The Misfortune of Kiwi Blitz

Chapters

The Beginning of Kiwi Blitz
The Awesome Arrival of Kiwi Blitz
The Welcoming of Kiwi Blitz pt1
The Welcoming of Kiwi Blitz pt2
The Welcoming of Kiwi Blitz pt 3
The Introduction of Kiwi Blitz pt1

The Beginning of Kiwi Blitz

“Um...say what?”

I stared at the old man before me, raising an eyebrow as high as it can go to express my skeptical confusion at what he'd just told me.

“What, did you not hear me? I was certain I had spoke loud enough for my words to have reached those little ears of yours,' the old man regarded me with shimmering amusement in his eyes. He sat across the table from me in the little game shop, and boy was he a sight!

He sat in the chair with one leg crossed over a knee, leaning forward in our conversation with the kind of interest that I'd describe as either disturbing or unsettling... yeah, probably both. He wore a strange sequin suit of multiple colors, the torso of the jacket being mostly a dark brown, with a splotch of purple and blue on his sides, closer towards his back. The left sleeve of the sequin jacket was a golden yellow, like the kind you'd see on a eagle's claw, the right sleeve was a light tan. The tail of the coat was a rich brick red, and the way the material sparkled under the overhead lights made me think of a dragon's scales. The sequin pants were the same, with the left leg a darker tan than the jacket sleeve, more of a milk chocolate, while the right was a grass green. To add to this loony ensemble, the old man wore mismatched shoes. The left shoe looked to be a boot with a really thick sole, I think they're called 'platform shoes'? Anyway, he also wore a high-heel on his right foot, and I was appalled to find he pulled it off very well.

“No, I heard you, I definitely heard you, dude,' I sighed, rubbing the side of my jaw. The looked up into his strange looking face. I couldn't help be think he looked kind of familiar....” I just was caught off by that joke.”

“Hmm? While I love a good joke as much as the next guy, I'm afraid I didn't mean it in any way to be taken as one,' he glanced down and took interest in his nails as he talked. “Besides, it wasn't even remotely funny, so I don't see why you'd make such a mistake. Now, if you want to hear a joke, I got a really killer one about the a genie and a banana cream pie....”

I forced a grin. “I'm sure it's just hilarious, but I'm not really interested in any jokes right now...” I said calmly and with an apologetic tone.

The old guy frowned, then shrugged as if it didn't matter one way or the other. “Have it your way.' he said, sounding like he was getting bored of the conversation. “Now, do I need to repeat myself or did you decide to take me up on my offer yet, hmm?”

I leaned over the table, propping up on my elbows and resting my chin on the palms of my hand. He couldn't possibly be serious about what he just said, nobody is that far gone and deluded, are they? My eyebrows came together, scrunching up as I set a level gaze at the guy.

“The offer to send me to Equestria...” I said carefully, trying to seize this guy up. My brown eyes meet his weird yellow, bloodshot ones. I swear he looks so familiar, I just can't remember where I remember him from... Maybe we met at a convention? The might be it. He did just come up out of the blue and struck up a conversation about My Little Pony with a random person he'd never spoke to before. Comb my brain as I might for any other possible explanations, and unfortunately I pulled up a blank. There was just no way he'd know I was a brony otherwise. I had walked into Muse Comics and Games about two hours ago, around noon on a Wednesday, to get my monthly fix of comics. I'd bought my favorite superhero mags and took them to the gaming area in the back of the store to sit and ride them. I was pretty big, a good 5'11” with broad, broad shoulders and shaggy head of brown hair and beard that made me look like Grizzly Adams. I was wearing my AC/DC hoodie and had rolled my sleeves up to flaunt me sinewy arms in the chance that the cute girl at the counter would check me out( not gonna lie, I am pretty nervous when I like a girl, and my go to had been to try to get them to notice me by giving a free 'gunshow'....It's embarrassing to think about, but shut up, I'm desperate kay?) when the old man had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, asked to sit down and idly mentioned something about the new season of Friendship is Magic. We got to talking after that, sharing our favorite ponies and favorite moments. We debated the quality of the 3rd season, a nightmare of a topic that most bronies seem to be 50/50 on, we started laughing about the plot holes and mistakes made by the characters, and so on and so forth. It was a really good conversation too, the old guy really knew his stuff (That gave me a sense of deja vu, that sentence....I'd heard something like it before......).

“Yes, that's the very one I'm talking about. Good, it seems you do listen after all,' the guy chuckled, using a long nail on one finger to pick at his teeth about this one particularly large canine that hung over his lower lip. It was like that one tooth was to big for the guy's mouth and had no choice but to stay exposed to the world, away from the comfort of all his little teeth comrades and friends and family.... It made me conscious of my own choppers, which I ran my tongue over from the privacy of a closed mouth. Everything felt alright to me... “Now, what do you say? It's within my power to let you experience Equestria for yourself. “

I watched the man for a second before responding. “That would be great...if it actually existed. Which it doesn't' I stated firmly, both to the poor deluded man in front of me, and also to my own over-active imagination that had started to get me excited. “The world of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic isn't real, so it's impossible for you to send me there.”

“Oh please, sometimes I get so tired of hearing things like that,' the gentleman before me made no effort to hide the roll of his eyes. “Nothing in life is truly impossible, my young brony friend, as long as you keep an open mind.”

“Science would disagree with you...” I pointed out. Science had proven that some things just weren't ever going to happen. Not that I knew the exact way it said so, but I did know that I couldn't go dimension hopping like that.

“Oh, science shmience!' he waved his hand in a dismissive way, snorting at the word. “I've proven science wrong so many times in my life, I'm surprised Science hasn't hung it's head in shame and embarrassment by now. No, my intelligent young man, Equestria is as real as you or me. Ponyville is a real place, Canterlot is a wonderful city, and of course, the ponies are real. Twilight Sparkle is really a magical princess egghead, Applejack is an honest, hardworking mare who farms the best tasting apples you'll ever eat, Rainbow Dash is really as loyal and full of herself and her speed as the show says, Pinkie Pie is...well, Pinkie Pie, Rarity really does own a fashionable clothing shop, and dear, sweet Fluttershy is just as adorable and kind and timid as the all the fanboys love her to be. And you could meet them easily, with my help.”

I'd be lying if I said a little spark of hope didn't flicker into my heart as I listened to the smooth voice of this old chap....Gosh, he really sounds like someone I've seen on TV....A character from Star Trek, I think? Anyway, the way he spoke of the world of Equestria, though it was sparse of detail and short, he really sounded sincere in his explanation...he sounded so sure of what he was saying, that my favorite show real existed, in some place somewhere. It sounded really good, too....I bit my lip. It was clear I was struggling with my desires and my rational mind.
“But...that can't be true.” I said finally.

“And why not?” he asked innocently.

“Because it's not real.”

He smirked. “And who's to say this is?”

I blinked twice at that, and gaped up at the man. “What?”

