Collision Code

Act I: Unexpected Collisions

Chapter 15: Some Color Mixes Make Red

The two unicorns remained interconnected for the longest time, remaining in that awkward position for a full minute in real time. Both of them, however ,had above-average intelligence when compared to most of their peers. So, that full minute was more than enough time for them to completely freak themselves out over what just happened. Cheeks burned worse than any injury, and even if the skin was covered by fur, the reddened cheeks could light up one-half of a rave party. Hearts beat faster and faster.

I...I just...kissed...a pony...

My gosh...I...I don't know how to feel!

I-I--like it?!

He's...not from this world, but...

Is...is this what's it's supposed to feel like?

I've never felt this way about anypony--anyone before...

I-I c-can't believe it, but...it's...it's true. Despite--

Despite all the barriers that seperate us...

Something did exist between us after all...

Just like Princess Celestia said...

I...I have to tell her how I feel...

I-I don't know...I don't know! Where do I begin!?

"Ah-hah!!" This was Rainbow Dash's voice, perfectly capping off the awkwardest of awkward moments Twilight had ever experienced. Embarrassment raked at her every nerve, but bubbling up even further than that was fear. She didn't know what she was getting into. Leaving aside the fact Corey was an extradimensional being below the pudgy pony body, she'd never gotten into a relationship before. She'd never truly felt like this towards anypony, or anyone for that matter. Friendship, her brother, her family, close and extended...all of it, she'd never felt these feelings.

The purple mare understood only one thing about what she was feeling right now: it was known as "love". But she wasn't sure what to do from here. She landed on top of him and given him a smooch, both completely accidental, but both more than likely unavoidable. Should she just come out and tell him her thoughts? What should she do?!

She tried her hardest to keep her head together as she finally broke away from Corey, who gasped just a little for air. At first, she felt downcast, until she realized his cheeks were reddened considerably. She didn't realize it, but her face was redder still. Twilight finally managed to stand straight up and back off a few steps. The green colt lay on his side, trying to hide his face. Apparently, he realized this was absolutely fruitless, for he soon rolled back onto his belly. Twilight watched him, a raging battle taking place within her head.

Compared to the preparations for the meeting, it wasn't as bad, but it was really bad. She was dully aware the anxiety was quickly building, but for the life of her Twilight Sparkle couldn't stop herself from fretting over this. Her jaw shuddered, as she tried to say something, anything, but the dance room remained awkwardly silent. Even Rainbow was quieted, but the purple pony could have done with a comment from the peanut gallery.

Twilight couldn't take it anymore. Too many prying eyes, too much embarrassment, and no idea what to do about any part of the situation...she didn't know much.

All she knew was that she liked the fact they'd kissed. But that wasn't enough. She lowered her head, turned tail, and bolted.

She needed to gather herself, away from the eyes, forgetting about everything else.

John watched the scene before him, stunned and concerned at what he was seeing. The fact it happened at all didn't bother him, but the fact it happened in front of everybody--well, everypony and his grandmother was bad enough. The former human turned dragon thought it couldn't have gotten worse, but he was wrong. For whatever reason, Twilight ran out. Not feeling up to figuring out why, John instead opted to pay attention to Corey's reactions to the event.

He seemed intensely confused. From the look on his face, he could tell he wanted to follow, but he probably couldn't move with hundreds of eyes on him. He also seemed hurt, but he didn't say so much as a word, staring towards where Twilight left with a pronounced look of confused sadness etched on his face.

Jeez, how many times do I have to play wingman? thought John to himself. Need to create a distraction, but what? He looked to his hand, remembering that he was holding a cupcake. Could this work?

John stared hard at the cupcake, trying to figure out what he should do.

Let's make this the best acting of my life...

She had to be honest with herself. Applejack just couldn't process what she was looking at straight away. It seemed way too soon for any of that. Sure, when she'd first met the clumsy green unicorn, she had seen similarities between him and Twilight, but was it possible that those similarities could lead to something a lot more than friendship so soon?

For that matter, she had a somewhat decent idea of why Twilight fled. It wasn't embarrassment, at least, it wasn't the main cause. She knew her unicorn friend didn't have a grasp on something if she didn't read about it first. Or maybe she felt confused about what happened and it really got to her. Whatever the case, the farmer pony had no idea what to say or do now that what happened to the unicorns happened.

