The Discovery of 𝐇𝐢𝐦

by Soaring

𝕆𝕦𝕥𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕤

Rainbow Dash didn’t know what to think.

…

An alien. An actual alien. Right in front of her. In the flesh.

She blinked. It—er, his name was Brick. She wasn’t going to call him by his full name because one, it was a mouthful in her eyes, and two, he probably wouldn’t like it if she did that, right?

She shook her head and took a step back to really get a good look at him. The pasty white alien had his hand cupping his jaw, while he tilted his head just enough to cr-ack his neck. Then, he turned his attention to the fire and sat down on a rather large log near it. He took a shaky breath and threw a nearby stick into it.

It incinerated almost immediately.

She sighed. 

Brick looked just as stressed as she was! Why was she standing here doing nothing but staring at him? Not only did she need to make sure he wasn’t going to make the fire bigger, but also, if she left him alone, she didn’t know what he was going to do! Even though he made it clear he didn’t want to burn the forest down, he could just be saying that to play on her good side! Nopony was going to manipulate her. Not even a non-pony like him. 

Cautiously, Rainbow Dash tiptoed her way up to him. Each step felt coarse under her hooves but each step meant one step closer to ensuring a not-burnt-up Everfree Forest. The fiery aftermath clouded her vision, which made her tightly shut her eyes for a brief moment. She needed to get rid of this brain fog and fast.

So what was she tiptoeing for?

Mentally groaning, Rainbow Dash stopped and actually walked like normal, if her normal was still somewhat forced, her leg cramping as she took another step. With a tremendous amount of effort and her lip sucking in the pain, Rainbow Dash clip-clopped her way over to him, going behind him instead of in front—getting thwacked by a large stick was not a fun way to introduce a possible friendship—and hopped over the log.

“Brick?”

He looked over at her and blinked. “Yeah, Rainbow Dash?”

“Is it cool if I sit here?”

Her wings itched as she asked that question. Celestia, her flight or fight instinct was firing all at once and she was not having it right now. And neither was Brick as his nostrils flared and his brows furrowed and—

“Sure. It’s a free countr—” He stopped himself and snorted. “Sorry, it’s a saying where I’m from.  Yeah, you can.”

She was about to sit when she decided it would be best to lay down instead, so she carefully flopped onto the log and set her head on her forehooves. She then looked up at him and smiled (at least she hoped, her upper lip was about to fall off with how much it was twitching). “Thanks.”

He looked away from her. “Y-You’re welcome.”

The two stayed silent for a bit, just watching as the fire raged on.

Then, Rainbow Dash mustered up enough awesome to change that. “So, what did you do back home?”

She could feel his gaze on her. “Working for the summer camp that you probably heard me ranting about.”

“I heard some of it. Eric was really mean to you, huh?”

Brick snorted. “He’s like that with most people. His ‘My father’s richer than yours!’ attitude is about as insufferable as it gets.” He grabbed another stick from his pile beside him and rolled it in his hand. “And now that I’m not there, I’m hoping he doesn’t screw up anything else for the camp.”

“Sounds like some pony I know.”

“Guess trans-dimensional douchebaggery is consistent no matter where you are.”

“Those were words?” Rainbow Dash asked, feeling her ears go numb all of a sudden.

He laughed at her misery. “Yeah. Just made them now. Look at me. I got teleported to another world and I’m here teaching a pony, language.” He shook his head. “If only my college professor who gave me a C in English 101 could see me now.”

“Hey, just because I didn’t know what that meant doesn’t mean I’m dumb or something!”

“Yeah, I figured. Were you a linguistic wiz in your language class too?”

She cleared her throat. She totally aced her Equestrian class! She didn’t want to make Brick feel bad—yeah, that’s it. “Of course! I’m the best at speaking Equestrian!”

She could hear Applejack calling her a weaselly little liar in her head. “Be honest to him! He deserves that much.” And then Pinkie would jump in just to tell her she’s not getting cupcakes for the next couple days (she’s using them as weapons currently in their prank war anyway [a war named Sweet And Sour II: Party Harder for some reason], so Rainbow Dash would let that slide). Also Fluttershy would glare at her and say, “It’s not nice to lie to somepony!” While Rarity would just flip her mane at her and she’d—

She was getting off topic now and Brick was looking at her like she grew a second head! She’ll leave that friendship lesson for later. 