“How can we tell, really, what's real and what isn't real, hm? Who's to say that this world exists at all? Maybe this is all just a dream? Maybe this life full of science and physics and mankind is the cartoon, made for the entertainment of the foals of My Little Pony, to give them something to watch and learn life lessons and morals from? How do we define 'existence'?” he argued. I smiled, because I was mostly awake during class when we discussed this back in high school.

“Something exists if it is witnessed, if I'm not mistaken,' I said in my own words, because honestly I couldn't remember anything scientific and defining after all these years. “Therefore, by playing witness to you and the stuff around me, I can determine this is real.”

I crossed my arms smugly and leaned back in my chair. Aw yeah, I got you, dude! Let's see you come back from that.

He chuckled. “And you watch the show, do you?”

I frowned, confused. “Uh..yeah, we talked about that.”

“So, would you say you...'witnessed' the episodes of the show?”

“Yeah.”

“So by your logic, and correct me if I'm wrong,' he started, making me realize what I'd just admitted to. “if the only defining thing that allows something to exist is by being witnessed by another living being, then would that not mean that the world of My Little Pony would exist? Be your definition?”

I hesitated. “Well.....I guess technically.....that interpretation of what I said could be...valid...' my words came out cautiously, as if a wrong word would jump back around and bite me. “But!-”

“But nothing, my dear boy! We've established that Equestria exists, and since it exists, you can indeed visit it, now can't you?' he cut me off, a smug expression on his face. He stood up. “Now, since you can visit it, that means I can send you there, and since I can send you there, you can simply agree to my offer and enjoy the ride, as it were.”

He leaned over the table and put his strange face intensely close to mine, making me flinch back a bit. “Well?” he sang, expectantly, a wide smile forming on his face.

“....okay, let's say, for the sake of argument, I believe that what you say is true; that Equestria actually exists and you have the power, somehow, to send me there... Why would you do that for me?” I expressed one of my concerns about this offer. Not admitting anything here, just trying to keep an open mind and all....

His smile grew bigger and his eyes danced with merriment. “Why not?' he answered jovially.

I sighed. “What, you telling me you're just bored and sending people to mystic land of ponies and friendship to stave it off?” my question hit the air with a deadpan flair to it. Very proud of how developed my deadpan has become, so very dry and sarcastic. A good combo, if I do say so myself.

“That's right.' he said, a genuine happiness to his voice.

Hm....well okay then...

I stroked my furry chin with a contemplative hand, and my brow furrowed in thought. If this guy did, by some way granted by God(or Celestia, as it were), have the power to send me to Equestria, and I accepted, I had to wonder what I'd end up as. I was not a fool, I'd read enough fanfics about humans being sent to Equestria, and not all of them had the human get to keep their form. A lot of them, more often than not, were turned into something else.

Heck, I think the worst one was what happened to the guy in that one fanfic, where he got turned into a Diamond Dog. Sure, he eventually owned it as his own and got by well after a bit, but I don't know if I have the emotional fortitude to suffer through that like he did. So, I need to be very careful about this.

“Will I be a human when I get there?” I asked him, thoughtfully.

“Unfortunately, do to some laws of dimension traveling or something like that, you will have to change into something that actually exists in the world naturally.' he replied. I didn't quite believe him, not completely. He had an air about him that suggested he could send me there as a human, but for some reason he didn't want to, thus the weak reason.

“Alright, that's fine I guess...' he seemed satisfied that I acquiesced. “But, I don't want to be something random! I want to be a pony....I know! Can you make me my OC?” My face lit up at the idea. Oh, that'd be sweet if I got to be one of my own characters! And I knew just the one to be too. I'd be my character Ferty, a laid-back Earth pony with a love of watermelons and the means to grow them. I grinned as I remembered the times I roleplayed as the stallion with fondness. Really wish I could've remembered my password for his Twitter account....

“I can certainly make you an original character, with all the backstory and established relationships intact.' he laughed, puffing his chest up in a proud manner. Awesome! So, that means the characters I met during my roleplay would recognize Ferty? That'd be awesome! That would really make the trip that much more easy and fun. A fantasy ran through my head, of my big strong Earth pony with the red coat, purple mane and blue sunglasses hanging out with the friends he made, joking around with a pony as cool as Vinyl Scratch, or having friendly fruit selling competitions with Applejack. I couldn't wait!

“Yes! Okay, yes, I'll take you up on the offer if you can do that!' I said with much excitement, and stuck out my hand to shake on it. “Deal?”

The old man chuckled and I could've sworn his eyes flashed with a malicious intent as he gripped my hand in his. “Deal.' he said simply.

“This is gonna be super awesome! Thank you so much,' I nodded at him, my hopes up to really high levels.

“You're very welcome, my friend...' he purred, still holding onto my hand. I tried to pull my hand back, but his grip was like a steel trap. Suddenly, I was starting to get nervous, my palms were sweating....wait, that wasn't because of my nerves....the man's hand started to emit such heat that I was afraid my hand might melt. I started to struggle, trying with all my might to pry my hand from his strong mitt. “Have a fun trip, and remember: You asked for it~' He whispered, before bursting into a cackle. My eyes widened in surprise, as the heat grew to an intolerable level, causing me to hiss through my teeth in pain. I finally managed to wrench my hand from the stranger's grip and looked at my hand, to assess how badly I was burnt.

My breath caught in my throat.

The tips of my fingers had turned an ash gray, and slowly started to crumble away. The grey color slowly worked its way up fingers, as I watched in abject horror as I disintegrated in real time. I let out a surprised yelp of pain, as I held up my other hand, seeing the same process starting their. My mind raced and tried to think up away to get out of it. Who should I call to fix this? Ghostbusters? The Sorcerer Hunters? Doctor Who? Heck, I'd take help from the freaking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at this point, as long as they could help me! My heart raced faster and faster, convinced I was going to die.

I was going to die. That had to be what was happening.

And it's my own fault, too! I let my fanboy optimism and my stupid imagination make me believe this murderer in brony's clothing, thinking I was going to go to the land of milk and honey, but instead I'm going to the afterlife. Son of a bitch.

Not much was left of me at that point, my head and part of my upper torso was all that was left. I found my eyes drawn to the man, who still stood there, watching these happenings with a sick enjoyment. He wiggled his fingers at me in a taunting manner and I glared hard at him. That bastard, I'll get him back some how... I will haunt this mofo like a boss! Look forward to a ghost-infested wherever-you-live, you old goat! Vengeance shall be mine!

My eyes widened, as a thought hit me just before I was completely eaten up. That asshole did this before the new episode on Saturday! Damn it! How cruel is life going to-

I lay in an infinite void of black. I felt nothing. I thought nothing. I was nothing. There was nothing all around me, and I was at peace.

“Wake up...”

Huh? Was that a voice?

“Honey, wake up...”

