Chapter One

Chapter 1

The sun slowly rose on yet another glorious day in Equestria, just barely cresting over the distant horizon. The Princess of Equestria and controller of the sun, Celestia, had promised that today would be as bright as ever. The Pegasi ponies who managed the weather overhead promised a clear sky as well. While most of Equestria was still in slumber, one particular place rose with the sun. More specifically, its residents. Along the outskirts of the small town of Ponyville was a large farm that covered acres upon acres of land. The farm grew several different foods on its land, but one particular fruit was held in higher regard than the rest: Apples. Spread over half of the farm land, a sea of apple trees flowed with the shape of the land, ascending and descending hills and valleys alike.

In the center of this massive farm sat a vibrant yellow two story house, similar to a Victorian-era design on Earth. Roughly one hundred feet behind the house sat a large red barn. Its general state of neglect showed that it had seen better days, though it stood proud despite its age. From the farm stretched a long, seldom used dirt road towards Ponyville. Along this road sat a simple wood sign with red letters across the face saying "Sweet Apple Acres". A rooster call echoed throughout the farm, signaling the wake of morning. The rustling of the sheets to a two-pony bed as its occupants woke up showed that the call did not go unheard. Barely sunrise, a dim light cast itself over the bed.

Framed photos lined the room on every surface possible; on walls, dressers, and even the lone desk, photos ranging from two to a half dozen ponies engaging in activities could be seen. The ponies themselves were of nearly every color: an orange mare wearing a brown cowboy hat over a blonde mane contrasted quite heavily with another stallion, this one blue with a brown mane, but here they are just two of the bunch. Once again the rooster’s call echoed through the bedroom, finally succeeding in forcing one of the bed's occupants to rise.

There was a rustling of the sheets as one figure sat up, rubbing its head with a hoof as it stepped out of bed. With a groan and a stretch, the pony quietly moved towards the bedroom door, opening it with a aged creak. With no movement from its partner, the pony sighed with relief and continued out onto a small balcony, then to the staircase. Taking a slow, cautious step onto the top stair, it casually glanced at the pictures lining the wall. These pictures, black and white, showed other, older ponies, likely from the farm’s past generations.

It stopped at a door directly across from the bottom of the stairs, nudging it open. Stepping out onto a porch, the pony takes a deep breath of fresh air, enjoying every bit of it. Even though the sun was rising from behind the house, it is now light enough to get a decent visual of the pony.

Standing tall despite his age was a fading blue stallion with a gray mane. His wrinkled face stood out among his worn features. With another yawn and a flick of his tail, he took his time in rounding the corner of the house to enter the warmth of the approaching sunlight. Smiling as he trotted along the porch, his hazel eyes focused on his surroundings. All around the house were hundreds upon hundreds of apple trees. Bright and juicy apples of nearly every kind dangled from the branches, waiting to be bucked. Tragically, his age had gotten the better of him; he was too old to do the bucking himself. Luckily, he had his foals and a few grandfoals living with the Missus and himself on the farm to assist with work. This kept the apple bucking in the family, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

Continuing a long running tradition, the first thing this stallion did every morning was come outside to watch Celestia's sun rise over the horizon. This was his only time of solitude before the chaos of the day began; the grandfoals screaming about usually put a quick end to any serenity. After a few moments of walking, the stallion reached the next corner of the house. Sitting on the porch, facing the horizon, sat two simple rocking chairs, with a small table in-between. Carefully, he took a seat in the chair, resting his front hooves on the extra long runners shooting forward. The early sunrise’s warmth filled him with the energy he would need in the hours ahead. Even if he couldn’t buck apples anymore, he still did other work.

There came a sudden ruckus from inside the house, as many hooves marched down the stairs from inside. It was always easy to tell when everypony was waking up, as they seemed to have no regard for the older ponies who were trying to get a few additional minutes of sleep before they had to wake. Especially the foals; with no school for the summer, they all were eager to wake and start the day. Hearing the clanking of dishes inside the kitchen window to his left, he closed his eyes to bathe in the sunlight. He knew breakfast would be ready soon, which would give him the last little bit of energy the sunlight couldn't.

There was a subtle squeak of the kitchen door as a small filly bounced out from the kitchen.

"Hey, Grandpa! Breakfast is ready!" a high, squeaky voice called out.

He jumped a little, but he quickly recognized the voice as one of his grandfoals, Honey Apple. Her little voice was full of excitement matched by her bright eyes and large smile. He smiled back, seeing bits of baking batter fall out of her mane onto her bright red apron. The old stallion looked back at the fields once more, then back to the filly with a nod.

"Alright then, let’s go eat," the stallion spoke in a low, raspy voice.

He rose to his hooves quickly. Too quickly, in fact, as the audible cracking of joints echoed in the silence. Cringing from the momentary pain from his rear legs, he began walking, clearly not used to that treatment. The stallion quickly brushed the pain off when his little grandfoal jumped in front of him.

"C'mon! It’s gonna get cold before you get there!" the little filly said, jumping around the stallion excitedly. "I want you to try my apple pancakes! Mama let me make them all myself!"

The stallion cringed from the thought, remembering the little fillies first attempt at making the customary breakfast. After a while (an eternity for young Honey Apple), he finally made it to the door. Using his right front hoof, he held the door open and smiled.

"Ladies first," he chuckled, looking down at the filly.

Smiling back, the little filly trotted inside. The entire kitchen was one loud cluster of commotion. Ponies were eating, cooking, and talking with one another, making each interaction indistinguishable from the rest. The stallion let out a happy sigh as he stepped into the madness.

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Some time after the morning madness, most in the house evacuate; the adult ponies begin work on harvesting while the foals go out and play. Back in the day, it was just the stallion and the missus, along with her brother, to manage the farm. But a serious back injury left her brother unable to continue work on the farm, leaving it to just the other two. They worked on their own for quite some time, until their foals were old enough to assist. They had three of them, two colts and a filly. And to this day, all three of them helped out on the farm. The two colts were even married and had foals of their own, though the filly, carrying on the stubbornness found in her mother, continued to keep the farm as her main focus.

All the stallion wanted was for his children to be happy, and if apple bucking was what did that for her, then he supported her 110%. One of the colts had went down a different path, choosing to go into teaching, but helped out on the farm during the summer months. The last colt, the youngest, also stayed on the farm to help. He found his calling in caring for the farm animals; dogs, cattle, pigs, and more.