A sound, similar to that of someone coughing, suddenly came from right beside her. John collapsed to his knees, his arms to his throat, choking. The sound of the dragon collapsing snapped everyone back to attention, and all heads turned to John.

"What in tarnation--" Applejack started, before paying closer attention to his movements. It was slightly harder to see if what he was doing was true, but the orange farmer pony was really good at seeing through some lies, at the expense of not being able to do it herself. John's eyes still seemed focused on Corey, and though his hand appeared to be flailing about, she noticed, for maybe a split second that the claws on one of his hands was pointing towards the door nearby, where Twilight had fled.

While most of the other ponies seemed fooled by this, Rainbow Dash included, Applejack processed this, and tried to keep a serious look of concern on her face while the large dragon before her pretended to be taken down. The cyan pegasus on the other hand, immediately reared back and kicked the dragon hard in the stomach.

To the others, it seemed like John had forcefully ejected the cupcake he'd been choking on when the athletic pony delivered the back kick, and was now out of breath from the experience, though Applejack knew from personal experience that her friend's kicks could anger a fully grown dragon, so one about John's size would probably crumple to the ground out of breath.

"Phew! That was close!" Rainbow announced, and the other ponies sighed. Then, remembering what had happened, all eyes went back to where Corey had been standing moments before. Applejack noticed, but wasn't surprised to see that the pudgy pony had vanished. The other ponies looked around, to see if he could be hiding. When they decided he too must have split out of embarrassment, the others began talking. The cyan mare on the other hand, chuckled lightly to herself before floating about.

John remained crouched down in the same position, holding his stomach and coughing. Applejack waited a little before leaning in slightly closer.

"You okay there, John?" Her southern accent was just as strong as ever.

"Yeah, I'll be alright," the dragon wheezed, though at least part of it was exaggerated. "I'll live."

Applejack lowered the volume of her voice, and slyly smiled, reaching out to him with a hoof.

"Hey, can't say I'd have done the same thing, but I'm thinkin' you're a nice dragon if you're willin' to go that far for a friend," the orange earth pony said, lowering her hoof. This much was true. She began to, very vaguely, wonder how far he'd be willing to go when it came to romance, but shut those thoughts out. Internally blaming Rarity for that intrusive thought, the farmer mare continued, "Though, I've gotta say, didn't expect it to happen so soon between them."

"Huh? Oh," John tried to get back on his feet, but stumbled a little, "-ugh, not my brightest move on the cupcake thing, but I've been helping Corey out with that a lot. Gets really awkward sometimes. And...'so soon'?"

Applejack felt that she should explain, and so she began conversing with the dragon normally. Surprisingly, the orange farmer pony observed that the bigger dragon made an effort to remain on eye level. He seemed to be interested in what she was talking about.

Hope Corey doesn't mess that up... Ivan thought to himself, trying to focus. The fact that there was humanity underneath the fur didn't bother the former human nearly as much as it probably should have, simply because, leaving aside the fact that he and his friends were naturally humans, underneath the fur were humanlike personalities with exaggerations thrown on.

Pinkie, who remained oddly transfixed when both of the unicorns stood out, finally came to life. She didn't seem too bothered by the fact one of her friends and one of the guests of honor just bolted out of what could have easily been embarrassment. She gave a small squeal.

"They kiiiissed," the pink earth pony observed. "It was a happy accident!"

Depends on who you're asking... thought Ivan, shaking his head slightly, though once again the slightest smile betrayed his features for a few seconds. The former human began to wonder what Corey planned to do now. For that matter, he was honestly starting to wonder what was going through both of the victims' heads.

"Ivan," Pinkie immediately snapped him out of thoughts in her usual way. "What's wrong? Are you worried about them? I wouldn't worry! That's never happened to Twilight, and besides, I think they'll be just fine together!"

The brown earth pony could have sworn he'd heard a distant sneeze.

"Well, as far as that event goes," The former human spoke up. "I don't think something like that's ever happened to Corey either. Probably a new experience for him too, but I can't say for sure." Again, he heard a distant sneeze slightly closer than the first one.

