My Little Tia... and Othersby ArkoloChaptersCh.1 "Little Miss Sunshine"Ch.2 "Little Miss Moonshine"Ch.3 "Little Mister Shadow"Ch.1 "Little Miss Sunshine" My Little Tia… and Others Ch.1 “Little Miss Sunshine” John Johnson was a dude, and he drove his car down the freeway like any other person making their way to the Los Angeles suburbs. He was in his mid twenties, had uninteresting brown hair, boring blue eyes, and wore a Hawaiian button up shirt and unimaginative black sunglasses. At the moment he blasted music loud as it would go in his blue Toyota Corolla. He was in a good mood, and bobbed his with the music. He even sang along with the lyrics a little bit. “I use to think maybe you love me, now baby I’m suuurrrre.” He wasn’t very good at it, but he was in the car by himself… D-GAF “N I Just can’t wait till the day you knock on my dooooorrrrrr.” His whole body bobbed up and down with the beat now, and he tapped his hands up and down on the steering wheel like a drummer. It was a good day, good things had been done, and good things were planned for the evening. Yep, John Johnson already enjoyed his life and where he was at. The music rolled on a bit more and eventually approached the chorus. “I’m walkin’ on sunshine, wooOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” A small white creature had wandered onto the freeway and into dangerous traffic. John slammed on the breaks as he screamed in fright. Rubber screeched over pavement as the car rapidly decelerated, but not enough. There was a small bump to the front of the car as John hit the white creature just before he came to a complete stop. The unfortunate little thing was hit had enough that it tumbled head over hooves for several yards. The music in the car felt no obligation to stop. “I’m walkin’ on sunshine WOOO-O!” “What the hell!” The screech of more rubber came from behind, and several cars stacked up behind John, luckily no one crashed, but there were lots of angry horns honked. He just raised his hands in frustration. “Guuuh, Idiots! If you’re going to dump your dog, don’t do it by the free way!” Traffic was effectively stopped in his lane, and the thing he had hit stirred a little. He supposed he should go check it out, and atleast move it to the shoulder if it was dead. Cars behind him already started to move around and back into traffic. John absentmindedly scratched the top of his head after he got out and closed the door. Today had been a good day, well, it still could be, this was only a little interruption, and how much of an inconvenience could this really turn out to be? First he took a quick look at the front of his car, and found his bumper had sustained a noticeable dent. He growled under his breath, people really shouldn’t dump their dogs by the freeway. Then he walked over to see what he had hit. Rather quickly, he found out it wasn’t a dog. Dogs don’t have wings… Or horns… or hooves… or long fluffy tri-colored manes and tails. His eyes got steadily wider as he soaked in the details. There was a large bruise that rapidly developed along the little horse’s entire left side, which darkened the pretty alabaster coat. He hadn’t turned off the music in his car, and it continued to blare. “N don’t it feel good! Hey!” Another loud beep behind him reminded John that the freeway was not a good place to stand still, and idly stare. He shook his head then scratched it, at a loss of what to do. He didn’t really pick up strange animals like this. A sad little whimper came from the small horse creature. John looked down at her, how did he know it was a ‘her’? Maybe the long eye lashes and really weird proportions for a horse gave him a rough guess. The pathetic little twitches added to the ‘pity points’, which steadily built in John’s bewildered mind. “Um…” Another loud car honk made his anxiety spike. “Fine, until I can figure something else to do.” He walked over to the small horse… what do you call a small horse again? A pony? Ya, that’s right, a pony. Either way, he put his hands around her barrel, and hoisted her under one arm. She was a bit larger than a small dog. More soft whimpers escaped her as the sensitive bruises stung. “Sorry, but you were a dummy for walking into the freeway… Man, you’d think there’d be some instinct in animals to avoid loud, large, dangerous roads. Sheesh. Atleast you didn’t become road kill…” The words were toned softly, but still carried a critical air. The little white pony whimpered some more. In another few moments John made it to the passenger side of his car, opened the door, and placed the winged, horned, dirty, gravel bitten, pathetic mess onto the seat. He closed the door and made his way to the driver side. The music still played. “I used to think maybe you loved me, now I know that it’s true.” John sighed and pushed a button to turn off the music, he was no longer in the mood. With his foot on the accelerator he brought his Corolla back up to speed, and on the way back to his suburb. Now he was thinking of a few detours to take. One short glance towards the pony… thing, normal ponies don’t have those extra appendages, or those proportions… Especially those freakishly large magenta eyes she now stared at him with. Atleast john was pretty sure that’s not how normal miniature horses were… Anyway, the short glance revealed her to be in the midst of a terrible shiver, and her eyes, well atleast the right eye, the left eye was almost swollen shut, were open and stared around with fear. She defensively cradled her left foreleg, which was swollen around the knee, and an unpleasant shade of purple. John frowned. This was not how a good day was supposed to go… The only toss-up he played with now was whether he would go to the vet or the dog pound first. Would a dog pound take in ponies? Maybe, but a proper animal shelter was more like it, but he didn’t remember what part of town that was. He just knew where the pound was by previous experiences. Experiences he didn’t remember fondly… Or there was the vet, he could atleast make sure the poor thing would get some proper care first, before she was put in some cage, and later ‘put down’ for getting an infection or something. He glanced at her again, and the same fear, the same nervous shiver was there. More pity points were made. It would be the vet first. At the vet- “What is this?” A wide eyed older veterinarian stared at the creature John held under one arm. “A little horse thing... Anyway, I just want to see if you can give her a quick patch, her front left leg probably has a fracture. I plan on taking her to a shelter or something. She wandered up on the freeway, and I was the one that bumped into her.” “Well, a cast is easy enough, would you mind if I take a few x-rays? I just haven’t seen the like before.” “Neither have I, but go ahead. Only please be quick about it, I’ve got a few other things planned today.” “Don’t we all, I’ll have it done in a jiffy.” The old vet gave a smirk, and the pony was lifted from one human to another. She let out a yelp, partially from pain, partially from fear of strangers, partially from being partial. “Oh, easy there, easy.” “I’m trying to be! There’s just bruises, everywhere!” They finished the awkward transaction, and pony was successfully given from smooth youthful hands, to crusty old wrinkly ones. The experienced vet went into the back room, and John turned about to sit in the reception area. The seats were nice and cushioned, unlike many doctor’s waiting areas, that seem to be frequently outfitted with hard plastic, almost as if they wanted their patients uncomfortable before the actual appointment came. No, this vet wasn’t like that, he was a nice old guy, and John had come here before a few times oddly enough. It was odd, because he personally didn’t own any pets. He would sometimes look out for his neighbor’s dog, which had ended in some interesting events. Let’s just say John knew where the vet was, because of more than one occasion. His neighbor Tom was an affable and forgiving sort, so there were no hard feelings… John hoped. He twiddled his thumbs while he waited. Old man vet returned, and the pony was wrapped like a mummy, had a cast on both left legs, and wore one of those hilarious dog cone collars around her neck. John couldn’t help himself, and he snorted. Strangely enough the young equine reacted to the humored noise, and turned to him with a glare, her brow furrowed angrily, and her mouth portrayed a very strong frown. The exaggerated expressiveness caught John off guard, and he was momentarily stunned. Then she made a dismissive little ‘humph’ as she titled her snout up at him, and tried to preserve what little dignity her predicament gave her. There was something disconcertingly intelligent about those motions, and he blinked several more times to make sure the little thing was indeed there. It was just, so, odd. The vet proceeded to address him. “You were right about the fractures, but they were fairly minor, she should be fine in a few weeks. Again, I must say I’ve never seen anything like her. Are you sure you want to take her to a shelter? I mean, I could hold onto her if you’d like, I know a few-” “It’s alright, I’ll take here there, and save you the trouble.” John interrupted the old man before he could ramble, and reached out and grabbed the little pony. There was another pained induced yelp as she wasn’t handled very gently. The old man resisted a little, as if he didn’t want to let go. John raised his eye brows in a scrupulous manner, and the vet pursued his lips. With a surprise tug, John was able to yank her away, and put her back under his arm. She whimpered, and he threw a suspicious look at the old professional. “Thanks doc.” “Have a good day John…” A little bell jingled as John made his exit through the front door. He forgot to pay the bill… oops. They were in the car, and John debated with himself again. The turn between the dog pound, and his house was a few more miles down the boulevard. In that time he muttered under his breath and fumed a little. The look and gestures she gave him earlier bothered him, that wasn’t something a normal animal would do. The expressiveness in her face was entirely off, it was too much. “What are you?” He looked at her during a stop light, she looked up at him. The stare lasted for a while longer, and the grumpy face she made was rather adorable, and sad, because of the state she was in. He put out a hand to pat her on the top of the head. She pulled her head away even as his hand reached, but he continued to reach, and she continued to back away, and he kept up the reach, and she kept up the backward scoot. She ran out of space, and was corned, that hand patted the top of her head… “If only people put dog collars on horses. It’d be easier to find your owners, or have a name or something.” “Tia.” “What?” “Tia.” John froze in his seat, did he just hear someone else speak? Cars honked behind him, the light had turned green, and he hadn’t moved yet. Slowly he put his foot on the accelerator, and tried not to be too freaked out by what he ‘thought’ had just happened. It was just a little squeak, that’s all it could’ve been, just a really weird squeak. There were already so many things that were profoundly odd about this pony already. The fact that it could make a strange noise that sounded like speech shouldn’t surprise him. “I’m Tia.” “AHH!” John made a rather unmanly shriek. Ok, it could parrot? He didn’t know horses could do that… Ya that must be it, the previous owner taught this weird little horse creature how to parrot, or make sounds like one. That must be it… “My name is Tia.” This made John rapidly pull to the side of the road and hit the brakes. He hit it harder than he intended, and the little pony was launched from the passenger seat into the dash board. He hadn’t buckled her in. When she hit the dashboard she made a little shriek of her own. “What the hell was that?” He shouted, and the pony cowered, she whimpered openly and tears came from her eyes. Her bottom lip trembled something awful, it was devastatingly cute, profoundly sad, yet adorable at the same time. She couldn’t hold it in any longer, and she began to openly wail and sob. John’s brain blew a gasket… Did not compute… Critical processing error… Blue screen of death… The way the pony cried sounded way too much like human toddler. Horses didn’t cry like that. Horses didn't really look or act like that. Horses didn’t have freakin’ wings and horns or cartoonish proportions either! “Hey, hey, hey, shhh, it’s ok, it’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you.” There was obvious disbelief in those terrified magenta eyes, and she continued to bawl. John thought he was ok with kids, he didn’t have any of his own, but he didn’t mind playing around with his nieces and nephews every once and a while. When they got to a state like this, that’s when he’d usually hand them off to his brother or sister. Why did he just compare this pony thing… guh, he wasn’t sure he could really think of it as just a pony at this point. It acted too much like an upset kid. If he wasn’t hallucinating, he had just heard her speak a whole sentence. He reached out his hand again, and the little white filly flinched at the outstretched appendage. He tried to sooth her with gentle pants, and he removed the silly cone collar. She seemed to appreciate that, and allowed him to continue with his soft ministrations of reassurance. “I guess I shouldn’t take you to the pound…” A brief scenario popped into John’s head. “Here take it! It’s your guy’s job to pick up strays!” Imaginary John held out a bandaged little pony that cried. “That’s not a dog sir, this is a dog pound.” A large staff attendant sat behind the reception desk with bored, and uninterested grey eyes. A large bristly mustache wrinkled as he talked, and John was reminded of a walrus. He continued his plea despite the apathy of the attendant. “Come on, it’s totally a dog, it’s got fur, four legs, a tail, and a wet nose. I’m pretty sure it eats and poops. That means you take it.” “Sir, we can’t hold on to it.” “Please?” “For the last time, we don’t take pony children.” “What?” The term ‘pony children’ threw him off. The little white horse turned it’s head towards John and gave the most pitiable look he had ever seen on equine features. The cute little voice dug daggers into his emotions. “Why John? Why do you hate me John? Why are you trying to put me in the dumpster? Do you want me ‘put down’? Then why didn’t you just leave me to be road kill?” Imaginary John freaked out, and dropped her. “This isn’t real! This isn’t real! This isn’t real! Ponies don’t talk! Ponies don’t look like that! PONIES AREN’T CHILDREN!” The scene in John’s head disappeared, and here he was. The pony’s… Tia’s, yes Tia, the little creature had said her name, so why not refer to her as that now. Tia’s sobs and fearfulness had died down a good deal, and the continued strokes along the un-bandaged side of her neck had the desired effect. Mainly some quiet time for John. He was on his way back from a relaxing picnic on the beach. A brief incident on the freeway meant he had some creature with him now, and it only seemed more and more alien as he interacted with her. It could talk, simply at least, and displayed uncomfortably human emotion. The dog pound no longer seemed like an option. So he turned to go back home. The drive back was silent. Little Tia only sniffled occasionally, but she didn’t say anything else. When he pulled into the drive way he clicked the remote in his car, and the garage door opened. Once he was inside, and the garage door was closed he got out, and retrieved Tia from the passenger side. He still held her like he would a dog, slung under one arm, but he did it gently, so her injuries wouldn’t be agitated… much. He had no idea what he was doing, and no idea who to ask about it… might as well be the internet right? It was the source of all profound knowledge after all. He spent his days running an online business anyway, so it wasn’t like hitting the search engine was anything foreign. The garage door was attached to the kitchen, and after he took a few steps in there was a little growl. It rumbled and tickled his ribcage slightly. He looked down to the pony slung under his arm. “Hungry?” “Ya…” It still felt unreal that she could answer him… with words… But he decided to ignore that for now. It was near evening and he felt a little hungry himself. So he placed Tia on the tiled kitchen floor, and started to rummage through the fridge. There were a few take out boxes from Cheese Cake Factory, and he pulled them out. There was a good portion of alfredo pasta, and some bread sticks, and the other box had some pecan cheesecake. He never really liked pecan, and he couldn’t quite remember why he ordered it. Hmm, Horses like sweet stuff right? Ofcourse… everything likes sweet stuff. John placed the take out box with cheese cake down infront of Tia, in a manner reminiscent of placing a dog bowl. Then he put the alfredo in a microwavable bowl to heat it up, a few button pushes later and it was well under way. Tia tore into the cheese cake, rather like a dog… and large chunks of the creamy sweet cheesy pecan flavored desert were gobbled with her mini, yet merciless maw. The mess that got all over her face was kind of cute too. John wasn’t much of a fluffy bunny guy, but such adorableness couldn’t be ignored by rational minds. The sun had set and the moon was up. It was a full moon tonight, and john was feeling rather tired, and was in the mood to relax. He had a grand piano set up in his living room, and he moved over to sit down on the bench. After he had wiped the mess off of Tia’s face, he put her down on the carpet of the living room so he could keep an eye on her. It wasn’t exactly like Tia could move much, she had two splinted legs, and one of her wings was wrapped up in the bandages, but still… John cracked his knuckles before he started to tickle the ivories. Brilliant moonlight trickled into the room, and added a soothing atmosphere to the serenade he made. Beethoven was very good at what he did, and John appreciated it enough to learn one of his sonatas. This particular piece moved him at the same time that it relaxed him. Little Tia’s ears perked up as the piano was played, and her eyes started to slowly close. She lay down on the floor on her side, and let a shuddered sigh escape her petite