They Walk Among Us

"Hey, Steve," said Alan, walking in front of Steven and Rainbow Dash. "Come with me to the Sand Dunes Bar. There's someone there you've gotta meet."

"I don't know, Alan..." said Steven. "It's getting kinda late."

"It'll just take a minute!" said Alan. "Come on!"

"Hey, Alan!" called Steven as Alan quickly ran forward, leaving them behind. "Do you wanna go?"

"Meh." said Rainbow Dash. "We've gone through so much today, so it wouldn't hurt to see whatever Alan wanted to show us.'

"I guess you're right." said Steven. "As long as it's not more Black Wesa soldiers."

Steven chuckled, but Rainbow Dash didn't. She was staring at his chest.

"Are you sure you shouldn't get that treated?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I know you healed it and all, but..."

Steven suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest again. That shot from one of the Black Wesa soldiers had narrowly missed his heart (or any other organs for that matter), but it had punched a hole through one of his ribs. He had healed it quickly enough, but it still stung badly from time to time.

"It's fine." said Steven. "It'll heal in the morning."

Rainbow Dash glanced at him one more time.

"Okay." said Rainbow Dash. "Let's go."

They then proceeded to go to the Sand Dunes Bar, Alan much farther ahead of them. If they ever wanted to reach the Bar in time to see whatever was to be seen, then they had to follow Alan. Having only gone there once, neither of them knew where exactly the Sand Dunes Bar was. Except for the fact that it was on Floor B2. Was it?

"Come on!" said Steven, biting Rainbow Dash's sleeve and flicking his head up. Rainbow Dash was thrown up, but got ahold of Steven's neck and landed safely on his back. Steven began to run after Alan.

Alan became a small speck in front of them. Steven ran as fast as he could to catch up, Rainbow Dash laughing as she held on. Steven turned sharply to try to reach Alan, but he was surprisingly fast for someone who used to be a comic book nerd. Had he been training?

"Woah!" said Rainbow Dash, struggling to hold on as Steven made a sharp left turn. Steven laughed.

"There's more where than came from!" he said, still running.

"Bring it on!"

Steven then continued to chase after Alan, but he tried to do it in the craziest and roughest way possible. He turned sharply, jumped a lot, and he even strafed a lot as he ran.

But he wanted to do something else. Something crazy. He's done it before successfully, and he wanted to see if he could still do it.

Remember Princess Luna's training.

He felt the magical energy gather around his hooves.

"Um..." said Rainbow Dash. "What are you doing?"

"You might wanna hold on."

Steven then jumped, sticking all four of his hooves at the ceiling of that floor. They were now running upside down.

Rainbow Dash screamed. She held on to his neck with both arms, face pressed against his back. He, on the other hand, was laughing loudly. He felt his mane and tail falling downwards, and it gave him a sort of ticklish sensation. It felt great.

Laughing, Steven jumped back down, which made Rainbow Dash scream once again. Steven, however, had practiced for this. He kicked the air with his hind legs, turning him around, and allowing him to safely land on the ground. He didn't stop running.

Rainbow Dash was speechless. Steven, however, noticed that Alan had already stopped in front of the Bar. He was going too fast. He was going to crash into Alan.

Suddenly, however, he felt a strange warmth emanating from his saddle pack. It started to spread through his whole body, and Steven felt a strange sensation. He couldn't describe it. It just felt... very warm. But he was still running. He might not be able to explain the warmth, but it apparently had no effect on him. Just as he was about to crash into Alan, however...

He stopped.

Just like that. All the momentum from him running seemed to disappear all of a sudden. It felt very strange, running as fast as that and managing to stop very easily without consequence. Back when magic was a stupid and crazy idea, that would've been impossible. But yet, it happened.

Rainbow Dash pushed his head down with one hand, jumping over his head and landing right in front of him.

"Ow!" said Steven, his head snapping back up as Rainbow Dash let go. "Don't do-"

What Steven said had been completely interrupted as Rainbow Dash put both hands on his face, pulled it onto hers, and kissed him.

Steven's mind went blank. That was sudden. But Steven managed to recover and kiss Rainbow Dash back.

As Rainbow Dash slowly let go of his lips, she looked deeply into his eyes.

"That was cool." said Rainbow Dash.

"Wasn't it?" asked Steven, smiling. "Come on, Alan's waiting."

