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Chapter 1 - An unusual way to start the morning1,158 words
Chaper 2 - Alan the ape-boy2,080 words
Chapter 3 - Getting to know you2,712 words
Chapter 4 - Getting to like you!2,135 words
Chapter 5 - Getting to hope you like me!1,331 words
Chapter 6 - Time for a checkup!2,461 words
Chapter 7 - Rainbows, Apples, and Lassoes, oh my!1,723 words
Chapter 8 - A meeting with Celestia2,689 words
Chapter 9 - Dusk'n dawn1,432 words
Chapter 10 - A discussion with Luna2,749 words
Chapter 11 - Morning comes again2,606 words
Chapter 12 - Today's breakthrough1,995 words

Chapter 11 - Morning comes again

***

On a morning during the spring, Harold's eyes open begrudgingly from the intense sunlight. As he sits up, he looks to his left at the other side of his bed, the place where Daisy used to occupy whenever they slept together. Harold sighs to himself a bit as he looks away, and gets out of bed, walking to the bathroom. There, he examined his face in the mirror while rubbing his beard a bit, which has grown a bit longer after a couple more years or so. Thankfully, he has no need to shave it, since he always keeps his beard groomed, being a sensible man in his early thirties and all. As he turns on the sink, and splashes some water on his face, he then takes a comb and begins using it on his beard and sideburns. After getting his facial hair combed, he then takes a bottle, and sprays it on his facial hair to keep it the way he styled it. Satisfied, he starts whistling as he gets out of the bathroom, and even starts singing a special, and rather charming little song to himself as he goes to his closet.

Quels sont les chats qui habitent les grands quartiers?
Quels beaux minets ont l'plus long pedigree?
Quels chouchous dans la soie se prélassent?
Naturellement, les Aristocats

Harold's first items of clothing he puts on are his white t-shirt, and blue plaid jacket.

Quels doux mimis ont des profils de Joconde
Quels chats trésor savent se tenir dans le grand monde?
Très gourmets refusant les erzats
Et naturellement, les Aristocats

Next, he pulls up his relaxed straight jeans as he continues singing.

Aristocats,
Il sont toujours même quand ils font un petit tour
Toujours précieux là où ils vont
Et sont fiers d'leur éducation
Dédaignant les ruelles
Ils préfèrent les marres aux poubelles
Dont se contentent trop vulgaires les chats de gouttière
Quel miaou réprouve les gros mots?
Quels chat chouchou s'estime sans défaut
Et devant qui les autres tirent leur chapeau?
Mais naturellement, les Aristocats

Soon enough, Harold puts on his socks and shoes, while also tightening his belt as he sings the next verse.

As he finishes, he has a smile on his face as he sighs out in satisfaction.

"Ahhh.. Always good to sing that... Reminds me of my days back in Quebec as a kid.."

Harold suddenly feels someone gently brushing against his leg. As Harold looks down, he sees his tiny four year old son in his pajamas, and grins, amused at the drowsy boy's disheveled bedhead.

".... Bonjour Papa.." Alan whispers as he rubs his eyes with one hand, and covers his yawning mouth with the other.

"Bonjour to you too mon petite homme, your french is getting better.." Harold then gently kneels down and ruffles the boy's hair; "You didn't stay up all night practicing some of the basic words again, did you?"

"………. Yeah…" Alan sheepishly admits; "But I wanna be able to speak in two ways like you can.."

"I know…" Harold says gently, picking the boy up in his arms; "But you also need to get plenty of sleep. You're a growing boy after all.." As he stands up, he checks his arms and the way his son's positioned. Satisfied, he then begins carrying the little boy to the kitchen, making sure to not drop him by accident; "Anyway, after breakfast, I need you to get dressed Alan.."

Alan gives him a look of curiosity, which prompts a grin from his papa.

"We're going over to the zoo today. Aunt Karen's going to meet-" Harold pauses as he sees that his boy's expression became more nervous.

"I.. I.." The little one struggles, but fails, not sure what to say in fear of offending his dad.

"Alan, I want you to listen to me.." Harold lifts the tiny boy up a bit more so that their faces can meet.

"But-"

"Please, listen.." Harold says to him in a gentle voice as he continues uninterrupted; "I know it's scary for you to be in public around people you don't know. But I promise, you'll be safe, because you'll be with me and Aunt Karen the entire time. Nothing bad will happen to you, not while I'm around, understand?"

