Adventures in The 6ix

by Wiz Ahmad

Chapter 6: A New Home

XAVIER POV

PARKDALE, ONTARIO, CANADA

HALF AN HOUR AFTER SUNRISE

I couldn’t remember exactly when it was at first, but I heard a loud ring. Everyone else in my room heard it too, and awoke with a bit of a start.

“Ah, just the alarm clock…” I mumbled in a half-awake state, then felt a super-gentle hoof stroke my arm. Opening my eyes, I could see the state of my room. The dresser with all the stickers from my childhood was still there, along with the closet. Skystar was by my side, and thankfully still breathing fine. All around me I noticed the little ponies and the little dragon by my feet, still sound asleep. They looked so peaceful and cute I felt like my heart was going to give out. Briefly thinking back on how I saved them and even let them stay in my home for the night made me reflect for a moment. Somehow even though I didn’t fully know them, a part of me wanted them to be close friends. I did have two close friends, but they were still more of workplace bosses or teachers. And then another thought hit me: How would my mom react to them? Would she let them stay? And how could they feel happy and free during their time here - I couldn’t just shut them up in the house 24/7.

But the hardest question was the one no one - not even they themselves - knew the answer: Would they be able to return home?

“Rise and shine everyone,” I announced groggily. “Important early start.”

“What early start are ya talking about?” Applejack asked, slowly rising to her feet.

“Are you on the phone again trying to imitate white accents?” came a distinct voice with a thick accent.

Darn, I thought. Mom.

“All of you,” I ordered in a serious but quiet voice. “I need you to stay silent. Not a peep. There’s… someone I need to talk to.”

“Um, who is it?” Fluttershy whispered back.

“My mom,” I replied so low I could barely hear myself. I raised a finger and looked at them all sternly in the eye to know I meant business with my previous statement, then carefully slipped through the door.

“Ayy, good morning son,” said Joyce, my mother, who was up and reading a book, her blanket neatly folded.

“Good morning to you too,” I replied, giving her a warm hug.

“Busy day today?” she teased, pouring some milk into a bowl.

“Yeah…” I began, slightly slow. “About that… there’s something I need to inform you. It’s highly important.”

Joyce squinted slightly. “Is it related to that damn car of yours, or how late you came home last night?”

I nodded slowly, and sat down at the dining table. “I saved a couple of young folks who were lost. They’re not from around here, and they… almost got shot.”

“What!” my mom shouted, and for a moment I thought I heard a gasp from my room. “You just trusted a couple of strangers just because they were shot?! Who knows if they actually were thugs and staged it all?”

I fought back an eye-roll. “Big flaw there, Mom. If they really were thugs, wouldn’t they have killed me before I returned home?”

Joyce fell silent. A slight smile played across my lips, and I sighed. There was only one way to do this, and I had to do it. But, I knew she wouldn’t like it.

“They’re… not human,” I said in a low voice, “and they aren’t even from Earth.”

I skipped back to my room and shoved the door open. “All of you, come out and please make yourselves presentable,” I announced.

Slowly, Twilight crept around the corner, followed by Spike, then the rest of their friends - the Mane 6, as I quickly dubbed them on the spot. Finally Tempest and I came into view, supporting Skystar. We gently lowered her onto the couch, where she simply flopped down to relax.

“Still tired, eh Skystar?” I remarked, before turning back to my mom, who’d taken a sit in the chair - presumably to avoid a heart attack.

“Wh-what are you all?!” she gasped, barely able to get her voice out.

Do it, I told Twilight sternly with my facial expression. Do it now.

She understood, and stepped forward, placing a hoof on Joyce’s leg.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle,” she began in a gentle voice. “I’m sorry if the presence of me and my friends startled you. We do not mean any harm to you or your son. If we happen to be an inconvenience or trouble of any kind, or if you choose not to trust us, we will gladly leave.”

That wasn’t what I wanted Twilight to say, but it was true. My mom was the boss, and it was her house. If she said no, it meant no period.

For a moment the air stood so silent and thick you could hear Skystar’s breathing clearly. “Forgive me if I withhold my calm demeanor. I wasn’t expecting this, nor have I seen anything like you all before. You all can stay, but. But… it’ll be my way, and my rules.”

