Whisper, Oregon was a small and dreary town which had nearly all color drained from it. Devoid of life, having most houses abandoned and most jobs being fueled by only a few employees working for minimum wage. But in reality, minimum wage was all you needed in Whisper. It had one of the lowest costs of living in the entire United States. The problem with it was that once you enter the town, it's impossible to save up enough money to escape. It was a trap that keeps you there, depressing you more and more as you realize just how lifeless of a place you wandered into.
It was the kind of town where everyone knew everyone and the only thing that you could do for recreation was walk, watch movies at a cheap dollar movie theater, and eat. On rare occasions, we would have some kind of town fair that you notice fewer and fewer people appearing each year. Inevitably the town would be completely empty with naught but one or two people. Eventually everything would be torn down and Whisper would become nothing but large companies that bid for power as the town reanimates like a phoenix from the ashes. The only trouble was that all that actually decided to stay would be trampled by industry.
Alex sat on the corner of a bench, watching the sunset of the day as he relaxed at his usual spot after work. It was in a small park that hardly anyone ever came to, only rarely having one or two people appear briefly, simply using it as a shortcut to get to elsewhere. The trees were old and barren, as were the several old flower patches that only housed grass and dandelions in the modern day. The only grounds keeping done to the forgotten park was the grass being cut with that and only that being finished.
Although he had two roommates, he always felt pretty alone. They were nice enough, but everyone in that house usually stuck to their own business. It was more like a weak, dysfunctional family in which everyone only discussed simple things like 'how was your day?' or 'what all happened at work?'. On an occasion, they would actually go out to dinner, but it was more of a platonic friendship that they only had because it was all they had to do.
"I should head home," Alex sighed softly, brushing his fingers through his soft, brown hair and adjusting the glasses over his blue eyes, "But at the same time, I haven't had a walk in a while."
Alex's life was nothing but work, walking, playing video games, and sleeping. It was just an endless cycle that never seemed to end for him. The only break in this monotony was when decided to rearrange the walking and playing video games, but all in all it was all of the same. His life was monotonous and was slowly wearing away at his sanity; which would inevitably cause him to end his own life. No matter what his parents made him promise...
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He walked down the same, boring streets of the same, boring town during the same, boring sunset. Day in and day out he lived his boring life with not a single change until he noticed a bright green flash as soon as the sun crossed over the horizon. It was something... different. Although it was a small change, seeing something out of the ordinary almost breathed life back into him, causing him to break out into a jog towards the shore with a second wind.
Thud!
He went toppling over, face first into the concrete on the sidewalk, causing him to shout out in pain as he sat up, rubbing the road rash on his cheek painfully, "Well, this is certainly different..." He grumbled as he checked his hand for blood; thankfully there was none, but it doesn't hide the stinging pain in his cheek with tears welling up in his left eye from it.
When he turned back to face what knocked him over, a young girl laid unconscious on the cold ground, causing him to quickly forget about his selfish little wound on his face, "What?! Are you okay?!" He shouted worriedly as he crawled over to her, checking her pulse.
The young girl looked about two years younger than Alex, having long, flat pink hair and soft pale skin. Her outfit was a matching pink skirt with a white tank top and pink zip up hoodie. She seemed to be okay apart from a few scrapes and bruises and a few mats in her hair, but over all being on the cold concrete was the last thing she needed.
"Up we go," He said and pulled her up onto his back, piggy backing her towards his house, "Let's at least get you into a warm bed..."
Alex sighed softly, having a nervous feeling in his gut about this; what if she was a run away or would bring something dangerous to his house? He shook his head back and forth to shake the doubt from his mind; he had to help anyone in need, it was just how he was. He knew exactly what it was like to be abandoned in his time of need and he would never do that to anyone. His roommates would probably want an explanation, but he honestly didn't care, he would just have to talk to them later about it.
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Darkness consumed her as she opened her eyes, sitting up sleepily and rubbing her eyes.
5...
She slowly stretched, letting out a great, big yawn as she tried to shake off her drowsiness.
4...
