Author's Notes:

This story will run side-by-side with my other story Finding Home. There may be things you do not understand in this story if you do not read the other, but hopefully not anything extremely important. You will still get your fill reading this story if you don't read the other, and vice versa. They are both about different characters. Feel free to leave a dislike if you don't like this idea, and feel free to keep reading if it doesn't bother you in the slightest! I love all my viewers and their opinions, so don't be afraid to crucify me for it. These stories take place in the same universe, so all the characters and OCs will most likely interact or cross paths at some point. So if you don't know about something or think something is random or surprising, it's because you didn't read the other story. Just a warning for future readers!

Van’s eyes opened, staring silently at the ceiling for a few solid moments. Finally he blinked, glancing to his left to see Axel asleep next to him. He smiled, turning to face him and cuddling close. He was about to close his eyes and drift off back to sleep, when he heard someone snoring. He turned and saw Pinkie asleep to his right. Van gazed back to his brother, who was snoring as well. He put his hand up to Axel’s face and plugged his nose, waiting patiently.

Axel’s eyes shot open and he tore his brothers fingers out of his nose.

Van poked Axel and pointed to Pinkie.

“Oh…” Axel mumbled. “Well… still not as surprising as finding out we’re in the home of one of the princesses…”

Van’s eyes widened, staring at Axel with surprise flooding his face.

“Yeah. I think I blacked out after realizing it…” Axel said.

The emotion drained from Van’s face as he remembered the large armored man from earlier. He looked around and spotted the notebook and pencil on the night stand. He reached over and grabbed them, immediately scribbling down a picture of a tall black figure and a smaller one. Next to the smaller one he wrote his name and an arrow pointing to it. He shoved the picture into Axel’s face, awaiting an answer.

“Oh… He’s Sam. And for as long as I was conscious he was really nice.” Axel said.

Van paused for a moment before scribbling something down. He showed the same picture, but with a dozen arrows pointing to the tall black figure.

“Yes HIM.” Axel said. “I am talking about him.”

“He’s really fun.” Pinkie said. Van’s body tensed up as he felt her arms wrap around him. “Oh and hi.”

Axel sighed, “Hi.” He said.

“Your brother really doesn’t like me…” Pinkie said quietly, her arms moving away slowly.

Van’s eyes widened. He looked at Axel almost pleadingly.

“It’s just that he doesn’t know you… at all. Neither of us really do.” Axel said.

“Ohhhh. I’m Pinkie Pie. I’m a baker and live with Mr and Mrs. Cake at the cake shop.” Pinkie smiled.

“Well uh… He’s Van… You know that though. He’s a painter.” Axel said.

Van looked back at Pinkie and nodded.

“What about you?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head and looking at Axel.

“I just do things here and there… I don’t really have a set job.” Axel shrugged.

Pinkie rolled over top of Van, enticing a grunt from him as she nudged herself between the two. “Whatcha doin at the moment?” She asked.

“I’m a farm hand at Sweet Apple Acres.” Axel said.

“Oh neat! So you’ve met Applejack?” Pinkie asked.

“Yep.” Axel nodded.

“See we already have soooo much in common!” Pinkie giggled, clinging tightly to Axel. Van looked at Axel and eyed him with disappointment, looking away from the two of them.

“Van?” Axel asked.

Van didn’t look at Axel, continuing to stare in the opposite direction.

Axel smiled. “He doesn’t really know you but…” He started.

“But?” Pinkie questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“I think he’d like to.” Axel finished. Van’s face slightly reddened.

“Aww… Don’t worry, by the end we’ll know everything about each other!” Pinkie cheered.

“Sounds great.” Axel said, smiling a little more.

Pinkie turned to Van and stared at him. “Why don’t we start out small…” She said, holding out her hand. Van stared at it. His eyes darted back and forth before nodding slowly. He extended his hand and held hers gently. A small smile swept onto his face.

“Slow and easy that’s just the way to go.” Axel nodded.

Pinkie’s other hand grabbed Axel’s and she started giggling.

“What’s so funny?” Axel asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I can’t wait to tell them I have two.” Pinkie said, giggling a little more.

“Two what?” Axel questioned uncertainly.

“Two boyfriends!” Pinkie said happily.

