//------------------------------// // Walking in Human Shoes // Story: Project Accelerator // by Wildcard25 //------------------------------// One afternoon in Ponyville, Accel was busy zipping about through town doing some daily jobs he was requested. He just finished dropping off some garden supplies to Rose, Lily, and Daisy. "There you go, girls. That's all the supplies you requested for your gardening." Accel said as he wiped his forehead. "Thank you so much, Accelerator." Rose thanked him. "Just doing my job." he answered. "We'll be sure to send you your payment in the mail." Lily assured him. "I'll be waiting," he checked his watch, "Uh-oh. Gonna be late for my next appointment. Better get on my horse," he humored them before jumping up and made a sound, "Meep-meep!" he zipped off. Accelerator kept doing job after job, until he finished his work for the day. He went to the park and sat on a bench just to relax. As he sat down he was greeted by Rainbow Dash who flew in. "Hey, Accel, what's up?" "Rainbow Dash, shouldn't you be off napping on a cloud or in a tree somewhere at this time?" "Yuck it up," Rainbow replied as she took a spot next to him, "So how's it going?" "Just finished today's work, and now I'm relaxing." "Sounds like a plan." Rainbow agreed, as they relaxed on the bench together. As they two relaxed, Accel watched as the ponies went about their daily lives, and for a split second envisioned them all as human beings. Rainbow seeing Accel looked lost in thought was concerned, "Hey, you ok?" she nudged him, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Huh, oh, yeah. Just thinking." "About what?" "Well, it's... Oh, forget it. It's stupid." he brushed it off. "I won't know if it's stupid until you tell me." Rainbow insisted. "Ok," he sighed, "It's just it can get real boring being the only human here in Equestria. I mean I look around and see ponies all around, but no humans. Makes me feel extinct," Rainbow listened, "Truth be told, sometimes I envision a human's gonna walk out of nowhere and I won't feel like I'm out of place." Rainbow instead of trying to turn it into a joke decided to be more concerned, "You know, Spike felt that way too having been raised by ponies his whole life and being the only dragon here in Ponyville. Even though it still bugs him he learned that what he has isn't so bad as what he could've had. Being raised by dragons to just be greedy and violent." "Your point?" the speedster asked. "You shouldn't worry so much about being the only human here. Sure you may not walk among your own kind, but it's better to be with others who care about you rather than be alone." Accel pondered before speaking, "I guess that makes sense. Still, I wish I could spend a day with at least one human like the old days." he got up and headed off. Rainbow watched him leave and didn't like to see a friend of hers down in the dumps wished she could do something for him. Suddenly an idea came to mind, "Maybe he can." she smirked. Meanwhile at Twilight's castle, the egghead princess was busy with some reading, with Spike on standby. Suddenly Rainbow burst in, taking them by surprise, "Hey, guys!" "Rainbow Dash, you know I hate it when you do that." Twilight said, with an irritated look. "I know, but listen I need you're help with something, Twi." "My help. With what?" "Well, it's about Accel..." "Accelerator?" Twilight asked, "Is he ok? I hope it's nothing too serious." he mouth was blocked by Rainbow's hoof. "Let me finish. I was talking with him, and he seemed down about being the only human in Equestria. It shocked me seeing he's been here for quite awhile and all of a sudden he feels that way?" Twilight seeing what was up spoke, "Obviously he has been keeping these feelings to himself because he wanted to bury them. Unfortunately it's not healthy to do something like that." "Right. So I was thinking, remember when you used that spell to turn us all into breezies?" "Yes." Twilight answered suspiciously. "Well, would that spell also be able to turn ponies into humans?" The pegasus asked hopefully. "Rainbow, what're you up to?" "Look I want you to turn me into a human so I can spend some time with Accel and make him feel better, ok?" Rainbow explained her plan. Twilight spoke up, "Rainbow, that is... The kindest most heartfelt plan you've ever come up with!" she cheered. "Huh?" Rainbow was taken aback by her friends mood change. "It's a wonderful way to help Accelerator cope through his problem. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner." Twilight started levitating spell books over to check for a certain spell. "Twilight, you think that'll really make Accel feel better?" Spike asked. Twilight turned to her assistant, "Well, it might help him cope with his dilemma." "So you'll help me?" Rainbow asked. "Of course." Twilight answered, as she levitated a spell book over, "Here we are." "Is this gonna hurt?" Rainbow asked in concern. "Well, you might feel a bit of a twinge, but nothing too serious." Twilight assured her. "Ok." Rainbow said as she stood still, as Twilight started her spell, and her magic consumed Rainbow Dash, as the Princess and Spike watched until the brightness of the spell blinded them. When it died down, the two looked in shock at the results. "Well, did it work?" Rainbow asked, as she saw their reactions, "What, is something wrong?" "No, it's just... Spike, a mirror." Twilight said. Spike went over and slid a mirror before Rainbow Dash who saw what had become of her. Rainbow Dash stood on two legs like Accel, her tail was gone, and was decked out in clothing. Her attire included a blue vest, a white shirt with black lining on the collar and bottom, her shirt had an image of a cloud with a rainbow-colored lightning