Collision Code

Act I: Unexpected Collisions

Chapter 12: And Tack That One On The "Awkward Score"

Right now, the dragon that was once a human, John, was really regretting having to vent his rage right now. Yet, he didn't feel right blaming himself entirely for that situation. If Leo had kept the spectrum under control, he wouldn't have gotten so pissed. Briefly, he wondered if they had been spying on him the whole time. Both his arms and one of his legs ached from the exertion, and the inside of his chest felt more like a volcano.

But the important part was that his rage was satiated. His handiwork left John with a pretty good impression of how powerful his new body really was. If he'd turned that anger onto Leo as his basic instincts told him to...the former human preferred to not even think about it. He continued to walk. He was out of the forest, but afterward, he became dully aware he had no idea where the hell he was going.

He'd been aimlessly wandering for the past five minutes, trying his hardest to get his bearings, but for the life of him, John couldn't remember which way it was back to Ponyville. He wasn't sure where he was. The black and blue pre-adult dragon was about to sit down and take a break while he recollected himself.

"Great. I let myself get sidetracked and I get lost." John sighed, letting out a small burst of flame in his annoyance. At this point, though he could just barely pick it up, he heard a noise. At first, he played it off. But he was soon able to identify the noise as it neared him.

"Okay, be good birds now," said a familiar, soft, feminine voice. The former human identified the owner of the voice, and nodded to himself.

"Maybe she'll tell me how I can get back to the library," John said to himself, though already his mind filled with doubt, given her reaction to him earlier. Praying she didn't hear him raging out, he made his way towards the familiar voice.

It was a normal day for Fluttershy. The meek yellow pegasus had gotten up at the time she usually did, and went about her day of feeding the animals. It was just around noon now, and it was time to feed the birds. She wasn't too far from her cottage, which was just outside Ponyville. Hardly a threatening distance from said city, but the pony had lived in nature since she was able to, secluded from most of the citizens of the town.

Some of the birds had recently laid eggs, and with a smile Fluttershy mentally recorded the potential new life. It was quiet, serene, and peaceful. The nature-loving equine continued her rounds, when she heard a strikingly familiar voice call out to her.

"Hey, Fluttershy!"

The pegasus squeaked out of fear, an instant reaction. She knew that voice...yesterday, the Carousel Boutique, the pre-adult black and blue dragon. It belonged to John! What was he doing way out here? Her emotional state gave way to irrational fear, and she cried out as such.

"S-stay away, please!" she stuttered, diving into a nearby bush.

"What?" John asked, though she couldn't see him. Her phobia forced her to disregard the fact he'd not attacked yet, and in fact had been paling around with Leo and his pony friends. Even now, she couldn't exactly discern why John hadn't left on his own, but she didn't care. At the end of the day, he was a pre-adult dragon, and she was terrified of the bigger dragons in the world. "I'm not that bad..."

"D-don't come any closer!" She forced strength into her voice, but her body was mostly paralyzed now, her fear taking over her every nerve, rationality giving way to irrationality. Her breathing became erratic, and she couldn't think.

"Come on, I'm just trying to find my way back to town!" The dragon outside the bushes continued, and to her horror, he was ignoring her request. Yet, at the same time, part of the pegasus's phobia began to erode. When she'd met John, she was just as frightened, rooted to the spot. Leo had managed to cheer her up at the time. It was those thoughts that forced her to peek her head out. She was still incredibly tense, but tried to be strong.

"Y-you're...l-lost?" Fluttershy winced when the dragon turned to her, but she tried to remind herself that if he were a bad dragon, he probably would have done something malicious by now.

"Yes, I'm lost...I was up here with Spike and Rarity doing a gem hunt," answered John, appearing to try and keep himself composed. "Then Leo and Rainbow Dash appeared, and...rocks started falling. Things got really bad. I had to stay behind for a bit while I cooled off."

Fluttershy knew all about dragon's rage. It was probably the scariest thing about them, since that was easily their most unpredictable quality. They could snore smoke, breathe fire, and were larger than everything. But that rage...hearing that he had to stay behind while he cooled off motivated her further. Her phobia was still present, but it was alleviated. She forced herself to be stronger as she now came halfway out of the bushes.

The yellow pegasus was still ready to immediately pull back at the first sign that John was not the nicest dragon she'd ever encountered. Well, nicest older dragon that she'd ever encountered, anyway.

All the same, hearing Leo and Rainbow were together just didn't sit right with her. She bit back the small pang of jealousy that seized her, since she did not know for sure what was going on within her yet.

"You were...with Rarity again?" Fluttershy asked, trying her hardest to remain strong. She firmly tried to convince herself John wasn't like the other dragons she feared, that he was a decent citizen as opposed to the hooligans she'd heard about when her friends got back from dragon territory.

"Yes...she insisted I come along to help in the search. I didn't understand why she was working me so hard, but...I think I get it now. She wanted to demonstrate my civility to the ponies in town, at least, that's what I think."

