Chapters "Ugh, I probably shouldn't have taken this path."
Grey Mane kept complaining to himself out loud as he walked through a bunch of trees, dirt and grass covering his grey-furred legs. He was unsure of this particular direction he was walking. If that last pony he met was correct, Ponyville should be down this road. Right now, he wasn't too sure.
But honestly, it hadn't even been five minutes since he got the directions. Obviously, he was worrying more than necessary. He stopped and started to consider turning back and taking the longer way to Ponyville. He looked back and forth, scratching his dark grey mane, not sure what to choose.
He hesitantly took a couple steps in the direction he had come from. Then he froze. Should he just go back and go the longer way? Or should he continue down this shortcut he was given? He knew he had not gone that far down the path.
Grey Mane sighed and turned around, making his final decision to continue down the path. He was still worried that he might have made a mistake, but he figured he might as well keep going for a while longer. Then if there is nothing when he gets out of these trees, he will go back and take the main route.
He chuckled. The name of the main route happened to be "Mane Root Road". It was named after a Wonderbolt named Mane Root about fifty years ago. He is retired now, and very old, but he is still alive and still quite mobile for his age. But he cannot fly, anymore, not after that time another in their group tried to dispose of him during a show.
How it had happened was that the Wonderbolts used to perform with flaming torches. The evil dude held one of them. As the torch holders were flying in circles around Mane Root, that stupid moron intentionally burned the famous Pegasus' right wing. All feathers on that wing... gone, and they stayed that way. He fell straight towards Ponyville before he was caught. He had nearly smashed into Granny Smith herself, the one pony who had attracted all the ponies who lived there that day.
Not fully realizing his thoughts were going off the main topic, Grey Mane remembered reading about the history of Ponyville. He had read all about Granny Smith and how her apples, especially her zap apples, had brought a bunch of ponies together to eventually form Ponyville itself. He always wondered what zap apple jam tasted like. It only existed in this particular part of Equestria.
Grey Mane then stopped walking as now realized that he was no longer on the path, but was now on an actual road now. He had gotten so lost in his daydreams about Mane Root and Ponyville that he had not noticed when he left the path.
He looked at his surroundings, paying most attention to what looked like a tower or something of a building which could be seen above the treetops. He took the photo out of his saddlebag that his mother had taken when she last came to Ponyville. It looked just like the roof of town hall. That must be it.
"Ah. Well, that doesn't look too far."
Due to his lack of friends and gain of alone time, the grey pony would often talk to himself a lot, either out loud or in his head. Even when he did talk in his head, he would make gestures with his head and hooves as one would do when talking out loud. But that wasn't all he tended to do.
He would also very often imitate voices of movie characters, hum his own creations of music, and imagine an orchestra playing it in his head. He played the music on his piano too, but that had already been delivered to the house he was staying at.
He was going to live with his aunt and uncle, because his mom and step-dad were having financial problems. They no longer received money from the government for Grey Mane. So he agreed to live with his aunt and uncle. They brought his stuff to their place. He found his own way to get there.
Soon he came across a large field of apple trees. The area was fenced off. The fence was not too high, but just enough to be able to jump over. He could easily slide through the spaces between the horizontal wooden boards.
But still, it could very well be someone else's property.
He had always known better than to step into other ponies' property. He was afraid to anyway. He didn't want any trouble. But he really wanted to snack on one of those apples. He knew that he could take one and most likely, nopony would notice. But he considered that to be stealing. He really hated stealing, like, a lot. He never wanted any part of it.
He looked down at an apple that lay at his feet. It was outside of the fence, yes, but still it was from their trees. He could take this one. Since it is off the tree, it is sure to rot anyway. Would the ponies here mind? He was able to confirm that the trees did belong to someone from the distant sound of grunting and what sounded like a tree being struck. This is indeed someone's land.
He just kicked the apple back under the fence and continued down the road, still listening to the sounds of a mare hard at work.
After a while, the barn came into view. He could see two ponies, one orange and the other red, both of them dragging large buckets full of apple inside the large red barn. The orange pony had a blond mane and tail. Her hair was done up in a ponytail and tied at the end. Her tail was done the same way. Probably to keep both out of the way while she worked. And that hat, it looked like some cowboy hat, he couldn't tell from this distance if it was one of those cowboy hats or something he often saw farmers wear.
He put the hat out of his mind as he saw something even more confusing. What was that thing around the red pony's neck? He hadn't seen anything like that before. Well, it was probably just some farm equipment. Maybe for pulling something?
He then considered walking over and asking for an apple or two. He was starting to get hungry and it is not even supper yet. Apples were his favorite kind of snack to have. But he did not budge from where he stood.
If he asked what would she say? No? If he said so much as a "hello", would she tell him to go away or just ignore him? If anything scared him more than just talking to other ponies, it was their responses. He hardly ever talked to anypony at his previous home because they would either respond by saying to go away, or they would call him mean names, or say other mean stuff to him. He never made a lot of friends During school for those very reasons.
He didn't want to risk it. He decided to eat when he got home. He hurried off as fast as he could go with the weight of the saddlebags slowing down slightly.
In just a few minutes, he finally reached Ponyville. It was bigger than he imagined. But it was certainly a fair bit smaller than his old city. And the buildings here had a lot more color to them than where he was from.
He stayed right up against the wall as continued to look around. The building were also different kinds of shapes, and they were not as aligned as at his old home. Where he lived, the houses all the same boring shapes with the same boring flat surfaces.
Fear started to take hold of him as he took one step further into the town. He especially hoped that the large saddlebags prevented everyone from seeing the one thing he was lacking.
A cutie mark.
How ridiculous is that? He was grown stallion and he still had a blank flank. He must have been the oldest pony in history to not have some stupid symbol marked on his butt, and he was soon to be twenty. He absolutely hated it. He hated the fact that there was nothing special about him. But perhaps he was to blame for that. Why didn't he have a cutie mark for being afraid of everypony? He hardly left his house for anything besides school.
But that wasn't the only secret he was trying to hide from this town. There was something else. Something he didn't plan on telling anypony at all. He would have to keep it covered so that whenever he would peave the house, nopony will make fun of him. If anypony saw, he would surely be made fun of by everyone else.
However this place was marked as the number one friendliest place in Equestria. They were known to have accepted anypony, no matter how different they were. But he felt like the one exception.
He headed towards town hall, staying close to the buildings while everypony else were walking in the middle of the roads. He tried to get to his destination without making any kind of contact with anypony. But he did keep an eye out to make sure that nopony was looking at him. Some did, but only briefly, which he didn’t care that much about. He just didn’t want any staring.
As he walked, a mare not too far from him caught his attention. She had a yellow coat, with a pink main and tail. He could deduce that she was a Pegasus from the wings at her sides. Her eyes were light blue. Her cutie mark was made up of three butterflies with pink wings. She looked at least three or four years older than him. She was carrying a saddlebag on her back and a basket in her mouth, walking towards the shopping stands.
He had to admit, she looked... nice. Not nice as in "pretty" or anything like that. He never thought like that about any girl for years. She looked nice as in friendly, with that smile on her face. But he had learned a lesson from previous times.
The friendly-looking ponies are always hiding a monster. But even though she seemed kind of avoidant of other ponies, he still had his doubts.
He quickly looked away when she started to look in his direction. He nearly bumped into another pony as he stopped walking. Both were equally startled by each other.
"Well, hello, sir. Is there something I can help you with?" she asked kindly.
Grey Mane just stared at the ground. "Um," he began quietly, "yeah. I, uh, need to see the mayor. So..." he trailed off as he started to walk around her and continue towards town hall.
"Well, that's me."
He stopped and gave her a quick glance. She was obviously an Earth pony who looked like she could be in her fifties. Her coat looked like a pale yellow, and her hair was grey with lighter streaks, probably dyed. Her cutie mark was a scroll tied with a blue ribbon. She had blue eyes, a bit of a darker shade than his own. Her glasses had gold-colored frames. She wore some kind of collar or something around her neck, and attached to it was something bluish-green and it looked puffy. He had no idea what those things were called, but he didn’t really care.
He looked back at the ground. “Oh.”
“I’m Mayor Mare.” She held out a hoof towards him.
He backed away slightly, looking at her hoof. “I, um—” He was afraid to shake her hoof. He wasn’t afraid of germs or anything. That was the least of his problems. He was just afraid of touching anypony. This is something he could never explain.
Seeing the look on his face, the mayor felt a bit concerned. “Are you alright?” She placed a hoof on his shoulder.
The second her hoof made contact with him, he jerked to the side as if she had tried to hit him. He stepped away, looking away from her. Tears started to form in his eyes. He never knew how began to fear being touched. It just came with his fear of others.