Her neck popped as she stood up, twisting her back to the left and back to the right, popping it.
3...
She reached for her toes, her hair falling down in front of her face.
2...
She pulled her shirt back down over her tummy, fixing her clothes from her tossing and turning.
1...
She drowsily started walking to the bathroom, closing the door and flipping on the lights.
0...
A scream shattered throughout the house, waking up everyone and everything else within the house. She put her hands on the mirror before touching her face, her hair, her abnormally short muzzle, her lack of a tail, her... whatever was on her hooves. It was so much to take in...
"Are you okay?!" Alex said, barging into the bathroom in surprise, seeing the pink haired girl standing there and looking into the mirror, biting her lip and shaking slightly, as if in fear.
She just stayed silent for a moment before suddenly spinning around, her hair immediately fluffing out into what looked like a tangled mess while she spread her arms out and shouted, "I am wearing such a cute outfit! I mean, look at this adorable skirt!" She shouted while jumping up and down happily as her hair was almost hypnotic with how it bounced with her.
"I... You... You're screaming because your outfit is cute..." He asked, in shock about her outburst. Of all things to be shocked about, why was that it. She woke up in a strange house, in a strange bed, and is in a strange bathroom with a strange man, "Please help me understand how that is the weirdest thing out of all of this."
She paused for a moment before looking Alex in the eyes and letting out an excited yell, "Oh hi there! I don't think I've ever met you before! My name is Pinkie Pie, how about yours?" She said and bounced up and down towards him rather than walking, like if she was spring loaded even.
"U-Uhm... My name is Alex..." He said nervously, taken aback from her hyper energetic personality and generally laid back attitude. She was acting way too happy for someone who was found in the street with several scrape and cuts all over their body.
"Alex? That's a fun name! I've never heard that before," She said with a never ending smile that seems to draw upon some kind of source of perpetual energy.
"What on earth is going on in here?" A sleepy man spoke while rubbing his brown eyes and sweeping his brown hair from his face, "If you're going to have you girlfriend over, please at least tell her to not scream at 2:45 in the morning and wake everybody up."
"Wait, she's not my-" Alex began to speak nervously but was cut off by the pink haired girl.
"Girlfriend? I'm not his girlfriend! Which speaking of, where in Equestria am I?" She spoke, as if just not realizing that she wasn't in a place that she knew.
"Equestria?" The man asked in curiosity, obviously not having any clue about it, "Isn't that some African country?"
"Bryan, I'm pretty sure it's South American," Alex said, just as oblivious to what Pinkie was talking about.
"But don't most South American countries speak Portuguese or Spanish?" Bryan continued to bicker with his roommate about the geographical location of Equestria.
"Don't be silly, she doesn't even have an accent," Alex continued to argue, the pink haired girl just watched as the two argued about something she didn't seem to altogether understand.
"Why are you both being so silly?" She spoke with her ever present smile still on her face, "I was just wondering where I was at."
Bryan nodded, "I would also like to know what exactly is going on here if she is not your girlfriend."
Alex sighed, he was already getting a headache and he's only been awake for about 10 minutes, "Fine, let's just... sit down and let me explain this."
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"And that's how I found her and why I brought Pinkie here," Alex said, after spending about an hour conversing with the two about how Pinkie found her way into their house.
"So... you find a wounded girl in the street and instead of a doctor, you bring her here." Bryan said with a slight laugh at his story.
"I don't even remember how I got into the street!" Pinkie said and poked her tongue out at Bryan, "I guess I just tripped and fell out of Equestria again."
"Again?" Alex said with an unsure look, "This happened before? And what even is Equestria?"
"Oh right, I didn't fall out of Equestria before; it was just me dreaming!" Pinkie spoke and burst out laughing before nodding, "And Equestria is a land of magical ponies that live in harmony and kindness and enjoy cupcakes on a regular basis!"
"..." Both Alex and Bryan just sat there and stared in uncertainty, not even sure of what to say to her. She was something else, that's for sure.