That sounded a little like Rarity. It still struck her as odd that she would, and thus the meek pegasus made a mental note to ask her friend about it later, just to make sure John's hunch and story checked out. For now, though, Fluttershy finally decided to stop being scared of John for now. He obviously would have snapped by now...

Rarity was a little on the high-maintenance side, after all. Spike didn't mind her requests, but she didn't know how well John held up against it. He seemed to be tolerant enough. Perhaps he could be trusted. If her friends were willing to believe that he wasn't any harm, then she should do him the same justice.

To John's great relief, the meek pegasus finally made her way out of the bushes entirely. She still looked somewhat scared of him, but he was relieved to see she didn't need backup in the form of a friend or Leo to be able to talk to him. She seemed to be forcing herself to adjust to his presence, though. As much as he was grateful to her for trying, he couldn't have her being continuously afraid of her because of his appearance, something he couldn't really control.

"S-so," she was still evidently nervous. "You said you wanted to get back to...to the city?"

"Yes," John sighed, making sure that there was no heat in his chest. The last thing he wanted to do was to unintentionally torch the pegasus and the area immediately around her out of a mild annoyance. "I'm kinda lost..."

Fluttershy began to stutter out the directions, slowly but surely gathering strength as he continued. To John's mild irritation, he wasn't able to find his way out, and it seemed so simple. He kept this under wraps to the best of his ability as he nodded, trying to remember the directions. Once he was convinced he had a decent handle on his embarrassment at having somehow missed a direct path through the trees back to Ponyville, John nodded.

"Thanks for the help," responded the former human. "I wouldn't worry too much about me, Fluttershy."

"It's just..." Fluttershy began, trailing off and mumbling something that John couldn't quite pick up.

"I'm sorry, what?" asked John, looking to her.

"...you're a dragon, a lot older than Spike, and I've heard some pretty bad things about dragons your age."

"The cover may look bad, but...well," The blue and black dragon struggled to find a way to convey his message. "Inside, I'm not that bad. I've hung out with Leo, Corey and Ivan for quite a while, and I haven't looked back on it."

Most of his statement was true, but underneath it were falsehoods. Corey's awkward wording, mainly over Skype's IM service since they barely group called, left him looking like an absolute idiot at times. Leo trolled the entire group on a daily basis (but not about their brony status), and Ivan and him seemed to always be arguing about things. All three of them though, he can't say he didn't regret e-friending them.

He reached out his hand, as though to perform a handshake of sorts. Fluttershy flinched and pulled back at the sight of his claws, and John sighed again, turning his head as white smoke came from his mouth.

"You know, you don't have to. Just trying to be nice is all. I'm not that bad." He repeated his statement, and, on shaky footing, Fluttershy raised her hoof to "shake" John's hand. She was robotically doing it, but she appeared to be making an effort, and given the intense fear the meek pegasus apparently had of dragons, that was really the best he could ask for. With this over, the two said their goodbyes, and John quickly left. It was a simple matter to find the pathway through the trees with Fluttershy's guidance, and sure enough, he could see Ponyville off to the right, just as she said. John began walking down this path, heading back to town. His stomach faintly rumbled, and the dragon suddenly found himself a little worried.

He knew Spike ate gems, as per an episode he'd watched, but he felt very nervous about what else dragons could eat.

So the plan didn't go quite as smoothly as she planned it to. But then again, how was Rarity to know that Rainbow and one of the other new colts would start pranking together? Well, if raining rubble down on a dragon's head was their idea of a joke. The glances and questions from the other ponies in town seemed to confirm that taking John with her worked to some extent.

The quiet murmurs around her, however, gave credit for taming the beast to her, when it was John's friends that obviously did it. Her reason behind taking him was to prove he was at least somewhat tamed. Obviously, though, having been pelted with pebbles and rocks had set off his temper, and he had to stay behind to cool down. The snowy unicorn was definitely a little frightened by the level of rage he had displayed.

She did still have a new surplus of gems and other precious stones, and resolved to thank John herself next time she saw him. Of course, Spike needed a reward too, since he'd done a good job even with the fact he didn't take too kindly to the extra claws lending a hand. It would probably be a little too much to ask that he shared the reward with John, but she needed a way to ensure he'd receive something for his efforts.

The snowy unicorn produced two bags, and looked to the cart full of gems, and of course, the gigantic diamond that John had managed to lift and carry down without much incident, though the way it bobbled about did make her nervous. She resolved to carry a massive bag with her just in case she encountered any other large jewels during her gem hunts.

As she filled the bags with a fair amount of jewels for the effort done, she suddenly heard Spike's voice, crying out in disbelief.

"No way!" He sounded incredibly amused, almost on the verge of laughing. Confused, Rarity set the bags aside carefully, having used her own magic to lift them, and trotted out to the main area, where the baby dragon stared out the window.

