//------------------------------// // Where I belong // Story: The Mystery of a New World // by Fanthrose //------------------------------// Chapter 13 It was a chilly summer morning in Ponyville, and the light shone brightly through the windows of Carrot Top’s house. The light framed the sleeping couple on the couch. At some point during the night, Ditzy had shifted on top of AJ, throwing the blanket off of them. Now her head was next to his, nuzzling into him. Also because of the shift AJ’s arm, which was wrapped around the middle of Ditzy’s body the night prior, was now wrapped around her rump with his hand resting on her cutie mark. This was a sight that Carrot Top found both cute and absolutely hilarious at the same time. Carrot Top had come down stairs with Dinky on her back to get started on breakfast, only to find the two of them in the very compromising position. She let Dinky get down and told her to go get washed up and get ready for breakfast. She walked over to the couch and gently prodded the two sleeping figures. “Time to wake up you two.” “Five more minutes,” protested Ditzy. As she shifted again, she felt something on her rump. Opening her eyes, she saw just how close to AJ’s face she was. She blushed and eeped, causing AJ to wake up. “Hmm?” As AJ’s eyes adjusted to being awake once again, the first thing he saw was Ditzy’s face right next to his. He blushed as he spoke, “umm, morning.” He started to move his arm causing Ditzy to eep again. The reaction the both of them had when they realized where AJ’s arm was made Carrot Top start laughing hysterically. Both of their faces turned crimson as they looked at his hand. They looked at each other with horrified looks and AJ quickly removed his hand. They both sat bolt upright, but with Ditzy on top of AJ, she ended up tumbling off the couch, getting tangled in the blanket upside down. Still blushing, they both looked over to Carrot Top who was rolling on the floor at this point. “I-i-i-if I would have known t-t-this was going to happen, I-i-i would have woken you up and told you to get a room hahahahahahahaha!” “Sh-shut up Carrot!” Ditzy yelled, not finding it anywhere near as funny as Carrot Top had. “I wish I would have gotten this on camerahahahahahaha!” Carrot Top said, still unable to stop laughing. “Shut up or I’ll show AJ the video of you and your brother at that party last year!” Ditzy threatened. Carrot Top immediately stopped laughing as horror crept its way onto her face. “You wouldn’t?!” “Try me.” Carrot Top got up looking defeated. “Fine, you win.” She glared at Ditzy. “You play dirty, you know that?” Ditzy smiled triumphantly as she untangled herself from the blanket. She watched as Carrot Top walked into the kitchen, grumbling to herself as she did. She looked to AJ who was still blushing a bit as he stretched. “So…did you have fun last night?” Realizing what she had just asked, combined with the position they had just woken up in, Ditzy blushed and quickly added to the question, “With the movie night, did you have fun during movie night?” “Yea, definitely something we should do again sometime,” AJ said with a smile. AJ looked over to the kitchen to make sure Carrot Top wasn’t about to walk in on them. Lowering his voice he asked, “So what’s this about her and her brother at a party?” Ditzy got an evil smile on her face as she too made sure Carrot Top wasn’t going to come in. She got close and lowered her voice. “Last year her family came over and we had a birthday party for her younger brother Golden Harvest. It was his 17th birthday. Her mother asked if I could record the entire thing with my video camera so I did. Well at some point, somepony ended up spilling some punch on the kitchen floor. Carrot Top’s mom went to get the mop to clean it up. At that point Golden Harvest came running into the kitchen. He didn’t see the punch and ended up slipping on it. He careened straight into Carrot Top. When they landed on the floor, Golden Harvest landed on top of Carrot Top, kissing her, on camera.” “I don’t know, accidentally kissing your brother doesn’t sound like it would be the worst thing ever. I mean yea, kissing my brother is probably the last thing I’d ever want to do but I think I’d get over it after a bit.” AJ just shrugged. “Well, it mortified Carrot. She stayed in her room the rest of the day after using up the rest of the toothpaste.” Ditzy’s ears perked up as she heard Carrot Top coming into the living room. “What are you two talking about?” Carrot Top asked with a suspicious look on her face. Ditzy attempted to put on her most innocent face. “Oh, I was just asking AJ if he had any plans today.” Carrot Top gave Ditzy a blank stare. “Ditzy, you realize your eyes go crazy when you lie right?” Ditzy’s eyes have betrayed her once again. “You were telling him, weren’t you?” “N-no, of course not.” Ditzy’s smiled sheepishly as she tried to correct her eyes. “Ditzy, I swear if you told him I will…” Carrot Top stopped when she saw Dinky slowly making her way out of the bathroom. She looked at Ditzy and mouthed ‘We will have words.’ “Morning mommy!” Dinky said as she hobbled up and hugged her mom. “Morning my little muffin.” Carrot Top sighed. “How do waffles sound for breakfast?” Seeing everyone in the room agree to waffles, she walked back into the kitchen to start breakfast. Breakfast mostly went off without a hitch. Whenever she was sure Dinky wasn’t looking, Carrot Top would glare at Ditzy and mouth ‘words’ at her. When they were done AJ happily rubbed his belly. “That was great Carrot Top. You really know how to cook.” Carrot Top smiled. “Thank you. I had to learn when I was young. With mom working, dad’s inability to cook anything without starting something on fire, and with Harvey being too young to cook for himself, either I learned to cook or we would go hungry until mom got back at about 8 at night.” A knock on the door got everyone’s attention. “I’ll get it.” Ditzy got up and flew to the door. She opened the door to see Caramel standing there. “Good morning Caramel. What