The mayor is surprised by his reaction. "I'm sorry, sir for making you uncomfortable." Her expression becomes calm smile, still with slight concern as she repeats her earlier question. "Is there something I can help you with?”
Grey Mane looks at her quickly and then back at the ground. He says in a quiet voice, “Yeah, I um, I am moving here, so...” He trailed off again.
“Oh, so you’re that pony from... uh...”
“Red Horse.”
“Yeah. You’re aunt and uncle are not home at the moment, so they gave me a key to give to you. It's in my office.” She walked past him towards town hall. Then she stopped and turned around. “Would you mind telling me your name sir?”
He looks up at her, feeling like he could trust this mare. She seemed caring enough. He managed to speak in a louder, but still quiet voice.
“Grey Mane.”
“I hope you will enjoy your stay here.”
Mayor Mare walked towards town hall as Grey Mane opened the door to his new house. He looked around before stepping inside. There were a couple of round tables against the wall on his right. Before walking in, he grabbed a few envelopes out of the mailbox and placed them onto one of the tables. It was addressed to his uncle. He closed the door and decided to take a little tour around his new house. It is actually his aunt and uncle’s house, but whatever. He is living here too.
He first looked at the living room to his left. There were a couple of chairs sitting in front of a fireplace. The whole floor was carpeted. There was one large window on the wall next to the door. A red curtain covered it, making it a bit dark in the room. There were also a couple tables next to the chairs. There was nothing really too special about this room. It was much like the living rooms of any other house around here.
Grey Mane turned towards the kitchen, which was at the right of the front door. Before entering, he looked at what looked like a hat hanger attached to the wall. It said “Cloud and Lightning”. Those were his aunt and uncle.
His aunt’s full name was Cloud Dasher. She was his mom’s older sister. She ran a store somewhere in the middle of the town that sold and repaired musical instruments. She was good friends with one of her customers named Octavia Melody or something. Cloud’s cutie mark was merely just a flute with music notes next to it.
His uncle was Lightning Flicker. He used to be a weather pony when he was younger. He was one of the weather ponies that usually brought the storm clouds. But after being struck by lightning, He desperately wanted to quit. The only actual reason he was even working there was to get over his fear of thunder storms. But that incident sure didn’t help.
But now, for the past twenty years, he did construction. His cutie mark was a red toolbox. After all these years, he was still afraid of lightning and thunder, but not as much as he used to be. Grey Mane remembered the pictures he had seen of his uncle up high on multiple construction sites.
Then he remembered about his little tour of the house and walked into the kitchen. Of course, there was a stove, oven, counter, and sink, just like any other kitchen. To the right, at the back of the kitchen, there was a closet type thing where they kept food. There was also a narrower part in the closet where the stairs above were.
Then he turned around to face the front wall, where a table sat next to the window. It was oval-shaped and the tablecloth was covered in flower designs. Grey Mane’s great-grandma had made it when she was young.
Seeing the tablecloth, Grey Mane recalled times when he and his family would go to the nursing home in the province of Saskatchewhinny to visit her. He and his brother used to play around with the wheelchairs outside her room. She died at the age of 96. That was five years ago.
Grey Mane remembered the funeral. He remembered the tears that had left him. He had no idea why he had cried. He hardly even knew the old mare. But she was part of the family. Maybe that was why. He didn’t even go to see her after his brother told him that she was dead. He had asked him if he wanted to go see her, and Grey Mane said no. He didn’t want to see her, not because he was sad, but for some reason, he just didn’t want to. Her funeral was the first one he had cried at. But ever since she died, when Grey Mane remembered her, he never felt sad. Instead, he just felt like he usually did every day.
He looked away from the table, memories leaving his thoughts, and looked down to examine the floor. It was made up of tiles with some kind of designs, the kinds that don’t usually make a picture of anything, unless you were to use your imagination to make something of it. It was just lines and swirls at the corner of each tile.
Somehow, he always imagined a funny face on each corner. He just stood there for a minute, picturing the faces, seeing them from different angles. It was so interesting how many faces you could make from the different angles you view the tiles.
He left the kitchen, and turned to the front door on his left. When are they gonna get back? They said they don’t work on weekends, well, except for Lightning.
He looked at the calendar. Yes, it was Saturday. His aunt should have been here. Where was she?
Instantly, he dropped the question, thinking that she might just be running some errands. She did tend to do that when she had no time to do it on the weekdays, which were the days she had to work.
He faced away from the door and walked towards the opposite wall, where the stairs were. He headed up the stairs and heard the sound of something falling and scurrying to the stairs, accompanied by the sound of metal hitting metal. Grey Mane gave a small smile as he looked at the top of the stairs to find a dog standing there eagerly waiting for him to reach the top. He chuckled lightly as he saw the pet’s tail swaying with excitement. It was a white-furred dog, his species mixed with some kind of terrier and a poodle, which he was never able to tell.
“Hey, there, Buddy. How you doing?” He started patting the dog as he reached the top of the stairs. As he headed to where his room was, Buddy started sniffing Grey Mane’s legs and hooves, obviously picking up an unfamiliar smell. Grey Mane turned around and Buddy started sniffing at his front legs. Grey Mane chuckled again and scratched Buddy’s back with one hoof. “You are so weird.” Then in a childlike voice, he said, “You are such a weirdo. I thought I was supposed to be weird.” He chuckles again. “Silly Buddy.”
Grey Mane always did have a different personality at home than anywhere else, He would change the way he acted. He would make several jokes, and say a bunch of nonsensical things for absolutely no reason. He would even call himself weird at times. But he has been doing less and less of that lately.
He let out another laugh as Buddy started spinning around like he was trying to catch his hoof. Then Grey Mane turned back around to the door of his bedroom. He noticed a note stuck to the door. He grabbed it with his mouth and placed it on his hoof, turning towards brighter light to read it.
You are on your own for lunch and supper. Lightning and I have a meeting to go to, and we will be eating there. So we won’t be back until later tonight. We also have to stop at the store to buy some groceries, so there is some money on your desk to go buy something for yourself.
Grey Mane just shrugged. “Okay.” He didn’t mind fending for himself. He often liked to be alone. He opened his door and saw his stuff scattered around the room. He would have to organize the room later today. He saw twelve bits on his desk. That must have been for both lunch and supper. He bucked everything out of his saddlebags and onto the bed, which was the only thing that he didn’t own before moving here. His old bed was thrown out. He put the bits into one of the saddlebags.
“You have to go outside, Buddy?” He walked out of the room as buddy started rushing to the stairs behind him. Grey Mane went downstairs while Buddy stayed at the top of the stairs. When Grey Mane saw this, he tapped on the floor. “Come on.”
Buddy descended the stairs as Grey Mane went to the door leading to the backyard. He had taken care of Buddy before, when his aunt and uncle visited Red Horse. He opened the back door and Buddy ran outside and started sniffing around the yard.
Grey Mane knew there was going to be a price for living here. Not just paying what he was getting from Social Services, but there were chores too. But he was already doing them at his old house. He hated it, but he always did it. But would there be more to do? It was quite likely. It was something he was going to have to get used to.
After all, this is his new home.
Chapter 3: Meeting Ponies
Where am I supposed to get something to eat?
Grey Mane walked through Ponyville with his saddlebags still strapped to his back. He looked around every corner for the food stands he had seen earlier, that the yellow mare he had seen was heading to. He had decided to try one of those apples he had heard about, which had come from Sweet Apple Acres. They were his aunt and uncle’s favorite kind, so he had been eagerly waiting to try one.
But he hasn’t had any luck so far. He didn’t remember where it was from his house. But since he had only been searching for not even ten minutes, he had to keep looking. Meanwhile, he tried to keep clear of any other ponies walking the streets. Once in a while, he checked to make sure no one could see his flank. But then again, they just might find the oversized saddlebags as weird. But that was not his biggest concern.
After about a few more minutes of walking, he finally found where the food stands were. But there was one problem, the same problem he had to face every time he had to go and buy food.
There was a large crowd of ponies.
Grey Mane groaned quietly in frustration at the sight. Would there ever be a place with fewer ponies than this? He has been shopping many times, but the answer always proved to be “no”. But he will have to get used to it.
He walked towards the stands, trying to avoid bumping into anypony. He looked at all the stands for something that he would like to try that wouldn’t cost too much. He saw stands for many different kinds of food. Fruits, vegetables, bread, and even more sugary stuff like cakes and candy. But then he looked farther ahead to see the sign he was looking for, the one that read “Sweet Apple Acres”.
