Alastair Equus

by Duke.B

Alastair Equus

Alastair bolted upright from his previously relaxed position on the hood of his car. A phone was ringing, but none of the other ferry passengers seemed to notice it. Maybe it was coming from the kitchen? Yeah, that made perfect sense!

He grumbled as he got up, weaving his way around the boats’ seats, about a quarter of which were filled. But he suddenly stopped, halfway to the aisle, eyes wide open. “No… no!”

Eyes firmly clamped shut, Alastair grumbled to himself. “Oh, come on…” peeking at his wristwatch, he grimaced. “Only five hours? You have to be kidding me!” His eyes started to drift closed again, but jolted wide again as the phone continued to ring. “Blast it all!”

Rolling out of bed, he sprinted down the hall towards his parents’ bedroom, sliding to a halt in front of the phone’s cradle, just as the “incoming call” light went off on it. Not caring, he grabbed it up. “Hello? Hello?” But there was only silence on the other end.

Grumbling, Alastair stalked back to his bedroom, but found that the short spike of adrenaline had been enough to ensure that it was impossible for him to go back to sleep. Rolling out of bed for the second time that morning, he walked into the bathroom, and started a shower.

Scrubbing himself over, Al felt the initial sleepiness start to wear off, but replace itself with a warmer, cozy wrap-yourself-up-and-do-nothing laziness. Knowing just how much he’d love to do that, Alasdair grimaced, and turned the temperature nob down by roughly one fifth. Finding the change to be almost imperceptible, he then turned the nob down to a quarter of the original heat. Within seconds, he was being pummelled by what, in comparison, felt like near-freezing temperatures.

This, being sufficient to wake him fully, caused Alastair to grab the nob with near lightning speed, turning it completely off. Stepping out of the shower, he briskly dried himself off as best he could, secured the towel around his waist, and headed back into his bedroom.

Quickly getting changed into a pair of jeans and his red plaid button up shirt, Alastair gave himself a quick once-over in the mirror, before heading downstairs to the kitchen. He couldn’t help but glare at the dishwashers’ bright red light. “Of course…” Fortunately, it only took a couple of minutes to empty, after which he poured himself a bowl of cereal, sitting down at the table to eat, searching through the newspaper first for the comics.

Once this morning routine was finished, Alastair started to head back to the sink to wash out his bowl, when he noticed the message light blinking on the phone. Pressing it, he heard his mother’s voice emerged from the speakers. “Hi Al, it’s your mother, just phoning to say that your dad and I are going to be out of town for another week. So you’re not bored all week long, we expect you to have both loads of laundry done, as well as the dishes. Oh, while you’re at it, the house could use a vacuum, and the driveway needs blowing. See you in a week!”

Alastair glared at the phone for a couple of seconds, and then went back to putting his bowl in the dishwasher. “What a way to talk to your son, just as he’s about to move out. Well, the dishes are done, laundry doesn’t need to go on for another couple of days…” Glancing out the kitchen window, Alastair grimaced at the dark clouds blanketing the sky. “Bugger if I’ll do the driveway if it’s about to start raining.” His gaze turned towards the living room, in which were his computer and the TV, but he ruefully he shook his head. “Nah, been lazy enough this past week for three people, gotta get some exercise!”

Once again looking outside, Alastair grimaced before grabbing his jacket and umbrella off the back of a chair. “Might as well go for a walk…” Making sure the door was locked behind him, Alastair headed up the street, deciding to go up into the woods that day. “Been a while since I’ve been back there,” he thought to himself.

It wasn’t until he’d just gotten under the cover of the trees that the clouds decided they’d had enough, and rain started drizzling down. Cinching his coat closer to himself, Alastair smiled, deciding that shaking off the occasional raindrop was acceptable enough to not need to open his umbrella.

As he walked further into the woods, he started looking around himself, curious. “Must’ve changed a bit since I was last here…” he muttered, as the trails he was following started getting less familiar.

After about an hours’ worth of hiking, the sky started to grow lighter. “Looks like I didn’t need this after all!” Alasdair chuckled ruefully, giving his umbrella a quick shake.

