Chapter 13

Have We Met?

The human groaned as the morning sun shined on his face. “Go away Sun. Stop sending your light to my eyes.” Despite his feeble plea the large orb of fire continued to rise. “Fine, you win.” The man sighed. As Connor sat up he felt a weight on his chest. He looked down and saw a lump on hid bed beneath the sheets. “The hell?”

He pushed his covers aside, expecting to see the mares, instead it was a woman. A human woman with pale skin and dark red hair. As she opened her eyes Connor noticed one other thing, she was naked. “Gah!” He yelled as he literally dove out of bed.

The man hit his head on the carpeted floor and cursed as he stood back up and stared at the bed. “Who the hell are you and why are you in my house?” He bellowed. The sound of trampling hooves filled the hallway. The door was thrown open to show Luna in a tank top and black short-shorts.

Luna’s eyes fell on the human and her teeth started to grind against one another. “What is the meaning of this?” She yelled.

“I just woke up and this crazy woman was in my bed!”

“Hey, you’ve been inside me thousands of times!” The redhead said covering herself with the covers. Luna blushed glared at the man.

“I have never seen her in my life!” Luna snapped her fingers and trapped the woman in a blue ethereal cage.

“Hey!” The redhead said as she gripped the bars. Her green eyes were locked onto the human. “Do you honestly not recognize me? Even after she put me in here?” The stranger eyes Luna.

“You broke into my house and slept in my bed while nude!” He huffed. “If anyone else walked in what would they think?”

“Not the cage you moron. She put me in here.” The redhead said pinching her arm. “I’m....Oh what are the words? Odd how these human brains of yours work.” Connor looked at Luna and tugged his ear.

This chick has a screw loose.

I’ll call the guards.

“Oh! We travel together. I go.” The woman opened her mouth and made a sound that was all to familiar to the man.

“A car?”

“Chevelle SS, year 1970. Yes, that’s me.” Connor raised an eyebrow at the woman.

Never mind, she’s batshit crazy.

“No, you’re not. There’s no way you can be my car.”

“I am.” The woman frowned. “If you don’t believe me then check.” The human bit his lip and looked at Luna.

“Watch her.” The man said as he left the room. Luna kept her eyes on the woman.

“I’m surprised you didn’t break my front seat with that big rump of yours.” Luna hissed at the remark and made the cage smaller.

“WHAT?” The man’s voice echoed through the home. Connor stomped his way back up to the room and looked absolutely pissed. “Where. Is. My. Car?” He yelled.

“Right here.” The woman said pointing to herself. “I’m your car.”

“No, no you’re not, you’re a crazy woman who is going to be in a lot of trouble if she doesn’t start talking.” He said pulling out his cell phone. “My car is big, strong and beautiful.”

“Awe, thank you.” The woman smiled. “I was already a relic when you were young and saw me underneath that old Ford Bronco in the Bronx trash yard.” Connor took a step back and looked at the woman in confusion. “And the first time you got behind my wheel you said-”

“That you were the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” The man could barely believe the words coming out of his mouth.

“Then you stole me two days later. And I stole you, Connor.” She smiled as she rested her head on one of the bars.

“I borrowed you.” He muttered under his breath.

“Borrowing implies you planned to return the thing that was taken.” She smiled. “What makes you think that I’d ever give you back and let some other car have you?” The man was bewildered. The woman then turned around and dropped the covers. On her lower back was the Chevelle SS symbol.

“You’re Ruby?” He whispered.

“Yes.” She said smiling.

“MY Ruby?”

“My Connor.” She said turning back around. “Are you going to let me out of here or not?” The human gave the Princess a nod and she dropped the cage.

“How is this even possible?” The human asked. “Were you always like this? Have a conscience I mean?”

“I don’t know.” The redhead stated. “The first thing I see when I opened my eyes was your garage and then every moment of my non-life flashed through my head. I do remember seeing a bolt of blue light come through the garage window though.” Luna bit her lip and scanned her with her horn.

“Uh-oh.” She said as she face palmed.

“What?” Connor asked.

“Remember that spell that I shot off after your horn job?” The two blushed brightly at the memory. “The magic must have transformed it-”

“Her.” The two humans said.

“Her into a human.”

“Is it permanent?” Connor asked. Luna gave another scan and saw her magic exiting the woman’s body.

“No, it won’t last more than a day.”

“Oh. I see.” Connor said in a sad tone. He then felt his cell phone going off. “Hello?” He said as he saw Thunderlane’s contact pic show up on the phone.

“Dude, get over to the barn. Comet is back.”