He could already taste them. However, he never had them before, so he didn’t really know what they tasted like. He walked towards the stand, and froze for a split second as he realized who was selling the apples. It was the same orange pony with blond hair from that farm he had seen earlier. Had he walked past Sweet Apple Acres on his way here? Was there a sign that he had missed? If there was, he probably wasn’t paying attention. He continued to make his way to the stand, staring at the ground.
“Well, howdy there,” an enthusiastic voice said as he approached. He jumped a bit when she spoke. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to startle ya there. Would ya like some of our delicious apples?”
Grey Mane looked at the apples. He did indeed, but he was still nervous about answering. He shifted his eyes to the ground and nodded. “Mm-hm.”
The orange pony didn’t really hear his quiet voice, but the nod was a good enough answer. Before, she even asked how many he wanted, she asked, “Are ya new here in Ponyville? Ya plannin’ to live here?”
Grey Mane looked up at her. She smiled as she studied him curiously with her green eyes. He felt a little uncomfortable, dropping his eyes to the dirt again. He nodded.
“Well, then, I surely hope you’ll enjoy your stay. We got some of the nicest ponies in Equestria residin’ in this here town. You’ll love it. And also, in my family, anypony new here, whether they are residents or tourists, deserve free apples from us... but only for the first day, of course.” She was about to take some apples before stopping herself. “Would ya like that?” Grey Mane looked at her. “Five apples for free?”
Grey Mane nodded. “Sure,” he said quietly, but loud enough for her to hear him. She went around the stand and put five apples into one of his saddlebags.
“There ya go, partner, the best apples in Ponyville.” She stepped back and smiled, even though Grey Mane couldn’t see it, because he was afraid to look, though he couldn’t help but give a few quick glances. The orange pony chuckled as she placed her hoof on her face. “Oh, I just downright forgot my manners. My name is Applejack. What’s yours?”
Grey Mane kept his gaze on the ground, staying silent for a moment. He wasn’t sure if he should say it. He opened his mouth a couple times, but nothing came out. Finally, he was able to let his voice out, as well as words. “Grey Mane.”
“Well, it was very nice to meet ya, Grey Mane. And y’know, you don’t have to be so nervous. I won’t bite ya.” She stepped closer, causing the grey pony to move farther away from her. Applejack froze when he did that. He looked at the ground, regretting his move.
“Um, thanks, but I should go now,” he said quietly. That was the first actual sentence he managed to say to her. Then he turned and left. Applejack watched him as he left, afraid that she just scared him off.
Grey Mane started whispering to himself, quietly enough so that he was the only one who could hear. “Ugh, stupid! What the hay was that? I am so tired of this. I hate the way I am. Why am I so...” He then lets out a sigh and continues yelling at himself in his head until somepony else crashes into him.
He is now lying on the ground with a bit of pain in his front leg, and some of the apples fall out of his bag. He groans in frustration as he looks over at the blue Pegasus next to him. He stands up and starts to pick the apples back up.
“Heh, um, sorry about that,” she said.
Grey Mane looks quickly at the pony. She had a blue coat and a rainbow colored mane, and her eyes looked like... magenta, maybe? It didn’t matter. He just wanted to get away from her. The Pegasus rolled back onto her hooves.
“Are you okay?” After Grey Mane put the last apple into his bag, he just looked at the ground, the anger not leaving his expression. He nodded and turned away and headed down the road with a slight limp in his walk. His leg wasn’t badly damage, but there was pain in his muscle with each step. He was certain there would be a bruise.
The rainbow-maned pony appeared in front of him in a flash, causing Grey Mane to jump back, startled. “Hold on there. So you’re just gonna walk away, just like that? Got nothing to say?” Grey Mane began to back away in fear of the possibilities of what she was going to say. Though her eyebrows were lowered, he couldn't tell if she was angry or not. He felt hated, whether anypony showed it or not. “You’re new here, right?” He nodded, staring at the ground. He was beginning to feel like a bully target... again.
She just stared at him, studying him. She took note of his fear. Her expression softened a bit as he started to remind her of one of her friends. He seemed lonely and friendless. So she might as well try to give him one friend. “So, what’s your name?”
Grey Mane remained silent and looked at the ground. He tried to say something, but he was still intimidated by her. The mare assumed he had some kind of anxiety. He was clearly not a social pony. She decided to start off with a conversation. “I’m Rainbow Dash, the best flier in all of Equestria. You may have heard of me, perhaps?”
Grey Mane looked up to see a look of pride on her face. He smiled lightly at her bragging, shaking his head as an answer.
Despite his silent answer, she continued to talk, hoping to warm him up to her. “I am going to join the Wonderbolts. I had gotten into the academy a few months ago. It’s a lot of hard work, yes, but it is so worth it. My first few days there, didn’t work out that great. They just had to land me with a partner who doesn’t even care about the safety of other ponies. You know what she did? She made a completely reckless move that almost killed my friends.”
Grey Mane looked up at her, surprised that even a Wonderbolt wannabe would do anything to jeopardize the lives of others. Wonderbolts trained to do the exact opposite. They were not just a bunch of performers and professional flyers; they also doubled as a sort of rescue team. Being a Wonderbolt meant also being an expert in first aid. Such a terrible and careless pony does not deserve to even step foot on the academy grounds.
“At least we managed to save them. But what’s even worse, when I confronted her after that event, she just brushed the subject off like it was nothing! Like, she clearly didn’t care one bit. I mean, my friends mean everything to me, y’know?” Grey Mane just stared at her, confused, still not fully understanding why this mare was even talking to him, especially about her experiences at the academy. But at least she wasn’t being mean. Maybe she is trying to be friendly?
There was a short silence as the anger from Rainbow’s face faded. Grey Mane seemed less scared of her now. She smiled as she leaned a little bit closer to Grey Mane, though he did back away slightly. “Did you know that I am the only Pegasus who can do the Sonic Rainboom?”
Grey Mane shot his head up, surprised at what she said. A Sonic Rainboom?! You’ve gotta be kidding me! No one can do that! The only one who has been able to do it is the pony who discovered it in the first place. How can she do it?! Rainbow was amused by the shock on his face, and she chuckled lightly.
“Yeah, that’s how I got this.” She turned to reveal her cutie mark. It was a cloud with a lightning bolt of the primary colors, red, blue, and yellow. Grey Mane’s shocked expression turned into a small frown, and his eyes aimed back at the ground. He didn’t want to bother seeing something he was never going to have.
The blue mare noticed this, though she couldn’t really guess what the problem was. So she decided to change the subject. “Um, so... uh, what is your name?”
This time, the grey stallion felt comfortable enough to say his name, even though his voice remained quiet. “Grey Mane.”
“Grey Mane, huh? Are you a tourist here, or are you going to be living here?”
“Um, living here,” Grey Mane said quietly.
“Cool. I’m sure you will enjoy it here.” She gave him a different kind of smile. It seemed... welcoming, something Grey Mane rarely ever saw. “You want me to show you around?”
Grey Mane prevented himself from smiling back as he shook his head. The mare hovered in the air. “No? Suit yourself. You seem like a pretty cool guy. We should totally meet up again sometime. See ya.” Then she took off towards the clouds.
Rainbow Dash felt proud of herself. She didn’t exactly gain a real friendship with him, but it was just a matter of time now. She just wanted to get him warmed up to her. That was how she had approached her old friend from flight camp for the first time.
In all honesty, she really was looking forward to seeing Grey Mane again soon. She actually did like him. Well, not like like, but she felt that they would become good friends. She was confident in becoming friends with him, no matter how long it takes.
Grey Mane just stood where he was, rather confused. Why would she want to meet with him again? He could barely even talk. But she was actually very nice, or maybe she was only trying to make him feel better. The last thing he expected was for somepony to actually want to meet him again. But the real shocker was that it was a MARE!
Then his mind stuck to the fact that a mare said she wanted to meet him again. A mare actually thought he was cool! She gave him a smile before she left, a smile that actually meant something. It wasn’t the self-satisfied kind of smile that he used to see. It was a genuine smile of kindness. Did she... want to be his friend?
No. It was too good to be true.
Grey Mane frowned sadly and walked away, not exactly caring what direction he was going. He had just moved here. Nopony would want to be friends with him just like that. How could she think he was cool? He can’t even talk to her, and when he can, it’s always quiet. Did she know how he felt? Did she notice the fear that constantly clung to him, making him so distant from everypony else? What if she thought of him as a giant wimp because of it?
As his mind continued to drain all the hope he had, he nearly walked into the wall of a building. It was bigger than most of the other houses and it had a sign hanging above the door that said, “Hay Bale’s”. Hay Bale’s was always Grey Mane’s favorite restaurant. He looked through the front window. It didn’t look too busy; there were several empty tables inside.