The stallion, standing on the porch once again, began to walk towards the back of the house. He had several jobs that need to be finished from yesterday, one of which was fixing one of the plows. But as he slowly progressed to the large red barn, four little foals jumped in front of him, all with large smiles on their faces. He peered into their large, bright eyes. Seeing those bright, excited faces could only mean one thing, it's Friday.

"It's story time, isn't it?" the stallion asked, looking at the little foals with a smile. The question was rhetorical.

Simultaneously, they all nodded their heads and rushed over to the rocking chair he had previously sat in that morning. The stallion took his time in joining the bouncing foals. He chuckled again, noticing a small red bow stuck in the colt's mane. The stallion let out a small snicker as he bent down to grab it with his teeth, removing it from his short cut mane.

The colt blushed from embarrassment, hating to be seen wearing that. The stallion set the bow down on the table and took a seat in his chair.

"So, what story is it gonna be this time, Grandpa?" one of the fillies asked.

Her voice broke the stallion's concentration, and he focused back onto the four foals.

"Ah yes, story time. Well, which one would you like to hear?" the stallion asked.

"How about the one of you and grandma's first rodeo?" one filly asked.

"Naw, that one's boring. How about the one with the monster in the Everfree forest?" another filly asked.

"I'm sick of that one!" the last filly moaned, then turned to the stallion. "Grandpa, is there one you haven't told us yet?"

The stallion placed his right hoof at his chin, thinking. He just happened to glance at the small colt who had been quiet the entire time. Not unusual for him, but with the excitement of story time the stallion expected something from him. He was looking at something, focusing on it with all his attention.

"What are you looking at there?" the stallion asked, trying to sneak a peek for himself.

As old as the stallion was, his vision was still, by some miracle, as perfect as when he was no older than these foals. The little colt turned to the stallion, then back in the direction he was looking and pointed his right hoof.

"That metal thing. You always tell us not to play around it so we don't get hurt. But it's nothing like I have seen before, not even in our history books in school. What is it?" the colt asked.

The stallion then focused on the large mass of steel. It's completely brown, presumably from rust, broken, and misshaped. Whatever happened to it had pretty much mangled it. It resembled a carriage in shape, though it had four doors on it instead of the traditional two. It had a front section protruding from where ponies would normally stand to pull it. Instead, there sat a large metal block with several wires and hoses running to other parts. It was quite like nothing else in all of Equestira.

He smiled, knowing all too well what it was and what had happened to it. Though the story would sound quite far-fetched to a normal pony, to four little foals it would make a very entertaining one.

"Well, that thing happens to be called an 'Automobile'." the stallion said. All four pairs of the listeners' eyes enlarged with curiosity. "And, it just so happens that it was used to save Equestria."

"A automo-what?" the colt asked, his face stricken with confusion.

"Save Equestria?" one of the fillies asked, looking no less confused than her brother.

"Yes, save Equestria," the stallion said, with a laugh.

"So, are you going to tell us the story?" another filly asked in excitement.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt, I suppose." The stallion smiled to himself, knowing he had grabbed their attention the way he had intended. He leaned back into the chair, rocking back and forth at a leisurely pace. "It began, about 60 years ago..."

Author's Notes:

Welp, this has been a LONG time in the making, but I have had many people request I finish this fic. So, to do just that, I am now editing and posting it onto here, FimFiction.net. I hope you enjoy, and if you have any questions feel free to comment!

Chapter Two

Chapter 2

Earth

Along a simple, two-lane road, both tall trees and uncut grass lie motionless, without a breeze to disturb them. From a distance, there was an anomaly approaching this otherwise calm section of pavement. With the haste and gusto of a rave party aboard a speeding locomotive, a blue SUV sped by the scenery. The once peaceful trees and grass were thrown aroun by the turbulence of the speeding vehicle. Clicking of the wheels on the vehicle were heard as it hit minor dips and bumps in the paved road. The music playing inside the vehicle was extremely loud; a normal person wouldn't even be able to hear themselves think through the techno style beat. The speakers, or what was left of them, were being pushed to their very limits as the driver’s jeans swayed back and forth from the beat. None of this phased the driver as he kept going; the speedometer needle twitching on the very tip of 65 miles per hour, ten over the posted speed limit. The driver clearly didn't care as a smile streaked across its face.

The person driving was a male wearing both blue jeans and an unbuttoned denim jacket. His shirt was brown, matching his brown hair that was mostly covered by his orange baseball cap. On the face of the hat was a simple blue letter A, which didn't stand for anything in particular. The driver raised his right hand from the steering wheel to adjust his sunglasses as he continued bouncing his head to the beat of the song. He was a very happy man today, and he showed it. The lyrics of the song started back up as the man attempted to sing along to the female voice.

However a big dip in the road caused him to bite his tongue.

“Damn road.” He spat, moving his throbbing tongue around his mouth.

An abundance of potholes, cracks, and even vacant patches of road went largely unnoticed as the car continued being thrown about by these obstacles. The shaking produced various metal clangs from things in the back being thrown around, but this failed to drown out the music blaring in the front. Today was too good of a day for the man to be bothered by either the poorly maintained road or the noisiness coming from the back.

With a good wad of cash in his pocket, he was on his way to have a decent dinner tonight. Four in the afternoon was a little early for dinner, but he had grown ill of constantly eating from the McDonalds value menu for the past three months. To celebrate, tonight would be a glorious steak dinner. He could feel himself drooling just thinking about it; it had been a long time since he has had anything so elegant to eat. His job as an independent mechanic had run dry for the time being, which left him with very little work and, consequently, very little money.

Luckily, he had just finished a week long job, doing a complete engine overhaul on a classic 1971 Mustang. He had wanted to leave a good impression on it’s owner, him being a new client, so he gave it his all and fixed the engine with all the skill and precision of even top-ranked mechanics. The smile on his client's face was all he needed to see, but the cold hard cash he received was one hell of a bonus.

Now he was over five grand richer, and finally able to stop living out of his car, if only for a little while. He wouldn’t abandon the old girl; it had been with him since he got his license at the ripe age of 17. The car wasn't new when he got it; it was still in great shape with relatively low mileage. The 1996 S10 Blazer, blue in color, was quite literally the only thing he cherished in life. After all, it's all he really had. He lived in it, he worked in it, and of course, he drove it. Being a skilled mechanic, he felt he owed it to his car to keep it in tip top condition, a cinch in his line of work.