bolt, a pink and white striped skirt with black leggings underneath, blue boots, rainbow socks, and a rainbow bracelet on each arm. The only thing ponywise about her was the wings on her back, the ears on her head, and her hair had an extension at the end almost like her mane and tail length were combined. "Whoa, is that me?" Rainbow gasped, as she looked at herself all over. "Yes, Rainbow, it is you," Twilight answered, "I wasn't able to make you fully human, though." she explained seeing how her friend retained her wings and ears. "Well, this is still good enough," he flexed her arms and twiddled her fingers, similar to how Twilight did during her first moment as a human in the other world, "And nice choice in clothing. How'd you figure these would appear?" Twilight blushed, "Well, they sorta came to me." "All right. Time to go see, Accelerator!" she took a step, but ended up falling face flat. "Ooh." Spike and Twilight cringed. "I'm ok." Rainbow said, as she peeled her head off the floor. "You're gonna need some practice." Twilight told her, as she looked sheepish. Meanwhile on earth at the labs, Dagger, Ashley, and a few guards armed with blasters, were standing on a platform, as Ashley spoke, "Dr. Dagger, just how are we supposed go to Jake's location?" Dagger turned to her, "With this little number our Research and Development crew whipped up for us." he pulled out a remote like device. "And how does it work?" one of the guards asked. "It projects a portal leading to the destination of your choosing. I had already entered the coordinates where the probe landed. Once we arrive we'll use the tracking device to track Jake's speed force and catch him." Dagger explained. "And will the portal device bring us back safely?" another guard inquired. "Of course. Now let's be careful. It's unknown what this world we're about to be going to is like, so be prepared for anything." "Yes, sir!" the guards answered. "Here we go." Dagger clicked on the remote that projected a portal out of thin air. They each cautiously stepped into it, and soon enough the portal closed behind them. Back in Ponyville, Accel was walking around trying to figure out what he could do, until Spike came running over, "Hey, Accelerator!" The speedster looked over at Spike, "Oh, hey, Spike. What's up?" "Come here. Twilight and I have something to show you." Spike pulled him by the pants. "Ok-ok, I'm coming." Accel followed him. Spike brought him over to Twilight who was standing by a tree, "Ok, Twi, I'm here. What's this all about?" "Well, Accelerator, behold." Twilight answered, as Rainbow Dash walked out from behind the tree presenting herself. At the sight of her, Accel looked almost as if he was dreaming. He rubbed his eyes and saw he wasn't, "Rainbow Dash?" he asked, as a faint blush was forming on his face. "Hey, Accel." she waved. "Twilight, what did you do?" he asked the Princess. "It was Rainbow Dash's idea." she answered. Accel looked back at his not all pegasus friend still trying to keep his blush a secret, as she explained, "I couldn't stand seeing you look all depressed not being around your own kind. So I had Twilight use a spell on me to make me as human as possible so I can help you relax. Don't worry this is only temporary." "You did this for me?" Accel asked. "Well, duh. I wouldn't do it for just anypony or any human. But when it comes to a close friend. I would do anything." she answered. Accel's shocked expression started turning positive, "Rainbow, I... Thanks." "No problem," she smiled back and went over to him as they matched height, "So why don't we go have a day of fun?" "You bet." Accel, agreed as he took her hand and raced off at normal speed, dragging her along. Twilight and Spike watched hoping all would go well. In Canterlot outside the kingdom, a portal opened up and out came Dagger, Ashley, and the guards. They stretched before looking around, "Is this the place?" Ashley asked. "No doubt about it." Dagger confirmed. "Hey, look at that." A guard said, as they saw Canterlot not too far from them. "You think he's there?" another asked. Dagger looked at his tracking device aiming it at the kingdom getting a weak signal, until he held it in another direction away from the kingdom seeing a stronger signal, "Not likely. Jake's this way." he motioned his guards to follow, and they did with Ashley following behind, while looking concerned. Back in Ponyville, Accel and the now human Rainbow Dash were at Sugarcube Corner having a milkshake and sharing some cake. The customers there were giving Rainbow awkward looks wondering if that really was her, while she ignored them. "Jeez, you think after seeing you for so many weeks, they'd be used to it." Rainbow told Accel. "It's not that they aren't used to it, Rainbow. They just don't completely recognize you." he replied. "Well, you got a point." she admitted. "Rainbow Dash?" A voice gasped. The two looked over and saw the CMC looking up at them, "Hey, squirt? How're you three doing?" she asked. "Good, but is that really you?" Scootlaloo asked. "Of course it's me. Who else?" "Sorry, but we almost didn't recognize you." Sweetie Belle said. "Yeah, I'm getting that a lot today." she replied. "How do you look like Accelerator now?" Applebloom wondered. "Just something Twilight did, but don't you go asking her to do stuff like this. She's obviously say no." Rainbow warned them. "I just want to say, Rainbow Dash, you look a hundred times as awesome as you already are." Scootaloo declared. Rainbow hearing her still getting praised by her number one fan smiled and ruffled her mane, "Thanks, kid." "See, no matter what you look like, you'll always be Rainbow." Accel noted. "Got that right." Rainbow agreed, as she took a bite out of her cake. Once they