He walked inside and stood behind the few ponies lined up in front of the register. He already knew what he wanted. He waited in line for the ponies in front to get their orders before he walked up to the counter.
“Hello, sir,” the cashier said with a smile on her face. “It’s always nice to see a new face around here. What would you like?”
“Um, I’d like just a regular hay sandwich with a bit of lettuce and that special cheese stuff.” Grey Mane waited for the cashier to write the order.
“Would you like a drink with that?”
“No thanks. I would like to take it with me, too, so...” He pointed his head towards the door.
“Okay. That will be four bits.” Grey Mane took four bits out of his bag and set them on the counter. The cashier put them inside the register before heading into the kitchen. After a couple of minutes, she came back out with a bag containing his lunch.
He grabbed his lunch as the door opened and a pink pony bounced inside, looking at the cashier. “Hi, Cherry Rose. I was just—” Then she stopped talking and stood still, letting out a loud gasp as she looked at Grey Mane. He looked behind him, thinking she was looking at something else. Not seeing anything, he turned his head back forward to find the pony gone.
“Hi, there.”
Grey Mane jumped in surprise and gave a high-pitched yelp at the voice somehow behind him. The bag with his food fell out of his teeth, and he turned around to find the pink pony standing on the opposite side of him from where she just was. “Are you new here?” she asked, wearing a freakishly large smile on her face.
Grey Mane, still shocked from what she had done, manages to answer once his mouth is able to move. “Um... yes.”
The pink pony bounced in the air and let out a short and happy squeal, and burst out the door so fast you would never have even seen her. Grey Mane just stared at the door, confused about the weird behavior of that super hyper mare. He decided to put it out of his mind. He picked up his lunch and left the restaurant.
Today is gonna be a weird day.
“I don’t think we should go in.”
“What? Why not?”
“There are no lights on inside.”
“Well, the sign says ‘open’, so it’s open.”
“Well still...”
“Dude, just go in.”
“Fine.”
Chime
“SURPRISE!!!”
Grey Mane nearly jumped out of his skin as the lights turned on and all the ponies in Sugarcube Corner jumped out of their hiding places, yelling “Surprise”. It looked like the whole town was in here.
They actually did fit the entire town into the place. Apparently, sometime after Twilight Sparkle’s coronation, the building was rebuilt bigger than it previously was. The cakes did this for a big celebration for the new princess. It didn’t take too long, since they only took out one wall and made the place bigger that way.
Grey Mane found himself unable to move as he looked around at all the ponies that surrounded him. He almost felt like panicking. He desperately wanted to leave. Standing right in front of him was the pink pony he had seen earlier. This time he actually got a good look at her hair. It was all puffy and a darker shade of pink. It bounced as the pony herself did so.
“Hi, my name is Pinkie Pie, and I thought it would be a fun idea to throw a party to welcome you to Ponyville!” she said excitedly as she bounced around Grey Mane, who just stood there surprised at the speed of her speech. He couldn’t talk that fast without ending up speaking gibberish.
“You’re new here, right? I can tell, because I have never seen you before, and I know everypony in Ponyville, including your aunt and uncle, who are my most best-est friends in all of Equestria. Well, actually everypony is my best friend in all of Equestria, but seriously, what could be better than that?!” She had her front hooves raised in the air.
How is she talking like that without having to take a breath, or even running out of breath?
Grey Mane just looked around as ponies started talking to each other or dancing as soon as the music started. But many would still keep their eyes on him. He felt very nervous. He just wanted to leave right now. He followed Pinkie further inside, towards a bunch of tables.
“I really, really, really hope you will enjoy this party. We got games, dancing, and singing. We’ve also got cupcakes, and cup-cakes, and tall cakes, and small cakes, and cake-cakes, and fake cakes.”
In the order of which she introduced each thing, there was a pyramid of cupcakes with many different colors of icing. Next to that was a cake that was actually shaped like a cup. A pretty impressive piece of art, really. Then there was a cake over six feet high. That might even be taller than Celestia herself.
Then there was a cake that was very small. It was approximately an inch in diameter. You could fit five of those onto a foal’s hoof. Next to that sat just a regular cake. And finally, sitting next to that cake was what appeared to be a cake, until it fell over, revealing it to be a piece of cardboard.
“There are also presents, and candy, and food!” Then she started bouncing excitedly. “Ooooohh, we are going to be such good friends. This is a totally fun-er-ific party! Whoo-hoo!” She leaped into the air and started bouncing from her front hooves to her back hooves all over the place.
Rainbow Dash walked up to him, chuckling nervously. “Sorry about her. She always gets excited when a new pony comes to town. She always likes to throw a party for them. And her excitement has gone up a smidge since our friend Twilight became a princess.”
Grey Mane looked at Pinkie Pie again. She stuck face into a pie, and it was gone in seconds. She lifted her head, her face entirely covered in the cherry filling. She scooped it all up with her tongue, cleaning her face completely as she ate the pie filling.
The grey stallion looked at Rainbow, who had an amused smile on her face. He looked back at Pinkie. He didn’t want to be around such a hyped up pony. And she was being a little loud whenever she talked. But at least she was able to be quiet, unlike the music, because he hated the constant loud noise. Why couldn’t they turn it down?
He decided to leave it be. He didn’t want to ruin these other ponies’ moods by turning down the music. He didn’t want anypony to hate him for doing what would make him more comfortable. If everyone here liked it, then he would have to live through it until the end. His eyes started to tear up, thinking of how stupid he was for not being able to ask somepony to turn the sound down a bit,
“Are you not gonna take those bags off?” Grey Mane shook his head and walked away from the Pegasus. Anytime he would leave the house, he was never willing to take his saddlebags off.
He decided to have something to eat. He looked at one of the food on the tables. There were a few plates with cupcake pyramids, two regular cakes, a bowl of punch with cups, and there was even fruit and vegetables on a tray as well. He sure did love his sweets, but he would not eat too much. He walked towards the cupcakes.
He just stood by the table for a while. He reached his hoof slowly towards to top of the pyramid. But then he became hesitant. He looked around for anypony who would tell him not to have one.
Seriously? he thought to himself. This is ridiculous! You are allowed to eat whatever you want here, otherwise it wouldn’t be set up like this. He reached again for the cupcake, but he froze. However, no one else is eating anything. Is this the best time to eat? Should I just wait? Well, that Pinkie character ate that pie. But then again, she is the host.
He knew it was completely ridiculous to freak out in his mind over eating, and he hated every second of it. But it just didn’t feel right, eating something without knowing that it was alright to do so. He wasn’t sure whether to wait until other ponies came to eat something, ask Pinkie Pie, or just go right ahead.
The battle in his mind finally ended when he put his hoof back down to the ground. He decided to wait.
Then Pinkie hopped past him. “You know, you can have one if you want.”
Grey Mane took that as his cue. Slowly, but non-hesitantly, he reached for the top cupcake and scooped it in one hoof, holding it sideways, and then placing it upright in the other. Luckily, they didn’t have the cup thing on them. That was how they always were ever since a problem was discovered with Earth Ponies and Pegasi trying to unwrap them. They couldn’t.
The grey stallion took a bite out of the cupcake. As much as he loved the taste of that cupcake, his face was still a sad frown. He did like the treats in this place, but nothing would cure him from how upset he really was. More than anything at this moment, he wanted to leave this place. There were too many ponies here.
He walked to an empty corner of the store and sat down, eating his cupcake, and continued to think. After a few more bites the cupcake was gone and he wanted to grab another. But when he reached the table, he started to reconsider. Is he allowed to have seconds? The other ponies might want some eventually. And if he ate another, maybe some other pony wouldn’t get one. There were a few pyramids of cupcakes and it was likely that they wouldn’t run out, but he didn’t want to take any chances.
He decided to wait. At least he didn’t have to worry about making this decision because he already had a cupcake. It wouldn’t be fair to have two, and someone else would have none. So he was perfectly fine with the decision he made.
He walked back to the corner he was at before and sat down. He looked around at all the ponies, partly to make sure none would be heading towards him. But he also wanted to observe their behaviors. Are any of them the type of pony who would do something stupid at parties? Are any of them mean? Why were two of them constantly looking at him?
Grey Mane turned his head away as he saw two mares looking at him. One was a mint-colored unicorn. Her mane and tail looked like a paler shade, both with a white streak. Her cutie mark was a harp. The other mare was an Earth pony with a light yellow coat, much lighter than Fluttershy’s. Her mane and tail were two different colors, dark blue and pink. She had three pieces of wrapped candy as her cutie mark. Their eyes shifted from each other to the grey pony.