muzzle. John closed his own eyes and let the muscle memory take over as he played on. The full moon continued to shine over the California night sky, and for the briefest of moments a little twinkle sparkled over it’s surface. Tiny Tia’s eyes opened and she look up towards the heavenly body. A moment later there was a thud. A small dark form suddenly appeared glued to the living room window, and John stopped playing the piano. His eyes bolted to the window, where the small figure slowly slid down, and made a window wiping noise as it descended. “What now?” Nervousness crept right up John’s spine. He hoped it was just a raccoon at his window… it better be. The strange tingle in the air made it seem otherwise. Tia suddenly made an effort to get up, but clumsily fell back down, her splinted limbs made it impractical. This could not dissuade the excitement in the childish equine’s face however. “Lulu!” “What, now?” Author's Note In case you missed the two links in the text, they were these. and and i do sketches Ch.2 "Little Miss Moonshine" My Little Tia… and Others Ch.2 Little Miss Moonshine This mysterious thing John suspected was a raccoon, and what Tia had called a… Lulu? Had descended the rest of the way down the living room window, and fell into the short shrubs of the front yard. John pushed back the piano bench as he stood up, and cautiously walked towards the front door. In preparation to dissuade wild animals, he picked up a stick he kept close by the entrance to his home. This stick was actually a broken golf club, which he didn’t want to throw away. It was a sort of a funny story, and a reminder of why he didn’t really care for golf… The handle and shaft were still in place, and made for a good thwacking object, perfect to dissuade pesky raccoons and possums that often plagued the neighbor hood. With his carbon fiber beat stick in hand John placed his hand on the door knob. Before the door was opened he felt a little nudge on the back of his leg. He turned around and saw little Tia look up at him, with her eye that wasn’t bandaged, and spoke small words full of longing. “I wanna see Lulu.” Her lower lip trembled and it looked like she was about to cry. Her eye also watered a little, and the moonlight that poured in through the window gave her reflective orb a sparkly quality. This only served to confuse John, apparently Tia knew what had hit his window? Also she wanted to see whatever it was very badly. Then there was a loud gurgle noise, which emanated from the alabaster pony child. After the noisy burble she sat back on her haunches, and put one hoof to her petite gut. “I got a tummy ache.” “Um, stay right there for now, I’ll be back in a minute.” A warning finger tapped her small muzzle and got her attention. When she looked back up she saw the sympathetic, yet thoroughly confused face of the man. His look was stern when he warned her to stay put, but she had feelings that didn’t want to wait. She knew who was outside. “But Lulu! –gurgle-… ooo, owy.” John just sighed, and picked her up under her fore-legs, then placed her on the couch. He gave her the most confident look he could, full of assurance. “I'll be back.” Her lower lip continued to tremble a bit, but she remained quiet and nodded. The gurgle noises didn’t really die down either, and that caused John to worry more, but something outside needed to be addressed. Something Tia thought she knew about. John would really need to sit down and get as much information as he could out of this little horse alien, and soon, otherwise he didn’t want to comprehend what all of this could mean for his psyche. His hand found it’s way back to the door knob, and it was twisted open. He peered out the crack of the door, found nothing too alarming, then opened it the rest of the way and stepped out into the night air. The carbon stick was raised, and ready to swat and any aggressive suburban animals, there were probably a few coyotes out tonight too, and John didn’t fancy picking up rabies. There was one squirrel incident a few years ago… In any case, he moved towards the shrubs, where the ambiguous creature had fallen earlier, and as he approached there was a slight rustle in the foliage. He paused at the movement and tried to look closely at what it was. There was a pair of teal eyes that peered out between the leaves, and they were full of fear. The darkness of the night, and shade of the bushes, and inherently dark hue of the creature he looked at, made it all but impossible to discern it’s shape. “Hey, get on out of there scrub.” John’s approach was the same as when any animal that he didn’t want got on his property. He also had the dog pound’s number posted in his kitchen because there seemed to be an unusual number of strays that made it to his neighborhood. Dogs that loved to leave little presents on his lawn. The pair of eyes remained where they were, but they fixed on John, and they were caught in an awkward stare of sorts. He just grunted, whatever this thing was, it was fairly bold. Just like the raccoons that came here, seriously, those things could be pelted with baseballs and wouldn’t care. The garbage cans would still be emptied and spread all over the alley by morning. Uninterested in just standing around, John decided to take the next step and use other methods to coax the creature out of his shrubbery. The headless golf club was thrust forward and made some exploratory pokes into the plants. On the second or third poke he prodded something with a softer composition than shrub roots. The loud squeak that came out surprised him and he jumped back. The stick was raised defensively on instinct, and he looked over the exact location within the shrubs. “Eeeee!” In response to his rapid movements the little creature had rustled through the plants again, and popped out from the shrubs in a small bound. John had expected something more of a hiss or growl, not that weird little squeal. When he found the figure that jumped out of his plants his eyes narrowed in confusion. That thing didn’t move like a raccoon, possum, or dog. Rather than a lumbering gait, it galloped? There was a tap on the living room window from inside the house, and John saw Tia pressed up again the window. Her muffled voice cried out, and her head nodded towards the small dark figure that ran out into the street. “Lulu!” The man shook head his like a wet dog, and he looked in same direction as Tia. When the dark figure made it to the asphalt street he could hear it’s feet make a distinct clop as it moved… hooves, not feet. That probably meant it was another… He rolled his eyes and sighed, what was this special brand of strange that had hit him today? In the midst of his thoughts, he unconsciously found himself on the street in a steady jog, and in pursuit of the creature that Tia called Lulu. Questions could come in another minute. “Hey, get back here!” When he called out the small pair of teal eyes glanced back at him, widened, and then the pace of the little clip-clop picked up. So John increased his stride, and he found that he was faster than whatever it was. The small thing didn’t even come up to his knees in height from what he could discern. By the time they were half way down the street, and John almost on top of his quarry, the little creature veered to the side. The sudden move almost made him trip up, and he saw the dark form bolt towards another neighbor’s yard. His target gained some ground between them, as John tried to make up for his stumble. As he ran onto the lawn of his neighbor he recognized the fence. There was a fairly sizable gap in the chain link, and that was precisely where the Lulu animal dove for. What the hooved creature didn’t see was the large “Beware of Dog” sign that was posted right on the fence. “Heya, Lulu? Lulu! Come back here!” John slowed and stopped right outside the fence, and didn’t dare try to scale it. His quarry had finally stopped once it had scrambled under the fence to the other side. Both of them panted a little, and John could finally get a good look at what he chased. It was another freakin’ little pony! Although she was dark blue, with a brighter blue mane and tail… She? How could he tell these things? Whatever… and she had wings and a horn too! “You better get out of there Lulu… or Mr.Boss will add you to his list of victims.” In response she gave him this uppity frown, and blew as raspberry. Ponies can blow raspberries? He didn’t know anything about horses, again, but this was probably another weird alien. So, whatever, that wasn’t the issue at the moment. There was a loud bark on the other side of the fence, and it caused both John and Lulu to jump. A black and brown rottweiler bounded around the corner and bore an intimidating snarl full of doggy teeth. It wore a large red color, and a tag that read “Mr. Boss”. The little blue pony didn’t even look back before she darted for the gap in the fence. In her panic she got stuck. Wings, mane, and tail are messy things to try and go under a chain-link fence with. John’s own eyes were wide and he moved to the fence and attempted to untangle the dark blue ball of panic. When the large dog reached the fence John hadn’t managed to get Lulu all the way out, and the canine fangs sank into… her tail. Not the meaty part of her tail, but the long hair that hung off of it. John suddenly found himself in the middle of a tug-o-war with a hundred thirty pound dog, and the tether was a little pony that was no more than twenty or thirty. “AAAAAAHHH!!!” The little pony shrieked! “GRRRARARARARRR!” Growled Mr. Boss. “Get off!” The John shouted. He grabbed her tail, right above where the little nub ended, so that the only thing being tugged between him and the dog was hair. The pressure was relieved from her little spine. She still screamed loudly, but John no longer worried that he would tear anything off, or pull out joints. So he pulled a little more roughly, and was frustrated that the dog didn’t give. “Come on, let go!” “Grrrrrrrr!” “Waaaaah!” John then remembered he had his carbon fiber stick nearby. He let one hand off of Lulu’s tail, and reached for it. The loss of grip allowed Mr. Boss to pull the pony and man closer to his side of the fence, and John found he didn’t like the sensation of hard metal links being pressed into his knuckles. The carbon fiber rod poked through the fence, and gave canine a hard jab in the nose. Stunned by momentary pain, the dog let go, and with the new found freedom John pulled the little pony the rest of the way out. There were snagged hairs that remained behind all over the fence, and a few feathers. The rottweiler barked angrily at the loss of a potential chew toy, and jumped at the fence. The metal links held back the canine, and John could breathe a little more easily. The proximity was still a problem for the tiny pony though, and she bawled in a terrible fright. To help relieve some tension he picked her up and held her close. Her small barrel rested on his fore-arm and she buried her face into the crook of his other arm. John picked up his stick and began to walk back to his own house. He didn’t have any real anger towards Mr. Boss, he was in his own yard, and there was a warning sign. The terrified creature in his arms was more of a concern at the moment, and John shuddered at the thought of what could have happened. The last cat that had gotten into that yard hadn’t come out in one piece... Some neighbors had filed complaints, but the dog had been allowed to stay. When he was half way back to the house, and the barks from his neighbor’s yard had become distant, the pony stopped her shiver. She relaxed against John’s body heat and loosed the tight grip she held his fore-arm with. “Aw there there, no more Mr. Boss to worry about.” Then John felt something wet and warm spread over his arm. It took a few seconds for him to register what it was. “Gaw! Man… why…” Minus ten cute points… Lulu meeped when she was suddenly held out at arms’ length, where she continued to drip a bit. John glared at his wet fore-arm, at least he hadn’t worn long sleeves. The pony had the decency to look a little embarrassed. He slung her under his wet arm, and paid special attention, in case he would need to distance himself again. The rest of the walk back to the house proceeded quickly enough, and when he reached the lawn he saw Tia was still at the window. After she had seen him, and what he carried, she turned around and jumped off the couch. Even from outside he could hear a muffled thud and “Owy!”. Before he could open the door and enter he heard a pitter patter from the door being tapped from the inside. The white one was sure excited, and he just sighed. It wasn’t too late in the evening, but it had been a whole day, and he was tired. “Just a sec.” The door was opened a second later, and Tia was there, she had an excited little smile and bounce in her movements, hampered by the casts. Her one free ear was perked, and she looked right at the blue pony under John’s arm. “Lulu!” The blueberry fur-ball looked back right away and started to wiggle, she wanted down. “Tia!” “Hey… ya… Now scoot there, I need to get inside.” John pushed Tia to the side with foot, and she easily slid over the wood flooring, then he turned around and closed the door. After the house was secure he kneeled down close to the small white pony, and put on a friendly face, despite the exasperation he felt. “Tia, I need to ask you some questions, is that alright?” “Um.” There was another loud gurgle from her stomach, and her body lurched in a spasm. Before he recognized the symptom for what it was, projectile pecan cheese cake vomit coated his leg and foot. His eyes closed, and he held them there for a long moment, when he opened them back up yep… there was still vomit over his leg, shoe and the floor. Tia just sat there with her mouth open, some of the unpleasant substance dripped from her chin, then she burped. After that she perked up. “Tummy aches gone!” “You know what, I think I’ll just sleep on it tonight.” Minus ten and plus five cute points… still a negative… There was pony pee on his arm, pony puke on his leg, and both of the little critters were dirty themselves. He grabbed Tia and slung her under his other arm. The closest bathroom was upstairs, and he tried to take as few steps as possible to get there, as each step made a little cheese cake mark on the floor. When he made it to the door he made a short awkward jumble as he positioned himself with two ponies to twist the knob. A moment later the bathroom was accessed, and he placed both of his burdens in the tub. Their little hooves clunked noisily against the plastic surface, and they fumbled about and slid as they tried to right themselves. While the ponies tried to find a way to prop themselves up right, John grabbed some toilet paper to wipe down his leg and arm of the worst of it. The barf between the shoe laces was the most difficult to clean, and he gave up after it was mostly done. There was more to clean on the floor in the living room and stairs… “Stay here, and I’ll be back in a minute.” “Ok.” Tia responded compliantly. Lulu just blew another raspberry at him. And he narrowed his eyebrows at that, what was with the attitude? Anyway, he didn’t waste any more time and closed the bathroom door behind. He was quick to run down stairs and get some cleaning supplies. As he did the task of clearing the mess downstairs, he heard some more fumbled movements in the bathroom above. There was another thud, and some crying. He rolled his eyes, and wasn’t quick about going back up stairs. John made sure the floor was clean before he returned, and muttered complaints under his breath. “What happened now?” As he opened the door he was greeted to the sight of Lulu’s hind legs as they kicked frantically, for her front half was stuck down in the toilet bowl. Her front hooves availed to nothing as they tried to push back against the wet porcelain surface. She screeched and cried like a banshee. The sight just caused John to blink. “…how?” Nevermind… he rushed over and pulled her out. She shivered and was quite frightened again, also Tia was on her side in the bathtub and she sobbed too. “I… I… slipped.. Oweee!” John moved over to the tub, and placed one crying pony next to the other, he scooted them to the higher side of the tub, and made sure Tia was propped upright. Then he turned the water on for the tub. He didn’t set the plug until the water that came out was decently warm. Then he allowed it to flow and fill until it was deep enough to come up to their little knees. He removed what parts of Tia’s bandaging he could, so that it wouldn’t get wet, then picked up the shampoo and conditioner, as well as a sponge. When he looked over Tia’s body he winced. The large dark bruises were quite gnarly, and everywhere. He also noticed an uneven crick at the base of Lulu’s tail, apparently that little tug-o-war had pulled a few things out of wack, and the blue pony held it away from him defensively. It took some time for the two of them to quiet down, but eventually the blubbering got weaker, and each calmed down as he scrubbed them down. First he got them both good and wet. Then he applied shampoo, and gave them a good rinse from the shower head. Then the conditioner, and another rinse. Content that all signs of the vomit and pee were gone from their wet matted bodies, John pulled the plug to let the sud slathered water drain. When the tub was empty he retrieved some towels, and scrubbed them down while they sat in the tub. Lulu shook herself like a dog while he tried to rub her, and Tia tried to do the same, but she stopped herself when the left half of her body refused to make the movement. The sting of her injury almost got her started again, but John was able to soothe and comfort her before it got out of hand. The job of getting them clean was done, and he let out a long satisfied yawn. With two dried and cleaned ponies slung under his arms he went to the guest bedroom. He eyed the bed, but decided against it. If they weren’t house trained then he wouldn’t trust them on a mattress over night, or the couch. So he took a few pillows from the bed and set them on the floor, and placed a pony into each soft malleable cluster. Tia settled in, and Lulu stared at her surroundings with wide, unsure eyes. “K, good night, I’ll see you tomorrow.” John turned around and closed the guest room door, and made