Between Two Worlds

A weak and warm gust of wind passed not too far from the human, making move the grass and flowers.

“Finally, it seems you’re again able to freely show your emotions. And good to know you're not single anymore, congratulation.”

Ethan, naked and with a water bottle above his head, looked at his left and saw the illusion. He could see a wide smirk on the face of his mentor. A sigh escaped his mouth.

“Long time no see, Ian.”

“Indeed. How have you been lately?”

“As usual, some political and dying stuff. Nothing really new.”

He nodded.

“I see…and what about your relationships?”

“None of your business.”

“Oh? Did I say something I shouldn’t? Why are you on the defensive? It’s good that you can forget your accident and love someone again. Even if they are not from the same specie as you. You know, I’m not going to judge who you love." explained his friend, before asking. "By the way, you love them, don't you?”

Again, he sighed.

“Yeah, of course I love them. If it wasn't the case, never I would have let Luna kiss me. And you know as me I don't care about interspecie relationships. It’s just….a long time passed since my last girlfriend and….I don’t want to repeat the same mistakes. I can’t rush things but I also can’t do it too slow. Shit, if I knew being in couple was so complicated, I’ll still be single.”

“Nothing is easy in life. You have to earn it.”

The young man with grey hair laughed.

“Thank you Einstein, it was so obvious that I never thought about it!” he said, with sarcasm.

“My boy, you have passed too much time with Anthony, it has rubbed off on you.”

The only answer he had was a middle finger raised followed by the most beautiful sentence in the world: “fuck you”.

“Such vulgarity coming from your mouth Major, I’m disappointed.”

“I know but you’re just an illusion created by my mind because I was alone. I don’t care about what you think or say. Seriously, when will you left me alone?”

The fake-Ian smiled.

“When I’ll esteem you don’t need me anymore.” He answered.

Ethan emptied the bottle and put it in his car. “Good to know, I hope it’s in a near future.” He whispered, while drying his chest with a towel.

“At least, those two ladies will like a package with this length to please them.”

He lowered his gaze to where Ian looked and his eyes widened in shock when the words reached his brain. He blushed, taking the color of a tomato.

“And YOU said I was crude!”

“I didn’t say it clearly but in a more suggestive way.”

“It's the same!”

“No need to yell, I’m only a few feet away from you.”

He turned his head to the left and looked into the dark eyes of his mentor.

“Go fornicate yourself, I don’t want to see your ugly face near me.”

“Okay, see you later!”

"Yeah, whatever."

Tired of dealing with himself, the writer cursed between his teeth and put the clothes he chose for tonight before browsing in his music files to see which song he’ll play. The truth was, Ethan didn’t have the time to search for a good song until now, thanks to the repairs on the Skyline and some other things.

The human with icy blue eyes was not really pleased. After a few minutes, he had at least ten songs he could sing. It was too much. If he had two or three of them, it would not have been a problem for him.

“Still Loving You: okay, Nothing Else Matters: why not….Under The Bridge: already sung. I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing: Make them cry, good idea. Shooting Star: Luna will like it but not Applejack. If Today Was Your Last Day: hmmm….sure. Fall For You: the mares are gonna love this one.”

Fortunately, those songs were the instrumental version. After choosing a few of them, the human, who didn’t like to be bored, decided to disassemble and clean his weapons. The whole operation took him no less than two hours. When he looked outside, he was that the sun was rather low in the sky, which had a red-rose color and accompanied with some clouds.

Without a single word, the human closed the door of his car, turned on the V6 1500HP and began to drive in direction of Apple Sweet Acres. Five minutes. All he needed was five minutes between his camp and the orchards. If he didn’t have his car, the walk would be much longer.

Finally, he slowed down and stopped at the entrance of the orchards. Ethan stopped the engine and opened the door before stepping outside. Not a single apple on the trees...seeing this, he deduced that applebucking season was over, or nearly finished, and the Apple family had to wait next year to collect again the beautiful apples. After walking on the dirt path, the human stopped in front of the red house and knocked three times at the front door.

It opened and a little filly with yellow coat, light orange eyes and red mane looked up at him. Her eyes widened and he could see shock and fear in them. She quickly closed the door before running away and yelling:

"AJ! AJ! There's a monster waitin' at the door!"

The human chuckled to himself.

"Kids, they'll never change...but, I always wanted to make a first impression like this one."

The wooden door opened again. This time, it was Big Mac who was in front of it. Even if the red stallion was shorter than the human, with his five feet, he was still very impressive. His stern look slowly changed into a smile when he saw the young man.

"No monster here, Applebloom."

"Ah'm sure ah saw it! Look! In front of ya!"

Applejack, who was on the right side of little Applebloom laughed.

"He ain't a monster, he's a friend."

"Your sister's right, I am Ethan Gray, writer and ex-soldier. Nice to meet you, young lady." he said, shaking Big Mac's hoof and walking inside.