"Spike, exactly what is it you're looking at?" asked Rarity, taking a few more steps forward. Spike turned to her, some of his laughter fading away, but it was still there.

"Take a look, Rarity," he responded, a little bit of politeness in his tone. He'd gotten used to her, surely, but there was no denying his crush was still there, especially given his reaction to having John along. Rarity obliged, taking a position on Spike's right.

Her mind couldn't exactly process what she was seeing straight away. It was the green colt from last night, and this morning. He and John had stayed over at the library, that much Rarity knew; why else would they both have been there so early? Next to him, was her friend, Twilight Sparkle. For a moment, she wasn't able to put things together, as though she just couldn't see it happening.

It's not that she didn't think Twilight could attract somepony, but she also didn't know how well she stacked up in that situation.

When it did, it came full-force at her.

"Those two...on the town...?" Rarity asked. "Are they...already in a courtship?"

"I'm wondering what happened between them while we were out!" Spike seemed to enjoy the so-called spectacle. He looked like he was going to say more, but he didn't. Rarity wasn't about to pry. After all, Twilight did need her later.

Though the fact the green colt, Corey, and Twilight, at least appeared to be a couple, Rarity wasn't going to let herself jump to that conclusion just yet. She didn't think Twilight would move that fast on her own. And judging from Corey's occasional shyness during his time at the boutique last night, it seemed like he wouldn't have been the kind of male to jump that far either.

Now that she thought of it, Rainbow and Leo seemed a little close too. The white unicorn began to wonder about John and the other guy Pinkie mentioned, when from the corner of her eye, she saw something really odd.

"Huh?" Spike apparently saw it too. For a moment, nothing happened, then both unicorn and baby dragon did a double take and took a few steps back instinctively.

There, running along the streets in a random pattern, was Pinkie Pie. Behind her, she was dragging the new earth pony in town, who surprisingly didn't look mad that he was being dragged along. In fact, he was actually smiling, but it was almost impossible to tell if it was just his natural expression or if it was a genuine half-smile. One of his eyes was half-closed, indicating a lift of annoyance all the same, though.

Spike finally realized what happened, and completely lost his composure, bursting out laughing. He was still a kid at heart, after all.

What is going on here? thought Rarity to herself. She definitely would have to ask her friends about all this later. First, she'd seen Rainbow Dash with Leo, though Rainbow would definitely straight-up deny if she had feelings for the silver colt. Second, Twilight was with Corey. She wasn't entirely sure if either of them exactly knew what was going on. Third, she saw Pinkie dragging along the new reddish-brown earth pony. She didn't know his name yet, but it would come out eventually. It almost made her wonder about John, but she remembered that he wore an annoyed expression the whole time.

Shrugging this off for the moment, Rarity went back to the jewels, and finished making the gift bags for the two dragons that'd helped her out. She decided to try and catch Twilight on the way back, and give the extra one to her to give to John. She nodded to herself once.

It wasn't that she had trust issues with Spike, but at the same time, she didn't know if the dragon would be so willing to share the gift with someone he probably viewed as a romantic rival, even with the fact he knew why John was brought along. While she was aware the dragon did have a crush on her, she wasn't sure of its depth anymore. The white unicorn had other things to do though.

"I know that Twilight needs me to prepare the four newcomers for their meeting with Princess Celestia, but I still have some work that needs to be done before then." Rarity noted aloud, as she sealed the bags full of small gems. There was an equal amount of gems in each bag. She began to wonder what she should really do. Rarity didn't want to slight Spike. Besides, the young dragon did seem concerned by the prank. Even the younger dragon had his limits.

It had been a good ten minutes of walking through Ponyville, and Corey really wasn't liking the looks some of the ponies in town were giving them. They seemed more amazed than anything, but it was still really awkward for him. Never mind the fact he usually was only out of the house for school, but he was never with someone else, and somepony else was no exception. Let alone for something that could so easily be misconstrued as a date.

He wasn't thinking of it as a date, and he knew Twilight didn't either (he doubted somewhat she even knew what one could be). That wasn't to say that the others around them didn't have those thoughts. The purple pony, who was slightly ahead of him, had lead the way. After the minutes of walking were over, they finally arrived at a somewhat familiar venue. It looked sort of like where Twilight had tried to get lunch during the third episode, the first one not part of the pilot episode.

"Well, Corey, this is the Ponyville Cafe," said Twilight. From the look on her face, she either hadn't noticed the looks of the other ponies, or didn't think much of it. "I don't really know anywhere else we can go right now."

Corey resisted the urge to dry-swallow. He really didn't like the idea of having to eat pony food, but since he was going to be here a while, he might as well get used to it. It didn't help that a couple of heads turned to see them together, and then quickly look away as if they didn't look at all.

"I understand," answered Corey with a nod. "I've been to a few restaurants in that other place I was at before, but...I don't usually visit cafes. New experience for me."

Twilight took a few moments to think about why Corey didn't directly refer to Earth, and then she nodded.

