//------------------------------// // **Chapter XVI~The Gremlins~ // Story: The Machine // by ADRNEL //------------------------------// Chapter XVI The Gremlins Day 105 Another beautiful winter afternoon over the skies of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash has just got out of work for today and is ready to go back to her cloud mansion and do nothing but relax for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, those plans are immediately derailed when she sees that her home is gone. "What the-?". Dash, confused, starts to panic. "It should be right here!" "DASH! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" yelled a voice. Dash turns around to see Derpy flying towards her. "What is it Derpy, it better be important because my home is currently MISSING!" exclaimed an annoyed Dash, not in the mood to deal with the cross-eyed pegasus' antics. "Yeah about that..." began Derpy. "A bunch of cloud gremlins came here and destroyed your entire home, and anything that wasn't made of clouds is currently in a huge broken pile down on the ground below." she quickly explains, oblivious to the fact that it is the last thing Dash wanted to hear. "WHAT!" exclaimed a panicked Dash as she quickly dives to the ground. Only to see that everything Derpy said was true as she sees all of her things in a broken pile on the ground. "MY HOME IS RUINED!" yelled Dash to the sky. At Sugercube corner, Dash has just finished telling her friends and Adam the story on how she suddenly became homeless, she and her pet turtle Tank have no place to live. "That's okay Dash, thin's isn't that hopeless, ah would be glad t'have ya stay with me at th' farm, dawgone it...but ah doesn't trust ya aroun' mah brother, no offense." comforted Applejack to her close friend. "No offense taken...I don't trust MYSELF around him." stated Dash. "I would gladly offer you to stay with me Dash," chimed Fluttershy. "but the animals don't like you...sorry." "And I doubt you would want to stay with me." added Rarity. "Ooh! Maybe you can stay with me! It would be so much fun, it'll be like a sleepover...only permanent!" exclaimed an excited Pinkie Pie. Dash just looks at her awkwardly and smacks her head on the table in defeat. "My life is ruined." "Your life isn't ruined Dash," added Twilight, rubbing Dash's back. "I would be glad to let you stay with me...but the last time you slept over...you nearly burned down the library." "I said I was sorry..." explained Dash, face still on table. "Maybe you can stay over at Adam's?" offered Fluttershy. "What?" added a confused Adam. "Dash and Tank need a place to stay...and your home has plenty of space for them." explained Fluttershy to the human. "How long does she have to stay with me?" "Until the end of winter!" chimed Dash. "It's winter...most clouds are being used to block the sun for the season which means there isn't enough clouds to go around." Adam continues to think about the offer. "Aw yeah, I'm going to be staying at Adam's!" exclaimed Dash. "The most awesome creature I know!" she floating next to the human as they make their way to the human's house. "I wouldn't call myself awesome by any means." the human states humbly. "Anypony who can defeat Trixie by inadvertently giving her an orgasm is awesome in my book!" she explains. Adam's face blushes from the embarrassment. 'HEY DASH!" yelled a new voice. Both Adam and Dash turn around to see Scootaloo sprinting up towards them. "Is it true?!" she exclaimed with a concerned look on her face. "Yes it's true...big sister Dash is currently homeless." Dash sadly explained. Scootaloo then envelopes her into a hug. "But what about your weekly sleepover tonight?" the orange pegasus filly asks. "It's going to be held at Adam's house!" Dash excitedly answers. Adam is caught off guard by Dash's answer, he did not agree to host a sleepover. "Oh cool! That means my friends can come over!" yelled an excited filly. "But I didn't-" started Adam, only to be interrupted. "Of course your friends can come over!" agreed Dash, letting Scootaloo go so she can tell her friends. The filly sprints off leaving Dash and Adam alone once again. "Let's just get going then..." stated the human as the two of them continue on towards his house. "Are you sure having Dash stay over at Adam's house is a good idea?" asked a concerned Twilight. "Why I am positive, besides, who else is she going to stay with?" assured Fluttershy as both mares walked over to the library. "There's a reason why Dash's options are limited." explained the unicorn. "She can't stay over at Applejack's because of