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               The Pegasus & The Pegasister                
                  -by Mystical Reviewer-                   
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                 Chapter 1: Into Equestria                 
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Chapter 1: Into Equestria
Going to Equestria may seem like a fantasy, it may seem like something only dreamed of. However, for one girl, that dream was about to become reality...
“I can’t wait for the next episode!” Ashleigh said, running into her room.
Ashleigh was a teen old girl who was a fan of My Little Pony. She had many friends, and was aspiring to be a singer for many MLP projects. She had just gotten home, and was excited about the new episode of MLP. However, when she got to her laptop, she saw that it had been delayed for a week. Ashleigh groaned unpleasantly. She had been waiting for this episode for awhile, it apparently had plenty of songs in it, which she was always a fan of.
"Damn it!" she said, rolling her eyes.
Ashleigh was not the kind of person who enjoyed being let down by her favorite shows. She convinced herself that she was going to figure out who was the jackass who decided to put this episode on a hiatus…
Ashleigh tried to look up more information on why it had been delayed, hoping that it wouldn't be delayed for too long when she accidentally clicked on a pop-up ad.
"Shit!" she hissed, as MLP flash game adds started popping up. Ashleigh swiftly started trying to get rid of them, however, more ads started popping up. All of a sudden, a power surge made the computer screen flare brighter. Ashleigh started to see the screen expand, and all of a sudden, she found herself evaporating into particles, as though she was in a hallucinogenic dream.
Ashleigh couldn't move, she tried to shout for help, even though she had no idea what good it would do.
Suddenly, white light faded around her. Terrified and petrified with fear, Ashleigh closed her eyes, fearing that she was going to die...
...but she didn't.
Instead, Ashleigh suddenly felt a gentle bump, and saw that she was on top of a building. The building looked like some sort of military building, confusing her.
"Did Russia just blow the US up?" she muttered, half joking, half serious.
Ashleigh tried to jump off the building, but she realized that the ground was a long drop, and that the ground below her, and even where she was standing looked like how backgrounds do in a cartoon, but with more detail. The landscape was not normal...it was too bright and ...animated?
Ashleigh stood up higher, trying to look for a better view of the area. She could see what looked like a bright green landscape with low clouds. The entire landscape had a sheeny pastel tone, confusing the teen girl. Suddenly, a bird flew by her, but when she got a better look at the strange creature, she noticed something about the way it looked also wasn't right.
Whoosh.
An orange and blue blur the size of Ashleigh flashed by several yards in front of her. It had been moving so fast that by the time she realized that something had flown past her it was already far away in the distance. Ashleigh ran forward, hoping to see whatever the creature had been...
But when suddenly she moved closer to the edge, she lost her balance, slipping and flailing, and found herself falling. She suddenly spotted a light figure flying below her, as she was falling. She hit it, and it let out a muffled yelp as they both hit the ground.
The weird creature had broken her fall, and she hadn't been hurt. However, when the strange creature started weakly heaving itself off the ground, clearly having been injured by her hitting it, however, Ashleigh was still laying on top of it, rendering it immobile. Ashleigh looked at a weirdly pastel colored body with thin fur and a dark blue mane. The creature was wearing what looked like a bodysuit, but it didn't have a mask on. She saw a face that looked oddly familiar. It was a blue pegasus, a character that she recognized.
“Soarin?”
The stallion let out a yelp of pain as Ashleigh tried to climb off of him. Ashleigh got onto her knees to look at him.
“W-what’s going on?!?” she gasped. Her mind was blazing in shock and disbelief, kind of like what happens when you hear that a family member dies or when you seem something that your mind cannot believe. Suddenly, Soarin drew in a large breath, preparing to yell for help, but Ashleigh grabbed his muzzle before he could yell, and pulled him into a bush nearby to hide, for she had spotted another pegasus nearby.
How is this happening? How did I get sucked into Equestria?
The thought roared through her mind, but she was shaken out of it when she felt Soarin unsuccessfully try to break free. She tightened her gave on him, giving him an intimidating stare, hoping to calm the pegasus down. Ashleigh wasn’t really in the mood to get caught, she had no idea how ponies would react to her. She could get locked up, or glued and feathered, or...anything really. Ponies, most of them at least probably would be terrified of her. Ashleigh took in a deep breath. She had no idea of what she was supposed to do with Soarin now. She looked at her options:
She could knock him out and leave him in the bush, but she knew he had hurt his wing and she didn’t feel right about causing him more pain. She could bribe/beg him into being quiet, but he probably would refuse. Or-she could try to make a run for it and bring him with her…
Ashleigh grabbed Soarin and lifted him onto her back, almost falling over because of his weight. The stallion was nearly the same size as her, but for some reason, she was able to rise to her feet and begin walking.
Soarin tried to break free, however, he was in a good deal of pain from the fall, and he couldn’t yell for help, plus he couldn’t even attempt to thrash free because of the position Ashleigh had him in.
“Sorry I had to do this.” Ashleigh murmured, as she continued walking. She flashed a glance behind her to make sure that she hadn’t been spotted. Thankfully, there was nopony behind her at the moment. She quickened her pace, cursing silently at the massive stallion’s weight...
Ashleigh had no idea of where to go, or even how to survive in an unfamiliar world, but she knew the last thing she needed to do was give up…

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                 Chapter 2: The Long Haul                  
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Chapter 2: The Long Haul
The Wonderbolts training facility was now but a dot in the distance, silhouetted by the setting sun. It had taken hours for Ashleigh to make it all the way to where she was. Not helping was the fact that Soarin had tried to break free several times. He hadn't succeeded of course, Soarin was still in somewhat rough shape from the fall. Ashleigh was scared that when she got too tired to continue, that she would pass out and Soarin would get back to the training facility to get them to track her down. Although Soarin couldn’t fly, he would have no problem walking-
Ashleigh, exhausted from the nearly eternal trek, suddenly toppled over, causing a cry of pain from Soarin as he slipped in front of her, and all of her weight came down on him.
“Sorry!” she said, trying to stand up. Soarin, however, tried to get up but bucked under the weight of his hindleg.
“What have you done to my leg!?!” he yelled, trying to ignore the shooting pain.
“I’m sor-” she started, but suddenly was interrupted.
“Shut up! What is your problem you hairless freak? You broke my wing, my leg is probably sprained or broken, and you grabbed me and pulled me into a bush!”
Ashleigh bit her lip and looked away. She felt awful, just awful. No matter what she had done, things just kept getting worse and worse for Soarin. Letting out a sigh, she picked him back up. He didn’t argue, but let out an unpleasant snort.
“What are you doing?” he asked as she started looking around in all directions.
“Looking for a place to sleep.” she said, “I’m trying to get somewhere where I can also look at your injuries.”
“Yeah, you’re gonna be so helpful.” sneered Soarin, “Maybe you’ll give me a broken rib cage too.”
Ashleigh, said nothing, her guilt for what had happened growing. This was all her fault, and she knew it. Her childish fear had gotten the best of her, and a pony who she was actually a fan of had gotten hurt. To tell the truth, Soarin was her favorite of the wonderbolts, and she had always been
“Just stop up here!” snapped Soarin, jerking away from her, but not quite succeeding in his attempt.
Ashleigh nodded, and toppled over, just before setting him down.
“I’m so sore and tired…” groaned Ashleigh, her face on the ground.
Soarin sneered, and tried to sit up. “Good.”
Ashleigh shot him an annoyed look and finally got up to check his wing. “I’ll bandage it up.” she said.
Soarin was about to ask with what, but suddenly she took a hair tie out of her pocket and pulled it around his wing. Not like I ever use this thing anyways.
“Better?”
Soarin looked at it. It still hurt, but the aching pain was gone.
“Yeah, I guess.”
Ashleigh patted him on the head. “Hey...I’m sorry. I hope your wing feels better.”
Soarin, for a moment, almost forgot that he was mad at her. But before he almost said the most dreaded t-word of them all; thanks, he let out a sneer and slapped her hand with his tail.
“Whatever.”
Ashleigh almost laughed at the faked arrogance, but managed to stop herself, and inspected his leg.
“I think you were overreacting a bit, your leg isn’t broken, it’s just bruised.” Ashleigh said, patting his head, prompting an angry growl out of him.
“You still hurt it.” he retorted, desperate to get the last word.
Ashleigh just let out a scoff, before taking off her outer jacket and putting it on him.
“I’m not just your disposal for your clothes.” he retorted, shaking it off.
“It’s for you to use as a blanket.” Ashleigh said through gritted teeth. Although the pegasus had started out on reasonable ground, he was definitely pushing his boundaries.
“You don’t have to like it, but I don’t appreciate being talked down to.”
Soarin was intimidated by her firm nature, and pulled the jacket on top of himself.
Ashleigh mentally gave herself a pat on the back for holding her ground and not wussing out of what to tell him to do.
“Right, now go to sleep.” she said, a yawn ending her statement as she arched her back into a yawn.
Soarin pulled the jacket closer to him.
“I’ll give you one thing man, you’ve got guts.” he muttered, a surprising lack or sarcasm in his voice, although Ashleigh had not the slightest idea why she had just gotten called a man.
Ashleigh just tiredly muttered something before grabbing some leaves off a bush and shoving them under her head into a makeshift pillow. The night air, despite not being freezing cold, had a bit of a chill in it, causing her to shiver. Not helping was the fact she was wearing only shorts; short shorts at that, and a shirt that was nothing more than a glorified tank top.
“Great job Ashleigh.” she muttered sarcastically. “Why did you have to dress like you were just going to spend the day at your house watching cartoons?” she joked sarcastically.
She considered taking the jacket away from Soarin, but she felt guilty after everything else he had suffered, not to mention that she was too exhausted to move. Despite her exhaustion, Ashleigh found herself unable to sleep. Maybe it was the cold, maybe it was her aching back, but she simply couldn’t go asleep. Finally, letting out an angry snarl, she pulled some more leaves off the bush next to her to try and stay warmer. It didn’t help much, but the sheer exhaustion finally gave her the wish she desired, and she fell asleep. Part of her wondered if she would even be in Equestria the next morning, weather this was a freaky dream, or if it wasn’t a dream, what would happen.
If this is a dream, then I kinda don’t want to have dreams ever again.

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           Chapter 3: An Unbearable Predicament            
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Chapter 3: An Unbearable Predicament
Ashleigh didn’t sleep well that night, she kept waking up every few hours, either from the cold or from the fear that Soarin had gotten away. Finally she saw light in one direction of the sky, announcing the fact that Celestia was raising the sun. Although Ashleigh was pretty sure that Equestria didn’t have official time, according to her watch that was with her, night here lasted roughly the same amount of time as it did on earth during an Equinox. Ashleigh was relieved to see that Soarin hadn’t woken yet, the pegasus was in an awkward position with her jacket draped over his face, mumbling something incoherent about pie. Ashleigh looked at the sky. She could see shapes flying like crazy in the distance. At first, she thought they were just birds or bats, however, as the sun rose higher, illuminating them more, she realized they were wonderbolts, which could only mean one thing...
Ashleigh gently pulled Soarin onto her back. She was expecting it to hurt just as bad, if not worse, but to her surprise, it wasn’t as hard to carry him. It still was a challenge, but nothing compared to the agony of yesterday. It was strange to her, due to his massive size, but she was thankful for it. Taking a look behind, she was scared to see there were more. They were far away, but she knew they could travel extremely fast. And if they had eyesight that was as good as hers, or even better than her, then she could kiss freedom goodbye. The challenging trek continued for nearly an hour, Ashleigh continued, terrified that she was going to get caught as she continued through a hilly forest. The wonderbolts still were there in the distance, but they were thankfully further away. What stopped her was Soarin finally waking up. The stallion had been mumbling about pies, until finally he had come to.