“On my way.” Connor said hanging up. “I need to go see how Comet made out.” He looked at the two girls and sighed. “Want to come?”

“Yes, but I need something to wear.” Luna said leaving the room.

“Right, so what’s your name?” Connor asked as the woman deadpanned.

“You already gave me a name.”

“Did you have one before that, or have something you want to be called?”

“Well, you called me...sexy.” The man blushed and made a shh gesture.

“Only when we’re alone!”

“We are alone.” She said.

“Oh....well, c’mon then sexy.” He smiled. “First, let’s get you some clothes.”

~~~

Thankfully, Luna managed to conjure some clothes for Ruby to wear and the three made their way towards the farm house. The group saw a familiar red stallion leaning against the barn. “Morning Mac.” Connor said.

“Morning.” He then noticed the two girls. “Azure.” The blue mare smiled at him. “Err, who’s the other one?”

“My car, Ruby. She got hit with Azure’s magic blast from last night so now she’s a human temporarily.” Mac scratched his chin and sighed.

“Fine. Ah don’t understand all that magic nonsense anyway.” Connor then turned to the two girls.

“Okay, you two need to wait out here for a few minutes.”

“Why?” Ruby asked.

“It’s guy stuff.”

“Ugh, fine.” Luna pouted. Connor followed Mac into the barn to see the other five stallions. Soarin was now back to his normal self. A thick silence was about the air and the human felt best if it was broken. “So when’s the-”

“I didn’t ask her.” Comet peeped out. The other males stared at him in shock at the news.

“WHAT?” Caramel and Thunderlane yelled.

“I-I got cold hooves!”

“Do you know home much of his shit I had to go through?” Caramel yelled as he pointed at Thunderlane.

“Can it.” The jeweler said with a sigh. “What happened Comet?” Pierce asked in a more comforting tone.

“Okay, so Twi and I went to dinner and I was psyching myself up to ask her. Then I felt all this doubt come and I got scared.” He said hanging his head low. Mac put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s alright partner. Took ma dad a dozen times before he finally asked mom to marry him.” The stallion said.

“It’s just that last night was planned so perfectly! It has to be special. A night Twi will never forget.” The stallion said in defeat.

“Well, why not do it on her birthday?” Caramel suggested.

“That already happened and there’s nothing big happening soon.”

“Not necessarily.” All heads turned towards the doorway to see Azure and Ruby. Soarin quickly hid behind Big Mac as he saw the Unicorn. “How was your night Soarin?” Azure asked in a sweet tone.

“I feel violated.” He whined.

“Let that serve as a lesson to you.” Soarin shivered at the mare’s words.

“So Connor, who’s your friend?” Thunder asked looking at Ruby.

“Okay, remember Azure’s little magic mishap last night?” The stallions nodded as they remembered the incident. “Well, that bit of magic hit my car and well.” He said turning towards Ruby.

“Are you sure you didn’t ask Azure to change her-”

“No!” He yelled at Soarin. The car saw a golden opportunity to embarrass the human and gladly took it.

“Hello, I’m sexy.” Ruby smirked making the man blush.

“Not a word.” The grouped laughed at the human while he pinched the bridge of his nose and prayed they’d get back on track.. “Anyway, she’s like this for the rest of the day.” Connor groaned. “What’s up Azure?”

“The meteor shower that Twilight and her friends saw will be happening again soon. This weekend at 9:00pm to be exact.” She nodded.

“How do you know?” Thunder asked.

“I’m an astronomer. Tis my job to know.” She said crossing her arms under her chest.

“Tis?” He raised an eyebrow.

“But what about if I get cold hooves again?” Comet gulped.

“So why don’t all you guys just go camping?” Ruby interjected. All the males shivered at the words. Not one of them could look one another in the eyes as the redhead spoke. “It’ll be romantic and it has a good cover story in case your girlfriend gets wise.”

“Rainbow Falls has an excellent vantage point for seeing such a spectacle.” Azure said. The males looked at one another in an uneasy way.