That wasn't a lie. Ivan had no idea what happened on the other side of the monitor, but judging from Corey's behaviors since coming to Equestria, either the former human had overstated some of his faults via Skype or he was changing just by being here. Hell, now that he thought about it, Twilight seemed to be trying to coax him out of his shell.

"I hope they kiss and make up..." Pinkie remarked. There was notable concern in her voice, but the fact that she still said this with a bright and cheery look on her face broke Ivan. He struggled to hold on to his emotionless mask, but found himself chuckling very lightly. To this, he caught the pink earth pony giggling. However, the hyperactive mare quickly moved on to other manners. "I've gotta get things ready for what's next!"

"Huh? What's next?" asked Ivan, insanely curious...and a little afraid. After all, when she tried to show him how it was possible to dance like a human, she wound up causing the accidental kiss.

Pinkie did not regard Ivan with an answer, hopping off, behaving as though nothing weird just happened between her friend and his. Subconsciously, the former human's mind began to wander back to his friend's predicament.

Wonder if they're gonna return here after all that...

It hadn't been entirely out of Rarity's expectation, but it seemed awfully soon. Had Twilight backed off sooner, she probably wouldn't have thought too much of it other than a simple accident, but the fact she and Corey held still during the kiss told the white unicorn all she needed to know. There was something there between them after all. Briefly, she wondered exactly what had went on between them in the past day.

While she wasn't known for reading, Rarity did enjoy romantic novels. The relationship blossoming between the two was sort of like something straight out of one of them. While she couldn't say the same for her friend and Leo, it seemed obvious enough, given how much time they'd spent together.

As for Pinkie and Ivan, Rarity did not know what was going through their heads at all. One of them was too much of a free spirit and not even Twilight could try to figure her out at the end of the day. Ivan, on the other hand, barely showed emotion, but she could have sworn the two were laughing together.

All points considered, the fashionista honestly felt left out. Yes, she was aware Spike had feelings for her, but she still wasn't sure of their depth, and whether or not said relationship would even be acceptable in anypony's eyes. It really wasn't a species thing, so much as an age thing.

"Something wrong, Rarity?"

Spike's question jerked the white unicorn from her thoughts. Masking the emotion that had probably washed into her features, Rarity turned to Spike.

"Oh, no, nothing's wrong, Spike."

Fluttershy had watched the whole event, and while she knew she wasn't the only one that thought about how early it was for Twilight to reach that stage, she also thought that despite the obvious awkwardness between them, she'd found the event somewhat adorable. She'd quietly thought about most of the events that had happened the past couple of days.

Corey, Ivan, John, and Leo were all strange in their own ways, but whatever was wrong seemed to have at least been partly adjusted by now. And when she thought about Leo, she realized with a frown that he and Rainbow Dash had spent an awful lot of time together already.

If she did indeed harbor real feelings for the silver colt, how could she possibly compete with Rainbow Dash, never mind the fact they'd been friends since they were both foals? To the meek yellow pegasus, it seemed almost impossible for her to get his attention at this point.

And yet, she felt something was there all the same. She couldn't exactly place why she felt this way, but something told her that there was hope for her in that avenue yet.

She quietly, politely interacted with her closest friends, as the news of the accidental kiss died down. Between both natural born ponies and former humans, a single question remained.

Would anything actually come of this accidental kiss?

Thanks John, you saved my ass again...even if I can't find her now, it's better than being stared at and possibly ridiculed in there! thought Corey. I can't believe that it turned out that way, though.

The pudgy green unicorn continued to trot quickly through the more or less barren streets, searching for the purple pony that had fallen onto him. Again, his mind traced back to that incident. No matter how he sliced it, something felt awfully right about it. That was the tipping point, that one accident. No, who was he kidding? There were several points before then that he'd considered the prospect.

First, it was a brief stab of thought, but it had undoubtedly happened last night as they conversed. He'd adjusted to talking to her. Then, it was during their practice, when he'd made remarkable progress on his magic control. He'd suspected he wouldn't even be able to harness it, let alone get as far as he had in the single day he'd been learning. He didn't know what it was about, but the chips fell into place perfectly on that one.