can I do for you?” “Hello Ditzy. I was wondering if you know where AJ was. I checked at the hospital and they said he went home with you.” Hearing his name, AJ got up and peaked his head around the corner. “Oh, hey Caramel, what’s up?” “There you are. Big Mac was wondering where you were since you didn’t come home last night.” Caramel started to smile. “I guess he got worried for no reason.” “I guess I really should get back to the farm and check in. Probably wouldn’t hurt. Gotta get cleaned up anyway.” AJ walked over to Caramel. “I’ll see you later Ditzy.” Ditzy smiled and waved. “Mmhm. Make sure you take it easy.” “I will.” ******************** Applejack stirred in bed as the suns rays enveloped her. She slowly opened her eyes to see Rarity still in her embrace. She nuzzled into the back of Rarity’s neck, causing Rarity to release a quiet, happy whinny in her sleep. Making sure not to wake her, Applejack quietly got out of bed and made her way into the bathroom to get her self cleaned up. While she more than enjoyed there ‘activities’ last night, going out smelling of sweat and sex probably wasn’t the best idea. She got in the big tub and turned on the hot water, adjusting it to her liking. She gave a happy sigh as the warm water ran down her body and through her mane and tail. Any and all stiffness she had from waking up was immediately washed away down the drain. “Who need’s coffee ta wake up when a nice, warm shower is all ya need.” She reached over to grab the shampoo in her mouth only to find it missing. “Now where did that bottle get off to? Ah coulda sworn it was right here.” “Are you looking for this darling?” Applejack turned around to see Rarity’s head poking through the curtain with a soft smile on her face, holding the bottle of shampoo in her magic. Applejack smiled. “Mornin’ sugarcube.” Rarity stepped in along side Applejack and started squeezing the shampoo in her main and tail. “Oh Applejack, last night was simply amazing. I can’t remember the last time I woke up so…happy.” “Not since th’ last time.” They both giggled a bit. “An’ ya know Ah can wash mahself right?” “Oh I know, but you know how I love to play with your mane darling,” Rarity said as she ran her hoof through Applejacks long golden locks. “I still say you should get rid of those hair bands and let your hair flow free.” “An’ Ah told ya it would get in th’ way when Ah work. Trust me, ah tried,” Applejack said as Rarity worked on cleaning her. “Plus Big McIntosh kept makin’ fun of me fer it.” “Oh he did, did he? Well I think I might have to go down there and give him a piece of my mind,” Rarity said as she started washing the suds off of Applejack. Applejack chuckled. “Don’t worry ‘bout it Rare’s, It’s all in good fun.” Before all of the suds could flow down the drain, Applejack caught some on her hoof and poked Rarity on the nose, leaving the suds behind. “If y’all had an older siblin’ ya would know that. Now, it’s mah turn ta wash yer hair.” After the two of them finished their shower and got in a good coat brushing, the two of them went down to the kitchen where Rarity started making a breakfast of eggs, hay bacon, toast, and juice. Rarity was a decent cook, but for Applejack it was always too little food. She made a mental note to grab something else to munch on when she got home. “Thanks fer th’ food Rarity.” She looked at the clock. “Oh horse apples, is it ten already? Ah should be getting’ back ta th’ farm.” “I understand darling. I really should be getting back to work as well. With Sweetie Belle out of the house, I can finally clean up her room.” A look of disgust crossed her features. “How she has so many dirty clothes when she rarely wears them is beyond me. I swear there’s a pile of socks and saddles taller than I am in her closet.” Applejack laughed. It never ceased to amaze her just how messy those three fillies could get on a regular basis. “Lucky fer me Apple Bloom only has one dress that she never wears. In fact, ever since AJ started livin’ with us, our washer an’ dryer have gotten more use than it’s ever gotten before.” Looking at the clock again made Applejack cringe slightly. “Sorry, but Ah really gotta go.” She gave Rarity a quick kiss before rushing out the door. ********************* “Wow, you guys really did a great job. It looks like it wasn’t even touched by the storm,” Rainbow said to Braeburn and Big Mac. “Eeyup,” Big Mac drawled. “Th’ captain said he’d send someponies over ta fix th’ water, gas, an’ electricity tomorrow. Ah’m just happy we got our beds back. Ah don’t know how much longer Ah could have slept in th’ clubhouse.” “Especially with yer leg,” Braeburn pointed out. “It can’t be good sleepin’ in that old clubhouse with yer leg like that.” Big Mac waved off Braeburn’s concern. “Y’all know somethin’ like this’ll never keep me down fer long.” He looked over to the entrance of the farm when he saw two figures approaching. From the size of one of them, he immediately knew who it was and waved Caramel and AJ over. “There ya are. Where’d ya find’im Caramel?” “He slept over at Ditzy Doo’s place for the night.” Rainbow gave AJ a playful grin. “Slept over at Ditzy’s huh?” AJ blushed slightly. Rainbow turned to Caramel. “Speaking of being in love, when are you going to ask out Twilight, huh?” Caramel’s eyes got wide as he felt his face heat up. “T-twilight? Umm…well…I…” “Come on Caramel, everypony knows the two of you are head over hooves for each other. So why don’t you go over there and just ask her?” “He’ll ask’er out when he’s ready Rainbow, so stop teasin’ him already,” came Applejack’s voice from behind the group. “Ain’t that right Caramel?” Still blushing, Caramel just nodded. “Hey, do you guys know when were gonna be getting water back?” AJ asked. “If yer talkin’ about gettin’ a shower, th’ buckets by th’ well ,” Big Mac said. “They should be gettin’ around ta fixin’ th’ water tomorrow.” AJ sighed at having to use a bucket of cool well water to wash up again, but he knew it was the only way to get clean at the house at the moment. After waving