//------------------------------//
// 2 - Dinner With Friends 
// Story: Crossing Rainbow Bridges 
// by David Silver 
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"Right this way, then!" Applejack led them through the orchard and into a charming cottage surrounded by apple trees. A small, gray-haired pony with a red apron bustled out of the house, followed by a small yellow pony with a red mane and tail. Both ponies stopped short when they saw Brad. The yellow one squealed in delight. "Oh my gosh! Is that a human?" She bounced up and down in excitement.

Applejack laughed nervously. "Ah didn't ask, truth told. Felt rude to. They're just guests lookin' to enjoy some Apple vittles." She gestured to the large equine under the human. "This is Bella. She only speaks proto-Pony. It's amazin'."

Bella snorted with a spirited shake of her head, and somehow the meaning was understood by all the ponies without any actual words stated. The oldest nodded. "Bella's got the right idea. We should get to eatin'. You!" She pointed firmly at Brad. "Get off her and use yer own feet. She'll have to go around, ain't no way we'll fit her in the front way, but no way we're leavin' her out."

Brad felt like he was in a dream as he slid off Bella's back and followed the ponies into the cozy kitchen. A large wooden table was already set with plates of food and pitchers of cider. The yellow pony chattered excitedly as they sat down. "My name's Apple Bloom! What's yours? How did you get here? Do you live in a big city? I've always wanted to visit a big city!"

Applejack settled next to Apple Bloom. "Calm down. He can only answer so many questions, an' it ain't polite to go so fast."

"Sorry."  Apple Bloom folded an ear and looked properly contrite. "Jus' excited, is all."

Brad took a spot, wondering a moment where Bella was. That was answered an instant later as Bella's big head poked in through the window and leaned in over the table easily. "Oh! Hello there." He looked to the ponies, but they didn't seem to be remotely bothered by having a horse join them for dinner.

"I'm Brad. I, uh, came with Bella. She's my best friend. I have no idea how we got here, but it's been a really weird day." He chuckled ruefully. "Weird, but nice. I've never met such a friendly bunch of people before." He took a bite of the apple cake and moaned softly. "And this is delicious."

The elder pony nodded, satisfied. "Good manners. You can stay. Now, what's your story?"

Brad opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated. What was he supposed to say? That he was a horse boy who'd been magically transported to a land of talking ponies? They'd think he was crazy. Or worse, they'd think he was lying. He took a deep breath and began speaking. "Well, it all started when I went for a ride on Bella..."

Bella let out a soft whinny before taking a chomp of the food, sinking her teeth into a casserole. Eating implements were right out for her, so stuffing her face was the only option she knew, and wielded with the usual grace of a grazing horse.

Still, the noise had meant something to the others. Apple Bloom gasped with amazement. "Ya stood on a rainbow?! How?" She looked to Brad. "Tell us! Um, please?"

Brad smiled, off balance but continuing, "As Bella said--" Not that he could understand her. "--When she was going about as fast as she could go, a good jump made us land on a rainbow. Racing across that rainbow led us here, to this place. Does this place have a name?"

"Ponyville," the elder replied, nodding. "A right pretty name for a right pretty town." She patted Bella's cheek fondly. "And you're a right pretty horse. Ain't never seen one like you before, but you seem right at home here." She recoiled suddenly, ears perking. "Oh, bein' rude. Ah'm Granny Smith. Can't believe ah forgot to mention."

Applejack let out a little whisper of a nicker, speaking to Bella perhaps? "I imagine you were quite surprised."

Brad nodded with amazement in his eyes. "I sure was." He took a moment to look around, soaking in the rustic pieces of a dining room lived in for generations. It smelled of delightful meals blended together over untold years and had so many little things tucked along its shelves from foodstuffs to old momentos.

"It's a lovely place." He looked back to the ponies. "And I'm glad to be here, even if I don't know how long I'll be staying. I have a job back home, and a life there." He stroked Bella's neck, feeling the familiar warmth of her coat beneath his fingers. "But I'm sure Bella will take me back when we're ready."

"You mean you ain't stayin'?" Apple Bloom pouted dramatically, sounding disappointed. "But we just met!"

"Now, Apple Bloom, he's got a life outside Ponyville," Applejack said gently. "Can't expect him to drop everything jus' cause we're friendly."

Brad smiled at the whole family. "And you are. Fine food and new fine friends. I can't say today was a waste."

"Drink to that." Granny raised a cider mug up, and soon they all had a drink, minus Bella, and clinked them together. Bella touched her nose to the collected mugs as if trying to take part in the best way she could.

"So, what do you do in your world?" Apple Bloom asked curiously. "I mean, what's a human's job?"

"I work at a ranch." Brad nodded to the ponies. "Lets me take care of and hang out with a lot of horses, just like Bella. But she's special." Bella softly snorted in agreement. "That's right." That one Brad felt confident he understood. "We're a team. The other ones I just keep an eye on and help take care of."

Granny Smith got a sly look on her face. "So if I'm feeling down, ah could ask you to take care of me?"

"Well, I--" Brad felt his face go red. "I mean, if you wanted me to." He cleared his throat. "I'd be happy to give you a massage or rub your hooves. I'll swap out your oats and water and make sure you get a walk." He glanced to the food. "But I doubt you want to eat just oats."