Except for the part where she'd slipped on applesauce and he'd wound up hugging her. Much like with the kiss just now, they remained in that position for a few seconds too many. That too, was another catalyst. Then there was that incident at the diner, which may well have been his first date, but it wasn't intended as such.

Then of course, the sun princess had to give her two cents... Corey recalled. Even after knowing the truth, could he say that Princess Celestia gave her blessing? The former human would have loved to think nothing of it, but the fact she'd said what she said hung over Corey's head. He tried to push the feelings, the crush aside, even with the overwhelmingly clear picture he might be caught in Equestria forever.

But when their lips met, all of the comparisons, all of the moments they'd shared, and all of the statements made by other ponies and dragons came rushing back to him. It was clear. The barriers between dimensions didn't matter anymore to him. Surprisingly, neither did the underlying barrier.

For all purposes, he was a pony now. A pudgy green unicorn with a strange name and a human background.

Corey continued his search with this in mind, not so much as saying a word, though he was already starting to breathe somewhat sporadically. In a few moments of intense emotion, he considered calling out to Twilight, but he stopped himself with every fiber of his being. He didn't want ponies overhearing them if it could be helped.

His search brought him to a wood bridge, not too far from when he'd first entered Ponyville with Leo and Ivan. There, overlooking the brook and staring off towards the setting sun, was the purple unicorn.

Alright, I've found her! The excitement the former human felt was palpable. He was almost certain that anyone with a high magical sensitivity could sense it. Until he reminded himself he wasn't even using a spell, and that he wasn't in a Dragonball Z world. Then Corey realized something else important.

Oh God, oh God, what do I say? How do I know this is going to go well? I couldn't do this back on earth in my human body, approach a female about my interest! Even after I'd talked to her and became a friend of hers. Granted, Twilight and me became fast friends, but...but I don't know if I can do that...

Twilight continued to stare in the direction of Princess Celestia's sun, unaware of everything around her. She continued to look upon the sunset, the sky a vivid mix of blue and orange now. It was going to be night within the hour. Yet none of that mattered to the purple pony. She was trying to sort everything out. She still appeared visibly anxious, but now without the eyes on her like they had been back at the party, the haze within her mind had at least somewhat cleared.

I feel really bad for leaving him back there, but I-I just couldn't deal with it... The mare thought to herself. To think I'd have developed feelings like these so soon...I can't believe it...and yet, we're the same...

Again, her mind flashed through the moments they'd shared. When she'd first met him, she didn't think that much of him. It was only after John fell from the sky that the mystery underneath the husk began to unravel. That same night, they'd gotten into a conversation. She didn't know if he'd ever speak up to that extent again, but he was going to be in Equestria for a while, and as Twilight learned, Corey was apparently full of surprises, some of which even he didn't know he had.

Now that she'd fallen on top of him, and met her lips to his, she couldn't stop thinking about that moment. Every time she'd tried to put the feelings aside, when given a proper stimulus, they'd just come back stronger than before. When her teacher made the comment she did, she could barely put off the feelings any longer. And now, that moment at the party rang fresh in her mind.

Twilight would have been lying to herself if she said that she hated it. Fact it, she wasn't even indifferent to it. Every time she thought about it, it made her stomach fill with butterflies and her heart pound. Her mind was filled with insecurities, though she didn't show it.

I wonder, was I any good? Twilight wasn't sure of anything about that kiss. A single thought broke through, but after leaving him like that, once again a wave of anxiety washed over her, rooting her to the spot. I...I don't know if I can talk to him after doing what I did...

She remained there, looking sadly towards the sun, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. She didn't believe there was anypony around, so slowly, the water cascaded forth.

The anxiety was eating at her in a way it hadn't before. It wasn't making her insane, or at least, not in the usual way. Rooted to the spot, Twilight could only let the thoughts echo throughout her mind.

D-Did I lose a friend, too? Did I miss an opportunity? I know he's from another world, but did I just cost myself...

Corey continued to torment himself with indecision. No matter how he sliced it, he was overthinking the situation, but he swore to himself up and down that he had a good reason. And yet, he knew he couldn't let things go unsaid anymore. At the same time, old memories from the past kept him from walking up to her, even as she seemed to hang her head.

