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I sit up feeling like I haven’t slept in days. The hammering of the train prevented all attempts of sneaking in a power nap during the trip. I can already tell that this is going to be a rough night.
I grab a heavy grey saddlebag and take one last look around the train cabin before stepping into the hall. Several Ponies occupy the small corridor and gradually all of them become aware of what just joined them in. The closest ones edge back and the ones who just got promoted to being closest to me inch further. I guess I can’t blame them for not wanting to be near me but to act like I have some horrible disease that their foals will get if they make eye contact with me is getting annoying. I want to tell them that they’ll have to get used to the sight of Changelings eventually but I have a hunch that raising my voice might be interpreted as a threat.
The doors leading outside the train open and the Ponies file out. I’m the last one to step onto the platform because I’m not power walking on the way out. I’m greeted by the last rays of the setting sun. It’s very cold outside and it feels like some heavy snow is on the way. I look up and the clouds look like they have something a bit harsher planned. A few choice swear words come out as I make my way to the other side of the station. Ponyville employs Pegasus Ponies to manage the weather patterns so why the hell do they deliberately set up large storms?
Yep. It’s going to be a rough night.
I pause and realize that a Unicorn is staring daggers at me. Her white coat and purple mane are very well kept; the standards of physical appearance accent the cutie mark composed of three small gems. I recognize Rarity and take note of the young filly standing next to her. I stop soaking up detail as it occurs to me why I earned a hostile glare. I take the moment to apologize to the child for the vulgarity and resume my pace. Aside from that one mare I’m not regarded with any degree of hostility. The local Ponies are a lot more used to Changelings than the ones on the train coming here from other corners of Equestria but swear in front of their children and the differences fade.
The rising moon gives a fair amount of light and the streetlamps give even more. The chill grows a bit more and I wish I was back in the train cabin where it was warm. I sigh as I tell myself that I’ll like being home a lot more. I glance back at the small crowd of Ponies back at the station. All of them are either catching up with their friends and family or patiently waiting for them to come off the train. Some of the ones from the train try to act like I didn’t catch them staring at me.
I take a deep breath and keep moving. I start to turn the train ride into just a memory and make my way through the quiet streets. I just want to get home and get some actual sleep. If not for the biting cold and the desire to be home I might have nodded off while walking. I try not to think about how far I need to go. I pause and swear that the cobblestones in the road just wiggled.
Yeah. Wiggled.
I shake my head and just keep going. I consider flying but conclude that the wind chill might be worse above the buildings. Plus I can’t fly with the saddlebag with my considerable fatigue. Abruptly my mind is taken off the impending weather as a loud bass beat fills my ears. I guess there’s a party in progress at the bar to my left and the DJ just came off break. Or the party just started once the sun was completely down. Either way the sudden shock was enough to make me jump. I land on what must have been ice and end up sliding a good eight feet in an odd direction straight into a pile of snow.
Yep. It’s going to be one of those nights.
I wedge myself from the snow pile and glance back at the ice patch and realize that it’s just the stone pathway staring back at me. For a moment I swear that I say a pair of mismatched eyes and a grin. Then again I also swear that the stones wiggled earlier. I take a deep breath and just walk on like it didn’t happen. I glance back at the suspicions stones again and the only thing in my cone of vision is a pink Earth Pony who is very happy to see me.
“Hey! Are you OK? That slide looked like a real doozey! You should be more careful! It’s winter and winter means ice after all! Where are you going? The party’s inside! C’mon! We got drinks, a DJ and lots of good times just waiting to be had! Are you OK? Are you so cold that your tongue’s frozen? Is that why you’re not answering? That would be weird to have a frozen tongue! I once got my tongue frozen to a pole when I was a filly and it”
I cut her off and try my best to be polite.
“Pinkie…I just got off the train…it’s been a long trip…I’ve been gone for a month…I just want to go home…”
She just bounces in circles around me.
“Of course you just got off the train Antares! Everypony knows that you took a train to Canterlot so you’d have to take a train to get back!”
“Pinkie Pie” I interject again “I promise that I’ll come to the after party tomorrow if you just let me get home.
She stops bouncing around and gets right in my face. Her cheerful mood is replaced by a deadly serious one.
“You Pinkie Pie Promise?”
If you weren’t used to her this is the part where you would pray that she doesn’t start the next day by wearing your skin. I’ve had the benefit of knowing her so I know that if I make it an official Pinkie Pie promise then she’ll let me go. Once she’s satisfied she just bounces away into the bar without skipping a beat. I won’t lie: My heart skips a few steps when she’s around. I take one step forward and a lone snowflake lands on my nose. Many more follow in its wake and I quickly realize that I’m now officially racing the storm.
