//------------------------------//
// Sharing Culture 
// Story: The Elements Journey 
// by Merlitz 
//------------------------------//

After a few minutes of gathering up their things, and of course waiting for a little more light to fade, Dave leads them through back streets and between yards, weaving in and out of buildings, using rainbow dash above as a guide to avoid any other beings. Applejack carrying twilight on her back very carefully and the others around her keeping her supported. They all looked at the sights and scenes, getting distracted from time to time, seeing the light poles that turned on without any magic, the large automobiles. They not having a clue how any of this worked. Each time one of them fell a little behind someone had to get their attention, with careful movements they made it to Dave's home and he let them in the back door. He then closes it and turns on all the lights. "Let me go clear out the guest room, it's not much but your all welcome to it."

Applejack brings twilight with her along to the room. "I think twilight needs the guest room more then any of us. She needs the rest and peace and quiet to recover. We will make due anywhere else we can." The group nods in agreement as both Dave and Applejack enter the room and after a little shuffling Dave clears it out and frees up the spare bed. They gentle move Twilight onto the bed and leave the door partially open for Fluttershy to get in and help when she needs to, The wounds having been tended too before they left the shed so sleep right now was best. "Thank you again Dave, thank ye kindly, you are a very nice pony.....uh....yea..."

Dave speaks up and corrects her softly with a smile. "Person." he says with a soft nod of his head.

Applejack mimics the word. "Person....Ok, your a very nice person. Thank ya sugar cube." she says the rest of the group nodding softly and smiling in agreement.

Dave looks around. "Make yourself at home, my house is your house as long as you need it, just try not to wreck it ok?" he grins with a soft laugh.

Rarity speaks up again and puts a hoof on Dave's leg to get his attention. "Listen dear, I think I speak for all of us when I say we will do our best to not be a burden, we will clean our own messes and help you somehow so you don't have to pay to keep us fed while we stay here." she looks up at him with insistent eyes.

Applejack ahems. "Besides we need to get back as soon as possible and stop Tirek." she looks between them all and sighs. "Iffin we can get back that is."

Pinkie pie bounces around the room. "I don't think we gotta worry about him." she says pushing her nose into a jar to sniff it's contents. It was full of little hard candies. "JACKPOT!"

Applejack stops Pinkie. "It would be more polite to ask rather than take Pinkie, and what do you mean we don't have to worry about Tirek." her hoof covering Pinkie's mouth so she didn't just take the candy, pulling it back once she was sure Pinkie was going to be polite.

Pinkie looks to Dave with puppy dog eyes. He nods softly with a smile sitting in his chair and stretching his back listening to them, she speaks up again. "Right before we vanished I saw him, he was all withered up even more so then when we stopped him the first time, and back then he could barely take magic from one pony, so I don't think he will bother anyone for a while, and he vanished too right before we did."

Applejack blinks at Pinkie, "You saw this with your own eyes?"

Pinkie nods as she munches on the candy and almost shudders in pure bliss, she's never tasted this kind before, she drools wiping her mouth with a foreleg."MMmmmmMMm.....sooooo gooooood." she finishes the candy with applejack waiting for an answer. "Yea I saw him with my own two little twinkie pinkie eyes, Tirek is no problem right now." she zips from one item to another inspecting everything she hasn't seen before.

About this time, Dave felt a little pressure on his leg and saw two very big eyes on him, he was so enchanted by watching all the ponies he didn't realize Fluttershy had snuck up on him and was looking straight up at him, the moment he glanced down she ducked behind her mane and began to shy away. "You don't have to hide from me." he said with a soft tone. "Your in no danger here, none of you are, and if you want or need anything or just want to ask questions about stuff or talk, feel free. I'm an open book." 

In the next room, a purple ear perked on a sleeping Twilight.