Nah, it couldn't be. I couldn't be hearing things, I was dead. The only way I could have been hearing something in the afterlife was if I actually believed in an afterlife, which obviously I didn't, so there for there was no possible way that I was hearing anything. I was dead. I was nothing. Food for the worms, baby. That's all we are once we kick the bucket. And I did indeed kick the bucket, there's just no amount of medical attention in the world that can fix 'turned into ash and faded away'. I don't care how far technology has come. There's just no way!

I felt something hard, yet soft at the same time, poke me in my side. I wiggled around in my state of death, and groaned my protest to the prodding whatever it was. Geez, can't a guy get any peace after he was vaporized?

“Come on, sweetie, time to get up,' the voice was more distinct now. It sounded rather angelic, with a bit of a husky tone it, a very pleasing feminine sound. “We're almost at there, we're going to have to get off the train soon.”

“Ah, just let the poor girl sleep, Dusk.' a new voice piped in. It was clearly male, and sounded a bit raspy. “We got another good thirty minutes or so, she can nap till then. ' the voice yawned. “Kid's got the right idea...”

I tried to process what I had heard, but my mind was finding it hard to give a damn. It was as if my head was full of tapioca pudding and my brain had to swim through it to focus on any thought. I wiggled and rolled over onto my side, subconsciously noting how akward my body felt now.

“She's slept the whole trip, Sunflash,' the female voice protested, taking on the familiar tone of “I'm the woman and I'm right' that many ladies took with their husbands. I assumed the voices were married, anyway... it was hard to think with my pudding brain. It also sounded like they had a daughter, apparently. “At this rate, she's going to be up all night and throw her sleep schedule out of whack.”

The male voice didn't respond with words, though I heard some hearty snoring. The female, “Dusk” apparently, sighed.

I wiggled around again as the prodding started up again. “Kiwi, wake up. Right now, young lady.” Dusk said, her tone leaving little room for negotiation.

“Can't, dead' I murmured in a voice different from my own. I was going to roll over again, but I froze. Maybe it was because of the lilting girl voice I had just spoken in, or maybe it was the weird protrusion sticking out from my shoulders, but I suddenly realized that several things were wrong. For one, I realized I was very much alive. I was breathing and everything. So, cool, yeah that was a plus. I had expected to be dead though, so I considered it to be wrong. But whatever.

I opened my eyes and sprang upright. I looked about me, and realized that I was indeed on a moving train. I was standing up on one of the benches, my feet sinking slightly into the comfortable red velvet cushions that a glance up and down the car told me was attached to each bench.

My heart rate increased, and I breathed quickly as I finally noticed the passengers on the train with me. Little equine figures littered much of the booths along the car, some sitting on their haunches and looking out the window at the colorful hillsides passing by, some were napping, others were traveling in groups, talking and laughing. Everywhere I looked, a rainbow of pastel colors shot out at me. The train and it's inhabitants looked very much like the show. The world seemed rather cartoony, I had squinted at the other passengers and was amused to find that the ponies had outlines! Outlines! Not much more cartoony than that! And the strange thing was, it looked good. I was in awe at the lush detail and beauty of the things around me. The show does not do the visuals justice. It was just....there was no definite way to describe how great and wondrous everything looked. How natural it was in it's own universe. I felt the urge to salute the beauty around me, but luckily I managed to keep my hoof down.

Wait...

I blinked and glanced down at myself and a squeak of a gasp emitted from my throat, much to my later embarrassment. Instead of the light peach tone of a human hand I had originally expected, there was a lime green hoof staring back at me. I opened and closed my mouth dumbly, and looked all over me. I craned my neck over a shoulder and saw my small pegasus body. I couldn't get a good view though.

“Kiwi, honey...are you alright? What's wrong?” the voice spoke to me, in concern. I turned my head to the source and was dumbstruck by the sight. Sitting on the bench next to me was quite possibly the most beautiful mare ever seen before. She had a long, luscious, silky mane of a mango orange, with a matching tail, both immaculately taken care of. Her coat was a pineapple yellow, brushed to perfection, her whole body seemed to shine, even her cutie mark of a spotlight. Her face had such a gorgeous appearance, and not a bit of make-up adorned her lovely features. Her bright malachite eyes were big pools of color, brimming with intelligence and an alluring promise of some kind. Even her look of worry as she stared back at me was flawless, accented by her horn and beauty mark under her right eye.

A loud snore brought me to snap my head to the bench across from us, and my eyes widened again. At least they were getting a good workout.

Laying draped across the whole bench in a less than flattering pose, was pony I recognized. That blue coat, that spikey mane, those wings. Instantly, my mind went back to the episode were the mane six explained how they got their cutie-marks. I remembered the Rainbow Dash foal in the flashback, sitting on this stallions shoulders. It was Rainbow Dash's father/brother! I don't know! The jury was still out on this guy in the brony community. Some people thought he was her older brother, some people thought he was her dad. It depended heavily on each person's own 'fanon'.

I turned my attention back to the mare besides me.

“Uh...um, w-where is the bathroom on this thing?” I asked hesitantly.

The gorgeous mare blinked twice and pointed a hoof down the aisle past me. “It's at the end of the car, there on the right dear.' she said, seemingly over the strangeness I just exhibited. “Are you gonna be okay?” She regarded me with a motherly concern.

I forced a big smile, showing my pearly whites. “O-ofcourse! Just...gotta use the restroom, that's all. Don't worry...heh heh,' I reassured her nervously. She raised a skeptic eyebrow, but said nothing.

Carefully I slid off the seat, and lowered onto all fours. I concentrated hard, I had to do this right or risk giving the nice lady pony reason to worry. Just one hoof at a time. Right front, right back, left front, left back, good so far. I wobbled for just a second, and there was a moment were my coordination faltered and I almost tripped, but with my mind on the task I quickly made it to the designated bathroom.

The door looked a lot like an airplane bathroom, the little sign currently read “Vacant”. I blinked and wondered for a moment how I was able to read that, and for that matter was able to speak the language, but decided that that's a worry for another time.

I walked into the little room, and pushed the door closed behind me. With a bit of effort, I managed to turn the latch and lock the door behind me(found out brass tasted nasty in the process,yuck!).

The bathroom was very small, as would be expected. It was no bigger than the average closet, with just enough room to fit a toilet and sink into, with a bit of room to move around.

I looked to the toilet, and looked in it to sate my curiosity. The rapidly moving railroad track zoomed by below me and I shuddered. So, if someone did their business, it would end up like a drunk hobo would if they slept on the tracks of an oncoming train. I turned my head from the porcelain throne and rid my head of those gruesome thoughts.

I trotted the few feet from the toilet to the seat, and stood up on my hind legs, balancing my front hooves on the counter. The was a mirror pinned to the wall just behind the sink's faucet, and I looked into it. A young, cute pegasus filly stared back at me with the same expression of anxiety I was wearing. I looked to be about the same age as the Cutie-Mark Crusaders. My thin face frowned, taking note of a familiar pair of malachite colored eyes staring back at me.