“Right…” He threw another stick into the fire. “Anything else you want to talk about?”

She nodded. “So what are you?”

“A human.”

“A human?”

“Yep. Ever heard of them?”

“No…” Her eyes widened. “And you said you were from a place called Earth?”

“Yep.”

“You really are an alien.”

“Guess so,” Brick chuckled and continued, “Never thought I’d be an actual alien to someone.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “We’re the only species that can talk back where I’m from. I think it’s a load of crap though. Dogs, cats, and even dolphins totally have their own secret languages, we just can’t interpret them.”

She laughed. “We have pets here too, and they don’t talk either.” She craned her head up to look at him. “Sounds like Equestria’s a bit like Earth, don’t you…”

She paused as she watched him lift his hand up toward her head. His fingers stretched out almost as if he was going to reach for her, but then he stopped, his hand almost frozen in place. Without a second more to comprehend it, Brick pulled his arm back. His hand propped him back up, making him grunt. “Sorry.”

What was he going to do there? His hand was hovering over her head and then he took it away. “It’s okay.”

She gulped and shakily moved her forehoof towards his hand. She could see how it flexed while his other one moved through his shaggy mane. 

“Crazy how I’m having a casual conversation with a pony.”

“It’s crazy that you’re not Bighoof, Brick.”

He laughed. “Bighoof? You thought I was a yeti?”

She threw her forehooves into the air. “Can you really blame me? How else was I supposed to explain what I was seeing?”

“Lengthy pasty white thing frolics with fervor through the forest?”

She glared at him. “No. You weren’t frolicking.”

He facehooved—palmed—whatever it was called and sighed. “You’re right. Frolic is a terrible word for walking.”

She chuckled. “Twilight would agree with you there.”

“Twilight, you mean the movie?”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “No…? I didn’t know she got her own movie. She didn’t tell me!”

Brick raised a brow. “Okay, so who is this then? One of your friends?”

She slowly nodded, but realized what she had just told Brick and waved her hooves out in front of her. “You can’t see her though!”

“I can’t… see her?”

“Y-Yeah!”

…

“Why?”

She couldn’t help but play with her forehooves. What was he going to tell him? Sorry, because you’re an alien I’m afraid my friends would be allergic to you! Hmm… no, that wouldn’t work. Maybe tell him that too many ponies could give him radiation? Nah… that wouldn’t work either! She rubbed her chin before channeling The Egghead energy and grinning. This was going to be the best way to explain her hesitation away! And then he’ll not ask that question again and—

“Because you need a special pass!”

“A pass?”

“Y-Yeah… A pony pass!”

Brick was blinking like a strobe light at one of Vinyl and Octavia’s raves. She just made him think he needed a pass to even talk to them. How did she come up with that? That wasn’t what she was thinking of! All she had to say was ‘They were on vacation and won’t be back until next week!’ What was she going to say now? 

Rainbow Dash waited as Brick’s expression stayed frozen, unmoving. He was staring at her now, almost like he was trying to process what she said and instead, he wasn’t. Her heart stirred and her feathers burned an itch more annoying than the pony she was referencing.

“Rainbow Dash, I have never in my life heard of someone needing a pass just to talk to someone else.”

She nearly facehooved, but she decided to give herself a headache instead, and mentally facehoof instead. She grimaced, holding her head for a second, before looking at him. “Alright, you got me. I’m just… worried about what they’d say.”

“Why? Are they rude?”

“No…”

He hummed to himself. “Are they… too busy?”

“I mean… it depends on the day—”

“Are they allergic to me?”

“No! I’d be sneezing around you right now if that were true!”

He nodded. “True, true…” A hum, again. What was he doing? Revving himself up or something? 

Suddenly, he frowned and sighed. “Are they opposed to other species?”

Not only was that not true, but also opposed? Really? If somepony said that to her about… let’s say, Gilda, she’d make sure they’d hear her and then some! But here, it was an alien trying to understand Rainbow Dash and her friends. And eventually everypony else. All creatures.

Her mind couldn’t wrap itself around the whole thing. Gah! She just needed to make sure she wasn’t leading him in the wrong direction again. Public speaking wasn’t the coolest thing about her and thankfully the Wonderbolts didn’t require her to do a whole lot of it. Unless it was media day. She hated that day. She’ll just let her flying do the talking for her.

