picked me up and flew me out to the hole. "Thank you for doing this." I said as I looked up at her. "N-no problem." She said, voice cracking.
When we were hovering above the hole I thanked her again as I closed my eyes and let go to return home.
Which is why I was confused when I didn't fall. I opened me eyes to see to see that Fluttershy hadn't let go and her face was contorted to keep back tears that were leaking out anyway.
"Whats wrong?" I asked, trying to look into her eyes. "T-this, this is wrong...." She managed to choke out between sobs. "I.. I.... I don't want to lose you!" She finally screamed as she held onto me tighter, tears flowing free as she burried her face in my neck. I was just there, trying to figure out what I should say and after a minute of thinking, I realized that words wern't going to work and just held her, trying not to interfere with her wings.
After awhile of just silence, save for the occasional snort from Fluttershy; she spoke up again. "Will.. Will you, st-st-stay here.... With me?.... Please.." She asked as she looked into my eyes emploringly, fresh tears begining to well up in her own. I could swear they could hear my heart break all the way back on shore. I took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm sorry, as much as I would like to, I just can't..." I said, feeling tears begining to pool in my eyes. "Th-then.. Then I'm going with you!" She screamed as she stopped flapping her wings and we started to fall, new tears flowing all the while.
"What are they doing out there?" Turner asked no one in particular.
He had been watching Fluttershy just hover out there above the hole with Jack for the past half hour.
"I dunno," Derpy said as she whipped the sweat from Twilight's brow. "How come you never keep your eyes on me like how you're doing with them?" She asked.
"Ditzy Doo Hooves, are you... jealous?" He joked.
"Wha?! Me?! Jealous?! Pfht! Yeah right! I mean, seriously! Why would I be jealous??" She said, face turning as pink as the streak in Twilight's mane. Turner chuckled as he walked over and nuzzled his companion's cheek, turning it from pink to crimson.
Twilights eyes returned to normal and saw a pegasus holding Jack out above the hole, then noticed that Derpy was still sitting next to her. "Who's holding Jack out above the the hole and why haven't they let go yet?" She asked.
"Fluttershy is. I didn't want to risk dropping him into the lake and you have to keep the portal open." Derpy answered her, whipping away more sweat that had accumulated on her forehead. "Fluttershy?! I guess that explains that then." She said, causing Turners ears to perk up from their semi relaxed position.
"Explains what exactly?" He asked.
"Last night at the party, I noticed Fluttershy trying to work up the nerve to talk to him but not being able to. I told her to wait until he was alone and she followed him outside and fell asleep in his arms according to Rainbow Dash. I wouldn't be surprised if-" She was cut off by Turner's sonic flashing red and yellow and beeping at him. "Hold on a moment." He said as he ran into the T.A.R.D.I.S. for a brief moment. "Close the portal!!!" He yelled as he ran back out, all too late. The portal was closed and Jack and Fluttershy were no where to be seen. "Uh oh..."
Well, I'm finally heading home. I thought as I floated though the familiar ethereal tube towards the a portal that held the tree I had fallen out of into the Equestria. "Just didn't expect to have a companion with me." I mumbled, causing the yellow mare in my arms to look up at me in confusion.
"Did you say something?" She asked.
"No." I said, not meaning to have said that out loud.
"Oh, ok..." She said as she nuzzled back into my arms. I sighed as we floated closer to the portal to my own world.
When we reached what seemed to be about the mid-way point between the two portals we hit some sort of nothing. Both me and Fluttershy looked at each other in confusion.
"Did you feel that?" She asked.
"Yeah..."
"Oh good, I didn't want to have been the only one." She said, seemingly content in knowing that I had felt whatever it was also.
I wasn't so alieved, noticing that we had stopped floating towards either portal since we had hit that bump. I didn't have much time to ponder on it though when a spark appeared on the swirling wall of the tube just past the point we had stopped, then it faded and expanded into a portal that the T.A.R.D.I.S. emerged out of. Both me and Fluttershy just stared at it as the door opened to reveal Turner, Derpy, and Twilight inside.