finished their meal, they spent the whole day hanging out around Ponyville. As they enjoyed themselves, Accel was starting to remember all the fun he used to have with his old friends back home. Rainbow stood by Accel, and took his hand, "Are ya ready?" "Bring it!" Accel smirked. "Here we go!" Rainbow shot off the ground and into the sky taking Accel with her. When they reached the clouds, Rainbow stopped in mid air, still holding onto Accel's hand while noticing his eyes were tight shut, "Open your eyes, Accel. You gotta see this." Accel opened his eyes and saw how high up they were, "Whoa." he gasped. "Welcome to sky level." Rainbow said. "This is amazing." Accel gasped, as he looked at all the clouds. "Yeah, now hang on tight, this is gonna be different for me." Rainbow flew off still holding onto Accel, as they flew through the sky. Accel was whooping and cheering as Rainbow flew him through the sky, before tossing him up and caught both his arms with her hands. She flew around above some clouds low enough so Accel can pretend he was running on the clouds, "Oh, this is intense! Check me out!" Rainbow looked up ahead seeing they were on a direct course with a cloud wall, "Incoming!" Accel saw the cloud wall and let out a playful scream, before they went through it leaving behind their body prints. They popped out at the end of the cloud leaving behind the same prints. "Wow, clouds are about as soft as pillows." Accel said. "Now you know why I love napping on them." Rainbow said. "Wish I could do that without falling through them." Accel replied, as Rainbow continued flying him around. When the two touched back on the ground, both laughed like fools, "Oh, that was the greatest experience of my life!" Accel laughed, "I'm glad you didn't drop me." "I do feel stronger in this human form, plus it's easier to hold onto things with these hands." Rainbow looked at her hands. "Yeah, they are incredibly useful for holding onto things," Accel said, as he wrapped an arm around her, "Come on, let's go take a break." they walked off. They relaxed on a bench in the park, "This has been a great day, Rainbow Dash. I really appreciate you willing to turn into a human for awhile just for me." "Don't mention it." she replied, "And I've really grown to like this human form. I should have Twilight use it on me more often, or maybe get her to use it on the rest of the girls." "That'd be cool. If you look this good as a human, I can imagine they'd look equally good." Accel said. The two laughed as Accel spoke, "Seriously, though, spending the day with you like this makes me remember the good days back home when I was with my family and friends. I miss the days when it was me and them. Not that I don't like doing things with you and the others, it's just some things back home can't be replaced." "I understand." Rainbow replied. "There's also stuff I don't think I'll be able to do here that I could've done back home." he added. "Like that?" "Well, have my first kiss with someone," he answered, while Rainbow looked at him curiously, "I mean that's something that's suppose to be a guys most treasured moment during his teenage years. But being here I don't think I'll ever experience it. Mostly because I'm not sure how it would look to others if a human kissed a pony. In my world that would just be wrong, and I'm not sure how ponies here would react in turn. Of course. I would need a special someone to actually do that with. But I don't know if I'll actually find someone like that for me." "Accel." Rainbow said, and when Accel turned to face her he was met with Rainbow's lips that pressed into his. Accel was frozen in shock at what Rainbow Dash was suddenly doing to him, but loosened up and accepted it, until they parted, "How was that for a first kiss?" Rainbow asked with a smirk. "That was awesome." he panted. "I'm glad. You know, that was my first one too." she admitted. "Really?" Accel asked. "Yeah. Stuff like that wasn't such a big deal to me." "So then what made ya decide to act?" Accel inquired. "Well, you've never been kissed. I've never been kissed. We both are good friends, you do that math." Rainbow answered. "So you just did it to satisfy both our desires?" Accel raised a brow. "Well, yeah, I mean no, It's not that I don't like you. I mean I like you, but I don't like-you like you. I just," Rainbow strained, "Oh, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore." "Rainbow Dash." Accel spoke. "What?" she turned to Accel, as he cupped her face and planted his lips on hers. Rainbow like Accel at first was shocked, but didn't want to fight it and just accepted it, 'Wow, it's even better a second time.' they thought simultaneously. When they parted, Accel spoke, "Now can you find the right words?" Rainbow smiled, "Yeah. I actually do think I 'like' like you." Accel smiled back, "Same here." he said, until he saw Rainbow Dash was glowing, and when it died down she was a pegasus again, "Looks like the magic wore off." he said. "Yeah, sorry it couldn't have lasted all day." she apologized. "It's no big. Personally I prefer the real you." he admitted, as the two hugged. Suddenly they were almost blasted by something which broke their embrace, "What the hell?" Accel gasped, as another blast almost nailed them, if Rainbow hadn't tackled him off the bench. The tow shots put every pony in the park in a panic and started heading for cover, "Who's firing on us?" Rainbow asked Accel, until the speedster looked ahead and gasped. "Oh, no." Rainbow looked ahead, and they saw Dagger, Ashley, and the guards approaching, with the guards aiming their blasters at them in case they moved. Dagger who was holding the tracker device that had a strong signal having found Accel, spoke up, "Hello, Jake."