MLP: Divergent Days Ch. 4

Chapter 4

The sound of galloping hooves was heard down the road to Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight, the pony galloping, struggled to keep up with Fluttershy who was flying overhead. Fluttershy insisted, but didn't force upon, that they hurried as fast as possible to reach the injured creature. Twilight was panting at this point, and in desperate need to rest she stopped for a moment to catch her breath. The farm house was within sight as the two mares saw Applejack on the porch waving her hoof, trying to gain their attentions.

Still struggling to keep her breath, Twilight looked up to Fluttershy, "Maybe this is serious after all."

"Oh dear, I hope the poor little creature is alright," Fluttershy said, zooming ahead of Twilight.

If Fluttershy was getting tired from this jot, she wasn't showing it. The yellow Pegasus kept herself focused on the task at hoof: tending to the injured creature. Twilight galloped to catch up with Fluttershy; even with pacing herself it's hard to keep up with a flying Pegasus on hoof. Both ponies marched up to Applejack and greet her on the porch. As they said their quick hellos, Macintosh walked out from the house and stopped for a moment; a polite smile slowly formed on his face. Fluttershy, nervous around the large stallion (or any stallion for that matter), looked away shyly as Mac continued walking.

Slightly distracted by the mare, Macintosh spoke to his sister, "Uuuh, ah'm gonna go see if ah can get that thing off our tree, ok AJ?" Mac said as he steps off the porch.

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

Fluttershy looked up 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 ok? Jus' b'tween 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. Its 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. Its 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 a good foot. Fluttershy also peaked her head around the door, and just as quickly darted back.

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

"Ah was hopin' ya'll wou'd 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 more.

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 be, ah'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", or Kurt, 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 curiously.

"We've no clue. Accordin' to Dash it jus' appeared 'n crashed its carriage thingie into one 'o our trees," Applejack said, then her ears shot up, "Speaking 'o 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, noticing Dash's concentration.

"Yea, I'm just keeping a 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 medial 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.

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

"Aw, ah'm sure it t'was just cause 'o the accid'nt. 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. Ok, here we-" Fluttershy started, as she dabbed the cotton swab of peroxide onto the creatures 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 he could make out most things around himself. He was somehow in a bedroom, a small one for that matter. Kurt tried to regain his thoughts, as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"Ok, where am I? All I remember is driving, then BOOM. Then waking up crashed into a tree, then... ponies?" Kurt rubbed his forehead, "Oh man my head is killing me. I must have been delusional," Kurt continued to ramble on as he shook his head, "And whats with this bed, its like a kids bed. Wait, how did I get in a bed?"

Kurt looked around the room. Most everything 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 is hiding behind it, "Hello? Is someone there?"

From behind the dresser, something started to walk out. It was short and... purple? Kurt had to double take what he was seeing. A purple pony... with a horn. Its mane was a darker blue 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 a Playcolt magazine 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, its 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 a 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 as she sits 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.

"Ah 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, "Its waking up," Fluttershy added quietly before she crawled back under the bed.

Mac's eyes widened. He's not too thrilled with having a mare under his bed, especially Fluttershy. 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. From looking at his face you could see many emotions: fear, curiosity, confusion. All were plastered on his face like bright red stamps. 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 its focus to Twilight and watched her as she talks, "...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 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.

"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.

"Yea, you could say that," Kurt said as he rubbed his face once more. He felt the bandage on his forehead and looked back to Twilight curiously, "Who fixed me up?"

Twilight's eyes brightened up, hoping to get Kurt to communicate further, "Oh, Fluttershy did. She takes care of all the animals around here."

Kurt looked over to the yellow Pegasus. He's not one to be so "kind" to another person immediately, but she did bandage his wounds; putting on a smile he extended his right arm towards her. At first she's hesitant, but Kurt took her right hoof anyway and shook it.

"Well, I guess I must say thank you then," Kurt kept his smile, and let go of Fluttershy's hoof.