Why were they staring at him? Did they see his empty flank? Did they see... his other secret? He hoped to Celestia they didn’t. They would continuously bug him about it for the rest of his life. He made sure his bags were tight enough around him that no one would see either problem. He felt that familiar sense of shame from every other time he so much as looked at the very things he wished he never had.
He sighed and looked at the floor. He started daydreaming. What he would often daydream about would usually start out good. He would be dating a mare, he was actually loved, and he was actually happy. But the dreams would end with hatred and anger directed at him from that particular mare. He was currently having one of those dreams. He felt more sadness build up inside him and left the dream.
He decided not to bother trying to think about things he was sure he would never have. Then he started humming quietly to himself, loud enough to hear himself over the music, but quiet enough that no one could hear. He was humming a song he had made up recently. It was a sad piece he had made. He began to sway slightly to the tune he hummed. But after a while, he realized that the two mare were still looking his way while talking to each other.
They keep staring at me. Why?
He began to feel annoyed, and he was worried about what they were talking about. Surely they were talking about him if they kept looking at him. He became even more desperate to leave. Were they saying mean things about him? Or worse, did they like him?
Grey Mane had learned from bullying experiences to never trust anyone. Therefore, he did not allow himself to become friends with anypony, no matter how much he really wanted to. The same went with a “special somepony”. He did not want to be turned against. He never wanted to be hated. He was afraid that anyone he became friends with would eventually not want to be his friend anymore.
So he figured that he would spend his life alone. But deep inside he was desperate for some one to care for him. He hated himself more and more as he would keep fantasizing about relationships that would have no chance of existing.
He moved slightly to the side so that the two mares would no longer see him behind the tall cake. But the two mares then seemed to be walking towards the table.
What the hay do they want?!
He tried to walk away until one of them called out, “Hey, buddy.” He turned and looked at the unicorn mare, who had walked around the table to meet him. “Where do you think you are headed?”
Grey Mane stayed silent and shrugged. The Earth pony stepped beside her friend. “You are new, right? Why don’t you join the party?”
’Cause there’s nothing worth having a party for.
He sighed and walked towards where the other ponies were. He instantly became uncomfortable. But he tried his best not to leave. This party was for him, after all. But he didn’t care. He hated parties. He took one step towards the center of the store. Then a pony rushed past him, causing him to stick to the wall. Then the music changed to a much louder song.
He sighed again; there was no point to this. There is no point to staying here. If this party was for him, nopony else seemed to care about that. He decided to leave anyway. He stuck close to the walls as he headed towards the door. He hoped to not to be bumped into by anypony. As long as he was outside of this place, he would feel safe.
But then some ponies stepped in the way and he froze. He walked around the crowd of ponies to try and find another way to the door, but unfortunately, the entire way was blocked. There were too many ponies. He stepped backwards, feeling tears start to come up again.
Why does there have to be so many ponies in here? Stupid social anxiety.
“Grey Mane?”
He turned his head to find Fluttershy walking towards him. She looked rather concerned, seeing how upset he was. He turned his head towards the ground. He heard her stop walking right beside him.
“Are you okay?”
Grey Mane kept his mouth shut as he shrugged.
“Do you want to leave?”
He looked at her face for a short second before looking at her hooves. He always had trouble keeping eye contact, because his eyes always seemed to automatically look in any other direction. He just kept his eyes down and answered her with a nod.
The yellow mare looked towards the door. “Follow me.” She walked towards the group of ponies, followed by Grey Mane. Then he heard her soft voice speak. “Excuse me, please.” Two ponies nodded and turned to let Fluttershy pass between them. The shy pony looked at the grey stallion before walking to the door. Grey Mane walked past the two ponies and left the building.
When he finally got outside, the stallion let out a sigh of relief. He preferred this, being in a quiet and less crowded area. But he really wanted to get home. He honestly would rather stay in his room and do nothing than leave his house to do something.
“Why would you want to leave the party? It was supposed to welcome you to Ponyville.” The mare walked next to Grey Mane as he started off towards his home.
“Well... I just... don’t... like parties.” He spoke slowly, nervously pausing between words. He wasn’t sure if he should have given that answer. Would anyone here hate a pony who hates parties? He hoped not.
“Oh, well, I’m not too fond of them myself. But the only reason I stay is because I have such wonderful friends who love to have me around.” Grey Mane sighed as she continued. “I thought you might want the same thing. I thought that maybe you and I could hang out during the party.” She started to blush lightly and looked away from Grey Mane.
The grey pony stopped and said flatly, “No thank you.”
“Why not?”
He began to feel irritated, but tried to remain calm. “I just want to go home.” He continued walking.
Fluttershy walked alongside him. “But we threw this party for you.”
“So what?”
“Well, I thought you could at least try to enjoy it.”
“Well, first off, I didn’t ask for a party. Now can you please leave me alone?”
Fluttershy stopped walking, shocked at Grey Mane’s words. That was the most he had ever said to anypony. She felt bad for upsetting him. “Okay. Sorry.” She sadly walked back.
At that moment, Grey Mane started scolding himself. Nice going, you stupid moron. Now she is gonna hate you for the rest of your life. Screw me, and everything else about my life! He sighed heavily. She wanted to be friends with me. Why? She doesn’t even know anything about me. None of them do, so what makes me so special? Why would they care? I’m just some pony with no cutie mark and a fear of everyone else.
What is so great about me?
"Hey, Grey Mane!"
Oh, for crap's sake! Grey Mane groaned in frustration as the mare with the rainbow mane and tail flew over him and landed in front of him. The grey pony really didn't want to talk, and kept walking.
"What's the big idea? We threw a party for you, and you just take off, just like that?"
Grey Mane just stared at the ground, keeping his pace. He didn't want to talk about that. Rainbow Dash was probably angry with him now. Rainbow stepped in front of him, making him stop.
"Excuse me, I am trying to talk to you," she said, annoyed.
"Well, I would really like to get something to eat." Grey Mane was also annoyed, though he also felt a bit of fear that he had done a bad thing by leaving the party.
"Well, what makes eating so important that it can't wait for just a few minutes?"
"Six PM?" Grey Mane deadpanned.
Rainbow Dash facehoofed and sighed. "Look, we just wanted to welcome you to our town. I mean, I could already tell that you weren't a social guy, but I thought that you would at least appreciate the effort we all put into it, as well as try to make some friends. But clearly, that party was all for nothing because you decided to ditch us."
This only made Grey Mane feel worse. The town had tried to do something nice for him, but he hated it. He always felt that he didn't deserve such nice things, but he knew that if he didn't accept them, he would risk upsetting others and then they would hate him. He was used to feeling hated, but he hated that feeling. He always wanted to have friends, but friendships never last for long. Sooner or later, they would leave to live somewhere else, or they would turn against him. He began to believe that he didn't deserve friendship, and whenever opportunity knocked, he slammed the door in its face. He pushed away every chance he got. He didn't deserve friends or anything else nice. It's like he was meant to live in misery.
"And you keep carrying these saddlebags around." The blue mare grabbed one of the bags and shook it, showing what she was talking about. Grey Mane quickly moved back a few steps. "What's up with that? It seems kind of weird to bring them with you everywhere you go. What, are you trying to hide something?"
"Um, I--" Grey Mane didn't know what to say due to the fear that the intimidating mare brought upon him. He couldn't tell her the truth, but he knew better than to lie too. "I don't--"
Rainbow Dash glared at the grey stallion, becoming more suspicious of his behavior. "You are hiding something, aren't you?"
"Well, I--I would really rather not--" He could no longer make eye contact.
"You would rather not say?" The mare finished. Somehow, Rainbow Dash had gone from nice and friendly to suspicious. "You know something... something that we don't and probably should. Is that why you are acting the way you are?"
What was I thinking?! I should have known they would be suspicious of me. Why didn't I just stay inside? Why am I always so stupid?
"Just what are you hiding? Are you a spy?" Her eyes narrowed.
Grey Mane lowered his head in fear. Tears started building up in his eyes. He tried to say something, but all that would come out was a small whimper.
"Rainbow Dash!" Bith ponies looked over at Applejack, who was glaring angrily at Rainbow as she stormed her way to the pegasus. "Just what in the hay do ya think you're doin'? You know better than to be treatin' someone like that!"
"He's hiding something AJ! I think he's after Twilight, just like his other friends." The blue mare gave Grey Mane an angry stare, and he shrunk back. He could already feel tears running down his cheeks.
"Rainbow, what is wrong with you?! That is a very harsh assumption to make. I doubt he really has anything to hide."