“Huh...what? Where am I?” he had muttered. When he saw Ashleigh he let out an unhappy groan, and mumbled something inaudible.
“What happened?” he asked, all emotion drained from his voice.
Ashleigh let out a sigh. “I woke up, and I saw the wonderbolts flying overhead, so I had to get out of where we were. You weren’t awake so I took you with me.”
Soarin grinned. “Well you may be an idiot, but you did make a good choice in bringing me. If you had left me, I would have just tracked you down from your smell. I’m a pretty good tracker, and you’ve got a nice scent.” he stated, no irony in his voice, but a snide grin on his face.
Ashleigh just glared at him. “Oh so you’re making fun of me now?”
Soarin laughed. “Well I was complimenting you and making a joke at the same time. I don’t see why you’re upset.”
Soarin felt the girl suddenly fling him the ground, although not in a violent way. “You’re not making this easy.”
The blue stallion curled his lip at her, unhappy of the fact of where she had thrown him; onto muddy ground. “Then you shouldn’t have taken me away.”
Soarin was keeping his cool, but on the inside he was fuming. This skinny hairless twit had taken him from his friends and home, and yet somehow she thought she was in the right.
“I didn’t have any choice, you were going to alert your friends to imprison me with your earrape voice. You sound like a loser.” her cool words burning through the stallion, angering him more.
“I might sound stupid, but at least I don’t have two tumors on my chest.” Soarin sneered, causing Ashleigh to burst into laughter at the pony’s naïve. Then again, he hadn’t seen a human before, so it would make sense.
“Yeah, yeah, tumors, that’s what we’ll go with.” she snickered. “But anyways, this is amusing and all, but we really need to keep going-” she started, but suddenly jolted back when she heard a snarl. At first, she thought she was hearing things, but she saw Soarin beside her tense up as well, causing her to shiver in fear.
“What’s that?”
Soarin tensed back. “Bear!” he shouted, trying to flee, but instead ending up tangled up in a bush. He let out a comical scream of fear, as the bear emerged from behind some shrubs, causing Ashleigh to back away slowly. However, the bear didn’t seem interested in her, the bear was walking towards Soarin, an enraged look on its face. Ashleigh suddenly realized that the bear must be upset that Soarin had mangled a berry bush. Berry bushes were a source of food for bears, right?
Soarin let out another scream, as the bear ripped him out of the bush and glared at him. The bear pinned him against the ground, terrifying the stallion.
Suddenly, Ashleigh ran forward, and pepper-sprayed the bear, causing him to roar in pain and confusion, giving Ashleigh and Soarin enough time to get away.
“What was that?!?” asked Ashleigh, anger and confusion in her voice. “You could have been killed! Would you have been happy then?” There was no concern in her voice, only anger and disbelief. “Are you a complete idiot?”
Soarin, traumatized by what had just happened, just shook his head and blurted out something he thought he would never say.
“I’m sorry!”
Ashleigh froze. “What?”
“T-this was my fault! I did this to myself.” the pegasus admitted, his head hung in shame.
For a minute, the two said nothing, Ashleigh was amazed by the fact he had for once owned up to apologize. Then she smiled.
“Thanks for apologizing.”
Soarin nodded, but did not meet her eyes, simply looked at his hooves.
Ashleigh got down on her knee and picked him up. Soarin still looked unpleased, but unlike the last times, he didn’t fight back.
“What did you use on that bear to get it to not injure me?” he asked, his green eyes looking at her inquisitively.
Ashleigh laughed. “Injure you? Yeah right. The freakin’ bear was going to probably eat you! You ruined its breakfast.”
Soarin flexed his wings. “No it wouldn’t have.”
Ashleigh ignored him as if he had never spoken that line.
“I used pepper spray. I was gonna play a prank with it, but I got sent over here to Equestria where you guys want to lock me up for just existing probably.”
“No we wouldn’t.” Soarin retorted. “At least I don’t think we would have...well then again, considering our protocol for when we found a griffon near our base, maybe we would have, but can you really blame us? You look like a weirdo. Granted an attractive weirdo, but still!”
Ashleigh stopped. “You think I’m attractive?”
Soarin shook his head in embarrassment and shock, realizing he had let his thoughts slip. “No, that was...uh irony. You look like an ugly tumor ridden hairless weirdo!”
Ashleigh let out a scoff and flicked his ear. “I do not have tumors. It’s just biology. If you ever saw another human girl, you’d understand.”
Soarin said nothing, but finally just nodded. “Great, so I was wrong. Big deal.”
It was odd to say the least, but it seemed the the giant hole that caused discord and distrust between Ashleigh and Soarin had shrunken, just a little, from what happened. The two certainly didn’t consider each other friends, but at least for the time, they shared a common respect for one each other, from the incident that had just happened...

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               Chapter 4: Sharing is Caring                
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Chapter 4: Sharing is Caring
“Can we stop already?” asked Soarin. “My legs are getting sore from being carried.”
Ashleigh laughed at his question. “Oh boo hoo, your legs are sore. Well your legs haven’t been on the ground walking for hours on end. How about you do some walking before you criticize me?”
That got Soarin to quiet down, embarrassed that the girl had just destroyed his argument.
“You must be pretty athletic.” Soarin remarked, hoping that his small complement would cool her temper. “I would have passed out by now if I was carrying you. But that still doesn’t make it right that you dragged me-” his lecture was cut off when a branch slapped him in the face, prompting a chuckle out of Ashleigh.
“I’m athletic all right, I’m in three different exercise programs. It totally was worth it.” she said the last part sarcastically, the talk about her long talk making her pay attention to the throbbing and sore parts of her ankles and thighs, and making her wish she could stop. Unfortunately, she could not find a good area to rest, where they were trekking through was a stony area with a few pine trees here and there. Finally, as the sun began to set, she found a small overhang that had a bottom covered in spongy moss. It wasn’t perfect, but compared to the abomination they had to sleep at the previous night, it was an improvement. Ashleigh let Soarin down before sitting down and rubbing her sore legs.
“At least I’ll be ready for the 5K.” she joked to herself, as she stretched her ankles out and pulled off her boots, followed by her socks, trying to rub her feet against the moss in hope of making the soreness go away.
She secretly wondered if she would ever get home. She knew how she got in, but she wasn’t sure how to get back, that was the problem. There weren’t any computers in Equestria, at least not that she had seen while watching MLP. Ashleigh suddenly heard Soarin let out a yelp, and saw his wing come unfurled. She let out a sigh and walked over to him, seeing that his wing had lost the hair tie that was keeping it still. Ashleigh let out a sigh.
“This again?” she asked, glaring at him.
Soarin let out a sigh, and looked at his hooves.
Ashleigh, letting out another sigh, pulled her hair tie out of her hair, letting her wavy blond hair fall down onto her shoulders and back.
She shook her head, letting her bangs fly out of her face and looked up to Soarin with the hair tie. Before she could even say anything, she was suprised to see his mouth agape, and his cheeks with a slight pink blush on them. For a second, the two looked at each other in mutual confusion.
“What is it?” Ashleigh asked.
Soarin turned his head away. “N-nothing!” he responded, glancing away.
Ashleigh grinned. “Do you like it when my hair is down?”
Soarin let out an embarrassed snort. “N-no, I just was surprised by how much hair you have. Can you just bandage my wing?”
Ashleigh grinned and gently shook her hair again, causing Soarin to jerk his head away and pretend to not care.
“Just bandage my wing already!”
Ashleigh bit her lip to stop herself from bursting into laughter and pulled her hair tie around Soarin’s wing.
“Better?”
“Yes, much better.” he said, avoiding looking the teen girl in the eyes.
Ashleigh laughed and moved back to where she had been sitting. She laid on her back and looked up at the dusk sky.
“I wonder how I’m supposed to get home.” she murmured, crossing her legs.
Soarin just let out a sigh. “I just want a pie.” he remarked sadly.
“Honestly at this point I’d eat almost anything.” Ashleigh replied, laying on one side. Suddenly, she felt something in her jacket pocket. She slipped her hand inside, and found a granola bar, something she must have forgotten to eat the morning before she had gotten sent here. Soarin must have seen it, because he suddenly sat up intently.
“Is that food?”
She nodded, and opened the wrapper. She was about to take a bite, when she nervously shot a glance at Soarin. Soarin was laying down, and although his wonderbolts costume was on, she could see the outlines of ribs, and he in general looked like he hadn’t eaten in awhile.
Ashleigh tried to ignore the self-guilt welling up inside of her, but she couldn’t bring herself to let him go hungry.
“Hey Soarin, do you want my granola bar?”
Soarin looked up. “Really? The whole thing?”
“Yeah. You look like you need it.”
Soarin nodded and walked over to take it.
“Thanks.” he said, genuine kindness in his voice as he took the bar and walked back over to where he was sitting.
Although there was nothing in her stomach, Ashleigh felt better about the fact that she had shared something. And she had even gotten a thanks.
Awesome. I made peace with my enemy. She thought to herself as she laid back down. However, suddenly she heard hoofsteps. Soarin walked back over to her.
“Something wrong?” she asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
Soarin looked a little nervous, but continued. “Here you go.” he said, handing her the granola bar, which was half-eaten. “You gave some to me, but you haven’t eaten since you got here, so I thought you might need some.”
Ashleigh looked at the half-eaten bar. “You’re kidding, right? Just eat it.”
Soarin shook his head. “No no, I want you to have it. You look hungry. I ate some of it, I want you to have the rest.”
Ashleigh looked thoughtful. “Okay, fine. Thanks.”
Soarin nodded and quickly walked back over to where he had been, and nervously turned away from her quizzical gaze.
Ashleigh was kind of glad that he had given some back, because she was indeed starved. She took a bite, shuddering a little in disgust at the texture, which had Soarin’s saliva on it. But she ignored it and took another bite, which wasn’t as saliva-ridden. At least it’s food. Ashleigh told herself as she forced down the last bite, thankful for something in her stomach.
“Thank you Soarin.” she said, smiling at Soarin. Soarin nodded and turned his head away, for some reason still refusing to meet her gaze.
Ashleigh, confused as to why he was refusing to look at her when she was talking, began trying to make eye contact, however, after a few unsuccessful minutes, Soarin arched his back into a yawn and closed his eyes.
Whatever.
~
Meanwhile, things were quite the uproar back at the wonderbolts training facility. Spitfire was quite concerned over the disappearance of Soarin.
“This isn’t like him.” she told Fleetfoot. “I know he can disappear for errands sometimes, but he’s never disappeared for an entire day. He loves work. And he’d certainly never miss weekly pie day.” she remarked, beckoning to all the tables set up with different pies, some of which were Soarin’s favorites.
Spitfire was so concerned she had even sent ponies to talk to Celestia, but Celestia’s  only advice was to keep on looking, since she and her sister were busy at the time.
Spitfire and the others were quite upset over the issue. They might not have been have been Soarin’s family, but they were the best friends they had. And to loose him was both saddening and alarming. After the second day, Spitfire had halted all wonderbolt activities to find him.