"Hey guys!" Derpy said as she poked her head out of the blue callbox. Neither me or Fluttershy could form coherent sentences in time to ask Derpy what was going on before she cut us off with an explanation. "Now look, we don't have time to explain. We gotta go get JetWave from your world!" She said as she pointed her hoof at me.
"Cya in a bit, Oh! Turner said to give you this! He said something about it being helpful against Daleks." She said as she tossed me what looked like futuristic dueling pistol. "Bye guys!" She said as she went back inside the T.A.R.D.I.S. as the door closed and another portal opened up for it to float through.
In the skies above a small neighborhood, Derpy Hooves flew out of the T.A.R.D.I.S. that was floating in mid-air there, the words of both Twilight and Turner ringing in her head reminding her of her mission. She soared through the air, keeping at least one of her eyes on the ground at all times to search for the hazy blue coated earth pony that had been thrown into this world by complete chance.
After awhile her eye that was focused on where she was going in the sky caught sight of the last thing she expected to see in this world, a cloud house like one a pegasus would live in floating just above a small hill. She landed on the doorstep of the home to find that it had been made out of fog-cloud, not something normally used for housing material. She entered the house to see that it had been roughly done but was obviously created by a pegasi and not by the forces of nature in this world.
The interior wasn't anything to brag about in any way, any furnature inside had been sculpted out of the same fog-cloud material that made up the entire house. So from a pegasi point of view, it was the equivalent of a room and literally everything in that room being painted the exact same color, not to mention that the house itself was in very poor condition.
"Yikes.. The Pegasus that used to live here had terrible taste." Derpy said as she lounged on the couch only to hop back up instantly.
"No no, I've still got a job to do!" She said as she rocketed out the front door, colliding with another pony that was about to enter through the same door. They both just sat there for a moment, eyes derping out before the stallion shook his head clear and saw that the mare he had run intos eyes were still off center.
"Derpy? Is that you?" He asked as he re-aligned his fedora. She looked at him at first in irritation and then remembrance that this is the stallion that she was supposed to find. "You! We need to go, now! No time to explain, Turner will when we get back to the T.A.R.D.I.S." She said as she scooped him up and flew back towards the blue box in the sky.
"So, you've been there for 3 days?"
"Yes, and they weren't very pleasant"
"And you were living in a house solely constructed out of fog?"
"Yes, it was the only material I could get my hooves on since I didn't have a pegasus to help me construct it"
"That explains alot." Derpy stated, interrupting the string of questions that Twilight had been asking JetWave since they had got back. Twilight was visibly confused at this.
"Don't worry about it, you'd have to be a Pegasus to understand." He told her. "So, that strange bi-ped thing that I passed in that strange vortex and me actually got thrown into each others worlds?" JetWave asked.
"That's right, his name is Jack and he's a human." Turner explained as the T.A.R.D.I.S. materialized in front of a battle worn Jack and Fluttershy, the former aiming the blaster he had been given at the T.A.R.D.I.S. in a panic. "Whoa! Take it easy Jack!" A very surprised Turner said as he poked his head out of the T.A.R.D.I.S. to see his own sonic blaster pointed directly at him. "Why don't you come inside." He said as the T.A.R.D.I.S. floated closer to us allowing me and Fluttershy to step inside.
"Whoa, what happened to you?" JetWave asked upon seeing the state we were in.
I looked at him and simply said, "Daleks."
I was surprised at how much bigger the T.A.R.D.I.S. was on the inside. We came in through the main door to a huge room with a central computer that was connected to a tube of wires that I assumed ran the vertical length of the T.A.R.D.I.S. and stairs leading to all sorts of other areas that should not have been dimensionally possible. Putting all of that aside, I asked Turner why we had stoped dead center between the two portals and he explained to all of us that in order for either me or JetWave to return home we would have to have entered the portals of the worlds we were in at the moment at the exact same time as each other and that he was amazed that we had achieved that kind of synchronization to cause us to switch worlds on accident.
