Centaur Stage CHP 1: An unexpected guest {Sanders Sides Fanfiction}

A/N This fic is a fanmade crossover of Centaur Sides by Annadekiller, and (semi) canon versions of Thomas and the sides. If you have read Centaur sides (unlikely lol), this starts off after the Fair but before Vidcon. I have basically no update schedule, and I have absolutely no guarantees I will finish this. Oh and yes, I did ask Anna permission if i could use her AU. 

Roman woke up gradually. His mind slowly pulled itself to the edge of wakefulness as his senses returned one by one. He could feel Remus’s flank pressed up against his own and assumed he was still sleeping. He wouldn’t be this still if he were awake. Roman almost always woke up before Remus, but on the off chance he didn’t, Remus would always wake Roman up. He was pretty sure that his twin did it intentionally. No one moved that much when getting up normally.

The heaviness of his limbs faded and Roman began the process of carefully disentangling himself from his brother. He unhooked their arms, which only caused Remus’s eyes to briefly flutter open and give him a slightly accusatory look that ended when Roman tossed their shared blanket over his shoulders. Then Roman stood. Both his upper and lower spines popped. The morning air was cold, damp, and lingering. Normally the barn would be heated, but the power and cell signal had gone out two days ago because of the thunderstorm. He stepped off the large mattress, trying not to jostle it too much.

Remus would probably wake up soon now that he had left. Probably he would be awake by the time Patton made breakfast at least. Roman trotted over to his stall’s door and slipped out into the main corridor of the barn. Patton was, unsurprisingly, already awake. He was sitting on one of the beanbags around the currently out of commission communal TV while reading. The pony glanced up from his magazine and gave Roman a small wave. Roman returned it and continued to move toward the barn’s exit.

Roman had made it a habit to pick up Thomas from his house and bring him to the barn in the mornings. Although sometimes he would forget, usually because of Remus. Besides, it was healthy to go for a walk every once in a while. Though not today, it had been over a year since the last big rainy season, and while it was nowhere near as bad as last year, Roman didn’t want to leave his friend to walk across the muddy field with those frail human legs of his.

He left the barn and began to quickly cross the field between the barn and the house. The sky was a dull gray, clouds hanging low after hours of steady rain, the ground soft beneath his hooves. A faint rumble rolled somewhere in the distance. He pushed more power into his stride until he was sprinting across the soaked earth, water flying in his wake. He felt his hearts begin to beat harder. He was nowhere near strained by such a small distance, even with the unfavorable weather conditions, and could keep running for ages at this speed, but he felt his muscles activate and shake off the stiffness that had crept in while he slept. Roman was sure that even if Thomas hadn’t sprained his ankle months ago and started this whole thing, he would have started going for morning runs without the others anyway.

It didn’t take him long to arrive at the house, and unlike usual, when Thomas would wait for Roman to arrive before stepping out of the house, his human friend was lying facedown on the porch. Roman’s tail twitched.

“Thomas?” Roman asked, a knot forming in his chest.

The human didn’t respond. Roman ran up to the porch and hesitantly placed a hoof on the front step. It creaked under his weight. He knew Patton had gone into the house before, but he wasn’t a pony, and he certainly didn’t like the idea of being stuck in a wheelchair for a second time. He glanced at Thomas again and carefully stepped onto the porch. The wood complained under his weight, but it held.

Roman crouched down beside Thomas. He was covered in mud, and there was an eerie feeling of wrongness when Roman looked at him that he couldn’t quite place. In his left hand he was clutching a long black stick of some kind. Roman carefully lowered himself into a sitting position and carefully moved Thomas onto his back.

The human didn’t react. The black stick, which Roman now recognized as a cane, fell out of his hand and rolled across the porch. Thomas looked wrong. His hair was too short, he was too old, and his ears were pierced.

Roman’s eyes widened as he realized that the human in front of him was not his friend. He stood up somewhat shakily, the porch complaining with every movement. He took a breath and then decided what to do. Roman banged on Thomas’s door and shouted his name.

He wished that the phones were working. Roman could hear several thumps coming from inside the house before Thomas swung the door open.

“Thomas!” Roman said again.

The human gave him a wide-eyed, half-asleep stare, carrying his toothbrush in one hand and holding the door open with the other.

“Roman?” Thomas asked.

The centaur stepped back to reveal the sleeping man and gestured at him. “There is a guy here.”

Thomas instantly seemed more awake. He crouched next to the other human and checked his pulse, then placed two fingers under his nose. “He’s breathing and has a steady pulse, though it’s weird he isn’t shivering.”

“Thomas, what do we do?” Roman asked.

Thomas seemed to think for a moment, then said, “I’m going to put him on the couch and cover him with some towels and blankets. We need to call...” He paused, remembering the lack of signal. “I’ll drive into town and...”

Roman interrupted him. “You said it isn’t safe to drive.”

“It’s not, but...” Thomas looked at the man. “Okay, we’ll figure that out later. I’m going to bring him inside, but can you get Patton? I don’t want to be alone with him if he turns out to be an axe murderer or something.”

“Yeah,” Roman said while carefully stepping off the porch. He glanced back at Thomas to see the human hooking his arms under the man’s shoulders and literally dragging him into the house. The centaur turned toward the barn and began to run as fast as he could toward it.