Chapter 4: The Beginning of A New Type of Friendship
The next day, James grabbed his bike and stepped out of his garage. Charlie jumped into the bike basket, and sat down. James closed the garage doors, then started off in the general direction toward the gate, going straight past it, into the unknown. Riding it, he saw the many different plants and animals. "Yup, this is going to be fun." he said, in a semi-sarcastic tone. He then stopped, coming across a odd plant. "What's this?", James said. The plant had blue petals or leaves, and the stem was reddish-blue. "Better put on my latex gloves dude. It could be poisonous." "Indeed.", Charlie said, looking around. He sensed that they were being watched as he looked around, but didn't see whatever it was. James picked it, then placed it into a plastic sandwich bag. He collected several others, and took pictures of odd creatures.
Then, just as he was done with sample collecting, he started to write notes in a leather bound journal (synthetic) when suddenly he heard a noise he knew meant danger. Charlie started growling at the mysterious creature, when it made a more scarier growl. That frightened Charlie, causing him to whimper. James knew that meant "Quitting time!" he exclaimed, "Time to head home."
Grabbing his bike, he turned it around and started riding it home. The thing soon started chasing after him. He took a quick look to see what was chasing him. The creature was made of tree and woods, and appeared to be dog-like. "Charlie, quick. Take a picture." Charlie did so, then ducked back into the basket. James didn't know what to do, then he remembered what he installed into his bike. He activated the homing beacon, tracing his way back home. More and more started to follow him, but he was out riding them. It appeared to be safe when, all of a sudden, one of them sideswiped him. The force of the creature was so great that it knocked him unconscious. As he slowly passed out, he heard whimpering and a angelic voice. Almost motherly.
Waking up, he felt a little distorted. Looking around, he saw that he wasn't home. Instead, he was inside a cottage. He looked around, trying to find anything familiar. The only thing familiar was his pet, and friend, Charlie. "Charlie, where am I?", James said. Charlie looked at him, then said, "We definiately aren't on planet Earth, that's for sure.". James looked at him, not understanding, until he noticed a yellow pony with a light pink maine.
"Now, who would dye a horse's hair color pink and yellow?" "Um, this is my natural hair color, and I-I'm not a horse, I'm a-a pony.", said the pony. James was frozen in a state of shock before he slapped himself. "Charlie, I thought I heard the pony talk." "You did, except she didn't have my collar on. She spoke *ahem* "straight from the horse's mouth".", Charlie chuckled at his joke, while James sat there with jaw hanging open. He then shook himself out of it. "Can you come here?", James said. She walked up to James, where he gently grabbed her head. "Can you open your mouth for a moment?". She nodded, then opened it wide. James looked and saw that she had vocal cords like a human. She then closed her mouth.
In return, James smiled and scratched her head. "I thought you were going to harm me.", she said. "Me? Nah. I don't harm anyone, unless they harm me, or my friends. When I fight, I fight for my friends. Unless friends fight, then I make amends." He then paused and added, "At least I try." James paused again, thinking for a moment, "Unless, me and my friends are play fighting." Charlie looked at him, like he was crazy. "Stop giving me that look Charlie.", James said. He then turned toward the yellow pony. "What's your name?" "Um, Fl-Fluttershy.", Fluttershy said. James nodded with a smile on his face, then yawned. "Well, Fluttershy. I must thank you for saving my life. Go-od...N-nigh..t.". He said, patting her on the head. He soon fell asleep.
Waking up, both Charlie and James were going to go explore more, when they realize two things. One, they aren't in their house. And two, there were not one, but six ponies. All he could do was gulp in fear. Charlie was scared, but he didn't show it. A rainbow-maned pegasus flew up to get a close look at James. James, curious, lifted his hand and poked her in the snout. "Hey!", she yelled. She grabbed him by the shirt, holding up a hoof. "What's the big idea?" "Rainbow Dash, you shouldn't scare him. He's just curious.", a purple pony, a unicorn said. James was somehow too frightened, staring at her hoof. She let go of James' shirt, then hovered back.
All of a sudden, a pink pony popped up from out of nowhere."Gah!" he exclaimed. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie. What's your name?", Pinkie said. "Pinkie, I don't think it...or he can talk." Both James and Pinkie gave her a deadpan look. "What's your name, are you from here, Where do you live?" Pinkie said. James thought for a moment, then said, "In order, James Rouse, No, I came from Earth, and I now live in a upside-down house in this forest. Right Charlie?", James said. "Right.", said Charlie. Everypony responded with jaw drops, except for Pinkie, who just hugged the dog.