"So now that we're both together in-between dimensions, I guess that all we have to do is leave the T.A.R.D.I.S. and we'll both naturally float to our home dimensions?" I asked.
"That's about the size of it."
"Then lets get too it, I've been really home sick..." JetWave stated as he started walking towards the exit.
"Yeah, me too." I agreed as I got up and followed him, Fluttershy instantly jumping up on my back.
I opened the door and both me and JetWave jumped into the tunnel with me holding his hooves to say our goodbyes.
"Well... Given the circumstances, I guess I won't be seeing you around." I said.
"Yeah, it really is kind of a shame. You have good taste in hats." JetWave said, looking at my hat.
"As do you my friend." I said, regarding his own.
"Thank you... friend"
"Umm.... Goodbye JetWave, I.. Ummmm..." Fluttershy said, still on my back. I patted her head with my free hand.
"It's ok Fluttershy, we don't really know each other so you don't have to say goodbye." JetWave said. "Well, no sense in prolonging the inevitable. Fare thee well Jack!"
"And the same to you JetWave!" I said as we let go of each other, floating off into our own worlds.
At least, that's what we expected to happen......
We just remained there, floating for what would have been a minute in our own worlds. "Ummmm, arn't we supposed to be, Yknow... Floating away from each other right about now?" I called to the ponies still inside the T.A.R.D.I.S.
"Sorry guys, we just don't know what went wrong." Derpy said as she poked her head out of the call box.
"I do," Turner said, poking his own head out. "You need to lose the extra cargo!" He said, pointing a hoof at me and Fluttershy. "WHAT?!" Fluttershy cried, holding onto me tighter.
"The only way you would be able to accompany him back to his own world would be to have your own counter-part step onto the portal and fall through, but then we would have this whole mess all over again." Turner explained to her. I turned my head to look at Fluttershy, now teary eyed after hearing Turners explanation. "I'm sorry Flutters, but it wouldn't be fair to your animals or your counter-part if you came with me." I said, trying to keep my voice as level as possible.
"I..." she said, sniffling before continuing. "I.. Th-thought you agreed to call me H-h-honey from now on...." She managed to get out. She then crawled around to where she was hanging onto my front. "A-and, and you said.... that you'd come back.." she got out through more choked on sobs.
"I-" Before I could get anything else out, there were two yellow fore-legs thrown around my neck and a mares lips pressed against mine, causing everyone present to gasp at this timid mares sudden act of boldness. She held the kiss for what seemed like thirty seconds before breaking away and opening her eyes that still had many tears to spill later. "I- I'm sorry..... I shouldn't be so selfish... you're right..." She said with as brave a face as she could muster as she let go and flew back to the T.A.R.D.I.S.
"I-" before anyone could say anything else, both me and JetWave were rocketed off into our own portals like rubber bands that had slowly been building up energy, the T.A.R.D.I.S. soon following JetWave into the portal to Equestria.
I woke up laying on my lawn, wearing the exact same flannel and gym shorts I had been, looking up into the tree that I had fallen out of. "Was it all just a dream?" I wondered. I looked down at my watch and it confirmed that 3 days hadn't passed, just 3 hours. "Whoa..." I said as I looked back up into the tree.
I noticed a hat laying on the ground next to me, strange.. I hadn't worn any of my hats out here. I picked it up and found that it had a signature stitched on the inside. I was never good at reading cursive, but I was pretty sure I knew what it said. "Heh, I guess it wasn't a dream after all." I chuckled to myself, placing the hat on my head and heading back inside.
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Author's Note
And that's that. Thank you so much those of you who kept reading past that horrid prologue and enjoyed the actual story itself.