I start to wonder why the hell there’s a large party happening on the eve of what feels like a good sized blizzard; then I consider who probably set it all up.
It then sits in that my earlier thoughts on the night were accurate.
I make my way past the town and it occurs to me that whether I liked it or not, I just committed myself to going to a Pinkie Pie Party tomorrow. Sleep would be a very much needed thing and in a large quantity would be preferred. Some more cuss words slip out and this time I’m not on the receiving end of an angry glare.
It is with great relief that I get to my house. It’s a small two story structure a little ways past Ponyville. It’s a good hike away from the forest. I get to the door and let myself in. I don’t lock my door; it’s that kind of community. I let my saddlebag hit the floor and go straight for where my fireplace is. I can’t quite account for starting the fire since I’m really just that tired. The fresh embers light up the simple room. Now that I think about it there was already a fire going. All I did was add wood and guarantee that it will still be going in the morning.
These enchanted pieces of lumber go a long way.
I slowly make my way upstairs and I become increasingly aware of how tired and sore I am. That saddlebag was heavy. I climb into my bed and just let go. I toss a bit trying to get comfortable. I think about Pinkie, her smile, everything…In the back of my head I can hear the hammering of a train.
I sit up and want to scream. I’m still on the train. I’m not home. I’m not in bed. I groan and stretch and the train comes to a stop. Stretching again I grab a heavy grey saddlebag and step out of the private cabin into the hall. It’s occupied by several Ponies who seem to be oblivious to m presence.
I guess in reality they’ve gotten used to the idea of Changelings living among them. The doors out of the train open and I make my way outside. The last rays of the setting sun greet me. An uncomfortable chill hits my body as I step onto the platform and some details of the dream start to sink in.
It brought back fond memories to be honest. I didn’t know her name back then. The first time I met Pinkie Pie I took cannon fire to the back. The second time was on a cold winter night after I had slipped on ‘wiggly stones’ which I later learned was a prank played by the former Master of Chaos. I’m taken from memory lane when a blur of pink tackle hugs me to the ground.
I smile to myself as I hug back. It’s going to be one of those nights.
She lets me up and I soak in her smile.
The cold air isn’t really as noticeable now which is a tad odd considering I just came out of a warm full body embrace delivered in mid air at high velocity. Surprisingly enough my back doesn’t hurt too badly and my saddlebag didn’t suffer any noticeable damage. I do wince a tiny bit as some soreness builds where my wings used to be. It stings the back of my mind a bit when I recall that in my dream I had them. The pink cheerful Earth Pony in front of me is smiling from ear to ear and looks like she’s waiting for something. I just nod and brace myself.
Some quiet moments pass by without any of us saying anything. She inches a small bit forward and her anxious grin seems a bit more pronounced. She squeaks slightly and inches a bit more. I wonder how long I can drag this out before she outright asks. Truth be told; I’m enjoying this.
“Sooooo...” Pinkie Pie inches a bit closer as she inquires “Did you remember?”
She hops a step forward gets a tad more excited.
“Did you did you did you did you huh huh huh huh huh?”
I carefully set my saddle bag down and open one a tiny pocket on the side as if I’m offering humble sacrifice to a vengeful god. Pinkie Pie nudges it with her hoof and looks at me again. Her smile somehow gets broader and I elect to just let her have it. I slowly dig into the small compartment and with a hook like stub on my hoof I fish out a small square object. It’s a very thin parcel tightly wrapped in foil and is a perfect square about an inch in length on its sides. It’s a metallic blue package with golden stripes and a few small honey bees in the corners. She eyeballs it the way her friend Twilight might regard a carved stone slab that predates the invention of pottery.
“I Pinkie Pie promised didn’t I?” I say confidently as she continues to gaze hungrily at the small square of chocolate now resting on my hoof raised about chin level on her. “A package of Honeycomb Mana. Here you go.”
She takes the candy from me and delicately pulls back the corner of the foil and just as carefully opens the wrapper. With surgical precision she takes the small morsel from its colorful shell as if she’s handling highly volatile material. She licks her lips in anticipation and hefts the offering and takes a small sniff of its surface as if trying to gauge its value. She raises it to her eyes and inspects the surface and takes note of the small ridges caused by the honeycomb pieces resting in the dark chocolate slab. She then carefully drags the corner of her other front hoof along the edges as if doing so to confirm that it is a perfect square with perfect ninety degree angles. With exceedingly high standards she regards the offering and hefts it again.
Abruptly the tender inspection is shattered and she promptly gobbles it.
Only Pinkie Pie would outright devour an eighty bit piece of chocolate.
She beams at me again and my reward is another hug. This time I’m not knocked down but rather treated to a loud and fast jumble that sort of resembles ‘Thank you’ repeated many times. I don’t fight her off because I don’t want to let go. When she finally releases me I take the window to get some words in.