Just then, he came to the end of the trail, and found himself before an open field, with a large orchard in the distance. “Odd,” Alasdair mused, “knew there were lots of farms around here, and the occasional vineyard, but no orchards…” but he just shrugged. “Guess I must’ve walked around to the other side of the mountain!”

With this mindset, Alasdair decided to approach the orchard, hoping to find either someone at work, or a house on the property, from whom he could ask directions back home. Passing through the orchards, he looked about himself in curiosity. “An apple farm?” he murmured, seeing nothing but apple trees, of almost every variety he could remember. “There’s Gala, Macintosh, and… I think that one’s Pink Lady? And over there… Fuji, unless I’m mistaken. Granny Smith!” Alasdair chuckled as he punched the air. “Woo hoo, five years working at a grocery store finally paid off!” he smirked.

Al was shocked at how much time it took for him to find someone. “I know apples are a popular fruit, but come on, who needs so many acres for just apples?” Ahead of him, he could see someone, a girl, he guessed, setting out barrels around the foot of the tree before her.

He slowed down his pace, admiring the view as he approached. She was garbed in sensible work clothes; a pair of worn jeans, a slightly faded yellow cotton shirt, and what appeared to be a pair of thick leather boots, although he couldn’t be sure, seeing them from the back. A brown Stetson sat atop her head, holding back her blonde hair, which had been pulled back into one of the longest pony-tails he’d ever seen, reaching almost to her heels. He cocked his head slightly to the side; it looked like she’d tucked it behind her belt. Maybe to keep it out of the way? He mused.

Humming softly, Alastair put on what he imagined as his most winning smile. “Pardon me, but I seem to have lost my way. Could you tell me the quickest way back to…?” Just as he’d started speaking, the girl in front of him had kicked the tree with the heel of her foot, pushing off the tree to spin around and face him. What silenced Alastair was that the force of her kick managed to shake off every single apple on the tree.

The girl smiled as she finished her spin, facing Alastair. Appearing a bit dizzy, she squinted her eyes shut, giving her head a quick shake. Once she opened them again, her smile slipped a little as she squinted at Al. “Big Mac? What’re you doing back from Appaloosa? Braeburn get tired of y’all already?” Taking a half step closer, she opened her eyes wide. “Oh mah gosh, ah’m so sorry! Y’all looked just like my big brother, Macintosh. What brings y’all around to Sweet Apple Acres?” The girl then tilted her head to the side, frowning. “Wait a tick…”

Alastair, in the meantime, was still staring up at the tree. “That… that was… amazing.” Eyes wide, he slowly shook his head, he looked back to the girl. “Well, as I said, I’m a bit lost, and…” Again, he stopped speaking before he could finish his question, shocked once again into silence. The girl before him was like none other that he’d ever seen. What he’d originally thought to be just a slight tan on her skin was actually a short, tawny colour fur that seemed to cover her entire body. Her mouth jutted out slightly, forming a slight muzzle, and her ears… they didn’t look human at all! If anything, Alastair would have said they belonged on some sort of animal, maybe a cat, or a dog? They rose up in a cone-like shape, the tips reaching just under the brim of her Stetson; in fact, they seemed to swivel slightly, almost as though they were tracking a noise in the distance. Come to think of it, he’d only ever seen horses ears do that; they definitely look equestrian, now that he thought of it. He was also a bit perturbed to notice that her pony-tail seemed to have split in two, the top half tossed casually over her shoulder, while what he could see of the bottom half appeared to be casually flicking itself back and forth, in a manner that he could only, once again, describe as horse-like. “Uhh… are you… umm…” Alastair stuttered, not quite sure how to approach the subject of her appearances.

Fortunately for him, the question was taken out of his hands. “Y’all alright there? Never seen anypony like you before. Is it some sorta disease that makes a pony’s hair fall out?” The mysterious girl was quite blunt with her questioning, taking a worried half-step backwards away from him.

“Me?” Alastair was shocked, “I was about to ask what was wrong with you! Or,” he glared, feeling like he was the butt end of some joke, “Is there some sort of… ‘furry’ convention going on?”