The little filly slightly blushed and carefully approached him. He knelled down, his smile never left his lips.

"What are ya' mister?"

Ethan scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, technically, I'm a two-legged hairless ape, also known as Homo-sapiens but we like to call ourselves Humans. Does that answer your question?"

She smiled and nodded vigorously.

He turned his head to Applejack who was looking at her little sister, her eyes full of love towards the foal. Strangely, it reminded him his relationship with his own little sister. His smile promptly turned into a blank face, with a hint of sadness in his icy blue eyes while old memories flowed back in his mind.

"Ya ready sugarcube?"

Ethan blinked a few times, shook his head and turned his head towards the nearest window, to see the position of the sun in the sky.

"Yeah...we can go."

"Where are ya goin'?"

"Singing contest."

"Can ah come?"

Applejack shook her head, smiling.

"Nope, ya have to go sleep early tonight, there's school tomorrow."

The young Gray stood up and began to walk to the door, AJ just behind him. The voice of his friend makes him stop in his tracks.

"Ya take care of her."

He turned his head to the big stallion and smiled.

"Don't worry Macky, she'll be fine. You have my word."

The way her big sis’ and the “human" looked at each other intrigued the little Applebloom. The glow in their eyes…she saw it a few times, in town, when a mare and a stallion, or two mares, were dating or kissing. Wait….Applejack and Ethan were….together!? Her light orange eyes widened in realization. How Applejack could love him? Yes, he was someone gentle but a bit frightening at the first look, because of his height, but was it enough?

Needless to say, the cute filly knew she had some interesting things to say at her friends tomorrow.

They walked out of the house, side by side.

"I hope you're not sick of my car." he laughed. "I'll not drive as fast as the last time, of course."

Applejack chuckled. This was one of things she loved from him. He was able make her laugh at his jokes even if it wasn't really funny. Accidently, her emerald eyes fell on his butt and she couldn't help but bit her lower lip. For an alien, he was attractive. No wonder why she fell in love with him. His only flaws were his lack of social interaction and his silence, like Big Mac. Less than a minute later, they arrived at the grey and blue car.

Like a gentleman, the writer opened the passenger door for her. He closed it before walking to his own.

"You want to hear something while we drive to Ponyville?"

"Uhh...sure."

"Okay."

[Song selected: Sunshine by David Guetta ft. Avicci]

[Warning, the level of bass is going to be too damn high!]

"I don't care!"

"What did ya say?"

"Nothing, I talked to my computer."

Hearing this, Applejack raised an eyebrow, confused. "And what a computer is?"

"Let's say it's something which can give you a lot of information about everything, like Twilight's library."

She slowly nodded, understanding what he meant.

Pushing a little black button, Ethan lowered his electrical windows. Now, the ponies outside could hear his music and this is exactly what he wanted to do. The Earth pony chest was vibrating in sync with the subwoofers. In a way, it was a pleasant feeling but with time, it began to give her a little headache.

Like during the drive from his camp to the orchards, this one was also not very long. They reached their destination, in front of the town hall, when the song stopped to play. A lot of ponies were here, some of them waiting in line to participate and the others, just to see the show. Among the competitors, one of them was clearly taller than the others. He had violet and green scales. His eyes were those of a reptile.

Ethan blinked a few times, unsure of what was in front of him. “Spike?” he asked himself, surprised. The more he looked, the more he recognized Twilight’s first assistant. How could he grow so quickly?

Unfortunately, the young man didn’t have the time to read the data he had about dragons. Anyway, it could wait after the contest.

“Ah’m going to wait in the crowd, see ya later.”

It was the moment of truth, the one which decided if they were ready to show their affection in public. The moment was perfect, despite the fact there were other ponies around them, the two lovers were on their own little world, staring into each other's eyes.

Finally, it was him who made the first move, approaching his head to her. The mare with orange coat did the same and closed the gap between them. It was a simple kiss, no tongue of something else, but held all the passion and love they could show. It only lasted ten seconds but was enough to put a smile on their face for a long moment.

Then, Ethan walked to the others "singers" and waited his turn. Not even five minutes later, he was registered. He walked away and waited with the others in the backstage. Some ponies around him had an instrument with them: guitar, bass, violin or even cello. But there were some who only had their voice, like him. Not really, in his case, his instruments were his subwoofers and instrumental songs. All he had to do is sing, hoping it was enough to please the jury.

“Hey Spike! What’s up?”

The drake turned his head to the voice who called him and saw the tall human with grey hair.

“Ethan! Good to see you bro!”

“Me too. So, I suppose you’re here to declare your love for Rarity in front of everypony?”

Spike lightly blushed and made a gesture of denial with his left hand.

“Nah, not anymore.”

The human looked at him, curious.

“How so?”