"I get it," she said, nodding. "Well, you don't have to worry about waiting to be seated here." She raised a hoof over to an empty table. "Over there's a good spot."

Corey looked up, realizing that the cafe had no roof whatsoever, just as it did in the show. That really didn't bode well for him, so he would hope that a certain pegasi duo wouldn't drop in. Hoping he'd find some kind of pony food that was at least palatable, the former human followed the purple mare over to the chairs. After watching Twilight ease into a chair, sitting like a pony, Corey decided to try his way into it.

"Careful," warned the purple pony, in a quiet voice. The green colt fumbled about for quite a bit, trying his hardest to settle into a  pony sitting position while in a chair. He grunted as he tried to keep his balance, and finally tumbled over the arm to the chair, somehow, landing on his side.

"Dang it!" he growled, insanely embarrassed. He wished he wasn't so used to crossing his legs Indian-style. Twilight winced somewhat, and a couple of the other ponies in the diner turned to look to see the cause of the...quake.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked, leaning slightly towards him.

"I'm good," managed Corey in a quiet voice as he struggled into the chair. This time, he minded his posture, and managed to sit in the chair. "Ugh..."

"Could have happened to anypony," Twilight replied, smiling somewhat to him. Her face changed somewhat, and her voice lowered. "You're probably wondering what's on the menu..."

"I know what's not on it," answered Corey, also in a quiet voice. "Meat. But from the feel of it, all my teeth are flat now, so maybe I might have a taste for the food here. Why not? I mean...something else unexpected happened today with magic, so...I'm going to take a chance..."

The purple mare backed away somewhat, a little taken aback by the carnivorous comment, but her smile didn't exactly fade from it either.

"At least you're trying to adapt..."

"Why not? The way things look, I'm going to be here for quite a while."

With that conversation over, Corey's thoughts immediately went to how exactly his relationship with Twilight was going. It was going smoothly, even with the fact he'd had quite a few awkward moments with her.

What's going on? Even given the fact I may harbor a crush on the mare, I am *not** usually this vocal. Then again, I do sometimes ramble on without realizing it.*

The mare went on to get with the menu description. Corey nodded. Not all of it sounded particularly appetizing, but he was hoping that he had at least some pony taste buds, so that he wouldn't need to try as hard to adapt to the cuisine of the primarily equine world. However, as Twilight went on to say there were hay salads in the world, not only did the former human get curious, but he also realized something else.

They actually *eat** hay?!* The green colt thought to himself, his expression pulling into discomfort when he considered the hay bale he leapt into. Twilight noticed his grimace, and reached out to him somewhat, perfectly on balance in her seat.

"What's the matter?"

"N-nothing," Corey stuttered. "Just...thinking about how I got to the library yesterday..."

A waiter pony appeared, obviously a colt. He even had somewhat of a vest on, representing his position. It wasn't fancy by any stretch of the imagination, but it was enough to get the message across. It was a simple red vest with the pony equivalent of a breast pocket. He had a sharp face like most colts, and was white in color with a gray, slicked-back mane. His talent must have been something related to his job. It looked like a speech bubble, half-faded.

Corey swallowed. If ever this was a time for him not to quietly mumble his order, this would be it.

"What can I get you today?" asked the nameless pony, looking to both ponies. Twilight apparently noticed the former human's slight discomfort, and went first, ordering a Daisy Sandwich in a very clear voice.

"And you?" asked the waiter.

"H-hay salad, please," mumbled Corey, and instantly he flinched. He inhaled, trying his hardest to ask again, when the waiter cut him off.

"So it's a daisy sandwich for the mare and a hay salad for the quiet gentlecolt, okay then," The waiter asked, moving on after scribbling the information down, once again with a little bit of logic breaking in that he was writing the information down on a notepad balancing a pencil in his mouth. Corey blinked, disbelieving what just happened.

"Was he able to hear me just now?" Corey asked, a little bit of volume returning to his voice.

"Yeah," Twilight responded. "That pony has really sensitive ears. Even though I could barely hear you, I wasn't really worried about it."

"Huh. Humans don't usually have that kind of hearing." The green colt quipped. "I'm terrible at enunciating. I don't really go out a whole lot."

"You know, that sounds really familiar..." Twilight said, sounding concerned. Corey sighed somewhat, feeling his mouth tug upward again.

"I had a feeling you'd say that..."

Ever since getting back from the mountain, Rainbow Dash had put on somewhat of an exhibition of her tricks for Leo over an empty meadow not too far from Ponyville. She wasn't entirely sure what was motivating her to spend so much of her time with him, but she decided to roll with it. Could she honestly call him a friend after the first day with him? Rainbow did not doubt she could. Could she admit she was more interesting than "just a friend"? Pfft! The cyan mare didn't think so.

"You watchin', Leo? This one, I don't have a name for yet, but I'll give it time..."