off to his own bedroom, the master bedroom. He threw off his decorative Hawaiian and shirt and collapsed onto his bed, just in his undershirt and shorts. This had been a weird, weird day. Before five blissful minutes could reach completion, he heard a pounding on a door in the house. He knew it wasn’t the front door, it sounded different from here. His eyes snapped open, and he easily guessed where it came from. When he made it to the guest room door he already saw the wood move back and forth within it’s frame. There was yet more crying from the other side. “What’s wrong?” After he opened the door, he saw a very pouty faced Lulu, and Tia. Both of them had been just right outside the door. Tia had the most begging eyes. “It’s scary in here…” Damn pity points… Cute points restored… Tia whimpered, and John looked behind her into the rather blank, and open guest room. There was nothing too dark or dank about it, and when he looked down at the two anxious pairs of eyes he figured the real reason. They were probably scared of being left alone in a strange house. “Fine, c’mon.” In a large sweep, John grabbed both ponies, and the pillows that they were supposed to sleep on. With a few weary steps he made it to his own room, and was half tempted to just dump them on the floor in an incoherent mess, but he had enough decency to put them down gently, and make sure they were comfortable positioned. “Alright you two, I’m right here on the bed, good night.” He moved over and shut the door to his own bedroom, before he turned around and collapsed on the bed again. The two young creatures on his floor remained relatively quiet, and felt he could finally relax. For a while longer he was able to lie there, and let future John worry about tomorrow’s problems. He still needed to ask the aliens where they came from, and a strange image popped into his head. A large glowing U.F.O. hovered over his house with green lights that beamed with eerie mysticism. He was pulled from his bed by an unseen force and dragged out onto his lawn from the window. John hollered in fright and total confusion. An ambient and synthesized voice shook the air. “All your base are belong to us!” Wind whipped around John as he was blinded by the light, all the foliage and grass also waved around wildly. “I don’t have anything. Why, why me!” “You have ours!” Some hatch flipped open on the alien craft and a quadripedal creature completely covered in metal and technological materials from head to hoof emerged. Red eyes glowed from an unforgiving mask of iron. Then two little forms flew out from the window in his house, he recognized Tia and Lulu. “Bye John!” Tia waved a hoof at him while she floated up to the craft. Lulu blew a raspberry. John just gawked at the whole situation. As Tia and Lulu disappeared into the craft, the metal creature spoke with it’s ambient synthesized voice again. “You have no chance to survive, make your time, Ha Ha Ha.” “What? NOOOOOO!” John was dropped roughly on to his lawn, and the craft flew away. In the distance the craft joined with a much larger mothership structure. The titanic craft hovered over the city, and charged some weapon of alien design. The pointed death ray shot down, and blew away everything in it's path. A large fiery wall bore down on him and he raised his hands, as if they could defend him. Then he felt something nibble on one of his fingers. He got up with a start. “Wuh? Wuh? Guh…” He looked down to the hand which had felt the peculiar sensation, and he saw two ponies peek over the edge of his bed. The pairs of light purple and teal eyes looked at him with a strong plead. Their muzzles rested neatly on the edge of the bed, and seemed to make their sad little eyes even bigger. “It’s scary on the floor.” “Really…” Pity points didn’t work at this time of day, not when he should be asleep. So out of a sense of practicality, he reached over and pulled each petite equine on to the bed. This way they wouldn’t bang on the door of the guest room all night, and this way they wouldn’t bug him at the edge of the bed. John chastised himself for being such a push over, but he was tired, and felt that reason wasn’t on his side today. Maybe it would be tomorrow. This is how John ended up with two little ponies snuggled up against his back. Author's Note In case you didn't get the links in the text Ch.3 "Little Mister Shadow" My little Tia… and Others Ch.3 “Little Mister Shadow” The pre-dawn of light of early morning began to tickle the blinds of John’s room, and along with the faint trickle of light came stirring motions. Waking up was not his favorite part of the day, and this particular morning he had assistance he didn’t ask for. “It’s morning!” It was a childish, yet melodic voice that sung the words of initiation. Then small hooves started to jab at his back, he grumbled something before he shifted, and covered his head with a pillow. Now he was flat on his belly instead of on his side. Four little hooves stepped onto the available surface, and prowled over him. She almost slipped a few times when a hoof was planted somewhere with looser skin. She would quickly correct course however, and ended up doing a little dance motion. John hummed, it was almost like some strange massage, very unprofessional and blunt, but once or twice the pressure of the hooves actually felt good. To his surprise, her hooves didn’t create painful pressure, perhaps spreading out the weight between four limbs helped that. All he knew was that his three and four year-old nieces and nephews could stomp pretty good on a prone, and vulnerable snoozer. The horse creature continued to advance up his back, and he felt two hooves rest in the crook between his neck and shoulders. Almost subconsciously, his neck and shoulder started to contract together in defense, the anticipation for some pesters edged into his lethargic mind. A small muzzle prodded the edge of his pillow, then quickly dove for the small gap, where his ear was partially exposed. Suddenly, the little sniffles he heard became very loud, as they were right on his ear. John’s whole head flinched at the invasion of his fluffy shelter, and he rolled his body back onto it’s side. The bundle of morning energy flopped off his back and onto the bed. She squeaked in surprise at the sudden motion, and ended up on top of the other, slightly littler, horse person. Lulu grumbled in a pitch appropriate for a twenty pound equine, before she scrambled out from under her fellow. She didn’t bother opening her eyes as she meandered closer to the head of the bed. When she bumped into a pillow, she clambered on top of it, then curled up like a cat. She blew a half-hearted raspberry before she mumbled, ‘Tia’. John had since opened his eyes partially, and watched the little exchange with muted interest. “She’s got the right idea… it’s too early, like-” He stopped so he could flip over and look at the clock on the night stand. Five thirty A.M. “Five thirty in the morning. Ug, but I can’t go back to sleep.” So he sat up abruptly, and draped his legs over the edge of the bed. His hands went to his face and rubbed the fogginess that still bothered his vision. A long drawn out yawn escaped his mouth before he stood up. The displaced weight in the bed caused a small shift, and both ponies were slightly shaken in their positions. Tia was fine, as she was close to the center of the bed. The small shift made a gap between the mattress and the head board, and Lulu’s pillow started to sink into the small crevice. The slow sliding sensation didn’t wake her, and soon she was awkwardly half buried between the mattress and head board. Little snores passed through her snoot, and all was fine with the world as far as she was concerned. John yawned once more, and stretched out, until his arms and legs were fully extended. After a few quickly motions he swung his limbs back and forth to loosen up, then reached for his toes. Almost mechanically he went for the dresser, where he pulled out some socks, and a t-shirt. Then he acquired some fresh running shoes from the closet, and slipped all the appropriate wear onto his feet. He was at the front door before anything could break his absent-minded routine. A voice called out to him as he put his hand on the door knob. “Hey, wait!” When he looked back he saw Tia at the top of the stairs, she had a worried pout on her face. “Ya?” “Where are you going?” “For a jog, I’ll be back in a bit.” “Can I come?” Before he could answer she started to waddle her way down the stairs, and not after a step or two, she slipped. The little pony somersaulted step after step, and she screeched after each bounce, her bandaged limbs flailed about helplessly. John’s awareness levels shot up a notch, and he rushed over to the stairs. Due to his quick reaction, he was able to save Tia half-way down the stair case. By that time however, she had quickly become a crying mess. Her bruised and bandage parts had been thoroughly jimmied, and she didn’t like that... “Oweee! Ow, Ow, oweeeeeeeeeee!” “Sshh, It’s ok, it’s ok.” He tried to calm her down, and brushed his hand down her head and neck a few times. Soon he was off the stairs and close to the couch, he contemplated whether he should place her there as she calmed down, but thought better of it. The bandages made it awkward enough for her to move, and the couch was yet another elevated surface. So he pulled one of the pads off of the couch, and set it on the floor, he took a few pillows with it as well. A little nest of comfort was constructed and he placed her in the middle of it, then went to the kitchen. He opened the freezer to get some ice out of the ice tray, then placed in a zip-lock bag, and wrapped the zip-lock in a cloth. The wrapped up ice was put next to the trembly and sniffly pony, and John offered a few more words in a soft tone to try soothe her. He was on one knee, and ran his hand over her head a few more times. There was also a bit of snot that driveled out her nose from the crying, so he used the cloth the wipe it. When that was clean he set the ice back down next to her. “Just put whatever hurts against the ice ok?” “mmm, hmm” “I’m going to go on my jog, and I’ll be back in a little bit. Just stay here ok, I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” “Ok.” John stood up from his knee and went for the door once more. His hand was on the knob once more, and once more, a sound interrupted his departure. It was slightly less worrisome though, as it was a defined squeak, and it came from Tia’s location. He swiveled about on his feet, and looked back at her with a cocked eye brow. She shivered a bit, and pointed her snout at the cloth-wrapped ice. “It’s cold.” “It’ll help the owees. Just stay there… Tia.” “Ok.” He ran out the door before anything could interrupt him… once more. The sun was above the horizon now. The jog was uneventful, but pleasant. The repetitive motion and blood flow from the exercise helped him wake up. By the time he came back he was feeling pretty good, and ready to move on with the other preparations for the day. Shower, breakfast, blah blah. He was relieved to see Tia was still in her spot on the arranged couch cushion. The jog hadn’t been more than thirty minutes, besides, how much trouble could an injured little kid-horse get into anyway? He probably shouldn’t ask questions like that… The comfort of the cushion and the coolness of the ice pack had effectively sedated the alabaster equine, so John took advantage of the quiet moment to head upstairs to the shower. That task was done in haste, because as he thought about it, he found he was becoming more worried about what the ponies would do. He still had no idea how Lulu managed to get out of the tub, and face down in the toilet the other day. They did have wings, but John was under the impression that they couldn’t effectively use them… yet. Oh boy, what did this even mean? Did he plan on them being around long enough until they could learn how to fly? How big would they get? More important though, where did they come from? Why? How? When were they going to go back to wherever they came from? Would they go back? Could they go back? Would some… thing, come looking for them? The shower nozzle was turned off a little more forcefully than intended. He jumped out of the shower, dried off, wrapped up in a towel and walked back to his bedroom. The towel was tossed to the side as he dressed up in his normal ware for work, which was shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. He hadn’t noticed some other creature was in the room until he heard a muffled snore from the bed. His eyes shot to the source, he had been nude just a moment ago. He had to search for the source though, and eventually he was able to perceive a blue wing that twitched between the head board and mattress. Little Lulu was still fast asleep… Good. When he went back down the stairs he saw that Tia stirred, and shuffled in her pillow cushion arrangement, and he sat down next to her to see how she was doing. She noticed him approach and her tail wriggled a little bit, and her unbandaged ear perked attentively. He checked the ice cloth, which had gotten soggy, then turned to her bright beaming face. “You ready for some breakfast kid?” “Ya!” “Do you want anything in particular?” “Breakfast!” “Uh huh, something simple then… stay here.” “Yay!” She was a good little pony and stayed on the cushions, where she waited patiently. John pulled out the ice pack and wandered over to the fridge. When he opened the door, he scanned over the contents, and analyzed the breakfast options. Eggs, bacon, sausage… hmm, somehow that didn’t strike him as pony food. If Tia had hurled after the cheese cake, none of this would be very good. Hmm, maybe he just let her eat too much? In either case, he wanted to try something less potentially offensive. The ice pack was refilled, and he placed it back by the pony before he went to the garage. Once in the garage he looked over a few of his pantry shelves. All of his canned food and various dry foods were stored here. A pair of cupboard doors were opened, and to his surprise and displeasure, a few rats hopped off the shelves and scurried into other hidden crevices. He cursed violently at the rodents as they disappeared from his wrathful gaze. “Damn rats! The only reason I ever considered getting cat!” And John didn’t really care for cats… he was more of a dog guy… but there were ponies in his house… figures. He threw his fist in futility at them, and ineffectively punched the air. He could almost swear he heard them laugh. Little squeaky chitters that mocked his inability for immediate vengeance. His little tirade of flustered anger stopped, as he remembered he had actually bought something in preparation for this. He saw rats once or twice before, and his neighbor Tom had complained about seeing a few earlier. So he had purchased a few rat traps, which were conveniently also stored in the garage. With a jar of peanut butter, and a few snaps traps in hand he went to work quickly. Breakfast could be put on hold for a minute. The job was done in a snap, and 4 traps were set along the wall. Rats love to sneak along walls, well, besides ruining your food stores, and leaving oh so neighborly diseases and defecations. There was a fair grumble from his stomach, and he was reminded to pick something soon for the process of ingestion, lest the choir of his gut express more disgruntlement. A bag of blue-berry pancake mix caught his eye, and he grabbed it on his way back to the kitchen. Mix, strawberries, some mango, syrup, powder sugar, and whip cream were set neatly on the counter. A pan was pulled out, buttered, and a bowl with a pitcher were set, ready to mix. Spoons and spatula’s were also withdrawn from their places of rest and ready to be put to the test. The stove was flipped on and the orchestra of breakfast was prepared. He bumped the radio for a little morning jingle. It was some kind of odd collab, but he could chill to it. While in the midst of cooking, John didn’t notice Tia crawl off of the couch cushion, and meandered into the kitchen. She looked up at him curiously, and tried to understand what he did exactly. The hiss of pancakes and loud music did a good job to mask the little patter her of hooves on the tile floor. She also had to walk carefully on the smooth surface, so that she wouldn’t slip. Any rapid movements would make her face and the floor fast friends. After a moderate stack of pancakes had been built, John went to fetch some more food from the fridge. Ponies might not eat bacon and sausage, but he definitely would. Some of the delectable meats were tossed into the pan, along with some eggs as John cooked something for himself. Also the music seemed to agree with the choice. Tia wandered over to the kitchen table on the other side of the counter. She gave one of the chairs a good long look. It was too tall for her to jump it in one go, so her mind went to work, and she looked back towards the couch. Her small brow narrowed on the couch cushion. That would give her a little elevation if she could get it over here. At first she tried to push it forward with her head pressed against it. Her horn managed to punch a hole in the cushion for her efforts. Oops… So she tried to bite an edge and drag it next. This worked better, but she could only drag it a small distance before she would have to stop and rest. It really made her jaws sore from the strain. Eventually she managed, and the cushion was pulled next to one of the chairs. She reveled in small reverie, after she was able to ascend the chair with the cushion’s help. John turned about with two plates, each one sported a blue-berry pancake decorated with a plethora of confections. Mango and straw-berry slices all layered around smidgen of whip cream, on top of a healthy lathering of syrup. “Hey Tia, I got breakfast!” He shouted towards the living room, where he had last left the little pony, and was surprised when he heard her voice from the kitchen table. “Yay! Breakfast!” She knocked her two front hooves together in a funny little clap. Dawwww, it almost made John not shocked that she scaled a chair, and managed not to fall off, and aggravate her injuries even more. He had planned to put the plate on the floor, and let her go at it like a dog again, but she already sat at the table. She could talk too, so… Perhaps she could learn table manners? But