What do I do...what do I do?! the former human thought to himself. Twilight--I don't know...I don't know what to say to her about this...and I don't even know if she feels the same way for sure!

As he continued to fret about the situation he'd more or less been shoved into--no wait, Twilight was the one who was shoved--his mind catapulted back about four hours prior, when he'd talked with John about the situation...

It had been a little before Rarity arrived. Corey was practicing using his telekinesis on other objects. He could only lift them for so long before he had to set them down. Maintaining control wasn't coming too easily to him, but the former human wasn't complaining. He'd considered it a miracle he could do it at all.

"Corey?" This was John, roughly twice his height. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Huh?" Corey responded, brought out of his concentration by his friend's question. "Oh yeah, sure," He set down the book he'd been floating carefully, the same one he'd picked up yesterday when trying to maintain some level of cover. "What's up?"

The dragon quickly looked around. Twilight and Spike had gone off somewhere else--Corey later learned it was to see if Rarity was ready to come and prepare the former humans for their meeting. Ivan, on the other hand, was hoofing his way through a random book, since he was bored, and he didn't seem to be listening in anyway, but John closed the door to Twilight's room anyway.

"I've got a serious question for you," John began, shifting hesitantly. "Do you have a thing for Twilight?"

Corey visibly recoiled. Aside from Leo and Dash, this was the first direct, non-teasing question he'd received on the matter. At that time, he was pretty sure there might have been something there.

"M-maybe, what's it to you?" Corey responded, a little on the snappy side, heat tugging at his cheeks. John raised his hands defensively.

"Hey, I'm just asking, and besides, I did read that note that you left for us," John obviously referred to himself and Spike at this point. "Sounded an awful lot like she took you out on a date..."

"Twilight didn't know what was what..." This was the pudgy unicorn retorting snappily. Of course, when emotionally disturbed, Corey tended to ramble, "besides, she later did say it could have been one..."

"Thought so?" The dragon continued. "Hey, why are you getting so defensive?"

"Defensive? Defensive?" Corey couldn't quite keep a lid on himself now. A flurry of what he now recognized as denials looking back on his statements, began streaming from his vocal cords. "I'm only a human at heart and there's a dimensional wall that would usually separate us! How can I possibly have anything for someone from another world...it just won't work!"

"Yeah, but from what I'm getting, you have the body of a unicorn now, and it could take us forever to get back home," John sounded a little pissed at that last bit. "Listen, if you do have a thing for her, I'm not going to judge you. Like I just said, you're technically not human anymore, so it doesn't bother me as much as you might think. Besides, I think Leo's got a thing for Rainbow Dash anyway..."

Corey remained absolutely silent. John walked up, and crouched down so that they were eye level, causing the younger of the two to trot a couple steps back.

"Is there a point to this?" Corey asked. He'd always buried himself under anger and sarcasm when he knew he was losing a debate, and he was dangerously close to losing.

"I can't make up your mind for you, Corey. This is something that you'll have to figure out for yourself," John said. "But I can see something between you two. If I were you, I wouldn't waste it. You and I probably make the same mistakes in our lives. We wait too long, and then we lose that chance to at least get somewhere with a girl. Your concerns are valid, but you really might be overthinking things on this one. We might be here for the rest of our lives, we might not be. All I can say is, whatever barriers that exist between you and Twilight normally don't anymore. Besides, if we were still humans, I wouldn't have said what I just said!"

"Huh?" Corey asked.

"I'd have been trying to talk you out of it." John replied. "You can tell the prospect of it doesn't bother me now. You technically aren't human right now, and neither am I. I'm just saying, why not take the shot?"

Silence hung between them. John left him alone to ponder these thoughts, but he didn't have long, for a stressed out Twilight returned with Spike and Rarity, and the preparations for the meeting began...

John was right about this back then! Corey thought. His mind went back to his Earth life. He'd had so many crushes that never matured into real relationships. His most recent one, he felt he was friend-zoned because he waited way too long to say anything about his feelings for his close female friend. However, he didn't mind that so much. She was still a good friend. And that other one...if only he'd opened his mouth sometime during junior year, maybe he'd have had the ability to at least try a relationship with another female in his peer group during his senior year.