“Um…” Axel mumbled.

Van blinked a few times before his expression alone said, ‘Huh?’.

There was a knock on the door. “You three awake?” Twilight called through the door. “I don’t mean to be rude but It is MY room.”

“Yep! Come in!” Pinkie called.

The door to the room opened and Twilight walked in with Sam by her side. “Hello.” Twilight waved. Everyone looked at Sam, who was absolutely quiet.

“Hi…” Axel said quietly.

Van looked at Sam for a few moments before glancing to Twilight. She looked at Sam and raised an eyebrow. “Sam what’s wrong?” She asked.

“Last time I said hi, he fainted. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Sam said.

“He was just scared…” Axel said.

“Oh… Hi.” Sam smiled, waving to Van.

Van let go of Axel’s hand and waved back, smiling a little more.

“See? Meeting new people isn’t too hard.” Axel said.

“So how did you uh… why are you…” Twilight tried to say.

“Oh well on the street silly! How else would you meet someone.” Pinkie said.

“Are… was that an insult?” Twilight asked.

“Well you met me in a hospital.” Sam said, turning to Twilight.

“They awake?” Dash called from downstairs.

“Yeah.” Sam replied.

“Great.” Dash said.

Axel looked over at Van.

“What?” Pinkie asked.

Van turned to Pinkie. “I’m talking for yooou.” Pinkie whispered. He turned back to Axel and shrugged.

“Yeah… that’s going to be difficult.” Axel said with a little chuckle.

Van looked at Pinkie and started moving his hands around. “Yeah… uh huh… uh huh…” Pinkie said, nodding every so often. “Go on… I see…”

“And what is he saying?” Axel asked.

“Well he said he’s hungry and wants to know if it’s lunch. He also asked how you slept and what we’re going to do later.” Pinkie said. Van turned to Axel and nodded.

Twilight blinked a few times, bewilderment washing over her face. “How…” She stammered.

Axel’s mouth opened up slightly. “Okay… first time for everything…” He mumbled.

“Gah!” Sam grunted as Rainbow Dash yanked him down to his knees.

“I’ve been waiting for an hour. Make food or I’ll eat you for lunch instead.” Dash said, dragging him out of the room.

“I think she’s going through the craving stages.” Sam called, his voice fading as he was dragged downstairs and into the kitchen.

“Yeah… food does sound good right now.” Axel said.

Van and Pinkie’s nose twitched as the room filled with a pleasant aroma. “Food.” Pinkie stated, the two of them climbing roughly over Axel and tumbling to the floor, quickly jumping up and rushing past Twilight.

Axel grunted and after they were off he pushed himself up.

“So… Axel was it?” Twilight questioned.

“Yeah… that’s my name.” Axel nodded.

“If I recall… it wasn’t Sam that made YOU faint.” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow.

“A lot of things happened today and I sort of… just shut down after… yeah…” Axel mumbled.

“Well why don’t you get some food in you before you ‘shut down’ again.” Twilight chuckled.

“That sounds good.” Axel said as he stood up and quickly walked downstairs. Twilight shook her head and followed behind him. The two of them entered the kitchen and saw Dash and Pinkie sitting next to each other, talking about something and laughing. Van looked up and smiled, waving as Axel walked in.

Axel waved back and sat down beside Van.

Several plates of food appeared on the table. Dash immediately reacted and grabbed one, digging in shortly after. “Sorry for the wait.” Sam said apologetically.

“It’s been under a minute…” Twilight said.

“Sorry.” Sam repeated.

Van slowly slid a plate over and took a bite. He and Pinkie shared a look before Pinkie started eating with her hands, shoving food into her mouth. Van tossed his silverware to the side and shoved his face onto the plate, racing Pinkie.

“Okay then.” Axel said before he started to laugh a little.

“Slow down…” Twilight laughed. The sound of a plate clattering on the table caught everyone’s attention. They all turned to Rainbow Dash and saw she had finished eating. Pinkie and Van looked at each other wide eyed.

“I think she won.” Sam said.

“Yep. There wasn’t a chance either of them could have gotten first place.” Axel chuckled.

There was a knock on the front door. “Why don’t you get that.” Pinkie said, turning to Axel.

“Why me?” Axel asked.