Seemingly satisfied that Alastair wasn’t contagious, the girl in front of him relaxed a bit. “A what now? Furry convent’en? Never heard of one of them…” She shook her head, confused and abashed. “Sorry, where are mah manners? Ah’m Applejack, and this here farm’s Sweet Apple Acres. Where’re y’all from”

Still perturbed, Alastair stuck you his hand. “Alastair, from Canada.” He couldn’t help but look at her with a raised eyebrow. Applejack? Isn’t that a cereal? After a moment of thought, he mentally face-palmed. Canada? Really? Of course we’re still in the same country…

AppleJack, if that was really her name, returned the handshake vigorously, although she, too, looked at him askance. “Pleasure tah meet ya, Al! Can yeh what?”

Alastair was extremely confused, but then, after a moment of though, gave Applejack a dead-pan look. “No, not ‘Can I’, ‘Canada’, you know, second largest country on Earth? America’s ‘hat’?”

It was Applejack’s turn to look confused. “Canada? Amaricuh? Never heard of them. Are y’all sure ya didn’t just hit yer head somewhere? This here’s Equestria.”

Starting to get a bit annoyed, Alastair decided enough was enough. “Alright, you know what? This joke’s getting old.” He reached into his inner jacket pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper. “See this here?” He asked Applejack, as he unfolded the map, “This here,” he pointed, as she approached, curious, “Is Canada. This?” His finger slid to a tiny dot on the west coast, “is where we are. Any questions? No? Good. Now how do I get back to Cliffton?”

Applejack was still bent over the map, examining it with a frown creasing her forehead. “Cliff Town? Ye’d have ta take a three-day train ride to Appaloosa, then take another two-days hike almost due east. Mah cousin Braeburn helped found it!” She added proudly.

Alastair shook his head slowly. “No, first off, not ‘Cliff Town’, ‘Cliffton’! And secondly, it can’t be that far away, I just walked to here from there in a matter of hours. I figure I must’ve taken a wrong path through the woods back there.” He threw his thumb over his shoulder, indicating the expansive forest on the horizon.

The girl jolted back at this, eyes wide. “You live in the Everfree forest? Ah thought Zecora was the only one who did that, and even she says it’s dangerous!”

Starting to get very worried and confused, Alastair once again shook his head. “No, I live in one of the group of houses on the other side of the forest, and it’s not called the ‘Everfree’, or whatever you called it. And it’s not that dangerous! There’s only been one sighting of cougars in there in the past decade, and even that was unconfirmed!”

Applejack looked at Alastair with a curious look in her eyes, before slowly folding up the map. “What say ya’ll just wait here, sugar cube. I have a friend who I think’d be just dying to meet you.” Without another word, or waiting for a reply, Applejack quickly spun on her heel, bolting off in the other direction before Alastair could even open his mouth. “Well then,” he murmured to himself, looking around, “where else would I go?” A bit miffed, but determined not to move until he got some answers, he folded his legs under himself, leaning back against one of the nearby apple trees.

* * *

Applejack was panting heavily by the time she reached the large tree in the centre of Ponyville; she’d sprinted the entire way there, going even faster than she had in the ‘Running of the Leave’s’ last fall. She’d left a trail of baffled ponies in her wake, many of whom had hailed her as she passed, but she’d flat out ignored them all, single-mindedly focussed on her goal.

She pounded on the front door of the library, and then barreled straight on in before waiting a reply. The main room was empty of people, however, so Applejack doubled over, hands resting on her knees, panting for a couple of seconds, before shouting out “Twah? You in here?”

A door at the top of the stairs spiraling around the room opened, and another girl walked out; she, too, had definitively equine features, but differed vastly from the first girl. Where Applejack’s fur was tan, the new girls’ was more like that of an amethyst, with her hair and tail a deeper violet, streaked with pink, from which sprouted a horn in the middle of her forehead. Applejack’s clothes were distinctly worn, as was suitable for a person working long hours on a farm, but the other girls were more suited for a person who wasn’t expecting any hard labour; a knee-length, midnight-blue skirt, a white blouse, and a thin pink sweater overtop.

“Applejack!” the new pony cried, “I thought you’d be busy on the farm, it being Apple-buck season again! Is something wrong? Or did you just come to ask for some help?” This last question she added with a humorous smirk, as though it were a private joke between the two.