“He’s an important part of our team, he’s like a brother to all of us. We’re going to find out what happened, and if somepony was involved, we need to bring them to heel!” she shouted, causing an uproar of cheer in the Wonderbolt’s academy when she was asked about the issue. And what she said was true, she had plans indeed to make whoever was involved pay, and her plan could about to be put to the test on someone out there not even a pony…

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               Chapter 5: A Change of Heart                
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Chapter 5: A Change of Heart
Ashleigh felt something gently nudge against her, causing her to wake up. It was Soarin, he had a nervous look on his face.
“Hey, uh, Ashleigh, the sun rose but you weren’t awake yet, so I woke you up.”
Ashleigh sat up, stretching out her arms and yawning.
“I’m surprised you didn’t run away.” she remarked, sliding her boots on as she stood up, still somewhat sore from the previous day.
Soarin shrugged. “Honestly there’s nowhere I could really go.” he joked, looking away from her and laughing nervously.
Ashleigh froze, the realization that the hatred that the two of them had shared was dying. Soarin had no anger or disgust, and even looked willing to be friendly to her.
“So...I guess we should keep going?” Soarin asked.
Ashleigh, lost in thought, finally added a reply.
“Sure. Let’s go.”
She was about to pick up Soarin, but Soarin stopped her.
“It’s okay.” he said. “You don’t have to carry me. I won’t run away, I promise.”
Ashleigh felt a little anxiety from the idea of him not being carried and him betraying her, but judging from his earnest tone, he wasn’t lying to her.
“Okay.” she told him, prompting him to sigh in relief.
“So, where to?”
Ashleigh took in a deep breath, and glanced at the horizon in front of them. Ashleigh had no idea to get back to where she had come from. She secretly knew now that the decision to just take Soarin and flee had been not only a bad idea, but a terrible one. They had to get to somewhere, but where to?
She could see what looked like Celestia’s castle, but it was very small from how far away it was.
“That way.”
Soarin nodded, and trotted alongside Ashleigh, the two began the long and grueling walk. By the time the afternoon arrived, the two were exhausted, in particular Soarin, who hadn’t been walking until today. However, they knew they must be getting closer, because they came to a bridge, and they could see the castle still in the distance, but somewhat closer.
Soarin broke the hours of silence they had shared together on the trek.
“Are we gonna cross that?” There was some nervousness in his voice, as he and Ashleigh glanced at the bridge in front of them. It wasn’t exactly sturdy to be sure, it was a rope bridge, and under it was a long drop to a tickling creek in a gorge.
“Do we have any other option?” she asked, pointing to him to show that it continued as far as the eye could see both says, and appeared to get much wider.
Soarin looked kind of nervous, but nodded and took a cautious step on it. The bridge appeared to be sturdy, but a little wobbly.
“I’ll go first.” he said, taking another step forward.
Ashleigh smiled. “Thanks Soarin.”
The stallion nodded and continued walking forward. As he got to the end, he increased speed, and took a massive jump using his one good wing as a boost from where he was halfway across the bridge to the end.
“Come on Ashleigh!” he shouted, waving from the other side.
Ashleigh let out a nervous laugh, and stepped forward, but not onto the bridge.
However, when she took a step onto the bridge and felt it slightly shake, she let out a whimper of fear and refused to cross it.
“Ashleigh, don’t be scared!” Soarin shouted, walking onto the very edge. “I made it across and I’m about the same weight as you!”
Ashleigh shivered in fear. “I can’t!” she shouted, taking a step back. “I freaking hate rickety bridges. I thought it wasn’t going to shake!”
“Well it does.” Soarin muttered. “Come on, I don’t want to stand here all day. Can we just cross this please?”
Ashleigh let out a groan and closed her eyes and started running across.
“That’s it! You’re doing great dude!” he shouted, as she got halfway across, and continued running, almost at the other side.
That’s when it happened.
Ashleigh felt something break under her, a board, and that’s when she fell, almost tumbling off the entire bridge.
Ashleigh grabbed the actual rope on the bridge, and wound her arm around it as tight as possible.
“Soarin, help!” she screamed, as she felt the rope start to slide away from her arm, glancing below, she saw sharp rocks; a fall from these fights would most certainly kill her.
She felt the bridge shake more as Soarin ran forward, avoiding staying safe in order to protect her.
“Grab my hoof!” he begged, as one of her fingers lost control of the rope. She did so, and felt herself being pulled up, and drug across the bridge. She let out a sigh of relief as she bumped against the ground on the other side.
“Thank you for saving my life.” she said, as Soarin glared at her in an unpleasant way.
“I wouldn’t have had to if you hadn’t taken me from the Wonderbolts academy.” Soarin muttered, glaring at her.
“I’m sorry!” she sobbed, her face already getting red from crying. “I was wrong to do it. It was horrible and I didn’t deserve your help!” she choked out the last part in earnest, hiding her face.
She was surprised to feel Soarin wrap his hooves around her shoulders in a hug. “I forgive you.” he said, tightening his grip.
Ashleigh let out a sob. “Thank you Soarin!” she said, wrapping her arms around him as well.
Soarin finally pulled away. “Hey that’s what friends are for, right?”
“Y-yes!” she agreed. “But why do you want to be my friend? I kidnapped you…”
“Well I mean, it was wrong, but I think you’ve learned your lesson. But you still owe me one thing.” he said, grinning.
Ashleigh grinned. “Oh? What do I owe you?”
“A pie!” Soarin said with a chuckle, poking her in the arm with his good wing playfully.
Ashleigh giggled. “Oh of course your lordship. Do you also want some whipped cream on it too?”
“I have no idea what that is, but sure!” Soarin said, trying to ignore the hunger roaring in his stomach.
Ashleigh laughed and ruffled up his mane. “Good one.”
Soarin looked away and smiled. “Thanks Ashleigh.” The blue pegasus suddenly stood up. “We gonna go?”
Ashleigh nodded, and the two started walking.
One week passed. Although not much of importance happened, Ashleigh & Soarin found themselves being forced to reduce their diet to creekwater and berries. It was hard, but the two managed to survive. While not much happened, the two had put their differences behind and were now friends, shared in a common goal of getting home.
~
“So…” Soarin broke the silence after a few minutes of walking on the eighth day. “What’s it like where you come from?”
Ashleigh was a little surprised by the question.
“Oh, how come?” she asked.
“Well, I figured since we friends if it would be okay if we knew more about each other.” Soarin said nervously, a slight blush on his cheeks.
“Sure.” Ashleigh said, letting out a cute laugh, causing Soarin’s blush to get bigger. “Not like we have anything better to do.” she added.
“So should I go first?” Soarin asked.
“If you want.”
Soarin smiled. “What do you want me to ask?” the blue stallion asked, hopping over a log as they walked.
Ashleigh thought for a second. “Uhh...shoot. I’m brain screwed. How about you go first?”
Soarin chuckled. “Okay, sure. So what is life like on earth?”

//-------------------------------------------------------//
            Chapter 6: Some Personal Questions             
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Chapter 6: Some Personal Questions
Ashleigh blinked. “What do you mean?”
Soarin put his hoof behind his head. “Well, I mean, you know what life is like here on Equestria since you’re...here. But you’ve never told me what it’s like on earth.”
Ashleigh smiled. “Oh, well it’s okay. I mean, mainly I want to go back because of my family.”
Soarin looked interested. “Family?”
Ashleigh nodded. “Yeah, my family. I have my parents and my younger sister.”
Soarin looked sad. “Oh, I know what you mean. My only family is my parents. I haven’t seen them in years.”
“You haven’t seen them in years?” replied Ashleigh, shocked.
Soarin nodded. “Not since I became a wonderbolt.”
Ashleigh looked genuinely sorry for him. “Soarin I’m sorry.” she murmured.
Soarin shrugged. “Hey, it’s not your fault. You’re kinda like my mom, you’re no fun.” he joked, teasingly patting her on the leg.
Ashleigh glared at him. “No fun? I’ll show you no fun, Mr. Sore Voice!” she shouted, tackling him and pretending to beat him up.
Soarin let out a fake groan. “Oh no, you made fun of my voice. At least I don’t have so much hair that I have to wear hair ties!”
Ashleigh laughed as Soarin seized the chance to pin her down to the ground and climb on top of her.
“You have to admit, though, you think I’m cute when I have my hair down,” Ashleigh snickered, trying to distract him by hypnotically twirling her hair.
“No…” Soarin mumbled, getting off of her and helping her to her feet. “I just was surprised by how much hair you have.”
Ashleigh rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah right.”
The two looked at the sky, seeing that the sun was only a few hours from setting.
“Wow, time sure does pass by when you’re having fun.” commented Ashleigh, as the two began walking again.
Soarin grinned. “Yeah, time does seem to fly.” he said with a grin. “Want to get back to asking each other questions?”
Ashleigh nodded. “Sure!” she said, trying to adjust her shorts. She noticed that the fact that she had barely eaten in days had caused her waistline to shrink, and that she was having a hard time keeping her shorts from sliding.
“Something wrong?” Soarin asked.
Ashleigh sighed and tightened her belt. “I’m losing weight because I’m not getting enough to eat.”
Soarin looked concerned. “Oh, I’m sorry Ashleigh.” he said, looking at his own skinny form. “I haven’t gotten enough to eat myself.”
Ashleigh put her arms around him in a hug. “It’s okay Soarin. We’ll find food.”
Soarin smiled. “Really, are you sure?”
Ashleigh nodded. “Don’t worry. I mean, we haven’t died of starvation yet. And if we get hungry enough we could eat roots.”
Soarin grinned. “Good idea.” he joked.
“Let’s just take our minds off food.” the stallion added. “That means let’s ask some questions. So… have you ever had a stallionfriend before?” he asked, a little bit of nervousness in his voice.
Ashleigh snickered. “Well somebody’s getting personal with questions.”
Soarin looked a little embarrassed. “I, er couldn’t think of any other questions.”
“We call them boyfriends on earth.” she explained. “And yes I have one.”
“Oh.” Soarin muttered. Was that sadness in his voice?
Ashleigh laughed. “Just kidding, I don’t. I really have no idea why, but everyone I know seems to think otherwise. I know you weren’t trying to hit on me when you said I was pretty. A lot of guys back on earth seem to think the same thing.”
“I never meant to say pretty,” Soarin tried to evade. “It’s a synonym for mysterious girl!”
Ashleigh grinned. “I find that hard to believe.”
Soarin continued to try to evade by asking another question. “Do you like pie?” he asked, nervously.
Ashleigh nodded. “Yeah! My favorite is apple.”
Soarin looked at her in disbelief. “What? That’s my favorite! Especially with caramel on top!”
Ashleigh laughed. “Same! That’s the best!”
Ashleigh suddenly intervened. “Hey, can you ask a question that doesn’t have to do with food? My stomach is hurting right now…”
Soarin nodded. “Okay...what’s your greatest fear? Mine is loosing my job at the Wonderbolts.”
Ashleigh froze. “I-I don’t know if I should say it. It’s too embarrassing.”
Soarin froze. “What? Come on, you can tell me. I won’t make fun of you, Wonderbolt’s honor.”
Ashleigh sighed. “Okay. My g-greatest fear is not having any friends. I’m kind of a laid back person, but I still like having friends. Because my life is always really boring when I don’t. And when something bad happens and I have friends, they always make things better somehow.”
Soarin chuckled. “Well luckily your best friend is right here with you.”
Ashleigh looked at him confusedly. “Best friend?”