with hooves? Hmm… He put down the plate in front of her, and placed the second on a different part of the table. The blue one might as well be fed now too. “I’m going to get the other pony, then we can all sit down and eat.” “You’re gonna get Lulu?” “Ya, Lulu.” “Ok.” So John turned around and jogged up the stairs, and made it to his bedroom. The petite snores alerted him to the still sleepy state of the blue one. A small feathery wing twitched occasionally between the mattress and headboard, it seemed a lot lower than last time he looked. Perhaps the crevasse was in the slow process of swallowing the pony whole. One of his arms extended and fished for something less delicate to grab onto. He felt something that seemed like a leg, and pulled out the slumbering creature slowly. Eventually Little Lulu was dragged out across the mattress, until her whole body was splayed over the surface, and she stilled snored. “Heya little dreamer, time to get up and eat.” He poked her thigh, and she twitched, but didn’t make any real signs of consciousness. So he snaked his fingers a little, and tried to give her belly a little tickle… Nope, that didn’t work either. Neither were her wings or legs all that the ticklish either. He was increasingly surprised, this pony slept like she was in a coma. For a minute he stood back and thoughtfully rested his chin on his fist. There was one trick he knew dogs hated… With his index finger and thumb, he picked up one of Lulu’s ears, and brought his mouth close to it. Her ear fidgeted slightly in his grasp, but she was still asleep. Then he narrowed his lips, before he blew some air right into her ear. That seemed to do it. The pony made a whiny grumble as she brought her hooves up defensively over her ears. Her wings flapped a few times, and she rolled onto her side. She still didn’t open her eyes, but she did blow a raspberry. John hummed, sometime he would have to stuff her mouth with raspberries, just so she couldn’t blow one. Anyway, that was a signal he had gotten the pony conscious. “Come on, let’s go stuff that little face of yours.” In another moment she was grabbed and slung under his arm, where she hung limply, and they both went to the stairs and descended towards the kitchen. John wasn’t all too surprised to see Tia with her face buried into her pancakes. She looked like a furry extension of the whip cream, and some of the mango and strawberry slices had managed to get on her cheeks. She smiled like an angel when she saw John and Lulu approach the table, the dirtiest little angel the man had ever seen. Blue-berry pony was plopped in front of a plate of blue-berry pancakes, and John went to retrieve his own plate of food. A less fancy pancake with a hearty side of bacon, eggs, and sausage. When he returned to the table he saw Lulu had buried her face in her pancake as well, but did not appear to eat it. In fact, he heard her snore again. “Sheesh, what got you so put out?” “She’s sleepy, a sleepy pony.” Tia added with what she thought was a helpful answer. John mulled over his food slowly with a fork, and he studied the alabaster creature that now wore as many confections as her pancake. “Uh huh, so, about last night, I wanted to ask you a few things Tia.” “Ya?” “Do you have parents? A mom and dad?” “Um, I don’t know.” “Do you know what parents are?” “Ya, but I don’t remember any.” “What about Lulu there, you remembered her name.” “That’s cause she’s my sister.” “Well, who took care of you, before you came here?” “Um… I don’t know.” “What? No one fed you? Cleaned up after you?” “All I remember is some bright flashy lights. They hurt my eyes, and everything was all dizzy. Then I came here, and that big monster hit me!” “The car… So you don’t remember anything before I saw you?” “Nu uh.” “But you know Lulu is your sister?” “Yep, she’s my sister. I remember that, and that she’s a sleepy pony.” Tia prodded her sister’s head with a hoof, which managed to smother the blue pony’s face further into the syrup and cream. John flinched at the abrasive messiness, he would have to introduce Tia and Lulu to the garden hose after breakfast… Meanwhile, he rested his fork on his plate. Strangely, after getting some answers from a pony that could talk, he was only more confused and at a loss. This creature of human level intelligence was basically a blank slate of a kid. Nothing substantial was in her memory. Well, go figure. There were too many things to think about where this could go, and he needed to check on his work today. “Alright, well, are you almost done Tia?” Her little tongue poked out, and cleaned a small circumference of the mess on her face. “That was yummy!” “Cool, let’s go to the backyard then.” “Time to play?” “Sure…” “Yay!” Tia didn’t really like the cold water of the garden hose, and she kept trying to hide her face while John atempted to get her rinsed. Lulu kept on trying to attack it, as if she could fight with the constant stream of water. Atleast her attempts to nip it with her little teeth were entertaining. The experience left her fully awake and aware, finally. Both little ponies shook like dogs to get off the excess water, and John rubbed them with a few towels he brought to help them fluff out. Once they were good, and mostly dry, Tia turned up to him all excited like. “Time to play?” “Um, let’s see…” What backyard toys did he have lying around? There was probably some bone left behind from a dog he had watched. Though that chew toy didn’t seem entirely appropriate. His eyes roamed around for something to use. Quickly he spotted a yellow-green ball, a tennis ball in fact. One of his neighbors had tried to make their backyard a make shift tennis court. Atleast it was tennis, and not baseball. Baseballs broke windows, tennis balls just make a loud noise and freaked people out. “Ya, how bout we play fetch.” “Fetch?” “Yep, like this.” He walked over to the tennis ball, picked it up, wiped it off, and threw it up and down in his hand a few times. It was almost new! So he turned to the excited little pony, and waved around the ball to get her attention. “Now I’m going to throw it, and you bring it back to me.” “Ok!” He tossed the ball across his rather economically sized yard, and she hobbled after it. She still wasn’t very quick on her hooves, not with all those bandages, John suddenly felt bad for making an injured pony-kid trudge around his yard. However, she seemed happy to do it, and asked to do something in the first place, so he obliged. Lulu had been rather non-vocal, so he turned to see what she was up to. She continued her attack against the garden hose, and she bit down on the rubber snake, just below the nozzle, as if she were a lion cutting off some animal’s air way. A bit of perplexion crossed over John’s face, this little blue pony was quite aggressive. When she noticed that he watched, she gave him a scowl, full of thoroughly not-intimidating defiance. Then she hopped away and started to stalk in the bushes like a tiger. Her dark complexion actually helped her blend in really well. John cocked an eye brow, what’s this pony acting like a little predator for? Well, she did have feathery wings, and most birds practiced predation from what he could recall. Perhaps they were part bird, and there were other oddities about their diets he had wrongfully assumed? Maybe they would like bacon? The idea made him chuckle, then he looked down to his wrist watch. It was about time he should get some work done, silly ponies, being all distracting. “Hmm, time to go to work.” He turned around to the sliding patio door, and slid it open. He had just thrown the ball to send Tia on another chase, and he wouldn’t be missed for another few seconds. On his momentary venture inside he picked up his laptop, and a lawn chair. Once he returned Tia was already up against the sliding door, ball in mouth. He slid the door open and scooted her to the side so he could make his way. He reached down and pulled the ball from her mouth, and she didn’t give any resistance. And the ball was tossed again. That was polite, there was a dog or two he had watched before that would fetch a ball, but then would never let it go. So it was always a game of fetch / tug-o-war. After the thought, he set up his lawn chair, and turned on his laptop. John had been rather fortunate when it came to work. He had made a rather successful online business, and it allowed him to live comfortably. It had been a project he had researched and started back in high school, and now had become his full blown career. Now, he only needed to sit down two or three times a week for a few hours, make sure thing were managed correctly, and revenues went where they should, and he was free. He worked to fill most of his open schedule with outdoorsy stuff, and he had been thinking about taking a bike ride around the rose bowl today… but his plans changed since yesterday. Random aliens popping up on the free way, and in the yard probably do that to people… Either way, the morning was spent messing around in the back yard, and checking stocks. In a great sense of timing, Tia got tired just as John finished up his work. The pony panted heavily from the exertion of the constant back and forth motions. She waddled over next to the lawn chair, and plopped down on her side. Something rustled over in the bushes, and Lulu popped out and quickly pounced on her sister. She made a triumphant little call. “Aha!” Tia yelped as some of her bandages were sloppily trudged on. The laptop was folded, closed, and put to the side. John raised a critical eye brow as he seized the blue rascal under her fore-legs. “Hey you, don’t step all over your hurt sister.” The little pony just looked at him as if he had rudely interrupted something, then she hacked up a big wad of spit in his face. He just stood there for a moment, shocked by the equine’s ability, and her bratty behavior. The little creature was turned about in his hands, so that she no longer face him. Then he used her mane as a wiping cloth. She fussed the whole time. “You little bugger, you don’t spit in people’s faces!” Partially as punishment, partially to clean them both up, he turned the garden hose on again, and sprayed her down. She had accumulated some dirt, spider webs, as well as some leaves and twigs during her roam through the bushes. Again the hose and water became her foe, a foe she tried desperately to kill, but her only tools were her infantile teeth and hooves. It failed comically to say the least. Off to the side Tia still panted and rested across the ground. She quietly watched as Lulu was cleaned again, and John rinsed his own face. When the second washing was complete, the blue fighter was wrapped up in a towel, until she was hopelessly pinned, and all she could do was pout. He slung her under his arm, and went over to pick up Tia. He brought them both inside, and placed them in the living room. A knot was tied around the wrapped up Lulu with another towel, so she couldn’t escape her cloth born prison, not until she was dry at least. It was time for lunch. Lunch was sandwiches, dinner was fried rice and noodles. Between that and chasing the ponies around the house, he wondered where the day had gone. John sighed as he twisted some reuseable chop sticks through his food. Both of the ponies had their faces hungrily buried into their plates. He would need to find something not-so-messy to feed them, all the clean up from every meal was turned out to be a hassle. He sighed again, and thought about the other things he had planned this week. He and a group of friends planned to make a trip to the theater this weekend. Tom was going to stop by tomorrow, because he was leaving town, and needed his dog watched. But most interesting would be next week. His brother Shawn would be stopping by along with the rest of his family, which comprised of his wife and three kids. They lived up in Washington state, but sometimes they would want to vacation down here in California, and use his house as their hotel, while they ventured to Disney land, Seaworld, and other fun stops. He didn’t mind at all, infact he liked the company. Shawn would stop by more often than his other brother, Bruce, or his sister, Sarah. Though this time promised to be different, as per the other sentient creatures that made themselves company as of yesterday. If the ponies didn’t disappear just like they had come, there was going to be some awkward interaction. He wasn’t particularly afraid of Shawn meeting these alien ponies he had picked up, infact John would like some advice right now, but he reserved the idea of just having a phone call. This particular conversation didn’t feel particularly suitable to have over the phone. Atleast it would be harder to discount the evidence in person. When everyone finished their meal John cleaned up and did the dishes. He was tempted to put the ponies in the sink as well, but settled for cleaning them up with wet wipes, and paper towels. They all went to the living room, and he placed them on the carpet, where neither of them moved with much energy. The tiredness in their eyes and postures was more than easy enough to see. It was evening, and the moon shone brightly, though not as bright as last night. John then sat his butt down on the piano bench, and went through some more exercises. Something soothing and a bit inspirational was in the current department of his mind, called mood. So something peaceful was played. It did a good job of getting his small audience to relax, and part way through he heard some snores, he didn’t have to look back to have an accurate guess at who made those. A small smile crawled along the edges of his mouth, and his own eyelids drooped. The moment seemed to go one for a good long while, and John was lost in the piece he played. The serenity however came to an end when he heard a loud SNAP! His eyes shot open, and he jumped up from the piano bench. He was going to shout. -Got you, you little sucker!- But something else beat him to the punch, and it said something more along the lines of… “YOWWWWWW!” Huh, rat’s don’t yowl in pain? It’s more like –snap- done. Ug, how would a dog get in his garage? He was pretty sure he left the door closed. Unless there were now intelligent dogs that had car-jacks and crow bars… That better not be the case or… or what? He didn’t really know what to do if that was the case. He went to the garage all the same, whatever it was, it had found his rat traps first. After the door was open, and she saw what scampered frantically about his garage, he closed the door back shut, turned around, and seriously comprehended just leaving the situation as it was. Nope… Too much… Can’t deal with it… Don’t wanna deal with it… It shouldn’t have happened… He already had too much to deal with… IT WON’T FRIGGIN SHUT UP! With deep frustration he turned towards the garage door again, and flung it open. The light was flipped on, and he was able to get a closer look at the creature he had just glanced over. Yep, it was another pony thing, but this one was grey with a black mane. It still scampered around and yowled in pain, for a rat trap had snapped on to it’s little muzzle, and clung relentlessly. John sighed, and committed himself to remedying the situation. So he chased down another miniature horse creature. This time he didn’t have to run down the street atleast, just around the garage in a few circles, until he eventually corned it, and grabbed it. This little specimen was a bit heavier than the other two ponies, and he struggled against it’s flailing hooves. “Stop moving! I’ll get it off.” He tried to command the fearful and stubborn creature, but it didn’t help. So he hugged the little equine tightly to his body, and walked back into the kitchen. Then he sat on the floor and clamped the small grey beast between his thighs, so that his hands were free. Now that he had some mobility, the trap was grabbed and pried off of the grey pony’s muzzle. The motion caused one more yelp, but once the pressure was gone, the little pony stopped his struggle. He… hmm, ya this one might be a he, for one thing it/he didn’t share the same pretty eye lashes that the other two had, and his tail was significantly shorter. With a closer, closer look, he noticed some other details, some of which struck him as bothersome. The thing’s eyes were blood red, and between the parted lips John could see… fangs? It also had a horn like the other two ponies, but it was curved, and he had no wings. Now the grey pony just whimpered, and cradled his face, some purple tears rolled off his eyes… another trait that frankly bothered John, but what did he know. Maybe purple tears were a healthy sign from fanged… horned horse things. Also by the cartoonish proportions and expressions, John could guess this little bugger was probably intelligent like the other two. “What is this…” He asked himself out loud. Not expecting any real kind of answer. Not even three days, and he had three tiny horse people in his house, and they were as mature as kids. Was he the target for some kind of extraterrestrial dumping sight? Some unknown race of horse people thought he was ideal to pelt with their unwanted? There were too many possibilities, all he knew was that he had another crying pony in his lap. Two sets of curious eyes poked around the kitchen counter and tried to spy what was going on, when they saw what John held, they both jumped from their sneaky spots and waddled over to get a better look. “Another pony?” Tia questioned with some recognition. So John put the newcomer down on the floor, and let the three equines inspect each other. The grey one trembled, the white one kept her distance and observed, the blue one snarled a bit, then pounced. “Lulu!” She had already tackled him down and started to gnaw on one ear, the attack caused the grey pony to fight back a bit, and he batted at her with his hooves to fend her off. John groaned in exasperation, before he pried the two apart. “Sheesh, what’s with you?” “He’s weird…” “I wasn’t asking you Tia.” “Sorry.” “Hmm.” Calming down before bed time hadn’t happened… Author's Note Heya, so, sorry about taking time between updates. I guess if you haven't figured already, I'm going to be updating this slowly. As I'm working on another project at the same time. You don't have to worry about me cancelling though, and i'll try to have an update atleast once every two weeks. I'll blog about it otherwise. Thanks for reading The links if you missed them.
