Sidetracked

by flamevulture17

8. Awakening

It just wasn't his day. Not if you count the many things that haven't yet gone wrong that surely could. Felix was up to his neck in dust and many thoughts filled with all the swear words he could fit into a single sentence. Though he was fortunate to have Max with him to keep him in check. The way he embarrassed himself by exploding with rage over nothing in front of his only friends really started to grind into him. The shame alone could serve as the final straw that could bring him to his knees.

Speaking of which, Felix was on his knees, but not for the reason stated above. The dead tire was heavy enough as it was, now the last thing that needed to be done was pop in the spare and then take a vacation on the beach. But let's be real, we all know that ain't gonna happen now.

Felix paused. Vacation turned into a nightmare in less than a day. Usually he reserved his opinion of significant time off and fun, but this is definitely that one exception.

Max accepted his fate and remained composed, trying to make the best of their predicament. He didn't like any better than his friend. Handing Felix the spare tire, the man took a quick breather before collecting the half rusted lug nuts that took less time to remove than he thought. In fact, this whole repair process was simple.

But the pounding beat in his chest sure didn't decline, what with the sea of eyes watch him and his friend work on the most human thing he's ever done.

“Bolts,” Felix said, keeping his eye trained on the tire.

“Here.” Max handed him the screws and waited for him to put them into place. Every now and then he would stale a couple of glances at the mini horses, some of which were talking quite suspiciously. Only one of the newest arrivals seemed to grow disinterested to the point of walking away with her head held high.

Felix tapped Max's knee, the latter of which snapped out of his quiet observation of the ponies behind the background clinks and cranks of the tire being secured into place.

“Jack.” Once Felix finished tightening the last nut, he handed the wrench to Max. “Careful. Don't cut your other hand.”

Max's mild wound continued trickle some drops of blood as he put pressure on his right, lowering the jack slower than his first mistake of cranking it too fast. That did not bother him in the slightest. Perhaps a show of might, or even ego, but why should he care what the ponies think of him? They're pretty rude and violent, but strangely reserved.

Once the car was safely secure on the ground, Max let the wrench fall on the dirt while stretching his back. It took both him and Felix a moment of rest to melt away the cold tension and numb blood circulation to their legs.

“What are we going to do about this piece of junk?” Max grunted, putting his back against the fender and kicking the destroyed tire rotting a few feet away.

Felix scratched his head. “I don't know, man. Probably cost less to donate it than to throw it away.”

Max grinned, but only a little. “Just donate it to a landfill.”

“Funny guy.” The followup response was a knuckle to Max's shoulder. “But seriously, no.”

The two sat there in silence, naturally ignoring the others that would leave them alone. They had given up that thought when their curiosity and guard maintained in full with the pink one jumping all over the place. Hell, they had to turn down the offer from Pinkie when she tried handing them baked treats, but even a 'no thanks' didn't seem to help.

It's been five minutes since she set a plate of cookies by their feet, before that was a tray of muffins, and even before that was an entire cake overflowing with frosting. At least that one was reasonable, neither wanted to taste her surprises, especially when the top looked like it could explode at any moment.

Max leaned closer to his buddy and lowered his voice above a whisper.

“You seem a little more... calm... than you were before.”

“I got to work my hands, for a good cause at least. After that shit I pulled? Fuck me, man. Good thing we can leave as soon as they get back.”

“Was it them or was it me?”

“How do you mean? Like when I lost my shit or you stepping in to stop me wrecking shit?”

“When you lost your-”

“Oh okay it was definitely them.”

“Hm.”

Another pause.

“So what is it you do for a living exactly?” Max asked with a loose breath.

“I sell pot.”

“I know that already. But that's not exactly legal in Oregon.”

“No, it's only legal to grow it there. I just hitch up north to sell it to people. Why do you think I many frequent visits to Seattle.”
“Oh.”

Many new thoughts were freshly churning in Max's head. That certainly cleared things up. Maybe it wasn't the best time to argue that kind of life, but he asked for one reason and one reason only.

Max continued with a cough. “So, uh, is that why you carry a gun around?”

Felix nodded. “Why wouldn't I? Everyone does. Can't just have some asshole mug you without having a way to fight back. I hardly use it though. By the way, sorry for pulling it out on you earlier, I'm going fucking mental on this place. And still am, to a degree.”

Max looked off into the distance for a second, then up to the apples on the tree that lay waste to their long journey. Like it really even mattered after that point, he had a feeling the trip wasn't going to go as perfectly planned as hoped. He really wanted it to, but nothing can ever be.

He'd ask his friends later if they even want to California anymore.

“You and me both,” Max finally said, having no issue with the gun episode anymore. The drugs weren't his concern either.

“I'll just let you know that I've been having a lot trouble being less like my parents. Candy is the only one, besides you guys, that I can really count on to give me a second chance. She's the only one who knows, and will ever know.”

Max knew what his friend meant. Although they had known each other for some time now, it won't be right to know something about Felix that he shouldn't. It's not about keeping a secret, it's about getting rid of the old to make way for the new. He nodded and tugged on Felix's shirt.

