A/N: SO~ Seeing as our 7th chapter was so short, I decided to do a double publish tonight. I hope it makes up for the lateness and the shortness of the last chapter.

Chapter 8:

“J-Josh?” Twilight stuttered, not expecting the new comer to be wide awake.

“Ugh...coffee...explanation...peferably in that order. Where am I?” Josh said, sitting up and looking at Twilight, blinking slowly. She stared back at him and opened her mouth, no words coming forth. His eyes took in the pony, and he seemed to come to terms with the fact that either he was high, or dead, or dreaming, or he was on a far off planet where equines could speak.

“I don’t know.” she managed, still staring at him.

“So useful.” he scathingly replied. He tried standing up, but he fell over immediately. He couldn’t move his legs. Twilight hoisted him back into the bed and laid down next to him. He was freezing cold, so she thought that the extra warmth could only help. He relaxed. He didn’t know who (or even what, for that matter) was laying next to him and tending for him, but it wasn’t trying to eat him yet so he couldn’t complain.

“Who are you?” Josh asked, staring up at the ceiling.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle.” she said, looking over at him once more.

“Twilight Sparkle.” He repeated indifferently. She continued.

“Your friends, Bromley, Nate, and Evan, are here also.”

“They survived?” He asked, not really suprised.

“Yes.” She affirmed.

“Henrick and Hans?” He almost regretted asking.

“Who?”

“Alright then. You get the number of that semi?”

Twilight only cocked her head questioningly.

“What hit us?” asked the immobilized biped.

“I did.” Twilight responded with a twinge of regret .

“Any one else?” Was his next question.

“Yes, all the other ponies: Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.”

“So, you’re a pony. That working out for you?” He grinned a bit at her. She rolled her eyes, as if expecting this.

“Yes. Aren’t you a person?” He nodded quickly.

“Homosapiensapien, and I should hope so. Or that crash really did a number on the ol’ brain-pan.”

“Alright.” Twilight laid her head down. Nate hurried to see if he had actually heard Josh’s voice, and it turned out that he had.

“Josh!” Nate yelled, running over to him.

“Engy.” Josh calmly replied, then tried his hardest to sit up.

“Anything abnormal?” Nate asked, looking Josh up and down.

“I can’t move my legs. Don’t know where I am. Technicolor pony people are talking to me. Y’know the usual. Good news is, the insurance ’ll cover this.” Josh joked.

“I’m tending to him.” Twilight said, looking up.

“Alright, good, good.” Nate said, running to the door again and calling for Evan and Bromley.

“Josh!” they shouted (one much louder) in unison upon entering the room.

“Evan. Cap’n.” Josh said, then quickly explained to them that his legs were defective. Bromley frowned, before realizing that being taken out of cryogenic sleep without the proper equipment might cause such a thing to happen. He decided that before he made a decision, they should give Josh some time. Evan went and got everypony else (and Keenan), introducing them to Josh. Once he knew everybody and everypony knew him, they left him and Twilight alone. Josh contemplated his new life, and Twilight silently kept him company. He looked over at the purple horse and gave her a sincere smile.

“Thank you, Twilight. I wish to make a pact with you. A pact of friendship!” He fell once again silent, while Twilight looked at him stupefied. She smiled a bit to herself, and then closed her eyes, beginning to meditate. After a long while of thoughtful silence, the human and the mare both fell asleep.

Rainbow Dash slept in Bromley’s room for the first time as a roommate. Bromley was up against the wall, his hazel eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling. Rainbow hoped that he wasn’t asleep for the same reason that she wasn’t. She felt her heart beating ridiculously fast, and she was far too tense to sleep. The things this damn captain did to her... She decided to speak up, albeit nervously.

“H-hey.” Bromley didn’t turn, but grunted in response.

“Hm?”

“So this is interesting... What do people do in their sleep?” She asked, feeling like she was stepping on dangerous ground for some reason. But she was curious about it nonetheless.

“Hm... Well, most people dream. And rest up. Some people move in their sleep, some people talk. Erm, wet dreams... Isn’t it the same for ponies?” Bromley replied. Rainbow Dash was a relieved he wasn’t angry, despite how late it was. She talked a little more openly, like she usually did.

“Yeah. Normally our dreams mean something though. Is it the same for humans?” She pondered, sitting up and looking at him, silently hoping he would turn to face her.

“Not for most... Unless you mean to reveal to them that they have something bothering their conscience, or to remind them of traumatizing experiences. Though Evan tends to dream of future events sometimes. We called him ‘The Oracle’ for a good while there. Prophecy is what we call it.” Bromley rambled for a few seconds, and he lazily rolled over onto one arm, leaning on it while staring at the mare. She felt her heart skip a beat, and it annoyed and thrilled her at the same time.