Despite her friends laughing tone, Applejack glared balefully up at the purple pony, still panting from her run. “No… help… can do it… on my own…” She gave her head a quick shake, “Here ‘cause of… stranger… no-pony I seen… says Canada, not Equestria… HERE!” She finished, shoving the paper clenched in her hand out towards the other pony.

A soft purple glow encircled the parchment, and it lifted as if on its own accord out of the beige pony’s hand towards the purple one. Mystified, she unfolded it, her expression changing from curious, to baffled, to shocked. “Where did you find this?” She demanded of her friend, running down the stairs.

Applejack gave the other pony a look that shouted “I just told you!” “Stranger on farm!” She panted, “Out of Everfree! Looks… weird.” She finished lamely, as she couldn’t think fast enough to better describe him.

“Alright then!” cried the purple pony, as she slid to a halt next to her friend, “fast travel it is!”

There was a blinding white flash throughout the library, which, when it dissipated, left no trace of the two ponies.

* * *

Back on the farm, an identical flash of light occurred, depositing the two ponies at the entrance to a barn. “Alright, AJ,” said the purple pony, “Where’s this stranger of yours?”

Applejack waved her hand in the direction of the orchard. “In there a ways, Twilight”. Having recovered her breath, the beige pony led her purple friend into the grove of trees.

After several minutes of walking, Applejack stopped, looking about herself in confusion. “Tarnations, ah coulda sworn he was right here!” Her ears perked up as she pointed towards a nearby tree. “He was! Ah’d just bucked that thar tree when he arrived!”

At that moment, an explosion of childish giggling erupted from a grove of tightly-grown trees in the distance. Applejack and Twilight glanced at one another, worried expressions painted across their faces. In unison, the two ponies sprinted across the short clearing between them and the grove.

As the duo crashed their way through the inter-woven branches, a trio of young fillies sprung away from a bound and gagged Alastair. Twilight and Applejack slid to a halt, mouths agape, staring at the tableau before them. The clearing was silent for several seconds, save for Alastair’s indignant and muffled grunts. Applejack finally broke the stillness, falling to the ground, clutching her sides, a bellowing laugh erupting from her.

“Girls,” Twilight started, a stern librarian’s glare encompassing them all, “Did you do this?”

“We sure did, Twilight!” one of the fillies exclaimed, practically hovering with excitement, her purple hair bouncing along with her. “It was epic! We saw this mysterious figure, and Applebloom said that maybe our cutie marks were for the royal guard, so we captured him, and questioned him, and look at all this neat stuff we found on him!” She proudly pointed to the ground next to the bound human, strewn across which was a brown leather wallet, with a couple of bills and several cards carelessly tossed nearby, a handful of coins, two plastic rectangular items, one, a red cellphone, the other a black IPod, a pair of keys attached to a fob, a lip-chap tube, a pair of black gloves, two notebooks, one covered in brown leather, the other of a cheaper, papery material, two pencils, one pen, a paperback novel, his umbrella, and carefully laid off to the side, a red Swiss Army knife, and a longer, thinner black stainless steel knife; the contents of his pockets, presumably.

Twilight examined all of this carefully, pausing over the knives, before turning back to the fillies. “Good job, girls,” she said, drawing another indignant grunt from the bound human. “But why did you decide to tie him up like this?”

“’Cause he was lookin’ suspicious!” piped up one of the other fillies, a beige one with rose-coloured hair. “Have you ever seen anypony who looks like that?” she pointed towards Alastair, who was busy glaring between Twilight and the three girls, while desperately tugging at the rope binding his wrists.

“Just because somepony looks different, doesn’t mean that they’re bad. You girls know Zecora, and how hurt she was when everypony feared her because she was different!” But Twilight paused, glancing once more at the knives. “Why don’t you girls see if Fluttershy can think of anyway for you to earn your cutie-marks?”

“Ok!” the three fillies piped up in unison, instantly dashing off among the trees, discussing ideas as they went.

Twilight was silent a moment longer, then a soft purple light enveloped her horn, at the same time as one appeared around the bandana serving as a gag on the bound man. It slowly untied itself, and Alastair spat as it was finally taken from his mouth. “When I get my hands on those three, I’m going to…” He stuttered off into silence, apparently due to lack of current coherence, doubled with the fact that Applejack, who had finally regained her composure, towered over him.