Unfortunately, she can’t let her flying talk her way out of this one. She needed to make her point clear. SSlloowwwly, she started talking, “No… they’re not going to be opposed to you. They’re just… sensitive. J-Just like everypony else!” She suddenly bit her tongue and scrunched her muzzle. “Actually, scratch that. Only some ponies are like that. I mean, I almost came out of that bush and rammed you but—”

“Yeah… you almost did.” 

She snorted. “I’m just saying! My friends are just…” She groaned. “I can’t think of a really good way of saying this, Brick. I’m sorry.”

He slightly smiled. “I get it. You’re just worried that they’ll do something that they’d regret.”

“Kind of… I know them really well, but this is a whole different thing. Like, a whooollle different thing entirely! I don’t want them to be too worried, y’know?”

“I guess. I mean, I don’t know how I’d be if you were put on Earth. The FBI probably would investigate or something.”

“FBI?”

Brick took a moment to think it over, at least, he was looking elsewhere, so she didn’t get a great view of him, but it looked like he did that, if his brow twitching meant anything. “Police but with way more funding… and a rather elastic history.”

She blinked. “Ooookaaaayyy…” She frowned. “I don’t think that’ll happen here, but I don’t want to get you in any trouble. After all, it’s not normal to be making friends with an alien—

“A human, in this case.”

“—whatever! Being friends with a whole new species is just not normal so…”

She twiddled with her hooves again. Wow, the side of her hoof felt a bit sharp. Gotta be careful with this one—wait, why was he humming to himself now? And why was he tossing another stick into the fire?

CL-UNK!

Her ears flicked up high after that toss. That was a loud one!

“Sorry, I had to get that big one out of the pile I collected. It was taking up room.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be. Look, I think it’s best if we get you set up out here. Then, if you really want to meet my friends, I can get them to meet you one by one! Don’t want to scare ponies off, y’know?”

He sighed. “Alright. Plus, it might help me with my mental health at the moment.”

“Great—wait, what do you mean by that?”

Brick looked at her like she just said something so incredibly insane it was not even funny. What? Was asking a question a bad thing now? He didn’t look angry at her, that’s at least something going for her.

He cleared his throat. “I… it’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing if you’re just casually mentioning it!” She flicked her wings out (although her one closest to the fire remained a bit more furled than unfurled. Charred feathers were not something she wanted right now!) before she continued, “I know I get in my moods some days but—”

“It’s not a mood thing. It’s just…” He trailed off, his voice shaking like a leaf on a tree. She could see him visibly shiver. “I’m alone. I’m just here. Like I said, casually talking to a pony isn’t something you’d do unless you owned a stable and they were your pet or something.” 

That image alone made her wince. “I… I see what you mean but—”

“And on top of that, I’m stuck here for the foreseeable future.” He leaned down to pick up a couple sticks and toss them in the fire too. “I don’t get it. Why me?”

“Nopony knows, Brick.” She brought one of her wings and gently laid them on his shoulder. He looked at her rather suddenly, which made her think she did something wrong, but then he looked back into the fire. “But you’re wrong about being alone. I’m here, right?”

He sighed. “You’re right. It’s just… I’m here, you’re here, and this is actually happening.”

“Yep…”

She pulled him closer with her wing and stayed there. She stayed there while his face did not change. And then he frowned again, just as she was thinking he was fine, and said the words that she dreaded to hear:

“I hope I’m not stuck here.”

Suddenly, all that warmth disappeared. The fire was still burning, but none of it gave her warmth. She shivered as she held the distraught human. 

Maybe this was more than she could take on.

Maybe this was just something that she needed her friends help with.

Maybe she was not the pony to help him.

Maybe she was not—

Gritting her teeth, she let out a growl that made Brick nearly jump out of her wing’s grasp.

“Whoa, Rainbow Dash, did I say something wrong or—”

“Yeah, you did. You won’t be stuck here! And even if you are and we don’t know it yet, I’m not abandoning you.”

“Abandoning? I didn’t say any—”

“You were thinking about it! I saw how your nose crooked up and—see, you’re doing it now!”

Brick uncrooked his nose and put his hands on his head. She let him have his moment, as he growled out whatever anxiousness was there. She would probably do the same thing if she was in his hooves—er… feet. Right. Not a pony.

“Am I really that easy to read?” Brick said as he peeled his hands off his head.

“I don’t know, it just looked like it was a tell.” She shook her head. “Look. No more brooding. We need to get your mind off this whole alien thing.”