Granny blinked at that. "Oats are hardly no good 'til you bake 'em! Unless yer goin' fer oatmeal, ah suppose." She laughed at that. "W ain't horses. We're ponies. There's a difference! We know how to cook, so we like eatin' cooked food, ya see?"

"You do?" Brad looked to the family, who nodded. "I had no idea." He shrugged with a little noise of thought. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed."

"Don't worry none about it," Applejack said easily. "Yer an ancient human, an' you came on an ancient horse. Ya got some ancient ideas. It's all kinda--" She tapped at her chin. "Ancient?"

Apple Bloom clapped as she hopped to the floor. "Ya gotta tell us about that before ya go. Yer a myth! Ya know that, right?"

"A myth?" Brad shook his head. "No, I'm just a guy."

"Not where we come from." Applejack pointed to a bookcase and a thick, leather-bound tome. "There's a whole chapter on humans in there. But it's all stories. Like, really old ones. No one believed they were real."

Brad went to the book, pulling it down to look at the title. "Generations," it read. It went over the ages of ponykind, through each rise and fall of the ponies. He didn't have the time or patience to read in detail, flipping quickly through with soft hums. He almost dropped the book when he found what he was looking for, a picture of a human.

There was one, a little girl with a bright smile. Megan was her name, and she was a great friend of ponies, who looked a lot more like horses. Those first ponies evidently also used a rainbow road to fetch her back and forth from Earth. "Amazing. I'm not a little kid."

Applejack tipped her hat. "We kinda picked up on that." She was smirking at those words. "A full grown human. Are ya a human mare or a human stallion?"

"A stallion." Brad smiled at that. "I'm a guy."

"Well, that's mighty interestin'." Applejack's cheeks darkened. "I'm a mare, and I'm a pony."

"Filly!" Apple Bloom waved excitedly.

Granny rolled her eyes. "Mare." She reached up to pat Bella gently. "Mare. Glad we got that all sorted out."

Brad laughed at that. "I guess we did. And I'm glad to meet you all. I hope I can come back to visit again."

"Ah'd be mighty pleased if ya did." Applejack nodded. "If ya find yer way back, that is. Don't want ya gettin' lost."

"I won't." Brad turned to Bella. "Right?"

She nodded once, then lifted her head and pointed it towards the door.

"But ya just got here!" Apple Bloom rushed to his leg and rubbed once against it. "Wow, ya got long legs compared to the rest of ya."

Brad couldn't resist, reaching down to gently ruffle over Apple Bloom's head and stroke an ear. "Just the way humans are built, especially adult ones."

Apple Bloom's eyes snapped shut as she gave off an almost purr of a sound. "Applejack, ya gotta try this."

Applejack angled an ear at Apple Bloom as she came in closer. "Try what?"

Not seeing a reason to not do so, he reached his other hand for Applejack, stroking and petting over her head gently. Applejack let out a happy noise, a whicker of sorts. "Woah nilley." She leaned against the touches as the human fingers dancer over her. "That's right nice."

Brad chuckled softly. "I'm glad you think so." He looked to Granny Smith. "Do you want some too?"

Granny Smith gave a shrug. "Ah'm old. Ah don't need to be spoiled."

"C'mon, Granny!" Apple Bloom grinned. "It's amazin'!"

Granny Smith sighed, then walked over to Brad. "Fine, fine, but only cause ya insist."

Brad abandoned Apple Bloom and Applejack to drop to a knee in front of Granny Smith. He started with a gentle scalp massage that worked over her neck and back. It was a rub down, minus the curry brush he'd normally use. "How's that?"

"That--" She turned a little, directing the attention as Brad worked. "--is somethin' you should keep right on doin'."

Applejack snickered softly. "We told ya it was somethin'."

Granny snorted with a scowl. "Don't rub it in. That's Brad's job. Keep rubbin'." She sighed with increasing satisfaction, eyes closed. "Ya didn't mention those fingers were magic thin's."

"They're just hands." Brad chuckled. "I'm glad you're enjoying it."

"I am." She opened an eye. "Are ya done?"

"I can keep going." Brad paused. "But I should probably be getting back. It's been a long day, and I'm not sure how to get back."

Bella snorted and drew her head back through the window. They could hear her clopping around the house until her soft pawing hit the front door. "Better get that," laughed Brad, moving for it. He opened it so Bella could shove her face against him with a happy nicker. "I understand that part easily enough. Let's get back. Thank you all again for being such great hosts."

"Anytime," Applejack smiled, removing her hat for a proper tip before popping it back in place. "We're always happy to welcome a friend."

"I'll be back." Brad stepped outside next to Bella. "I just have to figure out how to get back."

Bella stomped and fidgeted, and Brad knew those movements. She was ready to go. "You know?" He slid up onto her and she broke away, working up to a trot, then a gallop a moment later, away from the house.

They rode, two working together in the fine machine of a rider and their steed. As she raced at full speed, she veered for a proper bump on the dirt road and bounced off of it. They came down on a glittering rainbow road, racing along towards home.