“So she's my mother, I'm guessing...' I muttered to myself, lifting my chin up and turning my head from side to side. My coat was lime green and my mane was an emerald. I flexed some muscles in my back until I found the ones that controlled my wings. I spread them out, and noticed just how big they were on such a small filly like me. I wasn't sure what the average wing-size was for a pony, especially at this age, but it seemed to me that I had bigger than average wings. I couldn't help but feel bad for Scootaloo, who had the opposite problem as me.

Speaking of...

Now, I'm sure lots of you would frown upon this next part, but it's not like I did it for the thrill or anything. And it was my body now, as far as I knew, so with a certain question in mind...

I checked out a foal's plot.

With the reminder of a my new body's young age, and having just thought of one of the CMC, I was curious. Unceremoniously, I twisted around and lifted my green flank up to lean against the counter, and looked into the mirror. My flank was thin and athletic, but more importantly, it was blank. I readied myself for any teasing I would be subjected to by a certain Alpha Bitch and her lackey, if this train was heading to Ponyville like I assumed it was.

Ponyville.

That's in Equestria.

My face lit up into an excited grin of joy and expectations. It had worked!

I had no choice but to accept it, and the warm feeling of elation in my little chest told me that I wasn't exactly adverse to the idea. My attention was drawn to a certain detail as my flank was still pointed at the mirror that would make Rule 34ers blush, but just made me sigh as I dropped off the counter and exited the bathroom.

“Okay, so my manhood is gone, but that's just another piece of evidence that I'm neither dead nor dreaming...' I lamented to myself quietly, my cute filly voice sighing as I spoke.

Making my way back to the booth my parents(?) occupied. Some random ponies smiled and waved to me as I passed, I gave a small smile and a nod in response. They seemed like a nice bunch of ponies.

“Welcome back, Kiwi,' my mother smiled as I climbed back to my seat. I noticed that the male pegasus was up now, studying what looked like a map. “You were gone a long time, were you exploring the train?”

Huh, was I really in the bathroom so long? A quick glance out the window told me that, yes, I had been checking myself out for almost 30 minutes, if the train pulling into Ponyville's station was anything to go by.

“Uh...yeah, that's totally what I was doing! Trains are, uh, awesome!' I did my reasurring smile again, but then blinked and raised an eyebrow. “...Kiwi?”

The other mare matched my eyebrow raise. “That is your name, right? Kiwi Blitz, remember?” she said slowly.

Kiwi Blitz?....that sounds familiar...

The stallion laughed, and he got to his hooves. “Ah, lighten up, Island Dusk! She's just playing with ya, of course she didn't forget her own name. Nopony could do that, heh.' he chuckled and ruffled my hair with a wing. His eyes twinkled with affection. “Pretty good joke,though, Ki. You were pretty convincing too. Hey, maybe when we see your sister, us three can go pranking, eh?”

I laughed nervously, as I stepped back down from the seat and followed my parents out the booth and towards the open door. I cocked my head as a thought occurred to me.

“Sister?” I asked, confused.

My 'dad' chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Oh, please... as if you could forget your sister.' he shook his head, and looked at me from over his shoulder. “C'mon, Rainbow Dash is waiting for us.”

I went still from shock.

Rainbow Dash...is my sister??

That....that-!

I sighed heavily.

That is n00b level OC building.... Damn it, old man! You're making me look lame in front of the other bronies!

The Awesome Arrival of Kiwi Blitz

So, with the revelation of Rainbow Dash being my sister, I was able to figure a couple of things out. It's funny how the mind works when subjected to unexpected situations, isn't it?

Well, anyway, upon hearing that piece of information, I stopped dead in my little hoof tracks in the doorway. I blinked once. Then again. And then it all just sorta 'clicked' for me. Questions that I had slowly been forming in my brain were answered in one fell swoop of thought, a glorious conquest over confusion and my role here in the extremely green body of a young pegasus filly.

I remembered that, Kiwi Blitz, was in fact an OC of mine...I had actually been pretty miffed that I was in the big, strong, adult body of the old Fertmeister, and I was convinced that the old dude who sent me here had tricked me. But then I remembered something. I had asked him if he could make me an OC of mine, and he said yes. I never actually told him which OC I wanted to be, so as far the nutcase was concerned, I would imagine, he didn't stray from the perimeters of the deal one iota. Huh...that means that at that inevitable point in the future that I grow frustrated and disheartened in my situation, I can't blame all my troubles on him....Bogus.

Though, really, I don't think Kiwi should count as an OC. I mean, I only pictured her in my head one day while contemplating a character to roleplay as. I never actually got to flesh her personality and background out. All I did was say; “This is Kiwi Blitz, she is green, she has wings, she's somehow totally related to Rainbow Dash.” and fantasized about chilling with my vague relative in Ponyville for an hour or two. Don't give me that look, you know you've had pony-related fantasies and have no right to judge me. Yeah, that's better, glad we understand each other.

Another thing that clicked for me was the old man. Somehow, he had known about about Kiwi without me telling him about her. He just shook my hand, scattered me like dust in the wind, and bam! I was the little filly with the big wings and long bangs(seriously, they keep falling into my face, it's kind of annoying...). And, the only being capable of that kind of mind-reading could only be the patchwork god of chaos...Discord.

I mean, it's the only explanation that fits, right? I've read enough fanfics to know it just had to be him, ya know? I mentally kicked myself, because thinking back it was sooooooooooo obvious! The eyes, the mismatched suit, the snaggletooth and the fu manchu mustache! I knew he felt familiar, I just was caught off guard by his appearing as a human.

Though, I suppose you really shouldn't expect a powerful being like Discord to be predictable.....but wait, if all those fanfics are true, and he really does make a habit of sending all of us to Equestria, then wouldn't that mean he's being uncharacteristically consistent? My little face frowned in thought. Something about imagining Discord being predictable seemed wrong...

“Kiwi!' the call of my mother's voice broke me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see the beautiful mare and the rogueish stallion looking at me expectantly from the platform. “Hurry, sweetheart, you're going to be left behind.”

I gave a small, hesitant smile. “O-oh! Coming...Mom!” I replied and trotted into a small gallop to catch up. My mom shot a look at my dad, who just grinned in a laidback fashion and shrugged, before they turned around and resumed walking towards town. I fell into pace with the two of them, noticing how small I was. It was really rather unsettling being, I'd have to guess, two feet tall. I blow upwards to rid my vision of the emerald locks that needed a serious trim, and noticed I only came up to just under my parents shoulders.

I didn't know if I'd ever get used to that, being so small. Back home, I was above average in height, and was three feet at the shoulders. I was a huge beast of a young man who played varsity football and never let the defensive line get breached. I went to the gym three times a week, and I'll tell you bro; I did even lift.

So, to be this small, thin, cute technicolor talking pegasus was a huge step away from what I was used to. It was almost as weird as thinking about the two ponies leading the way to be my 'parents'.

I glanced up with my big malachite eyes and studied the two ponies chatting quietly before me.