Instead, he'd wound up with heartbreak and disappointment, respectively and chronologically. The barriers that existed in Corey's mind had weakened considerably after the talk with John, but like the human turned dragon said, it was something he had to do on his own.

Well, Pinkie's active dancing certainly helped push the barriers away, too, but in the end, it was Corey that had to take the initiative. He glanced toward the bridge. Twilight was, from what he could see, visibly trembling now, still facing the sun, likely not noticing him. The barriers shattered.

He wasn't human right now. Underneath, he had the history of being a human, but right now, he was Corey, the oddly-named chubby unicorn. While he couldn't say whether or not what would follow this moment, this conversation, was going to go well for him, he couldn't stand there anymore.

He'd be in Equestria for quite a while anyway, so he didn't see the harm in trying. If she rejected him, then she rejected him, and Twilight would have proven herself to be rational in that.

A voice within his head told him it was going to be alright, however. If she wasn't into him, she might have torn herself away from him sooner. With his constitution just as high as it was going to be about this, the former human urged one of his forelegs to step forward, as quietly as he could set his hoof down. He slowly, quietly began to make his way over to Twilight, not wanting her to see him just yet.

He was aware he was stalling and delaying the inevitable, but he knew he needed to choose his words carefully. As he drew closer, however, he realized he could hear the faintest of sniffles. Twilight wasn't just trembling. No, at the proximity of a mere ten yards, he realized this wasn't the case at all. She was doing something that drove a point home more than anything else.

She was crying. Was she frustrated? Was she sad? It didn't matter to Corey. It was too much for him to bear. He found his eyes were welling up with sympathetic tears within five seconds. With a snarl, he willed himself to remain dry, and, after a quick check to make sure no one was watching, if only so they didn't spoil the moment, the former human took a deep breath.

For a few tender seconds, all of Corey's inhibitions dropped. He quickly closed the distance between them. Twilight didn't look in the direction. She was obviously very upset; her eyes closed and dripping tears.

"T-" He stuttered, trying to pronounce her name. Thankfully, he got it on his second try. "Twilight!"

Twilight's ears, which had been folded down, immediately snapped straight up upon hearing her name being called. Her eyes shot open. She obviously hadn't been crying long, but the fact she had at all spoke something to Corey, but he started overthinking the situation again.

Was she sad or frustrated? The thought repeated in his head, but he tried to stop himself from thinking about anything else. The purple eyes of the pony fell on him. She blinked, mouthing a statement which he couldn't quite make out. At first, her expression brightened, then, she looked, ashamed of herself, back toward the bridge.

"I-I'm s-sorry," she stammered, her face reddening. "I didn't know w-what to do there. I-It'd never happened to me before...I-I..."

I think this is a good sign...

"Twilight, it's okay." Corey responded. The purple mare immediately looked up to him, very confused. "For my part, it'd never happened to me before either. One of us might have run out after that anyway." It wasn't a total exaggeration. Either way, both of them might have wound up here anyway. All the nerve that had burst forth suddenly began receding, and the familiar shades of crimson once more coated his cheeks. "I-it was...m-my first k-kiss..."

"I-it was mine too..." Twilight looked back toward the ground. The former human wasn't quite prepared for what would come next, however. "C-Corey, be honest with me," She looked to him, looking anxious again. "Am I a bad kisser?"

"H-how should I know?!" Corey asked, immediately allowing his mouth to take off ahead of his brain. "But...f-for what it's worth," he was embarrassed at his outburst. "When...that happened, it felt...really good."

He looked back at the woodwork of the bridge, not able to see Twilight's facial expression. He wasn't immediately sure why he wasn't getting to the point, but it soon hit him.

It was still an alien thing, telling a female how he felt for her. Hoping the moments they'd had before this would give him leverage over that old fear, he awaited Twilight's response, trying to get back to eye level.

Twilight found herself utterly at a loss. It was true, neither of them would know what precisely constituted a "good" kiss, and a very, very small part of her believed the answer wouldn't come from just reading about it. But she considered how she felt at the time. She'd remained in that position for a good minute before finally breaking away. The purple mare soon realized, thinking back to that moment, that it didn't matter.