“That sounds cool. What are wet dreams?” She said, trying not to grin at the man during what she considered to be a rather serious conversation.

“Err... Uhm... Well, do um....” Bromley just shook his head at himself. “Okay, do ponies have... Urges?” Bromley asked the cyan blue mare in a slightly higher monotone then usual.

“Yeah... sure, you could call them that,” she replied, realizing that this was the strangest conversation she had ever participated in. Bromley looked partially relieved, but his eye twitched rapidly at her next words. “I’m just not sure what eating and drinking and things like that have to do with dreams.”

“... Do ponies recognize sex as a ‘fun’ thing to do?” He asked bluntly. Rainbow Dash blushed at that, her wings raising slowly up behind her.

“Oh no.. Wait you mean... Oh yeah... I know what wet dreams are.” Rainbow Dash looked down at her hooves, feeling embarrassed. She remembered her experience from the other night. Thank Celestia that it was before she had moved into Bromley’s room. If she had woken up with the same soaked sheets and covers as she had a couple nights before, but next to Bromley instead, she never could have forgiven herself. The dream leading up to the finish was even more humiliating. Bromley had seemed so misshapen with his lower... parts so much like a colt, but to her it was sexy. He had brutally made love to her in the dream and she must have been panting heavily in her sleep, for when she woke, she was not only soaked, but also hoarse. Bromley was unhappy with the silence that had been delivered by Rainbow Dash’s remembrance, and wanted to make sure that she was once again comfortable, so he eagerly changed the topic.

“Anyway, as I said earlier, MOST humans get to dream things like that all the time.” Rainbow Dash raised her head, curious eyes looking at him. That was better, he was unsure of what she had been thinking about, but it seemed to put a dampen on her spirits. (As well as her thighs).

“Oh, uh good! Me neither. I mean, I’m sure Fluttershy or one of them get those tendencies, but uh not me. I’m way too cool for that.” Bromley grinned at the obvious lie, and Rainbow Dash’s face lit up brightly in the darkness as she saw his expression.

“I didn’t mean that, silly. I meant I hardly sleep at all. Don’t worry though, I get those too, when I do dream that is.” Bromley winked at her suggestively at that, and she felt her heart skip a beat. Holy Celestia, had he just... Sexually flirted with her? She smirked at him a bit and laid down next to him, far closer then before. Bromley soothingly ran a thumb along her cheek, while letting his head drop down onto his pillow.

“.... So....” She didn’t really know what to say, but thankfully he stopped her by pressing his lips to hers. She felt like she was melting, as his tongue worked its way around her maw, into her mouth and finally played with her tongue. She became so focused on the kiss she didn’t notice herself pressing her hoofs to his chest, scooting closer until she was pressed flush against him. Her eyes were squeezed shut as he distracted her from all her troubles and problems with a simple, long, meaningful kiss. He pulled away, leaving her breathing hard while he was (annoyingly enough) not winded in the slightest. He kissed her on the nose then fell into a light doze, while she buried herself further into his chest. Sleep was not an easy escape to him, but he could rest with Rainbow’s comforting warmth. She herself had never felt safer in her life, and submitted to the call of sleep and warmth.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy slept in Nate’s room for also the first time ever. They were both mildly restless peopl- er... beings, so they spent quite a lot of the night making small conversation, and trying to find comfortable sleeping positions. Nate finally decided that letting her lay on top of him was the best solution.

“Are you sure this isn’t going to be awkward?” She asked shyly. Nate put his arms around her.

“Not at all.” He said. She looked away in a blush and a grin, slowly lowering her head to his chest. He kissed her forehead and reclined, closing his eyes. He was slightly taken aback when she put her forelegs over his shoulders. She fell asleep, though. He didn’t mind as long as she was relaxed. He smiled and dozed off slowly.

Applejack slept in Evan’s bed again.

Keenan and Pinkie just slept in the same room. Rarity slept alone. They all slept soundly, though.

That was, until Evan started coughing in convulsions. He woke everyone up, as he was so loud. Nate’s first thought was the antivenin. He knew that it might not have worked. He made Fluttershy get off him, and then headed down to Evan’s room after telling her to please stay put. He confronted Bromley in the hallway, and he could tell that the man was just as tired as him.

“No sleep for you either?” He asked. Neither broke stride towards Evan’s room, and Bromley just nodded.

“When do I ever sleep? Same with you, for that matter...” Bromley replied with a small sigh. Pinkie Pie peeked her head out of her own room, but Keenan pulled her back in. He looked at them questioningly.