Fluttershy peeked out more from her mane and begins to lean forward. She noses a little at his hand meekly and takes it in her hooves very slowly, it was amazing how gentle she was, he could barely feel her touch yet she was able to move his hand around with ease, she was so entranced with his fingers at first, and then his arm, looking them over with her eyes, he sat there as her gaze met his again wanting reassurance. He nodded with a smile. The rest were looking too now, just curious about him, everything had happened so fast they didn't get a chance to see who or what was helping them. They all gazed around the room seeing the many objects he owned. Fluttershy was more into creatures than anything so he was her main focus, she ran a hoof over his arm, she poked gently at his foot and looked at his nose up close, so close he could feel her breath. "You are just so amazing." she said with a whisper. She then lays down on a rug and looks up at him a tiny smile crossing her lips.

About that time Rainbow Dash said out loud. "What the?!" and was in the fridge looking around. "Hey what's this red stuff in the freezer." she asked. Her eyes fixed on it.

Dave gets up. "Oh dear, yea that's right...I forgot." he says and walks over closing it. She seemed a little irritated. "Alright I'll answer but you all need to be calm when I tell you, I'm assuming this will upset you."

Applejack perks her ears alone with Rarity. Pinkie Still looking around with a big smile on her face, seems too carefree to notice what was going on, giving little things on tables a little push to see what they were, Fluttershy stayed on her rug and tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Dave leans on the fridge. "Do you have any carnivores in your world?" he crosses his arms and faces them keeping the most peaceful look on his face he can muster.

Rarity and the group back up as she says. "W...why do you ask that Darling? I mean yes of course we do, we tend to avoid them but why?"

Dave sighs. "In our world, Humans are Omnivores, we eat plants and animals to survive. Only certain kinds."

Rainbow Dash flies in front of the group and puts her hooves up. "You eat meat? If you lay one.....whatever that is on any of my friends I swear...."

Applejack pulls on her tail with her mouth and sighs. "Easy Rainbow, I don't think if he wanted to eat us he would tell us, we are in a different world, we gotta accept that's how things work here. Is that why you wanted us to hide? Others might eat us?" she gulped to him. Her eyes looking worried, not sure if she should even look outside now.

Dave shakes his head with a chuckle. "No no no, Talking ponies are not common place here, more likely someone would catch you and try and figure out what you were and where you came from, by finding out what's inside you." he points to a knife.

They all look at where he was looking and thought about it a moment, even pinkie was stopped dead in her tracks looking at it from across the room. They all gulped almost in sync. Rarity speaks up. "Well thank you darling for helping us avoid such a fate. You are too kind. Um, if it's not too much trouble could you point me at a shower, you do have those here right? I'm in desperate need for a cleaning of my coat, it's all sweaty and dirty." she says with a pouty face.

Dave nods. "Down the hall second door on the right, Left knob is hot right knob is cold, towels are under the sink." he smiles and goes back to his chair sitting down, he reaches for a remote, they all watch him not sure what it was, well rainbow did and she seemed overjoyed. he clicked it on and she immediately sat down next to Fluttershy watching it, they all turned to look, even Pinkie settling down. "Fair warning, they run these things called commercials in between the shows to try and make you buy things. Sometimes they show food, some of it cooked meat." They all look back at him in a bit of horror but nod. Eventually they all settle down after the long day and relax with Dave asking questions about different things they see on TV, foods, devices, he is more then happy to answer any questions. He talks with them long into the night, somewhere along the line Pinkie Pie ended up laying across his lap to get a better view of the television. He made a mental note to tell them the next day about the show and where he knows them from, he can't keep it from them forever considering they may be here a while.

In turn each one eventually takes a bath or shower, each one coming out seeming much more content and at ease once they are able to remove the days labor off them. Fluttershy makes her way in with Twilight and lays on the floor beside her after being handed some pillows to get comfortable with from Dave. Rainbow and Applejack fall begin to nod off on the couch, Rarity sit a while looking around and pouting, not sure where to crash for the evening. Dave thinks about this, she was more into luxury and soft pillows and such. He looks at Rainbow and Applejack and speaks softly. "Could you two hop off the couch a moment?" they look at him curiously.