For one thing, it was by accident and neither were really prepared for it. The second thing, and perhaps more importantly, she enjoyed that kiss.

A dam burst in the unicorn's heart. The feelings she'd tried to suppress for the past day came rushing forth all at once. And this time, there wasn't any stopping them. It was clear to her what these feelings were now. If she didn't love him, she clearly had quite a bit of a crush on him.

"I-it felt g-good to me, too..."

The air between them was awkward, but after what happened at the party, nothing could possibly top it. Well, except for one thing. Twilight knew something was going to be said before long.

It was obvious to just about everyone that had seen them together for more than a couple of minutes. There was something between them, something more than just a shared hobby and somewhat shared intellect. The two stood at the bridge, looking toward the sunset.

"Twilight?" Corey asked. He sounded nervous, so she turned to him. He was fidgeting awkwardly, and his face was tinted red, his ears folded down. "I-I-I...I've got something to s-s-s-say..."

"W-what is it?" Twilight asked.

Both of them knew that this was it. This was the pinnacle of what the previous 24 hours had brought them. The moments they'd shared, whether intentional or not, and indeed a large number of them were against their will, all rushed back to them, as Corey attempted to shatter the final ice barrier that seperated them.

He stumbled and stuttered throughout his sentences as he tried to say what he felt he needed to.

"T-T-Twilight, l-listen..." He was trying his hardest to ignore the pain his nervousness had caused to well up in him, and tried to meet eyes with Twilight. Brown eyes wavered away from purple as the owner of the former color tried to keep calm. "A-after a-all that's happened since l-l-last n-n-n-night, I-I-I think...I think--that is...I..." He vocally faded out, and began breathing heavily. He was incredibly nervous.

Twilight, seeing how nervous he was, immediately put one of her forelegs to his shoulder, trying to calm him down. She breathed in and out. The purple mare tried to mask her own nervousness. She knew what was coming, but she wanted to hear it for herself.

"C-calm down," she whispered. "You can't speak up like that. Take it easy...breathe..."

Corey took a few deep breaths, his entire body quaking in anxiety. Twilight kept her foreleg to his shoulder the whole time, until he stopped trembling. However, he was still visibly nervous even after this.

"What is it, Corey?" asked Twilight, trying to keep her gaze on him. It was a lot harder than she thought. She knew exactly where he was going, and for the life of her, she didn't know if something like that could be helped.

Both of them weren't stupid by any means. With this confession, a relationship could come of it. It was up to them from there. Even though the chances seemed nonexistent right now, they both knew there might come a day when their worlds would once again have to part, possibly forever. Neither one of them knew exactly what they would do.

"W-well, after everything that's happened, I-I think...I-I h-have a..." The green unicorn blushed terribly, still trying to maintain eye contact. Twilight looked to him, smiling gently with a blush of her own. "A-a-a-a c-crush...o-on you, d-despite the b-barriers b-between us."

There was a long silence, one during which, if a pink earth pony were around, a pin would most certainly be heard dropping. Twilight didn't falter, but she thought carefully about what he said. It was true that there would be barriers that would normally seperate them. It seemed that his being a human underneath the pony body was part of it; at least, Twilight could gather that much that dating a talking pony wasn't normal for humans like Corey. Nothing like that was in the books. But leaving that aside, space and time separated them. Now they were together....

At once, Twilight made her decision with a sigh.

"I-I don't know how you did it," Twilight said. "But...a-after all that's happened between us...I've started to feel the same way about you. But...what do we do? I mean, we both haven't really had any...romantic relationships, and we're new to everything...I-I don't know if..."

Corey shook his head and chuckled slightly.

"Twilight, I think...that that would be the fun of it," the former human responded. "Look, I don't know how slow we can take it after that kissing incident, but...I think that...at least for now, we should try to take things slow...see where things go. If we're happy that way, then we're happy that way."

"But...what about your life back in your world?" Twilight asked. "I-I don't want to keep you from your obligations back home, or anything..." She appeared saddened to say this. "Are you sure it won't be a problem? What if we take things too far? I don't..."

Corey stared hard towards Twilight. With a small sigh, he drew her close into a hug, using one foreleg to pull her close. Twilight gasped, but didn't try to pull away.