“Just go back to bed, keep Pinkie calm.” Nate said. Bromley nodded in agreement and they continued on without looking back. Josh was leaning against Evan’s doorway, Twilight worriedly staring at the door as more coughing echoed through the establishment. They opened the door and entered at the same time. Twilight immediately casted a spell to calm Evan’s chest and heart rate, making sure he didn’t break a rib with his seizing. He stopped, but he looked terribly pale. Bromley checked him for fever, and found nothing to be straying from the norm. Josh offered a consolatory smile to Evan, who just blinked back without response. Bromley barked out a couple of orders, and everyone attended to them while he went to go get another dose of the antivenin.

When he returned, they had followed his instructions and laid Evan down in a bed of his own. Evan was nude beneath the covers, and Nate had checked him over (no homo) for any bites they hadn’t seen. Applejack wouldn’t be allowed to sleep next to him for the time being. Evan was bitter about that fact, and finally seemed to break. He was tired of being a burden. “It’s always me, isn’t it? I’m sorry guys. Maybe you should just let me...” he was cut off by a light but effective kick to the nose. It didn’t break it, or even make it bleed, but it sure as hell made his eyes water.

“We ain’t just letting you die!” Applejack was not happy with the way he was talking. No one was. Applejack asked everyone to leave for a few minutes. Bromley replied that he probably wouldn’t be back, and was going to try and sleep again. Nate followed after him, and Josh saluted before leaving the room with Twilight.

“Why do you keep talkin’ like that?” she asked, tearing up a bit

“Look, you silly filly, all I’ve been is trouble. That thing Nate gave me might have not worked. Letting me die is the easiest thing to do.”

“I ain’t lookin’ fer the easiest thing to do!” Applejack began crying. She ran out for a moment and came back with a first aid kit.

“It’s not going to help, Applejack. You should just go. If you really think I’ll get better I will need my rest.” With that she left. She ran out with tears in her eyes. She didn’t want this person to die. Twilight had mentioned something earlier. Something that would help all of the awkwardness between humans and ponies. But if he was dead it wouldn’t do any good.

As (almost) everyone else fell back to sleep that night, Evan became bored. His armpit hurt, which was usual for a reason he didn’t really want to think about. His stomach wracked him with pain and he was forced to stay awake. Other than the aforementioned pains he also had a few spaces on him such as behind his shoulders and many places on his face and head that seemed extremely tight. No one could know about them but those were scars that didn’t heal right. Nothing ever seemed to heal right with him. The saddening part was that most of the scars were lessons from Bromley. Evan didn’t complain. He couldn’t let Bromley know that he was being hurt worse than expected. Awake as he was, he strode outside into the cold night, deciding that he felt well enough to at least walk. He wasn’t going to light a fire again. The multiple beat-downs had taught him a lesson. That and if he died that way Applejack would never forgive him. A tree stood in his path. A tree? No that couldn’t be right. This was a barren wasteland. How far had he gone? This wasn’t right. The whole place looked like Earth. Mountains rose up on the far side of the now expanding forest. The one tree before him through looked mad. It scowled at him. “You stupid tree!” he said angrily. He socked it in the “face” and kept walking. The forest was full of animals. So many of them looked like animals from home, but they were different colors. All bright colors too. “How far have I gone?” he thought. He saw his comrades. Applejack trotted up to him, going behind him. Rainbow Dash and Bromley walked away, as did Nate and Fluttershy, Josh and Twilight, and Keenan and Pinkie. Beside Josh though, was a tall, regal looking pegasus with a unicorn horn. Next to Twilight, was someone else he knew, but he couldn’t recall the man’s name. He looked at Rarity. A giant wooden beam fell upon her.

“WAKE UP!” a loud voice shouted.

“Kill the queen!” Evan replied, waking up to Applejack yelling. His eyes were bleary, and he felt like he had totally lost track of reality.

“Oh finally. Good heavens, sugar cube, you were shakin’ like a leaf!” she had been watching him ever since he fell asleep to make sure he was safe.

“I had the weirdest dream,” he trailed off and sat up. Applejack was about to protest but he stood up and had forgotten about his lack of clothing. Applejack was surprised and turned away, a strange appendage now visible to her.

“Whats wrong? Holy mother of Abraham Lincoln!” He pulled the blanket over himself. Nate heard the commotion and saw Applejack run, completely red in embarrassment, down the hall. He thought to himself, “Evan forgot his clothes probably. OH GOD!” He went to go explain human anatomy to Applejack, but not before running inside and tossing some clothes to Evan.