“Huddle!” Soarin said and the males formed a tight circle. The two girls couldn’t hear their mumbles well enough to make it out.

“It sounds like a good idea.” Mac shrugged.

“Hey are you guys forgetting what happened last-” Caramel was silence by a slap to the face, courtesy of Thunderlane.

“We swore we’d never talk about that!” He hissed.

“Look,” Conner started. “it won’t be like last time. How about we bring the mares with us?” Thunder bit his lip as he pondered the words.

“It’s gonna take a lot to convince Rarity to go camping.” The stallion said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Then get Sweetie Belle excited. You know Rarity can’t resist seeing her sister pouting.”

“That is devious. I like it. Besides Rumble has been wanting to go camping for a while now.” The flyer smiled.

“Getting AJ and Applebloom on board shouldn’t be hard.” Caramel said.

“Okay, we’ll text you with the details.” Comet stated. With that, the group went their separate ways. Connor and the two girls went back into town to get some food. As they walked through the sleepy town, several eyes were on the newly transformed human.

The bell that hung on Sugar Cube Corner’s rang out as the trio walked through the door. They grabbed a booth and the two human’s sat down across from the mare. Pinkie soon came out and took their orders. Connor ordered a simple egg sandwich with cheese and a cup of coffee. Not knowing much about what she’d like, Ruby ordered the same with a side of hash browns. Azure ordered a stack of waffles that made Connor and Ruby chuckle. Azure stuck her tongue out while Pinkie went off to fill their order.

Soon, their food came out and Pinkie started planning for Ruby’s party, as is her nature. Connor also threw in the bit about camping and she was more than happy to agree. Ruby took a bite of her sandwich and a fork full of hash browns that made her choke. She guzzled down a glass of water and gasped.

“That was scary.” She panted.

“Take time to chew your food.” Connor said in a lectured toned.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, cars don’t have cheeks,” She used her pointer fingers to pull her cheeks apart. “or mouths for that matter. Stupid potatoes.” The redhead said as she took a bite out of her sandwich. Luna chuckled as the man got up to use the restroom.

“So you’ve been with Connor a long time?” The mare inquired.

“Yeah, since he was sixteen.” She said. “Course I wasn’t conscious during those years.” Ruby sighed in a somber tone.

“Something wrong?”

“It’s just,” The redhead rubbed her eyes for a moment. “he spent so much time brining me back from the grave and I’ve nothing in return.”

“You got him from place to place.” Luna stated. Ruby gave her a deadpanned look.

“Yeah, I drove him, but what good is that? I couldn’t console him in anyway when he needed it. I couldn’t laugh with him” She hung her head and groaned. “This must be what grief is.” She sighed. “I just wish I could let him know how much I appreciate all he’s done for me.” The human cam back and continued eating. The rest of the meal was spent in silence. Luna then had a thought.

“Perhaps you should invite Pipsqueak on this camping trip?” Luna said.

“Not a bad idea.” Connor shrugged. “I’m sure Twi might bring Spike and it sounds like the CMC are coming so he should have a good time. I may have to clear it with Sunny first though.” After they finished eating they mad their way towards the orphanage. Connor walked into the office and greeted the golden Pegasus mare. While he told her about his idea, Ruby and Luna were chatting.

“So you have the hots for Connor huh?” Ruby said bluntly. Luna’s face went as red as her hair.

“Wh-what?” she said in a flustered tone.

“Oh come on. I’m not an idiot, besides he’s had girls in my back seat.” Luna hissed and grumbled as she heard the words. Ruby then leaned forwards so she was right in front of the mare. “Word for the wise, hurt him and I will redefine the phrase road rage.” The door opened to show the human.

“Okay, it’s all set. That reminds me, we need to get the camping gear.” Connor said looking at Azure. “I think I have a spare sleeping bag.”