"Well I know he does. He just doesn't want to tell us."
Applejack sighed. She looked at Grey Mane and spoke calmly. "Grey Mane, if there is somethin' you don't want to tell us, then you don't need to tell us. Now you can go back to whatever it was you were doin'. Don't worry about her. I got this." She smiled at the terrified stallion before she lead the pegasus away from him.
He just nodded and walked back the way he came. He decided to find something at home to eat. He really needed the safety of his house more than ever.
The two ponies stopped when they reached the wall of a building. Applejack sighed, tilting her hat back to scratch her head, and tilting it forward again. She knew that since the three weeks that Twilight Sparkle has been a princess, Rainbow Dash has been a bit out of character. It was worrying the farm pony.
"Rainbow Dash, I know that for a while you have been kind of paranoid, but not everypony you see is gonna be after Twilight. You really need to stop worryin' so much."
"Applejack, there is something up with that guy. I mean--"
The orange earth pony held up her hoof, and the pegasus stopped talking. "I know your very suspicious of him. I understand that. And yes, it is kind of odd that he would carry his saddlebags everywhere he goes, but that don't give you no right to instantly place him on your list of suspects without a good reason."
Rainbow looked at her friend in disbelief. "Well, clearly, he has something to hide by wearing them all the time. I think we need to find out what it is."
Applejack groaned in annoyance. "You know what, Rainbow? I think he's hiding somethin' too. I think those bags are bein' used to cover somethin'."
"Exactly--"
But... I doubt it's anythin' worth freakin' out about. Maybe it's somethin' anyone would want to hide, whatever it might be. So why don't ya just quit worrying about him?
"Applejack, what is the matter with you? You weren't like this with any of those other guys who came before. Why are you defending this guy?"
"I can sniff out a spy from a mile away, but I haven't seen anything about Grey Mane worth worrying about."
"Well, still, I think we should keep an eye on both him and Twilight, 'cause, I mean, you never know."
Applejack sighed. "Rainbow Dash, why must ya make it impossible to reason with you. Stop worrying about her so much. I am sure he is not after Twilight. Besides, I think she can handle herself."
"After last week, I don't think we should take chances. She would have been dead if I wasn't there in time."
Applejacklooked confused. "What?"
"When you were gone at some family gathering in Appleoosa, some other dude actually almost killed her. Why do you think there are guards?"
Applejack was wide-eyed. "Oh."
Not everypony was fond of their ruler, but it had been a long time since anyone had tried to assassinate any of the princesses. But it had not happened since guards were positioned in the throne room in Canterlot. Celestia's bedroom however, was well protected by some kind of magic. It was the same for Luna. But Twilight hadn't been assigned guards as she has been working her brain, trying to figure out that strange six-lock box from the Tree of Harmony. She thought it wouldn't be that long, but now... now she has a couple guards outside her library.
"Well... I guess I understand why you were so protective, but still, I think that Grey Mane is not involved in this. I think you should lay off."
"I don't know, Applejack."
"Can you just trust me on this?"
Rainbow sighed. "Fine, I'll back off. But now he's gonna hate me after what I said to him."
"Well look on the bright side. That's all you will recieve for punishment, 'cause my original plan was to kick you in the jaw." Applejack gave her friend a little smirk.
**********
Grey Mane sat at the kitchen table at his home, just eating plain empty bread. The least his aunt could have done was buy more peanut butter before running out. This was obviously why they gave him the money. As he ate, his thoughts were filled with worry.
What was all that about? Earlier she was being all friendly, and then she suddenly hates me and thinks I am trying to kill someone?! Why would anyone think that just because of a pair of stupid saddlebags?!
If I leave my house, she's probably gonna attack me or something. Or someone else will, if she told anyone else. Everypony's gonna hate me.
He bangs his head on the table, groaning in anger. His angerwas not directed at Rainbow Dash entirely, but mostly at himself. He always hated the way he was. Why did he even exist anyway? Was there a point for him even being around?
He often wished he was never born, or that he was no longer alive. But he would never commit suicide, and he knew it. He was the type of pony who would continue to live his life, no matter how miserable he was. But if Rainbow Dash thought he was here to kill Princess Twilight, he might not have too much longer anyway.
So I will just have to stay inside.
That was the perfect plan. He would just stay inside his house, away from the fury of Rainbow Dash. She would certainly bring him harm if he were to be seen by her.
But he would have to leave the house eventually, when his aunt made him do so. He always felt like he didn't have a choice when the family gathers to celebrate something. He hated leaving home, his bedroom, his safe haven. He would prefer to stay here all day reading, writing, singing to himself, or just daydreaming. This was the only place he really wanted to be.
Here, he felt safe.
Buddy's tags jingled as he walk to Grey Mane and began sniffing his front leg. The stallion petted the dog. "Hey there, Buddy. Whatcha doin'?" he said in a high pitched voice. The dog stretched his head to sniff in front of Grey Mane's mouth, apparently smelling his breath. The pony chuckled. "You're so weird. Silly Buddy. Silly Buddy!" He was petting him with both hooves now. Meanwhile he was coninuing his train of thought.
He would eventually have to leave the house. And if he did, Rainbow Dash would get him. She was the absolute last pony he wanted to see now. She would take him down so easily. He was weak; he would never be able to defend himself. He hated violence. He wouldn't be able to run either. She could fly, and flying is faster.
His fear grew more and more as he thought, until Buddy started walking towards the back door. "You have to go outside?" He walked to the door and unlocked it. He opened the door and the dog rushed outside, sniffing the ground. Grey Mane let a different thought enter his mind.
You are the only friend I have in this place.
" Soon... "
Grey Mane looked around, unable to see anything. He saw nothing but pitch blackness. The voice he heard sounded deep and dark and sinister, and it made his whole body vibrate when it spoke.
" Very soon... "
He hadn't a single clue what the voice was talking about, nor was he able to determine where it was coming from. He couldn't even place a guess who the voice belonged to. It didn't sound familiar. He continued to search for the source of the voice, but the pitch blackness of his location wasn't making it any easier. He filled with fear as the voice once again spoke.
" I will be free again. "
Then an a fire appeared on the ground in front of him, revealing a stretched-out shadow of himself. He didn't want to turn, but when he did, it was automatic. He turned slowly until he was facing the opposite direction. His mouth hung open and his eyes widened in fear. There were three large spots of flames. Two were smaller and placed next to each other. The third was larger and was placed underneath the two others. He knew it was a face, which seemed to contain an evil sort of smile.
Grey Mane wanted to look away, but for some reason, he just kept staring into the fire. His body was frozen with fear, and he would move an inch. The firey mouth moved in different shapes as it spoke.
" And I will finally destroy the world. " The face moved closer to Grey Mane. " And you will be my number one target. "
The face moved even closer, opening its mouth wide. Grey Mane started to feel the heat from the fire until he became engulfed in it.
**********
Grey Mane opened his eyes and sat up to look around at his surroundings. There was a bit of sunlight shining throught his window. He could clearly see all of the furniture exactly where he placed them, at least the stuff that he owned. His stuff was always placed around the edges of the room. He looked to his left, past his desk and at thse clock on top of the dresser. It was 7:23 in the morning.
At least he managed to get about seven hours of sleep. But what was up with that dream? He had never had a nightmare for as long as he could remember. This was the first one he ever had.
"What was that thing?" Grey Mane remembered the face he saw the flames in the mouth and eyes. He rubbed his tired eyes. "Oy, my first night here, and I'm already getting weird nightmares."
He stayed in bed as he thought about the dream. Why did I start having nightmares now, of all times? Who or what was that? Is it some sort of sign, or something dumb like that? What did he mean he will return soon? And why would I be his first target? Is there an earlier part of the dream that I can't remember?
More questions continued to enter his head, about the monster and the words he had spoken, but they all remained unanswered. Finally he came to the conclusion that it was just a dream and it wasn't real. But there was still something about it that made him feel slightly anxious.
**********
He sat at the table eating what the last bit of his hay sandwich as his aunt came down the stairs. She was a light blue pegasus with a white mane and tail. Her mane reached just past her shoulders and was sort of curly at the end. Her tail was done the same way. She walked into the kitchen and went to the cupboards to get something to eat.
"Hello," Grey Mane said.
"Hello," Cloud Dasher repeated.
"It's morning." He smile in a joking manner as he stated the obvious.
"I can see that." She reached up and grabbed a bowl with her mouth. She set it on the table before asking, "Have you eaten already?"
Grey Mane nodded.
"Okay, 'cause I was gonna ask if you could take out the bathroom garbage when you were done. So could you do that now, please? You just need to put it inside the garbage can outside."