Sunflash, I had gathered was his name, looked so much like Rainbow Dash you'd be hard pressed to not think about a relation between the two. Really, the only difference between the Way Past Cool(tm) Element of Loyalty and this older male was the mane and the eyes. While Rainbow Dash had her signature rainbow mane and tail, Sunflash's mane was a dark skyblue, with some grey starting to show through. And Dash's magenta color irises she certainly didn't get from her father, as the older stallion's eyes were a golden yellow, with flecks of amber sprinkled in that twinkled when he laughed. And the dude laughed a lot. I was hard pressed not to giggle(oh god, the girly sound would shrink my manhood if I didn't already lose it!) in his presence, the guy's laughter and good humor was infectious.

Island Dusk was no different from me. Whenever her husband cracked a joke or laughed, she couldn't help but titter quietly behind one hoof. The unicorn mare held herself completely different from the way Rainbow Dash did, and was much more serious and no-nonsense than Sunflash, that it was mind-boggling to think that she ever produced a pony as brash, bold, arrogant and hotheaded as Rainbow. As we walked along the hard dirt road, our hoof ringing out as if we were traveling over a cobblestone road, I listened in to the conversation they were having. Apparently, Island Dusk was a famous supermodel, rivaling Fluer de Lis or however you spell it, and she was actually getting ready to go on a world fashion tour.

Sunflash would apparently be going with her as a body guard. He had retired from the weather team years ago, when it was getting too much for him to handle, and that's when he'd met Island Dusk in a bar, and they'd fallen in love at first sight. I knew this because they got uncomfortably lovey-dovey at the memory and were rubbing their noses together and baby talking pet names to each other.

“An dat was when I fownd my Sugar-Wugar,' Sunflash cooed.

“An I fownd my wittle Sunbear~' the unicorn said sweetly, wiggling her nose against her husbands, as they laughed.

For some odd reason, I found myself gagging.

“Augh, gross!' I complained in exasperation, shaking the cutesy talk out of my little green head. I may not know them very well, but if I was their young daughter, this was my right to be appalled by PDAs by my parents. Heck, when I was in my early 30's I still reacted that way to my parents so much as giving eachother a chaste kiss!

Sunflash just laughed his raspy chuckle, and my head shook a little as he ruffled my mane. “Sorry, Ki. We forgot you were there!,' he grinned lazily. I couldn't help but feel a small grin of my own forming. “Kids never do get used to the idea of their parents being in love, eh? I know I always cringed when your Gram and Gran so much as pecked each other on the lips. Eyuck!” The grown stallion shivered at a repressed memory of parental affection, and I liked the guy even more. He was pretty cool! I could see him being my pops. I bet Rainbow Dash is how she is mostly in part of this guy.

“I know right?” I grinned playfully at him. “It's so wrong, because they're soooo ooooollllld...”

He rolled his eyes, and scooped me up into a headlock to give me a noogie. “I'll show you old, Squirt!' he said with mock offense and I couldn't help but lament my late manhood as I let out a giggle of delight. This elicited a laughed of affection from Sunflash, and a smirk of amusement from Island Dusk.

“Come on, dear,' she said after a while, playfully swatting Sunflash in the side with a bit of ocean blue magic. “We're gonna be late. We're meeting Rainbow Dash and her friends at the library at 4-o'clock, remember?”

Sunflash paused in his good-natured child abuse and glanced upwards. I followed his gaze, and saw a large clock tower in the center of Ponyville. The big timepiece churned away the seconds, as the hands on it's face indicated we had seven minutes till four. He nodded in agreement and let me go. “Yeah, we don't wanna keep Dash waiting. You know how impatient she can be...” he relented, and Island Dusk nodded in satisfaction as we started down the street again.

I took the time we were walking to glance about Ponyville with awe and excitement. The show did a good job of expressing how peaceful and colorful the little village was, but failed to do something else: express just how big this 'little' village was. I looked all about me with wide-eyes and a grin. This was so awesome! I'm actually in Ponyville! I laughed silently to myself as I absorbed my surroundings, recognizing landmarks and stores, and marveling at ones that haven't been seen in the show yet. All the buildings were the simple stone and wood constructs like on the show, with some differences between houses and store fronts. While the houses were all rather uniform in appearance, each of the stores were different colors and had varying details that set them apart from the others. Quills & Sofas was readily noticeable with the large sign of a sofa and a quill hanging over the front and the large bay windows that displayed multiple love seats and recliners. As we walked through the market place, I noticed one little store to the side that was immaculate, almost as if the owner had OCD and everything had to be just so; that was 'Button Stitch's Notions'. I wondered idly if that was were Rarity got some of her supplies...

As I looked about at all the wonderful shops and locations, I couldn't help but grin big at the background ponies I recognized by name. There was fan-favorite Ditzy/Derpy, whom I waved to while hopping a bit. The grey mare with the blonde mane and mismatched eyes blinked and then smiled cutely and waved back, taking her attention away from delivering a package to somepony, and instead of placing it on the stallion's hooves, she shoved it into his mouth by accident. I winced and quickly turned away. Nobody could blame me if I pretended I didn't see anything, and that's what I was gonna do. What mailmare? I haven't the foggiest of what you're talking about! Good day sir! I said good day!

Moving on from my alleged fault in some alleged mishap, I looked over to a little park area in the eastern area of Ponyville, and giggled as I waved to a certain mint green unicorn and candy-maned earth pony. Lyra smiled and waved back eagerly as she sat awkwardly on the park bench, Bon Bon waved back with a weak smile, as if her roommate/marefriend/best friend was embarrassing her. Lyra looked over at Bon Bon with a confused eyebrow raise and said something I could hear. Based an the nervous way Bon Bon had denied whatever was said, I'd imagine she was asked if something was wrong, and had told Lyra that nothing was wrong and everything was fine. What a good friend, not wanting to hurt her roommate/marefriend/best friend's feelings.

This went on for the rest of the trek to the library. I waved at Roseluck and the flower girls as they sold their delightful blossoms. I grinned at the slow-witted antics of Snips and Snails, as they were discussing a plan to became more 'macho'. I enjoyed a a free sample of a new recipe for banana bread that Ms. Cake was passing out to pedestrians (OH GOSH was it yummy!~). I blushed as I got a wave from Cloudkicker and Blossomforth, who both double blinked in confusion to my reaction. I shook my head as a goblin stealthily stole an apple from Big Mac's apple cart, oh those goblins!~

…Wait.

WHAT?!

I stopped in my tracks and did a double take of the scene, unsure if I had seen everything properly. Yep, I wasn't going crazy. Leaning out from a alleyway shrub behind the Apple family's cart, was a tiny little green creature. It stood roughly at 1 ½ feet tall, with stubby little legs and lanky arms ending in wicked looking yellow claws. It's face was pinched and vaguely dog-like in appearance, with big floppy bat-like ears and glowing red eyes. I couldn't believe my eyes, there really was a freaking goblin stealing from one of my favorite characters! It snatched an apple and opened it's mouth to take a bite, it's jaw loaded with so many sharp teeth it was a wonder how they fit in it's mouth.

