My Little Pony: The Portal

Chapter 6: News

"I must say, Alex, darling, if I'm speaking honestly, some parts of this place look actually quite lovely. Other areas could use some improvements though." Rarity surmised her thoughts.

"No arguments with that," Alex said with a nod. "But, overall, how're you liking it here?" He asked, sitting back on his couch.

"Overall, it's been nice. Thank you for going through such great lengths to help us." Rarity said with a big smile, sitting not far from him in a set of his pajamas that he'd let her borrow.

"Don't mention it." Alex said, glancing her way with a quick, small smile before going back to typing on his phone.

At that moment, Rainbow Dash came out after changing into another one of Alex's shirts, which fit big on her, and gym shorts for her pajamas. Fluttershy was still in the shower.

"I'm feeling hungry. You got any food in here?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking through the pantry. Rarity huffed a bit at Rainbow's rudeness, but Alex seemed to show no outward reaction to it.

"Unfortunately, I don't have anything prepared. There's a Wendy's down the road though. We can grab a quick bite for everyone." Alex suggested.

"Yeah, sure. We can do that." Rainbow Dash agreed, grabbing a pair of sandals.

"We'll be back soon." Alex said, getting up. He grabbed an umbrella on their way out, and locked the door behind them.

"So how far is Wendy's restaurant?" Rainbow Dash asked, apparently referring to 'Wendy' as the supposed owner of the restaurant.

"That's it right there," Alex pointed down and across the street to a cube-shaped brick restaurant. "Not far." He said as they began to walk.

"Cool. What do they got there?"

"Burgers and salads and shakes, mainly." Alex answered with a shrug.

"What kind of burgers?"

"Hamburgers...?"

"Hamburgers...?" Rainbow Dash slowly repeated. "Never heard of them. Where do they come from?"

"They're meat."

"Meat...?" She repeated again, growing a little pale.

"Yeah. Cow." Alex nodded nonchalantly.

"Um, we'll go with the salads." Rainbow Dash said.

"You don't eat meat?"

"No." Rainbow Dash answered in no uncertain terms very quickly.

"Gotcha. That's cool. I do." Alex said. Rainbow Dash said nothing.

There was some awkward silence between them.

"Looks like it's gonna rain again tonight." Alex observed. Rainbow Dash looked up curiously.

"Is it scheduled to?" She asked.

"The forecast said there's like a 40% chance of rain, but you never really know."

"You don't know what the weather's gonna be like?! Who's in charge of it?" She questioned. Alex blinked slowly.

"No one...?"

"But-but then, like, how do things stay in order?"

"They...just do?" Alex tried, really not understanding what Rainbow Dash was getting at.

"That's crazy!" She exclaimed.

"Um, it doesn't happen any other way." He said with a cough.

"Not where we're from." She shook her head. Alex quickly turned around and stopped.