“Yer goin’ ta do what now to mah little sister?” She asked threateningly.

“Guuuh…” Alastair stuttered, craning his neck to look at the tan pony. “Ask her not to tie me up while I’m reading a book?”

Applejack raised an eyebrow at this. “Ah’m sure tha’s what you were goin’ ta say.”

“Applejack, a moment, please.” Twilight said in an authoritative tone of voice. She knelt down in front of Alastair, looking him straight in the eyes. “I have a few questions for you.”

Alastair raised an eyebrow, his mouth quirked into a grin. “You don’t say? And here I thought you just tied people up as a form of greeting.”

Twilight ignored his remark. “What exactly are you? And how did you get here?”

“Well, I’m secretly an alien, and was bored, so decided to open a portal into another dimension. I don’t know! I’m a human, if that’s what you mean, and as I told G.I. Jane over there, I went for a walk through the woods, and came out here.”

The purple pony frowned. “Human? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of one of those before… You willingly went for a stroll in the Everfree forest?” She asked, disbelieving.

Alastair glared. “As I told your friend, it’s not called the Everfree forest. At least, not where I entered it. And yes, what’s wrong with that? It’s a park, it has trails, it’s meant for walking in!”

Twilight and Applejack shared a glance, and then Twilight turned back to her interrogation. “And how would you explain all of this?” she gestured to his pile of belongings.

“Well, those three there are books, two for writing in, one for reading, those things next to them? Yeah, some pens and pencils, you know, to write with. That’s my wallet that got pilfered, the money that was in it, my cell phone, IPod, car and house ke-“ He was cut off as the horse in front of him raised a hand, a confused frown crossing her face.

“I know what books are, no need to be snarky.” She said, “Although, I haven’t heard of, or seen, for that matter, most of the other things you were talking about. But what I’m really interested in,” she pointed off to the side of the pile, “are those.”

Alastair looked guiltily towards the knives, then shook his head, a slightly less outraged expression plastered on his face. “A Swiss army knife and a throwing knife. So what?”

Twilight frowned, annoyed. “Why do you even have them, if you were going for a walk?”

“Well, I bring the smaller one with me everywhere I got, in case I get a sliver, or find a piece of wood to whittle, and the throwing knife I brought because as I already told your friend,” his voice was starting to rise, getting exasperated, “There have been sightings of cougars in the park, and I wasn’t wanting to be defenseless if I came across one!”

Twilight glanced over to her friend, who nodded with a shrug. “Well then, I’m sorry for such a rude welcoming!” She grinned, kneeling down beside him. Gently, she started untying his wrists. “It’s understandable, though; I’ve never seen anyone like you before, and I doubt that the girls have, either. Naturally they’d be suspicious!”

Alastair grimaced as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, rubbing his chafed wrists. “Still, that’s no way anyone would treat a stranger back where I’m from.”

“Which is where?” the girl asked, inquisitive.

He gave her another dead-pan look, before starting on the ropes around his ankles. “Are you telling me that we aren’t in Canada?”

“Nope, this is Ponyville!”

“Sounds like a city. I’m talking about the country.”

“We’re in Equestria! I’ve never heard of Canada.”

Finished with the knot, Alastair got to his feet, stretching out his back. “Right, and you’re all ponies, or unicorns,” he added, eyeing Twilights horn. He then cricked his neck first to one side, then to another, then back, providing a series of cracks. “Next you’re going to tell me that cows talk, and that there are floating cities, and dragons, and… and that there are… talking trees, and… angels…”

Applejack and Twilight exchanged amused glances throughout this tirade, Applejack nodding to them all, “Yup, yup, yup, they sure looked like they could… wait, what?”

The two girls’ looks turned to ones of confusion as they turned back to Alastair, but his attention was focussed elsewhere; up.

As they followed his gaze, Twilights hand shot up to her mouth. “Oh my…” she whispered, as Applejack once more tried to control a bout of laughter.