Ch.1 "Little Miss Sunshine" My Little Tia… and Others Ch.1 “Little Miss Sunshine” John Johnson was a dude, and he drove his car down the freeway like any other person making their way to the Los Angeles suburbs. He was in his mid twenties, had uninteresting brown hair, boring blue eyes, and wore a Hawaiian button up shirt and unimaginative black sunglasses. At the moment he blasted music loud as it would go in his blue Toyota Corolla. He was in a good mood, and bobbed his with the music. He even sang along with the lyrics a little bit. “I use to think maybe you love me, now baby I’m suuurrrre.” He wasn’t very good at it, but he was in the car by himself… D-GAF “N I Just can’t wait till the day you knock on my dooooorrrrrr.” His whole body bobbed up and down with the beat now, and he tapped his hands up and down on the steering wheel like a drummer. It was a good day, good things had been done, and good things were planned for the evening. Yep, John Johnson already enjoyed his life and where he was at. The music rolled on a bit more and eventually approached the chorus. “I’m walkin’ on sunshine, wooOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” A small white creature had wandered onto the freeway and into dangerous traffic. John slammed on the breaks as he screamed in fright. Rubber screeched over pavement as the car rapidly decelerated, but not enough. There was a small bump to the front of the car as John hit the white creature just before he came to a complete stop. The unfortunate little thing was hit had enough that it tumbled head over hooves for several yards. The music in the car felt no obligation to stop. “I’m walkin’ on sunshine WOOO-O!” “What the hell!” The screech of more rubber came from behind, and several cars stacked up behind John, luckily no one crashed, but there were lots of angry horns honked. He just raised his hands in frustration. “Guuuh, Idiots! If you’re going to dump your dog, don’t do it by the free way!” Traffic was effectively stopped in his lane, and the thing he had hit stirred a little. He supposed he should go check it out, and atleast move it to the shoulder if it was dead. Cars behind him already started to move around and back into traffic. John absentmindedly scratched the top of his head after he got out and closed the door. Today had been a good day, well, it still could be, this was only a little interruption, and how much of an inconvenience could this really turn out to be? First he took a quick look at the front of his car, and found his bumper had sustained a noticeable dent. He growled under his breath, people really shouldn’t dump their dogs by the freeway. Then he walked over to see what he had hit. Rather quickly, he found out it wasn’t a dog. Dogs don’t have wings… Or horns… or hooves… or long fluffy tri-colored manes and tails. His eyes got steadily wider as he soaked in the details. There was a large bruise that rapidly developed along the little horse’s entire left side, which darkened the pretty alabaster coat. He hadn’t turned off the music in his car, and it continued to blare. “N don’t it feel good! Hey!” Another loud beep behind him reminded John that the freeway was not a good place to stand still, and idly stare. He shook his head then scratched it, at a loss of what to do. He didn’t really pick up strange animals like this. A sad little whimper came from the small horse creature. John looked down at her, how did he know it was a ‘her’? Maybe the long eye lashes and really weird proportions for a horse gave him a rough guess. The pathetic little twitches added to the ‘pity points’, which steadily built in John’s bewildered mind. “Um…” Another loud car honk made his anxiety spike. “Fine, until I can figure something else to do.” He walked over to the small horse… what do you call a small horse again? A pony? Ya, that’s right, a pony. Either way, he put his hands around her barrel, and hoisted her under one arm. She was a bit larger than a small dog. More soft whimpers escaped her as the sensitive bruises stung. “Sorry, but you were a dummy for walking into the freeway… Man, you’d think there’d be some instinct in animals to avoid loud, large, dangerous roads. Sheesh. Atleast you didn’t become road kill…” The words were toned softly, but still carried a critical air. The little white pony whimpered some more. In another few moments John made it to the passenger side of his car, opened the door, and placed the winged, horned, dirty, gravel bitten, pathetic mess onto the seat. He closed the door and made his way to the driver side. The music still played. “I used to think maybe you loved me, now I know that it’s true.” John sighed and pushed a button to turn off the music, he was no longer in the mood. With his foot on the accelerator he brought his Corolla back up to speed, and on the way back to his suburb. Now he was thinking of a few detours to take. One short glance towards the pony… thing, normal ponies don’t have those extra appendages, or those proportions… Especially those freakishly large magenta eyes she now stared at him with. Atleast john was pretty sure that’s not how normal miniature horses were… Anyway, the short glance revealed her to be in the midst of a terrible shiver, and her eyes, well atleast the right eye, the left eye was almost swollen shut, were open and stared around with fear. She defensively cradled her left foreleg, which was swollen around the knee, and an unpleasant shade of purple. John frowned. This was not how a good day was supposed to go… The only toss-up he played with now was whether he would go to the vet or the dog pound first. Would a dog pound take in ponies? Maybe, but a proper animal shelter was more like it, but he didn’t remember what part of town that was. He just knew where the pound was by previous experiences. Experiences he didn’t remember fondly… Or there was the vet, he could atleast make sure the poor thing would get some proper care first, before she was put in some cage, and later ‘put down’ for getting an infection or something. He glanced at her again, and the same fear, the same nervous shiver was there. More pity points were made. It would be the vet first. At the vet- “What is this?” A wide eyed older veterinarian stared at the creature John held under one arm. “A little horse thing... Anyway, I just want to see if you can give her a quick patch, her front left leg probably has a fracture. I plan on taking her to a shelter or something. She wandered up on the freeway, and I was the one that bumped into her.” “Well, a cast is easy enough, would you mind if I take a few x-rays? I just haven’t seen the like before.” “Neither have I, but go ahead. Only please be quick about it, I’ve got a few other things planned today.” “Don’t we all, I’ll have it done in a jiffy.” The old vet gave a smirk, and the pony was lifted from one human to another. She let out a yelp, partially from pain, partially from fear of strangers, partially from being partial. “Oh, easy there, easy.” “I’m trying to be! There’s just bruises, everywhere!” They finished the awkward transaction, and pony was successfully given from smooth youthful hands, to crusty old wrinkly ones. The experienced vet went into the back room, and John turned about to sit in the reception area. The seats were nice and cushioned, unlike many doctor’s waiting areas, that seem to be frequently outfitted with hard plastic, almost as if they wanted their patients uncomfortable before the actual appointment came. No, this vet wasn’t like that, he was a nice old guy, and John had come here before a few times oddly enough. It was odd, because he personally didn’t own any pets. He would sometimes look out for his neighbor’s dog, which had ended in some interesting events. Let’s just say John knew where the vet was, because of more than one occasion. His neighbor Tom was an affable and forgiving sort, so there were no hard feelings… John hoped. He twiddled his thumbs while he waited. Old man vet returned, and the pony was wrapped like a mummy, had a cast on both left legs, and wore one of those hilarious dog cone collars around her neck. John couldn’t help himself, and he snorted. Strangely enough the young equine reacted to the humored noise, and turned to him with a glare, her brow furrowed angrily, and her mouth portrayed a very strong frown. The exaggerated expressiveness caught John off guard, and he was momentarily stunned. Then she made a dismissive little ‘humph’ as she titled her snout up at him, and tried to preserve what little dignity her predicament gave her. There was something disconcertingly intelligent about those motions, and he blinked several more times to make sure the little thing was indeed there. It was just, so, odd. The vet proceeded to address him. “You were right about the fractures, but they were fairly minor, she should be fine in a few weeks. Again, I must say I’ve never seen anything like her. Are you sure you want to take her to a shelter? I mean, I could hold onto her if you’d like, I know a few-” “It’s alright, I’ll take here there, and save you the trouble.” John interrupted the old man before he could ramble, and reached out and grabbed the little pony. There was another pained induced yelp as she wasn’t handled very gently. The old man resisted a little, as if he didn’t want to let go. John raised his eye brows in a scrupulous manner, and the vet pursued his lips. With a surprise tug, John was able to yank her away, and put her back under his arm. She whimpered, and he threw a suspicious look at the old professional. “Thanks doc.” “Have a good day John…” A little bell jingled as John made his exit through the front door. He forgot to pay the bill… oops. They were in the car, and John debated with himself again. The turn between the dog pound, and his house was a few more miles down the boulevard. In that time he muttered under his breath and fumed a little. The look and gestures she gave him earlier bothered him, that wasn’t something a normal animal would do. The expressiveness in her face was entirely off, it was too much. “What are you?” He looked at her during a stop light, she looked up at him. The stare lasted for a while longer, and the grumpy face she made was rather adorable, and sad, because of the state she was in. He put out a hand to pat her on the top of the head. She pulled her head away even as his hand reached, but he continued to reach, and she continued to back away, and he kept up the reach, and she kept up the backward scoot. She ran out of space, and was corned, that hand patted the top of her head… “If only people put dog collars on horses. It’d be easier to find your owners, or have a name or something.” “Tia.” “What?” “Tia.” John froze in his seat, did he just hear someone else speak? Cars honked behind him, the light had turned green, and he hadn’t moved yet. Slowly he put his foot on the accelerator, and tried not to be too freaked out by what he ‘thought’ had just happened. It was just a little squeak, that’s all it could’ve been, just a really weird squeak. There were already so many things that were profoundly odd about this pony already. The fact that it could make a strange noise that sounded like speech shouldn’t surprise him. “I’m Tia.” “AHH!” John made a rather unmanly shriek. Ok, it could parrot? He didn’t know horses could do that… Ya that must be it, the previous owner taught this weird little horse creature how to parrot, or make sounds like one. That must be it… “My name is Tia.” This made John rapidly pull to the side of the road and hit the brakes. He hit it harder than he intended, and the little pony was launched from the passenger seat into the dash board. He hadn’t buckled her in. When she hit the dashboard she made a little shriek of her own. “What the hell was that?” He shouted, and the pony cowered, she whimpered openly and tears came from her eyes. Her bottom lip trembled something awful, it was devastatingly cute, profoundly sad, yet adorable at the same time. She couldn’t hold it in any longer, and she began to openly wail and sob. John’s brain blew a gasket… Did not compute… Critical processing error… Blue screen of death… The way the pony cried sounded way too much like human toddler. Horses didn’t cry like that. Horses didn't really look or act like that. Horses didn’t have freakin’ wings and horns or cartoonish proportions either! “Hey, hey, hey, shhh, it’s ok, it’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you.” There was obvious disbelief in those terrified magenta eyes, and she continued to bawl. John thought he was ok with kids, he didn’t have any of his own, but he didn’t mind playing around with his nieces and nephews every once and a while. When they got to a state like this, that’s when he’d usually hand them off to his brother or sister. Why did he just compare this pony thing… guh, he wasn’t sure he could really think of it as just a pony at this point. It acted too much like an upset kid. If he wasn’t hallucinating, he had just heard her speak a whole sentence. He reached out his hand again, and the little white filly flinched at the outstretched appendage. He tried to sooth her with gentle pants, and he removed the silly cone collar. She seemed to appreciate that, and allowed him to continue with his soft ministrations of reassurance. “I guess I shouldn’t take you to the pound…” A brief scenario popped into John’s head. “Here take it! It’s your guy’s job to pick up strays!” Imaginary John held out a bandaged little pony that cried. “That’s not a dog sir, this is a dog pound.” A large staff attendant sat behind the reception desk with bored, and uninterested grey eyes. A large bristly mustache wrinkled as he talked, and John was reminded of a walrus. He continued his plea despite the apathy of the attendant. “Come on, it’s totally a dog, it’s got fur, four legs, a tail, and a wet nose. I’m pretty sure it eats and poops. That means you take it.” “Sir, we can’t hold on to it.” “Please?” “For the last time, we don’t take pony children.” “What?” The term ‘pony children’ threw him off. The little white horse turned it’s head towards John and gave the most pitiable look he had ever seen on equine features. The cute little voice dug daggers into his emotions. “Why John? Why do you hate me John? Why are you trying to put me in the dumpster? Do you want me ‘put down’? Then why didn’t you just leave me to be road kill?” Imaginary John freaked out, and dropped her. “This isn’t real! This isn’t real! This isn’t real! Ponies don’t talk! Ponies don’t look like that! PONIES AREN’T CHILDREN!” The scene in John’s head disappeared, and here he was. The pony’s… Tia’s, yes Tia, the little creature had said her name, so why not refer to her as that now. Tia’s sobs and fearfulness had died down a good deal, and the continued strokes along the un-bandaged side of her neck had the desired effect. Mainly some quiet time for John. He was on his way back from a relaxing picnic on the beach. A brief incident on the freeway meant he had some creature with him now, and it only seemed more and more alien as he interacted with her. It could talk, simply at least, and displayed uncomfortably human emotion. The dog pound no longer seemed like an option. So he turned to go back home. The drive back was silent. Little Tia only sniffled occasionally, but she didn’t say anything else. When he pulled into the drive way he clicked the remote in his car, and the garage door opened. Once he was inside, and the garage door was closed he got out, and retrieved Tia from the passenger side. He still held her like he would a dog, slung under one arm, but he did it gently, so her injuries wouldn’t be agitated… much. He had no idea what he was doing, and no idea who to ask about it… might as well be the internet right? It was the source of all profound knowledge after all. He spent his days running an online business anyway, so it wasn’t like hitting the search engine was anything foreign. The garage door was attached to the kitchen, and after he took a few steps in there was a little growl. It rumbled and tickled his ribcage slightly. He looked down to the pony slung under his arm. “Hungry?” “Ya…” It still felt unreal that she could answer him… with words… But he decided to ignore that for now. It was near evening and he felt a little hungry himself. So he placed Tia on the tiled kitchen floor, and started to rummage through the fridge. There were a few take out boxes from Cheese Cake Factory, and he pulled them out. There was a good portion of alfredo pasta, and some bread sticks, and the other box had some pecan cheesecake. He never really liked pecan, and he couldn’t quite remember why he ordered it. Hmm, Horses like sweet stuff right? Ofcourse… everything likes sweet stuff. John placed the take out box with cheese cake down infront of Tia, in a manner reminiscent of placing a dog bowl. Then he put the alfredo in a microwavable bowl to heat it up, a few button pushes later and it was well under way. Tia tore into the cheese cake, rather like a dog… and large chunks of the creamy sweet cheesy pecan flavored desert were gobbled with her mini, yet merciless maw. The mess that got all over her face was kind of cute too. John wasn’t much of a fluffy bunny guy, but such adorableness couldn’t be ignored by rational minds. The sun had set and the moon was up. It was a full moon tonight, and john was feeling rather tired, and was in the mood to relax. He had a grand piano set up in his living room, and he moved over to sit down on the bench. After he had wiped the mess off of Tia’s face, he put her down on the carpet of the living room so he could keep an eye on her. It wasn’t exactly like Tia could move much, she had two splinted legs, and one of her wings was wrapped up in the bandages, but still… John cracked his knuckles before he started to tickle the ivories. Brilliant moonlight trickled into the room, and added a soothing atmosphere to the serenade he made. Beethoven was very good at what he did, and John appreciated it enough to learn one of his sonatas. This particular piece moved him at the same time that it relaxed him. Little Tia’s ears perked up as the piano was played, and her eyes started to slowly close. She lay down on the floor on her side, and let a shuddered sigh escape her petite muzzle. John closed his own eyes and let the muscle memory take over as he played on. The full moon continued to shine over the California night sky, and for the briefest of moments a little twinkle sparkled over it’s surface. Tiny Tia’s eyes opened and she look up towards the heavenly body. A moment later there was a thud. A small dark form suddenly appeared glued to the living room window, and John stopped playing the piano. His eyes bolted to the window, where the small figure slowly slid down, and made a window wiping noise as it descended. “What now?” Nervousness crept right up John’s spine. He hoped it was just a raccoon at his window… it better be. The strange tingle in the air made it seem otherwise. Tia suddenly made an effort to get up, but clumsily fell back down, her splinted limbs made it impractical. This could not dissuade the excitement in the childish equine’s face however. “Lulu!” “What, now?” Author's Note In case you missed the two links in the text, they were these. and and i do sketches