Alan, however, was not waiting as much as he was daydreaming. It made Steven uncomfortable for one of his best friends to stare at him and his girlfriend like that. Was she technically his girlfriend by now? Two kisses in one day... Well, that's... something.

Steven must have been blushing by then, because Rainbow Dash took one look at him and began to blush as well. Steven noticed Alan beginning to blush much harder than the two of them, and in a matter of seconds, they had turned from a fun, lively group to nothing but three people (Two ponies and one person?) stuck in an awkward situation.

Steven cleared his throat. Alan must have snapped back to attention, because he blushed even harder and immediately turned (or was it jumped?) around, heading inside the Bar. He was soon back to his normal self, though.

"You surprise is this way." said Alan, pointing. "I'm not sure I should come with you, though, seeing as you might want some time alone with the, er... Surprise."

Steven was suspicious. But as far as he knew, Alan was fully honest and generally a very kind person. All those hardships being bullied in school must've left him like that. It made him modest. Steven, however, had responded to bullying in a different way- he fought back. And he normally beat the bullies. But Alan always stopped him from doing any real damage, and the end result was always Steven almost knocking the bully unconscious, only to be stopped by Alan, who normally was the one being bullied in the first place.

Steven felt sad as he thought about Alan's past. Unlike Steven, Alan had come from a dysfunctional, and at times abusive family. But he never complained. He never fought back. He just took all of it in. That was why Alan had placed a lot of value in his friends, and perhaps that was also why Alan delved into comic books, yet hated fighting. As he thought about it more, Alan might even be emotionally stronger than him- In Steven's whole life, he had never seen Alan lose his temper.

"Alright, Alan." said Steven, walking to where Alan pointed. "What-"

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He blinked twice to make sure that he wasn't dreaming.

"Is that..."

"Yes!"

It was Chen and Bill.

They had found and reached the Resistance.

"Chen! Bill!"

Both his old teammates looked around, trying to find where the voice came from. Steven began to walk towards them.

"Chen! I'm over here! Bill!"

They looked around again, more desperately now. Steven was practically right in front of them! How could they not have noticed him?

Then he realized it.

Both of them were still human- They must not have known about the side-effect that came with the impact of both planets. They probably didn't know that humans have turned to ponies, while ponies have turned to humans. Steven smiled as he walked right next to their table.

"Hey." said Chen, scanning the room one more time before turning to look at him. "Is some guy named Steven in here right now? Steven Reilly?"

"Meh." said Bill. "Don't bother asking. This one probably won't know anything about Steve."

"Excuse me." said Steven, in his lowest-pitched voice possible. "If you would like that way." He pointed at across the room.

Both Chen and Bill turned their heads.

"Hey, Bill!" said Steven again. "Hey Chen!"

His old teammates looked back at the gray pony, looks of surprise turning into wide grins in a matter of seconds.

"Steven?" asked Chen, not believing what he was seeing.

"Yeah." said Steven. "Deal with it."

Chen immediately jumped out of his chair and gave Steven a short hug. Bill, however, didn't move at all.

"Come on, Bill!" said Chen. "This is Steven!"

Bill resumed smiling, and after a short pause of consideration, he stood up and gave Steven and awkward hug as well. Him turning into a pony must have shook Bill more than it shook Chen.

"We thought we'd lost you!" said Chen. "When we woke up three weeks ago, there was nobody there except for me, Bill, and Nick! We didn't know what happened to everyone else!"

"Nick's here too?" asked Steven, laughing. "Where is he now? In the toilet? You know as much as me how much time Nick spends in the toilet."

As he said that, both Chen's and Bill's face dropped. They immediately sat back down.

"Nick's not here." said Bill.

"Why the hell not?" asked Steven, struggling to maintain his smile.

There was an awkward silence around their table. Understanding slowly crept through the deep recesses of his skull.

"Oh god..." he said. Those were the only words that could've come out right then.

"Killed." said Chen. "Killed like a beast."

"Impaled by a sharp knife." said Bill. He then pointed to his heart. "Right here."

"No." said Steven. "I can't believe it..."

Nick was dead? He had been a victim of four explosions on different occasions, a victim of a shooting, a victim of a hit-and-run, but he always managed to find his way back to the Lab every single day, and usually without any marks too. He always casually told the others about his various accidents and bad luck around a month or sometimes even a year after it happened. but he never died. He didn't deserve it.

Steven closed his eyes and shook his head.