“I didn’t say it, he did.” Pinkie said, pointing to Van, who had started eating a second plate.

Axel sighed and stood up. He walked over to the door and opened it up, “Hello?” He said.

“Oh my… Hello.” A purple haired unicorn said, gazing straight up at Axel.

“You can come in…” Axel said as he stepped to the side.

As Axel moved out of the way, a yellow pegasus rushed in. “I smell food.” She stated, running into the kitchen.

“Fluttershy wait!” The purple haired asked. She quickly turned to Axel. “I’m Rarity.” She said quickly, running after Fluttershy before receiving a greeting.

Axel shook his head for a second before starting to close the door. “OW!” A man’s voice said as the door was halted suddenly. Axel turned, opening the door quickly to see a man on the ground.

“What the hell… Who are you? Did Twilight move or something?” The man asked.

“No…” Axel said. “And… I’m Axel…”

“Cecil… and I just got out of the hospital thank you very much. I don’t need to go back because of a broken nose.” Cecil groaned, climbing to his feet.

“Sorry I didn’t know if anyone else would be coming in.” Axel said apologetically.

A magic aura engulfed Cecil and slid him to the side. Immediately a man walked in whose shirt collar was grabbed by Cecil, stopping him in his tracks. “Red this is Axel. Say hi.” Cecil said.

“Hi. Where’s my wife?” Red asked.

“In the kitchen…” Axel said.

Red shrugged Cecil’s hand off and walked into the kitchen. Cecil sighed and looked at Axel. “Don’t worry about him he just hasn’t seen her all day.” Cecil said.

“I’m not worried too much…” Axel said.

“You seem new here so let me catch you up. Fluttershy is my wife, Red is Dash’s husband, and Sam is Twilight’s husband. You can call him Prince if you really want to… Though I’ll probably hit you later.” Cecil finished.

“Why would you… hit me?” Axel asked.

“Don’t ask. Anyway… Food first.” Cecil said, marching into the kitchen.

“Yep. Need food too.” Axel nodded. As he was about to close the door it was pushed open by Applejack.

“Heya.” She said. “What ya doin here Axel?”

“Hey Applejack.” Axel said, “And I was with my brother… but he seems to be handling everything decently now.”

“Pinkie?” AJ asked.

“Pinkie.” Axel nodded.

“Well we need ya back at the farm so let’s eat before that.” Applejack stated, grabbing Axel’s arm and pulling him towards the kitchen.

“Stop playing with your food.” Sam said pleadingly.

“But my food won’t stop wiggling.” Cecil said, continuing to tickle Fluttershy.

“Stop it!” Fluttershy laughed loudly.

“I… don’t even know anymore…” Axel sighed.

“You’re just my little sweet honey bear…” Red said in a baby voice, feeding Dash some food. She chuckled and swallowed it.

“And you’re my sweet sugar… thing.” Dash said slowly as she thought of something.

“You’re going to need to work on that.” Red said.

“Sam.” Applejack called.

“Got it!” Sam said, a few more plates appearing onto the table.

Applejack grabbed two and slid one to Axel. “Eat up.” She said.

“It’s like I have my own bed and breakfast.” Twilight joked, glancing up at Sam.

“Mmhm.” Sam nodded, humming something as he continued to cook.

“The food is very good dear.” Rarity said, taking a small bite.

“Shank shu.” Sam said, his mouth full as he tasted something in the pan he was stirring.

Axel glanced up as he stopped eating for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Applejack asked.

“Nothing.” Axel said as he went back to eating.

Rarity scooted closer to Axel. “So…” She said softly. “You’re quite the hunk aren’t you?”

“Um… sure?” Axel said uncertainly.

“You must do a lot of… heavy lifting, at the farm.” Rarity asked, placing a hand on his.

“Yeah…” Axel nodded, slowly taking another bite of his food.

“But I bet… you do heavy lifting… a lot of other places too… wouldn’t you say dear?” Rarity asked in almost a whisper, moving her hand to his crotch.

Axel instantly started choking on some of the food.

Pinkie dove across the table towards Axel. Everyone immediately lifted their plates up, Pinkie rolling onto the floor and winding her arm back, hitting the center of Axel’s back roughly.