the fact that Dash is having sex with her brother. She can't stay at Rarity's because of something that happened to them the last time and I am sure you understand why she can't also stay with me, you or Pinkie." Fluttershy blushed up a storm. "Dash and Mac?" "The point I am trying to make is that I worry for Adam's sanity." "Oh Twi, there's nothing to worry about, Adam is the most loyal and trustworthy pony I know, he'll sooner die than do something that will hurt my feelings." she assured. "You saying 'not to worry' makes me worry the most." Twilight said under her breath. "And this is where you'll be sleeping." pointed Adam at the empty bed in his spare bedroom. Dash flies over to it and bounces on it. "Not as fluffy as I'm used to...but it will do!" she states as she puts down her things and her pet turtle Tank. "As you know Dash," began the human. "At home, I'm a man of routine, I have breakfast at 9, lunch at 12, dinner at 6 and bed by 9." he explained. "Oh...and please clean up after your messes, I'll greatly appreciate that." he states. "Especially Tank's." Dash just salutes in agreement as she unpacks her remaining belongings. Adam leaves her alone to get herself settled in. "Do you have any alcohol around here?" asked Dash while looking inside Adam's icebox. "Aren't the fillies a little young to be drinking that stuff?" stated a confused Adam, making some snacks for the fillies who will be sleeping over later today. "Not for them silly! For me!" exclaimed Dash, rolling her eyes. "It's not a sleepover without me drinking something to celebrate!" "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but there is no alcohol in this house." the human explains. "Why not?" Dash exclaims. "Because I don't like to get drunk...I remember everything when drunk, unlike most ponies, and let's just say I ended up doing something I still regret the last time I got drunk." he explains. "Regret?" Dash states confused. "How bad could it have been?" Adam then hears the sounds of a horse neighing and grunting echoing across is head. The sounds causes him to shudder. "Just take my word for it." Hours later, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom have arrived for the sleepover. Luckily, because the three fillies respect and love Adam so much, they were very well behaved. It was Rainbow Dash that caused the most problems. From failing to clean after her messes, to acting like a sore looser after Sweetie beat her in cards, to flying around the house and unwittingly knocking things over. Adam tries his best to not loose his cool, especially in front of the three fillies. By the end of the night, Adam let the three fillies sleep on his bed while he slept on the living room couch. Dash slept in her own bed. "Uh...Adam?" said a voice. Adam slowly woke up. "Ugh...huh...what?" he said with grogginess and confusion. "Apple Bloom?" "Can ah sleep with you?" pleaded the filly. "What's wrong?" Adam looked at her with confusion. "Ah had a bad dream, so ah thought ah could sleep with you to comfort me." she gave a puppy dog look. Adam felt compelled to accept her offer. "Okay, sure, get on." he smiled. Apple Bloom happily got on the couch with the human and curled up to him. "Thank you so much Adam." "Don't mention it." Adam got himself comfortable. "Good night Apple Bloom." he closed his eyes and fell immediately back to sleep. "Good night Adam...." she said. But with a whisper she added; "...my love." then kissed the human on the cheek before she too went to sleep. Two days pass, and Dash's behavior didn't seem to improve, she still acts like she's living in her own home, not at someone else's. She always stays up late, she never cleans up, she almost burnt down the kitchen with her cooking and Adam once caught Dash's pet turtle Tank humping his shoes and leaving a mess. But the worst offense thus far would have to be the time she picked up Big Mac at a bar and brought her to Adam's home. It was bad enough that she brought home a stallion without his permission, but the fact that he shares a common wall with Dash's bedroom made it worse. Six times, six times! "Damn it Dash!" he mumbled after he hears the couple pass out. It is morning at the Adam Gray household, and Adam is taking a warm shower. Not noticing that someone else has entered the bathroom. Suddenly, the shower curtains are pulled away, startling Adam as sees that it is Dash who did it. "I overslept and I'm going to be late for work!" she exclaims. "Can I get in there real quick?" Dash then blushes when she sees that Adam is completely naked, and wet. Adam quickly grabs a