“Speaking of which, here they come.”

Max pointed off to the side where they both saw their missing friends slowly make their way up behind them, trailed by three other ponies.

The men quickly shuffled to their feet and brushed off the dirt that glued to their pants. They noticed the limp in Ben's stride, rushing to his side. Max walked opposite of Candy to help be the second brace for Ben's left side, grabbing his arm and mimicking his movements.

“How bad is it?” Felix asked both of them, walking backwards.

“Well I'm alive,” Ben said. “Could have been worse, like brain damage for crazy people.” His tone reeked of implication, and Candy knew it.

“He'll have to see a real doctor eventually,” she stated after rolling her eyes. “How's the car doing?”

“Busted ignition.” Candy huffed, but Felix wasn't done. “But at least we have a new tire.”

Candy dropped her head in solid defeat from her own doubt, but considering Felix was willing to pull through for her, she wasn't entirely surprised. Besides, he had physical help and moral support from Max, all they needed was to start a business together.

They finally reach the car. They carefully set Ben down in the backseat, making sure no sharp objects where near his legs.

“Where's my helmet?” said Ben.

Felix had completely forgot about that little detail after putting the rest of the stuff back in the car after taking out the spare. He looked around the immediate area of the car and the last place he saw it, but found it somewhere worse.

“Hey!” he yelled, getting the attention of the ponies. He was looking directly at the children, particularly the orange and purple one with those tiny wings who was wearing Ben's blue helmet. He knew because it had a noticeable silver scrape on the side.. He stomped over to the filly as she stumbled back nervously along with her friends, but no without being stopped by Applejack and Big Mac.

Felix suddenly retreated a step and put his hands up. “Whoa guys, easy, that kid stole my friend's helmet. We'd like it back.”

The sibling pair looked at each other and then at Scootaloo. Big Mac kept his guard while Applejack went to retrieve the helmet, saying a few words to Scootaloo whose eyes looked down in sadness. Applejack trotted over and handed the helmet over without a word.

“Thanks.” Felix said, his anger subsiding. He walked back to the car to give the helmet back to Ben

Twilight walked up to her friends.

“Hey Applejack, why don't you take the girls back to school,” she whispered. “I'll stay with Macintosh and Rainbow Dash to this sorted out without any more trouble, okay.”

“Sure, sugarcube.” Applejack then addressed the Crusaders. “C'mon girls, let get ya'll back to the schoolhouse.” A collective 'aw' was their only protect before being led away.

Twilight swore Pinkie was present earlier, but she may have gotten bored and left. But she isn't one to pass up something like this, usually she wouldn't give up until everypony got a welcome party to Ponyville, no matter what.

The humans were now doing something to the car. It sounded like a machine being revved up, but they humans seemed frustrated about it. Twilight was sure the vehicle was crippled, but she noticed they took care of one of the damaged wheels. She didn't quite know how they worked back in the mirror world, only getting as far as ridding in one only once. But those where different.

Candy's friends acted in defeat as the one sitting in the drivers seat got out to talk to the other human who had inspected the front of the carriage. She still didn't know their names.

So she decided to ask.

“Hello humans,” she squeaked as she stepped closer in their direction. The two men stopped talking and looked at her with neutral expressions.

“What do you want?” said the driver.

Twilight cleared her throat. “I didn't quite catch your names.”

They said nothing. They just stared at her, thinking about something. When they didn't respond, going back to their private conversations, she became irritated.

“Excuse me, it is rude to not answer to a princess,” Twilight stated, leaning in to give them something resembling

“Oh I'm sorry, what did you say your name was again?” the taller one croaked with a hint of hostility.

“Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Friendship.”

The man laughed. His friend look a little wary before snickering as well.

“What's so funny?” Twilight uttered angrily.

“It doesn't matter who you are, princess. We'd rather you stay out of this.”

The alicorn immediately activated her horn and pulled the grown man from his jacket collar towards her, shooting him the most disappointed stink eye since the Starlight Glimmer debacle.

“I'm not going to ask you again,” she growled mildly. “You human's are not making my day any better.” She released her magic, letting him go while he stumbled backwards. The other man caught him.

“Hey! What gives!” he stammered, clearly afraid by what just happened.

“What was that for?” the driver said.

Twilight had a moment of regret before pushing that aside, this was not like all those other times trying to make friends, or at least fix broken friendships.

“It would benefit me if I knew your names and why you're here.” Her voice was reserved while she gestured a hoof at them. “I know you do not belong in this world, I could help figure out what it is brought you here and hopefully send you back. Don't be frightened by my position as a princess, I have the power to get you where you want to be.”

Somehow this helped calm them a bit, but they still had their doubts.

“Just read our mind why dontcha.” the driver suggested, only half kidding. “Or you can just arrest us now and get it over with it.”

“There will be no need for that,” spoke another voice behind the humans. They flinched and snapped a fast one-eighty. Another pony, this one light tan and purple-pink curls for a mane, stood right next to the passenger door.

“Bon bon?” Twilight titled her head in confusion.

“Who are you?” Felix asked.