Flying in the sky above the farm was, to the unknowing eye, what looked to be an angel; a feminine, blue figure, with a large pair of swan-like wings flapping, keeping her air-borne. Her rainbow coloured hair and tail streamed out behind her as she approached the trio on the ground. Alastair was spellbound for several seconds, scarcely remembering to breathe at the sight. He slowly came out of his trance, however, as his mind registered “She seems to be coming in awfully fast… And… flailing?”

“GANG WAY!” Shouted the blue girl just as she collided with the human. Alastair’s world was literally turned on its head… then back to its feet… and then he lost track of it as he and the girl rolled heads-over-heels. When they finally came to a rest, he found himself lying, rather bruised, on his back, his view nothing but blurry blue feathers. “I change my previous statement; you’re not an angel, you’re a harpy!”

As she finally got her wings dis-entangled, the girl heaved herself back, so that she was sitting squarely on his lap. “Sorry ‘bout that, killer landing, huh?” She tossed her hair over her shoulder with a flick of her head, noticing the other girls as she did so. “Heya girls, how’s it hanging?” She queried before turning back to the person she was nonchalantly using as a cushion. “Hey, you look funny!” she giggled.

“And ever so slightly uncomfortable!” The farm pony added as she pulled her friend off Alastair. She smirked as she glanced between the two. “Don’t know if introductions are needed after a meeting like that, but might as well! Rainbow Dash, Alastair. Alastair, Rainbow Dash!” She leaned closer to her friends’ ear, whispering conspiratorially “He’s a… hoo-man, Ah think he called himself.” With a chortle, she added “And you seem tah be his angel!”

Alastair stammered, feeling a heat rise across his face. “It was an honest mistake!” He protested, “What else would you call someone with wings?”

“A Pegasus?” Applejack suggested, in a tone that said it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“And the most awesome one in all of Equestria at that!” the newcomer added, puffing out her chest. “You should consider yourself honoured! Not many ponies can say they’ve had the privilege of meeting me!”

“Or landing on them?” Alastair added with a smirk.

“Only about three quarters of Ponyville.” Twilight interjected playfully.

“Those were all accidents, and none of them were my fault!” The newcomer objected, dashing over to Twilight. “Come on, I’m trying to make a good impression here!” she whispered to her friend.

“Like the one you two made in the ground over there?” Twilight glanced pointedly at where Rainbow and Alastair had come to a rest after their tumble.

“It was an accident!” Rainbow repeated, but was cut off before she could say anything more by Alastair laughing.

“Don’t worry about it, accidents happen! I’ve sure made a few in my life.” A dark look briefly crossed his face, accompanied by a slight twitch of his left eye, but was gone so quickly that Rainbow Dash, the only one really watching him, wasn’t even sure if it had ever been there. “Now, as lovely as it’s been here… wherever here is…” he continued, gathering the contents of his pockets as he spoke, “I should probably be heading back home. Chores to do, people to see, books to read, you know, stuffy stuff stuff.” With a nod to the three girls, he quickly dashed off among the apple trees, disappearing towards the Everfree forest.

The friends stood silently for several moments, staring, baffled, off in the direction their mysterious visitor had disappeared to.

Applejack was the first to speak, breaking the nearby birds’ singing. “Odd fella’, that one.”

“Seems pretty chill, though. I like him!” Rainbow Dash bluntly added. “What?” she protested, seeing her friends shocked expressions, “He seemed pretty cool with everything and all!”

“Is that the only reason, sugar cube?” Applejack asked, eyeing Rainbows wings with an amused expression.

“Shut up!” The blue Pegasus shouted, hurriedly retracting them, then extending them again. “Can’t a girl work out a few kinked muscles?” To further prove her innocence, she leant over backwards, shifting her back, producing several cracks.

“I can’t help but wonder where he came from, though…” Twilight mused, remembering his odd map, so unlike any of the others in her library.

The three almost simultaneously shrugged, their conversation slowly moving from the odd man, to other subjects.

* * *

“Well girls, it’s been fun and all, but I have a storm to prepare for tomorrow!” Rainbow Dash pushed herself off the couch in Applejacks’ living room; a small room that could only be described as “cozy”, a three-seater couch pushed against the wall upon which Applejack lounged, hanging on the wall behind which was a portrait of a large family, in front of a vista of apple trees. In front of the couch was a low lying table, upon which rested a couple of car magazines, as well as two half-drunk pop cans. Twilight reclined in the only other seat in the room, a chair in the corner, angled to be facing both the couch and the small wood burning stove in the corner by the door to the main hall-way.