Soarin nervously gulped. “Well, it’s just that, er, we’ve saved each other’s lives and we’re getting to know a lot about each other, so I thought it would be okay if I said we’re best friends. I mean, I have friends, but you’re the best one I’ve ever gotten…”
He expected Ashleigh to be mad, but instead she patted him on the head. “I think you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. I mean, we could have gotten to know each other even better if I hadn’t acted like an idiot and taken you from your camp. How’s that wing doing by the way?”
Soarin glanced at it. “It feels a lot better. I would try moving it, but I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
Ashleigh nodded. “Good idea is to keep it in the hair tie for now. And I don’t think it’s weird that you think that I’m your best friend. I think the same thing. I mean, I wouldn’t tell most of my friends the stuff I tell you, so yeah.”
Soarin looked nervous. “Oh, I’m sorry. Do you think I’m prying to much?”
Ashleigh shook her head. “No, of course not! You can ask me anything you want, no matter how personal it is. I haven’t got that much to hide. Besides, you seem like the kind of guy who would never reveal anything I told him. I like that about you.
Soarin looked confused. “I don’t know how you got that idea, but that sounds a lot like me.”
Ashleigh giggled, her laugh causing Soarin to blush.
She’s got such a cute laugh. He thought to himself.
“Something wrong?” asked Ashleigh, noticing that Soarin was smiling, and that his cheeks were turning a blushy shade.
“N-no, what?” Soarin said, looking away.
Ashleigh didn’t buy it.
“Why do you keep looking away from me?” she asked, trying to turn his head towards hers.
Soarin let out a nervous breath. “I-er-uh-” he stumbled around, nervously.
Ashleigh stopped walking. “Soarin, what’s going on?”
Soarin bit his lip nervously. “It’s just that you look really...pretty. I get kinda shy when I look at you. I’m not into you, it’s just…”
Ashleigh smiled. “Aww...you think I’m pretty?”
Soarin just nodded, but suddenly felt Ashleigh hug him. “That’s really sweet of you to say.” she said, flicking his ear.
Ashleigh grinned. “But I don’t believe you about not being into me, what’s going on there-” she started, but was cut off when Soarin gently pulled away.
She was about to ask him why, but Soarin opened his mouth.
“Do you smell that?!?” he asked, nervously.
Ashleigh shook her head. “No, what?”
Soarin glanced at her excitedly. “Food!”
Ashleigh suddenly looked at him in excitement. “What? Where?!?”
Soarin pointed his hoof towards a group of trees. “Over there! I can smell it!”
Ashleigh patted Soarin on the head. “Great job! Lead the way Soarin!”
Soarin nodded and started quickly walking. After about two minutes, they arrived at a tent, where a stallion and his marefriend were camping out. They had plenty of food on their table, so Soarin and Ashleigh ran for their table, grabbing a bag of food and running away before they were noticed.
The stallion walked forward with a confused look on his face.
“Where did all of those snacks go?” he asked. “Misty Whisper! Where are the pies?”
Ashleigh and Soarin was snickering so hard as they ran away that they nearly choked, before inspecting what they had grabbed. Some sort of orange drink, some sort of scented liquid soap, two pies, a vegetable peeler, jam, and celery.
“Pie!!!” shouted Soarin, jumping around excitedly.
Ashleigh opened the drink and started chugging it. She hadn’t had much to drink since she had arrived other than getting a drink from a creek they had come across a day ago, so she was parched with thirst.
“Hey!” Soarin said as she continued to gulp it down. “Save some for me!”
Ashleigh finally stopped drinking and in between gasps handed the bottle to him.
“Sorry it has my saliva on it.” she apologized. “But we don’t have any cups.”
Soarin shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s actually tradition for best friends to share a drink during a celebration in Equestria.” he said. That was a lie, of course, but Soarin wasn’t gonna let her know that. He took a few gulps, before giving it back to her.
“Your turn.” he said. “You finish it off.”
“Do I have to?” she asked.
“Yes, yes you do. You made me drink after you, now you have to drink after me.” he joked, gently poking her in the stomach with his hoof.
Ashleigh shrugged. “Okay.” she said, gulping the rest of it down, being somewhat relieved when it wasn’t as gross as she thought it would be.
“Now you’ll always be a part of me!” she joked, poking Soarin back.
“Eww, no thanks.” Soarin muttered, rolling his eyes.
The two burst into laughter. Any tension or distrust between the two was dead, and a bond of mutual close friendship and care was being established.
The first step towards love.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
               Chapter 7: Awkward Situation                
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Chapter 7: Awkward Situation
“Let’s check out the pies!” Soarin said enthusiastically, opening the boxes. “This one’s Pineapple.” he said, smelling the rich scent.
“Sweet! I love Pineapples!” Ashleigh said.
“Me too!” Soarin said. “And it smells great!”
“What’s the other one?”
Soarin opened the other box. “Yes! Apple!” he shouted, excitedly jumping up and down.
“Awesome!” Ashleigh shouted, stacking the two pies on top of each other and ready to cut them into slices.
“Hold on, I have to sing my victory pie song.” Soarin said, grinning.
“Okay, sing it!”
Soarin mumbled something. “Okay...so we have a pineapple and apple pie, so what would the abbreviation for that be if I added “Pie” at the beginning…”
“PPAP.” Ashleigh explained. “Pie pineapple apple pie.”
“Great one!” Soarin said, flapping his wings enthusiastically.
“Okay, here it goes…” he muttered. “PPAP... I have a pie. I have an apple! Ugh! Apple pie! I have a pie. I have pineapple. Ugh! Pineapple Pie! Apple pie, Pineapple pie. Ugh! Pie pineapple apple pie!” he finished off the last part by pretending to smash the two pies together like you would a pair of cymbals.
Ashleigh clapped. “That was great Soarin. Very good demonstration.”
“I know.” Soarin said. “It was a very good demonstration. Now let’s eat!”
The two sat down to eating pies, relishing the delicious flavor. After finishing, got up and started walking again, looking for somewhere to sleep.
“I think we’re going in circles.” Soarin said a while later as they were walking. “We’ve passed that waterfall with steam coming off of it three times in a row.”
Ashleigh sighed. “It’s so dark I can’t see where to go.”
Soarin yawned. “Why don’t we just go under those bushes?”
Ashleigh nodded. “Okay.” she walked over a pair of bushes and climbed under one. She silently let out a sigh of relief that there weren’t any spiderwebs or small animals under the bush. Soarin slid under a bush a few yards away from her, and scraped some moss into a pillow, laying his head down on it.
“Cozy?” she asked.
Soarin let out a reassuring “Yep.” Before yawning and closing his eyes.
Ashleigh didn’t have enough moss to make a pillow, but she used her jacket to rest her head on. “‘Night Soarin!” she called, before closing her eyes.
“‘Night Ashleigh! Sleep well!”
~
The next morning, Ashleigh was the first to wake up. Letting out a yawn, she stood up and went to go check on Soarin. Soarin was still sleeping soundly, so she just patted him on the head, and went to look to see how far away the castle was. It looked like they could make it there in only a day or two. The white form hung over a mountain, intimidating the surrounding valley. The wind suddenly blew Ashleigh’s hair into her face, which was greasy and dusty.
“I really need a shower.” Ashleigh commented, noticing her usually smooth shiny hair’s mucky form.
She suddenly remembered the steam waterfall they had passed. It was crystal clear and probably about the temperature of shower water. Also she had some liquid soap from the raid last night, so she could clean herself off with that. Hurrying back to where Soarin was sleeping & the supplies were, she grabbed the soap and tried to locate the steam falls. It didn’t take her long, and she finally located them, not even a hundred yards away from where she had been sleeping. Ashleigh stood next to the small falls, impressed by their form. She tentatively put her hand out to see what temperature the water was. Pretty warm, perfect for a shower.
Ashleigh kicked off her boots and started removing her clothes, until she could feel the wind pierce her slender body, before walking in. She wasn’t the type that generally was afraid of being naked, not to mention that at this point she was so desperate to shower she didn’t care if anyone saw her. Ashleigh had nothing to dry off with, so she had no idea what she was going to do about that...
“This soap smells good.” she joked to herself as she rubbed it into her hair, trying to get the grease out. It stung really bad in her eyes, so she tried to keep them closed, hoping that she could keep them from getting burned. She was almost finished, and ready to get out when she heard hoofsteps approaching. She opened her eyes just in time to see Soarin come around the corner.
“Hey there you are-” he started, letting out a gasp of shock when he realized that she was naked.
“Y-you’re not wearing any clothes.” he said, expecting an angry scolding from her for coming across her.
But the angry scolding never came. Instead Ashleigh burst into laughter as Soarin’s entire face lit up the brightest shade of red she had ever seen.
“Hey…” she said embarrassedly, pulling her hair out of her face and trying to cover herself with her arms. “Can I borrow the front part your wonderbolts outfit to dry off? I’ll give it back.”
“Sure, just please don’t get mad at me!” Soarin said pulling it off and throwing it over to her, before running away.
Ashleigh climbed out and started drying herself off, wondering where Soarin had gone.
She hadn’t personally been embarrassed by being seen, but she felt kinda bad for Soarin, knowing that he probably hadn’t wanted to see her clothesless.
Finally she put all her clothes back on and walked over to where the supplies where she found Soarin with his head on his hooves.
“I’m sorry Ashleigh.” he apologized. “I didn’t know you were...over there. Please don’t be mad.”
Ashleigh smiled. “How is it your fault? I’m the one who should have warned you. I should have woken you up and told you not to come over there.”
Soarin looked hopeful. “You’re not mad?”
Ashleigh giggled and ruffled up his mane. “Of course not! I’m the one who should be apologizing. Me being clothless is probably burned into your memory.”
Soarin shook his head. “I’m very disgusted. I need to submerge my head in water! Just kidding, honestly I’m not bothered by it. I just thought you would be mad at me.”
Ashleigh hugged him. “Well don’t worry, I’m not mad. But you better not go telling other guys what I look like clothesless!”
Soarin chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ll never say this happened if you say it never did. Best friend promise?” he asked.
“Best friend promise.” Ashleigh answered.
The incident that had just taken place, despite its extremity, was soon brushed aside. The only thing it had changed was the personal respect for each other, which now was much greater than it had ever been. The two knew how to respect each other in a more personal way, a way that even many friends did not experience.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                Chapter 8: You Shall Pass!                 
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Chapter 8: You Shall Pass!
“There it is!” Ashleigh pointed to Celestia’s castle, which was so close that they could see the waterfalls spilling off of it. “Awesome, we’re almost there.” Soarin said. “Maybe when we get to the water, you can take your clothes off again.” he joked, poking her in the arm.
“Oh yeah, totally.” sarcastically added Ashleigh. “Why don’t I just ask the guards if I can dry off in their suits.”
The two chuckled.
“Do you think we could try to make it there tonight?” asked Soarin.
Ashleigh shrugged. “I haven’t got the slightest idea. We’re gonna have to go around though, because there’s no way to get into the castle in the direction we’re going. So we may have to stop somewhere.”
And stop somewhere they did, they found a small abandoned wooden shelter on what looked like overgrown farmland.
“It’s getting cold.” commented Soarin, shuddering as a cold breeze ruffled his mane.
Ashleigh patted his back. “It’s okay, maybe the shelter will help keep out the cold.” she said, climbing in. However, the shelter did little to protect them from the cold.
Soarin’s teeth chattered. “C-cold.” he muttered, shivering ferverously.
Ashleigh gave him her jacket. “Better?” she asked, tucking it around him.