Applejack tilts her head a moment but does as asked, Rainbow flaps her wings a bit and hovers mid air seemingly confused. "Uh sure." she says while they move out of the way.

Dave grins. "You'll understand in a moment." he pulls the pillows free and reaches into the couch and tugs on a bar, after a couple of heaves the inners begin to pull out and a bed unfolds before their eyes. He dusts off his hands after setting it up proper pulls the last of his spare blankets out. "There ya go."

Rainbow gapes. "Why don't we have those in Ponyville, sleepovers would be so much more fun!" she says and lands on the bed now big enough for at least four ponies.

Dave looks to Rarity. "You seemed to be looking for some suitable room, so I thought this would help." he smiles.

Rarity uses her magic to give him a gentle tug down to her and gives him a little peck on the cheek. "You are a gem!" she says she then moves over to the bed and makes herself comfortable. She perks her head and looks around. "Where is Pinkie Pie?" they all look about and seem a bit confused.

Dave is already heading to his own bed and yawns stretching his arms out wide. He scratches his side and flops on his bed. A few moments later a semi loud "What the?" and then a giggle can be heard in his room. "Found her." 	

Applejack makes her way to the door and peeks in. "Pinkie, let our friend have his rest, he's done a lot for us already we don't need to bother him while he sleeps."

Pinkie Pie pouts and looks down. "Okie Dokey Lokie....." she says sadly. Her ears pinned back as she hops off the edge of the bed.

Dave reaches a hand out. "It's ok I don't mind, I was just surprised, It's a king size bed, she can lay at the end if thats where she wants to sleep. It will give you three more room." he turns over pulling the blankets over himself. "Only if you promise to just goto sleep, I do need some rest."

Pinkie zips back to the end and pulls a single pillow under her and lays under a small section of blanket. She nods furiously and closes her eyes.

Applejack nods a bit but seems weary, she shrugs, and moves off. She meets with the other two in the bed after checking on Twi and Flutter, they were both sound to sleep. She cuddles into the spare bed and falls fast asleep.

Dave being an early riser gets up and begins making breakfast, he had to think about this one, ponies who eat no meat what so ever, so he prepares some garden salads. He lets Julie in when she arrives, greeting her at the door. "Hey there." he says quietly. Helping her with he groceries she brought over. "I called off from work, told them I had.....family in." he smirks and looks at them all.

Julie chuckles. "Same, well not the family part." she grins a little and looks at them as well. "I still can't believe this. I mean it's them."

Rainbow having been barely awake lifts her head. "Them?" she says her gaze meeting the two humans. "What do you mean?" she says trotting into the kitchen.

Dave freezes. "Oh dear, well I was going to tell you all after breakfast, can you hold your curiosity until we eat?" he asks and he looks over to the group starting to wake up from the chatter, they stretch out and groan feeling better after a full nights sleep.

Julie looks down feeling sorry for letting the words slip. "I'm sorry Dave, I didn't mean....."

Dave shakes his head. "it's ok, they have to know if they are going to know what's at stake while staying here."

Fluttershy comes in from the next room. "Know what?" she says curiously, a little braver this morning after getting some rest, her small bit of confidence returning now that the crazy happenings from the previous day behind them for now.

Dave sighs softly. "Ok, but you all must promise to let me completely explain before getting mad. I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable, we genuinely want to help."

The group nods in unison after a little back and forth looking. Dave then walks over to the TV and grabs the remote. Rarity being first to speak up. "I thought you were going to explain something darling." she tilts her head.

Dave nods. "I am, and it's almost time in about two minutes, then you will understand why I was so cautious about getting you inside, your.....well known in our world." he says with a chuckle, his hand reaches up and scratches the back of his head. "As for how what your about to see is possible, that I have no answer for, but somehow, someway someone made this." he unmutes the TV and everyone's attention turns hearing the music.


