Act I: Collision of Worlds
Chapter 4: Cooldown Period
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It wasn’t like the mares in the room hadn’t had their own freak-outs—far from it, really. Each of them could probably name at least one time where they’d totally lost it. However, it also wasn’t every day you saw a colt who you just learned ten seconds ago was an alien in a pony’s body have a very similar breakdown. He was pacing back and forth, one hand pressed to his forehead—was he aware of the horn on his forehead now?
“I can’t believe this,” Corey huffed, “How could it have turned out like this? I mean, a hidden message that only I can see starts to appear out of nowhere. Next thing I’m putting it together…”
“Now that I’m thinking about it, who does that?!” Corey paused, now appearing like he was entirely in his own world now, ranting to himself, “What kind of idiot just decides to compile a message he got off the internet—the internet, of all places!”
Corey continued to rant and rave, John merely looking on with an indifferent expression on his face. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was sort of enjoying the first show of emotion other than terror and confusion from Corey, even if it was his habit of rambling on.
“Forgive me,” Princess Celestia said, getting his attention, “But, shouldn’t you try to calm him?”
John couldn’t answer vocally at the moment. He was taking in the sight of Corey rambling about his problems…
Wait…rambling…Oh, no…She’s actually right…but not because of the simple reason… John thought, When he gets like this, he tends to go on for minutes. And he tends to say whatever. Hardly a problem at home, but here…There’s too much to explain already…Corey dodged the world origin thing before, how Equestria was just a—
“I didn’t have to do it!” Corey continued, “But my curiosity, that idiotic curiosity, got the better of me, and now look where we are!”
Oh crap! Gotta get him to stop, now! John quickly began to walk over to Corey, the latter not paying him any attention, still mid-rant.
“In a world that up until about an hour ago--!”
John reached out his clawed hand and did the only thing he could think to do to get Corey’s attention: flick Corey’s ear, hard.
“Ow!” Corey snarled, immediately holding his hand to his ear, “Hey, John, what did you—“
The dragon found himself wishing he could answer with his voice, but even if he did have it, he probably couldn’t use it. John merely pointed to the others silently, subtly. Thankfully, Corey could see the utter confusion on their faces, and got the message.
“I…Uh…I was doing it again, wasn’t I?” asked Corey sheepishly as he fully came to terms with what exactly had just happened.
John hmphed and nodded, glad he stopped Corey’s tirade before things got complicated. Corey averted his gaze, blushing lightly while looking extremely uncomfortable.
“You know, if I still didn’t believe that thing about him being from some parallel world, that would’ve sealed it…” Rainbow observed.
“What makes you say that?” Twilight asked.
“Well, Twilight,” The athlete responded, “He just had a you moment…”
Twilight recoiled slightly, blushing only a light amount. Her tone sounded as though she’d been slapped, “R-Rainbow--!”
SLAM!! “We’re heeereeee~!!” An all-too-familiar voice, punctuated by the loud sound of the door slamming open, got everyone’s attention real quick.
“Pinkie Pie, the least you could do is knock on a pony’s door before—“ Rarity didn’t quite get through scolding Pinkie for barging in unannounced before both saw the dragon and gasped, Rarity’s a bit more…shrill, “—Twilight, what is that thing doing here—and, oh Goddess, loose?!”
John flinched slightly at her words. Corey did as well, but at least he could finally stop blushing.
“R-Rarity!” Twilight stuttered, trying to recover from the unexpected intrusion. Thankfully, if anypony in the room knew how to diffuse a situation, it was Princess Celestia—and she moved to do so instantly.
“Now, now, my little ponies—“
“P-Princess Celestia…” Rarity said, coming out of a slight trance, only now seeming to realize the sun princess was there. “My apologies, I—“
“I believe we were all victims of a slight…misunderstanding, here…”
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Hearing the story a third time served to ingrain everything that Corey had revealed—both intentionally and unintentionally, deep into Twilight’s mind. Of course, as they listened to the explanation, Rarity went from surprised that the princess was there to skeptical of the whole tale to flat-out confused. Pinkie—well, it was hard to say what was going through her mind when she heard all of this. Soon enough, though, the explanations ended, leaving Rarity and Pinkie to go over what they heard.
“I…” Rarity started, still confused, “Forgive me, but all of that is…a little hard to believe.”
“Join the club,” Rainbow commented flatly.
“We thought the same,” Twilight responded, “But after we put some thought into it, along with what Princess Celestia told us, about the distortions, it turns out their story does add up…”
Rarity took a second look towards Corey and John, more specifically the latter. This was the dragon she’d called a monster. When said dragon was more or less terrified of her—maybe not terrified, per se, but he definitely didn’t look like he wanted to do anything else.
He ran right up to me and then turned and ran the other way… Rarity thought to herself, And hardly a dragon alive would run like that from a pony—in fact, they would fly. Plus, the dragon had come seemingly out of nowhere, and had not done any damage to the town while he was running…Oh…oh dear…
“So this whole thing was…” Rarity began, biting her lip in guilt over what she had said when she first saw John, “Just an accident?”