The stunt she was about to perform involved a large amount of loops, flips, and even a barrel roll through the rainbow trail. With a stunt with as many different directions, perhaps a name featuring the word "Dizzy" would suffice, since if she wasn't dizzy, those watching her would be.

Leo merely nodded, his red eyes focused on her. He had been applauding her on some of her more impressive stunts, and for some reason, she got this fleeting, fluttering sensation in her stomach when she realized it. He was no Wonderbolt, so his admiration of her stunts shouldn't have mattered so much.

The cyan mare took off, a rainbow once again trailing her body. Just as she intended, she left a solid enough trail to barrel roll through once she was done. One flip, two flip, add a backflip to keep it a certain quality cooler...angle the body to do loops. Her eye went to Leo, and with some degree she appreciated the complete awe on his face. Probably a little more than she usually would.

About four loops later, Dash gritted her teeth, and prepared to break the loop. Keeping her momentum, she angled up, breaking out of that last loop, and flew at top speed upside down through the loops she created. The new rainbow trail formed a spiral through the trails created by the loops and flips. Dash emerged from flight, dizzied and a little wobbly.

However, she heard a noise that sounded like applause. Though she couldn't well see straight because she was so dizzy, the silver colt was definitely clopping...his forehooves together. Quickly, Rainbow shook off her dazed state.

"That looked spectacular..." Leo stated.

"As amazing as always," answered Dash, and for the longest time the two looked upon one another. Actually, it was only about five seconds, for a very loud rumble came in Leo's direction. He groaned and leaned forward. "Hey, don't break wind over here!"

"I'm really hungry right now..." Leo said. "I haven't anything to eat in quite a while..."

"Oh, well--" Rainbow was immediately cut off by the rumbling of her own stomach. "...huh. I guess we can try and find something..."

And with this, the two pegasi, lead by the cyan mare, immediately began to head back to Rainbow's home.

Leo evaluated everything that was going on so far. He did have a crush on Rainbow Dash. But, there was also something about Fluttershy that drew his eye to her. The former human wasn't exactly the poster child for social interaction either, but he wasn't as bad as Corey when it came to interacting, period.

He wasn't sure exactly what to make of his situation right now, but what he did know was that he may be caught in a situation that wasn't exactly the best to be in, but it wasn't the worst. Geometry was Noel's strong suit, but not this time. This time, he feared, it would be something different.

Caught up in his introspection, Leo didn't notice when Rainbow came to a dead stop, hovering at a somewhat high distance over Ponyville, and bumped into her. Dash turned to him, apparently not caring her personal space was violated. When he looked to her, intent on apologizing for doing so, she looked upon him, a mix of shock and mischievousness in her features.

"Leo...?" she asked, a small giggle in her voice. "I think we can eat here," there was a sly wink added to her words now. "C'mon!"

Leo looked down as Dash began leading him, and it was only then, as the vertical distance between himself and the ground decreased, did he see what Rainbow was referring to. They were flying directly over the Ponyville Cafe, as seen in the third episode of the first season. The place had no roof, making rain shielding impossible. There was a low hanging cloud a safe altitude above the diner, and it was here Rainbow stopped.

"The diner's a little further down," Leo said.

"I know that!" Dash was now almost beside herself, completely mischievious now, giggling to herself. "Look..."

She brushed aside a part of the cloud in a mix of magic and cartoon physics, forming a small peephole within the cloud. Both of the pegasi looked through it. When Leo looked through it, he saw a sight he never thought he'd see.

Corey and Twilight sitting in a table, doing something that rhymes with 'baiting' and started with a 'd'. At least, that's what it looked like. The two seemed to be eating something, Twilight obviously a sandwich, but he couldn't see what Corey was from his angle. From the looks of things, though, Corey seemed to be doing okay with eating whatever it was.

"Are they...dating?" asked Leo to himself. He caught Dash's gaze and mischievous smile again, and returned with a hesitant grin.

"Why don't we go find out?"

Oh boy... Leo thought to himself. On one hand, he was curious. On the other, he didn't quite know what a pissed-off Corey was capable of now that he had magic potentially at his disposal. And on one hind leg, he did have a little bit of "tease" in him. On the other, he had no idea how far Rainbow would take it.

However, the feeling in his heart for the cyan mare was too great.

"Y-yeah, sure. Could kill time..."

Corey was somewhat surprised. Even though it was pony food, he was still enjoying the food all the same. He assumed it was a small change in taste buds. He'd seen hay all the time at home, and he'd never guessed it had a sugary sweet sort of taste to it. However, it could have just as easily been the default seasoning used. The former human was relieved. He had hesitated on the first few bites, but now he couldn't help himself.

Until he noticed Twilight giving him somewhat of a disturbed look. With a piece of hay halfway out of his mouth, he looked up.

"What?" he asked, trying to keep his mouth at least somewhat closed, since it was still full of food.

"You..." she began, seeming to try and find a nice way to say what she was going to say. "You could use a little work on your table manners..."