towel, covers himself up and turns off the shower. "DAMN IT DASH! YOU CAN'T JUST BARGE IN HERE LIKE THAT! GET OUT!" he angrily yells to the cyan pegasus. "But-" "I SAID GET OUT!" Adam interrupts. "We'll talk about this when you get back from work!" Dash just gives Adam an intimidating stare, "FINE! Then I'll just find a random raincloud to shower under." she states before walking out of the bathroom, angrily slamming the bathroom door shut. "Why does she have to be so difficult sometimes!?" exclaimed Adam to Rarity who is busy sewing a dress together. "I let her stay over and she takes advantage of my hospitality!" "That's Dash for you," chimed Rarity, focused on her sewing. "she may be loyal to her friends, but she sometimes takes their niceness for granted." she states. "It's like the last time I let her stay over, she refused to clean after herself, then we got into a heated argument...then one thing let to another..." her words begin to trail off as a blush forms on her face. "...and uh...she ended up buying me a new bed...the end." "I have no idea what Dash buying you a new bed had to do with that story, but she is still acting the same way as she did when she stayed over with you." pointed out Adam. "I know...but I think the only way for this to work out is for you and Dash to sit down and have a nice calm conversation." explained Rarity, finishing up her sewing. Adam thinks about what Rarity said. "Why does he have to be so uncool sometimes?!" exclaimed Dash to Twilight, who studied. "I though staying with him was going to fun, but what's with all of those rules!" "Shouldn't you be at work right now Dash?" said an annoyed Twilight who tried to focus on her studies. "That's not important right now Twilight! I need your help in making him more cool!" Twilight sighed. "Dash, you should understand that where he comes from, he's as much of an egghead as me. He's a scientist in a world that does not have magic, an occupation that's a lot more respected than here." "But he defeated Trixie!" "Unintentionally." clarified the unicorn. "He never knew that was going to happen." "So what do you suggest I do then?" she asked skeptically to her friend. "Start thinking less about yourself and more about the human you will be staying with for the rest of winter." "How do I do that?" said a confused Dash. "Ugh." Twilight placed a hoof on her face with frustration. It is late at night, and Adam is sitting in the dinning room, waiting for Dash to get home. He then suddenly hears the door slam open and shut, with Dash walking into the dinning room, giving Adam a dirty look. "Yeah, yeah, I'm late..." stated Dash who is just about to leave. "No...it's not that." exclaimed Adam. This was enough to make Dash stop in her tracks. "I just thought we should sit down together in the living room and talk things out." he offers, Adam then gets up, walks past Dash and enters the living room. Dash follows him into the living room and sits down on the couch, Adam taking a seat next to him. "Is it about this morning?" she asks. "Not just that..." stated Adam. "It's about the fact that you seem to feel like this is your home, and not a place your a guest of." explained the human. "But this is my home-" "But I own this house, and your only living here temporarily." the human interrupts. "Therefore, you have to follow my house rules, such as picking up after your own messes, and those of your pet." he explained. "But isn't your job to clean up? This IS your house." Dash rebuts. "I clean my own messes, Dash, not the messes of others." Adam continues. "I know...I thought it was going to be awesome living with you...but I guess I was wrong." Dash explained. "It's called being responsible Dash, you don't see me bringing strange mares into your house and leaving messes behind now do you?" Adam explains. "Oh please...you and I both know that it's impossible to visit my house without a cloud walking spell." stated the pegasus with a smile on her face. "You're completely missing the point Dash!" the human annoyingly exclaims. "And your point is?" began Dash. "That you need to grow up and respect other ponies house rules." states the human, getting more and more annoyed. "Maybe if you weren't such a buzzkill, I'd follow them." the pegasus exclaims. "Buzzkill?" "You have no alcohol, you follow the same routine in here, you go to bed early and you hardly have any good games here." pointed out Dash. "What kind of life is that?!" "Mine!" snarled the human, giving Dash a dirty look. "It's a stupid life, you should go out and live my life!" stated Dash. "You know...the