Going along with the electronic beat of the song, he tapped his hands on the steering wheel while keeping his attention on the road. Suddenly, the music began to fade and was replaced with static. At first the man ignored the minor fluctuation, but it got steadily worse. He ejected the cassette tape, darting his eyes from it to the road, and saw nothing wrong with the tape. The radio, too, was being interrupted by static. Perhaps his radio was on the fritz? He blew once on the tape and put it back into the player, going for another try. It appeared to be in working order, and yet it kept cutting out and going to static. Then the music stopped all together, and his radio blared only audible static.

He quickly turned off his radio amidst the confusion; the sudden sound had begun to rupture his eardrums. He turned his attention back to the road, where a bright, mysterious light had begun to show itself. For a moment it mesmerized him; its beauty was astounding as it grew larger and brighter. He could feel himself being drawn to it, as though it was calling to him. The fact that he was speeding dangerously towards it suddenly registered in his mind as he hastily applied the brakes. He could feel the pulsation of the brake pedal; he quickly regretted letting the warped brake rotors go longer than he should have allowed. He had to make a choice at the time: it was either brake rotors, or food.

With the brakes trying and failing to stop the car, he resorted to pumping the pedal. Alas, he was unable to stop in time. He zoomed right into the light and was completely engulfed by its brightness. Even with his sunglasses on, he still had to shield his eyes from the blinding white light. He had no clue what was going on; all he could do was sit tight and hope for the best and that his brakes didn't fail. Just as quickly as the light had appeared, it suddenly faded away, leaving no trace it had ever been there. The only evidence that it had even been there was four skid marks and a very confused mail carrier on the other side of the road. The blue Blazer had vanished from existence.

Equestria

It was a beautiful day outside; a clear, crisp, blue sky spanned the entire horizon. As if in a show of defiance however, a little white cloud, no bigger than a basketball, hovered above some trees. From seemingly nowhere, a blue blur rushed by with a streak of rainbow following closely as the cloud was pulverized by the business end of a sky blue colored hoof. Hovering next to where the small cloud had once sat was a small cyan blue pegasus. She had an ungroomed rainbow colored mane and tail, with nearly perfect streaks of each color running along them. With a confident smile, she admired her handiwork.

"Not a cloud left in the sky.” Glancing down to the ground, she focused on an orange pony sitting in the grass wearing a brown cowpony hat over her blonde mane. "What's my time, AJ?" the pegasus called down.

The orange pony looked at a golden stopwatch, her eyes widening in surprise. "Nine point six two seconds. That be a new record Dash!" she called out. The orange pony stood up and tossed her hat into the air with glee.

Gracefully, the pegasus lowered herself down atop one of the apple trees. She quickly snatched one from the top of it, and lowered herself down to meet the orange pony. She took a massive bite out of the apple.

"Sphee? I Phold dou dat I-" the pegasus began, before a orange hoof pressed upon her mouth.

"Chew, then talk there, sugarcube," the orange pony said, smiling.

The pegasus nodded, then swallowed, followed by a sigh of relief. "Sorry about that. Anyway, I told you I could beat my record! Nothing to it, just gotta keep practicing," she smiled, taking another massive bite out of the apple.

"Well that was amazin', Rainbow Dash. Now, ah gotta get back to helpin' Big Mac with the apple buckin'," the orange pony said, throwing her hat back onto her head. She turned away, beginning her trot back toward a large red barn.

"I know, cause after all, I'm the best," the cyan blue pegasus boasted, rubbing her left hoof on her chest. "Oh, and um... Thanks for the help Applejack; it’s kinda hard to time myself AND practice," Dash said, rubbing the back of her head.

The orange pony, Applejack, turned around quickly and nodded with a smile, then continued on her way. She enjoyed helping out her fellow ponies, and Rainbow Dash was one of her closest friends. She always enjoyed seeing Dash improving her flying techniques. And after working since morning, it was nice to take a breather and relax in the shade. Applejack and her brother had gotten so caught up in work that they completely missed lunch. Dash's arrival was a good reminder for her to stop and eat.

Now that Applejack had some food and a little social time with her good friend, she was ready to continue her work for the day. She still had about ten acres of trees to buck, so she got right to work.

Dash watched Applejack walk off before she jumped back into the air, dropping the apple core in the grass. She loved to show off in front of her friends, as all of them were usually impressed with her flying stunts. Applejack was the hardest one to excite however, being the rough pony that she is. Applejack and Dash always saw things differently; the two constantly tried to out show one another, with their mutual stubbornness refusing to allow the other a leg up.

Dash smiled to herself, proud to beat her own record once again, this time by nearly a tenth of a second! Humming to herself, she slowly flew over Sweet Apple Acres toward Ponyville. She wanted to go brag about her new record to her other friends. There was no sense in overdoing it, so she decided to take the flight easy, gliding most of the way. Suddenly, something caught her eye below; it was a small bright light. Dash stopped, hovering in place with her wings flapping. The light continued to enlarge and brighten as it engulfed the ground. The light eventually reached such an intensity that Dash was forced to look away.

Just as she turned away, a loud crack echoed throughout the orchard, as something then roared from the light. Dash only got a short glimpse of a dark blue object racing from the light. She could also hear the dirt road below being dug into, like something dragging along, trying to stop. There was a loud crash as the light vanished almost as quickly as it appeared. Dash looked down to where the light once was, curious as to what just happened below her. Now there were several streaks going along the road, similar to wagon wheel tracks, only wider. It appeared as though something had been digging into the road, trying and failing to stop, confirming the noise she heard.

She followed the tracks with her eyes, keeping her altitude and her wings steady. The trail went for about another twenty yards, before she saw the blue thing again. It appeared to have crashed into one of Applejack's trees. Several apples were strewn on the ground, knocked down from the sudden impact of the strange blue object. Dash quickly glided down to look closer, keeping some distance from the blue object while being close enough for a good look.

It was a strange looking box with wheels, resembling a carriage. The problem was there were no ponies pulling it in front, so had it been moving? Especially at such speed, judging from the impact it left in the tree. Smoke had started to pour from the front end as some dark, almost black liquid began to leak from underneath. This thing was out of this world, and Dash had absolutely no idea where it came from. Was it from the light? Dash then thought about Applejack. She needed to be told about this, with one of the victims being a prized apple tree.

