/\/\/\/\
Acceptance
\/\/\/\/
So, here Alex was, sitting in his new room, contemplating the absolutely ridiculous day he had had.
Everything had flown by him so fast, that he hadn’t given it time to really sink in.
He needed to learn magic, and cast a spell while thinking of his home. Why did this sound a little too much like The Wizard of Oz?
He would have done a lot better with some munchkins in the mix, he thought. A song, a dance, a road to follow.
It was all so easy for that damn Dorothy.
His mind wandered back to the possibility of insanity, but decided not to dwell on it once again. Whether or not he was in his mind was regardless. This world was better than his right now. No people pitying him… He could have some peace and quiet while he got over this pain.
The girls he had met seemed to be linked together somehow, by a set of magic—something’s. And somehow, impossibly, he was linked to that very same magic. Something about selflessness. He had no clue.
Twilight Sparkle was the head of the pack, being the one to take charge in the few situations he had seen them all in.
Fluttershy was the yellow one with wings that had the horrible anxiety problems. Hopefully she wasn’t always like that. She seemed sweet otherwise.
Applejack was the orange one… She did stuff pertaining to apples. Kicking trees or something. Weird.
Rarity was the elegant one. She had her mane done up much nicer than the other girls. Seemed like she could be a prude however.
Pinkie Pie was the one who helped him with his small bathroom problem. She was nice, energetic, and ate a lot of food. Like, way too much. But, this was a cartoon world. And perhaps cartoon rules applied.
Finally, Rainbow Dash. The name he could never forget. She was full of herself, obnoxious, rude… He knew her type. She strove to be cool, and would look down on the people who weren’t at her level.
He had been in that position in the past himself, but liked to think he had grown out of it, for the most part.
And then there was that little dragon, Spike. It looked as if he were a pet to Twilight. But, observation told him that he was more like a little brother to her. Or even older brother in the cases where his maturity showed.
How well would he get to know these ponies? Hopefully he didn’t get attached or anything.
“Hey Alex!” Spike called, walking in to the room with a plate of spaghetti Alex had asked for, “I got your food here!”
As soon as Spike placed the food on the table, he expected Alex to go to town on the food. But, he had pause.
“How… would I go about eating this?” Alex asked, tilting his head to the dragon.
“Well, you know!” Spike said nervously, unsure if he was truly so ignorant, “Your mouth!”
“No fork?” Alex asked, before catching the problem with that question.
“You don’t have hands.”
“I don’t have hands.”
They both looked at each other, unsure if they should be laughing, or if Alex should be crying.
“Do I just dive my face in there?” Alex asked, cocking his head at the food.
“Just grab one noodle at a time, and slurp it up!” Spike offered, hoping that would make sense to him, “Your coat is white though, so make sure you don’t get too much tomato in there. It’ll stain like crazy.”
\/\/\/\/
Rainbow Dash sat on the edge of the cloud holding her house, as she stared out toward the library.
Her introduction with that new pony certainly hadn’t gone well, and she had been feeling a little guilty about it all day. She had a tendency to get fired up in some situations, leading to poor decision making.
Still, even though it had been the heat of the moment, she couldn’t shake her feeling about him. He was a rude, obnoxious, and self-centered guy. Something she had seen plenty of in her days as a women. Of course, most of them were hitting on her. Not… whatever it was that he was doing to her.
Still, just because he had that attitude, didn’t mean she was supposed to be a dick to him.
“Maybe I should go back there…” She mumbled, feeling worse and worse by the second for the exchange they had, “He did say I was cute.”
Her mind was made up. She would head down there right now and work things out. She had a feeling they would be stuck sharing the town for a while, and he while he was an ass, there was no reason they couldn’t be amicable toward each other.
/\/\/\/\
“So, what do you think of everypony here?” Spike asked, as Alex carefully finished his last bit of pasta.
“Why do you say ‘everypony’?” Alex asked, clumsily dabbing his mouth with a napkin, “Why not ‘everyone’? It isn’t like every creature in this world is even a pony, right?”
“Don’t ask me,” Spike shrugged, knowing the confusion Alex had felt, “I’m a dragon, but I’m still being referred to when ‘everypony’ is used.”
“I’ll keep to everyone, thanks.” Alex said, sitting back on his bed and facing the dragon, “What were you asking me?”
“What do you think of everypon—everyone here?” Spike asked, trying be considerate.
“Well, I hardly know anyone. I mean, I’m talking to a flippin’ dragon right now,” Alex explained, “I don’t think I know enough to really have a strong opinion.”
“Fair enough,” Spike nodded, “I don’t know anypon- anyone here except Twilight.”
“Right,” Alex said, “You just moved here yourself, right?”
“Yup,” Spike answered, “From the capital, Canterlot.”
“Is it different?” Alex asked, having no idea just how towns might differ in this world.
“Oh, it’s way bigger,” Spike explained, recalling just how many differences there were between the two places, “And there’s actually a lot less mares there.”
“So… the town is filled with guys?” Alex asked, wondering why that would be the case in any town.
“Oh, no,” Spike shook his head, “There are way mare mares in Ponyville than guys, I mean.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad to me,” Alex laughed, “But at this point, I’m still not sure if the girls in this world are even attractive to me.”
“Well, what about Rarity?” Spike asked, “She’s a babe, right?”
“Aren’t you a baby dragon?” Alex asked, laughing at his enthusiasm toward the particular mare, “Why are you checking out mares?”
“I’m not really a baby,” Spike shrugged, “I’m only one by strict definition.”
“How’s that?” Alex asked.
“Well, a dragon can live to be a thousand years old!” Spike answered, “Relatively, I’m not even one percent done my life.”
“But, I mean, you sound so mature,” Alex said, feeling like he was talking to someone his own age, “All dragons so quick to mature mentally?”
“Dragons have the capability to be incredibly smart,” Spike explained, “Even by just ten years we can be on the same level as most adults of other species. That’s where I am.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then good luck with Rarity.” Alex smiled, rolling his head on his shoulders, trying to loosen himself up a bit.
“What do you think of the other girls?” Spike asked, happy to have a guy to talk to about this stuff, “I’ll bet you could get any of Twilight’s new friends!”
“Well, there’s no better way of accepting a situation like this, than you start calling dibs on the girls you’re stuck with,” Alex laughed, “What was the question?”
“Which girl would you pick?”
“I mean, they’re all horses,” Alex laughed, thinking over the several girls once again, “But I guess if I had to choose… I’d pick—“
“Rainbow Dash?” Spike cut in, “She’s pretty cute too!”
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Alex answered quickly, “She’s probably the furthest thing from what I’d be looking for.”
“Why?” Spike asked, hoping he wasn’t pushing too hard.
“She’s bitchy… I guess.” Alex laughed nervously, hoping that didn’t offend the ‘baby’ dragon, “I mean, she’s kinda manish too, and the hair is a big turn off for me.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Spike shrugged, now understanding that she wasn’t his first pick.
“Plus, she just has a horrible attitude.”
\/\/\/\/
Dash stood at the door to Alex’s new room in the library, her hoof raised about to knock. However, before she had been able, she heard her name be mentioned.
And, after a few minutes of listening in, she quickly realized that coming here was a mistake.
If he was willing to sit in there with Spike, and say such horrible things about her, then she wanted nothing to do with them.
Her instincts were right.
As she turned around and headed out the door of the library, she felt a pang of pain in her chest.
Was she really so bad?