“Of course it will be, darling!” Rarity interrupted. “It is your house, after all. We won’t damage anything, nor will we cause trouble. We will clean up and follow your commands.”

“I sure hope so,” Joyce replied, her eyebrows raised. I bit back a snigger - she somehow looked amusing whenever she did that.

“But first, we need a good clean-up and some food.” Tempest’s voice resonated from the living room, and immediately Joyce’s head spun around, eyes locked onto her. Tempest simply nodded with a wink.

As we all headed off to the bathroom to wash up, Fluttershy still stood in the living room, before finally uttering a couple words.

“Thank you for letting us stay, Joyce.”

“Awww, come, come…” It was rather amusing how Joyce’s seriousness melted away at the sight of someone like Fluttershy. Joyce squat down and Fluttershy embraced her in a soft hug. I was glad I only heard it and didn’t see it because the cuteness would likely have terminated my heart.

In the small bathroom, everybody took turns to wash their hooves again. With Tempest’s help, I used the detachable showerhead to rinse Skystar’s fur and wings of all the grit and grime from the road.

“That showerhead looks simply beautiful!” Rarity exclaimed.

I narrowed my eyes. “You seem to have quite the taste for the finer things in life. But you’re a generous and loving pony at heart. Yes, indeed. I got this for my mom back when we first moved here. Spent all my hard-earned money as a kid on it - $100.”

“A hundred bits?!” Applejack exclaimed, spitting out her mouthful of water.

“If one bit in your world amounts to a dollar, yes. Can’t figure out an exact currency exchange rate though.”

After we all washed up, I took a bunch of towels and helped them all dry off their super-soft furry legs and hooves, then plugged in a hair dryer.

“How does that run?” Twilight inquired as I passed it over their legs and faces.

“Electricity,” I replied, gently stroking them to make sure I hadn’t left any wet spots. “I take that you’ve got electricity back where you’re from?”

“Yes, but we don’t use it often. Most of the time we just run everything on our magical abilities.”

Huh, I thought, hanging up all the towels. So there is more to it than just telekinesis.

We all headed back out into the kitchen, where I used every last bit of the milk and cereal to make breakfast for everybody. Thankfully there was enough bowls and spoons. Only four people could sit at the table at once, but Joyce spread out a picnic mat on the floor for the others. Being part-bird and part-horse, Skystar kindly refused the milk, so I gave her a fat granola bar from the cupboard and a big glass of water with a straw.

“Alright, everyone,” Joyce began as we tucked into our breakfast. “We can’t survive if we stick to just what we want for ourselves. We need to use our skills and use our achievements of help each other. As such, we need to work as a team. Names?”

“Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Tempest Shadow and Skystar.” I called each one out on cue, and they each raised a hoof (or hand).

Joyce smiled, then turned to the little dragon. "And you?"

"I'm Spike, Spike the dragon."

I took this as a cue that identifying each of them would be easy for her.

“What’s your work, dear?” Rarity asked. Her accent was so soft and charming that she was able to sound polite without even trying. “Like, your business?”

“Grocery store cashier,” Joyce responded casually, as if she’d been asked the question a thousand times before.

Twilight gave me a curious glance. “And you?”

“I work as a mechanic with my best friend,” I replied. “He owns a shop with his brother where he fixes, restores, and resells cars. I’ve been wanting to get a better job, but haven’t found the time to educate myself enough for it.”

“Earlier is better,” Applejack added. “How long you’ve been working?”

“About 3 years,” I confided. “First year I did it as a side helper, and then I started getting paid for it.”

Uh-hm. Joyce cleared her throat, indicating it was her turn to speak. “Can you walk, Skystar?”

The hippogriff sighed and shook her head.

“She got shot,” I said, and explained the details of the wound.

“Sad to hear,” Joyce replied sadly. “Will she heal by herself?”

“Not likely,” I confided. “Will have to take her to the vet as soon as possible. I would like to show everyone around though briefly beforehand.”

“So to sum up, I’ll be off to work shortly. Xavier will be taking Skystar to the hospital, and then each of you can decide who will stay at home and who will help him out at work,” Joyce concluded. “Beforehand, Xavier will show you around the house and remind you all of the rules.”