“HEY!” I shouted at the tiny little green thing, and it's head whipped around to look at me. It froze in mid motion, then dropped the apple and bolted down the alley. “Oh no you don't, you little bastard!” I galloped as fast as I could after the little guy, vaguely registering Island Dusk calling after me.

“Scuse me!' I said to Big Mac as I dart behind his cart and down the alley.

“Eeeyup.” I heard him respond, nonplussed. Man, that guy was unflappable. Granted he didn't see the little snot, but you'd think he'd have questions for some strange filly squeezing by him and run down an alley. But nah, Big Mac is like a honey badger, he don't give a shit! Like BOSS! Insert other appropriate meme here! Yeah, Big Mac's cool.

I gave chase down the tight squeeze, surprised and thankful for how light a pegasus's body was. I ran faster than I ever hoped to, and soon saw the goblin fugitive running along on all fours. I was grateful that the thing was wearing a loincloth, otherwise this would've been a much more horrifying chase.

“Stop! Get back here!” I shouted as I closed the gap between us.

The creature turn to view me over one shoulder and yelped in surprise, before doubling his effort to get away. I grit my teeth and put the pedal to the metal as well. No way was this thieving little punk gonna get away from me! Not to mention how cool it was to actually see a real goblin!! All those years of Dungeons and Dragons had paid off!!...okay, not in the way I had expected, to be sure, but still.

The goblin quickly turned left down another alley, turning on a dime with little effort.

I was not so lucky.

I was so focused on catching the little bastard that I tried to take the turn the same way he did, not slowing down a bit, and it was then I realized my mistake. The goblin had nice, grippable claws to give him traction on the dusty dirt road and so he didn't need to slow down for that kind of a turn. I, however, had hooves.

With a start I slipped about as if I was trying to ice skate and not being good at it, and fell on my side, skidding into the corner of the adjacent alleyway with an 'omf!'. Ow, that really hurt... I got to my fee-er, to my hooves gingerly and looked down at my barrel, noticing an already visible bruise forming from my intimate contact with the brick wall. Strange, how the bruise showed through my fur, but I didn't linger on it. I trotted through the alley that the goblin had escaped through, but to no avail. I had hoped there would be some kind of evidence or clue as to where the little thing had gone, but I apparently wasn't that lucky.

“This isn't over, you over-used level 1 encounter....” I muttered in to the air, scowling in what was probably a cute manner, but I digress.

“Hey Kiwi! Where's the fire?” a voice came from above me and I looked up to see Sunflash flying overhead, coming down for a landing next to me. His eyes took a look of concern when he noticed the large splotch on my side. “Ouch, that is a wicked bruise! What happened? Why did you run off like that?” He gently touched my side with one wing, and I flinched slightly as it examined the bruise.

“I...I saw somebody-I mean, somepony stealing an apple. He ran away and I tried to catch him, but he got away...” I explained slowly, mostly because of the pain in my side, but also because I wasn't sure he'd believe me if I had told him I saw a little green man. “I didn't take a corner right, and eat the dirt because of it. It's not that bad, really...”

Sunflash leveled a frown at me. “Young lady, what were you thinking? That was really dangerous! If somepony is mean enough to steal from another pony like that, they could've done something much worse to you,' he scolded me, which was a bit of a surprise based on his character so far, but hearing the concern in his voice for his daughter made my ears droop and I glanced at the floor in shame. “Now, I know how much you look up to your sister and everything, but you're too young to go gala-vanting all on your own like that. You should've told me or your mother about it and let us handle it. You're just a little filly and I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you....You're lucky you got away with just a little bruise. Promise me you won't do this kind of thing again.”

I never felt so small in my life. Of course he was upset, he sees me as his daughter, his baby girl. His flesh and blood, and I recklessly ran after some unknown creature without some much as a heads up to what I was doing. And he was right, I realized, as I remembered that the little goblin has vicious looking claws and teeth...Who's to say it couldn't have ripped me to shreds and eaten me up? I shudder a bit at the idea of my time in Equestria ending as something's bowel movement...No thanks!

“I promise....” I said sadly, ashamed of myself. I couldn't help how disappointed I was in myself, for letting down Sunflash. Maybe it had something to do with being Kiwi Blitz, but it didn't really matter. I felt bad.

I felt myself pulled into a tight embrace and my eyes widened in surprise as Sunflash hugged me. I hesitated for a second, before lightly returning the gesture. It felt a little awkward to be hugging him, but at the same time it felt kind of good...

“I'm glad your okay.' he said before pulling back and looking at me at forelegs length. He grinned. “And don't tell your mother I ever said this, but I'm proud of you for doing what you did.”

I blinked in confusion. “You are?”

Sunflash nodded. “Yep! I'm definitely not happy you did it, but I am proud you felt the need to help somepony who was being taken advantage of. Anypony that would steal from another is scum, and I'm glad you can recognize that.” he chuckled and gave me a gentle noogie. I couldn't help but smile up at him as he winked. “Now come on, your mother is probably having kittens about how late we're going to be.”

I nodded and followed after him as he lead the way back to the main street. I couldn't help but hum a little bit, happy as I was. I was right before; Sunflash is the coolest dad ever!

We exited the alleyway from behind the apple cart, and again we apologized to Big Mac for the inconvenience, who once again took it in stride. Man, Big Mac is pretty awesome too.

I found myself in the desperate embrace of a worrying mother once we managed to get back to Island Dusk. She scolded me, told me loving things, scolded me again, fretted over my bruise, and lovingly scolded me. It took a minute to reassure her that I was okay, with some help from Sunflash, before she was satisfied and we walked down the rest of the way to the library. Mom decided to walk next to me and refused to let me out of her sight after that. I looked at all the smiles and grins of everypony in the area who saw us and felt my face flush in embarrassment.

A few minutes later and the large tree of our destination loomed in the near distance. Walking along the last bit of street we had to trek, I noticed that Twilight lives very close to Rarity, as Carousel Boutique was maybe only a block away from the 'treebrary'. Interesting...

With Sunflash leading the way, we made it to the front door of the library and walked right in, since we were expected. The well-made door swung open slowly and the three of us stepped inside, only to be greeted by darkness. Sunflash and Island Dusk blinked and looked around in confusion, but my eyes lit up knowingly. Ah, yes....I knew what was coming.

“Are you sure this was the right place?” Dusk asked Sunflash.

“Ofcourse it is, it said so in the letter.' he said defensively, before stepping forward into the blackness of the library. “Hello?”

Suddenly, the lights flashed on and I congratulated myself inwardly for being savvy.

“SURPRISE!!!!!”

In a flash of good-natured chaos, balloons and streamers fell from the ceiling, all kinds of ponies seemingly jumped out of nowhere and greeted us with humongous smiles, and the most humongous of them all belonged to a very familiar pink mare who surprised us the most.