“I am the one you should be talking to,” the pony answered. “And the name is Agent Sweetie Drops.”

“Huh?”

Bon-bon looked at Twilight. “Thank you for your effort, Princess Twilight, but I believe it is a matter of great importance that I speak to them alone.”

Twilight frowned, but gave in to the request. She retreated just out of earshot with the others, but kept an eye on them.

Bon-bon turned her attention back on the humans. “Can I ask for your names?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“So which is it?” she said with a stoic face.

“What do you want first?” Felix demanded with a normal tone.

“I am here to help you return to your world. You have been unjustly led into Equestria by weird magic, I know this because you are not the first humans to wander into Ponyville. There is a way to return you back to your world, I only ask for you names for the record.”

There was a quick silence before the female human spoke up.

“My name is Candy Hart,” she said. “These are my friends, Felix Maier, Max Weston, and in the car Ben Watkins.”

Bon-bon nodded. “Thank you. Do any of you know why you are here?”

“Fuckin' hell, that's wha- OW” Felix jumped as Max flicked him upside the head to shut him up.

“Stop talking, you're making everything worse.” Felix huffed and crossed his arms, getting in the car and sitting in the passenger seat. “To answer your question, honestly, we don't know. I'm the first one to notice that something was wrong after I took a wrong turn. That's all I know.”

“And where on your planet did you come from?” Bon-bon asked, fidgeting with something in her ear.

“Oregon,” Max said. “Well, there's where we got lost before coming here.”

“Noted.” Bon-bon lifted to talk to her foreleg as if she was talking into an invisible watch on her wrist. “Agent to control, I have a Class B phenomenon, Code 4. Requesting coordinates for return to sender package on my location, dimension ten.”

Max and Candy watched as the seemingly innocent and cute pony radio in a message to what they assumed to be their version of a secret organization like the Men in Black. Felix was hardly paying attention, but stole a hopeful glance at the Earth pony. Ben was asleep in his seat next to him.

“What does that mean?” Max questioned.

“It mean's you're going home,” the pony said. “I advise you to-”

“Bonnie!” Bon-bon froze, eyes widening behind her sunglasses. Lyra's voice was the last thing she wanted interrupting her. She found her marefriend trotting up to the with a surprised look on her face. “Bonnie, what are you doing sending these humans away?!”

“Now is not a good time, Lyra. I need you to stay out of this and let me do my job.”

“But-”

“No buts.” Bon-bon did her part to calm her friend down and convince her to join Twilight standing a fair distance away. “This is not like the last time a human came running into Ponyville looking for a friend. These four humans have no idea what is going on and are terribly misplaced from their world.” Bon-bon sighed. “I know you want to want happened to Thomas. He had to return to his world like all the other humans before him. We cannot allow weird magic to go uncorrected. I'm sorry Lyra.”

Bon-bon walked back to the humans.

“As I was saying, I advise you to never speak of your travels here. We wouldn't want a crisis of would be humans getting all worked about coming back to Equestria. And yes, you are not the first one's to come here by accident, and some even wanted to stay, but as part of keeping the natural order between worlds in check, we must send you back.”

Candy and Max very surprised to have all their confusion settled in such a short amount of time. All they needed was for someone to tell them what was going on and perhaps send them back, and someone must be looking our for them. That someone was the invisible organization this pony worked for.

“Are you ready to leave?” said Bon-bon.

“Does the car work?” Candy asked Max. He nodded. “Than I guess we'll be going. But how exactly are we going to get back.”

“I called for a transport portal to be materialized behind your carriage. All you have to do is back up and you'll be back.” Bon-bon smiled fondly after a brief 'thank you' by Candy.

With everyone back in car and ready to go, one last try at the ignition was a make or break moment for Max. He knew it would work, but tried anyways. By some miracle, the car started just fine, as I if it was brand new.

It must be the weirdness of this world. Max smiled as a bright light flashed behind them and a swirling mass of colors transformed into a gateway. On the other side he could see a paved two lane road, one that looked exactly like the one after exiting the freeway the day before.

He set the car in reverse and swiftly drove right through. The portal charged up as the entire car slipped from one world to another, and as soon as they made in through, the portal crackled and imploded without a sound.

The car rolled onto the street and stopped onto the curb. Max exhaled deeply as the relief set in. That happened fast, he thought. Candy returned the sentiment as she smiled with a small laugh. As ridiculous as all that was, perhaps that's exactly what they needed.

Eerie silence filled the car.

The light pouring in from the windows through the trees was a blissful, lacking of any tension and heartache.

The passengers each glanced at each other with looks that could only be described as 'what the fuck just happened?'

Comments

[LittleKhan]

Huh. A little anti-climactic. But still good.

[ConfettiColored]

Hmm. I didn't think it was going to end like that. I think the story benefits from that, however. Doesn't mean I don't want a sequel. Whenever I favorite a story, that means I want a sequel.

[flamevulture17]

7102510 There isn't anything exciting in the story to begin with. Just a handful of blokes getting their act together. That's really all there is to it.

[Schwaboo]

This story is so underrated it deserve more reads