The television if filled with a familiar melody and singing. "Ahhh Ahhh Ahhh! My little pony!" All the ponies look on in awe, their gazes shooting back and forth and then back onto the screen, their looks seem to be mixed with confusion, anger, acceptance, humor. They don't seem to be able to know what to think.

A weak voice is heard as Twilight has finally awoken. She coughs a bit as she stumbles into the room. "Magic....." 
"Twilight" the whole group calls out almost in complete harmony.

She almost falls over before Applejack rushes to her side, bracing Twilight with her side. "Our world is so magical, that maybe someone in this world, picked up on the unique energy and is able to imagine it, like Pinkie sense, she knows what's going on without knowing what's going on. perhaps, someone is on the same frequency in their mind and can just sense us."  she says weakly. She smiles up at them. "Your a human, but you don't look like any of my Canterlot high friends. This must be someplace else, not a parallel world but another one all together."  She, with the help of Applejack and Rainbow Dash moves into the next room and lays on the couch. She smiles weakly and looks at them all in turn. "I see your being taken well care of, I'm glad." She looks to Dave and Julie. "Thank you both for watching out for my friends."

Fluttershy rushes to her side with water, bandages and other supplies tending to the cuts and bruises she sustained. Twilight winces a little as her bandages are changed out. "You really shouldn't be out of bed Twilight. You need your rest."

Julie smiles almost teary eyed and begins passing out plates of food to everyone while the friends catch up swapping stories and such, sharing what happened at the end of the battle with Twilight. They seem to be settling down now after the initial shock. Julie speaks up. "It's great to have you all here, we are huge fans."

The six seemed to freeze at that. Rainbow speaking up. "I'm cool with people liking me, but considering this, that's a little odd, but thanks!" she says, not sure how to feel about this.

Applejack looks at the TV again. "So we are a television show for little kids, but why are you watching it?" she turns back to them.

Julie and Dave Gulp, time to explain the Bronies. Both of them sit down and have a long talk about how the brony culture began, what it means to them. How it has affected so many peoples lives and what's happening in it now. "Your lives, have positively impacted a lot of people here, your spreading friendship, dare I say, to millions." says Julie.

Twilight lifts her head to that, her ears perk up and tears come to her eyes, she brings a hoof to her cheek to gently lift the tear away. "That means so much to me. Thank you Dave, Thank you Julie for telling us this." She smiles softly and catches her reflection in the TV when it goes black a moment, her careful and analytical mind is able to pick up something wrong in her reflection. She looks around and sees a spoon, trying to pick it up with her magic she is met with a throbbing headache. She holds her head and then reaches for it fumbling with it with both hooves. She brings it to her face as the others cringe and wince waiting for her to figure it out. "My...my horn!" she cries out. "It's cracked?" she frowns.

Fluttershy speaks up. "I know horns heal, but how long does it take Twilight?"  she asks, of course speaking up for her is a soft whisper for anyone else, but the moment Fluttershy spoke everyone went quiet to listen.

Twilight sighed. "A few weeks, at best." she looks between them and looks down. "I'm sorry everyone, had I thought Tirek was going to fire that blast so fast, I would have tried a different plan. I had no idea our combined magic would do this to us."

Rarity being the first to hush her. "Now twilight you got us out of that sticky mess and kept us all alive, hurting yourself in the process. Don't you worry about anything but getting better. Once you are healed up we will find a way back!" She smiled bravely and hugged her friend.

Twilight nods softly and sees the meal having been put out for her and leans in taking a few pieces of fruit eating it, she was very hungry having slept for almost a day and a half by now. She looks around the room while the others chewed, she noticed a few shelves closed off when everything else was on display, she tilts her head and stares at them a moment.

Dave notices her staring and grins. "I guess since you know about us and bronies now I don't have to hide these and creep you out." he gets up and moves over to the shelves and lifts the cover, revealing a line of small toys of the ponies themselves. "We get a little crazy with merchandise when it comes to you guys, it's our way of feeling connected. Of course that pales in comparison to this." he grins. They all have a hearty laugh and begin sharing stories and learning more about each other.