Both Corey and John only nodded.
“Oh my gosh!” Pinkie went off like a chattering bomb as she finally processed the infodump she’d been given, “I didn’t see this coming, I mean, I thought just the dragon being in town for no reason was the real reason my Pinkie Sense was going off, but then there was so much more, with the computers, and the code, and a lot of other things I don’t even know what those are, maybe from another world kinda like ours, but not really…”
As the hyperactive pony continued her long-winded run-on sentence about the situation at hand, Rarity decided to move close to John, likely in case he couldn’t hear her over Pinkie.
“I hope you’ll forgive me for earlier…” Rarity said, “I was not expecting any of this.”
John, for some reason, still didn’t talk, instead shrugging it off physically. At least, that’s what Corey translated.
“I think he accepts your apology…” Corey said, awkwardly, having watched that mini-exchange.
“Why hasn’t he said anything,” Rarity said, “Is he really that shocked?”
“I…don’t…” Corey began, “Why aren’t you talking, John?”
John opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was a feral-sounding snarl. The dragon’s brow knit in frustration, clearly having had his fill of communication failure for the day. He rubbed at the back of his head, looking significantly troubled.
“Ugh, the guy can’t even speak,” Rainbow pointed out, “How’s he gonna tell us anything?”
“Why doesn’t he just write it down?”
Everyone turned to see Spike, arms crossed, having just stated the most obvious solution. He was maybe taller than what Corey or John remembered, but it was hard to tell for sure. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt—typical school age wardrobe, really. At the much smaller dragon’s suggestion, the larger one proceeded to apply his palm to his face.
Why didn’t I think of that?! Twilight thought, I live in a library, for crying out loud…
The alicorn wasn’t immediately sure if she saw the green unicorn going through similar thoughts, from the way his left arm twitched at his side in conjunction with his eye.
However, as stupid as it was no one immediately thought of that, John was soon given a piece of parchment and a quill to write down his thoughts on. He did so quickly—taking to using his claws as hands and the fact he was writing with a feather. John then passed his paper to Corey.
“So, what’s it say?” Rainbow asked, as the unicorn looked over his friend’s note. For some reason, Corey grimaced a few times when he did so, but nonetheless began to read it after a couple of seconds.
“First of all, I want to say that I’m sorry about the panic I caused. That fire I breathed was an…accident,” Corey read aloud, seeming to struggle with reading John’s note.
“But now that I’m…” Corey grumbled something under his breath, John looking just a little offended, “thinking about it…I think I know why, but it’s a little hard to explain. My throat feels different than it did before, along with my tongue. I can’t seem to get it to work right…”
Corey then turned to John, whispering something along the lines of “Think you could make your next note neater?”
Rainbow shot Twilight a small look, the latter shaking her head with a mild groan.
So Corey goes on rambles when he’s nervous and can’t move past little things… she thought, It doesn’t mean anything!
“That’s it, for what John wrote,” Corey said, turning back to them.
“Why couldn’t he have been the one who could talk…” Rainbow flatly said, finally responding to John’s note.
“Well, that hardly seems polite,” Rarity responded.
“Trust me Rares, you’d be thinking the same if you were around the first time…”
Twilight, meanwhile, began to decipher John’s note, using things she already knew.
What’s John trying to say here? she asked herself, When they entered Equestria, their bodies did change, but Corey can still talk normally. So at least, between whatever he really is and a pony, there isn’t that much of a difference in anatomy. But a dragon’s anatomy is different…So then…
“That’s it!” Twilight called out, snapping her fingers, “A dragon is not only capable of breathing fire, but can also withstand a great amount of heat—their digestive system is also very strong too. Their internal organs are far different from that of a pony—sturdier, too. That being said, it probably means you went through some significant changes on the inside, John…”
John visibly cringed, as though something returned to him, moving a hand over his chest. He motioned to Corey. At first, Corey looked to John, confused, before realizing he wanted the note back. John quickly scribbled something down, and returned it to Corey.
“Oh for the love of—“ Corey grumbled audibly, sounding annoyed. “Now I know you did it on purpose…”
“What’s it say?” Rainbow sounded lightly amused if anything.
Corey squinted at the paper, not even bothering to grumble under his breath this time, “Guess that explains…the pain I felt…”
“Twi,” Applejack said, returning the subject to what Twilight had explained, “What you’re sayin’ is he just needs to get used to his body?”
“That’s the gist of it…” Twilight nodded.
“Well, John, you’ll have time,” Corey turned to John, “Looks like we’re st-st-st…” Corey paused, crossing his eyes in frustration at the stutter that so ineloquently dropped itself into his speech, “Stuck! Here for a while in any case…”
“Perhaps not,” Princess Celestia interrupted, both of the aliens looking towards her, “There may be a way to send you back, but I don’t know for sure…”
“Is she talking about…?” Rainbow mumbled to herself, but nopony really paid her any mind.