Another life taken because of the crash.

Steven couldn't help but feel regret. He knew that he had no control over what happened, but he still felt regret. Why was another life taken? What were the chances?

Then suddenly, his head started to pain. He bowed his head down and put one hoof on it.

"Hey," said Chen. "Are you alright?"

But Chen's voice was blurred out. He started to hear voices in his head. But the voices didn't belong to the one he hears when asleep. It was a female's voice.

"Sometimes our only comfort comes from believing that there is no chance. That whatever happens in this world happens for a reason."

That sentence echoed in his head, followed by his sadness and regret growing larger and becoming heavier in his heart.

Then, as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone.

"Are you okay?" asked Chen. "You looked like you had a huge migraine all of a sudden."

"It must be the stupid horse genes." said Bill, spitting into a nearby trash can. "Disgusting."

"Hey!" said Steven. "What do you mean by that?"

"Please, Steven..." said Chen. "He's been through a lot."

"No." said Steven. "I want to know what you have against ponies. I mean, the reason we're here is to promote peace between the races, right?"

"Stupid horses don't know anything about peace." said Bill. "They're just wild animals. And you lost you temper so easily just now, but you didn't get angry so quickly before. I'm telling you, it's because you turned into a stupid horse."

Steven was at a loss for words. Bill had always complained about things before, but he was never so... spiteful.

Chen must have seen the look in Steven's eyes, because he walked right in front of Steven.

"The truth is, Steven..." said Chen. "Bill's justifiably angry. The ones who killed Nick... They were ponies."

As understanding dawned on him, Steven immediately approached Bill.

"I'm sorry..." said Steven. "I didn't know."

"Wasn't your fault." said Bill, looking away. "It's your body's."

Steven sighed. There was no way he could fix this problem easily. Nick's death must have hit him very strongly. He didn't know how deep the scars went. Luckily for all of them, Alan and Rainbow Dash quickly approached them as well.

"Hey guys!" said Alan.

"Hey, Alan." said the three friends at the same time, although Bill's greeting was quieter.

Rainbow Dash walked up next to Steven and put an arm around him.

"And who's this lady?" asked Bill.

"Don't call me a lady." said Rainbow Dash. "A lady can't tear someone apart using only her hands. And since you asked, the name's Rainbow Dash. Former fastest pegasus in all of former Equestria."

Bill looked embarrassed. Chen and Steven laughed at his expense.

"I'm Chen." said Chen, shaking hands with Rainbow Dash.

"Bill."

"Are you guys..." said Chen, pointing at Rainbow Dash, then at Steven.

Steven looked at Rainbow Dash, who looked at Steven. They seemed to have reached an agreement.

"Maybe." said Steven.

"Kinda" said Rainbow Dash.

"Sort of." said Steven.

"Could be." said Rainbow Dash.

"Yes." said both of them at the same time. Chen clapped.

"Good job, Steven." said Chen. "Glad to see that you've..."

Chen paused for a while. He had almost let something slip.

"You two are a cute couple." he finished.

Bill spit out the beer he was drinking, laughing out loud.

"What?" asked Chen.

Bill wiped a tear from his eye. Still laughing, he tried to sit back up straight again.

"Cute... couple..." said Bill.

"What wrong with that?" asked Chen, getting annoyed. The cute couple in question, however, was blushing like mad. What was so funny about this whole business to Bill. Was it that he had finally moved on?

Or was it because he knew that Steven had not?

Steven knew that Jaeda was still living rent-free in the depths of his heart. Steven began to get angry at himself.

Steven should know better! Jaeda was special, but Rainbow Dash was completely different. Not to mention that she was actually still alive.

But if the crash managed to bring back Bill Gates to life, then maybe...

No. No. Steven shook his head.

"Something wrong?" whispered Rainbow Dash, as Bill was still laughing and Chen was still scolding him.

"It's fine, Dash." said Steven. But it was not fine. And Rainbow Dash seemed to think so as well. With one final suspicious glance, she turned to look at the crazy scene again.

"Seriously, Chen!" said Bill, laughing and sobbing at the same time. "How does... How does that even work? Human... and Horse?"

"Hey!" scolded Rainbow Dash. "Don't tell us how relationships are supposed to be! You can have your own ideas and we can have ours! And it's Ponies, not horses!"