goodbye, he made his way to the well. “Ah’ll help ya sugarcube,” Applejack said. “Y’all really shouldn’t be gettin’ well water by yerself.” AJ was about to speak up about doing things by himself, but he remembered what Fluttershy told him. Smiling, he said, “Alright, thanks Applejack.” ******************** AJ knocked on the door to Fluttershy’s cottage. Rainbow Dash had told him that Fluttershy wanted to see him, so after he got cleaned up he decided to head over to see what she wanted. After getting no response, he knocked again. This time the bottom of the door was slowly pushed open by a small white bunny who didn’t look very happy. “Oh hey Angel, is Fluttershy around?” Angel just nodded and pointed to the interior of the house before hopped back in, leaving AJ standing there. After about a half a minute, Angel once again appeared at the door throwing his arms out in front of him and pointing to the interior of the house again as if saying ‘what are you doing, I just told you to get in here!’ “What, you want me to come in?” Angel nodded. “Oh, OK.” Opening the top half of the door, AJ walked past Angel who just facepawed and hopped back inside. Once inside, AJ understood why he didn’t get an answer from anyone. Fluttershy was sleeping on the couch with a pink blanket draped over her as she hugged a teddy bear. One of her wings lazily dangled off the couch as she slept. AJ looked over to Angel and whispered, “I’ll just come back later.” Angel would have none of this though. He jumped up on the couch and moved next to Fluttershy’s fore-leg. He lifted his leg and started repeatedly pounding down on her leg. The sudden jolts caused Fluttershy to spring up in terror and cling to a bird house hung above the couch. Now that Fluttershy was awake, Angel silently congratulated himself and hopped back into his little bunny hut for a congratulatory nap. “Oh Angel, I wish you wouldn’t do that,” Fluttershy said, lightly letting herself back onto the couch. After yawning, she looked over to see AJ standing by the door. “Oh, hel *yawn* hello.” “I could come back later if you’d like to sleep longer,” AJ said seeing that Fluttershy was clearly still very tired. “Oh no, that’s alright. I take it Rainbow Dash gave you my message?” Fluttershy asked as she stretched her limbs. “Yup. She didn’t tell me why you wanted to see me though.” Fluttershy gave a tired smile and walked into the kitchen. When Fluttershy returned, AJ’s jaw dropped. In her mouth was none other than Mr. Bun bun in pristine condition. “Wow, it looks great Fluttershy.” Still smiling Fluttershy handed the stuffed bunny to AJ. “I stayed up all night working on him.” All you would have to do is look at the dark bags under her eyes to see she wasn’t lying. “Fluttershy, you didn’t have to do that.” Fluttershy shook her head. “I wanted to. I couldn’t stand seeing him in such a horrible condition.” She worked her way back up onto the couch. “I would gladly have stayed up for days to make sure Mr. Bun bun was repaired.” She yawned again. AJ smiled as he looked Mr. Bun bun over. He had gotten used to sleeping with the stuffed bunny. It just hadn’t felt right when he tried to go to sleep lately. “Thanks Fluttershy, this means a lot to me. Hey if you’re hungry, we were planning on having a…” When AJ looked back up, he saw that Fluttershy had fallen asleep again. She was curled up into a ball and was lightly snoring. Smiling, AJ placed Mr. Bun Bun in his sling to hold it. Walking over the couch, he picked up the teddy bear that had fallen on the floor when Angel woke her up and placed it up against her. Her sleeping form grabbed it and started nuzzling it. He grabbed the blanket and placed it over her. As silently as he could, he walked out the door and closed it, letting Fluttershy get some well deserved sleep. ******************** “I thank you for sending these letters for me,” Aquilinus said to Spike and Twilight. “Oh it’s no problem at all, isn’t that right Spike?” Twilight asked as she looked over to Spike. He had just finished sending the captain’s report to Celestia. “No problem at all.” “Would you like to stay for some tea or coffee Captain? You look like you could use a bit of a break,” Twilight asked. Aquilinus shook his head. “As good as that sounds, I really should get back to work.” He bowed his head. “I appreciate the offer though.” Twilight and Spike watched the captain leave the library. “*sigh* I wish I could have his work ethic, what about you Spike?” Spike looked unsure. “I don’t know Twilight. I don’t think I could go that long without taking a break like he does. I mean, you saw him when we were still in Canterlot. I swear he would go twelve hours at a time without taking a break.” As soon as Spike finished his sentence, he got that all too familiar feeling in his gut. His cheeks puffed out as he let out a belch of flames, a scroll coming out of the flames. Spike grabbed the scroll off the floor and unrolled it. “Dear Twilight Sparkle Tomorrow my sister Luna and I will be making a quick stop in Ponyville at 12:00 P.M. We will be stopping at the library for some research involving the dimensional portal. We would appreciate it if AJ could be there too. Sincerely yours HRH Princess Celestia.” “Didn’t they end that research?” Spike asked. “They must have started researching it again after they found out the spell worked,” Twilight said. “We could ask them when they get here tomorrow. For now, let’s go tell AJ to be here tomorrow.” ******************** The feast at Sweet Apple Acres was coming to a close. Every Apple on the farm contributed to the vast amount of food that now filled the bellies of everypony with plenty of leftovers. While most of the ponies at the farm were helping to clean up the mess, two little fillies were getting their things together for another day of crusading. “Bye Applejack. Me an’ Sweetie are goin’ ta go get Scootaloo now.” “Alright. Just don’t get inta too much trouble now,” Applejack said as she carried a back full of dirty dishes over to get washed. “We won’t,” squeaked Sweetie