Applejack lazily tossed her hand towards Rainbow. “Can’t that wait a day ‘r two? We’re almost done with the apple-bucking an’ all.” She kept her serious tone for just a second more, before breaking into a smile. “See ya later, Dashy!”

The rainbow haired girl haired girl started humming a jaunty tune as she sauntered out of the living room into the main hall. Crossing the worn carpet, her friends heard her pull open the door, then literally end her tune midway with a question mark. “Hey, Applejack? Your crops may be fine for a little while…”

Twilight and Applejack shared a confused glance, before they, too, got out of their seats, Twilight tossing a magazine back onto the pile as she passed. Out in the hallway, they found Rainbow Dash, casually leaning against a wall, and framed in the doorway, no-one other than their blonde friend.

“Yeah, soo… I couldn’t find the trail back to my place…” Alastair summarized, a sheepish grin crossing his face.

The three girls shared a knowing look, before Twilight spoke up. “Well, we could have told you that!” His entry from the woods had been one of the subjects they had discussed. A thoughtful expression crossed her face before she spoke up again. “Hey, Alastair… since it doesn’t look like you’ll be going home any time soon, do you have anywhere to stay?”

The human ruefully shook his head. “Well, seeing as you three are the only ones I know here, no. Unless, that is, you’re offering!” He grinned, showing that he was joking, but Twilight still blushed, letting loose a small “Eep!” before latching onto Applejack’s arm, dragging the confused farmer girl back into the living room.

Several moments of silence passed, and before long Alastair found himself just staring off into space, contemplating what had happened to him since his arrival in… Equestria, he thought one of the girls had said. More than anything else, though, he found his thoughts kept coming back to the girl standing in front of him.

She had a certain attitude about her, on that seemed to shout that she was unique, and didn’t care what anyone else thought, something he’d always tried to have in himself. Self-confidence seemed to just radiate from her, though, from how she stood and talked to the way she wore her clothes; a pair of well-worn, slightly ripped jean shorts, a thin, breezy t-shirt, and a leather bomber jacket, sleeves casually pushed up around her elbows. She was a short, sporty type, despite what others may assume from her femininely coloured hair, which she had cut fairly short; in short, she was the type of girl Alastair had always fancied, but never seemed to get anywhere with. They either saw him just as friend material, or… well, it was an embarrassing incident, to say the least.

Alastair gave his head a quick shake, trying to get away from such thoughts. Come on, I just met her a few hours ago! We’re not even the same species! Still… With another shake of the head, he deliberately steered his mind away from her. And for some reason onto the farmer pony.

Again, she was definitely one of the types of girls he’d found attractive; again, a bit shorter than himself, dependable, honest, hardworking, straight to the point. Her bust didn’t hurt either, and she probably wasn’t afraid to get dirty, and… What am I thinking?!

“Enjoying the view there?” a voice cut through his thoughts, bringing Alastair back to the real world. Once there, he took a startled step backwards; he’d been staring right at Rainbow Dash’s chest for the past several minutes.

“I didn’t… that is, I… uh… yes?”

“Hey, chill, man, I’m just kidding around with you!” A cocky grin was plastered on the Pegasus’ face, her wings unconsciously twitching behind her. “But thanks, anyway!”

Alastair gave her a sullen look, then childishly stuck out his tongue at her. “It was an accident, I swear! I was just… lost in thought.”

“You kids playing nice now?” Applejacks voice cut into their conversation unexpectedly, causing them both to jump back, Rainbow Dash's wings clamping shut to her back. “Yeah, nothing going on here!”

Twilight chuckled at Rainbow’s reaction, but turned to Alasdair, still slightly blushing. “So… that is, if you don’t have anywhere to spend the night… would you… that is,” She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Would you like to stay at my place until we find you somewhere to stay?”

Alastair was taken aback by the bluntness of her question, momentarily forgetting about the aghast looking Pegasus, and the laughing farmer. “Uhh… would that… you know, be proper?”