Ch.2 "Little Miss Moonshine" My Little Tia… and Others Ch.2 Little Miss Moonshine This mysterious thing John suspected was a raccoon, and what Tia had called a… Lulu? Had descended the rest of the way down the living room window, and fell into the short shrubs of the front yard. John pushed back the piano bench as he stood up, and cautiously walked towards the front door. In preparation to dissuade wild animals, he picked up a stick he kept close by the entrance to his home. This stick was actually a broken golf club, which he didn’t want to throw away. It was a sort of a funny story, and a reminder of why he didn’t really care for golf… The handle and shaft were still in place, and made for a good thwacking object, perfect to dissuade pesky raccoons and possums that often plagued the neighbor hood. With his carbon fiber beat stick in hand John placed his hand on the door knob. Before the door was opened he felt a little nudge on the back of his leg. He turned around and saw little Tia look up at him, with her eye that wasn’t bandaged, and spoke small words full of longing. “I wanna see Lulu.” Her lower lip trembled and it looked like she was about to cry. Her eye also watered a little, and the moonlight that poured in through the window gave her reflective orb a sparkly quality. This only served to confuse John, apparently Tia knew what had hit his window? Also she wanted to see whatever it was very badly. Then there was a loud gurgle noise, which emanated from the alabaster pony child. After the noisy burble she sat back on her haunches, and put one hoof to her petite gut. “I got a tummy ache.” “Um, stay right there for now, I’ll be back in a minute.” A warning finger tapped her small muzzle and got her attention. When she looked back up she saw the sympathetic, yet thoroughly confused face of the man. His look was stern when he warned her to stay put, but she had feelings that didn’t want to wait. She knew who was outside. “But Lulu! –gurgle-… ooo, owy.” John just sighed, and picked her up under her fore-legs, then placed her on the couch. He gave her the most confident look he could, full of assurance. “I'll be back.” Her lower lip continued to tremble a bit, but she remained quiet and nodded. The gurgle noises didn’t really die down either, and that caused John to worry more, but something outside needed to be addressed. Something Tia thought she knew about. John would really need to sit down and get as much information as he could out of this little horse alien, and soon, otherwise he didn’t want to comprehend what all of this could mean for his psyche. His hand found it’s way back to the door knob, and it was twisted open. He peered out the crack of the door, found nothing too alarming, then opened it the rest of the way and stepped out into the night air. The carbon stick was raised, and ready to swat and any aggressive suburban animals, there were probably a few coyotes out tonight too, and John didn’t fancy picking up rabies. There was one squirrel incident a few years ago… In any case, he moved towards the shrubs, where the ambiguous creature had fallen earlier, and as he approached there was a slight rustle in the foliage. He paused at the movement and tried to look closely at what it was. There was a pair of teal eyes that peered out between the leaves, and they were full of fear. The darkness of the night, and shade of the bushes, and inherently dark hue of the creature he looked at, made it all but impossible to discern it’s shape. “Hey, get on out of there scrub.” John’s approach was the same as when any animal that he didn’t want got on his property. He also had the dog pound’s number posted in his kitchen because there seemed to be an unusual number of strays that made it to his neighborhood. Dogs that loved to leave little presents on his lawn. The pair of eyes remained where they were, but they fixed on John, and they were caught in an awkward stare of sorts. He just grunted, whatever this thing was, it was fairly bold. Just like the raccoons that came here, seriously, those things could be pelted with baseballs and wouldn’t care. The garbage cans would still be emptied and spread all over the alley by morning. Uninterested in just standing around, John decided to take the next step and use other methods to coax the creature out of his shrubbery. The headless golf club was thrust forward and made some exploratory pokes into the plants. On the second or third poke he prodded something with a softer composition than shrub roots. The loud squeak that came out surprised him and he jumped back. The stick was raised defensively on instinct, and he looked over the exact location within the shrubs. “Eeeee!” In response to his rapid movements the little creature had rustled through the plants again, and popped out from the shrubs in a small bound. John had expected something more of a hiss or growl, not that weird little squeal. When he found the figure that jumped out of his plants his eyes narrowed in confusion. That thing didn’t move like a raccoon, possum, or dog. Rather than a lumbering gait, it galloped? There was a tap on the living room window from inside the house, and John saw Tia pressed up again the window. Her muffled voice cried out, and her head nodded towards the small dark figure that ran out into the street. “Lulu!” The man shook head his like a wet dog, and he looked in same direction as Tia. When the dark figure made it to the asphalt street he could hear it’s feet make a distinct clop as it moved… hooves, not feet. That probably meant it was another… He rolled his eyes and sighed, what was this special brand of strange that had hit him today? In the midst of his thoughts, he unconsciously found himself on the street in a steady jog, and in pursuit of the creature that Tia called Lulu. Questions could come in another minute. “Hey, get back here!” When he called out the small pair of teal eyes glanced back at him, widened, and then the pace of the little clip-clop picked up. So John increased his stride, and he found that he was faster than whatever it was. The small thing didn’t even come up to his knees in height from what he could discern. By the time they were half way down the street, and John almost on top of his quarry, the little creature veered to the side. The sudden move almost made him trip up, and he saw the dark form bolt towards another neighbor’s yard. His target gained some ground between them, as John tried to make up for his stumble. As he ran onto the lawn of his neighbor he recognized the fence. There was a fairly sizable gap in the chain link, and that was precisely where the Lulu animal dove for. What the hooved creature didn’t see was the large “Beware of Dog” sign that was posted right on the fence. “Heya, Lulu? Lulu! Come back here!” John slowed and stopped right outside the fence, and didn’t dare try to scale it. His quarry had finally stopped once it had scrambled under the fence to the other side. Both of them panted a little, and John could finally get a good look at what he chased. It was another freakin’ little pony! Although she was dark blue, with a brighter blue mane and tail… She? How could he tell these things? Whatever… and she had wings and a horn too! “You better get out of there Lulu… or Mr.Boss will add you to his list of victims.” In response she gave him this uppity frown, and blew as raspberry. Ponies can blow raspberries? He didn’t know anything about horses, again, but this was probably another weird alien. So, whatever, that wasn’t the issue at the moment. There was a loud bark on the other side of the fence, and it caused both John and Lulu to jump. A black and brown rottweiler bounded around the corner and bore an intimidating snarl full of doggy teeth. It wore a large red color, and a tag that read “Mr. Boss”. The little blue pony didn’t even look back before she darted for the gap in the fence. In her panic she got stuck. Wings, mane, and tail are messy things to try and go under a chain-link fence with. John’s own eyes were wide and he moved to the fence and attempted to untangle the dark blue ball of panic. When the large dog reached the fence John hadn’t managed to get Lulu all the way out, and the canine fangs sank into… her tail. Not the meaty part of her tail, but the long hair that hung off of it. John suddenly found himself in the middle of a tug-o-war with a hundred thirty pound dog, and the tether was a little pony that was no more than twenty or thirty. “AAAAAAHHH!!!” The little pony shrieked! “GRRRARARARARRR!” Growled Mr. Boss. “Get off!” The John shouted. He grabbed her tail, right above where the little nub ended, so that the only thing being tugged between him and the dog was hair. The pressure was relieved from her little spine. She still screamed loudly, but John no longer worried that he would tear anything off, or pull out joints. So he pulled a little more roughly, and was frustrated that the dog didn’t give. “Come on, let go!” “Grrrrrrrr!” “Waaaaah!” John then remembered he had his carbon fiber stick nearby. He let one hand off of Lulu’s tail, and reached for it. The loss of grip allowed Mr. Boss to pull the pony and man closer to his side of the fence, and John found he didn’t like the sensation of hard metal links being pressed into his knuckles. The carbon fiber rod poked through the fence, and gave canine a hard jab in the nose. Stunned by momentary pain, the dog let go, and with the new found freedom John pulled the little pony the rest of the way out. There were snagged hairs that remained behind all over the fence, and a few feathers. The rottweiler barked angrily at the loss of a potential chew toy, and jumped at the fence. The metal links held back the canine, and John could breathe a little more easily. The proximity was still a problem for the tiny pony though, and she bawled in a terrible fright. To help relieve some tension he picked her up and held her close. Her small barrel rested on his fore-arm and she buried her face into the crook of his other arm. John picked up his stick and began to walk back to his own house. He didn’t have any real anger towards Mr. Boss, he was in his own yard, and there was a warning sign. The terrified creature in his arms was more of a concern at the moment, and John shuddered at the thought of what could have happened. The last cat that had gotten into that yard hadn’t come out in one piece... Some neighbors had filed complaints, but the dog had been allowed to stay. When he was half way back to the house, and the barks from his neighbor’s yard had become distant, the pony stopped her shiver. She relaxed against John’s body heat and loosed the tight grip she held his fore-arm with. “Aw there there, no more Mr. Boss to worry about.” Then John felt something wet and warm spread over his arm. It took a few seconds for him to register what it was. “Gaw! Man… why…” Minus ten cute points… Lulu meeped when she was suddenly held out at arms’ length, where she continued to drip a bit. John glared at his wet fore-arm, at least he hadn’t worn long sleeves. The pony had the decency to look a little embarrassed. He slung her under his wet arm, and paid special attention, in case he would need to distance himself again. The rest of the walk back to the house proceeded quickly enough, and when he reached the lawn he saw Tia was still at the window. After she had seen him, and what he carried, she turned around and jumped off the couch. Even from outside he could hear a muffled thud and “Owy!”. Before he could open the door and enter he heard a pitter patter from the door being tapped from the inside. The white one was sure excited, and he just sighed. It wasn’t too late in the evening, but it had been a whole day, and he was tired. “Just a sec.” The door was opened a second later, and Tia was there, she had an excited little smile and bounce in her movements, hampered by the casts. Her one free ear was perked, and she looked right at the blue pony under John’s arm. “Lulu!” The blueberry fur-ball looked back right away and started to wiggle, she wanted down. “Tia!” “Hey… ya… Now scoot there, I need to get inside.” John pushed Tia to the side with foot, and she easily slid over the wood flooring, then he turned around and closed the door. After the house was secure he kneeled down close to the small white pony, and put on a friendly face, despite the exasperation he felt. “Tia, I need to ask you some questions, is that alright?” “Um.” There was another loud gurgle from her stomach, and her body lurched in a spasm. Before he recognized the symptom for what it was, projectile pecan cheese cake vomit coated his leg and foot. His eyes closed, and he held them there for a long moment, when he opened them back up yep… there was still vomit over his leg, shoe and the floor. Tia just sat there with her mouth open, some of the unpleasant substance dripped from her chin, then she burped. After that she perked up. “Tummy aches gone!” “You know what, I think I’ll just sleep on it tonight.” Minus ten and plus five cute points… still a negative… There was pony pee on his arm, pony puke on his leg, and both of the little critters were dirty themselves. He grabbed Tia and slung her under his other arm. The closest bathroom was upstairs, and he tried to take as few steps as possible to get there, as each step made a little cheese cake mark on the floor. When he made it to the door he made a short awkward jumble as he positioned himself with two ponies to twist the knob. A moment later the bathroom was accessed, and he placed both of his burdens in the tub. Their little hooves clunked noisily against the plastic surface, and they fumbled about and slid as they tried to right themselves. While the ponies tried to find a way to prop themselves up right, John grabbed some toilet paper to wipe down his leg and arm of the worst of it. The barf between the shoe laces was the most difficult to clean, and he gave up after it was mostly done. There was more to clean on the floor in the living room and stairs… “Stay here, and I’ll be back in a minute.” “Ok.” Tia responded compliantly. Lulu just blew another raspberry at him. And he narrowed his eyebrows at that, what was with the attitude? Anyway, he didn’t waste any more time and closed the bathroom door behind. He was quick to run down stairs and get some cleaning supplies. As he did the task of clearing the mess downstairs, he heard some more fumbled movements in the bathroom above. There was another thud, and some crying. He rolled his eyes, and wasn’t quick about going back up stairs. John made sure the floor was clean before he returned, and muttered complaints under his breath. “What happened now?” As he opened the door he was greeted to the sight of Lulu’s hind legs as they kicked frantically, for her front half was stuck down in the toilet bowl. Her front hooves availed to nothing as they tried to push back against the wet porcelain surface. She screeched and cried like a banshee. The sight just caused John to blink. “…how?” Nevermind… he rushed over and pulled her out. She shivered and was quite frightened again, also Tia was on her side in the bathtub and she sobbed too. “I… I… slipped.. Oweee!” John moved over to the tub, and placed one crying pony next to the other, he scooted them to the higher side of the tub, and made sure Tia was propped upright. Then he turned the water on for the tub. He didn’t set the plug until the water that came out was decently warm. Then he allowed it to flow and fill until it was deep enough to come up to their little knees. He removed what parts of Tia’s bandaging he could, so that it wouldn’t get wet, then picked up the shampoo and conditioner, as well as a sponge. When he looked over Tia’s body he winced. The large dark bruises were quite gnarly, and everywhere. He also noticed an uneven crick at the base of Lulu’s tail, apparently that little tug-o-war had pulled a few things out of wack, and the blue pony held it away from him defensively. It took some time for the two of them to quiet down, but eventually the blubbering got weaker, and each calmed down as he scrubbed them down. First he got them both good and wet. Then he applied shampoo, and gave them a good rinse from the shower head. Then the conditioner, and another rinse. Content that all signs of the vomit and pee were gone from their wet matted bodies, John pulled the plug to let the sud slathered water drain. When the tub was empty he retrieved some towels, and scrubbed them down while they sat in the tub. Lulu shook herself like a dog while he tried to rub her, and Tia tried to do the same, but she stopped herself when the left half of her body refused to make the movement. The sting of her injury almost got her started again, but John was able to soothe and comfort her before it got out of hand. The job of getting them clean was done, and he let out a long satisfied yawn. With two dried and cleaned ponies slung under his arms he went to the guest bedroom. He eyed the bed, but decided against it. If they weren’t house trained then he wouldn’t trust them on a mattress over night, or the couch. So he took a few pillows from the bed and set them on the floor, and placed a pony into each soft malleable cluster. Tia settled in, and Lulu stared at her surroundings with wide, unsure eyes. “K, good night, I’ll see you tomorrow.” John turned around and closed the guest room door, and made off to his own bedroom, the master bedroom. He threw off his