Dash quickly took to the sky, wasting no time in reaching Applejack and telling her of this strange phenomenon. What was it that just crashed into one of her trees? Was it alien? Or something else? So many questions raced through Dash's mind as she sped off that she failed to notice movement from within the blue "carriage".

Chapter Three

Chapter 3

With a sense of urgency in each flap of her wings, Rainbow Dash pushed herself to find Applejack. With both the odd carriage and the apple tree looking to be in very bad shape, she knew she had to get some sort of help fast. She scanned the farmland, searching for any sign of one of the Apple siblings. Off in the distance, near a large red barn, she spied the well known brown cowpony hat of Applejack.

Applejack, along with her brother Big Macintosh, were parking carts of apples beside the barn, soon to be processed and sold at market. With a determined grin, Dash swooshed down to the ground; the streaming air around her felt good through her unkempt mane as the ground got closer and closer. Finally, landing a mere foot from the two farm ponies, she skidded to a stop, throwing dust and dirt around. Half expecting the blue Pegasus, Macintosh didn't even flinch from the pony's sudden arrival as he had become used to it. Applejack however, though not surprised either, wasn't too happy with the rudeness.

"Now Dash! Wha'd I tell ya about-" Applejack started.

"No time for that AJ!" Dash butted in, panting from her speedy flight. "Something... happened in your orchard!"

Applejack raised an eyebrow at the tone of Dash's voice. Something had her friend riled up.

"What's it this time Rainbow? What happened?" Mac asked softly, unhitching himself from the apple cart.

"I-I dunno! I was just flying back to Ponyville when there was this light. Then BOOM! Something came out of it and crashed into one of your trees. Then the light vanished, and now there is a large blue-" Dash stopped a moment, raising a hoof to her chin to think, "-well, a thing." Dash tried to explain. The entire time, she flailed her front hooves about in excitement.

"A thing?" Applejack asked with a tone of skepticism in her voice. She and her brother were all too familiar with Rainbow and Pinkie's pranks. The last one left the two siblings with a horrible rash all around their-

"I dunno WHAT it is! Just," Dash started, as she became flustered by her friends lack of faith in her. "Ugh! Come on!"

Dash took a hold of one of Applejack's hoofs, and dragged her along in the dirt. Applejack tried to use her remaining three hoofs to stop; for an earth pony she was strong. However, she wasn’t strong enough for Rainbow Dash's wings, as she was slowly dragged through the dirt. Macintosh just smiled, knowing how excited Dash could be and followed at his own leisurely pace. With nothing better to do, he figured something involving Rainbow Dash would end badly for his sister if he didn't tag along.

----------

Making the trip back to the scene of the crash took longer than Dash liked. The five minute walk felt more like an hour of crawling. At least she was able to convince the two siblings to follow; she didn't feel like dragging Applejack all the way there. As they walked around a bend, something blue was seen from the back side of an apple tree. It was like nothing any of them had seen before, but Dash's description of a "carriage" was spot on. They stopped, keeping a distance from it as white smoke continued to spew from the front end of the wreck.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack questioned. She was the first to brave a closer look, curiosity getting the best of the country pony.

"Whoa there AJ! What if it’s dangerous?" Mac asked, raising a hoof ahead of his sister.

"Ah honestly doubt that brother. Whatev'r it be, it smashed inta our tree pretty good. Somepony could be in there hurt, or worse!" Applejack argued, pushing Mac's hoof out of her way and continued to approach the object.

Macintosh let out a hefty sigh, following closely behind and keeping a watchful eye on the blue object. The white smoke obscured any vision inside through any of its many windows. The plumes didn't worry Mac however, knowing the white color signified steam; not something actually burning or on fire if it was black smoke. The dark black liquid around its front wheel did worry him however; it did not look too healthy for the luscious green grass surrounding the tree.

Rainbow Dash followed suit; keeping her distance from the object while keeping herself close to the two siblings. Applejack stopped a few feet from what appeared to be one of the doors, Macintosh stopped just behind his sister, and Rainbow Dash bumped into Mac, not seeing him stop so sudden. Applejack looked from Mac to Dash with a worried look, as Dash motioned with her hoof to proceed. So with a gulp, Applejack opened her muzzle and spoke.

"Anypony in there?"

------------

About a minute after the crash, the man inside started to move around. With a soft moan, he lifted his head from the steering wheel and moved the slightly bloodied airbag from his vision. Looking around, the driver tried to piece together what exactly just happened. It proved to be difficult as he tried to recall the events, but he was first distracted by the sudden tree trunk smashed into the front end of his vehicle. Several thoughts ran through his mind.

"Oh shit, what happened? Am I okay? Is anyone else okay? I hope there wasn't anyone in my path. Oh fucking hell, my Blazer looks trashed. Where did this tree come from? Did it just sprout from the road?. Well, looks like I'm going to have to postpone the steak."

That last thought brought a tear to his eye; he had craved the long awaited meal, but that would be the least of his worries. To the best of his abilities, he gave himself a check over, feeling his body for any obvious injuries. With nothing broken from his examination, he adjusted the rear view mirror. Staring back at him was his own face, the mirror reflecting a few cuts along his forehead, most likely from his face smashing into the steering wheel. As he twisted his head around to further look, he felt a sudden neck pain as well. Feeling the seat belt rub against his sore neck, he undid it. With a click, the seat belt went limp, not retracting properly. He just tossed it aside with a "humph" and tried to focus on his surroundings.

Catching his eye immediately was the now open glovebox, the random trinkets half spilling out. One thing stuck out more than the rest, a small white box with red coloring and bold black lettering on the front. To save money during his dry spell, he had given up smoking for about five months now. This was his “emergency” pack. With the sudden nicotine cravings nipping at his brain, along with everything else that had just went wrong… well, he deserved at least one.

He peered out the completely smashed windshield of the car, all while reaching into the left breast pocket of his jacket for his lighter. With all the smoke pluming from the front end, it made it almost impossible to look out his side of the car. What he could tell was that he was surrounded by trees. He swore he had been driving on a road, not through an orchard. Feeling sure he could stand, the man tried to open his door, but it was stuck.

"Great one Kurt. Now I'm gonna have to take a break from work to get this all taken care of. And judging from the damage, I may not even get this fixed. I may have to..."

The man, Kurt, dwelled on that thought a second, and began to flick his lighter intensely. There was no way he was going to junk his Blazer. To most it was just a car, but to him it was his life; it felt similar to putting down a long loved pet in his mind. Though he knew it was inevitable eventually this vehicle would die on him, he wanted to make sure it would be from age, NOT something like this.