live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse behind life of the one and only Rainbow Dash!" she cockily states with a smug look on her face. "I used to live that kind of life, but I decided to stop because of some of the things I did and still regret." stated Adam. "That's why I don't drink much alcohol anymore Dash!" "Why...?" smugly began Dash. "Because you rutted one of your horses when you were drunk?" she spat. "WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" yelled Adam, Dash's words causing him to snap. He grabs Dash by the neck and pushes her to the floor, startling her. "HOW-?" "I always wondered why you were so open in starting a relationship with Fluttershy...I just guessed the rest." smugly stated Dash, who then uses her hind legs to kick Adam in the gut, pushing him off of her. "WHY YOU LITTLE...!" spat Adam through gritted teeth, doubling on the floor in pain. Dash could see that she's gone to far. She quickly gets up and runs towards the stairs only to be suddenly tackled to the floor by Adam. Both the pegasus and human would spend the next few minutes wrestling with each other in the foyer, both of them fighting for dominance, both of them waiting for the other to yell "I surrender." Another few minutes pass and they finally stop; Adam on top of Dash, both of them panting and sweating. Several blue feathers dot the floor around them. They both just stare at each others eyes, breathing heavily, the space between their faces slowly narrowing until they meet for a passionate kiss. The kiss quickly turns hot and heavy as their tongues start to do the wrestling for them. Dash could feel her tongue loosing against his, much to her frustration, so she pushes the human off of her and get on top of him. "I'm not letting you win that easily." she hissed as they resume their kissing. Adam also didn't want to loose, so he takes his hands and begins to roughly massage her wings, causing Dash to passionately moan. "Damn it!" she hissed. The human then takes the opportunity to push her off and get on top of her, his hands pinning Dash's forelegs to the floor. "I'm not letting you win that easily either!" he whispered into the pegasus' ear. He resumes kissing Dash again, but this time his kisses travel down her neck, across her chest, down her belly and- KNOCK! KNOCK! Both Adam and Dash immediately stop what they're doing as they hear someone knocking on the front door. They hear another knock as the two of them look at each other, their faces blushing from embarrassment. "You go and clean up the mess...I'll keep whoever is here busy." he orders. Dash silently nods in agreement. Adam gets off from on top of her, gets himself straightened out and walks towards the door. Adam opens the front door to reveal Fluttershy outside. "Fluttershy? What are you doing here so late?" he asks, stepping outside and closing the door behind him. "I heard that you and Dash are having issues and I wanted to make sure things are working out between you two." the yellow pegasus explained. "Oh...we just worked out our problems and came to an understanding." Adam lied, but keeping a good poker face. "Why that's great to hear!" Fluttershy happily states. "What's Dash doing right now?" "Oh...Dash went to bed...she had a busy day at work today." stated Adam. "I understand...maybe I'll talk to her tomorrow then," Fluttershy then notices that it is getting late for her as well. "Well...I'll be going home-" just as she's about to turn around and leave, she is suddenly grabbed by Adam, who kisses her deeply on the lips. They kiss for a good minute before Adam breaks it off as suddenly as he started it. "Eep!" squeaked the yellow pegasus. "Sorry...but you're just too adorable." stated Adam. Fluttershy just blushes at the comment. "I-I have to get going now..." stammered Fluttershy waving goodbye to the human, she decides to fly back to her cottage instead of walk. Adam waves her goodbye as she flies off into the night sky. After making sure that she's gone...Adam goes back inside to see the floor cleaned and Dash sitting on the staircase. The human sits down next to her. "We're going to pretend like that never happened aren't we?" asked Dash. "Yes." the human answers without emotion. "Okay then." agreed Dash. "Do you want to talk about what happened during that time you got drunk?" "No." "Okay then." agreed Dash. She then gets up and walks up the stairs. "Good night Adam." "Good night Dash." Adam follows Dash up the stairs, they both get ready for bed and sleep in their separate bedrooms like nothing ever happened. TO BE CONTINUED...