Soarin nodded. “Thanks. Aren’t you cold though?” he asked, his foreleg resting against her leg, noting how cold it was.
Ashleigh giggled. “No duh I’m cold. I don’t have fur all over my body like you.”
Soarin looked a little concerned. “Well how are you gonna stay warm?”
Ashleigh suddenly laid down beside him and put part of her jacket about herself. “Easy, we’ll share.” she said, pulling his foreleg around her middle.
Soarin looked a little nervous. “Uhh...are you sure?” Soarin was surprised at her offer. He knew there wasn’t much room for the two to sleep, but was this really the only option?
Ashleigh closed her eyes. “Yep.” she said, moving even closer to him.
Soarin blushed. “Oh...okay.
Ashleigh let out a gentle sigh. “Good night Soarin. Sweet dreams.” She moved her head a little closer and relaxed, her breathing becoming softer and more rhythmic as the next few minutes passed. He could tell by her soft breathing that she had fallen asleep. As much as soarin wouldn’t have admitted it to Ashleigh, he was flipping out on the inside with excitement that his crush was so close to him.
Does this means she feels the same way? he thought hopefully. Then again, there wasn’t anywhere else to sleep. But why did she put my hoof around her body? That’s what you do if you like somebody...Maybe she was cold. Soarin’s brain was wracked by these thoughts; he finally passed out, wondering of how he was going to tell the girl about how he felt about her, and explain why…
~
Soarin felt Ashleigh gently shake him. “Come on bud, get up. We have to get to the castle today.”
Soarin yawned and stood up. “Do I have to? I haven’t slept that good in days…”
Ashleigh laughed. “Same here. But we’ll sleep even better once we get to Canterlot.”
Soarin suddenly looked at Ashleigh. “Are you sure you’ll be okay? I mean what if somebody thinks you’re dangerous?”
Ashleigh grinned. “Well I guess I’ll just have to knock ‘em dead with my good looks.” she joked.
Soarin wasn’t done with questions, as the two started walking again, he popped in another one.
“So...how are you supposed to see the princess? Do you think they’re just gonna let you in?” asked Soarin. “Or are you going to try to flirt with the guards to see if they’ll let you in?”
“Great idea!” Ashleigh said. “Do you think just flirting will be enough? Or should I go for kissing?”
Soarin stopped in his tracks. “I-uh, don’t know if that’s a good idea.” he explained nervously.
Ashleigh froze. “Why not?” There was confusion in her voice, as though she didn’t know what Soarin was eluding at.
Soarin gulped. This is it. Put yourself in a situation where you have no other choice but to tell her. He told himself. He made eye contact with her, refusing to let his awkwardness get the best of him.
“Well I mean it seems kind of wrong.” Soarin said. “Just some best friend advice.”
Ashleigh still looked confused. “That makes no sense. Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Soarin couldn’t bring himself to tell her. “Nope, nothing I’m hiding!” he said, trying to sound energetic.
Ashleigh smiled. “Okay, but if there’s something that you’re not telling, you would tell it to your best friend, wouldn’t you?”
Soarin nodded. “Of course! I would never hide anything from my best friend!” Except for the fact that I like you. He thought sadly to himself.
Ashleigh nodded. “I guess you’re right.” Turning her head, she could see the castle guards outside the entrance.
“We’re almost there.” she said. “Ready to troll these guards?”
Soarin nodded, and the duo hurriedly carried on to the front entrance, where they were met by the guards.
“Who are you?” one guard asked, glaring at Ashleigh, though his tone was friendly.
Ashleigh smiled. “I’m just a friendly troll. I come from the mountains and wish to speak to Celestia.”
The guards looked at each other in confusion. “Troll?”
“Yeah, troll.” Soarin said, giving one guard a friendly grin. “And I’m her guide.”
Ashleigh laughed and started stroking one guard’s foreleg. “My my, what toned muscular legs. Do you work out?”
The guard blushed. “Well now that you mention it, I do work out a lot.”
Another guard butted in. “Not as much as me. Don’t my legs look toned?”
One by one, the guards started crowding around her, trying to impress her.
Ashleigh giggled. “This is nice of you, but I must speak to the princess. Can anyone help me out?”
One of the pegasus guards spoke up. “Princess Celestia is taking care of the plans for a royal garden today. However, if it pleases you, we can set you up a meeting tomorrow.”
“Certainly.” Ashleigh replied. “In the meantime however, is there a hotel that I can stay at while I wait?”
The guards looked at each other in confusion. “A what?”
“She wants somewhere to sleep for the night.” Soarin explained.
The guards looked at each other and nodded.
“Certainly! We have many amazing rooms. Would you like to go look at one right now?”
Ashleigh nodded. The guards opened the gates and let her through, however, Soarin was blocked off.
“Let him through please.” Ashleigh instructed. “He needs to speak to the princess as well.”
The other guards grinned nervously and allowed him to pass.
She pulled it off. Soarin thought in amazement as the two were escorted towards the castle.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                 Chapter 9: The Confession                 
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Chapter 9: The Confession
Ashleigh and the guards spent several hours trying to find her the perfect room. Finally, after Ashleigh told them that she was fine with not being treated practically like another princess, she was sent to a fancy suite inside a building next to the castle. The room was furnished with a large bed, a bathroom, and a balcony; it was a dream come true to her. “If you need anything then tell me.” a friendly hotel pony told her, before shutting the door, leaving her alone.
Ashleigh suddenly felt like something was missing.
“Soarin!” she said. She remembered the stallion and her were separated by mistake, but she had told a guard to have him meet her at the room she was at. Well, it had been awhile since then, and still no sign of him.
“Maybe he went back to the Wonderbolts.” she muttered, hoping that what she had said wasn’t true.
To be completely honest, Ashleigh was missing Soarin a lot more than she thought she would when the two would have to say goodbye. Maybe it was because of the fact they hadn’t gotten a proper goodbye...or maybe it was the fact that spending the last week with someone alone with nobody else to talk to and the fact they had saved each other’s lives had made them a lot closer as friends...OR...maybe Ashleigh felt something more for that certain stallion…
Ashleigh walked onto the balcony, standing there for several minutes as the sun began to set.
“Sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye, Soarin.” she sighed, her pretty blue eyes reflecting the orange of the setting sun.
“Don’t worry, there’ll be time for that.”
A familiar voice spoke from behind her. Soarin had flown onto the balcony from behind, his suit gone, and was standing next to her. The two looked at each other for a moment, until suddenly Ashleigh walked over and pulled him into a hug.
“You came back.” she said, as he pulled his forelegs around her back, returning the hug.
“Of course I did.” Soarin retorted. “Do you think I would just leave without saying goodbye to my best friend?”
“Of course not!” Ashleigh said, silently cursing at herself for doubting him.
Soarin grinned. “I got the laundry to get my suit cleaned. So you can’t use it to dry off with it next time you decide to take a shower without warning me!” he chuckled, pulling away from the hug and poking her in the stomach.
Ashleigh playfully swatted his hoof away. “Please, that was a once in a lifetime thing. There was nothing else to dry off with. Besides, you guys are naked almost all the time.”
Soarin grinned. “Yeah, but we can hide our stuff cause we walk on all fours. And we don’t have tumors.” he finished by rubbing his own chest in demonstration, causing Ashleigh to roll her eyes.
Ashleigh ruffled his mane. “You liar, you know those aren’t tumors. Did you forget everything I told you?”
Soarin suddenly poked her mouth with his hoof. “Maybe your mouth is a tumor.”
Ashleigh laughed. “Very funny. Do you want to go get something to eat?”
Soarin gulped, looking at her.
“Actually, there’s something I wanted to tell you before, that I’ve been wanting to tell you for a few days, but I was afraid it was too soon, so I never said anything…” Soarin started, looking her straight in the eyes.
Ashleigh had an interested and confused look on her face. “What is it Soarin?”
Soarin gulped, beads of sweat already trailing down his face as he got ready to reveal his biggest secret to her. Everything was just right for the scene, the sun was setting, as though symbolizing that his time to tell her was running out, the wind was making her gorgeous blond hair twirl, and the slight coolness held the awkward note.
Soarin let go of his fear momentarily, giving him enough time to tell her what he was about to say.
“I-I like you.” he blurted out, expecting Ashleigh to be shocked. Or angry. Or maybe even excited. But none of those expressions ever came. Instead something else.
“I like you too Soarin, you’re my best friend! You didn’t have to tell me that, I know you still don’t hate me.” she said kindly, patting him on the shoulder.
Soarin shook his head. “N-no! I don’t mean like that, I mean I have a...crush on you…”
Then came the silence.
Ashleigh said nothing, but she mentally was piecing everything together. It all made sense…
Soarin gulped, wondering what her response would be. He was not expecting what came next…
“You...like me? But we’re different species…” The words, though not harsh in nature, stabbed Soarin in the heart.
Soarin shuddered internally. “Y-you don’t like me?” he tried to ask, his tone no more than a whisper. He felt hurt. But he felt no anger towards her, only the realization that maybe she was right. I’m a fluffy pony who probably looks like nothing she had ever seen before. Is it such a surprise she doesn’t like me?
He turned to walk away, his cheeks red with shame, but felt her stop him and turn him around to face her, moving towards him until he could feel her breath reach his nose. Soarin expected an angry scolding, but instead, he saw a smile in her gaze.
“Soarin.” she said. “Don’t be ashamed. I never said there was anything wrong with liking me. All I said is that I was surprised that you do, I mean we’re different species. I mean I remember how you acted around me, but the fact that you feel that way about me is...amazing…”
He blinked, trying to keep bittersweet tears from welling up in his eyes. “Really? W-well how do you feel about me?”
Ashleigh giggled, tickling his ears with her hand. “Oh Soarin, I think you know I like you just as much.”
His eyes lit up. “Really? You do?” His heart was soaring, he wanted to scream it to the world, but inside, he was still a little sheepish about it.
Ashleigh grinned. “Soarin, do you think normal people-or ponies talk about their personal lives with their friends like I do? No Soarin, I like you. I wasn’t sure at first, I thought maybe I was just alone on it, but after you told me, I knew that you felt the same…and I’m sorry if I upset you with my talk about species, I was just a little worried. I mean, I’ve never heard of a talking stallion pony and a teenage girl being together. It’s just...never happened before.”
Her words left a moment of silence, as the two’s confession metaphorically evaporated. Finally, Soarin spoke up. “S-so what now?” he asked. The stallion was nervous, he had never told anyone that he liked them, and he wasn’t sure what to do now that he knew she felt the same way about him…
Ashleigh pulled her arm around Soarin, and pulled him so close that the two were pretty much cuddling, before giving him a reply;
“What do you think is next?” she asked, closing her eyes and turning her head towards his. Soarin, knowing what she was talking about, smiled and did the same, as the two finally shared their first kiss. Pony and human. Male and female. Pie lover and adventure seeker. The two’s differences seemed to melt away, until the only one thing remained, their love for one another. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime but in reality was only about thirty seconds, Ashleigh pulled away, gasping for air.
The two looked each other, a new feeling of affection and care for each other now instilled by their kiss.
“I love you Soarin.” Ashleigh whispered.
“I love you too, Ashleigh.” Soarin said, kissing her back on the nose, and pulling his wing around her.
For Soarin and Ashleigh, this was already the best day for them already. But it was about to get better...

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                 Chapter 10: So What Now?                  
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Chapter 10: So What Now?