After the fiftieth click of the lighter, Kurt gave up, throwing it on the dash in disgust, the unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. He leaned against the headrest as he thought to himself, his vision beginning to blur; he felt the whiplash kick in as his head began to throb.

"Well, I'm sure someone will eventually stumble upon me," Kurt said out loud, closing his eyes and half-expecting a response.

As if on cue, he heard a female voice speak.

"Anypony in there?"

Kurt wasn't sure if he was more surprised by the timing, or the use of "pony" in the female’s question.

"I must have hit my head HARD!" Kurt thought as he turned to look out his driver door window. His vision was blurred, but through the haze he was able to make out three figures standing outside. No, for as short as they were they had to be... sitting? Odd for someone to just sit down after stumbling onto an accident. Kurt just let the "pony" thing go and responded.

"Yea, I'm-” Kurt took a half second to remove the cigarette so he could speak, sticking it behind his ear. “-I’m in here. I'm okay I think, but my door won't open. Have you called nine-one-one yet?" Kurt asked as he rubbed his forehead.

"Called what now?" the female voice asked. Kurt could recognize a very distinct southern accent.

"Nine-one-one. I don't have a cell phone with me, otherwise I would call myself."

"Um, whats a cell phone?" Another female voice asked, higher pitched than the one before.

"I haven't the slightest clue sugarcube."

"Maybe the impact knocked a screw loose."

Kurt’s eye twitched. "You know, I can hear you RIGHT?" asking with a touch of anger in his voice. Normally he didn't get so angry this quickly, but the throbbing of his head was about to make him lose it. Not to mention it seemed these people were now toying with him after a serious wreck.

Kurt then heard some footsteps, or at least thought they were footsteps. They sounded wrong, like too many of them for one person stepping forward. He could see a large red mass approach his door, followed by some tapping of metal on metal.

"Um, how’s this here door open?" a softer, more gentle male voice asked.

"The handle. What are you people, retarded?" Kurt asked, growing more annoyed. The current mixture of stupid people and his headache and his nicotine cravings were driving him mad.

"How do ya get a hoof in there?" the male voice asked again.

Kurt groaned in response to the continuing "horse" talk.

"Ah hell, never mind. Step back." Kurt demanded as he pulled the door lever from inside.

Outside the car Big Mac stepped away, confused.

"Sure don't soun' like no friendly pony ta me." Mac said, sitting down.

"Well he were jus' in an accident, what do ya expect?" Applejack said; she started to walk towards the object to try and talk with the pony inside.

Suddenly there was a smashing sound on the door, as it began to open.

"Come on you fucker!" The agitated voice from inside shouted.

"And the mouth of a sailor pony." Dash added, grinning towards Mac.

Macintosh just nodded, chewing on a piece of straw. Dash’s words of asking how it suddenly came to be died when the door finally swung open. All three ponies’ mouths dropped, Mac's straw staying in place above his lower lip, as a unknown being stepped out. It was tall, taller than Mac as it stood up on its rear legs. It was covered in blue denim clothes, an odd fashion choice. It also had no fur; instead, a pale skin covered most of its body. This thing couldn't be a pony.

"Thanks for the help th-" Kurt started to say sarcastically, before looking at the trio.

He raised a brow, looking at each pony.

"P-ponies?" Kurt asked himself. "Oh God I must have really hit my head hard."

Finally his body couldn't take it anymore; everything went black as he collapsed onto the ground. Kurt landed just mere inches from Applejack, who jumped back so not to be crushed by this giant.

"What... is that?" Dash asked, her wings spread, ready to fly off in a heartbeat.

"I've no clue sugarcube, but whatev'r it be it's hurt." Applejack turned to Dash. "Go get Fluttershy. Maybe she knows what it is. Tell 'er to bring some medical supplies too!"

Dash was hesitant at first, but quickly shook herself back. With a honorable salute, she took off towards Fluttershy's house. Applejack knew Dash put her loyalty before anything else, so she didn't have to worry about her getting distracted. After watching her fly off, Applejack turned to Big Mac, who was still relatively calm after watching his sister be nearly flattened by this creature.

"Big Mac, we need to get this thing off the ground. Lets take 'em to the house." Applejack said as she walked up to the sleeping creature.

Applejack gave the creature a light tap of her hoof. It didn't respond, so she looked back to Macintosh and nodded; Macintosh joined his sister as they tried to heft the massive creature onto Mac's back.

----------

Dash wasted no time in getting to Fluttershy's cottage. Outside the well-decorated home sat two ponies: a yellow pegasus and a purple alicorn. Sitting on purple colored pillows in front of a small white table, the two appeared to be drinking something. Dash repeated her previous landing from before, skidding on the ground and halting between the two ponies; taking out the small table in the process. It flew halfway across the yard, throwing the two cups of unknown liquid across the yard with the table. The yellow pegasus let out a loud squeak as she dove for cover behind the purple pony. The purple alicorn jumped also, but then scowled displeased.

"Rainbow, what’s wrong with you?" she asked angrily, unamused by the crude landing.

"Sorry, but I've no time to explain Twilight." Dash said to the purple mare, then turned to the yellow pegasus behind Twilight. "Fluttershy, I need your help over at AJ's farm."

The yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, slowly crept out from behind Twilight. Keeping her head hung low she asked back. "Wh-what about?"

"Well, long story but we got some weird looking creature. It’s hurt, it-" was all Dash was able to say before Fluttershy jumped up in attention.

"Oh my! A poor little creature is injured? At Applejack's, right? Ok, I'll be right over there!" Fluttershy said, a much more attentive tone in her voice as she quickly flew into her cottage.

Twilight Sparkle moaned in disapproval. She didn't mind Fluttershy tending to animals, but the two had been trying all day to just sit and relax. Twilight turned to ask Dash a question, but found the sky blue pegasus already gone. No sign showing when she had left.

Fluttershy was only inside for a few minutes inside, when she returned to Twilight with a medical bag and other supplies. She turned to Twilight, moving her pink mane away from her face.

"Are you coming along?" Fluttershy asked, already beginning her trot towards the farm.

"I suppose, since our tea time got ruined anyway." Twilight said as she walked alongside Fluttershy, who increased her pace to a near sprint towards the apple farm.