He was aware he probably didn't eat in the most polite way possible. Indeed, if he liked the flavor of something, he'd start scarfing it down, and no one, human or pony would want to see that. However, he merely lowered his head, so that she wouldn't have to see as much. Though he could feel his cheeks heating up again out of embarrassment.

How the hell was he to know to polish his table manners in case of Equestria?

He continued eating, still surprised at how quickly he was learning to somewhat enjoy pony cuisine. Twilight was eating too, but comparatively, she was eating a lot more politely, taking smaller bites and chewing with her mouth closed. This went on for another minute, when a familiar female voice greeted them, the sound of which caused Corey to swallow the lump of food harder than intended, and for a split-second he swore he almost choked.

"Hi, Twilight," Corey turned somewhat to see Rainbow Dash and Leo, both looking somewhat amused. It didn't take more than two seconds for the former human to realize why they looked the way they did.

"Oh, hello Rainbow," Twilight responded, not sounding caught off-guard at all. She apparently didn't notice the nervous look on Corey's face. "Corey and me were just--"

"On a date?" asked the cyan mare, almost giggling to herself.

If Corey had a mouthful of food or drink, this would have lead to one of two things: either a spit take or him choking on what it was. Unfortunately, he was trying to be slick and act like he wasn't worried at all after the initial shock wore off. So, as he swallowed, he nearly choked on the piece of hay.

His ear twitched as he registered a foreign giggle. He turned to see Noel laughing it up, but he tried to stop as soon as he noticed the pudgy green unicorn giving him a death stare. Twilight, meanwhile, blushed somewhat from the memory of the awkward hug they'd shared unintentionally.

"W-what?" the purple mare sputtered, caught completely off-guard. "N-no, i-it's not like that..."

Corey was relieved that she thought of this as just an outing with a friend. Even though part of him did want someone close to him in that way, namely a female, he wasn't sure if actually dating Twilight was the brightest move. He did like her, yes, but he didn't think he could admit it, and besides, he wasn't entirely sure if she was blushing out of embarrassment, or that and...

Pushing the thoughts out from his mind, Corey turned his attention back to his salad, which thankfully didn't have a lot left. He wanted to finish his food quick. So he dug back in, fully ready to accept more jokes about his weight.

Too bad Rainbow wasn't going down that alley this time.

"Looks like one to me..."

He tried to be discrete in looking in the cyan pegasus's direction, and realized that, for maybe all of a moment, there was the faintest shade of pink on her face. Turning his attention back to his food, the former human began to quietly eat, trying to observe some level of table manners.

Whatever you do, Corey, feed yourself. Do not feed the troll...

Twilight felt terribly embarrassed. How could she not have realized what this event looked like? It was a colt and a mare in a public setting together, talking about things. She'd even pointed out his table manners were subpar. She wasn't entirely sure if that last one was part of a typical relationship, but in the event Corey and her were to fully develop those feelings, it wouldn't be typical anyway.

She tried to remind herself that maybe having Corey as something more than a friend wouldn't be the greatest idea ever. Across from her, the former human in question appeared to be calmly eating. Lifting the sandwich to her mouth, she took a bite, chewed, swallowed, then spoke again.

"Honestly, Rainbow, I don't know what you're talking about..."

It was at this point, she fully realized Leo was with Rainbow. Corey seemed to have noticed this too, and was mumbling darkly to himself while looking towards his plate, even while he ate. Her rainbow-maned friend, on the other hand, didn't buy her alibi, instead opting to keep up her verbal attack.

"So," she grinned, "did you two kiss yet?"

There was the sound of a deep, shocked snort. Twilight looked up, despite her blush, to see Corey trying his hardest to maintain his composure, though he looked like he was about to choke. She wasn't sure why, but a small part of her really hoped it was just embarrassment and not that he thought kissing her was a horrible thing to do.

"O-okay, Dash," Leo cut in, apparently having finally noticed the situation was getting a little out of hand. "I-I think that's enough..."

"Oh c'mon, Leo," said Rainbow in response, looking to him. "You know they want to..."

This time, all either of the unicorns could do was utter a soft grunt at this. A little curious, Twilight angled her head to look at Corey, and realized that he too, had finally lost his composure completely, his face starting to turn red.

"Corey," the silver colt cut in again, this time with the same tease-tastic smile on his face. "are you blushing there?"

Corey's ears peeled back, his face became redder, and his face became twisted in embarrassed fury. His upper lip curled from a scowl into a snarl. It was just like when John fell out of the sky. For a moment, Twilight feared what would happen. Especially now that he actually was able to harness magic to some degree.

There was the sound of hooves shuffling along, and the faint sound of something being dragged behind them, registered in Twilight's mind. She turned towards the entrance to see Pinkie Pie...and another new colt in town, reddish-brown with a blue hoodie, being dragged along behind her. Strangely, even though he looked like he'd been dragged along quite a while, he didn't seem bothered by it.