Alan says nothing, and simply nods as he looks at his father's face.

"Good, now give me a smile.."

Alan slowly smiles, but only a little bit, which Harold raises an eyebrow at.

"A little bigger, if you'd please.."

Alan's smile extends, so now it's more noticeable.

"Heh, that's my boy..." As father and son continue their trek to the kitchen, the former asks the later; "So what sounds good today? Maybe some scrambled eggs?"

To which the latter replies; "Yeah.." with an enthusiastic nod.

"All right then. I was planning on making some anyway..."

***

August 28, 6:50 am [Second Day in Equestria]

In the bedroom of Twilight Sparkle, the young unicorn was sleeping peacefully with a smile adorned on her muzzle, all snug under her covers. Her smile, of course, being that from the pride she felt from having a productive day yesterday. After all, a day where one of your best friends finds a young boy from an unusual race/species of creature that's never been discovered by Ponyville (not to mention getting to learn about them a bit, no less) has just a one hundred to one chance of occuring, if ever. Even when the rays of Celestia's sun shined through her bedroom window and on her face, she didn't loose her smile as she opened her eyes and yawned. Upon getting out from under the covers, she stretched all four legs out to loosen up her muscles, and quietly got down to the floor. Turning to Spike with a smile, she then quietly walks downstairs to make some breakfast for the both of them, until she hears Spike belching.

Spike came down the stairs, yawning as he carried a scroll in his hand; "Cele-"

"I heard you from downstairs. Thank you Spike..." Twilight smiled as she briefly looked at one of the windows, and whispered to him; "There's a muffin in the fridge if you want one.."

"... Why're you whispering?.. Is this because of that incident with Derpy?" Spike asked her.

Twilight nodded; "Yes, I don't want to take any chances.."

Spike shrugged his shoulders, and after handing the scroll/letter to Twilight (which she simply levitated in front of her face), the purple dragon went to the fridge to get some breakfast. As she unrolled the paper, she cleared her throat a bit as she read it to herself, in silence of course.

Dear Twilight,

Last night, Luna told me of your discussion with her about little Alan, as well as your research notes on his people. I'm glad to see you take initiative regarding matters such as these. However, this not the only reason I've written this letter to you. It's also because, should I have enough time, I wish to discuss something with you. It's something regarding you, and your studies, but please don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong, it's merely something I believe you need to hear from me.

Your teacher (who will always be proud of you),

Princess Celestia

Twilight blinked as she finished reading this letter, and promptly rolled it up into a cylindar again as walked over to where her saddle bags (thankfully already open), and stored it in the left one, proceeding afterwards to telekinetically close it with her magic.

"Twilight?.."

"What is it Spike?"

"There's a pro-"

"Muuuuuuffiiiiin"

Twilight's eyes widened as she heard a familiar (and hungry) voice coming from the kitchen.

"DERPY NO!!"
-

7:03 am [Carousel Boutique]

Rarity sipped her cup of coffee that she levitated with her telekinesis, smiling as she looked over the clothes she meticulously crafted for the human child (thanks to the using the notes she'd taken, regarding his measurements). For the first set of clothes (socks and underwear aside), she crafted a pair of orange overalls (with a brown leaf on the chest pocket/bib), as well as a long sleeved burgundy shirt. For the second, she made what appeared to be a simple white nightshirt that would reach past his knees while keeping his feet visible, as well as a nightcap to go with it. The fashion designer perked up as she felt something rubbing against her front legs, and upon looking down, she saw her beloved cat, purring as she showed affection.

"I'd say I did a smashing good job, wouldn't you agree Opal Wopal?~"

The longhaired pedigree simply responded by continuing to rub against her owner's legs.

"I'll take that as yes…" Rarity put her coffee mug on a table as she then levitated the clothes, and folded them up. After she levitated them in one of her bags, she cast a minor spell on it, likely as a way to prevent the clothes from wrinkling up.

"Now then, after breakfast, I'll bring the clothes over to Fluttershy's cottage.. But first.." Rarity levitated a wind-up toy that looked like a mouse, and telekinteically wound it up; "Something to keep Opal busy.." As she placed it on the floor, she released the toy.

