//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Alex's Care Taker // by SparkStone //------------------------------// To Meet Again It was a brand new day here in Equestria. Alex wakes up fresh and early, looking outside to see the town he never thought he’d be in. Ponyville was right before him, and many of his friends lived in this town as well. For now however, he must focus on the task at hand. Or for equestrian terms, hooves. Entering the kitchen, he readies breakfast. Finding loafs of bread and stacks of cheeses, he has an idea. Cutting the cheese in thin slices, and places them on top of the bread, he stores the both of them into the oven. While he was waiting for the two to toast, he cuts up some cilantro, mushrooms, and readies some spices. The oven makes a ringing chime, alerting the human to open and take out the cheesy bread. He spreads some cilantro, mushroom bits, a dash of garlic, and a bit of pepper, and the dish is complete for breakfast. He brings the dish to the other room. There, he finds not two, but six chairs. Each with a different symbol on top. He then assumes that there are others who lives here as well. He heads back to the kitchen to make more. “Strange, I thought there was only Twilight and Spike.” Alex thought to himself. Spike awoke with tired eyes and a growling stomach. He enters the room with the crystal map, and sees food before each chair. He runs to a seat, and takes a bite. His eyes then spark at the flavors, making him dig into the dish some more. “Aw man! This is great!” He said happily. “You know it!” Pinkie agreed, chowing down next to Spike. The dragon jumped in shock, which was then followed by Twilight entering the room with her other friends. “I’m glad you all could come over. There’s something I need to talk to…” Twilight paused to see meals set out before them. The other mares took a quick whiff before having a craving for whatever’s on the table. “Hey Twi, what cha serving there?” Rainbow asked. “Smells, good~” “Did you prepare us breakfast? Oh darling, you shouldn’t have!” Rarity told the bewildered mare. “Um… I think he made… all of us breakfast.” Twilight thought. “Yeah, I have a feeling it was…” “Was who Twilight?” Fluttershy wondered. “I’ll uh… tell you about it after we eat.” Twilight drooled. “To be honest, I skipped breakfast to gather all of you.” The mares sat down for breakfast together. The delightful squeals in reaction to the food had made them start talking about the dish on the table. “My word Twilight! This is absolutely scrumptious!” Rarity stated. “It’s delightful to have some pony serve us such a wonderful meal.” “Oh, it wasn’t me.” Twilight told them. “It’s probably this alien creature we found the other day who made this.” The five paused and stared at Twilight with their mouths agape. She looked at their shocked stares, and quickly reassured them. “Don’t worry, he seems really nice.” “Uh, if an alien came around my house, I wouldn’t have let it off easy you know.” Rainbow claimed. “An… Alien…?” Fluttershy muttered. “Ooh! When can we see him?” Pinkie asked. “Let me call him in.” Twilight told them. “Alex!” “Alex?” Applejack repeated. Her eyebrow raised as she looked to the doors, slowly opening, giving an entrance to the creature fore mentioned by the violet unicorn. “Hey everyone. Are you enjoying your meal?” Alex asked. “Alex!?” Applejack called out. Alex turned and saw the orange mare with the Stetson, causing him to widen his eyes in disbelief. “AJ? Is that you?” Twilight looked at the two, shocked that they knew of each other. “Wait, you know her?” “Wait, you didn’t tell me you knew an alien!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I could see why.” Rainbow stated. “I would’ve just called her crazy.” Alex walked up to Applejack with a smile. “It’s been a while Applejack.” “Ya darn tootin it’s been a long time!” Applejack remarked. “It’s been about, what, three years?” “I believe it may be four, but I could be wrong.” Alex replied. “So this was before I came to Ponyville then.” Twilight guessed. “Yep. Alex took me in when I went missing for a while. He even helped me take care of my kickers when they were twitching some.” “Wow Alex! You must be super nice!” Pinkie guessed. “Thanks. You must be Pinkie Pie.” Alex replied. The eccentric mare gasped deeply and inched her head closer to his. “How’d you know my name?” “A good number of the ponies that I took care of came from Ponyville, and could easily speak vividly of you.” Alex explained. “Also, I believe I’ve met your sister too.” Another deep gasp goes on. “You know about Limestone too!?” “No, not her.” “Marble?!” “No, it’s Maud. Maud came to my world a while back too.” “NO WAY!!!” Pinkie gasped. “Wait, does that make you her special friend?” “I… guess?” “Oh! She told me all about you! That you were great at cooking, and driving, and storytelling, and-” Pinkie then gave yet another, long gasp before saying in a serious tone, “Belly rubs” “Belly rubs? I didn’t know you were into that.” Rainbow scoffed, then looked at Applejack. “Did he do the same thing to you too?” “More or less…” Applejack answered, reddened in blush. “Well, judging from your performance on cooking just now, and the wonderful things our friends have to say about you, you must be quite the gentlemen.” Rarity thought. “I try my best to be polite.” Alex said genuinely. “If what you said is true, that must mean you know a lot of ponies already.” Twilight thought. “Yep. And to be honest, I was hoping to go out and see some old friends.” Alex told her. “But sadly, not all of my friends live in Ponyville.” “I can help with that!” Pinkie exclaimed. “We can just, you know, put it on the newspaper!” “Um… Why?” Fluttershy asked. “Because Alex isn’t something you’ll see every day! So the newspaper can spread the news around, and all kinds of ponies will come over! Especially your friends!” “Huh… That’s not such a bad idea.” Twilight thought. “AND! We can throw a big party to top it all off!” Pinkie finished with sparkles in her eyes. “That sounds great.” Rainbow smirked. “You know Alex, you’re making your big entrance better and better for us. First with the food, and now a party? This is just going great.” “I hope you don’t plan on taking advantage of him.” Applejack warned her. “He’s done a lot for ponies over the years, I can tell. Since he’s here in Equestria, I feel that it’s only right we take care of him in return.” “What!? But it’s not like he ever took care of me!” Rainbow complained. “It’s alright. I can take care of myself too.” Alex assured them. “Yes darling, he is a grown man after all.” Rarity reminded her. “Unless… you have other intentions?” “Don’t start assuming things Rarity.” Applejack warned her. “I’m serious about Alex. I feel that I should at least bring him home so that I can provide for him if ya’ll ain’t gonna do it.” “I don’t mind giving a hoof.” Rarity claimed. “And judging by your clothing, I have a feeling you like to have a collection of apparel within your inventory.” “Uh… In a way, yes.” Alex nodded. “You should come over to Sugar Cube Corner too! We can cook together and everything!!” Pinkie added. “Are you sure Mr. and Mrs. Cake wouldn’t mind?” Rainbow questioned. “They’ll be fine with it, as long as I ask really, really nicely.” “Um… I’ll see if I can help too…” Fluttershy noted. “Ugh, fine. I’ll pitch in too.” Rainbow groaned. “Thanks, it means a lot.” Alex told them. “Of course, like I said before, I can take care of myself.” “I think it’d just feel right if we did the caring for you this time.” Applejack explained. Alex sighed and crossed his arms. “Alright I guess. If you so desire, then I’ll follow with you on this.” “Great! So Alex, where do you want to stay then?”