"Hi-i-i-i-i everypony!" the pink party pony squealed, drawing all eyes to her. The new colt in town stood up, and with Rainbow and Leo properly distracted, Twilight immediately reached across to Corey, who looked just as shocked as everyone else to see the two new ponies loudly announce their arrival, and drew his attention by tapping the table in front of her using the levitation spell and Corey's fork.

"That earth pony over there," Corey nodded at Twilight's statement, looking relieved at the attention shift. "Is that colt your friend Ivan?"

"Yeah, that's him..." he responded. "Strange. He looks like the pink mare...uh..."

"Pinkie Pie," Twilight cut in.

"Pinkie," Corey parroted, "dragged him all the way here." He grimaced, as though realizing something. "Oh jeez, do all of your friends think that this is a...?"

The purple mare recalled she'd left a note on the library door if John and Spike got back before they did. She realized that Pinkie must have read that note, likely ran into Ivan, and decided for whatever reason to bring him along. Immediately, Twilight wondered if anyone else she knew saw them trotting along together.

And yet, something within Twilight told her that maybe it could be thought of as one. That thought turned into a statement.

"Maybe...maybe it is." Twilight responded. "We are getting to know each other, after all."

Rainbow's ear twitched. The purple unicorn swallowed, realizing she might have heard them.

Ivan watched the scene before him, feeling quite sore from being dragged around Ponyville in quite an unorthodox way. Both of the color invert unicorns were red-faced, despite the fur covering their cheeks. Clearly, if they'd gotten there a moment later, Corey would have exploded out of embarassed anger, a prospect which both fascinated and terrified Ivan.

The former human had never seen his friend angry, yet, as anime taught him, when a character's emotions rage beyond their control, they tend to use their talents on the object causing the emotional outburst. Yet, he had no idea if Corey could actually use magic or if his horn was just for decoration.

"Iiivaaan...." Pinkie whispered, in a comically loud hiss that, by some force or another, wasn't overheard by the other ponies too. "This isn't right..."

"Which part? The part where you dragged me here, or--" Ivan responded, attempting to once again use sarcasm, forgetting the circumstances that got him here.

"No, silly," responded the pink party pony, "I mean they're totally crashing their date!" This was still in a whisper that could probably be heard all the way back on Earth.

"Oh yeah. That." Ivan responded. His mind brought him back to when they first "met" Pinkie. It was the first day, Leo was being a Grade-A douche, Corey was trying to hold the trio together, and he was barely able to stay on his hooves. Immediately, he realized Leo had a fear of death, and recalled the name of the pasta that caused the fear.

It had something to do with Rainbow Dash, confections, and an insane party pony. However, after spending time in her company, the only dangerous thing about Pinkie was her hyperactive nature. It was decidedly more dangerous to let her lead someone anywhere than spend a day baking cupcakes with her. Even then, he deduced she was more excited about the prospect of Twilight actually going on a date with a new colt than actually trying to hurt him.

What could he say? She was infectious. However, he couldn't yet ask about confectionaries, since as far as the pink earth pony was concerned, she didn't know that he knew what her job was. Thankfully, Pinkie was always one to act whenever the moment called for it.

"Hi, Rainbow!" Pinkie called out, seemingly oblivious to the scene before her, though judging from the whisper the pink earth pony just exchanged with him, Ivan knew better than to assume it. "I was wondering, would you like to help me out with a new cupcake recipe later?"

"Sure, Pinkie," Dash put on an annoyed face, acting hurt that she'd just got cut off, while Leo seemed to be thinking about things.

Leo honestly couldn't believe Pinkie just asked that. Memories of the "Cupcakes" creepypasta flooded his memory. Almost immediately, he wanted to scream out the word "No" and fly away, and carry Rainbow Dash away with him. However, he knew that this wouldn't work. After all, he knew Corey was learning magic, but at what rate he did not know, nor did he want to find out by being chucked back by telekinesis. All the same, he needed to get away and vent.

He realized his fear may well be misplaced. After all, a quick feel around the inside of his mouth confirmed that he had flat teeth. To enjoy any meat at all, Noel knew you had to have pointed teeth to properly slice up the meat. All the same, the silver colt realized enough was enough.

Leo now had clear leverage over Corey. He'd learned about how Rainbow teased other ponies. If there was a suitable time for it, and he didn't feel like restraining himself, he was going to let him have it for sure.

"Hey, Dash, why don't we...leave these two alone?" he asked, trying to keep himself calm even though he momentarily almost lost his mind. Internally, Noel resolved to do some meditation before the upcoming meeting with the Princess. He couldn't have himself flipping his lid over things, and he needed to calm his mind.

"Aw, okay Leo, let's give these two their alone time..." responded the cyan pegasus, taking off in a hover again. She dropped to a whisper. "Or should I say, these four..."

The silver former human immediately found himself somewhat interested in the prospect she was implying.