decorative Hawaiian and shirt and collapsed onto his bed, just in his undershirt and shorts. This had been a weird, weird day. Before five blissful minutes could reach completion, he heard a pounding on a door in the house. He knew it wasn’t the front door, it sounded different from here. His eyes snapped open, and he easily guessed where it came from. When he made it to the guest room door he already saw the wood move back and forth within it’s frame. There was yet more crying from the other side. “What’s wrong?” After he opened the door, he saw a very pouty faced Lulu, and Tia. Both of them had been just right outside the door. Tia had the most begging eyes. “It’s scary in here…” Damn pity points… Cute points restored… Tia whimpered, and John looked behind her into the rather blank, and open guest room. There was nothing too dark or dank about it, and when he looked down at the two anxious pairs of eyes he figured the real reason. They were probably scared of being left alone in a strange house. “Fine, c’mon.” In a large sweep, John grabbed both ponies, and the pillows that they were supposed to sleep on. With a few weary steps he made it to his own room, and was half tempted to just dump them on the floor in an incoherent mess, but he had enough decency to put them down gently, and make sure they were comfortable positioned. “Alright you two, I’m right here on the bed, good night.” He moved over and shut the door to his own bedroom, before he turned around and collapsed on the bed again. The two young creatures on his floor remained relatively quiet, and felt he could finally relax. For a while longer he was able to lie there, and let future John worry about tomorrow’s problems. He still needed to ask the aliens where they came from, and a strange image popped into his head. A large glowing U.F.O. hovered over his house with green lights that beamed with eerie mysticism. He was pulled from his bed by an unseen force and dragged out onto his lawn from the window. John hollered in fright and total confusion. An ambient and synthesized voice shook the air. “All your base are belong to us!” Wind whipped around John as he was blinded by the light, all the foliage and grass also waved around wildly. “I don’t have anything. Why, why me!” “You have ours!” Some hatch flipped open on the alien craft and a quadripedal creature completely covered in metal and technological materials from head to hoof emerged. Red eyes glowed from an unforgiving mask of iron. Then two little forms flew out from the window in his house, he recognized Tia and Lulu. “Bye John!” Tia waved a hoof at him while she floated up to the craft. Lulu blew a raspberry. John just gawked at the whole situation. As Tia and Lulu disappeared into the craft, the metal creature spoke with it’s ambient synthesized voice again. “You have no chance to survive, make your time, Ha Ha Ha.” “What? NOOOOOO!” John was dropped roughly on to his lawn, and the craft flew away. In the distance the craft joined with a much larger mothership structure. The titanic craft hovered over the city, and charged some weapon of alien design. The pointed death ray shot down, and blew away everything in it's path. A large fiery wall bore down on him and he raised his hands, as if they could defend him. Then he felt something nibble on one of his fingers. He got up with a start. “Wuh? Wuh? Guh…” He looked down to the hand which had felt the peculiar sensation, and he saw two ponies peek over the edge of his bed. The pairs of light purple and teal eyes looked at him with a strong plead. Their muzzles rested neatly on the edge of the bed, and seemed to make their sad little eyes even bigger. “It’s scary on the floor.” “Really…” Pity points didn’t work at this time of day, not when he should be asleep. So out of a sense of practicality, he reached over and pulled each petite equine on to the bed. This way they wouldn’t bang on the door of the guest room all night, and this way they wouldn’t bug him at the edge of the bed. John chastised himself for being such a push over, but he was tired, and felt that reason wasn’t on his side today. Maybe it would be tomorrow. This is how John ended up with two little ponies snuggled up against his back. Author's Note In case you didn't get the links in the text
Ch.3 "Little Mister Shadow" My little Tia… and Others Ch.3 “Little Mister Shadow” The pre-dawn of light of early morning began to tickle the blinds of John’s room, and along with the faint trickle of light came stirring motions. Waking up was not his favorite part of the day, and this particular morning he had assistance he didn’t ask for. “It’s morning!” It was a childish, yet melodic voice that sung the words of initiation. Then small hooves started to jab at his back, he grumbled something before he shifted, and covered his head with a pillow. Now he was flat on his belly instead of on his side. Four little hooves stepped onto the available surface, and prowled over him. She almost slipped a few times when a hoof was planted somewhere with looser skin. She would quickly correct course however, and ended up doing a little dance motion. John hummed, it was almost like some strange massage, very unprofessional and blunt, but once or twice the pressure of the hooves actually felt good. To his surprise, her hooves didn’t create painful pressure, perhaps spreading out the weight between four limbs helped that. All he knew was that his three and four year-old nieces and nephews could stomp pretty good on a prone, and vulnerable snoozer. The horse creature continued to advance up his back, and he felt two hooves rest in the crook between his neck and shoulders. Almost subconsciously, his neck and shoulder started to contract together in defense, the anticipation for some pesters edged into his lethargic mind. A small muzzle prodded the edge of his pillow, then quickly dove for the small gap, where his ear was partially exposed. Suddenly, the little sniffles he heard became very loud, as they were right on his ear. John’s whole head flinched at the invasion of his fluffy shelter, and he rolled his body back onto it’s side. The bundle of morning energy flopped off his back and onto the bed. She squeaked in surprise at the sudden motion, and ended up on top of the other, slightly littler, horse person. Lulu grumbled in a pitch appropriate for a twenty pound equine, before she scrambled out from under her fellow. She didn’t bother opening her eyes as she meandered closer to the head of the bed. When she bumped into a pillow, she clambered on top of it, then curled up like a cat. She blew a half-hearted raspberry before she mumbled, ‘Tia’. John had since opened his eyes partially, and watched the little exchange with muted interest. “She’s got the right idea… it’s too early, like-” He stopped so he could flip over and look at the clock on the night stand. Five thirty A.M. “Five thirty in the morning. Ug, but I can’t go back to sleep.” So he sat up abruptly, and draped his legs over the edge of the bed. His hands went to his face and rubbed the fogginess that still bothered his vision. A long drawn out yawn escaped his mouth before he stood up. The displaced weight in the bed caused a small shift, and both ponies were slightly shaken in their positions. Tia was fine, as she was close to the center of the bed. The small shift made a gap between the mattress and the head board, and Lulu’s pillow started to sink into the small crevice. The slow sliding sensation didn’t wake her, and soon she was awkwardly half buried between the mattress and head board. Little snores passed through her snoot, and all was fine with the world as far as she was concerned. John yawned once more, and stretched out, until his arms and legs were fully extended. After a few quickly motions he swung his limbs back and forth to loosen up, then reached for his toes. Almost mechanically he went for the dresser, where he pulled out some socks, and a t-shirt. Then he acquired some fresh running shoes from the closet, and slipped all the appropriate wear onto his feet. He was at the front door before anything could break his absent-minded routine. A voice called out to him as he put his hand on the door knob. “Hey, wait!” When he looked back he saw Tia at the top of the stairs, she had a worried pout on her face. “Ya?” “Where are you going?” “For a jog, I’ll be back in a bit.” “Can I come?” Before he could answer she started to waddle her way down the stairs, and not after a step or two, she slipped. The little pony somersaulted step after step, and she screeched after each bounce, her bandaged limbs flailed about helplessly. John’s awareness levels shot up a notch, and he rushed over to the stairs. Due to his quick reaction, he was able to save Tia half-way down the stair case. By that time however, she had quickly become a crying mess. Her bruised and bandage parts had been thoroughly jimmied, and she didn’t like that... “Oweee! Ow, Ow, oweeeeeeeeeee!” “Sshh, It’s ok, it’s ok.” He tried to calm her down, and brushed his hand down her head and neck a few times. Soon he was off the stairs and close to the couch, he contemplated whether he should place her there as she calmed down, but thought better of it. The bandages made it awkward enough for her to move, and the couch was yet another elevated surface. So he pulled one of the pads off of the couch, and set it on the floor, he took a few pillows with it as well. A little nest of comfort was constructed and he placed her in the middle of it, then went to the kitchen. He opened the freezer to get some ice out of the ice tray, then placed in a zip-lock bag, and wrapped the zip-lock in a cloth. The wrapped up ice was put next to the trembly and sniffly pony, and John offered a few more words in a soft tone to try soothe her. He was on one knee, and ran his hand over her head a few more times. There was also a bit of snot that driveled out her nose from the crying, so he used the cloth the wipe it. When that was clean he set the ice back down next to her. “Just put whatever hurts against the ice ok?” “mmm, hmm” “I’m going to go on my jog, and I’ll be back in a little bit. Just stay here ok, I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” “Ok.” John stood up from his knee and went for the door once more. His hand was on the knob once more, and once more, a sound interrupted his departure. It was slightly less worrisome though, as it was a defined squeak, and it came from Tia’s location. He swiveled about on his feet, and looked back at her with a cocked eye brow. She shivered a bit, and pointed her snout at the cloth-wrapped ice. “It’s cold.” “It’ll help the owees. Just stay there… Tia.” “Ok.” He ran out the door before anything could interrupt him… once more. The sun was above the horizon now. The jog was uneventful, but pleasant. The repetitive motion and blood flow from the exercise helped him wake up. By the time he came back he was feeling pretty good, and ready to move on with the other preparations for the day. Shower, breakfast, blah blah. He was relieved to see Tia was still in her spot on the arranged couch cushion. The jog hadn’t been more than thirty minutes, besides, how much trouble could an injured little kid-horse get into anyway? He probably shouldn’t ask questions like that… The comfort of the cushion and the coolness of the ice pack had effectively sedated the alabaster equine, so John took advantage of the quiet moment to head upstairs to the shower. That task was done in haste, because as he thought about it, he found he was becoming more worried about what the ponies would do. He still had no idea how Lulu managed to get out of the tub, and face down in the toilet the other day. They did have wings, but John was under the impression that they couldn’t effectively use them… yet. Oh boy, what did this even mean? Did he plan on them being around long enough until they could learn how to fly? How big would they get? More important though, where did they come from? Why? How? When were they going to go back to wherever they came from? Would they go back? Could they go back? Would some… thing, come looking for them? The shower nozzle was turned off a little more forcefully than intended. He jumped out of the shower, dried off, wrapped up in a towel and walked back to his bedroom. The towel was tossed to the side as he dressed up in his normal ware for work, which was shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. He hadn’t noticed some other creature was in the room until he heard a muffled snore from the bed. His eyes shot to the source, he had been nude just a moment ago. He had to search for the source though, and eventually he was able to perceive a blue wing that twitched between the head board and mattress. Little Lulu was still fast asleep… Good. When he went back down the stairs he saw that Tia stirred, and shuffled in her pillow cushion arrangement, and he sat down next to her to see how she was doing. She noticed him approach and her tail wriggled a little bit, and her unbandaged ear perked attentively. He checked the ice cloth, which had gotten soggy, then turned to her bright beaming face. “You ready for some breakfast kid?” “Ya!” “Do you want anything in particular?” “Breakfast!” “Uh huh, something simple then… stay here.” “Yay!” She was a good little pony and stayed on the cushions, where she waited patiently. John pulled out the ice pack and wandered over to the fridge. When he opened the door, he scanned over the contents, and analyzed the breakfast options. Eggs, bacon, sausage… hmm, somehow that didn’t strike him as pony food. If Tia had hurled after the cheese cake, none of this would be very good. Hmm, maybe he just let her eat too much? In either case, he wanted to try something less potentially offensive. The ice pack was refilled, and he placed it back by the pony before he went to the garage. Once in the garage he looked over a few of his pantry shelves. All of his canned food and various dry foods were stored here. A pair of cupboard doors were opened, and to his surprise and displeasure, a few rats hopped off the shelves and scurried into other hidden crevices. He cursed violently at the rodents as they disappeared from his wrathful gaze. “Damn rats! The only reason I ever considered getting cat!” And John didn’t really care for cats… he was more of a dog guy… but there were ponies in his house… figures. He threw his fist in futility at them, and ineffectively punched the air. He could almost swear he heard them laugh. Little squeaky chitters that mocked his inability for immediate vengeance. His little tirade of flustered anger stopped, as he remembered he had actually bought something in preparation for this. He saw rats once or twice before, and his neighbor Tom had complained about seeing a few earlier. So he had purchased a few rat traps, which were conveniently also stored in the garage. With a jar of peanut butter, and a few snaps traps in hand he went to work quickly. Breakfast could be put on hold for a minute. The job was done in a snap, and 4 traps were set along the wall. Rats love to sneak along walls, well, besides ruining your food stores, and leaving oh so neighborly diseases and defecations. There was a fair grumble from his stomach, and he was reminded to pick something soon for the process of ingestion, lest the choir of his gut express more disgruntlement. A bag of blue-berry pancake mix caught his eye, and he grabbed it on his way back to the kitchen. Mix, strawberries, some mango, syrup, powder sugar, and whip cream were set neatly on the counter. A pan was pulled out, buttered, and a bowl with a pitcher were set, ready to mix. Spoons and spatula’s were also withdrawn from their places of rest and ready to be put to the test. The stove was flipped on and the orchestra of breakfast was prepared. He bumped the radio for a little morning jingle. It was some kind of odd collab, but he could chill to it. While in the midst of cooking, John didn’t notice Tia crawl off of the couch cushion, and meandered into the kitchen. She looked up at him curiously, and tried to understand what he did exactly. The hiss of pancakes and loud music did a good job to mask the little patter her of hooves on the tile floor. She also had to walk carefully on the smooth surface, so that she wouldn’t slip. Any rapid movements would make her face and the floor fast friends. After a moderate stack of pancakes had been built, John went to fetch some more food from the fridge. Ponies might not eat bacon and sausage, but he definitely would. Some of the delectable meats were tossed into the pan, along with some eggs as John cooked something for himself. Also the music seemed to agree with the choice. Tia wandered over to the kitchen table on the other side of the counter. She gave one of the chairs a good long look. It was too tall for her to jump it in one go, so her mind went to work, and she looked back towards the couch. Her small brow narrowed on the couch cushion. That would give her a little elevation if she could get it over here. At first she tried to push it forward with her head pressed against it. Her horn managed to punch a hole in the cushion for her efforts. Oops… So she tried to bite an edge and drag it next. This worked better, but she could only drag it a small distance before she would have to stop and rest. It really made her jaws sore from the strain. Eventually she managed, and the cushion was pulled next to one of the chairs. She reveled in small reverie, after she was able to ascend the chair with the cushion’s help. John turned about with two plates, each one sported a blue-berry pancake decorated with a plethora of confections. Mango and straw-berry slices all layered around smidgen of whip cream, on top of a healthy lathering of syrup. “Hey Tia, I got breakfast!” He shouted towards the living room, where he had last left the little pony, and was surprised when he heard her voice from the kitchen table. “Yay! Breakfast!” She knocked her two front hooves together in a funny little clap. Dawwww, it almost made John not shocked that she scaled a chair, and managed not to fall off, and aggravate her injuries even more. He had planned to put the plate on the floor, and let her go at it like a dog again, but she already sat at the table. She could talk too, so… Perhaps she could learn table manners? But with hooves? Hmm… He put down the plate in front of her, and