“It’s fine Applejack. You sleep next to him, don’t you? Haven’t you ever wondered whats beneath his clothing?” Nate said, laughing.

“Apparently it’s a bunch o’ muscles and a floppy horn! I saw Twilight with one before, but on her head! And it was because of blue flowers! Why was it between his legs!?”

“I guess he has a six pack too... It’s just the way humans are. I could go into specifics but I don’t want all the blood to go into your head. Unless you really want to know.”

“It might be nice. The more I can know the better.”

“Okay, so that floppy horn sometimes gets... not floppy. And that’s how you know he’s... happy. And when he’s happy he wants to... Uh... oh ball sacks aflame this is weird. Colts have them too. It’s the same appendage.”

“You mean I saw his...” she gulped and looked down.

“Yes, but I don’t think he minds too much. You two are already sleeping together.”

“BUT NOT LIKE THAT YET!” She stood up and walked out the door.

“‘Yet’?” Nate asked himself quietly. He laughed at the thought as Fluttershy walked in.

“What’s so funny?” she asked quietly, “Is my hair messy? Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I’ll go fix it...”

“No it was Applejack.” He said, glancing at her hair and thinking it adorable.

“What did she do?” Fluttershy questioned, blushing a bit as he eyed her.

“She saw Evan’s... I’m going to have to explain this to you too aren’t I? Colt parts is probably the best way to describe it.”

“She saw his muscles? I didn’t think he had many...”

“No no... His... Fillymaker...?” He tried, thinking that that was the best name that an equine being would understand.

She blushed and nodded, then ran off, probably to ask Applejack what it was like.

Bromley was working on hauling slabs of rock into place. If they were going to live here, they were going to have to make it nice. He looked up and saw Applejack running from Nate’s place. He looked back at the sleeping form of Rainbow Dash and wondered what could have possibly happened. He went and laid down next to his partner. She was warm and soft. He stroked her mane and his eyes closed. Before he could really doze off, however, he overheard Fluttershy and Applejack whispering, but nothing specific. Just “Evan”, “Colt”, “Fillymaker”, and “Embarrassed”. He wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but he laughed thinking of the possibilities. All he could put together was Applejack had met Evan’s fillymaker. His coltparts. And she was embarrassed. Rainbow Dash woke up and asked why he was laughing so loudly.

“Colt parts and fillymakers.” He responded simply.

“That’s not enough information and you know it,” she stated.

“Applejack saw Evan’s colt parts.” Bromley said, breaking out into mirth filled laughter again.

“But he’s a person. He isn’t a colt.” Rainbow Dash said, confused.

“We have them too.” Bromley clarified, but it apparently didn’t bring light to the subject.

“‘We?” Rainbow Dash raised a brow, and Bromley just rolled his eyes. He laid back down.

“All male people. Now go back to bed.” Was all he said as he closed his eyes.

She looked at him, surprised. Her curiosity was piqued. She had thoughts of waiting till her mate was asleep and then taking inventory of his... body parts. She waited about fifteen minutes for him to doze off. She turned over in bed as silently as possible and attempted to peek.

“Rainbow. What the fuck are you doing?” Bromley questioned. That voice.. He hadn’t talked like that since she had first met him. It was terrifying, and it made her squirm her way to her side of the bed.

“I’m sorry. I was just wondering what it looked like. I’ve never seen...” He cut her off, his tone changing from dangerous to irritated.

“Can we wait a little longer before we do something like that?” One eye shot open, and the piercing gleam chilled her to the bone. Her mouth betrayed her in a hurry though.

“Applejack saw Evan’s!” She almost attempted to stuff her hoofs into her mouth, but thankfully Bromley just sighed and calmly reached for her and pulled her to his chest. Once again that strange feeling of safety seeped through her, and he began talking in that calm tone that relaxed her so well again.

“It was probably an accident. Why else would she go running off like that?”

“Because she was... Actually I don’t want to explain pony anatomy right now.” Rainbow Dash said obstinately.

“Come on. All of you have probably learned anatomy from us tonight. What’s stopping you from being fair?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t argue with that.

“Okay so ponies express... Excitement differently for different ponies. Pegasuses wings stick straight out, unicorns start sparkling, and earth ponies’ tails stick straight up.”

“Mkay... Dashie.” Bromley said. Rainbow Dash’s wings stuck straight out and she started blushing.

“Hey!” she shouted, her voice quivering. Bromley ignored the thrill that came from that little quiver

“What? Does the name Dashie,” her wings twitched rapidly, “make you happy?”

“Ugh!” She tried to kick him in the stomach, though wisely his hand deflected it. Irritated, she tried to fly away, but her wings wouldn’t flap right, as Bromley kept repeating “Dashie” over and over.