He tilted his head. “And how do you suppose we do that?” 

She scrunched her muzzle up for a brief moment, before relaxing and clopping her forehooves together. “We got work to do.”

“Work? On what?”

“Setting up camp, duh! If you’re going to be living out here, you need a place to sleep! You were working for one, right?”

“Yeah, but setting up a camp is different than working at one, Rainbow Dash.”

“Okay… so you know how to make one, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah but—”

“Then let’s make one. You and me!”

“But we don’t have the necessary equipment to make one!” Brick shot back, waving his arm around the site. It was true, they had nothing but a large fire pit, but everypony starts out with nothing too at one point in their life, right? “I left majority of my gear in South Dakota and—”

She rolled her eyes. “Come oonnnn, dude! There’s a way to easily solve that problem! I’ll just get you some. What do ya need?”

Brick began to rev up again, and it made sense to her this time! He tapped his chin with his hand. “Some rope… a knife… maybe some food to tide us over and some stuff we can use to sleep with?”

“Like a blanket and a pillow or something?” 

He snapped his fingers and gave her a smile. “Yeah, that’ll work!”

She grinned and retracted her wing from his back. “Easy! I’ll get all that and some more stuff I just thought of faster than you can say XavlegbmaofffassssitimiwoamndutroabcwapwaeiippohfffX!”

“Was that even a word?”

Rainbow Dash wiped away her muzzle with a hoof. “Sorry, I sneezed. What I meant to say was that I would get it faster than you could even use up the rest of the wood you got for the fire!”

Brick laughed for a bit before calming himself down. “Alright, well I’m glad it wasn’t you choking on something. And, by the way, what did you mean by ‘more stuff?’”

“It’ll be a surprise, Brick! I can’t tell you. Think of the other stuff as a welcome to Equestria gift!”

“You’re something else, you know that?”

She just giggled in her hoof. “Awesome is the word you’re looking for.”

“Alright there, awesome,” Brick said with a chuckle. He folded his arms together. “How are you going to get everything here and back?”

“Flying, duhhh.” She punctuated this by flexing her speedy pups on her back. They were itching to get some more flying in! “What do you think these puppies are used for?”

He blinked. “I mean I haven’t seen you really fly so…”

“Well, watch this!”

Turning around from him and hopping off the log, Rainbow Dash landed on all fours. She craned her neck just to make sure he was watching (which he was) and smiled. “Are you ready?”

She could feel her tail wag as he gave her a thumbs up. “Ready as I can be!”

With a little wiggle of her back, she popped off the ground and zipped through the nearby canopy of the trees. She did a little loop around the clearing where the smoke was emerging from, before zipping back down to land just a bit beside him. 

“See! I can fly and—oof!”

Brick picked her up and hugged her close. “That was awesome, Rainbow Dash! Wow, I didn’t know you could actually fly, let alone like that!”

Hot. She felt hot. Really hot. In her cheeks. Was she blushing or did Princess Celestia just do a solar flare? No, no-no, not even Twilight could do that, and she knew a princess wouldn’t just mess with the sun like that! She shook her head to get rid of the thought that just burned her. “Ahhh yeah, I do that all the time. Professionally too!”

“Really?”

“Y-Yep!” Stupid stutter. The burning sensation in her cheeks was so annoying! It wasn’t going away! Ugh. “Anyway, I’ll come back in a few. You just need to stay here and keep that fire going!”

“Gotcha,” he said, before letting her go, setting her down on the ground again. 

She cracked her neck and stretched her legs. Phew! Brick could hug with a vice grip! “You definitely did.”

“Too strong?”

“My leg almost cramped up there.”

“My bad,” he muttered and snorted. “Well, you better be off. We’re burning daylight, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, probably. I’ll see you in a bit, okay?”

“Yep!”

“Don’t go wandering off. Don’t need to find you getting in a fight with a bear or something!”

He waved her off with his hand. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on wrestling a bear. Not even once.”

That’s not what she meant! She let out a brief blow. “Alright, see you!”

“Yep!”

…

The two couldn’t stop looking at each other. It was weird. It was awkward. It was definitely not his fault, it was totally hers. She snorted and turned around.

It didn’t take long to pop off the ground and flap her wings when she wasn’t looking at him.

Egh. This was going to be a whole thing, wasn’t it?