“So what now?” asked Soarin, looking at Ashleigh in confusion. “I have no idea what to do since I’m so new at this…”
Ashleigh smiled. “It’s okay, I’ve never been in a relationship either. It’s gonna be a little tricky. Just go with your instincts. And be more dominant. You need to not be so timid around me. I tend to like the idea of a relationship with a strong partner”
Soarin nodded. “Stronger, got it.”
“So where do you want to go to eat?” Ashleigh asked, kissing him on the cheek.
Soarin remembered what she said about being a strong partner. “Well, there’s this one place we passed that kind of looked good. It was a spaghetti joint. Is that okay with you?”
Ashleigh nodded. “I’m okay with it if you are.”
Soarin grinned. “Awesome! Do you want to go now?”
Ashleigh nodded. “Sure!” she giggled. “One last kiss before we go?” she asked grinning, a little embarrassment in her voice.
Soarin grinned and climbed up to face her , before pressing his lips to hers, pushing her head back a little. “Ready to go?”
“Definitely.”
The two finally left for the restaurant, where they enjoyed a relishing meal.
“So…” Soarin said as he took a bite. “Is your food good?”
“Mm-hm!” Ashleigh said, nibbling her spaghetti.
Soarin chuckled. “All right! This place is good.”
Ashleigh suddenly thought of something that she hadn’t thought of since they had shared their first kiss.
What will happen when I have to leave to go home?
The thought stayed with her for the rest of the date, as they left and began walking in the moonlight. It stayed with her as the two walked alone, until finally Ashleigh couldn’t leave it there any longer.
“What happens when I leave?”
Soarin froze and looked at her for a moment. “I-I don’t know. We should think about that later.”
Ashleigh shook her head. “No Soarin. We need to talk about it now.”
Soarin shuddered in fear. “I don’t want to. I don’t want to think about leaving you.”
Ashleigh kissed him. “I don’t want to either, but we have to think about it.”
Soarin cursed silently. “Why did I have to tell you I liked you? Why did I kiss you? Why did I have to ask you out on a date?”
Ashleigh smiled. “Because you love me.”
Soarin nodded. “I do.”
He then grabbed her hand, letting their gazes meet. “Whatever happens tomorrow, if you find a way back, I just hope you don’t forget me.”
“I never will.”
…
Soarin let out a yawn, unfurling his wing from where it had been, around Ashleigh. It was a new day, perhaps the final day he would ever see Ashleigh. The thought of losing the person he was growing to love was agonizing. Maybe they hadn’t known each other long, but that time had been spent together in the perfect way.
“Ashleigh.” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek and brushing a wing over her to wake her. She let out a gentle sigh and opened her eyes.
“Morning already?” she asked, yawning.
Soarin nodded. “Yep. Time to see Celestia.”
Ashleigh shook her head and pulled her arms tighter around Soarin. “Five more minutes.” she pleaded, her soft breath tingling Soarin’s neck. “This is the last day I get to cuddle with my favorite guy.”
Soarin shuddered. “Maybe it’s not the last day.”
“Maybe it is.”
…
Soarin and Ashleigh walked alongside guards towards the castle. Anxiety gripped the two as they wondered what the outcome would be, but nothing was spoken as they looked at each other. The two stopped at the top of the entrance to the castle. Canterlot was below, its shining roofs and the fields were seen branching off of where the village was. Suddenly, the door to the castle opened, and a guard walked out.
“The princess will now see you!” he shouted.
Ashleigh looked at Soarin. “Ready?”
“Yes.”

//-------------------------------------------------------//
              Chapter 12: The Hardest Goodbye              
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Chapter 12: The Hardest Goodbye
“We’ll try the exact same experiment as that one day. That should have us end up in roughly the same same spot, and Ashleigh can then go through.” Twilight explained as the group arrived at the wonderbolts facility.
Ashleigh and Soarin were a little bit ahead of them, both had almost all but forgotten the fact that soon they would be parted. But that would change...
Soarin grinned in amusement. “Look, there’s where you fell on top of me and dragged me into the bush.”
Ashleigh rolled her eyes. “You got me, I’m a horrible person.”
“You are.” Soarin joked, nipping his girlfriend’s ear.
Ashleigh gave him a playful pinch. “You think you can just nip my ear? I’ll give you a little payback.” she added, tickling him.
“Huh ha ha, ha hah, Ashleigh stop!” he laughed, his body trembling.
“Nope.” Ashleigh said, rubbing her fingers across his sensitive wings and hindlegs, leaving him completely at her mercy.
Soarin suddenly wrapped his legs around her back and pulled her onto him, jutting his head forward to kiss her on the lips. Ashleigh tried to pull free to keep tormenting her favorite stallion, but finally just relaxed and returned the kiss.
“I love you Ashleigh.”
Ashleigh giggled as Soarin’s tail swiped against her thigh, tickling her sensitive skin.
“I l-l-love you too Soarin,” she cooed, as Soarin returned his tail to her sensitive leg to tickle her more.
Soarin grinned. “I get to have revenge. Does it feel good?”
Ashleigh managed to stop her laughing to nod and nuzzle up against her boyfriend. (Although he’s a stallion so I don’t think it would be ‘boyfriend’).
“I don’t want to leave you Soarin.” she whispered, closing her eyes and taking in the smell of his mane.
Soarin was about to reply, when he saw Fluttershy with her mouth agape. She had been watching them the entire time.
Soarin jumped back off of Ashleigh, moving far away from her and shaking himself like a dog, as if he was trying to rid himself of the smell of his girlfriend’s perfume from when they had been cuddling.
For several seconds, nobody said anything, until finally Fluttershy interrupted the silence.
‘Y-you two are in love?”
Ashleigh and Soarin looked at each other in dismay, remembering how they had merely said that they were friends. What did ponies think about different species dating? Finally, the two nodded, waves of embarrassment that they had been caught cuddling together. “We were lost out in the forest for a long time, and I guess we just got to know each other a lot better. After that, we told each other how we really felt, and we’re in a relationship now” Ashleigh said, putting her arm around Soarin.
Fluttershy stood silent for several seconds, until finally she smiled. “Amazing.” she whispered, shocking the pair. “You two are so different yet you can still find love in one another. I’ve never seen two creatures so different that love each other like you do.”
Ashleigh grinned. “Oh really? How bout you and Discord now?”
Fluttershy’s face turned bright red. “How do you know that?!?” she squealed, trying to hide her embarrassment. “I’ve never met you before, and I’ve never told anyone!”
Ashleigh stepped forward, putting her hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Long story. But I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
Fluttershy hugged Ashleigh. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” she squeed, taking Ashleigh by surprise.
Fluttershy then let go of Ashleigh. “So wait, Soarin is going with you, right?”
“No.” Ashleigh replied.
“What?!?” Fluttershy shouted.
“Well he’s a wonderbolt. Plus I’m sure there’s some way I can come back and visit him.”
“There’s no way back.”
Her words struck Ashleigh like stone.
Soarin looked up. “Didn’t you know that?”
Ashleigh shook her head. “B-but I thought-” she cut herself off as she silently cried that her one slight chance to not loose Soarin was abruptly gone.
I can’t stay here. I have school, family, and I don’t want my family to never see me again. They’re probably worried sick.
“Ashleigh?” Soarin asked, as a tear rolled down from her left eye.
“This can’t be happening.” she sobbed.
Soarin looked a little angry. “What did you think was going to happen? Did you think we were going to still be able to ”
He immediately regretted his harsh tone, as Ashleigh started to cry, Soarin’s scolding had made her aware of her own self-denial.
“No no, don’t cry!” he shouted, trying to hug her. “I don’t want our last moments spent together to be bad.”
“I don’t want to leave you.” she choked.
“I don’t want to leave you either.” Soarin said, his eyes burning as he tried to keep them shut, not wanting to cry.
Fluttershy heard her friends calling, and looked over her head, spotting Twilight almost finished with the experiment.
“You two had better go, they’re almost done over there.” Fluttershy said.
Ashleigh kissed Soarin one final time, wishing that what was about to happen would not, but even as she wished it, she knew that she would leave the stallion behind, never to see him again.
The two walked over to Twilight, followed by Fluttershy.
“Is it time?”
Twilight nodded. “Stand back, it’s about to open.” with that, she used her magic to ignite something, causing a violent reaction to occur. A ball of light started appear in midair, making a low-pitched vibrating noise, growing in size. When it was about the size of a basketball, Ashleigh saw some light on the other side. It was her backyard.
“That’s where I live!” she shouted, as the portal continued to expand, it was now the size of a trash can and still growing.
“You can fit through now!” Twilight called, beckoning Ashleigh over.
Ashleigh stood just in front of the portal, letting her fingers slide through and feel the air on the other side.
“I’m going to go through in a second.” she announced. “I just want to thank you Twilight for helping me. Let Celestia know that I appreciate it.”
Twilight nodded. “Of course Ashleigh. It was nice to meet you. I wish we all had gotten time to know you better, but what’s done is done.”
Ashleigh nodded. “I agree. Good luck finding your friend.”
Twilight only solemnly nodded.
Ashleigh looked back, hoping to say goodbye to Soarin. To her relief, he was just behind her.
She kneeled down to hug him, her arms tightly grasped around him, hoping that the mane 6 wouldn’t be too bothered. To her relief, they seemed to think she was exercising a friendly embrace.
“I’m never going to forget you. You’ll always have a special place in my heart.” Ashleigh whispered.
Soarin smiled. “I’ll never forget you either.”
Ashleigh sniffled, but managed to hold back a tear. “I’m going to miss you till the day I die.” she added, trying to keep her voice down.
“The portal isn’t going to stay open much longer.” Twilight announced, as the vibrating sound in the portal became higher pitched and the portal stopped growing in size.
Soarin suddenly opened his wings, throwing his hooves around Ashleigh.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Ashleigh asked. The next thing she knew, she felt herself flying forward, and she and Soarin passed through the portal. She found herself back at her home, seeing Twilight and the others on the other side of the portal, which was shrinking.
“Soarin, what are you doing?” she asked. “You need to go home before the portal closes!”
Soarin shook his head. “My home is with you.” He gripped Ashleigh in his arms. “I don’t want to leave everything behind, but I’d rather lose it than lose you.”
Ashleigh couldn’t argue with that, she just kissed him, sobbing. But these were tears of joy. Behind them, the portal closed.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
             Chapter 13: Reunited with Family              
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Chapter 13: Reunited with Family
Ashleigh knocked on the door to her house, waiting for it to be answered, until suddenly her dad opened the door.
“Ashleigh?” he said in disbelief, dropping the bowl he was holding, letting it tumble to the floor.
“You’re alive!” he shouted, throwing his arms around her and hugging her. “I thought you were dead!”
Ashleigh hugged her dad back. “I’m sorry dad. I didn’t mean to scare you guys...I got sent to eheh...another dimension.”
Her dad looked bewildered. “What?”
Ashleigh rolled her eyes. “Never mind. I have somebody I want you to meet as well.” she said, stepping aside to show Soarin.
“Hi.” Soarin said, waving.
Ashleigh’s father jolted back. “What is that? A blue horse with wings?!?”
Ashleigh grinned. “I told you, I went to another dimension.”
Ashleigh’s father sighed. “You kids are getting into some bizarre hobbies these days. Anyways, is the new...whatever that horse thing is, your new pet?”
Ashleigh shook her head. “Actually, he’s my boy-”she suddenly saw her father’s eyes flare up as he heard what she was about to say. Ashleigh immediately changed stopped.
“He’s a friend of mine I met over there!”