"I guess it kind of makes sense..." said Bill, pretending to be deep in thought. "You used to be a human, and you used to be a horse. Apparently you still got the hots for those of your old species." Bill broke into laughter again.

Steven angrily approached Bill. Alan, however, got ahold of Steven's leg and pulled him back.

"You guys should go." said Chen, sighing. "As I said, he's been through a lot. Nick was one of his best friends. His death might have... pushed him over the edge."

Steven sighed too. "I understand. But please talk to him later."

Chen nodded, and he rubbed his face with his palm.

"It's great to see you again, Steve." said Chen, patting Steven's shoulder. "See ya tomorrow."

"Later, Chen." he said. He didn't bother to say goodbye to Bill. He understood what Bill was going on, but this was just going too far. He was one of his best friends, and he just cast Steven aside only because he was a pony. Not to mention that he laughed at him and his girlfriend.

Girlfriend. He's gonna have to get used to that.

"So..." said Steven, trying to make conversation with the now very pissed Rainbow Dash. "How'd you like my friends?"

"The Chen guy was alright." said Rainbow Dash. "But the other one was a b*tch."

"Come on, Dash." said Steven. "One of our best friends just died. And he watched him die first-hand."

"Yeah." said Rainbow Dash, uncrossing her arms. "But he didn't have to be a giant d*uche about it."

"Touché." said Steven. "That really was mean of him."

"Giant d*uche-y mean." said Rainbow Dash.

Alan was walking uncomfortably behind them. He was never one for talking badly about other people, even if they didn't deserve it. Hell, back when they were in middle school, he even praised (a bully that beat him up badly he was really strong! So strong that I couldn't stand up after he punched me!) when the principal asked about him. Of course,the principal just gave the bully even more of a punishment.

Just then, there was a strange rumbling in the Resistance Base. It only lasted for a while though, before stopping completely. That was good. He had enough of rumbling.

"What was that?" asked Alan.

"I don't know." said Steven. "Maybe some sort of small earthquake."

"Shouldn't we evacuate if it was an earthquake?" asked Alan.

"I think there would be some sort of announcement." said Steven. "Like-"

As if on cue, there was a giant buzzing sound (Mechanical buzzing, like from when you press some kind of button), followed by Granny Smith shouting over the speakers in every part of the Resistance Base.

"HELLO?" said Granny Smith's giant voice. "HELLO? IS THIS THING ON?"

Steven swore that he could hear a slightly smaller voice say: "It's on, Granny Smith."

"IT'S ON?" said Granny Smith again. "GOOD! ANYWHO, YER MIGHT BE WONDERIN' WAH MAH VOICE IS SO BIG LIKE THIS! YER MIGHT BE THINKIN' THAT THIS IS SOME SORT OF EMERGENCY! IF YER ARE THINKIN' THAT, THAT YA'D BE RIGHT! DARN TOOTIN' THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! THERE'S BEEN A...A... What did yer call it again, sonny? Oh... A BREACH AT THE MAIN GATE. THE BLACK WESA AND ALL THEIR FIXINS HAVE BROKEN THROUGH THE MAIN GATE! NOW ALL Y'ALL BETTER BE READY AT BATTLE STATIONS TO FIGHT THEM BACK! THIS IS AN EMEEEERGENCY!"

"They've found the base?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I don't know." said Steven. "But we better check it out. Let's hope everyone else is there as well."

"WAIT!" shouted a voice behind them. "Don't go there yet, mates."

"Bush?" asked Steven. "What are you doing here? And how'd you find us so easily."

"Librarian told me." said Bush, panting. "Anyway, Twilight's been knocked out right outside the Library. It's not looking good. Librarian says she's been writhing and twitching the whole time,."

Steven paused for a second. What happened to Twilight? Did she feel the same thing he had felt back in the Bar?

"Okay, Bush." said Steven. "I'll be there. Are you coming, Dash?"

"I think you can handle that." said Rainbow Dash. "Alan and I'll be going to find some action." Alan squealed as she said that.

"Okay, then." said Steven, still hesitant. "I'll see you there."

Rainbow Dash hugged Steven.

"Don't worry." said Rainbow Dash, her pink eyes looking into his. "We'll be fine. Now you go do what you gotta do."

Without another word, Bush and Steven quickly ran towards where the Library was supposed to be. Steven had never been there before, so Bush was leading the way entirely.

"You guys really are a cute couple, aren't ya?" asked Bush, smiling at him.

"Shut up."