Applejack is surprised by Kurt's greeting, and not wanting to leave a hoof (or hand) unshook, she stepped forward and extended her hoof towards him. Kurt was not so sure at first, the orange pony coming onto him so quickly, but Applejack shoved her hoof into his hand anyway and shook it.

"Its good ta know where ever 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 hard wood 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, placing his wallet back into his pants pocket.

"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.

"Oh," Kurt felt slightly ashamed for how he's been acting. These ponies have been far too kind to him already, and all they have asked for is his name so far. He tried to keep his cool as he cleared his throat, "Yes, that is my name. You can just call me Kurt though."

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

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

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 might 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, a town anyway; 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 Blazer 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 steps forward. "Ya need ta rest some more."

"Whats 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 to good to let pass by.

"Its my automobile."

"Your what?"

"My..." Kurt looked at the pony; she's got a confused look on her face. Realizing he's 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, "Its 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. 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, spoke for her group of friends, "Well, we were hoping you would shed some light on that."

"Nope. I've got not the slightest clue. I was driving to go have some dinner when suddenly there was this bright light. Then, I woke up crashed into the 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.

"Yea, 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 as he attempts 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 to be ok to walk around?" Twilight asked the yellow pegasus.

Fluttershy braved a look at Kurt; feeling threatened by the tall creature standing before her. Giving the human a quick look over, she shrugged. He seemed to look ok, but with no knowledge on his species she couldn't know for sure.

"I, suppose," Fluttershy said quietly, trying to not make eye contact with Kurt.

"Eeyup. If he can stand, he be a'right," Mac quickly agreed, giving Fluttershy a smile. The Pegasus didn't even notice as she looked to the ground.

"Alright then." Kurt said as he was first to leave the room, walking by all the ponies. He marched out proudly trying to show he could in deed move around.

"Um, do ya know where yer goin' there sugarcube?" Applejack asked trotting behind Kurt.

Exiting the room, Kurt made it to the top of the stairs and looked down, placing his hands at his hips and boasting his chest out as he spoke, "Not a clue. But I'm sure I'll-" Kurt started to say as he took a step onto the top stair.

"Wait, make sure yer careful on the-" Mac called out from the room.

Alas it was too late; Kurt made the first step and tripped on a warped stair. He immediately began to tumble down; "oofs" and "owch's" following his tumble. After what felt like an eternity, Kurt finally stopped at the bottom of the stairs. His body looked like a tangle mess, limbs intertwined in unnatural ways. The ponies all rushed down to check on Kurt, fearing he was more seriously injured after the tumble compared to his accident.

"Well that was fun," Kurt said as he laid on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"Kurt, ya a'right?" Applejack asked, the first pony down the stairs.

Applejack's face and cowboy hat came into Kurt's view as he laid on the cold floor, "I think so," Kurt looked to Applejack staring down at him, "You were a pony before I fell right?"

Applejack smiled as Fluttershy quickly joined and looked Kurt over. She nodded her head and looked back to Kurt, "You appear to be fine. Hows your head?"

"Well, I probably landed on it, but not much different than before really." Kurt said, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up.

"Ok, so we gonna go try un get yer automa-thingy unstuck?" Mac asked, walking by.

"Yes, that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Kurt agreed. The sooner he freed his beloved Blazer, the sooner he could get the hell out of this place.

Kurt stood, regaining his once again lost balance, and followed behind Mac to the door. Macintosh opened it first, and held it open for the mares to exit. He watched as each one trotted out, but not Kurt. Mac let go of the door, and noticed it stay open. He looked behind to see Kurt holding the door open from higher up.

"Its alright, I got it," Kurt said, smiling. Though he was uncomfortable around these strange ponies, he still had his manners.

Macintosh nodded, and exited the house. Closely behind Mac, Kurt followed onto the porch and into the near blinding daylight.