“Welcome to Ponyville, Dashie's family!” Pinkie Pie popped out of the door itself, making us jump in surprise. She seemed to have devised a costume that hung onto the door itself, making it look bigger than it was, kind of reminding my of that ninja disguise were they blended into the walls with convincing camouflage. Very clever, Pinkie, very clever.

The pink mare was very similar to her show depiction, though you have to see it in person to really get all the details that aren't made apparent in the animation. Pinkie had a light pink coat, with a darker pink mane and tail. Up close, her poofy, curly hair style looked like it had the texture of cotton candy, and each individual strand was visible no matter how deep in her mane it went, it was pretty amazing actually. Hard to describe to you guys, again, you'd have to see it in person. Her big, blue eyes shone with a love for life and an curiosity in all around her. My god...she had just the most beautiful blue eyes I'd ever seen....they were just so blue and enthralling.....Like the sky itself was smiling at you. Her eyes were so pure and innocent, they could charm a baby bird out of it's nest. I had to blink a few times to stop myself from being hypnotized by the party pony.

“Oh my gosh it is so great to finally meet you guys, I've heard so much about you from Dashie, she's just been super duper excited, like that one time I heard about the legendary cake maker Chiffon and how he was making the masterpiece of his career but wasn't gonna make cakes after that, and so this was his last cake, like, ever and he was raffling it off to one lucky pony to eat all for themselves and I bought a raffle ticket and I was totally nervous, because what if I didn't win and somepony else got the scrumdiddlyumptious cake that I've been dreaming about for days and then I was a silly silly head because I did win and then I got the cake and got to share with all my friends, she's totally that kind of excited, and has been like Twilight when planning this party and -umhmfghmgb!” we were saved the legendary fast-talking abilities of the pink one by a cyan colored hoof in the mouth, which ofcourse didn't seem to stall Pinkie at all, as she continued on with her tirade despite having her mouth full.

Rainbow Dash appeared before us, rolling her eyes at her best friend's antics, and then looked at us with a happy smile. “Hey guys! Sorry about Pinkie, she's-”

“Just being Pinkie?” I 'guessed' what she was gonna say, and Dash grinned down at me.

“You said it!' she agreed, and in a blur of rainbow colors scoops me up into a tight hug. “I missed you, Kiwi! How ya been?”

I yelped in pain slightly as she squeezes my bruise. She looked at me with a quizzical expression, and I forced a grin. “Been alright, um,,Sis.' I laughed nervously. “Just got a bit of a bruise that you're squeezing, that's all...”

The Awesome One(tm) put me down and looked me over, before finding the bruise. She whistled low and shook her head. “That's a wicked bruise, sis... How'd you get that?” she asked, giving me a small sense of deja vu.

I shrugged like it was no big deal, trying to look cool in front of my big sister. “Eh, I had a little crash. Nothing to worry about. I'll tell you about it later.” I said, trying to like aloof.

Rainbow Dash grinned and ruffled my mane with a hoof. “Yeah, that's cool,' she said, winking at me. “I'm sure I got some stories to tell you too. We'll make a night of it, chyeah?”

I smiled and nodded eagerly.

Rainbow Dash nodded as that matter was settled and flew to Sunflash, tackling him with a firm hug, both of them laughing as they sprawled on the ground.
“Hahahaha! Oh, take it easy on your old man, will ya?” the stallion laughed and noogied his eldest daughter.

Rainbow Dash smirked as she let herself by noogied. “Oh yeah, you getting to old to hang any more? Is that what you're saying to me?' she teased with a big grin. “And here I thought you were cool.”

Sunflash gasped and narrowed his eyes. “I am the coolest pony ever and you know it!” he says, with a growl.

Dash grinned smugly and got right in our dad's face. “Maybe a long time ago, but newsflash old man,' she said with a similar growl. “I'm 20% cooler than you, Mr. 'coolest pony ever'. You're nothing but a has been now.....”

I blinked uneasily at this strange confrontation, unsure of what I was watching. I looked to the rest of the ponies in the party, but they weren't paying any mind to what was going on, doing their own thing and having a good time. I looked up to Island Dusk so see what I should be feeling, but her face was a mask. I jumped at the sound of raucous laughter and turned back to see Sunflash and Rainbow Dash with a foreleg around each other's shoulders and giving each other an affectionate squeeze.

“That's my girl!,' Sunflash laughed, fondness in his voice. “Never accept anything less than the best, Dash!”

“As if you gotta tell me,' Rainbow said, puffing out her chest. “I am so awesome, I never let anyone down, especially not you Dad.”

Sunflash grinned and nodded his approval, and came to stand next to me as Island Dusk stepped forward, tentatively. I instantly noticed the change in demeanor in my older sister. She stiffened ever so slightly, in the shoulders and the wings, and while she still smiled that trademark grin, I saw it didn't reach her eyes. Upon further inspection, Island Dusk had a similar body language. The tension was so thick, you'd need a +6 Sword to cut it....

I glanced up at my dad, and notice he wore his lazy grin, but he watched the exchange with some worry in his eyes.

What the heck was going on?

“It's good to see you....Rainbow,' Dusk said hesitantly, giving a hopeful smile.

“Uh....yeah, totally...' Rainbow said, sounding forced. “You look good, Island Dusk....but you'd have to be, since you're a model, right? Heh heh...heh...”

Island Dusk slowly nodded and forced an awkward chuckle. “Yes...heh...”

And for a few minutes the two of them just stared at each other, rubbing there frontlegs together in such an uncomfortably awkward manner, it was almost literally painful to watch.

Rainbow Dash looked up, a serious expression on her face. “Look....I don't want you to worry about Kiwi while you're gone, okay?' she said softly, but with conviction. “I won't let anything happen to her...She's my sister and I love her. I promise you I'll look after her.”

Wait, what now? Did I miss something.

Island Dusk smiled again, this time it was less forced than the first. “I know you will, Rainbow Dash....I trust you.” she said and together they had a cautious embrace, as if either one of them would stab the other at the drop of a hat.

“What are you guys talking about?” I piped up, my cute voice laced in confusion. Boy, was I lost.

Rainbow Dash and Island Dusk broke their embrace and blinked at me.

Sunflash chuckled and pet my head with a hoof. “Oh, there you go again,' he shook his head. “We told you before, Ki, you're gonna be staying with your big sister for a while.”

I blinked, then I blinked again and looked up at him.

“What?” I asked, my vocabulary vast and mighty.

“We can't bring you with us while your mom is on her fashion tour, so Rainbow Dash volunteered to take care of you while we're gone.” Sunflash explained.

“We'd love to take you with us, honey, really we would,' Island Dusk spoke up and she approached me and gave me a big old hug. “But you can't afford to be out of school for a year, so you're going to live with your sister Rainbow Dash and go to school here, in Ponyville.”

...School? I'm gonna have to go to elementary school again?! How uncool! This can't be happening, I am grown man!....I just can't physically prove it...