"Weee, a talking dog.", She said, spinning around, hugging Charlie. James just chuckled at that, until Rainbow grabbed James again. "Since you can talk, answer my question. Why did you poke me in the nose?" "Simple, I wanted to see if you were real." James said. Rainbow just smiles, and said, "Well, I am unbelievable." All the ponies could do is groan. James just rolled his eyes, then shook his head, and chuckled.
"No, no, I didn't mean that. I mean that to see if you really were flying. We don't have winged horses or ponies--" "Pegasi.", Rainbow Dash corrected. "Pegasi, right. Sorry. We don't have Pegasi or... What other type of ponies do you have?", James said. The purple one looked at them, then back at James. "First, you need to explain how you got here." "Gladly." James exclaimed, getting out from under the sheets. He was excited, he was ready to be Earth's ambassador, he was feeling a slight breeze. He soon looked down and realize that he's in his underpants. "Yipes!", he exclaims, jumping behind the couch. "Charlie, quick! My pants.", James said. Charlie barked, causing James to get up partially from behind the couch. He saw that Charlie held his pants, then Charlie chucked them when nopony was looking. He started trying to get them on, when he realize something. He was dressing in front of manes. This caused him to freeze up faster than a deer in headlights. This in turn caused him to lose his balance and tip forward. 'Oh boy!', James thought, as he came down with a thud.
As he rode through the forest on his bike, the others followed behind. "How deep are yah' in?", the orange one said. James thought for a moment, then said, "I don't know. Not much farther.". Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was starting to have problems. She couldn't figure out where north is. Twilight noticed that something was wrong with Rainbow Dash. "What's wrong, Rainbow Dash?" "I don't know where magnetic north is Twilight.", Rainbow Dash said. James stopped, and turned around. "What do you mean you don't know magnetic north?" "What's going on?", James said coming towards them. Twilight turned around to see that James had stopped. "Rainbow Dash can't sense magnetic north. Her eternal compass must be near some powerful magnet, or something." "That must mean we're getting near my home." he said with a smile. He then turns to Rainbow Dash. "Dudette, you need to follow me, while staying close to the ground. Otherwise, you'll be lost in this forest." "FOREVER!", Pinkie Pie exclaimed. James gave her a look that said, 'Really?'. "Yea, or until you can get away from the magnetic field and escape this forest.".
Rainbow understood, and landed on the ground. James then turned around and started riding again. They soon came upon two bent trees, producing a tunnel effect. Entering past some brush, and past the gate, they soon come across a unusual sight.
The yard was filled with scattered litter, some from planes, some from cars. The house was upside-down, aside from the front porch, garage, and the chimney. "Had to re-innovate the house, cause I didn't have a crane." James said. He opened the garage door, placing his bike into the garage. Then, he walked to the front porch, went to the front door, and unlocked the door.
Entering, they saw a living room set, a dining room, and a kitchen in the back. "Welcome to my home.", James exclaimed. "Relax, while I make sandwiches." 'At least the kind they would eat.', James thought to himself. He soon made six sandwiches just with lettuce, then distributed them with Apple Juice. He then sat down on the couch, next to Pinkie and Twilight. He ate a piece of toast with butter.
Rainbow Dash continued trying to fly, but it wouldn't work. She kept crashing into stuff. "It won't work Rainbow. You're in the magnetic field, so you'll be confused.", James said. Rainbow Dash looked at him, with a "What?" look. "Why did you do that?" "So I can stay hidden from any creature, and I don't have to worry about the animals.", James said, answering Dashie's question. Rainbow Dash thinks for a moment, before realizing that what he did was logical.
He then started telling his story of his life, from a point. He told them the story about his goverment (which he worked for), the strange island in a place no pony at all heard of, The Bermuda Triangle, or the strange place called WonderWorks. He even showed them a picture of the place.
He then added, "At least that's what it was before the incident." He then started to tell them of the experiment that Professor Wonder made them do. "His heart was in the right place" he would tell them, "But his head was missing a few screws loose." The ponies nodded, understanding the metaphor, except for Pinkie. "Wait, are you telling me he was a robot?" The five ponies just facehoofed, while James just laughed at what Pinkie just said.