----------

Already feeling drained from the several roundabouts, Rainbow Dash quickly returned to the Apple farm house. All this hasty flying back and forth was routine for her, but having worked a double shift the night before she was beginning to feel drained. She stepped into the open front door just in time to see Macintosh and Applejack exiting an upstairs bedroom; she did her best to hide her exhaustion.

"Where is it?" Dash asked.

"We put it in Big Mac's room fer now. His bed was the only one big enough for it." Applejack said, looking over to her brother.

"Eeyup." Mac responded contently.

"Ok, well Fluttershy and Twi are on their way," Dash said as she sat down to catch her breath.

"Twi? Oh right, it’s probably their tea time," Applejack said with a snicker. She didn't divulge in those kind of things; it wasn't her style.

"Hey AJ. We shouldn’t get too many ponies in about this, until we know more," Mac said softly, moving the straw from one side of his mouth to the other.

"Hm, guess yer right. But we may need Twi's help identifyin' that creature and the thing it crashed in," Applejack said as she stepped out the front door, passing a panting Rainbow Dash.

Right on time, she saw Fluttershy and Twilight land on the ground in front of the porch.

“What took you two so long?” Dash asked through the open doorway in her usual tone, quickly running a hoof through her mane to hide its dampness.

“Nevermind her, girls,” Applejack said with a tail flick. “You bring some medical supplies, Shy?”

Fluttershy nodded, grabbing the medical bag from her saddle bag. Just then Macintosh stepped through the doorway, quickly stepping to the side to allow the yellow pegasus to enter. She didn’t make eye contact, but gave a small nod of thanks as she walked by and met Rainbow Dash. It was then Twilight’s turn to enter.

“Thank you, Big Mac.”

“Eeyup.”

Twilight paused a moment, a conversation dying as Applejack pushed her purple friend into the house.

“Ya’ll can talk later, right now I need ya two to take a lookit this thing.”

Slightly distracted by his sister’s friend, Macintosh spoke to Applejack, "Uh, ah'm gonna go see if ah can get that thing off our tree, okay AJ?" Mac said as he stepped off the porch.

"Alright. If ya need help jus' let me know," Applejack shouted after him, then turned to Fluttershy, "Glad ya'll could make it. It looks quite hurt."

Fluttershy looked to her orange friend, "Well, a creature in need."

As the three mares stepped inside, Applejack peeked out the door once before closing it quickly, making sure no other ponies followed her friends.

"Now, we can't let this get out okay? Jus' between us," Applejack said, then began to trot up the stairs.

"Why? What is it?" Twilight asked as she followed behind Applejack.

"We've got no clue sugarcube. It talks like us, but it ain't no pony. It's really tall 'n wears clothes. It also got no hoofs, more like paws on a dragon," Applejack said as she reached the top of the stairs.

Fluttershy froze in place, her tail curling up. "A d-d-dragon?" Fluttershy muttered as she tried to back away, "Um, I don't think I can-"

"It ain't no dragon. It’s jus', well see fer yerself," Applejack said as she opened Mac's door.

Twilight was the first to peer in the room; her eyes widened, seeing the creature laying on Mac's bed. It was nothing like she had seen before; it barely fit on the bed, with its legs hanging over the end board by at least foot. Fluttershy also peeked her head around the door, and just as quickly darted back.

"Wh-what is it?" Fluttershy asked, scared.

"Ah was hopin' ya'll would tell me," Applejack said, scrunching her face in disgust. "How 'bout you Twi? Any idea?"

Twilight was still staring at the creature. "No, I have no clue," she muttered before stepping inside the bedroom.

Applejack got behind Fluttershy and pushed her into the room behind Twilight.

"C'mon there, it's hurt 'n needs some help. Ev'n if we don't know what it is, I'm sure it'll be mighty grateful fer the fixin' up," Applejack said, scooting the frightened Pegasus into the room and closing the door behind them.

On the bed the "creature" laid flat on his back sleeping. The three ponies went to different sides of the bed, putting their front hoofs up on the mattress to get a better look.

"This is astounding. I've never seen anything like this before. Where did it come from?" Twilight asked.

"We've no clue. Accordin' to Dash it jus' appeared 'n crashed its carriage thingie into one of our trees," Applejack said, then her ears shot up. "Speaking of which, where is that mare?"

"I'm right here," Dash's voice called out. The three ponies looked to a corner of the room.

Dash was sitting on a pillow, just staring at the creature in the bed.

"Oh, ya a'right?" Applejack asked. She was curious how the mare had gotten ahead of them, but chalked it up to Dash being Dash.

"Yeah, I'm just keeping an eye on it. Since Mac is out doing whatever, somepony needs to keep an eye on this thing. Especially after hearing it talk the way it did," Dash proceeded to stand, and trotted over to join her friends. Fluttershy, not phased by Rainbow Dash, began to rummage through her medical bag for the supplies she needed.

"What do you mean? It spoke in our language? What did it say?" Twilight asked with excitement, wanting any information she could get about this creature.

"Yeah, it talked like us, just that it was real rude and used some real foul language," Dash said as she stood next to Applejack, keeping her eyes glued on Kurt.

"Aw, ah'm sure it was just cause of the accident. It was prob'bly confused," Applejack tried to reassure Dash as she moved out of the way for Fluttershy to begin her work.

"Um, lets see here. Peroxide. Cotton Swab. Okay, here we-" Fluttershy started, as she dabbed the cotton swab of peroxide onto the creature's forehead.

Suddenly, Kurt's eyes shot open and he sat up. All four ponies jumped back; seeing the expression on Kurt's face caused them all to panic and hide where they were able to.

"AH FUCK! THAT STINGS!" Kurt shouted, rubbing his forehead. "What the hell was that?"

Kurt looked around, still slightly dazed. His vision wasn't the best, but after rubbing his eyes he could make out most things around himself. He was in a bedroom, a small one for that matter. He tried to regain his thoughts, as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"Ok, where am I?” he began aloud. “All I remember is driving, then BOOM. Then waking up crashed into a tree, then... ponies?" he rubbed his forehead. "Oh man. My head is killing me. I must have smacked my head harder than I thoughtl," Kurt continued to ramble on as he shook his head. "And what's with this bed, it’s like a kids bed. Wait, how did I get in a bed?"

Kurt looked around the room. It looked like a typical bedroom, except one thing caught him off guard. It had several posters of, from the looks of it, country bands. Though something was off about them. Instead of the usual cowboy hat and guitar holding "country boy", he saw a cowboy hat and guitar holding... pony.