Shoot, I almost gave it away!
Ashleigh’s father still looked a little wary, but he nodded. “I’ll let him stay for dinner, but he’s got to leave once it’s nighttime.”
Ashleigh frowned. “Dad, we can’t leave him to fend for himself! Someone will hurt him. I know we don’t have a lot of room in the house, but he can share a room with me”
Ashleigh’s father shook his head. “No, I don’t want that thing in your room. If you want him to stay here, he can sleep out on the porch.”
Ashleigh looked over to Soarin, who looked ashamed to be in the room.
“I’m sorry.” she mouthed out to him. He nodded, but kept his gloomy expression.
“I’m going to make some dinner for us. Your mother, Jenna, and Patrick all aren’t here at the moment, but they’ll be back later on.” Ashleigh’s father explained.
“We thought we never going to see you again. We actually gave up looking about a week ago.” her father said. “Didn’t you miss us at all?”
Ashleigh nodded. “Of course I did! I didn’t want to leave. It’s complicated to talk about, but basically what happened is I got sent into a dimension full of creatures like him. We became really good friends, and he even saved my life. Isn’t that right, Soarin?”
“Oh, yeah it is.” Soarin replied, grinning. “And you saved my life too.”
Ashleigh’s father looked a little impressed. “You can speak pretty good english. Did she teach you that?”
Soarin shook his head. “I’ve always known how to talk. I don’t know how I learned to speak, I think we all do over there.”
Ashleigh’s father just nodded. “There are weird things going on these days.” he muttered.
Ashleigh and Soarin laughed, hugging each other, but after a few seconds, they drew away because of Ashleigh’s father’s glare.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Ashleigh blushed a little. “Just hugging my friend?”
Her father glared at her. “Don’t. I don’t want you touching my daughter.”
Soarin looked sad. “Okay.”
Ashleigh felt terrible for Soarin. It wasn’t bad enough that she had to lie and say that he wasn’t her boyfriend, but she wasn’t allowed to even hug him.
“Can I go to sleep now?” asked Ashleigh. ‘I’ve had a long day.”
Her father shrugged. “If you want to. But he needs to go outside.” he stated, pointing at Soarin.
Soarin’s ears drooped, before he sadly walked into the back yard.
“Can I have a blanket?” he asked timidly, trying to remain as respectful as possible.
Ashleigh’s father snorted. “Be grateful I’m letting you stay here.” he muttered, turning out the porch light.
Ashleigh felt her blood begin to boil to see her boyfriend put in such a degrading position. She walked to her room, refusing to talk to her father, before locking the door. After a minute of making sure that he wouldn’t be suspicious, before opening her window.
“Soarin!” she called softly, shivering at the icy cold. She could see the blue stallion, teeth chattering clumsily climb up the window and into her arms. It's freezing out here, how could my own father do this to him?
“I’m so sorry Soarin.” she said, running her hands through his mane and kissing him on the cheek.
Soarin wrapped his wing around her. “It’s okay Ash. I know you didn’t want to leave me out there.”
Ashleigh snuggled into him more. “Still...I’m really sorry about what happened. I’ll never let him do that to you again.”
Soarin sighed. “Thanks. I didn’t like it out there.”
Ashleigh grinned. “Do you want me to show you some of the stuff in my room? It’s still pretty early.”
Soarin nodded. “Sure!”
Ashleigh showed Soarin her computer. “Here’s the computer that sent me to you.”
Soarin sat down next to it and tilted the screen a little. “Looks pretty normal to me.”
Ashleigh smirked. “It is normal. It’s not supposed to transport me anywhere.”
“Oh.”
Ashleigh laughed, before turning it on. The computer turned on, slowly but surely, ending up on the login.
“What’s that?” Soarin asked.
Ashleigh grinned. “Log in. It’s a tool to keep people from seeing your personal data on your computer.”
Soarin grinned. “Can I get one of those in my brain for the time I saw you nake-”
Ashleigh gave him a pinch. “Very funny.”
Soarin decided to go in a different direction. “Well at least you looked sexy. If you were ugly I really WOULD need a log in for my brain.”
Ashleigh giggled. “Thanks. Guess you’re lucky to have me as your girlfriend then, huh? Maybe it’ll pay off one day.” she added with a wink.
Soarin blushed and nervously asked in fake confusion; “Are you hinting at something?”
Ashleigh was about to give him a flirtatious reply before she heard a knock on her door.
“Ashleigh.” It was her dad.
Ashleigh and Soarin looked at each other for a split second, before Soarin slowly climbed under Ashleigh’s bed to hide while Ashleigh got the door.
“Yes?” Ashleigh asked, nervously hoping her father hadn’t heard her and Soarin talking. Her room was pretty soundproof, but there was certainly a limit to how loud they could be before her father heard sounds.
Fortunately, he had not come to talk to Ashleigh for that reason.
“Everyone is home.” He said, opening the door all the way.
Ashleigh let out a fake yawn. “Okay, I’ll be out in just a min.”
“Be quick,” he muttered, shutting the door. Ashleigh walked over to her bed and kneeled down to look at Soarin. “Want to meet the rest of my family? I promise they’ll be friendlier than my dad.”
Soarin nodded, he was eager to know more about his girlfriend's family, so long as they treated him okay. The two walked forward slowly, making sure that Soarin wouldn’t be seen coming out of her room. Once out, the two walked towards where the family was, where excited and surprised gasps exploded from the trio.
“Who’s that?” Ashleigh’s older sister Jenna asked, looking in confusion at Soarin. Before her question could be answered, Ashleigh’s mom and twin brother ran up to her. Ashleigh’s mom hugged her. “We missed you sweetie. Where were you?”
Ashleigh sighed. “I don’t even know. I ended up somewhere weird and I just tried to get home.” What she had said was not completely untrue, however, she did leave out the important details.
“Are you okay?” asked Patrick, patting her shoulder. Patrick was Ashleigh’s best friend who was related to her. She and her twin brother got along very well, and spent a lot of time together.
Ashleigh smiled and ruffled up her hair. “Yeah dude. Did you think I would abandon you? Who’s gonna go hunting with you if you never saw me again?”
Patrick gave her a fake punch in the arm. “I can get my girlfriend to put on a blond wig and I’ll call her Ashleigh. Then I’ll have somebody to go with.”
Ashleigh rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah right. You didn’t take your girlfriend hunting.”
Soarin stepped forward. “I’m Soarin.” he said, shaking Patrick’s hand.
Patrick smiled. “Cool to meet you. Is he your boyfriend?” he jokingly asked Ashleigh, grinning at her.
Then silence.
Ashleigh’s father glared at Patrick. “What did you say?”
Patrick gulped. “Sorry dad, it was just a joke. I know Ashleigh wouldn’t date some winged horse. I wouldn’t blame her even if she did though.”
“It’s not a funny joke. Loving some neon-colored farm animal is beyond disgusting and horrible. Do you understand me?”
Patrick grumbled, before turning to face Ashleigh. “Sorry.”
And that was the end of that, the family and Soarin spent the next couple of hours talking. But Soarin and Ashleigh hadn’t forgotten about her father’s cold remarks, and Ashleigh was on the last straw with what her father had said. Soarin and Ashleigh managed to sneak into Ashleigh's room without being spotted, where they contemplated the situation.
“Your dad really doesn’t like me.” Soarin commented, letting out a yawn.
Ashleigh nodded. “I don’t think he likes the fact that you’re a pony who can talk.”
Soarin sighed. “If only I was human he wouldn’t hate me.”
“Don't say that.” Ashleigh gave him a kiss. “I love you for who you are, not what you are.” she added, kissing his ear. "But to be fair, stallions are pretty damn handsome."
She then yawned, eyes growing heavy. “Well I’m tired. Want to go to sleep now?”
Soarin nodded, and trotted over to the bed, snuggling up in the warm sheets. “Mmm it smells so good.” he muttered groggily.
Ashleigh laughed. “That’s just the detergent I use on my bedsheets silly.”
Soarin looked a little embarrassed. “Oh.”
Ashleigh laughed again and climbed into the bed. “Mmm you’re so warm.” she murmured as she tucked a sheet in on the two of them.
Soarin mumbled something inaudible, turning to face her and smile.
“Night Soarin, love you.” she whispered, closing her eyes.
“Love you too,” Soarin whispered, pulling his tail around her and yawning, before sleep overtook her.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                   Chapter 14: The Fight                   
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Chapter 14: The Fight
Ashleigh was half awake as the sun rose, hearing the sound of the wind rushing outside was what woke her. She looked out the window to see what it was, shuddering at the cold touch of the panes of glass.
“Morning.” muttered Soarin, who had woken up from bed to sit beside her.
“Good morning, love.” she said, fixing her boyfriend’s matted mane. “How do you feel?”
Soarin chuckled. “You’re giving me pet names now?”
Ashleigh shrugged. “I have to every once in awhile.”
Soarin grinned. “Okay, LOVE.” He grinned at Ashleigh’s over-dramatic reaction.
“Stop it, stop it!” she joking said, flailing around.
Soarin sat down on the floor. “Do you think we can talk to your dad about treating me better?”
Ashleigh sighed. “I will Soarin. I feel terrible for what he did to you. Even if we were just friends it still wouldn’t be right.”
Soarin nodded. “Thanks for caring about me.”
“I always will.” Suddenly Ashleigh stood up. “I need to get someone, I’ll be right back.”
Soarin was about to protest, thinking she meant her father, but she was gone before he could.
After a few minutes, he heard voices approaching from the hallway. The half-open door was fully flung open, revealing Ashleigh and Patrick. Soarin had been hiding, thinking that he was going to have to confront his girlfriend’s father. He felt a wave of relief, remembering how Patrick had been much friendlier to him.
“Is something wrong Ash?” Patrick said, hugging Ashleigh. “You can tell me anything. I’m your brother.”
Ashleigh let out a sigh. “Well I brought you in my room to tell you something. Do you remember Soarin from last night?”
Patrick grinned. “The winged horse dude? Yeah, what about him?”
Ashleigh grinned. “Well wait until you see this; Soarin!”
Soarin trotted forward and smiled. “Hi.”
Patrick looked confused. “What’s he doing in your room? Didn’t dad kick him out?”
Ashleigh didn’t reply, and Soarin approached her and the two looked at each other for a moment before they had a deep kiss, lasting so long the air was nearly sucked out of them. Looking back at Patrick, they was a look of amazement on his face.
“Ashleigh...you have a boyfriend!” Patrick hugged his sister, patting her on the back. “I’m so happy for you dude.”
Ashleigh grinned nervously. “I thought you would be weirded out that we made out in front of you, but I didn’t know how else to tell you that you would believe me.”
Soarin nervously shook Patrick’s hand. “Hey, nice to meet you.”
Patrick grinned. “Hey dude. My sister’s pretty hot, isn’t she?” he grinned, winking at Ashleigh.
Soarin grinned. “She’s wildfire hot.” He remarked. “Especially that hair. It’s so pretty.”
“Don’t ever cut your hair Ashleigh.” joked Patrick, grinning at his sister. “I think it’ll crush Soarin.”
Ashleigh rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, I like having long hair anyways. It was an accomplishment to get it to grow all the way down to my hip.”
Patrick, although he didn’t want to say it, had to add in. “So what are we going to do about dad? I mean, I think Soarin’s a pretty cool guy, but dad’s not gonna be happy to know you’re dating a winged hor-”
“Pegasus.”