The thought of having to go outside brought Rainbow Dash to his mind again, but he thought he didn't have to worry. All he really needed to do was place the bag into the can in front of the house. Then the topic of his thoughts changed to the cans. Why didn't they have large bins like they did in Red Horse and Edmaneton. It would have been easier to fit more bags. But then again, Ponyville was much smaller. It wouldn't take a whole lot of time to empty the cans around here if they were to do the entire town in one day.
"Okay." Grey Mane nodded, aand he ran upstairs.
**********
The grey stallion stepped outside with a white bag in his mouth and his saddlebags on his back. He walked towards the silver garbage can that sat at the corner of the wall next to another can, which was probably the neighbor's. He fit his hoof into the handle and lifted the lid. Then he tossed the bag inside before placing the lid back on top.
"Hey, Grey Mane?" a familiar voice called to him.
The stallion's fear returned as he saw the mare with the rainbow mane fly towards him. She didn't go too fast, as if trying not to scare him off. He quickly walked towards the door. He had hoped she wouldn't see her.
"Hey, wait a sec! I just want to say something."
He stopped moving and turned to face her. He hoped in his mind that she wasn't going to yell at him, or make more accusations.
Rainbow Dash landed and walked up to him. She never usually woke up this early, but her nap yesterday had turned into several hours of sleep. She had tried to fall back asleep when she woke up, but it didn't work. So she had decided to just practice some flying tricks. Then she saw the grey pony and decided to apologize for yesterday.
"Well, uh..." she started, looking nervously at Grey Mane, who now stared at the ground. "So, about yesterday..." She scratched the back of her head. "...well, I didn't mean to act the way that I did. I guess I was being a little bit paranoid. I thought you were some spy or something because of... y'know." She nodded towards his saddlebags. "But I mean, if you don't want to say anything, I won't make you."
Grey Mane could tell from her tone, however, that she was still interested in why he was wearing them. Why can't she just drop it?
Rainbow looked at the house. "You live in Cloudy's house?" Grey Mane raised an eyebrow at hearing his aunt's nickname. Not a lot of ponies called her that. He nodded. "Oh, so you are a friend?"
He shook his head. "She's actually my aunt." Crap, I shouldn't have said that!
"She is? So, does that mean you're, like, part pegasus or something?"
Grey Mane shrugged before nodding.
"Just with, y'know, no wings." She flapped her wings slightly.
That was when the grey pony went silent. He then decided to go back inside. "Look, I should get back inside. I have some stuff to do."
Rainbow saw he was nervous, but figured it was just the way he is. "Okay then. And again, sorry about yesterday. Maybe we can hang out sometime?"
These words made Grey Mane look up at the blue mare. He was never good at reading ponies, but was she serious? Did she really want to hang out? She was the first pony in years to ever ask him that. He would have liked to say "yes", but recent events made him want to say "no" more.
She had rudely accused him of being a spy out to kill Princess Twilight. He had never been more terrified in his life. She may not have meant to scare him off like she did, but he was not going to let this go that easily, apology or not. He shook his head.
"No thank you." He walked to his door.
"Dude, just hang on a second." Rainbow Dash rushed in front of him. She sighed heavily. "I don't know why you're always trying to stay away from everypony, but whatever your problem is, staying inside all the time is not gonna solve them."
Grey Mane remained silent, and stared at the ground. Anger was starting to build up. He just wanted her to leave him alone. Why couldn't she see that? Why couldn't anyone see that? Why did she even care anyway, to actually try to be around him? There was nothing special about him. Nothing. He was already a young adult who was living with his aunt and uncle. He couldn't get a job; too many of them involved working with other ponies. He wouldn't even be able to shake the manager's hoof. He hated parties and spending time with others. He was actually afraid of others. He was afraid of upsetting them. He hated the anger and hatred he was sure to recieve. So he had started to believe that he could never accomplish anything.
So again, there was nothing special about him, or anything worth being grateful for. He was just somepony to hate and yell at and ridicule. He wasn't worth anyone's time. He just wanted to be gone from this world.
"Hello?"
He looked at the mare. "What?"
"I said don't you think it would be nice to have some friends in your life?"
He did see the slight look of concern in Rainbow's face, but he didn't look at it that way. "Look, I don't need any friends. I don't really see any point to it. I would much rather spent my time alone." He stepped in front of the door, glaring at Rainbow Dash, who stood slightly shocked.
"Well, you don't seriously want to be alone your entire life, do you?"
Grey Mane looked away when he heard that question. His expression was mixed between anger and sadness. He didn't even know the answer to that question. It seemed to be stuck between "yes" and "no". He sighed and looked at Rainbow, his eyes automatically shifting to avoid her gaze. He decided to end this talk as soon as possible and get inside.
"Look, I just wanna..." He pointed to the door.
Rainbow hung her head and sighed. There was just no reasoning with this guy. "Fine, go inside."
Grey Mane saw her look of defeat, and he felt more guilt. He had upset the most confident pony in town, just like he always did with every other pony. Now, a part of him wanted to talk more with the mare, but he feared having to face her anger. He slowly opened the door, glancing at her a few times, and walked inside. He walked past the kitchen and headed up the stairs. He felt his anger rise, not towards anypony else, just himself.
He kept yelling in his mind about how stupid he was, and how much he hated himself. He was stupid, selfish, and afraid of other ponies. Could he be any more pathetic? He really needed to lie down and do nothing for about a good hour. That always helped him relax.
He almost walked into his bedroom door. He entered the room, closing the door behind him. He laid down onto his bed, still thinking.
Why? Why did I even bother coming here? No one really cares. I just want to... no longer exist. Stupid life. Stupid ponies. No, they're not stupid. I am. It is my fault that I have problems. My fault that I have this "anxiety". My fault that I never want to help others, talk to anypony, or even touch them. I probably shouldn't keep blaming bullies so much. They were acting like total ballsacks, and I am just too weak to let it all slide.
He continued to lower his own self-esteem until his thoughts managed to drift onto other things, like songs or his own fantasies. He had almost forgotten his previous thoughts, for he had already believed them to be true a long time ago. He always looked down on himself, seeing himself as a bad pony, and inferior to everyone else. He had developed so many fears that it downright disgusted him.
But now, he was imagining himself with several friends, who truly cared about him, and he returned the feeling. He even imagines himself in love with a mare. He had never felt love towards anypony before, but he always wondered what it felt like.
But for all that he desired, there were no chances.
Chapter 4: Generosity And Kindness
Mm, best apples ever.
Grey Mane had already finished his lunch from Hay Bale’s and was already enjoying one of Applejack’s delicious apples. He sat at a table outside the restaurant, alone as usual.
Despite having nothing else to do, he wasn’t exactly bored. He looked around at all of the buildings and ponies that surrounded him, at the same time, humming to himself. As he looked around, his imagination started making parts of buildings and other structures become an image of something else, like faces or different shapes. A door on one of the buildings looked a bit like some sort of ugly face that looked like it was screaming in anger.
He smiles lightly as a small puff of air leaves his nose as a small laugh. He spent most of the time in his life using his imagination to create images out of other objects. It was the only thing nowadays he considered to be fun.
He finished his apple, and looked around the area for a garbage can. Luckily, there was one not too far away on the other side of the table. He prepared to throw the core into the can. He could make this shot.
He tossed the core, misjudging the distance and hit the rim, causing the apple core to fall to the ground. Darn it, he thought to himself as he silently laughed at the ridiculous throw. He should have easily gotten it in there. He got up from his chair and picked the core up in his teeth and dropped it in the can.
“Oh my.”
His head quickly turned to the left, and he saw a white unicorn mare looking at him. She had a purple mane that was kind of curly, as was her tail. She had three light blue diamonds on her flank. No idea what that’s for. Jewelry, perhaps? Her eyes were blue, about the same shade as his.
She walked around him, eyeing the bags on his back. As she spoke, she seemed to speak with some kind of accent. “Those are by far the biggest saddlebags I have ever seen. My dear, wherever did you get luggage of such an unusually large size?”
Grey Mane sighed, rather annoyed of ponies constantly trying to talk to him all the time. But he could at least give this pony the info she wanted. The last few ponies he met seemed okay, maybe. He spoke quietly. “My old home.”
“And where, may I ask, are you from?” She continued to examine the saddlebags.
The grey stallion let out another sigh. “Red Horse.”
She raised her head to look at him, confused. “Red Horse? Hm, where might that be, I wonder?”
He nodded towards the mountain that Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria, sat upon. “Just past that mountain.”
”Oh.” The unicorn stares at the mountain and then shrugs. “Hm. I did not know that.”