"W-what are you...?" asked the purple unicorn, blushing somewhat.

"T-Twilight, you aren't the only one of us overthinking this," replied Corey. "I had the exact same worries myself. But...a friend told me this recently. If we wait too long, we lose a chance. I don't know if this will sound right, but I don't care. I-I feel like I can give something like this a chance."

The purple pony felt a little confused to say the least. Was he being irrational? Certainly so, but from what she knew about love, and what she'd read about in quite a few novels, it could bring about quite a few irrational behaviors. Maybe Twilight didn't understand him completely, and there were other things she didn't understand yet.

Her forehoof quaked, and soon, the foreleg in question mimicked Corey's pose. It was a hug, clearly done on purpose. In both of the unicorns, there wasn't many barriers left. As slow as they could stand to take it, they would perhaps act upon these feelings they'd developed for each other, and work from there. When they finally pulled out of the hug, Twilight noticed something on Corey's face.

There was a genuine smile on his face. He was clearly happy despite what the actions of his friends had wrought, and the situation he was in. There was some frustration in his features, but it seemed more passive, like he didn't know how to completely make that emotion disappear. However, it was good enough for the lavender unicorn, at least for now.

The two stood at the bridge, staring off into the sunset. Twilight tilted her head towards Corey, and Corey mimicked the gesture. For a few long moments, they remained in this position.

"Hmm," the mare said. "I think we'd better go back..."

"Huh?" This was the colt who was once a human. "Are you sure? It could get a little rough..."

"C'mon, it is your party," Twilight insisted, still smiling. "Besides, I think there's at least one of my friends and one of yours that are probably wrestling with similar circumstances..."

With a sigh, Corey relented.

"Fine, but...let me tell you how Leo and Dash met up. I think it's a little more embarrassing than what just happened to us..." The green unicorn began. "Tell me, when pegasi meet someone...or somepony, I guess, they really like, what happens to their wings?"

Ivan really didn't want to be a part of this next event. It wasn't that he had a particularly low tolerance for spicy food, but he knew he had a limit. Pinkie's event in mind far exceeded said limit. Of course, that said, Leo and John did have an unfair advantage.

They both had Hispanic heritage.

There was a large table, with one hundred bottles of red hot sauce on it. It was divided up among the five contestants. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Leo, John, and a nameless background pony had participated in the contest.

The rules were clear, and Pinkie explained them clearly. The ponies would drink from the twenty bottles in front of them, and if they couldn't take much more, they'd simply drink from the ice water containers nearby. They were manned by other nameless background ponies.

Ivan recalled something that Pinkie had said to him when he declined the offer.

You'll be cheering me on? Won't you?

"We'll just have to wait and see," thought Ivan aloud to himself. She certainly was energetic. No matter how he sliced it, she was making the fact he was a human stuck in a pony's body in a pony's world seem less unbearable. "Maybe I will."

Ivan never was one to show emotion, and the same certainly held true here. Deep down, however, two things were going through his mind, as the hot sauce drinking contest commenced.

Wonder if Corey and Twilight made up after that incident. More importantly, how will the others take the news? Will Pinkie be alright? I can't really picture her sad or mad...

With a sigh, Ivan decided he wouldn't trouble himself over it right now, and turned toward the contest. The nameless background pony began to drink from the first bottle, as did the others. However, his gray fur and black, straight mane soon began turning orange and red respectively. Just as he finished the first bottle, his mane and tail completely burst into flames, and his body glowed orange and yellow.

Game over, you're out... thought the former human turned earth pony to himself as he was doused with the ice water before he was allowed to take a drink. The drinking continued, and Ivan felt strangely contented.

He may have been considering trying to develop a close friendship with Pinkie, much in the same vein as the one Corey obviously shared with Twilight. He was a pony, but not really. He was in a world mostly alien to him.

And Ivan really didn't care about any of that. He was just going to do his damn best to make due with what was given to him.

Didn't mean he'd forgiven Noel for sending them here in the first place. Not by a long shot. If time was passing on Earth's end, he'd have a fuckload of make-up work to do upon his return.

Act 1 is nearly reposted now. Yeah, I'm aware Twilight might not have been entirely IC during this chapter.