//------------------------------// // 4 - That's One Small Step For Man... Pony // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - Hand In Hoof // by Blaze Chaser //------------------------------// Chapter 4 - That's One Small Step For Man... Pony Eager to get off the bed and having permission to leave the building, I decided to go. The first step was to get off the bed. That was the easy part, the hard part was standing up. My hooves tied together and I felt my whole body topple over but was lucky to have support from Dash. I caught her eye which made her hurry to my assistance. "Woah careful!" shouted Dash. She caught me and I looked at her. The ceiling light wrapped around her head and made her glorious mane shimmer in a laminated fashion. I quickly turned my head away from Dash to not let her see me. A flush of heat trickled down my face in embarrassment. I tried to think of something to say to break the awkward silence that dominated the room. "Uh...Thanks Rainbow Dash" I said quickly. "No sweat" she replied. I gradually got back on my fe... I mean hooves and started to walk... trot. Being in another world and in another body I thought that my trotting would take some practice, as a matter of fact I didn't need to. It felt so natural to do so. The way to describe it, it's as if you would crawl on your hands and knees but the arms and legs are the same length. Slowly but surely, we trotted out of the room with Dash wrapping her wing around me for leverage so I won't fall over again. I could feel her pulse beating and the intense heat coming from the tightness of her wing. We waved goodbye to the reception pony and trotted out the door. As I passed through the automatic doors the first sight of the sun shone into my eyes that made them sting as they adjusted to the new contrast of the outside world. When my eyes focused I could see the golden hay thatched houses that glistened in the hot sun. We walked though the town centre where ponies greeted me as they haven't seen me before. I wave back at them with a smile. Looking around, it looked like paradise to me and it was not believable This has got to be a dream, I thought out loud. My short sight seeing was interrupted by a violent knock to my right hoof. I suddenly jumped away from Dash and escaped her grasp. I looked at her and found out that she was the one who punched me. She looked back at me and started to laugh, eventually she laughed so hard Dash fell on the floor and started to hold her sides. I stood there with an typical 'he we go' expression. I practice Kung Fu back at home so I am trained with reflexes that are annoying when someone wants to punch me for jokes. They end up being the joke then. Dash stopped laughing and cleared a tear from her eye. "No, you're not dreamin" she said with a smirk. "You're funny, it's priceless!" "What kind of funny? Laughing funny or stupid funny?" I said jokingly "Both!" Dash said while smiling at me "Oh thanks" I said with a smirk on my face. We then carried on walking down the village without caring where the path would take us. "So...you like flying?" asked Dash breaking the silence between us. "I never flown before" I replied "What!? But... you have wings?" Dash shook her head in shock. "Yeah, well I am from a different universe remember?" "Uh yeah I knew that" Dash said feeling stupid for mentioning the topic. "We have got to give you a name" "I've already got a name, though" I said in confusion. "Yeah but it's lame. I can't keep calling you James all the time, so let me look at you" Dash said. She started analysing me and looked at my cutie mark. "I'm not sure what to call ya" she said finally. "Let's go to the bookworm and see what she thinks." Of course this is Rainbow Dash, she would fly there. Dash crouched down into ready position, leaped into the air and made a rainbow trail behind her, the sudden movement caused a short blast of wind to my face. I watched her go up and come back down. I looked at her with a sarcastic face. "Oh yeah, heh...sorry about that" she said apologetically while scratching her head. "Don't worry about it, I'll just stroll in the sun, you can go ahead. I know you don't like being slow" I said. To be honest I know Rainbow Dash all to well, she would get agitated if she were to slow down rather than speed up. "Nah I'll walk with you" Dash said while landing on the ground. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We finally reached Twilight's library and knocked on the old wooden door. It opened revealing the purple pony standing in the doorway. "Oh! Hey you two" she said with a smile. "Twilight can you help us?" Dash said "I'm already doing that, Rainbow" Twilight responded "No, I meant his name" "Sorry Twilight, she really doesn't like my name" I said jokingly "It's ok, James I'm used to it" Twilight said with a sense of accomplishment in her voice "See! We can't call him that!" Dash exclaimed "Rainbow Dash, I'm not a pet." I said "Well, I don't like the name, it needs to be about 20% cooler" she said I exploded with excitement when she said that, mind was officially blown at that point. I got her to say it... sweet. "Oh my sweet Celestia you said it!". I shouted "Said what?" Dash said in confusion "20% Cooler! Oh come on that isn't the first time you said it." "Oh yeah when did I say it last?" Dash asked "Remember the fashion show? When Rarity was making you a dress?" I asked "Yeah..." Dash said "Yeah... then" I said. Twilight giggled and said "How do you know that?". I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I come from a universe where it is not like this, It is of an entirely new reality different to this one. We stand on two legs, have fingers much like claws but not sharp to the touch and we have no magic." I said "No magic?" Twilight questioned in disbelief "Yes, we don't believe in magic on our world, we have no wings but we build machines to do that for us. Like as if you build a train to get where you are to Canterlot." Twilight leaned forward in fascination "- Because of our nature our planet is being polluted by these machines and we try our best to conserve it and some on't for greed. Thats our human nature. We have a specific machine that views pictures on to a screen called a TV. Which view entertainment that is either live or created by creationists called 'animators'. And sometimes on this TV, we watch you" "Us?" Twilight questioned again. "Why us?" "You show us that value of friendship that can change us and form us into better beings" I explained further "Really!" Twilight said with eyes growing wide and a smile on her face. "Yeah some of us have our lives changed because of you" "That's so awesome! You guys think I'm awesome?" "Yeah we do. We like all of you because your personalities are almost a like to ours." "Fascinating, so that's where you are from? A different Universe?" asked Twilight "Yeah so anyway one night I went to bed and I saw this light appear from my mirror and I stepped through it and next thing know I wake up on the ground in pain and from then on hear I am. I have know idea how I got here, maybe I came through a wormhole?" I said "A what?" said Dash with confusion spread across her face. "It's like teleporting but through space and time" I explained "Oh cool... anyway Twilight can you think of a name for him?" asked Dash with calm in her voice. Twilight stood up and inspected me to see my features. "Hmm..." she said rubbing her chin. "Well his mane and eyes add up to one thing he represents and so does his cutie mark it's like your Rainbow Dash but fiery" "Why's that?" I said "I'm not sure, but I may have a suggestion." said Twilight. "Oh yeah? What do you have in mind?" I asked. Twilight thought really hard about the name but I wasn't really bothered about the name, as long as it isn't anything sounding stupid. Twilight pacing back and forth thinking of a name that puzzled her, until she asked me. "Do you like heat?" asked Twilight. "Well, yes I prefer it to being cold, if it helps I like being in the sun a lot" I mentioned "And do you like being active or fast?" "Yeah I run a lot but don't involve in any events I'm active by nature" I said "Like me!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "Oh yeah!" I said in realisation "So the name needs to be some reference to fire and speed" Twilight explained pacing back and forth thinking of the words that are relevant to these two words. I watched from the other side of the library as she was putting some thought into it. After what seemed like a minute she slammed a hoof in realisation. "Got It!" exclaimed Twilight. "Yeah?" I asked "Blaze Chaser" Twilight said with a smile of accomplishment. "Blaze Chaser... hmm I like it" I said while rubbing my muzzle... chin. "Thats a pretty sweet name considering you have a fiery mane and fiery cutie mark!" said Dash "Awesome" I said with a smirk. Now this is how you pick a name...