New Dawn

  After searching for nearly three days in a row for the damned Changeling nest, we finally decided to take five and head back to Ponyville. I needed to look after the ponies anyways. Twilight and I went to the treehouse to get some much needed rest. I removed my armor and placed it in it's case. I then sat down in a nearby chair with a heavy sigh. If the Changelings were goo at something, it'd be hiding their nests. Twilight came from behind me and draped her fore hooves over my shoulders.

"Jeez, those Changelings amazing at hiding their nests." She said.

"And I was just now thinking about that." I snorted.

  Twilight chuckled and slid her hooves off of my shoulders and walked in front of me before laying down. I leaned forward in my chair and rested my elbows on my knees.

"So, is there anything that someone like me could do that's productive around here?" I asked.

Twilight tapped her chin while humming. "I don't think so." She replied. "Don'tcha think you should go out and meet other ponies?"  She asked.

"I guess..." I muttered.

  I stood up from the chair and made my way for the door. I walked around town for a bit trying to find somepony to meet when I spotted that odd minty green pony again. I guess she's as good as any. I walked towards her and she noticed me and smiled. She sat on a bench with a drink in her hoof. I took a seat next to her and introduced myself.

"Hello." I said.

"Hey!" The mare responded. "You're a human, right?" She asked.

"Uh, yes. I am." I replied.

"Ah ha! I knew humans existed, but nopony ever believed me! They just thought that I was ranting about anthropology. But I knew humans were real!" She exclaimed.

"Hmm... Got a name?" I asked.

"What? Oh yeah, it's Lyra. Lyra Heartsrings." Lyra replied.

"Well it's nice to meet you Lyra. My name is Xavier."

"Very nice to meet you Xavier... uhm... do you mind if I...?" She asked reaching out to me.

  Her hoof touched my chest and slowly slid down my body. Lyra let out a shaky sigh, as if she just made the greatest discovery. Well, she kinda did. She was practically obsessed with humans, and nopony believed her. Well, now they should, because I'm sitting right here. Plain as day. Lyra removed her hoof from my chest and giggled.

"Humans feel weird." She giggled.

"How so?" I asked.

"I honestly don't know. You're just, a little bit squishy."  She answered.

Great... now I'm fat according to Lyra...

"But hey! At least I've proved that humans are real!" She exclaimed.

"Yep. We're real alright." I said.

"So, what do you humans do for fun?" Lyra asked.

"Fun... I've never experienced 'fun' before." I replied.

"WHAT?!" Another voice shouted randomly.

  I felt like I was about to jump out of my jumpsuit at the sudden scream in my ear. I looked forward to see a bright pink mare with a dark pink mane staring at me in awe.

"YOU'VE NEVER HAD FUN BEFORE?!" She asked rather loudly.

"Uh, no. I haven't. Can you stop screaming now?" I replied.

  The pink mare jumped into the air and gasped loudly before disappearing from sight. I looked around in utter confusion. Apparently that mare can break the fourth wall. That could be useful... I guess if you think about it correctly. I looked at Lyra who was staring at me.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's just Pinkie. She's the Odd-One-Out in Ponyville, just ignore the things that she does." Lyra replied.

  I nodded while looking around. Lyra and I talked for a little while longer about what the ponies did and what I did as a Forerunner. After a while, one of Lyra's friends came over and took her away. I said goodbye and left the bench to go find something else to do. I wandered the marketing area, examining the foods and other things that they sold. I eventually came across what looked to be a boutique. I knew that I had no business here. What would I need from a boutique? A new jumpsuit? I walked past the boutique, continuing my search for something to do.

  Once I ran out of options, I decided to head back to the treehouse. Besides, Lyra was the only pony (other than Twilight who was busy, Rainbow Dash who is in the sky and I haven't fixed my jet-pack module, and Fluttershy who's hurt still... I hope she gets better soon) I could talk to. Speaking of the jet-pack module, I should get back to that. I don't really need anything except a few scrap metal and some fuel, or something that could be used for fuel.

  I walked inside of the treehouse and found my jet-pack module sitting on the nearby table. And from the looks of it, someone had been tinkering with it. I examined it closely and that certain somepony's tinkering fixed it. Saves me the search for scrap and fuel. I picked it up and threw it over my shoulders before walking outside. I adjusted the jet-pack and looked up at the sky. Let's see if I could still use this thing. I bent my knees before leaping into the air while activating the jet-pack. I went a good sixteen feet off the ground before the jet-pack sputtered out of fuel. Close, but no cigar.

  I fell back to the ground with a hard impact. I grunted as I stood up and looked around. Nopony really payed attention to what I just did. I shrugged and walked inside again. I saw Twilight walking downstairs. She saw me and sighed.

"Oh, there you are." She sighed.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"No, just noticed that you took... whatever that is." She replied.

"Hmm? Oh yeah. Thanks for fixing it, but there's no fuel in it." I said while banging on the fuel tank.

"Oh. Right..." Twilight muttered with a sheepish smile along with a light blush on her cheeks.

"So this day has been a bit relaxing... surprisingly." I groaned.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Well, for starters, Forerunners rarely get any breaks at all. We're constantly moving around, moving things, fixing things, lifting things, and building things. So there's practically no time on our hands. Which is pretty bad, knowing me, I've only got twenty-three hours of sleep in my life. So I feel like I've earned this."

"Wow." Twilight sighed.

"Yeah. Welp, I'm going to add some time onto that sleeping-streak. So if you don't mind, I'm going upstairs." I said.

  I walked up the stairs, struggling to stand tall and not lose my posture. Which was hard after what I just said about the twenty-three hours of sleep. I opened the door and closed it behind me. I turned to see Spike laying in his own little bed, with his arms, legs and tail hanging off of it. He snored lightly as drool slowly dripped from his open mouth. I limped over to the bed and collapsed onto it's welcoming softness. I pulled the blankets close to me and groaned as I slowly fell asleep.