Axel coughed the food up and took in a few deep breaths.

“Oh my goodness! Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked quickly, rushing over to Axel.

“Yeah man… you good?” Cecil asked.

“Yeah… I’m good now… and… I think it’s best to get started with work early…” Axel said in a still strained voice as he stood up.

Pinkie shot Rarity an estranged look. “What?” Rarity said defensively. Pinkie grabbed some food and dropped it on Rarity’s clothes. Rarity immediately jumped up, letting out a sharp gasp.

“It’s going to stain!” Rarity shrieked, dashing upstairs quickly.

Pinkie rushed over to Axel. “Did you need anything?” She asked.

“No… no I’m good.” Axel said. “Just feeling a little… um… yeah I won’t go there… it just got even weirder than I thought was possible…”

Van appeared just behind Pinkie, gazing at Axel just over her shoulder with obvious worry in his eyes.

“Don’t worry.” Axel said, smiling a little, “I’m fine.”

Van smiled and hugged Axel tightly.

Axel returned the hug. Pinkie wrapped her arms around the two of them shortly after. “I’m glad you didn’t choke. That’s no fun…” She said quietly.

“Look at that…” Axel chuckled. “Nothing’s happened yet.”

Van glanced the pink arm around him and ignored it, going back to hugging Axel.

“Now that’s a great thing to have in common…” Twilight said with a smile.

“What?” Axel asked.

“Well Van doesn’t like to be touched by strangers right?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah…” Axel said.

“And I’d say the thing that’s bringing them the closest is that they both are worried about you.” Twilight said, her smile growing.

Axel’s smile widened a little more too. “It is a great thing to have in common.” He said in agreement.

“That’s sweet…” Fluttershy said, resting her head on Cecil’s shoulder.

“Bleck… Too mushy. Let’s leave.” Dash said, yanking Red to his feet and pulling him to the door.

“Thanks for the food!” Red grunted.

“Where are you off to?” Twilight called.

“Sex.” Dash stated as she disappeared out the door.

“Oh speaking of.” Sam said, lifting Twilight into his arms and walking towards the stairs.

“Sam we have guests!” Twilight said.

“Yeeeeah… about that.” Cecil said. He turned to Fluttershy, who shared the same feelings. The two of them got up and waved. “We’re out.”

“You guys have a good time.” Fluttershy said quietly as her and Cecil walked outside.

Axel turned to Pinkie. “And you?” He asked.

Pinkie tapped her index finger to her chin as she hummed in thought. “Oh!” She said, snapping her fingers. “I still haven’t shown you where I live. I’ll show you how soft and fluffy my bed is!”

Van’s eyes widened and he turned to Axel.

“Yeah… I don’t want to die by skipping work…” Axel shrugged.

Pinkie grabbed Van’s hand and tugged him out the door. Applejack stood up and laughed a little. “Well if you plan on stickin’ around here, you’d better get used to this.” She said, putting an arm around Axel.

“I bet in a week or two this will all just be normal to me.” Axel said.

There was a loud moan from upstairs. “It just gets bigger every time doesn’t it…” Twilight’s voice was heard.

Applejack stiffened slightly and strode to the door. “See ya there…” She said quickly, rushing outside.

Axel followed her out in almost the next second.

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

LATER: Sweet Apple Acres.

“Why dontcha get started over there?” Applejack suggested, motioning over to one side of the field.

“I’ve got a question first.” I started, “What’s the treehouse for?”

“Oh that’s the clubhouse.” Applejack chuckled. “They’re probably up there right now…”

“They?” I asked.

“My little sister Applebloom. Rarity’s little sister Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They’re all friends and hang out up there, when they aren’t hangin’ out everywhere else.” Applejack laughed.

“Ah. Okay…” I nodded. “I guess I’ll get started then.”

Applejack nodded, walking off to another part of the farm.

I walked over to the field Applejack had pointed me to and as I did I came in view of the clubhouse. I noticed that a light was on and no one was moving around inside. I walked over to it and knocked on the door, “Anyone there?” I said.

I didn’t hear anything for a moment.

“Oka-” I was cut off as something hit the ground with a thud. I knocked on the door again, “Hello?” I called in.

“HELP ME!” A boy’s voice said.