Belle. Applejack looked over to Sweetie Belle. “Oh, an’ Sweetie, y’all should probably check in with Rarity soon.” “OK. Thanks for letting me sleep over Applejack!” Sweetie Belle said as the two fillies ran off. Applejack watched as the two little fillies ran towards the exit of the farm, sending Twilight and Spike spinning as they passed. She facehoofed and walked over to help pick the two of them off the ground. “Sorry ‘bout that Twi. You’d think they’d know better than that by now.” Twilight shook her head to get her eyes to stop spinning. “It’s no problem Applejack.” Taking Applejack’s hoof, Twilight got up. “So, what’s up?” “Nothin’ much. Just cleanin’ up after lunch.” Applejacks face brightened up. “Hey, if’n y’all are hungry, we got plenty of leftovers.” Spike smiled. “That sounds great! We haven’t eaten lunch yet.” Twilight felt her stomach grumble slightly in hunger. “Yea, I think we’ll take you up on that offer.” “Great. Come on, Ah’ll get ya some plates.” Twilight and Spike followed Applejack over to where Caramel and AJ were doing dishes. “Think we could get a couple of clean plates here?” AJ looked over. “Huh? Oh, hey Twilight.” “Twilight?” Caramel blushed as he too looked over. “Um, hello Twilight.” Twilight felt her face heat up. “Hi Caramel.” AJ looked between the two obviously love struck ponies. The two of them just kept staring at each other with dopey smiles on their faces. “Wow, Rainbow wasn’t kidding.” “Um, th’ plates?” Applejack said, reminding AJ of why they were over there. “Ah yes, the plates.” AJ grabbed two of the cleaned plates and handed them to Twilight. “Here you go.” Twilight absent mindedly took the plates in her magic and continued to just stand there. “Twilight come on, I’m hungry!” That is until Spike interrupted her. He was eagerly waiting for Twilight to bring the plates over so they could eat. Hearing Spike yell broke Twilight out of her dreamy state. “Huh, oh sorry Spike.” She took one last look at Caramel over her shoulder before trotting over to Spike. Caramel continued to stare in the direction Twilight had trotted. “Hey, Caramel you there?” AJ waved his hand in his face. “Equestria to Caramel, anyone home?” When that didn’t work AJ grabbed onto his shoulder and gave him a little shake. “Come on, wake up lover boy.” The shake managed to knock Caramel out of his reverie. The blush on his face grew. “Um, let’s get back to work.” He quickly turned around and started washing again. AJ shrugged to Applejack and went back to work. When Twilight and Spike where done eating, Spike took the dishes over to get washed. He wanted to avoid having to wait another five minutes for Twilight. “Thanks for the food Applejack. It was great as always.” “No problem at all sugarcube,” Applejack said with a smile. “Y’all should make a habbit of comin’ over ta eat with us. It’s always nice ta have company.” “That sounds like a good idea. Spike may be a good cook, but I don’t think he would mind not having to cook as often.” Twilight looked over to Spike who was on his way back to the table along with AJ and Caramel. AJ gave a relieved sigh. “Dishes are finally done.” He looked over to Twilight. “So, Spike mentioned you had a message for me?” Twilight went blank for a moment before facehoofing. “Oh shoot, how could I forget. The Princess sent us a letter earlier asking if you could come to the library tomorrow at about twelve. Do you think you would be able to make it?” AJ nodded. “Sure, I don’t see why not.” “That’s good to hear. Well, Spike and I should be getting back. I’ll see you later Applejack.” With Spike now on her back, she started walking away from the farm, Caramel watching her the entire time. Suddenly he felt something push him from behind. Turning around he saw that Rainbow Dash, who was busy spending time with Braeburn, had now come over and was pushing him towards Twilight. “Well?” Caramel looked confused. “Well what?” Rainbow groaned. “Go get her.” She pushed Caramel again. “But…” “No buts! I saw you two ogling each other before. You need to go ask her. Soo…” Rainbow wound up her hips and gave him one more good bump, “get.” Seeing as Rainbow wasn’t going to let him say no, Caramel had to quickly build up his courage as he trotted up to Twilight. “U-um Twilight?” Twilight turned and started blushing when she saw Caramel. “W-w-will you g-g-g-g... umm w-w-would it be OK i-if I went to the library with you?” “Oh Celestia this is painful,” Rainbow whispered to herself. Twilight kicked her hoof at the ground as she tried to think of what to say. Spike rolled his eyes as he waited for Twilight to reply. Not being able to think of anything, she just smiled and nodded. Rainbow smiled when she saw Caramel start walking down the road with Twilight. “I swear if he doesn’t ask her out now, I’ll do it for him.” ******************** The trip back to the library was silent between the two ponies. The only thing keeping it from being completely silent was Spike saying hello to the ponies that passed them. When they got to the library Spike quickly made his way upstairs to watch some TV while Twilight and Caramel silently sat on the couch. They sat there for a few minutes, glancing over at each other. The entire time Caramel kept trying to build up the courage to ask her out. Every time he thought he had it, he would look over into those amethyst eyes and all thoughts would escape his mind. After a few more minutes, he bolstered himself and decided to get it over with. “Twilight, will you…” “Would you like…” They both immediately turned away from each other blushing. Finally Caramel just couldn’t take it anymore. He steeled himself and let it go. “Twilight will you go out with me?!” Twilight started at Caramel in shock. Seeing the look on her face discouraged him. “I-I understand if you don’t want to.” Caramel started moving to get off the couch. “I’ll just g…” “Yes.” Caramel froze. He looked over to Twilight with a look of confusion. “Caramel, I’d love to go out with you.” A smile slowly crept its way onto Caramel’s face. “Y-you mean