We finished up our cereal and stacked up the bowls. I washed all the dishes while Spike cleaned the table and the picnic mat. The rest of them patiently sat down and waited.

“Good,” I said in a glad-you’re-meeting-expectations voice. “Let me show you around.”

I pulled a canvas off a table top beside the couch to reveal a plethora of items. “This is my mom’s table and some of the stuff she and I own.”

“A sewing machine!” Rarity squealed. "Rolls of fabric and thread, ribbon, and lace!"

“That’s a rather small piano,” Applejack affirmed. “And what’s with all the cables and these other funny looking items?”

I sighed. “Guess the pearls are out of the oyster. My mom loves sewing, and I also make music. My mother used to be a pianist, and I learned from her as a child. Other interests took over, but I got back into music about a year ago. My mom wanted to get me the car as a graduation gift but I’d already saved up to buy it myself. So she got me the car and I spent my hard-earned money on all this.” I pointed to the 61-key keyboard, drum controller pad, audio interface box, and a string of cables.

Immediately a wave of excited questions came and I had to put my “stop” hand up.

“I’ve released a few singles, and they haven’t had that much success, but I’m working on an awesome mixtape. It’s been delayed for quite some time because I’m so busy with cars. My mom also uses it to play piano since she loves music as well. Again, I’ll show you later.”

“Bye everyone, have a good day!” Joyce called from the steps.

“See you in the evening, Mom!” I replied with a wave and a smile, then returned to the table, pointing to a thin grey rectangular slate. “That’s a laptop, called a MacBook Pro. I’ll explain more later on that, it’s super complex. Let’s head into my room.”

My room was very simple: my bed that my mom and I shared, a small bedside table, a chest of drawers, a box of accessories, a small wardrobe, and a little box of hair care items.

“What are these?” Pinkie Pie asked, pointing to a rack of boards on the far wall.

“Another one of my passions,” I replied. “Skateboarding. I used to be a sponsored skateboarder in my early teens until I got in trouble and got booted.”

“After that I kinda gave up, and then came the love of speed, which is how cars came along - and stuck.” I added, giving Rainbow dash a snicker. “But enough with the talk. Let me get freshened up and changed, and we’ll head to the vet. Who’s coming?”

Everyone’s hooves raised up, and I groaned. We talked and debated for a couple minutes before ultimately deciding that Tempest would come, and the rest would stay.

In the bathroom, I washed up and sprayed on some good ocean-fragant cologne, before donning a tank top, a thick navy T-shirt, and a pair of overalls. I tied up the laces on my aged steel-capped boots and carried Skystar up the steps, with Tempest tagging along to offer a helping hand. Pinkie, already an eager and loyal friend, wanted to come along as well, but I convinced her to stay behind to give Tempest a chance to prove herself worthy of helping out. In reality though I was worried about the potential hysteria that would go down in public over her hyperactive personality.

“Don’t damage anything and don’t touch any of my mom’s stuff!” I hollered down the steps before shutting the door and locking it.

In the garage, I pushed the front passenger seat out of the way, and Tempest and I carefully eased Skystar into the back seats. After I repositioned the front seat again, Tempest settled down. I hopped in, cranked up the engine, reversed out of the garage, shut it, and we took to the streets. It would be the first time any of them would experience society - and the first time other people would see them, too.

Author's Note:

Still more amazing stuff to come! How will Toronto react to a muscular broken-horned unicorn and an adorable hippogriff? Find out in the next chapter!

EDIT: Fixed a few mistakes. Kudos to Captain Morgan for helping me spot a few of 'em.

Comments

[Captain Morgan]

“Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Tempest Shadow and Skystar.” I called each one out on cue, and they each raised a hoof (or hand).
Just saying, you forgot spike

[RuneStone]

Please sir can I have some more?

[Wiz Ahmad]

8588789
DERP! Fixed now

[Epic Fable]

Dont really understand how he would say "Pearl is out of the oyster now". No one says that. Yes yes you saw the movie but come on things to think about when making a story and if it flows properly

[Wiz Ahmad]

8600891

"No one says that"

Just because no one says that phrase, doesn't mean it can't be said. Don't like it? Too bad. Go read somepony else's fic.