“I have some stops I need to make before I get back to my house…would you like to meet me there…if you don’t have other plans?”
She hops a few circles around me as she responds.
“Nope! No plans! I just kept four eyes on your house like I said I would and then came to meet you at the train station and then you came out and gave me chocolate that I asked if you to get while you were gone which you did which was delicious and now I’m doing nothing! I’ll meet you back at your place!”
I exhale and take in the fact that I had held my breath in anticipation. I asked her to watch my house for me while I was gone and guessed that the other pair of eyes belonged to a toothless alligator. I watch her bounce away and become aware that most of the ponies have left the station. I put my saddlebag back on and start walking.
I think about the tender area where my wings used to be. I miss flying.
I push the thoughts out of my head. I’ve got two stops to make before I get home and I don’t want to keep her waiting too long. I take note of the steadily rising moon and guess the time. Logically I should visit the Cakes first, but to be honest I’m nervous as hell.
The cold air motivates me into walking again and I elect to get that simple yet complicated visit done. I try to remind myself exactly while I’m likely to get a favorable reaction when my train of thought is halted. Right in front of me is Carrot Cake. He just turned a corner and is patiently trotting in my direction. He doesn’t look like he carries any ill will but something about his pace and steady gaze suggests that he just might if pressed.
I stop and let him approach me, which might have been polite among Changelings but not that I think about it just might come off as arrogant from a Pony’s perspective. Seriously; he looks like he has something important to say and I make him come all the way over here…yeah…might come off as a tad arrogant.
I nearly jump as he speaks.
“Antares…right?”
“Yes Mr. Cake” I reply with a small degree of nervousness. “I actually wanted to ask you something…”
His powerful stance and protruding lower jaw in this low level of light makes me pause. He’s looking less and less like somepony I want to meet alone in a dark alley. It looks like he knows exactly what he wants to say but he just nods at me. I take that as a gesture for me to get on with it.
“I guess it’s obvious to you that I’m…infatuated with Pinkie. I’m plan on asking her if she wants to move in with me. I’d like to ask for your blessing…since from what I know she’s like a daughter to you and Mrs. Cup Cake.”
I’m reminded of the phrase ‘Ponies don’t kill Ponies; fathers with beautiful daughters kill Ponies’. For a moment I keep eye contact and notice a distinct twitch. He speaks up with formidable degree of confidence.
“I’m…I’m not used to the idea of Changelings…living in Ponyville. I can’t forget what happened in Canterlot; and I’m not ready to forgive your Queen Chrysalis” He pauses as if sizing me up to guess what manner of opponent I might be and then goes on “But…you make Pinkie Pie happy. You’ve never once hurt her…or tried anything funny…and you’ve tried to be a friend to my family…”
He pauses again and I take note of the restraint in his voice. He’d like to tell me off but instead he’s electing to remain civil. He continues and I keep listening.
“You’re…not the worst Changeling I’ve met…and I guess she had to start dating eventually…”
He trails off and just nods. I calm down a considerable degree. I guess I understand his feelings and tension. He had two newborns during the siege of Canterlot; there was no argument that he had the most to lose. I’m shaken back into defense mode as he abruptly speaks up.
“If you ever break her heart…or even chip it a little…” He inches closer and I thankfully suppress the reflex to get a little closer myself to show respect to his challenge. “Take…take good care of my Pinkie…she’s been like a daughter to me…she showed me that I really can take care of children…she helped save my marriage…she helped save our business…she worked for half a year without pay when that drought that hurt out flour supplier almost ran us under…”
Abruptly the older stallion hugs me and I’m not entirely sure if I should hug back. His voice begins to break and he gives me one last statement.
“Take care of her. I know I’m not her real dad but sometimes it really felt like she was my daughter.”
He leaves and I thank the stars that saw the whole thing that I did not lean aggressively towards him when he made his subtle threat. A Changeling respects a challenge by approaching a degree that is equal to the challenger. I’m not exactly a powerful Changeling but my appearance and fangs suggest that I might be. I think that part of him was looking for a reason to hit me. Some Ponies don’t fully trust us and considering our history I honestly don’t fully trust most of them either.
I’m suddenly glad that I’m not much of a fighter. Heck losing my wings cost me a lot of confidence in what strength I do have.
A slight breeze shakes me to back to the here and now. The hard errand just got taken care of quite simply; so in theory the next one is going to be difficult.
It feels like it’s going to be one of those nights.
I just wish that my gut instinct decided on exactly whether or not it was going to be a good night or very much the opposite.
I steel myself and start walking again. I need to see Princess Twilight Sparkle about some unsettled business.
I swear that the moon is glaring at me…