~~~

Meanwhile, Twilight and her friends were chatting at the large meeting table. “So, think it’s a good idea?” Applejack asked. “Why would Comet suddenly want to go camping?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t know, but if Azure and Connor are going-”

“They are.” AJ interjected. “Mac confirmed it.”

“Then it’s the perfect opportunity to get them together.” Dash smirked devilishly.

“I’m still not one-hundred percent on board for this.” Twilight gulped. “If we’re wrong and it backfires, then there could be serious consequences.” The lavender mare shivered at the thought of an enraged Luna.

“Oh come on dear, it can’t be that bad. Besides, they’d look so cute together.” Rarity cooed. Twilight sighed reluctantly and agreed with her friends’ idea.

“Okay, so we’ll go with the guys and bring the CMC and Spike so he doesn’t suspect anything.” Dash stated. “Then we’ll make sure to get them alone in the right spot.”

“How?” Fluttershy asked.

“Leave that to me.” Dash snickered to herself.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Twilight sighed.

~~~

Connor and the two girls spent the rest of the day looking through camping gear. As they rummaged through closets, Connor and Ruby started started reminiscing about things back on Earth. “It still took you three days of cleaning to get that stain out of my back seat.” Ruby said scrunching her nose.

“Yeah, that was some party.” He chuckled. “Remember Rob?”

“Blonde and mouth as big as his biceps?” Connor nodded. “Yeah, he almost crushed my back springs and-” The woman’s eyes shrank and fell to the floor. Connor and Luna both rushed to her side and helped her over to the couch. The redhead started couching and some black liquid came out of her mouth. Connor dabbed his finger in the liquid and sniffed it.

“Oil.” He said as Luna scanned the woman’s body with a line of magic coming from her horn.

“The magic is starting to wear off.” She said as Ruby sat up. “She’ll turn back into a car soon.”

“There’s no way to stall it?” Connor asked. Luna shook her head at the words. The man let out a disappointed sigh and ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, how much longer?”

“Less than an hour.” Luna noticed Ruby giving her a look. “I’ll go check the closet upstairs.” The mare quickly made herself scarce and left Ruby to it.

“You don’t want me to change back. Do you?” She said sitting up.

“Well....I don’t....I mean-”

“It’s okay.” She smiled.

“It’s just....It’s nice having someone around that’s like me.” He sighed. “It’s nice having someone to talk to that knows all those old stories and what not.” His tone dropped a bit. Ruby rested her head on his shoulder and huffed.

“If anyone should feel sad it’s me.”

“Yeah I can imagine. You finally get self awareness and you lose it in a day.”

“That’s not what I mean.” She said as she looked at him. “It’s just....you brought me back from the dead and what have I done in return? Nothing.”

“No, you did plenty.” Connor said in a supportive tone.

“Oh really? Like what?” She asked in an accusing tone. Connor scratched his chin and took a moment to think.

“When I needed to be alone you helped me with that.” The redhead rolled her eyes at him. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, remember the time we went up to upstate New York and just drove through the Catskill mountains?” The woman smiled at the memory. “There was no drama, no problems. Just us and the open road. That’s what you gave me, a quiet place to think when everything was going to shit. You didn’t have to say anything, you just had to do what you did best.” He put his arm around her and smiled.

“Still I-” He put a finger on her lips.

“That’s enough out of you. You did what you could and that’s all that I needed.” He smiled.

“So you prefer me as a car?” She asked.

“I like you because you’re my Ruby, car, human whatever. I do like the fact that you can talk now and I’m really gonna miss that.” Ruby clutched her stomach again and groaned as more of the oil filled her mouth.

“I’m almost out of time.” As she stood up her legs gave out and Connor managed to catch her. He picked her up bridal style and carried her down to the garage. Connor felt a shiver run through her body and a wetness on his chest. He looked down at her to see she was crying.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m just....I’m just really scared.” She sniffled. Connor rubbed her arm as he got down to the garage and turned on the light. The concrete floor had several oil and grease stains.

“Everything will be okay.”

“Liar.” She said as he put her down on the floor. Connor turned his head to see Luna coming down the steps. Ruby coughed up a larger amount of oil.

“It’s starting.” Ruby rose to her feet slowly. The redhead looked down at her glowing hands and a black tear filled her eye.

“Connor,” She said as the rest of her body started to glow. “I wanted to say something to you, but I didn’t know how to say it.” She clutched her stomach in pain. Connor took a step forwards but was stopped by the mare’s arm. Luna shook her head. Of course, the magic was too unstable. If he intervened then who knows what could happen to him? Ruby recomposed herself and coughed. “Took me all day to figure out what it was.” She smirked.

Connor felt tears forming in his eyes and looked down at his feet. “Goodbye, right?” The woman smiled and put her hand to his left cheek and raised his head so their eyes met.

“No, I just wanted to say hello. It’s nice to meet you.” The woman stepped back and cried out in pain as her body glowed red. Connor and the mare shielded their eyes from the blinding light and heard a the sound of a small explosion. when they opened their eyes again the woman was gone and the car was back. Luna watched as the man walked up to the car and put a hand on the roof.

“Connor?” The man quickly wiped the tears from his eyes and sighed.

“I’m gonna just give her a once over. Make sure she’s still working right.” The mare nodded and left the garage to finish packing her things. Connor lifted the car’s hood up and checked all the major systems to see if anything was damaged. He got behind the car and turned the key and it roared to life.

He put his hand on the dashboard and nodded. The radio suddenly turned on and a song played through the speakers. ‘Hello.....It’s me.’ The pain in the man’s chest was gone and he smiled.

“Clever girl.”

Author's Note

HOLY CRAP IT'S BEEN A WHILE!

I am SO sorry for not updating sooner, but I had to really focus on my classes if I even have a ghost of a chance of Graduating this Spring. I hope the next chapter doesn't take as long.