"Which speaking of, I wonder if the girls made it here too? I'm going hunting tomorrow!" She said with a smile before hopping to her feet, "Well, good night everypony!" She said before reaching up and pulling a string from seemingly nowhere, turning the lights off, almost as if it were a cartoon.
Just who exactly is she anyway?
I sighed as I scanned the items in front of me, bored out of my mind due to the events of last night. It wasn't all that often that something different happened in my life; having nothing but monotony and stagnation being my companion. Personally I wondered what exactly Richard would think about Pinkie; he was very awkward when it came to people coming over, and even more awkward towards females. Luckily he works the night shift, so he has yet to actually meet her. In all honesty though, it would be more bearable if he wasn't so obsessed with My Little Pony.
Now, that's not to say that I think 'bronies' are some kind of sexual deviant, it's just his personality about it in general. It's almost as if he is incapable of having fun with anything else. Granted, maybe he and Pinkie would get along; they have something in their personalities that seem... familiar with one another. It's hard to explain and I can't quite put my finger on it though.
I brushed my hair out of my fact and let out a soft sigh, allowing my mind to drift. Today was going by exceptionally slow, most likely due to the change of pace in my life right now. All I wanted to do was just head home, meet up with Pinkie, and see if she was doing any better. Make no mistake though, I don't have any romantic feelings for her, but more of a bizarre curiosity about her. Just who was she? Where was she from? How did she-
"Ehem," An elderly lady freed me from my wandering with a clear of her throat.
"Oh, sorry!" I spoke in apology, quickly scanning her items, "I kind of zoned out there."
She simply let out a kind laugh and nodded, "Oh, I understand my dear; I used to do that all of the time when I worked here 20 years ago. Sure there were more people then, but this job was still enough to put you to sleep."
I gave her a half-hearted chuckle, more just to be polite than out of actual humor. Now that he thought about it, Pinkie Pie really was a strange name for a strange person. Yeah, she was kind, but she definitely had something strange about her. Who am I to question though? I wanted something different in my life and I definitely got someone different, both in personality and name. I was already spaced out again after that elderly woman, being snapped out of it again by a younger teen again.
And so, my work day proceeded like this for all 8 hours of it.
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I found her sitting on a park bench, her hair completely flat like the day I found her. She was curled into a small ball with an uncharacteristically sad expression on her face. It looked like she had a really rough day for some reason. I knew I should have stayed home and made sure she really was okay.
"A frown like that really doesn't suit you, Pinkie," I spoke out to her from behind the bench, giving her a kind smile as she turned around to see who was calling her. She seemed almost disheartened when she saw it was me, as if she was expecting someone else.
"I..." She spoke softly, "Can we go somewhere to talk? I'm not normally like this, but I just feel like I need to talk to somepony."
Somepony? She really does sound like Richard now. I nodded to her though, "I'll gladly be here to talk to, Pinkie. I know just the place too." I continued and held out my hand towards her with another kind smile.
She hesitated for a moment before uncurling herself enough to take my hand, a slight smile forming on her face, "Thank you, Alex." Her voice still seemed down, but at least she was smiling again. Something told me that she was being out of her usual character; that is to say if last night was how she normally acted. First impressions always are the strongest, after all.
I offered her my arm and poked my tongue out at her, just being a bit playful to cheer her up. Well, at least I was trying before I noticed her expression, as if she didn't really understand what I was offering her. Warmth filled my cheeks from her obvious ignorance, no matter how endearing it actually came off as, "Have you never held onto someone's arm, Pinkie?"
"Hold onto an arm?" She spoke, pausing before awkwardly grabbing my arm with her hand, "Like this?"
I laughed softly at her attempt, at least I can't say that she didn't try, "Not quite, Pinkie." My hand guided her arm to wrap around mine, "More like this, silly."
She blankly looked at me before tightening her grip around my arm, smiling widely in spite of her completely flattened hair. We walked down the road, guiding her to my usual hiding spot for when I was upset and just wanted to relax after all of the trouble in my life. It was just my get away that for some unbeknownst reason I was revealing to some girl I had just barely met a day ago. Something about her though made me want to legitimately help her, whether it was just her personality or my own selfish curiosity.