A deeper blush rising in her cheeks, Twilight gasped. “I meant as a sleep over! With others there! Friends! Oh Celestia…” she finished, her face falling into her hands.

Catching what she meant, Alastair laughed. “Sure, that sounds fun! I just, uhh…” he gestured to his body, “guess I just finished packing for it! Uh, how many would be there?”

Peeking through her fingers, Twilight let out a relieved sigh, seeing how well he was taking this. “Oh, just a few close friends, Applejack here, and Rainbow, if she wants to.”

The Pegasus tried to hide her grin at being included, but failed miserably. “Sure! I mean, I guess, yeah! Just, you know, have the weather to prepare and all… Speaking of which, gotta fly, bye!” Before anyone could get another word in, a rainbow-coloured blur sped past them, and out the open door.

“And Ah still have some chores to take care of, round this here old barn!” Applejack included, knocking on the wall. “Ah’ll be by as soon as Ah’m all caught up!”

“Which just leaves you and me, then!” Twilight beamed up at the human, who was suddenly nervous. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, I guess…” he said, feeling very warm. He turned around, heading for the door, but was stopped as a hand gripped his. Turning around, he saw Twilight had her eyes closed, concentrating. “What…?” was all he could get out, before his world was nothing but a stunningly bright light.

Comments

[Gytrash]

Wait what?
What are the ponies supposed to look like in this? I can't tell if your ponies are anthromorphic or if there is something that makes Alistair see ponies as humans and makes ponies see humans as ponies...

Also when I saw Alistar Equus my first thought was about LoL

[Vash_ts]

126559 I think they are anthro, cause they have hands, and clothes, but also fur...

nice story ^^ tracking

[Aerodelus]

This story seems like it is gong to be amazing.
5 stars and tracking.

This is quite an interesting name, being an Allistair myself. Kinda deja-vu inducing.

*Interesting story. Sorry, feeling sleep deprived.

moar!!!!!!!!
i sense a triangle love catastrophe in the making!!!! this seems like a pure story i like it

[Glassed]

Well this was slightly confusing... as stated previously in the comments, I couldn't really tell how the ponies looked to him... But not a bad read by any means.
I'm tracking
-Glassed

[Meta Knight]

fantastic

[Duke.B]

...what? People actually like my work? AWESOME!!!

Sorry to those who can't picture it, I thought it was fairly descriptive... but yes, as Vash said, it's Anthro. Sorry if that offends you in some way?
I'll try and find some pics of how I see them...
***Two hours later***
WHY NO CAN FIND GROUP PIC AS I SEE?!?
Fine, just take these and go!
Group: http://kyo4kusanagi.deviantart.com/art/Mane-siX-X3-269008192?q=gallery%3Aanthro-mlp%2F33915841&qo=24
http://extvia.deviantart.com/art/Friendship-is-Magic-243863158?q=boost%3Apopular%20anthro%20my%20little%20pony&qo=41

Also: http://cookingpeach.deviantart.com/art/Dash-268123854?q=gallery%3Acookingpeach%2F18447012&qo=5 (Dash, but artist has others as well)

[Duke.B]

.127358 (Allistair) Don't worry, quite a bit of this was written around 2am my time, I know of sleep deprivation! :twilightsheepish

:127717 (Ninjastar)*Rattles chain* Quiet you fool, you'll give it away!
20 bonus points to the person who correctly guesses what that's quoting.
And all you see is a love triangle? You should see the drama going through my head! The heartbreaks! The heartmends! The Pinkie Pie Party! The Discord! (Oops, did I just say that?)
Oh, and "Moar"? "MOAR"? THAT BEHEMOTH WAS 12 PAGES LONG AND YOU WANT "MOAR"? THEN MOAR YOU SHALL HAVE!
Soon. As soon as it's finished. And edited. And I've overcome my inevitable panic attack at the thought of people reading my works.

sorry, sheesh

[Duke.B]

129569 Hey, no need to apologize! If anything, I'm sorry!
If my descriptions weren't clear enough for you to see things in the story as how I saw them, I see it as a failure on my own part.

I'm trying to be clearer in the second chapter (Which is close to being finished!)