it?” Twilight nodded bashfully. They both sat there getting lost in each others eyes before they started leaning forward. They slowly closed their eyes as they grew closer and closer. “Hey Twilight, there’s a movie on later that I…” Spike stopped mid sentence when he saw Twilight and Caramel, inches away from each other, with their lips puckered. Both of them now looked at him, blushing a crimson red. “Oho, I see what’s going on here. I’ll just give you some alone time,” Spike said with a playful grin. “SPIIIIIIKE!!!!!!” ******************** “Do you know why Celestia wanted me here?” AJ asked Twilight as he sat down on the couch. “I’m not entirely sure. In her letter she said this visit pertained to the research with the dimensional portal. I assume they just want to ask some questions.” Twilight took one last look around the library to make sure it was up to standards for a visit from the princesses. “Spike, are the snacks done yet?” “Almost,” Spike said carrying a plate of fresh sandwiches and a box of cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner in, setting them on a table. “Just waiting for the water to boil for the tea.” When Spike heard the telltale whistling of the tea pot, he rushed back into the kitchen. As Twilight was inspecting the food to make sure it was perfect, she heard a knock on the door. Looking at the clock, she noticed it was still six minutes till twelve. “There early! Spike hurry up with that tea!” “I’m coming, I’m coming calm down.” Spike entered the room with a tea pot in one hand, and a small tower of plates and tea cups in the other. Twilight promptly stole them away with her magic and placed them on the table. Annoyed, Spike made his way over to the door and opened it to see Celestia and Luna smiling back at him. Behind them was a very lanky unicorn mare in a lab coat. She had a dull red coat and an unruly two-tone purple and green mane and tail. Her mane was pulled back in a pony tail. On her back sat some over stuffed saddle bags. “Sorry for the wait, please come in.” “Why thank you Spike.” Celestia walked in followed by Luna who bowed to Spike as she passed. The unicorn mare did the same. Celestia looked over to the couch. “It’s good to see that you could make it.” “I’ve had a lot of free time lately, so it’s no big deal.” AJ got up and shook Celestia’s hoof. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I finally get to meet the hu-man!” the unicorn mare excitedly said as she clapped her hooves together. “This is a great day for science!” “Ah yes, before we begin, I would like to introduce you all to Atom Split,” Luna said waiving her hoof over to the mare. “She is my top scientist over at the institute, and is in charge of researching the dimensional portal.” Atom Split in her excitement was already busy pulling her equipment from her saddle bags and setting them up. “She can be a bit…over enthusiastic at times.” Celestia giggled a bit before turning back to AJ. “We would love it if you could answer some questions about yourself and your world. It would help out our research immensely.” “Sure, if it means furthering your research I’d be more than happy to help.” “Wonderful!” Atom Split said jumping in front of AJ carrying a camera in her magic. “Now I would like to start with pictures.” AJ stood there for a minute and stared into her big green eyes in shock. He looked over to Luna and Celestia. Luna was smiling sheepishly and mouthed ‘told you.’ Celestia had her hoof up to her mouth and was trying to stifle more giggles. “Umm, sure?” “Great! Now, would you please remove that sling? I would like you to be as symmetrical as possible for the pictures.” Atom set up the camera and waited for AJ to comply. Nodding, AJ removed the sling. He slowly straightened his arm, grabbing his shoulder and wincing in pain as he did. “Mmhm, that’s good, now hold still while I *snap* good. Now one from the side please.” She snapped the next photo. “Now from the back please.” She smiled as she snapped the photo. “These will do just fine. Now please strip out of your cloths.” AJ’s eyes got wide as he felt his face heat up. “I’m sorry, what now?” “Your clothes, please take them off. I would like to get some full body shots now.” Atom Split noticed the look on his face. “What, it’s not like you’ve got something I haven’t seen before.” Her eyes got wide. “Or do you. Eeeeeee learning about new things is so much fun!” “What she means is, you only have to do this if you’re comfortable with it,” Luna interjected as she put her hoof over Atom’s mouth. “Isn’t that right Atom?” Atom let out a frustrated grunt as she began to pout. She desperately wanted to learn everything she could about this new creature. AJ thought about it for a minute. He wanted to help with the research, but he didn’t expect this to come up. He eventually came to his decision. “Alright, I’ll do it.” A bright smile grew on Atom’s face as she started clapping her hooves together again. “But, if it’s not too much trouble, could the rest of you please wait outside?” Celestia nodded as she, Twilight, and Spike exited the building. After a minute, AJ took a deep breath and started to disrobe. After a couple of minutes AJ was allowed to get redressed. Atom Split was smiling as she put her camera away. While she didn’t get all the pictures she wanted, due to Luna making sure she wasn’t too intrusive, she still got enough to make her happy. “Thank you so much! These pictures are great! I’ll have to make a note about those bandages, but that shouldn’t be a problem.” Once AJ was clothed again, Luna went to let the others back in. On her way back, she grabbed a cup of tea. After taking a sip she took a list that had been given to her by Atom. “OK, now we would like to get some information about you.” “What type of things would you like to know?” Luna looked over to Atom who was now setting up a video camera that she had brought along. “Is everything set up Atom?” “Just need to get into focus.” Atom adjusted the camera for a few seconds. “There we go. Ready whenever you are