The instant Opal heard the sound of mechanical gears shifting, she turned her head to face it. Looking at the metallic mouse speeding across the floor, she instantly sped off in pursuit of it, likely wishing to disembowl her quarry.
-

8:00 am [Just a couple of minutes from Fluttershy's cottage]

First you wriggle your tail, (OINK OINK OINK)

A pair of blue birds blinked in confusion..

Then you wriggle your snout, (OINK OINK OINK)

A squirrel twirled one of its paws near its temple, as if to indicate the thing it looked at was coo-coo..

Then you wriggle your rump, (OINK OINK OINK)

Harry (the bear that lived close by Fluttershy's cottage), gave a look that clearly said: "This better be the result of tainted fish.."

THEN SHOUT IT OUT~ (OINK OINK OINK)

A brown rabbit peeking out from its burrow pressed its paws against its ears, not because the voice was singing badly(it was actually pretty good), but rather from the volume.

Pinkie continued the song by humming the lyrics, having so much fun as she bounced down the path to Fluttershy's cottage, but not by her usual method. As it turned out, she found a new use for her tail, which she had coiled up and formed into a spring, using it as if it were a pogo stick. Needless to say, plenty of raised eyebrows (coupled with lower jaws that were threatening to hit the floor in shock) could be found back in Ponyville after she left for the cottage. As soon as she saw said cottage from a distance, she gave out an enthusiastic "WOOHOO!!" and prompty bounced even higher and further, until she landed perfectly and precisely just 12 inches from the front door, despite the trajectory, distance, and how powerful the bounce was. As a result, she successfully took the law of gravity, and beat it over the head with a sledgehammer. After that, she started using her right hoof to knock on the front door (to the tune of "shave and a haircut" no less).

Inside the cottage's laundry room, as Fluttershy had finished hanging Alan's overalls, shirt, and socks up to dry, she heard the knock and promptly answered it, opening the door with her signature gentle smile as she looked at her hyperactive and eccentric friend.

"Morning Flutters~" Pinkie greeted her as the kindly pegasus let her in; "How'd last night go with the little guy?"

"Oh quite well.." Fluttershy softly replied; "He's in the kitchen right now, having breakfast with some of the critters.."

The two quietly tip-hoofed over, and peeked into the kitchen, and just as Fluttershy said, the boy (still in his oversized nightshirt) was indeed enjoying his breakfast, which consisted of a glass of apple juice along with a plate that held a yummy looking omelette. While eating his breakfast, he seemed to also enjoy the company of the critters. Aside from Angel (who was on the table eating a salad), there were some squirrels and chipmunks eating their acorns, and a baby robin atop the boy's head as it attempted to figure out what exactly he was. Now, for Pinkie, seeing Alan wearing that oversized nightshirt was enough, but this whole scene? This was almost too much for her to contain her giddiness at the overabundance of 'adorbs' in the kitchen. As soon as Alan finished his breakfast, Pinkie stealthily crept in without even making a sound, gently reached her front legs out, and lifted the boy out of his chair.

Alan faced Pinkie with surprise, but smiled a bit anyway; "H-hi Pinkie.."

"Hey kiddo, what's up?" She gave him hug, a bit tight, but thankfully she knew not to give out one of her patented 'Squeeze-the-oxygen-out-of-somepony' hugs to someone much smaller and younger than her.

"Nothin' much, I guess.." Alan said with a bit of a blush.

With a little bit of fancy front hoof-work, she managed to place the kid on her back, and place all four hooves on the ground at the exact time, and carried him out, with Angel following behind. While on the pink pony's back, Alan faced Fluttershy.

"Um.. N-nous vous reh-mer-shoon deh les omelette.." Despite his struggle pronouncing the words correctly, he still managed nonetheless.

"Ooooo, you can speak fancy?" Pinkie asked the boy, with amplified interest.

"It's French.." Alan replied to her; "I mainly know some of the basics.."

"It sounds very similar to 'Prench'.. " Fluttershy said with a smile; "Who's been teaching-?" A knock on the door interfered with her question, however; "Oh, that must be either Twilight or Rarity.. Pinkie, could you-"

"Yepyepyep!!" Pinkie quickly responded, and moved into the bathroom with Alan on her back. It was so fast, mind you, that there were still some dust outlines of the two.

Fluttershy grinned as she shook her head at Pinkie's eccentricity, and immediately walked to the door. As she opened it and greeted both Twilight, Spike, AND Rarity, much to Spike's delight, she let them in, and looked at both Rarity and her bag; "Um, I'm guessing that bag contains his new clothes?"