No kidding, Grey Mane thought sarcastically. Not many ponies from the south go that far up north.
“Might I ask your name, darling?” The mare let a smile grow on her face.
The grey pony looked at her, and grew nervous. “Uh, Grey Mane.”
The unicorn raised an eyebrow and looked at his mane. “Grey Mane. Hm, that’s, uh... fitting. But you certainly do seem like a very handsome young stallion.”
She smiled at him again. At least she didn't speak in a flirty tone or anything. The same went for her smile. But that did not stop Grey Mane from looking away, not from embarrassment, but annoyance. That was the last thing he wanted anyone to think of him, not that anyone actually thought of him that way before. She was by far the first. But he wasn't anything special at all. Anypony else would be better than him.
He sighed. “Whatever.”
The mare became curious as to what was bothering him. “Uh, I am Rarity. I own the Carousel Boutique farther down the road. Um, are you alright?”
“Yes,” Grey Mane answered in an irritated tone. The white unicorn pony just stood there, a little bit shocked. What was eating him?
“Well... it was a pleasure meeting you, Grey Mane, but I must be off. I do have dresses to make. If you would like to talk again, feel free to visit whenever you like.” She then saw his expression change as he looked at the ground. He was regretting the tone in which he had spoken to her, and she was leaving him alone because of it. She wasn’t sure what to say.
“Um... Say, darling, would you like me to make you something, like a suit, perhaps?” The grey pony looked up at her and shook his head. “Are you sure? It would be no trouble at all.”
“I’m not really into suits.” It was true, he hated wearing a suit. He had only worn one once in his life and he hated having to try to not get it dirty. He never cared for them at all.
“Oh, well, is there anything else that you would like then?”
“Look, I don’t have the money for—”
“Money?” Rarity chuckled, shaking her head. “No, no, my dear, you won’t have to pay anything at all. I insist. Just consider it a welcoming gift. I will make anything you want, for I am the best dressmaker in town, not that I can’t make anything else, of course. So?” Her eager smile grew wider. She looked like she was ready to make something anyway if the grey stallion said “no”.
Grey Mane thought about her offer, though there was nothing in mind that he even wanted. And he wasn’t too fond of the idea of having her make something he wasn’t going to pay for. It didn’t really feel right.
“Well, I don’t really want anything, so no thank you,” he said, staring at the garbage can. He didn’t want to see the mare disappointed. However she didn’t sound upset at all.
“Oh, well, that's perfectly alright, darling. My offer will still be open if you change your mind.” Then she trotted off towards her store.
Well, she certainly seemed nice, Grey Mane thought. But the thought left as soon as it came, being replaced with more negative thoughts. But that doesn’t mean she is nice.
**********
Grey Mane was walking back to his home, sticking to the buildings, away from everypony else. He wanted to get home quickly so he could spend time in his room reading or writing or whatever, and he wouldn’t have to be around anyone.
“Yo, Grey Mane!”
The grey pony groaned quietly. Oh come on! Give me a break! He was getting really tired of having to meet so many ponies. However the one of the Pegasus ponies that landed in front of him, he remembered. It was Rainbow Dash. But the other Pegasus he didn’t know, but he had seen her. She was the yellow pony with the pink mane that had gone shopping earlier.
Rainbow smiled as she walked closer with her friend. “Hey, buddy. I just wanted to introduce you to one of my friends, Fluttershy. This is the new pony I told you about, Grey Mane.”
The yellow pony looked at Grey Mane and smiled as she turned her head so that her mane was hiding her face. He could have sworn he saw a slight blush on her face underneath her fur. He looked at the ground, his thoughts trying to convince him that nopony would ever like him that way.
“Fluttershy, what’s up with you?” Rainbow asked as Fluttershy started walking backwards.
“Can we talk?” She whispered so quietly that Grey Mane couldn’t hear.
Rainbow looked confused as her gaze went back to the grey pony and she shrugged. “Okay, um, can you give us a sec?” She caught up with her friend, and they started whispering to each other. “So what’s going on with you? I thought you would have at least said ‘hello’ to the guy.”
“I can’t talk to him, Rainbow!” the yellow mare said, feeling quite worried.
“Why not?” Rainbow whispered back.
“You never said anything about him being cute!”
“Fluttershy, you know that kind of thing never really crosses my mind.. I just said he seemed like the kind of guy you would like.”
“Well, you sure got that right, Rainbow Dash. But nopony as cute as him would want to hang out with someone like me.” Her expression fell into a sad frown. And Rainbow sighed again.
“You are always being too hard on yourself, Fluttershy. You are an amazing pony. Even the cutest stallion in Equestria would love to be with you.”
“But what if he doesn’t like me?” Fluttershy’s sadness turned to fear.
“Flutters, if he doesn’t seem to like you, it’s only because he’s even less social than you are. He was even scared of me, when there was no reason to be. Look at him.”
They both looked back at the grey stallion, who was staring at the ground with a sad expression on his face. He was dragging his hoof in circles on the ground. His eyes were shining as if he was about to cry. His blinking had also quickened.
“Oh,” Rainbow said, feeling bad for leaving the poor guy alone like this. He was probably feeling hated now. She looked at Fluttershy, who stared at him sympathetically.
“Look, he doesn’t really have any friends, it seems. So I figured, as the kindest pony in Ponyville—or Equestria, whichever—you might be able to help him be a little more comfortable in this town. Not to mention Pinkie Pie wanted us to... you know.” Rainbow nodded towards the stallion.
“But you know that I am also shy.” Fluttershy looked down.
“Well, still, I think it’s kindness he really needs. Why don’t you just give it a try? Come on.”
“Well, um... okay.”
Grey Mane kept his gaze at the ground. He blinked several times, trying to clear his vision from the small amount of tears that filled his eyes. If those two Pegasi were trying to become friends, why were they secretly talking about him? What were they saying? Mean stuff, most likely. Maybe he was right about Rainbow Dash. She probably didn’t actually want to be his friend. Now he was all alone again.
“Um, hello.”
He tilted his head up at the voice and he saw Fluttershy standing there, smiling again. “I’m Fluttershy.” She blushed again and quickly looked away, hiding behind her mane again. Grey Mane noticed something about her voice. It was so soft and quiet. It sounded so soothing, and he almost felt some comfort... almost.
When the mare managed to look at him again, he nodded, quietly whispering, “I know.” He looked away from her, and back at the ground.
“So... you’re new here?” She didn’t know why she asked. She already knew the answer.
The grey pony nodded. Fluttershy felt her fear grow when he didn’t look at her or even smile. He had a sort of deadpan look on his face. She struggled to talk again, becoming more hesitant. “Um, if-if I am bothering you, I can... leave.”
Grey Mane focused a bit more on her voice than what she said, but he heard her. He looked at her for half a second before looking back at the ground. He wanted to talk, but his mouth wouldn’t open. When it did, it took a while to get words to come out.
“No, you’re not... um... you know, bothering... me,” he said slowly and quietly. But truthfully, he was bothered by her presence. He both wanted her to stay and to leave him alone. He wasn’t sure what he wanted most, but he didn’t want this pony to hate him after having just met. So he let her stay.
“Are you sure?”
Grey Mane rolled his eyes and sighed as the tiniest amused smile formed on his face. “Yes.”
“Oh, okay.” Fluttershy smiled again. They were both silent for a while. Then Fluttershy asked, “Would you like me to show you around? I’m you will like what you will see.”
Grey Mane really wanted to go home. He hated being outside, unless he was somewhere with no ponies in the area. But when he saw the smile on her face, he didn’t know what to do.
“Well, uh, I kinda wanted to go home, and...” He trailed off as he saw the smile disappear from the mare’s face.
“Oh, um, okay, if you want.” She sounded disappointed.
Grey Mane started to walk away until Rainbow Dash appeared in front of him. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to head over to Sugarcube Corner?” She gave him a large smile. The stallion just looked at her confused. “It’s a bakery. You can buy cakes, cookies, and other stuff.”
"She also throws parties sometimes too." Fluttershy sounded slightly nervous as she spoke.
"Yeah," Rainbow said, nodding. "But you don't have to worry about that right now. You wanna check it out?"
Grey Mane thought about it for a short while. He was never into parties, and hoped he wouldn't have to face one. After a minute, he nodded. "Sure, I guess."
Rainbow looked at Fluttershy, who was now smiling. Grey Mane however was confused. Rainbow seemed eager to get to this destination of theirs. Why?
As they headed off, he remained silent while the Pegasi were chatting. Meanwhile he started thinking. Why were they so eager to get him to this place? He wasn’t stupid. He knew something was up, and he began to feel more nervous.
What were they planning?