Princess.” Seeing Luna nod, she started recording. Luna smiled. “Along with Atom’s notes, we will be recording everything. OK first, could you please tell us your full name?” “My name is Anthony Jon Hartley, but everyone just calls me AJ for short.” “Now, could you tell us how old you are?” “22.” Smiling, Luna grabbed some measuring tape from the floor that Atom had pulled out earlier. “Now I would like to get your height. Please stand up straight.” ******************** Gathering all the information they needed took a grand total of two hours. Spike had made more tea and sandwiches after the first batch were finished. By the time they were finished Atom had filled her entire note book with notes and drawings. Satisfied she started packing all of her equipment away. “I can’t wait to go catalogue all these new notes. It will be so much fun!” “I’m glad I could help,” AJ said as he took a sip of tea. “I hope you got enough data.” “Don’t worry; we got more than enough for now.” Luna said. “I think even Atom would agree with me on this.” Atom Split was now helping herself to some of the refreshments as she hummed a tune to herself. “Yup, she’s happy.” “Aren’t you forgetting something Luna?” Celestia asked. “Hmm, what are you talking about?” Celestia smiled. “Well, there was one other reason we came here. Maybe a little news you needed to give AJ?” Luna’s eyes got wide. “Ah yes, thank you for reminding me sister. We have some great news for you.” Once she was sure she had AJ’s attention she continued, “Well, after we got news from Twilight Sparkle that the portal actually worked, we started working on the spell once again. Since then we have made some changes to the spell and well, we did it.” AJ felt a sense of dread starting to build up in his gut. “What?” The smile on Luna’s face grew. “We mastered the dimensional portal spell. AJ, you can finally go back home.” “Oh, that’s great news!” Twilight said excitedly. “You can finally see your family again!” “Yea…great news.” AJ’s apprehension was obvious to everyone in the room. Twilight was the first to speak up. “What’s wrong? I thought you wanted to go home.” AJ didn’t answer. He just sat there, looking down with a look of uncertainty. Celestia placed a hoof on his shoulder causing him to look up. “Why don’t you give it some time and think it over. Once you know what you want to do, just send us a letter.” AJ just nodded. Celestia removed her hoof and turned to the door. “Well, we should be getting back to Canterlot soon. While Blueblood is decent when it comes to the politics of Equestria, sometimes his decisions fail to benefit everypony equally.” After saying their goodbyes, the princesses and scientist were on there way back to Canterlot. Once the princesses left, AJ got up from the couch. Twilight watched him slowly make his way to the door. “AJ, are you going to be OK?” “I-I don’t know. I’ll talk to you later Twilight. I have a lot to think about.” ******************** AJ continued his slow walk home. The entire time he was looking down, paying little attention to things around him. He was probably about half way between the library and the farm when suddenly, “Hello, is anypony home?” AJ’s vision suddenly became filled with an upside down bluish grey face with off kilter amber eyes. “GAH!!” Not expecting this AJ jumped back, falling to the ground. Ditzy quickly righted herself and went to help him up. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that. I was trying to get your attention but you wouldn’t answer, so I thought I’d try that and…” “Don’t worry about it Ditzy. I should have been paying attention.” AJ got up and brushed himself off. “So, what’s got your head in the clouds?” AJ stood there for a minute thinking. He wanted to tell her that everything was OK, that nothing was wrong. Looking up, his eyes met hers. He closed his eyes and sighed. He couldn’t lie, not to Ditzy. “I was just at the library talking with the princesses.” “That’s great!” Ditzy said with a smile. “I wish it was.” Ditzy’s face turned to one of confusion. “It started out just fine. I give them information about where I come from. I was helping them with their research. *sigh* After we were done, they told me they had some ‘good’ news to tell me.” Ditzy looked on in anticipation. “I-I can go home Ditzy.” “Home? Like back to…” AJ nodded. Ditzy stopped flapping her wings and plopped onto the ground with a thud. She sat up and put on an obviously fake smile. “T-that’s great. I’m sure your family’s really missing you.” AJ shook his head. “That’s the thing. I don’t know if I even want to go back.” Ditzy’s face was a mixture of shock and relief. “What, why?” “If I never would come here, I never would have made such good friends. Friends like you Ditzy. If I go, I’ll probably never get to see you again. But I just know my family really misses me back home, and I miss them. No matter what I do, I lose something.” A tear rolled down AJ’s cheek. “I-I don’t know what to do Ditzy.” “W-well, I’ll support whatever decision you choose,” Ditzy said as wiped the tear away. “It’s your decision to make, a-and even though I may not like it, I’ll accept it.” AJ smiled at Ditzy’s words. “Thanks. I should get going. I have a lot to think about.” He gave Ditzy a hug before the two of them parted ways. ******************** It was about six in the afternoon when AJ passed through the gates of Sweet Apple Acres. For the first time in days, the farm was quiet. The members of the Apple family had left earlier that day, much to Rainbow’s dismay. After his talk with Ditzy AJ had taken a long walk around Ponyville in hopes that it would clear his head and help him think. Much to his annoyance it did not. As soon as AJ opened the door Winona made sure the entire house was aware of it. Applejack poked her head out of the kitchen to see who had just come in. “Why howdy there AJ. Yer just in time fer dinner.” AJ grabbed his stomach as he felt it knot up at the prospect of food. “I’m not very hungry right now.” “What’s wrong sugarcube?” AJ walked into the kitchen