"Oh yes indeed Fluttershy~"

The instant Rarity used her telekinesis to open the bag and levitate the overalls, shirt(etc) out however, something pink snatched them all out of thin air, and just sped all over the place, until it stood in the center of the living room.

"What in blazes is-?!"

Soon enough, the pink tornado stopped spinning, and in its place, was Pinkie, with Alan on her back, now wearing his new shirt and overalls; "Tadaaaa~" As she looked about the room, she saw that the other three mares apparently now sported wild disheaveled manes from the wind and sheer speed of that tornado. Rarity took it quite badly, now sporting a twitch in her left eye from her mane-do looking like somepony had put it through a vaccum cleaner.

Spike, on the other hand, promptly collapsed on his back, still trying comprehend what the buck just happened.

Author's Note:

Man, winter classes're a pain in the butt. Necessary, but a pain nonetheless.. :-/
-
Derpy made a cameo because… I like her… :D
-
I know I changed the dates, I'll stop doing that constantly. However, from now on, I won't say the date in every chapter I write, I'll only do that when it's a new day and nothing else. Any proceeding chapter that takes place on that exact same day will only have the time.
-
*Gasp* What's this? A flashback that's NOT focused on being sad?

All seriousness aside, I didn't want every flashback to be the same thing over and over again. Keep in mind, loosing someone you love is a very heartbreaking experience. The worse part of it is that the pain never truly goes away, but in spite of that it does get better (Batman, for example, lost his parents as a little kid, and it was a traumatic expereince. But despite how much it still hurt after all those years ago, he doesn't let their deaths define who he is as a hero).

Generally speaking, aside from the flashback in this chapter, I also wish to write a couple of flashbacks in other chapters that show the connection and bond that Harold and Alan had as a father and a son. Especially since Disney's "The Lion King" did that so well (and even more so in the broadway musical).

On an unrelated and random note, I just thought of something interesting, regarding the human characters.

As as I've said, the spin-off series to this story will be sort of like "Calvin and Hobbes: The series" since it'll sort be be a fanfic/quasi-tv-show (or retconned seasons of mlp depending on how you want to look at it). Now the Calvin and Hobbes series I mentioned has a certain element, in that the author chose which voice actors would play the characters in the series if it were actually animated, meaning that the spin-off series will generally do the same thing. Now, it's taken me a while to pick which voice actors would play the human characters in this story, but I think I've come up with some fitting ones, but for now, I'll just stick to one character..
-
To voice Alan I choose: Collin Dean..

For those of you who don't know, Collin Dean's a child actor as well as a voice actor, who's already gotten some extensive credentials under his belt. Aside from doing a voice over in the English dub of "Welcome to the Space Show", he was also a guest actor in Adventure Time (he played some Candy Kids in "The Food Chain" and did the voice of Tiffany in "One Last Job). But most recently, he gained fame for doing the voice of Gregory in the Cartoon Network mini-series, "Over the Garden Wall" (Which I highly reccomend).

Now, I know it's usually a custom for young child characters (especially if they're boys) to be played by adult voice-actresses, but there have been exceptions where kid characters have been voiced by child actors. For example: Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender was voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen from his prebubescent to his teen years.

The reason I chose Collin is because in "Over Garden Wall", his delivery felt very natural and captured the energy, optimism, and innocence of a little kid, since, well, that's what Collin is, but that's not the only reason (which I'll get to later).

Now, Alan does have the innocence and curosity of a little kid, but he's also a different character from Greg since he's much more timid and insecure, which is important. See, while children can be optimistic, they can also be more vulnerable than adults are (whether physically or mentally), and in a way, Alan's anxiety disorder (combined with his very young age), highlights this.

But despite that difference between the characters, I think Collin'd be able pull it off, which brings me to the second reason for choosing him. Just as Collin was able to play a boy who's optimistic, I believe he'd be also able to capture the fear and vulnerability of a boy that's not only small physically, but feels small as well.
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Anywho, hope you like the chapter, and let me know what you thought of this casting choice. I'm always open to discussion with you dear readers. :D
-
PS:

1.) I have Toothandfang to thank for being acting as a beta reader for this story. Whenever you have the time, check her out on Tumblr or Deviantart, she's an awesome person to chat with. :D

2.) Credit goes to disney for creating "The Aristocats". If you want to hear the french version of its theme song:

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