“It was just a crush and…she already found somepony else.” he answered. “I do it for Twilight. She raised me, it’s the least I can do to thank her.”

Ethan smiled widely, bowed and shook his hand.

“Sir, I must respect the way you think and act. Twilight don’t know how much she’s lucky to have you by her side.”

“Th-thank you.”

He winked and walked to his car. He moved it near where he and the others had to sing. Then, they waited a few minutes before the mayor, an old tan Earth Pony with grey mane and dark blue eyes, began her speech.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, welcome to our fifth Singing Contest. We wish them good luck and may the best win! Our first participant is…Roseluck.”

Another mare, an Earth Pony with pale yellow coat and a rose as her Cutie Mark walked in front of the crowd and began to sing. Ethan liked her despite it was a little off. At the end of the song, the four members of the jury talked together and wrote the final score on a parchment. A lot of ponies passed before it was Ethan’s turn. At the moment the mayor said his name, he took a deep breath and walked in front of the jury. In his way, he looked at Spike, the latter smiled.

The young man with icy blue eyes took a little grey remote from his pocket and pressed one of the buttons. The trunk of his car opened itself, revealing the subwoofers. Looking into the crowd, he saw Applejack and Luna, side by side, the two smiling at him.

It was all he needed to continue, his stress disappearing.

The mic in one hand and the remote in the other, he pushed another button and the song began to play.

[Song selected: Get Lucky (arranged) by George Barnett]

Like the legend of the Phoenix

All ends with beginnings

What keeps the planet spinning, ah

The force from the beginning

We've come too far to give up who we are

So let's raise the bar and our cups to the stars

She's up all night 'til the sun

I'm up all night to get some

She's up all night for good fun

I'm up all night to get lucky

We're up all night 'til the sun

We're up all night to get some

We're up all night for good fun

We're up all night to get lucky

The present has no rhythm

Your gift keeps on giving

What is this I'm feeling

If you wanna leave I'm with it

At this moment, the audience began to sing in perfect synch with him. Ethan let the magic of the song do its job and closed his eyes. Like with Under The Bridge, he could feel each note echoing in him and his body trembled a little.

We've come too far to give up who we are

So let's raise the bar and our cups to the stars

She's up all night 'til the sun

I'm up all night to get some

She's up all night for good fun

I'm up all night to get lucky

We're up all night 'til the sun

We're up all night to get some

We're up all night for good fun

We're up all night to get lucky

We're up all night to get

We're up all night to get lucky

“Last chorus.” he thought, before putting as much emotion as possible in his voice. He was not anymore a simple singer, or Ethan… he was the song.

We've come too far to give up who we are

So let's raise the bar and our cups to the stars

She's up all night 'til the sun

I'm up all night to get some

She's up all night for good fun

I'm up all night to get lucky

We're up all night 'til the sun

We're up all night to get some

We're up all night for good fun

We're up all night to get lucky

Everypony cheered. They all were clapping their hooves together. Filled with happiness, the human made a wide bow, thanking his public before stepping back to let the next pony sing. Spike walked to him, amazed by his performance.

“Dude, just….wow. How could you sing like that? You have to teach me!”

“Maybe one day Spike, if I’m still alive.”

Some of the others competitors also congratulated him. The arrival of the Night Goddess and Applejack on the backstage surprised the human. The two mares walked to him, a wide smile on their face. He kissed both on the lips.

“It was a beautiful song, sugarcube.”

Luna nodded.

“I agree with Applejack, I really liked it. Maybe you should play it again at our wedding.”

At this moment, she gasped. Unfortunately, she just said what should have be kept as a secret. Applejack widened her eyes, surprised and shocked. She looked at Luna, the look on her face slowly transforming into one of anger.

"What!? Ya want to marry him? Why didn't ya tell me?"

Before the Night Goddess could answer, the orange mare continued her little speech.

“Ya the lead mare of our herd, yah had to ask if Ah’ was okay with this before doin’ anythin’!”

“I know! If you don’t like it, then leave!”

The two mares reached the point of yelling. The poor Ethan was between them, half deaf. Slowly, he began to be annoyed by their childish comportment. This situation was absolutely not good.

“Enough!” he yelled, looking at the two with a blank face.

The tone he used closed their mouth. For Pete’s sake, he was the alpha-male, not just a toy with emotions they could play with. If he had to raise the voice to assume his position, he didn’t have any problem with it. He took some deep breath, trying to stay as calm as possible.

“If you are not capable to agree on something and act as adults, there’s no interest for me to be with you two. Go on like this and you’ll lose me, I hope for your sake you’ll find a solution.”

They never thought Ethan could be angry at them. Usually, he was someone very calm and gentle.

The human walked away, to his car. He opened the door, sat on his seat, closed the door, turned on the engine and left the two mares alone, not caring anymore about the contest. Spike saw everything and was obliged to agree with the human on this one.