Ivan and Pinkie? The incredibly calm guy and the obnoxiously hyper mare? Man, I've gotta see that. Though...I'd have almost figured he'd have gone with Applejack...that'd have been an opposites case too, maybe...

As the two pegasi once again took off, their stomachs rumbled again, causing Leo to almost flip over in mid-air again when he raised his forehooves to his stomach to soothe the pain. Dash had her hooves up to her stomach too, and she grimaced.

"Could have let us go get something to eat, you know..." Rainbow grumbled, annoyed. "C'mon, let's head back to my place. I can probably throw something together." She seemed discomforted that she was making the offer.

"You really don't have t--" Leo began, noticing her discomfort.

"No, no, Leo, you're--!" She cut herself off, and here Rainbow blushed somewhat, but she quickly shook it off. "A friend. If there's one thing I'm not gonna let my friends do, it's starve to death." She roughly took his hoof in both of hers. "Come on!"

Shaking off the small blush that coated his cheeks, Leo nodded.

"If you insist."

Ivan sighed in relief. The scare tactic didn't exactly work like he'd hoped it would, but the important part was that Corey wasn't angered. He seemed to adjust to Ivan and Pinkie being there. Did he understand that they'd somehow saved the two from further teasing? Or that maybe Leo was saved from Corey's fury? Ivan never took Corey for a woman beater, after all.

Either way, Leo and Dash had departed together again. He really wondered what was going on between those two. It was at least somewhat obvious what was going on between the former human and the studious unicorn, even if they themselves didn't get it.

"I've gotta talk to Twilight about something soon..." said Pinkie. "I guess I can leave it alone a little longer."

If she was upset, she did a good job playing it off. Ivan couldn't help but to smile again. The sheer energy of the pony at his side was certainly something to be admired. It was enough to chase away some of the clouds that had lingered in his mind. Even if he was going to be stuck in this world for a long time, Pinkie sure made that depression go away, even if she wasn't aware that she was.

"Ivan?" Pinkie asked. "I've gotta go do stuff now, see you around!" She bounded off, leaving Ivan alone in the diner.

The former human decided to leave Corey and Twilight alone for now, since it looked like they were just about done here anyway, and would wait outside the cafe for them. He trotted outside, and shuffled along in place, waiting. Just then, Pinkie came bounding back.

"Here, I want you to try this," said the pink party pony, producing a cupcake from out of seemingly nowhere and handing...or "hoofing" it, to Ivan. Again, he was internally perplexed by the event, but did not show it on his face. Ivan shrugged, and bit into the baked good.

An explosion of spicy and sweet occurred in his mouth, the combination very odd to the former human. However, he didn't want to be mean, so he ate the remainder of the cupcake, finding it to be very good despite the combination of flavor.

"Huh, very good," said Ivan after swallowing the food. "Uh, what's in it?"

"Oh, well, I like hot sauce on my cupcakes, so I decided 'why not bake it into the good', because sometimes it's better to combine both worlds, and well, I was going to use these for something someday, so why not start giving free samples to some ponies around town and see how they like it? You were the last pony I saw, so I decided to start with you!" Pinkie responded, going only about a mile a minute about the story behind her latest invention. "Well, I've got some other things to do now, so this time see you later!"

And once again, the pink pony was off, a lively spring in her skip as she hopped away. At this moment, Ivan registered that he hadn't quite stopped smiling. He very rarely showed emotion other than mild annoyance, anger, or joy. If he were surprised, no one would know right away unless they knew him personally. His composure wasn't so easy for someone to break. Even though he knew the character from the show, it was an entirely different to know them as though they were real. The fact Pinkie was so easily able to break through his defenses intrigued Ivan to no end.

"She really is contagious," he remarked, his face fading back into its listless, emotionless visage.

As he continued to wait for Corey and Twilight to finish their lunch, he began to wonder what exactly would be the tipping point for his dream. If it were accurate to the future, what events would push the couples therein together. He and Pinkie were somewhat opposites. He rarely showed emotion and was calm as a cucumber most of the time, excluding when angered or happy. Pinkie, on the other hand, bounded off the walls with enough leftover energy to light up a small village for years.

In the back of his head, a small voice, one that he could barely hear, spoke out to him.

She's actually sort of...cute.

His brain then caught up with that voice, and though externally, Ivan didn't show his thought processes, internally, he knew exactly what to think about that.

And here we go...

Not too much time later, Corey and Twilight finally emerged, both looking somewhat embarrassed at what had just happened. They both looked as though they should have thought this one through more, but at the same time, didn't completely regret what they'd done either. Deciding not to ask why they were out at the cafe, Ivan opted to ask a simpler question. He was curious about Corey's skill at magic, since he'd had the feeling the pudgy unicorn was attempting it.

"So...Corey, are you learning magic?" Ivan asked in a quiet voice. "And if you are, how's that working out for you?"

Corey's eye twitched, and he offered the faintest of smiles.

"Well, at least I can use it..."