"Ponies?" Kurt asked himself again. There was a sound of movement to his left, and quickly Kurt looked to a small dresser. It was not against the wall; instead, half of it had been moved making a foot or so gap between it and the wall. There was another sound of movement as Kurt figured something was hiding behind it. "Hello? Is someone there?" he called out.

From behind the dresser, something walked out. It was short and... purple? Kurt had to double take what he was seeing. A purple pony... with a horn, and folded wings on its sides. Its mane was a darker purple with a lavender and a pink streak in it. It stepped out from behind the dresser and smiled, opening its muzzle.

"Hello there. My name is Twilight Sparkle. And yes, I'm a-" was all Twilight got out before Kurt fell back onto the bed, once again blacked out, though not from the head trauma.

"Well that was quick," Dash said as she stepped out of Mac's closet. She tossed the Playcolt magazine she had been glancing at back into the mess as she joined Twilight.

"Gee, I guess it does have a foul mouth," Twilight said as she peered under the bed. "Come on out Fluttershy, it’s out again."

Cautiously, Fluttershy crawled out from under the bed, careful not to make too much noise that could wake up the sleeping beast. Before anypony could ask the whereabouts of their orange friend, Applejack peered through the open window. Her hoofs were holding her onto the sill as she spoke.

"Would anypony mind helpin' me out here?" Applejack asked, straining to keep grip.

Dash quickly rushed over and pulled Applejack back into the room. After regaining their composure, the four took a second to recall what just happened, then returned their focus back to Kurt.

"Well that was eventful." Dash said, sitting down at the foot of the bed. She was curiously looking at the shoes on the creatures feet: dirty white tennis shoes, covered in all different strange stains. She gave them a sniff, before backing away with her tongue out. "Blegh!"

Twilight gave a small snicker as she coaxed Fluttershy to continue her bandaging. All in all Kurt wasn't in bad shape; from what Fluttershy could tell he just had some cuts on his head.

"Well, now what?" Dash asked as she kept a watchful eye on Kurt.

"I guess we wait for it ta wake up..." Applejack sat back down on the wood floor, "...again."

As the ponies all got comfortable, Macintosh returned from outside. He opened his door slowly, and peeked his head in. "Sorry AJ, but it's stuck in that tree harder than tha shoe on mah hoof. I'mma need some help gettin' it off."

"Aw horseradish," Applejack adjusted her hat and looked back to the creature. "Well, you missed it waking up for a second. Before Twi here made it pass out again."

As Applejack looked back to her brother, Fluttershy noticed Kurt begin to stir again. "Um, everypony..." she quietly whispered. No pony heard her.

"Hey, I didn't make it pass out. I'm sure it was still dazed and confused from its head trauma. And that just happened to be the time it went back out," Twilight said as she crossed her front hoofs defensively.

"Girls..." Fluttershy said a little louder, as Kurt moved around more.

"Of course there sugarcube," Applejack spoke to Twilight, adding a playful snicker.

"Um, girls!" Fluttershy said finally loud enough for everypony to hear her; they focused their attention to the yellow Pegasus as she began to dive for the bed. "It’s... waking up," Fluttershy added quietly before she crawled back under the bed.

Mac's eyes widened. He was not too thrilled with having a mare under his bed, but she was right as the creature began to stir again. This time it sat up slowly, now with a white bandage on its forehead above the right eye.

"Ug. My head," Kurt said, before setting his gaze upon the ponies in the room.

Kurt remained quiet as he looked around. He wasn’t sure how exactly to react. No oblivious emotions came rushing out of his mouth; he just sat there. It felt like an eternity of silence as no one spoke, when finally Twilight cleared her throat as she tried for a second time to communicate.

"Um, hello there. My name is Twilight Sparkle. As you pointed out before, yes we all are ponies. These here are my friends. This is... " Twilight began to say. Kurt remained silent, but turned his focus to Twilight and watched her as she talked, "...Macintosh. Rainbow Dash. Applejack, Macintosh's sister. And Fluttershy is hiding under the bed," Twilight said, pointing to each pony as she called its name. When she got to Fluttershy, there was a quiet squeak from under the bed. "Um, I don't know where you came from but you are now in Ponyville which resides in Equestria. So, welcome!" Twilight mustered a large, fake smile, darting her eyes back and forth between the creature and her friends.

Kurt looked all around trying to study his surroundings. He then took his right hand and pinched his left arm. He let out a "ssss" sound as he surprisingly, and a tad fearfully, felt the pain; the ponies looked at him curiously, unsure what the gesture meant. Even Fluttershy had come out from hiding and was now intrigued. Kurt reached atop his head, running his fingers through his brown, untrimmed hair. Finally he looked back to Twilight, looking into her eyes with a more than confused look while he felt his left ear for the cigarette he swore should have been there.

"So. I'm in Ponyville? How original of a name since you all are, obviously, ponies," Kurt finally spoke. Dash let out a huff, as she crossed her front hoofs in disgust.

"See, what did I tell you? Its fudging rude!" Dash said as she looked towards Twilight.

"Relax Dash. He's probably just nervous being surrounded by five ponies," Twilight said as she looked back to Kurt.

"Yeah, you could say that," Kurt said as he rubbed his face once more. “Ignore the fact that you’re all bright colors, have huge eyes, able to talk, and sure, you’re just ponies,” he said with a sarcastic tone.

He closed his eyes, rubbing the brim of his nose as he tried ever desperately to snap out of whatever hallucination he had found himself in. Back in the day, sure he dwelled in a little pot here and there, but that never brought upon stuff like this! With a quick smack to his forehead, he seethed as pain shot through his cranium. What he found odd was something was stuck there, too. Peeling it off and looking it over, it was obviously a bandage with hint traces of blood on it.

One of these ponies had put a bandage on him. Whatever intent they had, if there was one, couldn’t be malicious. Especially if he wasn’t bound & gagged either. He looked back to the ponies, all of whom were still staring at him with uncertainty. Except for the yellow one, who looked more worried than the others.

“Um…” Kurt began, unsure how exactly to speak his mind. “Thanks for patching up my head.”

Twilight's eyes brightened up, ignoring his previous comment and hoping to get Kurt to communicate further. "Oh, that was Fluttershy. She takes care of all the animals around here so she knows more about first aid than the rest of us. And you should probably put that back on, you’re bleeding again.”