“I shall return to the castle and see if the proper arrangements can be made. Until then, however, you are in a whole new world. Why not see what Ponyville has to offer in the meantime?”
Just as suddenly as she had appeared, the solar princess had vanished. Everyone gathered blinked in surprise for a few moments.
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What exactly was she referring to there? Corey thought, I guess I’ll find out later. Looks like I’m here for a while in any case.
“Well you heard the princess!” chirped Pinkie, bringing Corey straight out of his thoughts faster than ever, “We have two new visitors to Ponyville, and being the super duper party planner that I am, I’m going to give you a grand tour!”
The hyperactive earth pony wrapped her arm around Corey, pulling him a little closer than he would have liked to be with all that had happened so far. From there, she wrapped her other arm around John’s, causing him to stumble towards her a bit.
Corey distinctly felt himself start to wonder if Pinkie was scared to begin with.
“I think there’s a small problem with that idea, Pinkie,” Applejack interjected. Pinkie turned her head to the rest of the group.
“I think you mean, big problem,” Rainbow added, “As in, bigger than Big Mac problem.”
The cyan mare motioned to John, who looked down, apparently for the first time realizing exactly how tall he was. Corey didn’t quite get to make a comparison—was Celestia the same height as John, or taller? Shorter?
“We might know his story,” Twilight pointed out, “But the rest of Ponyville doesn’t. They see him out there again, they start panicking all over again—at least, maybe if he was alone. If he’s with one of us, though, maybe the town will see he really did come in peace…”
“Oh!” Rarity cut in, “And if he were with Fluttershy, then—“
SLAM!! SLAM!!
All heads turned to see the door, and out an adjacent window, they could see Fluttershy quickly retreating.
“Aaaand she’s gone,” Rainbow observed, rubbing at her temple, “C’mon, ‘Shy…Don’t take it too hard, she’s afraid of any dragon bigger than Spike.” The last part of her statement was directed at John.
“Still, I believe it’d work so long as you’re around at least one of us,” Twilight repeated.
Corey turned to John, who was once again writing away. After finishing his message, he passed it to Corey.
Okay, at least he’s trying…His writing’s getting better already… Corey thought, “What about my appearance? …He’s got a point. Even if-if we all traveled with him the ponies in town still wouldn’t take to his appearance.”
A silence fell over the room, as everypony thought of a way this problem could be solved. John’s clothes were torn—was he wearing those clothes and they got torn by the transformation? Corey banished this thought, trying to come up with an—
“Idea~” Rarity announced, getting everypony’s attention, “I believe I may have just the solution.”
Her next words floored the room. “Remove your vest.”
Everyone else looked varying degrees of uncomfortable with that statement. Ironically, John only blinked.
“Way to make a new dragon feel welcome!” Rainbow called out, bluntly announcing the group’s consensus on how that sounded.
“Oh, no, no, no, no, no,” Rarity said, “I merely need to get some idea for how large his frame is now…oh, and I simply must do something about those pants…”
“And there’s the part where she gets carried away…” Applejack observed.
Corey said nothing, already knowing full well Rarity was in fact getting ahead of herself.
I mean, c’mon, it’s not like he’s gonna…
Corey’s train of thought derailed, probably caught in a pileup with at least two others, when John, with little more than a shrug and sigh, handed over the remnants of a shirt without a fight.
…and that is the most awkward handoff heard around the world…
Rarity examined the torn fabric, tilting her head and seeming to focus on the neck area. Corey figured she might have seen some sort of tag indicating the shirt’s size—but he wasn’t totally sure.
“I believe I have something to work with here…” Rarity announced, folding the tattered remains of what could have easily been a shirt, “I must go back to the boutique so I can be prepared for this! Will anypony help me?”
Spike seemed to hesitate just a little bit—perhaps still reeling from the vest exchange, “O-of course, you can count on me…”
Corey wasn’t sure if he imagined the slightest traces of a death glare or not, but shrugged it off easily enough.
“Oh, believe me, darling, I know I can count on you…” Rarity said, “Anypony else?”
“Afraid I’ve gotta take a rain check on that, Rarity,” Applejack responded, “Was in the middle of chores when John came crashin’ down…”
“Pass,” Rainbow flatly said.
“Oh!” Pinkie interjected, “I just remembered I was gonna go cheer up ponies after everything settled! Gotta go! Ciao!”
With that, Pinkie left, leaving behind a Pinkie Pie-shaped dust cloud in her wake. Corey blinked.
So…is that what it looks like when characters inexplicably teleport…
Twilight looked over to Corey and John, seeming to come to a conclusion.
“I think I’d better stay with them,” Twilight said, “You know, just in case the Princess comes back with an answer…”
With that, just about everypony else left in a hurry, leaving Corey, John, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle in the library.