and sat down in the un-occupied chair. After getting a glass of apple juice, he told them everything. The reactions in the room were mixed. Applejack seemed to be happy that he could return to his family. Big Mac while happy seemed mostly indifferent to the whole thing. Apple Bloom on the other hand didn’t like it at all. She slammed her hooves on the table. “No, y’all can’t leave! Ya can’t leave all yer friends!” Another hoof was slammed on the table. This time it was Applejacks. “Hush Apple Bloom! Ah don’t like th’ thought of losin’ a friend either, but it’s his decision ta make. An’ if he wants ta go home ta his family, well more power to him.” Apple Bloom sat back in her seat and started to pout. AJ finished his juice and got up. “I think I’m gonna go up to my room for awhile.” ********************** Big Mac yawned as he got to the bottom of the stairs. He had woken up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water. As he was about to go back upstairs he heard what sounded like somepony mumbling come from outside. Looking to the door he noticed the porch light was on. He grumbled to himself as he walked to the door to see what was going on. When he opened the door, he saw AJ sitting to the side of the door looking up at the moon. “Whacha doin’ out here this late at night?” AJ continued to look up into the sky. “Couldn’t sleep. I thought maybe the cool night air might help.” “This whole thing’s really buggin’ ya, isn’t it?” AJ silently nodded. “It’s pretty much the only thing on my mind right now.” He looked over to Big Mac. “Big Mac, what should I do?” Big Mac could see the desperate look in his eyes. “Just do whatever makes ya happiest. That’s really th’ only thing ya could do fer yerself in this situation.” Big Mac turned and started walking back into the house. “Don’t stay out too late now.” He started reaching for the light when AJ stopped him. “Please leave it on, I don’t like the dark.” Big Mac nodded and headed back upstairs, leaving AJ to his thoughts again. ******************** A week has passed since AJ got the news. Thanks to the help of the helpers from Canterlot, Ponyville was finally restored. The mayor had called a town meeting in the square. “Citizens of Ponyville, thanks to all your hard work, and the aid sent to us by our benevolent rulers, Ponyville has been restored to its former glory!” Cheers and applause erupted from the crowd. “Once again, we have shown what ponies can do when we work to…” The mayor was interrupted when she was knocked to the side by Pinkie Pie. “Enough of these boring old speeches. IT’S TIME TO PARTAY!!!!!!!!” To emphasize the start of a spontaneous town wide party, Pinkie pulled her party cannon out of seemingly nowhere and fired it into the air, covering the surrounding area in party supplies. Twilight got up on stage and helped the mayor up. “Sorry about that Mayor. You know how Pinkie can get.” “Oh it’s quite alright Twilight. Pinkie’s just being herself.” The mayor dusted herself off. “Besides, I think after all their hard work they deserve some fun, don’t you.” The mayor and Twilight watched as Pinkie traveled through the crowd, firing off her cannon as the other citizens started partying. ******************** A month has gone by since Ponyville was rebuilt. Life was back to normal for everyone in town. Everyone that is, except AJ. With his arm in the sling he was unable to work on the farm, and even if he was he wouldn’t have been in the right mindset to work properly. The stress he was putting himself through was taking its toll on him, and it showed. At one point it had gotten so bad he got sick and had to stay in bed for days. The only times he felt any kind of relief was when he would spend time with his friends, especially Ditzy. They were the only times his mind would allow him to think of other things. Though over the last few days Applejack noticed that AJ seemed to be getting better. She noticed that he had started having an easier time sleeping. He was also eating more. Even his mood seemed to be improving. Right now he was on his way to Fluttershy’s cottage to have his arm looked at. When he got there Fluttershy was down by the stream feeding some of the animals. “Hey Fluttershy.” “Oh, hello AJ.” Fluttershy flew up and landed on the pathway. “What can I do for you today?” He pointed to his shoulder. “Just here for a bit of a check up.” “I have a bit more work to do out here, but you’re free to wait for me in my house, if that’s OK.” “Oh, that’s fine.” AJ smiled and went to wait in the pegasi’s cottage. He waited for about ten minutes before Fluttershy entered the building. “I’m sorry about the wait. I’ll get my supplies.” Fluttershy went into the bathroom to grab her medical supplies. By the time she got back AJ already had his shirt and sling off. By now he knew the drill. Fluttershy carefully removed the old bandages and examined the wound. She then gently grabbed his arm and slowly started to lift it. “Does this hurt at all?” “Eh, only a little.” Fluttershy smiled and released the arm. “Well, I think you’ll be happy to know that you’ll no longer need the sling.” AJ’s face brightened. “That’s great.” AJ started to slowly stretch his arm out, wincing slightly during some of the rotation. Using the arm again after a month felt really weird. “You should still probably take it easy for a week or two though. You want to make sure it finishes healing properly,” Fluttershy mentioned as she went to put her supplies away. AJ was putting his shirt on when a thought came to her mind. “Um, I was just wondering, do you know what you’re going to do yet?” AJ stared at Fluttershy for a second before smiling. “I’ve known for the last few days. I was just waiting till I got that sling off.” AJ got up off the floor and walked over to Fluttershy. Without warning, he threw his arms around her in a hug. “Fluttershy, thank you, for all you’ve done for me.” He let go and headed out the door, leaving a very confused pegasus in his wake. ******************** AJ knocked on the door to the library. As he waited