placed the second on a different part of the table. The blue one might as well be fed now too. “I’m going to get the other pony, then we can all sit down and eat.” “You’re gonna get Lulu?” “Ya, Lulu.” “Ok.” So John turned around and jogged up the stairs, and made it to his bedroom. The petite snores alerted him to the still sleepy state of the blue one. A small feathery wing twitched occasionally between the mattress and headboard, it seemed a lot lower than last time he looked. Perhaps the crevasse was in the slow process of swallowing the pony whole. One of his arms extended and fished for something less delicate to grab onto. He felt something that seemed like a leg, and pulled out the slumbering creature slowly. Eventually Little Lulu was dragged out across the mattress, until her whole body was splayed over the surface, and she stilled snored. “Heya little dreamer, time to get up and eat.” He poked her thigh, and she twitched, but didn’t make any real signs of consciousness. So he snaked his fingers a little, and tried to give her belly a little tickle… Nope, that didn’t work either. Neither were her wings or legs all that the ticklish either. He was increasingly surprised, this pony slept like she was in a coma. For a minute he stood back and thoughtfully rested his chin on his fist. There was one trick he knew dogs hated… With his index finger and thumb, he picked up one of Lulu’s ears, and brought his mouth close to it. Her ear fidgeted slightly in his grasp, but she was still asleep. Then he narrowed his lips, before he blew some air right into her ear. That seemed to do it. The pony made a whiny grumble as she brought her hooves up defensively over her ears. Her wings flapped a few times, and she rolled onto her side. She still didn’t open her eyes, but she did blow a raspberry. John hummed, sometime he would have to stuff her mouth with raspberries, just so she couldn’t blow one. Anyway, that was a signal he had gotten the pony conscious. “Come on, let’s go stuff that little face of yours.” In another moment she was grabbed and slung under his arm, where she hung limply, and they both went to the stairs and descended towards the kitchen. John wasn’t all too surprised to see Tia with her face buried into her pancakes. She looked like a furry extension of the whip cream, and some of the mango and strawberry slices had managed to get on her cheeks. She smiled like an angel when she saw John and Lulu approach the table, the dirtiest little angel the man had ever seen. Blue-berry pony was plopped in front of a plate of blue-berry pancakes, and John went to retrieve his own plate of food. A less fancy pancake with a hearty side of bacon, eggs, and sausage. When he returned to the table he saw Lulu had buried her face in her pancake as well, but did not appear to eat it. In fact, he heard her snore again. “Sheesh, what got you so put out?” “She’s sleepy, a sleepy pony.” Tia added with what she thought was a helpful answer. John mulled over his food slowly with a fork, and he studied the alabaster creature that now wore as many confections as her pancake. “Uh huh, so, about last night, I wanted to ask you a few things Tia.” “Ya?” “Do you have parents? A mom and dad?” “Um, I don’t know.” “Do you know what parents are?” “Ya, but I don’t remember any.” “What about Lulu there, you remembered her name.” “That’s cause she’s my sister.” “Well, who took care of you, before you came here?” “Um… I don’t know.” “What? No one fed you? Cleaned up after you?” “All I remember is some bright flashy lights. They hurt my eyes, and everything was all dizzy. Then I came here, and that big monster hit me!” “The car… So you don’t remember anything before I saw you?” “Nu uh.” “But you know Lulu is your sister?” “Yep, she’s my sister. I remember that, and that she’s a sleepy pony.” Tia prodded her sister’s head with a hoof, which managed to smother the blue pony’s face further into the syrup and cream. John flinched at the abrasive messiness, he would have to introduce Tia and Lulu to the garden hose after breakfast… Meanwhile, he rested his fork on his plate. Strangely, after getting some answers from a pony that could talk, he was only more confused and at a loss. This creature of human level intelligence was basically a blank slate of a kid. Nothing substantial was in her memory. Well, go figure. There were too many things to think about where this could go, and he needed to check on his work today. “Alright, well, are you almost done Tia?” Her little tongue poked out, and cleaned a small circumference of the mess on her face. “That was yummy!” “Cool, let’s go to the backyard then.” “Time to play?” “Sure…” “Yay!” Tia didn’t really like the cold water of the garden hose, and she kept trying to hide her face while John atempted to get her rinsed. Lulu kept on trying to attack it, as if she could fight with the constant stream of water. Atleast her attempts to nip it with her little teeth were entertaining. The experience left her fully awake and aware, finally. Both little ponies shook like dogs to get off the excess water, and John rubbed them with a few towels he brought to help them fluff out. Once they were good, and mostly dry, Tia turned up to him all excited like. “Time to play?” “Um, let’s see…” What backyard toys did he have lying around? There was probably some bone left behind from a dog he had watched. Though that chew toy didn’t seem entirely appropriate. His eyes roamed around for something to use. Quickly he spotted a yellow-green ball, a tennis ball in fact. One of his neighbors had tried to make their backyard a make shift tennis court. Atleast it was tennis, and not baseball. Baseballs broke windows, tennis balls just make a loud noise and freaked people out. “Ya, how bout we play fetch.” “Fetch?” “Yep, like this.” He walked over to the tennis ball, picked it up, wiped it off, and threw it up and down in his hand a few times. It was almost new! So he turned to the excited little pony, and waved around the ball to get her attention. “Now I’m going to throw it, and you bring it back to me.” “Ok!” He tossed the ball across his rather economically sized yard, and she hobbled after it. She still wasn’t very quick on her hooves, not with all those bandages, John suddenly felt bad for making an injured pony-kid trudge around his yard. However, she seemed happy to do it, and asked to do something in the first place, so he obliged. Lulu had been rather non-vocal, so he turned to see what she was up to. She continued her attack against the garden hose, and she bit down on the rubber snake, just below the nozzle, as if she were a lion cutting off some animal’s air way. A bit of perplexion crossed over John’s face, this little blue pony was quite aggressive. When she noticed that he watched, she gave him a scowl, full of thoroughly not-intimidating defiance. Then she hopped away and started to stalk in the bushes like a tiger. Her dark complexion actually helped her blend in really well. John cocked an eye brow, what’s this pony acting like a little predator for? Well, she did have feathery wings, and most birds practiced predation from what he could recall. Perhaps they were part bird, and there were other oddities about their diets he had wrongfully assumed? Maybe they would like bacon? The idea made him chuckle, then he looked down to his wrist watch. It was about time he should get some work done, silly ponies, being all distracting. “Hmm, time to go to work.” He turned around to the sliding patio door, and slid it open. He had just thrown the ball to send Tia on another chase, and he wouldn’t be missed for another few seconds. On his momentary venture inside he picked up his laptop, and a lawn chair. Once he returned Tia was already up against the sliding door, ball in mouth. He slid the door open and scooted her to the side so he could make his way. He reached down and pulled the ball from her mouth, and she didn’t give any resistance. And the ball was tossed again. That was polite, there was a dog or two he had watched before that would fetch a ball, but then would never let it go. So it was always a game of fetch / tug-o-war. After the thought, he set up his lawn chair, and turned on his laptop. John had been rather fortunate when it came to work. He had made a rather successful online business, and it allowed him to live comfortably. It had been a project he had researched and started back in high school, and now had become his full blown career. Now, he only needed to sit down two or three times a week for a few hours, make sure thing were managed correctly, and revenues went where they should, and he was free. He worked to fill most of his open schedule with outdoorsy stuff, and he had been thinking about taking a bike ride around the rose bowl today… but his plans changed since yesterday. Random aliens popping up on the free way, and in the yard probably do that to people… Either way, the morning was spent messing around in the back yard, and checking stocks. In a great sense of timing, Tia got tired just as John finished up his work. The pony panted heavily from the exertion of the constant back and forth motions. She waddled over next to the lawn chair, and plopped down on her side. Something rustled over in the bushes, and Lulu popped out and quickly pounced on her sister. She made a triumphant little call. “Aha!” Tia yelped as some of her bandages were sloppily trudged on. The laptop was folded, closed, and put to the side. John raised a critical eye brow as he seized the blue rascal under her fore-legs. “Hey you, don’t step all over your hurt sister.” The little pony just looked at him as if he had rudely interrupted something, then she hacked up a big wad of spit in his face. He just stood there for a moment, shocked by the equine’s ability, and her bratty behavior. The little creature was turned about in his hands, so that she no longer face him. Then he used her mane as a wiping cloth. She fussed the whole time. “You little bugger, you don’t spit in people’s faces!” Partially as punishment, partially to clean them both up, he turned the garden hose on again, and sprayed her down. She had accumulated some dirt, spider webs, as well as some leaves and twigs during her roam through the bushes. Again the hose and water became her foe, a foe she tried desperately to kill, but her only tools were her infantile teeth and hooves. It failed comically to say the least. Off to the side Tia still panted and rested across the ground. She quietly watched as Lulu was cleaned again, and John rinsed his own face. When the second washing was complete, the blue fighter was wrapped up in a towel, until she was hopelessly pinned, and all she could do was pout. He slung her under his arm, and went over to pick up Tia. He brought them both inside, and placed them in the living room. A knot was tied around the wrapped up Lulu with another towel, so she couldn’t escape her cloth born prison, not until she was dry at least. It was time for lunch. Lunch was sandwiches, dinner was fried rice and noodles. Between that and chasing the ponies around the house, he wondered where the day had gone. John sighed as he twisted some reuseable chop sticks through his food. Both of the ponies had their faces hungrily buried into their plates. He would need to find something not-so-messy to feed them, all the clean up from every meal was turned out to be a hassle. He sighed again, and thought about the other things he had planned this week. He and a group of friends planned to make a trip to the theater this weekend. Tom was going to stop by tomorrow, because he was leaving town, and needed his dog watched. But most interesting would be next week. His brother Shawn would be stopping by along with the rest of his family, which comprised of his wife and three kids. They lived up in Washington state, but sometimes they would want to vacation down here in California, and use his house as their hotel, while they ventured to Disney land, Seaworld, and other fun stops. He didn’t mind at all, infact he liked the company. Shawn would stop by more often than his other brother, Bruce, or his sister, Sarah. Though this time promised to be different, as per the other sentient creatures that made themselves company as of yesterday. If the ponies didn’t disappear just like they had come, there was going to be some awkward interaction. He wasn’t particularly afraid of Shawn meeting these alien ponies he had picked up, infact John would like some advice right now, but he reserved the idea of just having a phone call. This particular conversation didn’t feel particularly suitable to have over the phone. Atleast it would be harder to discount the evidence in person. When everyone finished their meal John cleaned up and did the dishes. He was tempted to put the ponies in the sink as well, but settled for cleaning them up with wet wipes, and paper towels. They all went to the living room, and he placed them on the carpet, where neither of them moved with much energy. The tiredness in their eyes and postures was more than easy enough to see. It was evening, and the moon shone brightly, though not as bright as last night. John then sat his butt down on the piano bench, and went through some more exercises. Something soothing and a bit inspirational was in the current department of his mind, called mood. So something peaceful was played. It did a good job of getting his small audience to relax, and part way through he heard some snores, he didn’t have to look back to have an accurate guess at who made those. A small smile crawled along the edges of his mouth, and his own eyelids drooped. The moment seemed to go one for a good long while, and John was lost in the piece he played. The serenity however came to an end when he heard a loud SNAP! His eyes shot open, and he jumped up from the piano bench. He was going to shout. -Got you, you little sucker!- But something else beat him to the punch, and it said something more along the lines of… “YOWWWWWW!” Huh, rat’s don’t yowl in pain? It’s more like –snap- done. Ug, how would a dog get in his garage? He was pretty sure he left the door closed. Unless there were now intelligent dogs that had car-jacks and crow bars… That better not be the case or… or what? He didn’t really know what to do if that was the case. He went to the garage all the same, whatever it was, it had found his rat traps first. After the door was open, and she saw what scampered frantically about his garage, he closed the door back shut, turned around, and seriously comprehended just leaving the situation as it was. Nope… Too much… Can’t deal with it… Don’t wanna deal with it… It shouldn’t have happened… He already had too much to deal with… IT WON’T FRIGGIN SHUT UP! With deep frustration he turned towards the garage door again, and flung it open. The light was flipped on, and he was able to get a closer look at the creature he had just glanced over. Yep, it was another pony thing, but this one was grey with a black mane. It still scampered around and yowled in pain, for a rat trap had snapped on to it’s little muzzle, and clung relentlessly. John sighed, and committed himself to remedying the situation. So he chased down another miniature horse creature. This time he didn’t have to run down the street atleast, just around the garage in a few circles, until he eventually corned it, and grabbed it. This little specimen was a bit heavier than the other two ponies, and he struggled against it’s flailing hooves. “Stop moving! I’ll get it off.” He tried to command the fearful and stubborn creature, but it didn’t help. So he hugged the little equine tightly to his body, and walked back into the kitchen. Then he sat on the floor and clamped the small grey beast between his thighs, so that his hands were free. Now that he had some mobility, the trap was grabbed and pried off of the grey pony’s muzzle. The motion caused one more yelp, but once the pressure was gone, the little pony stopped his struggle. He… hmm, ya this one might be a he, for one thing it/he didn’t share the same pretty eye lashes that the other two had, and his tail was significantly shorter. With a closer, closer look, he noticed some other details, some of which struck him as bothersome. The thing’s eyes were blood red, and between the parted lips John could see… fangs? It also had a horn like the other two ponies, but it was curved, and he had no wings. Now the grey pony just whimpered, and cradled his face, some purple tears rolled off his eyes… another trait that frankly bothered John, but what did he know. Maybe purple tears were a healthy sign from fanged… horned horse things. Also by the cartoonish proportions and expressions, John could guess this little bugger was probably intelligent like the other two. “What is this…” He asked himself out loud. Not expecting any real kind of answer. Not even three days, and he had three tiny horse people in his house, and they were as mature as kids. Was he the target for some kind of extraterrestrial dumping sight? Some unknown race of horse people thought he was ideal to pelt with their unwanted? There were too many possibilities, all he knew was that he had another crying pony in his lap. Two sets of curious eyes poked around the kitchen counter and tried to spy what was going on, when they saw what John held, they both jumped from their sneaky spots and waddled over to get a better look. “Another pony?” Tia questioned with some recognition. So John put the newcomer down on the floor, and let the three equines inspect each other. The grey one trembled, the white one kept her distance and observed, the blue one snarled a bit, then pounced. “Lulu!” She had already tackled him down and started to gnaw on one ear, the attack caused the grey pony to fight back a bit, and he batted at her with his hooves to fend her off. John groaned in exasperation, before he pried the two apart. “Sheesh, what’s with you?” “He’s weird…” “I wasn’t asking you Tia.” “Sorry.” “Hmm.” Calming down before bed time hadn’t happened… Author's Note Heya, so, sorry about taking time between updates. I guess if you haven't figured already, I'm going to be updating this slowly. As I'm working on another project at the same time. You don't have to worry about me cancelling though, and i'll try to have an update atleast once every two weeks. I'll blog about it otherwise. Thanks for reading The links if you missed them.