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We sat on the second floor balcony of an old bakery that was abused harshly by time. It was my mother's old store that I inherited the building to, but just never did anything with. I suppose I could have sold it, but the problem is that there is no one in Whisper that even has enough money to buy it for what it's worth, let alone with the sentimental value I have attached to it. She had used to take me to work and let me help her with the delicious cakes that she used to bake. My memories flooded me as we sat in two chairs that faced the setting sun, both just watching it.
"I can't help but wonder, Pinkie. Where exactly are you from? You definitely don't act like you're from Whisper," I asked after a long while, avoiding the problem right now, just trying to cheer her up a little bit.
That question marked the beginning of an unbelievably long conversation that easily lasted for hours on end, until the moon had risen high into the night sky. She told me such unbelievable tales of her home and how apparently she was not even from Earth, let alone Whisper. Pinkie was apparently from a world known as Equestria, and she wasn't even a human back in that world. Apparently she was sent here after some freak accident with something known as the 'Elements of Harmony'. Although she didn't understand the science behind it, she remembered what happened with before she woke up in my house that night in a dark place and not being in her own body.
I really had a hard time believing any of this, but she seemed so sure about it; as if it were true or at least what she believed to be true. Her personality that she had before becoming so upset definitely gave off an almost inhuman vibe about it. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying I particularly believe her, but it's all I have to go off of. Apparently she and her five friends were all caught within the accident as far as she could tell before blacking out, so she thinks that they could all easily be here. That's why she went wandering around the town, more to find them rather than to explore, and truth be told? That explains her being so depressed about not finding them. She could be the only one of her kind here. A person from a world of peace sent to a world with rude, cruel, and emotionally crippled humans; it would be enough to upset anyone.
After she finished explaining, we were at least quiet for another half hour before I finally spoke up, "Pinkie, I've decided something important." I spoke before turning my head towards hers, which to my surprise was met with my eyes meeting two deep blue eyes, silencing me for a moment before I snapped out of it, "I was thinking... I think I'm going to help you look for your friends."
She blinked before shouting happily, "Really?!" Her hair suddenly exploded out into her wannabe afro; joy flooding over her face as she sat up, "I'm so excited now that I can finally see them! Well, maybe not see them, but it'll be so much easier to find them if they're here if I have someone coming along and helping me all day to look for my friends!"
"I-" I started to speak before being cut off by her continued rambling.
"I'm so nervouscited to see them! I want to throw an awesome party for them when we all get back together again!" She squealed, putting her hands to her mouth to cover her ear-to-ear grin that probably is going to get stuck on her face if she keeps it up, "Ooh! Wait, I just realized I haven't thrown you a party yet! I love throwing parties for my friends!" She said before jumping up and bouncing happily in place, "Can we throw a party tonight?! Wait; it is a little late; maybe tomorrow?!"
I was genuinely happy to see life being breathed back into the pink haired girl; upon seeing that, my bluff to help her look for her friends suddenly became truth. I can't believe I realized just how much I actually found myself wanting to help her out. Truth be told, it scared me simply from how different it is from my usual routine; which ironically was what excited me about it. Maybe that's that her word 'nervouscited' meant? In any case, it was definitely what I was feeling.
She seemed genuinely happier being here at the bakery, just like how I used to feel when spending those days here with my mother all of those days ago. I stood up and stretched to get the uncomfortable feeling out of my muscles before I was met with a huge tackle-hug that only caused me to topple back onto the seat, "Gah!"
"Alright Pinkie, we'll have to throw a party tomorrow, I have the day off so we can have a long one too," I spoke with a smile, giving her a light, awkward hug back. Honestly I found myself a little excited for the party too, wanting to actually let loose after a long week at work. I can't forget my promise though, where I have to find her friend's tomorrow, so I'll probably have to throw her the party to cheer her up if it comes up fruitless. It'll definitely be a busy day tomorrow.
I swallowed nervously at realizing if she was this energetic, what if the others were too. I might just end up losing my mind over it; sadly, there is no way to tell until I meet anyone else: If I meet anyone else.