for an answer he checked to make sure that everything in the letter in his pocket was right. Happy he put the letter back and knocked again. “I’m coming, I’m coming.” Spike opened the door and looked up. “Oh, hey AJ. Are you looking for Twilight, cause she’s not home right now. Something about helping Rainbow with a trick or something like that.” “Oh no, I’m not looking for her.” AJ internally cheered. He was hoping she wouldn’t be home. He wanted as few people as possible knowing about this. “Actually I was looking for you. Spike looked surprised. “Oh? What do you need?” “I was wondering if you could send something to Celestia for me.” He pulled the letter out of his pocket. “Think you could do that for me?” Spike took the letter in his claw and gave it a questionable look. “What’s it say?” AJ started to panic a little bit. He hadn’t thought of what to say if Spike turned out to be as nosey as Apple Bloom could be. He had to think quickly. “It’s…for Celestia’s eyes only.” Spike just shrugged and sent the letter. AJ let out a quiet sigh of relief. “There, it’s sent. Can I help you with anything else?” “No, that’s all.” AJ pulled out his bit purse and gave Spike a handful of bits. “Thanks a bunch Spike. Go treat yourself to something, on me.” Spike took the bits with a glimmer in his eye. “Wow, thanks!” They waved to each other as AJ left. ******************** “Glad you could make it! It wouldn’t be the party if the MVP didn’t show up!” Pinkie said as she bounced in front of AJ. He looked around at all the decorations and chuckled when he saw the banner that had ‘Congratulations for no longer being crippled’ on it. “When Fluttershy told me that you were fine, I knew I had to throw you a party!” Pinkie stood on her hind legs and started poking his shoulder. AJ lightly swatted her hoof away as he laughed. “It’s still sore Pinkie.” As Pinkie bounced away, AJ looked for the best place to mingle at the moment. At the snack table Rarity was busy talking with Fluttershy about something fashion related while Spike was waiting on Rarity claw and foot. Rainbow Dash was hovering over by the party games waiting for Pinkie. AJ was pretty sure she had never stopped flying since she got her cast off. Twilight, Caramel, and Applejack were having a ball on the dance floor. AJ decided to start with the dance floor. He was never any good at dancing, but when he saw how Twilight was dancing, he didn’t have to worry about making a fool out of himself. “I didn’t know you liked to dance.” Twilight said. “I generally don’t, but tonights all about having fun, and I plan making the most of it, WOOOO!” AJ said enthusiastically. “Ah’m just happy y’all are feelin’ better. We were startin’ ta get real worried ‘boutcha.” Applejack said. “Yea, especially after last week,” Caramel said. AJ rubbed the back of his head. “Yea, I guess I let this whole thing get to me way more than it should, didn’t I.” The three of them shook their heads. That’s when Pinkie jumped in. “Piñata time everypony!” “URAH!” AJ shouted as he looked at the star piñata hanging from the ceiling. “I shall vanquish you star!” Pinkie cheered alongside AJ as he grabbed the stick and readied it, waiting for the blindfold. “I guess he is feeling better,” Twilight said to Applejack. “Mmhm.” Applejack shrugged before headed over to where the piñata was hanging. After awhile AJ went over to a table to sit down and get a breather. A smile graced his face as he watched his friends partying and having a good time. It warmed his heart to see them all happy. After a few minutes Fluttershy noticed AJ was over in the corner by himself. She decided that this was her chance to ask him. She excused herself from the party and walked over. “Um AJ, can I ask you a question?” AJ smiled. “Sure, go ahead Fluttershy.” “Earlier today when you said you’ve known what you’re going to do, what did you mean? Are you going to stay here or…?” Fluttershy trailed off and hid her face behind her mane. If Fluttershy had been paying attention, she would have noticed his smile turn from one of happiness to a depressed smile. “Let’s…let’s not think about that sort of thing right now. Tonight’s a time for fun, so I say we get back to the party and have a blast.” AJ put his hand on her shoulder before getting up to join everyone on the dance floor. Fluttershy wasn’t happy with that answer, but she decided not to bug him about it anymore tonight. ******************** The next morning AJ managed to wake up a couple of hours before everyone else in the house. As quietly as he could he got dressed and headed out of the house. The only problem he had was Winona had woken up too and he had to make sure she didn’t go and wake up the entire house by barking. After he was out of the house he quickly made his way through town, eventually coming to the exit. As he walked through the gates he turned to take one last look at the town that had so graciously helped him in his time of need. Smiling he turned and continued down the road. Once he got a good distance away from Ponyville, he sat down on the side of the road and played the waiting game. After he sat down he pulled a few glow sticks out of his pockets and started lighting them up, placing them around himself in a circle. He did this for both light, and also to make himself easier to see. After about twenty minutes of waiting, AJ saw what he was looking for. In the dark sky, he could make out a chariot moving across the sky in his direction. After it looked like it would pass right over him he saw the chariot circle around and start to descend, landing a few feet away. “Are you AJ?” AJ nodded. “I hope the glow sticks were easy enough to see.” “We’ve been trained for night flying.” The bat winged pegasus said proudly. “You made your self more than easy enough to find. Now if you’d please get in, it’s a long flight back.” AJ nodded as he picked up the glow sticks. He climbed into the chariot and they were off to Canterlot. ************************************** My little pony © Hasbro Friendship is magic © Lauren Faust