Kurt stuck the bandage back on, guessing its placement by feel alone. He then looked back to the meek looking pony, and following a custom which has spanned a millennium he extended his right hand to shake.

“Well, thank you then, Fluttershy.”

Instead of extending her hoof, she just nodded.

“Oh, it’s quite alright. I’d do it for anypony. Or anyone, as it were.”

“Right.” Kurt started to move his hand back when he felt something solid place into his palm, and began vigorously shaking his hand, arm, and everything else attached to the limb.

"Its good ta know wherever yer from ya'll greet the same as us," Applejack smiled as she kept the shaking going. "So, what be yer name?."

Kurt thought about this for a moment, trying to ignore his arm going numb from the orange pony's shaking. Should he say his name? Maybe give them a false name, just in case? Then again, these ponies did seem very friendly. Maybe-

"Kurt Flitchum, is that right?" Twilight asked, looking down at something on the floor.

Kurt looked down also, seeing his wallet opened on the hardwood floor. He quickly bent down and snatched it up, before the pony looked at anything else.

"Yes it is, and what gives you the right to search my things?" Kurt asked, looking through it to make sure nothing was missing.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It was laying here on the ground, I didn't realize it was yours until I opened it," Twilight apologized.

"It musta fallen outta yer pocket when we hefted ya up on tha bed." Mac said, leaning against a wall.

“Yeah, uhuh,” Kurt said skeptically, running his fingers through the green pieces of paper that made up a majority of the wallet’s thickness. Once he was satisfied that nothing was out of place, he stuffed it into his back pocket.

“And yes, that’s my name. Just call me Kurt though, I don’t like none of that ‘Mister’ or ‘Sir’ shit.”

"That is an odd name, for an odd creature I suppose." Dash said, giving Kurt a glare.

"Well, you all have some colorful names yourselves. I mean, you sound like cartoon characters." Kurt said, adding a small chuckle afterwards.

Twilight gave Kurt a curious look, before asking another question. "So, what exactly are you?"

"What am I?" Kurt asked out loud. He could go off and try to say that he's part of some all mighty and powerful species, and that he's the ruler of his planet. Though, so far these ponies have given him no reason to need to lie like that, and make him out to be some sort of royalty of his world. Sure, he needed to be cautious, but not that cautious. He chose instead to give the truth, as simple as possible. "Well, I'm what we call ourselves back on Earth, a human."

"Earth?" Dash asked, curious now.

"Oh, that's where I'm from. The planet anyway," Kurt said with a shrug, "I don't really have a specific place I lived though; I am more of a roamer. I live in my Blazer-" Kurt stopped, remembering what had become of his vehicle, "Oh crap. MY BLAZER!"

Kurt quickly stood up, the sudden realization of the status of his beloved vehicle coming to mind. As he stood he found himself still dizzy; sitting back down onto the bed he tried to regain his composure.

"Hey, easy there sugarcube." Applejack said as she stepped forward. "Ya need ta rest some more."

"What is your ‘Blazer’?" Twilight asked curiously once again. She was trying to get any information she could out of Kurt; who knew how long he was going to stay? The possibilities of learning about a whole new planet and species was just too good to let pass by.

"It’s my automobile."

"Your what?"

"My..." Kurt looked at the pony; she had a confused look on her face. Realizing he was talking about something that these ponies clearly didn't know of he gave a simpler example, "The thing I crashed in here."

"Oh, that," Macintosh said, pausing a moment to switch the straw from one side of his mouth to the other, "It’s stuck."

"Great," Kurt rested his elbows on his legs, placing his chin in his right hand. Kurt's face was still full of disgust and utter confusion. He felt around with his left hand for the missing cigarette again, but to no avail. None of this was making sense; why was all this happening? What was going on? Could these ponies know something? "So, what happened to me anyway. Why am I here?"

The ponies all looked at one another and shrugged. Twilight, feeling like the ambassador between the ponies and human (she was a Princess, after all), spoke for her group of friends, "Well, we were hoping you would shed some light on that."

Kurt stuck his tongue out, razzing. "Nope. I've got not the slightest clue. I was driving to go get some grub when suddenly there was this bright light. Then, I woke up crashed into a tree," Kurt said, trying to fully remember everything. Most of his memory was still a blur to him; the only thing vividly in his mind was the bright light.

"Yeah, I saw that light also. Then you came racing out of it in that blue thing," Dash said.

"Oh, that's my Blazer. Well, more specifically, its an automobile," Kurt said, adding air quotes as he said its title, before he attempted once again to stand. This time he was able to keep his balance, though his legs were a little shaky. The crash must have knocked a few things loose inside him. "Well, can we go take a look? I wanna know how bad it is. Then maybe I can figure this mess out and get home," Kurt asked looking towards Twilight.

"Um, I suppose. Fluttershy, does he look okay to walk around?" Twilight asked the yellow pegasus.

“Bah,” Kurt said, “I’m fine. I’ve been through worse.”

"Eeyup. If he can stand, he be a'right," Mac quickly agreed.

“I’m not sure though, I mean you still don’t appear too stable, Kurt.” Twilight tried to argue, but lost as he began walking.

"I hav’ta agree with Twilight there, sugarcube.”

Big Macintosh stepped out of the way as the human walked towards him. As he did so, something caught his attention about this human’s height and the height of his door frame. Before he could speak his thoughts, Kurt spoke.

“It’s alright, I’ll be-”

SMACK!

All the ponies cringed as Kurt smacked his forehead onto the low door sill.

“I’m okay…” Kurt said with a slur in his voice.

The ponies all watched as he crouched down to exit the room, then staggered to the stairs, having to bend his knees a little to grab onto the railing. Once his foot touched the first step, it creaked loudly and shifted, sending the man toppling down the stairs with more noise than when the Apple family tore down a barn.

“What’s all that racket up there?” an elderly female voice hollered from the kitchen.

All the ponies lined up at the balcony railing, looking down at the heap of tangled limbs that was a conscious alien being.

“Nothin’ Granny Smith,” Applejack hollered down, but then more quietly to her friends and brother, “I can tell this is gonna be one of them days.”

Author's Notes:

If anyone here was following this fic way back when I was posting it on deviant art, now is where you will be seeing the continuing changes to the fic. I felt a lot of scenes just didn't feel right after all this time, so I'm trying new approaches to them.