“Same thing. My point is that I want to see my sister happy, and I can’t promise that you’ll be happy if dad knows about your relationship.” Patrick finished.
Ashleigh sighed. “He has to know. I can’t let him keep treating Soarin like he did last night.”
Patrick sighed. “I’ll try to defend you and Soarin if he gets angry, but I can’t guarantee that I can. Dad is...a bit harsh.”
Soarin smiled. “You’re great dude. I’m glad that my girlfriend has such a great brother.”
Patrick patted Soarin on the head. “Yeah man. Just make sure to let your kids visit me when you’re married, I want to pull some uncle pranks.”
“Get out of here.” Soarin said amusedly. “We’re not there yet.”
The trio shared laughs, trying to dislodge the threat that Ashleigh’s father would not accept the love between his daughter and Soarin.
They heard a knock on the door. “You all come out here for breakfast!” called Ashleigh’s mom.
The three walked out, Soarin hiding behind the siblings until they were sure that Soarin wouldn’t be seen coming out of the room. The three walked over to the table, which was strewn with biscuits, apple pie, fried ham, eggs, and pancakes.
“Is that...Pie?” asked Soarin.
“Yeah it is.” Ashleigh said with a wink.
Soarin immediately took a seat next to the pie, excitedly sitting down and inhaling the scent. “Mmm, smells great.”
Ashleigh’s father suddenly shoved Soarin out of his chair. “Off the furniture.”
Soarin was shocked, as Ashleigh’s father removed the extra chairs from the table, until there were none left for Soarin.
“What are you doing?” asked Ashleigh. “He’s hungry!”
“He can go eat grass outside. I don’t want an animal sitting at the table and eating up all the food.”
To their surprise, Ashleigh’s mother added her two cents in. “Richard, let him stay. He can’t eat the grass out there, it has pesticides and chemicals on it. And it’s freezing out there too.”
Ashleigh’s father scowled. “He’s not our equal and he never will be. We don’t need some stupid winged horse thing dining with us.”
Ashleigh lost it there. “You know what dad, you think you’re so great, but if you knew what was going on between me and Soarin you’d be thinking differently.”
Ashleigh’s father misunderstood what she was saying, but the rest of the family on the other hand realized what she meant.
“Your little friend isn’t allowed at our table. I don’t care that he ‘saved your life’, I’m not making an exception. Outside, now.” he swatted at Soarin. Soarin, letting out a sob, walked towards the door and opened it, shivering in the cold.
“Soarin, don’t go.” Ashleigh said. “I’m going to tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Her dad looked baffled.
Ashleigh sighed. “Dad...Soarin isn’t just my friend. He’s...he’s my boyfriend.”
Her dad had a stark expression on his face, as though he had just seen a ghost. “What. Did. You. Say?” he asked, his voice dead cold.
Ashleigh backed away from her father. “Soarin, come here.”
Soarin walked forward.
“Do not go near my daughter.” Her father’s voice was menacing as he stared right into Soarin’s eyes. Soarin stopped walking.
“Soarin, please. We need to show him.” Ashleigh begged, looking longingly at her boyfriend.
Soarin continued walking forward, even with the furious glance from his girlfriend’s father, until finally they were standing only an inch away. Then they kissed.
Their kiss lasted only a few seconds, however, when Ashleigh’s father lunged across the table and attacked Soarin.
Soarin managed to get away, before he got punched in the face. He hovered in the air as high up as he could get, hoping that he wouldn’t be able to be attacked. Ashleigh’s father marched over to the table and violently shoved it over, destroying as much of the food as possible. The entire family was screaming at him to stop, even Jenna was terrified. The apple pie had not been crushed or broken, so Ashleigh’s father picked it up. “You two will never see each other again.” he finished, throwing the pie against the ground and crushing it with his foot. Ashleigh was crying, she couldn’t believe her own father could be so cruel over finding out that she was in love with Soarin. Jenna glared at her father. “You’re sick.” she said, glaring back at him. Patrick also added in.
“Are you going to ruin breakfast if I bring my girlfriend over?” Ashleigh’s mother wouldn’t even look at her husband, she just walked over to where Soarin was. “Are you okay dear?” she asked, as Soarin cautiously landed. Soarin nodded. “I’m so sorry,” he added. “You probably hate me too.”
Ashleigh’s mother whipped her head around to look at her husband. “Get outside now. Go somewhere, cool off, and then come back. We need to have a serious talk.”
“I’m not going anywhere until that circus freak leaves.”
“Richard! That ‘circus freak’ might be our son-in-law one day!”
“He’s never going to be part of the family.” with that, Richard slammed the door, leaving the rest of the family shocked by what had just happened. For what seemed like eternity, nobody said anything, the family merely cleaned up the mess in distraught.
“I’m so sorry.” Soarin finally said. “This is my fault. If I was a human your dad wouldn’t hate me.”
“What are you talking about?” Jenna spoke up. “You’re a really nice guy. Our dad was the one who needs to apologize.”
“Aren’t you upset that I’m a pony and your daughter is, well, a human?” Soarin asked Ashleigh’s mom.
She shook her head. “Of course not dearie! I mean, I guess I was a little disappointed, but that was mainly because of her father.” she sighed. “Look, don’t think you’re not welcome in this house ever. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want, even if you and Ashleigh break up.”
Soarin laughed. “Well I doubt we’ll be breaking up anytime soon. We’ve been through some pretty big stuff together.”
“Yes I am aware, you told us last night about everything.”
“Except for what happened at the end with us becoming a couple.” Ashleigh said. “Maybe I’ll tell you later, Patrick. You did tell me how you met your girl.”
Patrick grinned. “Sure, sounds great.”
The family soon settled down from the incident, the family and Soarin got along well. Jenna found Soarin helpful for when she had a bad cell phone signal, she would climb onto Soarin and ride him to where ever there was a better signal. Ashleigh’s mom and Soarin found a comedy TV show that they enjoyed that they watched every night, and Patrick and Soarin started working together in mechanics, which was a great help to Patrick because of his massive strength and the ability to fly. However, not everything was right. Ashleigh’s father Richard had ignored Soarin for what was now weeks, and even though he apologized for his actions and said he would not question whom his daugher dated, Soarin got the feeling that he didn’t really like him. But for now, things were good, and Soarin and Ashleigh’s relationship had gotten even stronger.
“I never want to leave you.” Ashleigh whispered to Soarin one night as they were going to sleep.
“I won’t leave you.” Soarin said. In his heart, he knew that Ashleigh was his home, and that he would do anything to be with her.

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           Chapter 11: Meeting Princess Celestia           
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Chapter 11: Meeting Princess Celestia
Doors were unhinged, as the two walked forward, into the throne room of Princess Celestia. Soarin and Ashleigh nervously looked at each other, as the princess came into view. They slowly walked forward, tension spreading in their bodies as they approached her, standing in front of the majesty as they respectively dipped their heads for her.
“Your majesty.”
Celestia smiled. “Welcome, I am Princess Celestia.” She introduced herself, as the guards nodded to what she had said. “You requested to see me. Who are you and how can I help you?”
Ashleigh took a step forward. “My name is Ashleigh, and I am a creature known as a human. I came here under unusual circumstances from Earth. I was wondering if you could help me find a way to my home.”
Celestia looked confused, as though she had never expected to be asked such a question. For several seconds, she said nothing, until finally, her reply was uttered.
“I have never heard of this place called Earth.”
Ashleigh felt a jolt of dismay roll through her as she realized that her only hope of getting back to Earth had no idea of what she was talking about.
“It’s another dimension.” Ashleigh replied. She knows what other dimensions are, right? Wasn’t there that movie where Twilight went into the Equestria dimension?
Celestia stood up, walking over to Ashleigh and standing over her.
“How did you come here?”
Ashleigh bit her lip. What do I tell her? That my computer sent me here? How the hell does that even work?
“It’s difficult to get into...I don’t think you’d understand Princess. I was on this thing called a computer back on earth when it started acting weird, then there was a bright flash. I was sent here. Well, more specifically, over where the wonderbolts training facility was.”
Celestia nodded and returned to her seat, sitting there for several seconds, before finally writing something down and teleporting it away with magic.
“What are you doing?” asked Soarin, who had remained silent but nervous the entire time, as he was slowing dreading whatever the outcome would be.
Celestia turned to face the two. “I’m sending a message to a former student of mine. I think she will know what to do.”
Ashleigh gasped. “Do you mean Twilight Sparkle?”
Celestia looked a little surprised that Ashleigh had guessed who she was speaking of, but she nodded. “Yes, I do.”
…
“We’re here Celestia.” Twilight announced, greeting the princess with her arrival. She was not alone, four other ponies were there with her; Pinkie Pie, the comical element of laughter, Rarity, the up-class element of generosity, Rainbow Dash, the cocky element of loyalty, and Fluttershy, the shy element of kindness.
But one was missing…
“Where’s Applejack?” Ashleigh muttered to Soarin.
Soarin shrugged. “The farmer one? I don’t know.”
“But isn’t it weird she isn’t there?”
“Now that you mention it, it is.”
After a few minutes of talking between the two parties, Celestia beckoned Ashleigh to join her and the mane six members as well.
“This is Ashleigh.” she explained, introducing her to the others.
Twilight smiled. “Hello Ashleigh. I’m Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends-”
“Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, yes I know.” Ashleigh rolled her eyes. “I appreciate the friendliness, but we don’t have the time for it. Can you help me get home?”
Celestia and Twilight looked at each other, before Twilight gave her a reply.
“Yes, but the process is risky.”
Ashleigh looked confused. “Risky?”
Twilight bit her lip. “We lost our friend Applejack when we were trying to open a portal as part of an experiment. I was trying to find a friend of mine named Sunset Shimmer, but the plan failed, and we can’t find her. We don’t even know where she is…”
Ashleigh jolted back. “How do you even know if you can send me to the right place?”
Twilight sighed. “We think we sent you here. We tried an experiment over at the wonderbolts academy to try to get over to where Applejack was. We know that the dimensional transition plane over there is weak, so it is much easier to be transported into another dimension. Celestia told us that is where you came from, so my theory is that the aftereffects of one of our experiments sent you here.”
Ashleigh looked hopeful. “So there is a way to get me back home?”
“Yes, if you are willing to take the risk.”
Ashleigh gripped her fist, thinking of all the threats and weighing in everything that could happen to her.
She thought of what could happen. She could end up who knows where if the experiment failed, probably stuck there for the rest of her life; not to mention even if she did end up on earth, there was no guarantee she would end up at her home. As great as those fears were, a greater one crossed Ashleigh’s mind as she looked over her shoulder to where Soarin was sitting, waiting for whatever might happen.
Saying goodbye to Soarin will be the hardest part about leaving, even if I was sure I could get transported home.
“I’m in.”

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                   Chapter 15: Epilouge                    
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Chapter 15: Epilouge
Applejack felt the bizarre sensation of traveling through a portal. She had been sent through by a mistake, and had been traveling through space and time itself for what seemed like hours. Or maybe it had been a minute. Or maybe even a second. She had no idea what to do, she understood nothing about what was happening to her. Suddenly, she saw a hole in the void, and felt herself being sucked towards it. She felt herself tumble through, into a place she had never seen.
She gently tried to stand up, noting the usual texture of the ground. She could see walls around her, confusing her to where she was. At first, she thought she was alone. However, she looked up, at what appeared to be a bed. Something was watching her in disbelief from the top of the bed. A creature she had never heard of before. Suddenly, it spoke it her.
“...What are you?”