“You know what!?” She shouted, turning around angrily.

“What?” Bromley said, laughing. She stood there for a moment, wondering what, in fact, “what” was. She stood straight up again and stuck her tongue out at him, then trotted away. Fluttershy started giggling behind Bromley. He turned around, surprised.

“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh.” she said shyly, backing up.

“Oh it’s fine. Ey’ Nate.” Bromley said,

“Been a lot of drama with you too? It seems like everyone’s goin’ nuts. Twilight ‘n’ Josh are out on a walk with Pinkie ‘n’ Keenan. I say them in pairs for a reason, Bromley.” Applejack said.

“We’re dating ponies! There’s going to be drama.”

“What’s wrong with ponies?” asked an inquisitive Twilight.

“Nothing,” answered Nate quickly so as to not offend anyone, “We are just used dating people and we all think it’s kinda.... weird to date ponies.” Fluttershy began to cry and ran away. Nate ran after her, apologising profusely. Bromley sighed and stood up to find his flustered Rainbow Dash, while Twilight seemed to go off to talk to Josh. Rarity looked on in jealousy. She was the most fabulous pony. Why didn’t anybody want her? She stepped into her room and began pacing. She gave the wall a furious strike with her hind legs. She heard a few cracks and turned in fear, eyes widening as massive cracks spread over the red rock.

Bromley was near his room, when he suddenly heard an ominous noise. To others, it would mean nothing. Perhaps they would think they had stepped on a pebble, or that it really was nothing. But no, a crack was extremely off key in this building, as Rarity furiously made sure there was as little dust and excess rubble inside as possible. That noise was probably worse then the sound of dead flesh sliding across the ground towards them. He turned, and rushed down the hallway in the direction the noise sounded from.

A few splinters fell from the ceiling. The next few moments felt as though they were in slow motion for Rarity the unicorn. She heard a sickening crack, as the ceiling began collapsing. Her magic ceased to function, and her horn gave a few sputters of sparks. Seeing that attempting to stop the impeding damage was futile, she took off for the door, but it wouldn’t save her. The red material first hit her back, splitting her spine nicely in two and rendering her paralyzed. Her mouth shot open in a quiet scream of agony, as her nerves despite being severed, shot into agonizing pain. She heard someone else scream, and through hazy visions she saw the purple form of Twilight.

“Rarity! P-please just stay put, I-I’ll try to move you out.” Twilight began to lift bits of ceiling off of the elegant but bloody pony, but only caused worse damage. More support beams scissored over Rarity, leaving huge gashes in her sides. She wailed at each one, leaving Twilight’s ears burning. Twilight screamed louder for Rarity to hang in there, but her brain was ceasing to function at the sight of so much blood. The bleeding that came from the swinging objects made the more burgundy material turn a brighter red. Twilight began to walk into the room, but she was pulled away by two large men, just in time. The main support over her room finally fell, a deafening thud and cringe-worthy crunching being the last sounds before dead silence. The other ponies, who were previously content in their rooms felt a chill wash over the establishment. Nate stopped his search for Fluttershy, eyes narrowing while he turned in concern. Evan even leaped out of bed and threw on his shirt. This event would not soon be forgotten.

A/N Mr. Fail: Hello Internet :D! For the record, I still feel guilty about this *sad face*. Mainly because of S2E5. Anyways, we are officially going by... Dunder Shux Studios! I love that name! It makes my wings extend beyond belief! And they make a “pomf” sound! Like, seriously! Anyways, You will understand what it comes from later on. I promise. Unless you don’t. Then I don’t promise. ALSO! I suck major balls at computer art *sad face* You guys are capable of better! I’m sure! So please send some art, I would be your friend FORRREEEEVERRRR. That’s a pinkie promise (The whole hope of flight and eye-cupcakes bit included)! Love you guys!

A/N IntelligentScribbles: You guys... get high, (Don’t or I will murder your loved ones with your left testicle and 17 rolls of duct tape. Your family name will no longer exist. I will rip any remembrance of your whole family tree out of existence. I will burn down as many libraries as it takes to erase you from history) live life, and find bright pink animals on a desolate red planet with six ponies. Kill one and have a great time writing a story. With us! This is seriously fun. Also gives you that nice feeling of commitment that most of us search for. We need artists, editors, and people with musical talent. And don’t think we’re making a big deal out of this. This is a studio, not an overhyped FanFic about ponies. Granted, this is our first story, but I alone have other several other stories I’m working on. Cmon people! Join us! I got weed! And you know that first rule! (Remember drugs are for retards. Unless you know... you need them to like keep living...)