Wait a minute, what was that about...?

Rainbow Dash strutted up and put an arm around him. “Yeah, no worries, little sis! It's gonna be a great chance for us to bond and stuff! It's gonna be totally awesome!' she grinned down at me. “Just wait and see.”

That's right, I may be going to school again, but I'll be living in Ponyville...with one of my favorite characters, who is now my big sister. I smiled big and nodded back at her.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

The Welcoming of Kiwi Blitz pt1

Author's Note

This is the first chapter were we see a scene from a different perspective than Kiwi's. From now one, if you see some paragraphs in italics, know that it is a scene told from outside Kiwi's narrative. Enjoy, more on Monday!

The Welcoming of Kiwi Blitz pt1

“Why, we'd be delighted to have you join our class, Kiwi!”

Cherilee spoke with such sincerity, and I couldn't help but think just how good being a teacher suited this mare.

I could feel the corners of my little mouth curl upwards, as if they had been coaxed into action on their own, through the caring tone of the mulberry earth pony before us. Shortly after having been informed of my parent's plan to leave me with my big sister Rainbow Dash for a year, because my mom didn't want me missing school while they went traversing the globe on a high-profile fashion tour, we had taken to finding the school house teacher at our welcome party to work out the details.

“That's wonderful! It's a weight off my chest knowing that she'll be continuing her education without any problems,' Island Dusk exhaled, sounding a little less tense than before. I couldn't help but wonder what that whole stand-off between her and Rainbow Dash was all about....Obviously, it seemed like something had happened between mother and eldest daughter that seemed to put a damper on their relationship. I made a mental note to look into it a little later.

Cherilee nodded knowing at Island Dusk, probably having had dealt with worried parents and the like many times before. “Don't you worry, everything is taken care of,' she gave a reassuring smile. “We're at the end of our summer break, so Kiwi Blitz can start the new semester right with the other kids and not miss anything. We're scheduled to open up the week before the Summer Sun Festival.”

Huh, that's pretty cool, I guess. So if I don't have to enroll right away, that gives me a certain amount of time to get to know everyone and learn more about the world. Plus, I'm pretty sure familiarizing myself with the layout of Ponyville wouldn't hurt. Know what I'm saying?

But the Million Dollar Question, I would think, would be exactly how many days I have left to accomplish this sort of thing?

“When's that?” I spoke up without thinking.

Cherilee and Island Dusk stared down at me, Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow up her forehead(it looks so natural on her for some reason), and Sunflash just rolled his eyes as if I was an incorrigible prankster, which he had made clear earlier that is what he thought I was.

Suddenly, I felt very embarrassed. I shrunk down a little bit and smiled a big, nervous grin, forcing a weak laugh. “I-I mean, I know roughly when it is, but maybe...I could get a little reminder? Eh heh heh...” I hoped that would work, even knowing just how dumb and odd it sounded. I was supposed to be a pony who had lived all her life here in Equestria, you'd think I'd know when one of the big holidays was coming around.

But, unfortunately for me, I had not lived all my life her as a cute little green pegasus, but a rather rugged and burly looking ape-man who lived all his life in a world full of other ape-men and my knowledge of the world I know resided in came solely from what was shown in a colorful cartoon animated in Flash and featuring life lessons and morals to be learned for a younger female audience, and yet was dearly beloved by older male demographic. As far as I knew, the date the Summer Sun Festival took place one was 'Season 1 Episodes 1 & 2 or Season 4 Episodes 1 & 2”.

Clearly, the first thing item I shall endeavor to purchase in this new land is a calender.
If Cherilee thought any less of me for not knowing something, that based on the reactions of the ponies around me, was obvious, then she did a marvelous job of keeping it hidden. “We'll go back to school the Monday after next,' she smiled warmly, speaking in a patient tone. “Considering it's Friday today, the gives you a good week or so to enjoy the rest of the summer.”

I perked up a little at that and couldn't help but grin, my oversized wings flittered with a small amount of joy.

Nine days? I could totally work with nine days. I can do a lot in that time, certainly what little I had planned at the moment, easy peezy lemon squeezy!

“Awesome,' I said, more to myself than anyone, but the adults smiled in amusement at my choice of words.

“Indeed, Kiwi. We'll be seeing you then,' Cherilee winked and excused herself. It didn't seem like the raucous party was her bag.

After waving her off, Rainbow Dash turned to me with an encouraging grin.

“Welp! Now that that boring stuff is outta the way, why don't you go and enjoy the party?' she suggests, giving my mane an affectionate ruffle before gesturing at all the laughing ponies all around them. “It'd be a shame if Pinkie Pie threw you guys this amazing welcome party and you're the only ones not having a righteous time!”

Ah yes, the cyan one speaks true. Wise, she is, beyond her years.....I couldn't help but wish I had a long beard to stroke gently as I absorbed the weight of her words.

I grinned up at the incredibly cool mare I could now call family and made to head out into the frenzy, but stopped in mid-trot, looking back at them curiously.

“What about you?' I asked, directing my inquisitive gaze to Island Dusk and Sunflash, who were still standing by the door. “Aren't you guys going to enjoy the party?”

Sunflash shook his head. “Nah, we can't stay for long. Your mother has to catch an early train, one that we need to go and catch a late train to be on time for.” he said with a bit of a shrug. “We were just gonna speak with Rainbow for a minute and then head off.”

“Oh...' I said, glancing down for a second as I considered this. Why did that make me feel a little sad?

I turned back and quickly walked over, and gave them each and tight, yet sort of hesitant, hug. I knew that Kiwi Blitz was their daughter, and they knew it as well, but I wasn't quite sure if I considered myself Kiwi Blitz just yet. I mean sure, I had taken the whole situation pretty much in stride, that's just how I was, but the one thing that felt really weird was knowing that know I was supposed to be somepony else. But I just didn't really feel like the character I now was. Atleast not yet.

And because of that, even though I may think of Island Dusk as “my mom”, Sunflash “my dad”, and Rainbow Dash “my sister”, it doesn't really feel real just yet...It's like I'm in that transition period where you have to get used to a new step-parent or step-sibling. These things take time, and I was still so unsure of a lot of what was going on in my new life now.
Based on the tight, loving embraces I received in return, it was clear that they were not unsure at all.

“Good-bye, sweetheart,' Island Dusk said softly, emotion coating her angellic voice. “I'll write you every week. Be good for Rainbow Dash, okay?”

“Okay. Good-bye,' I replied, a foreign feeling welling up in my little chest, as I broke the hug and went to Sunflash.

His hug was just as warm and accepting as the one before it, using his wings to add to the comfort and the feeling of love. I couldn't help but notice just how old the former Weather Captain looked up close, my malachite pools observing every wrinkle and every graying hair.

I never realized just how much older than Island Dusk Sunflash looked...heck, she looked really young, maybe around Rainbow Dash's age.... Huh...

“See ya around, kiddo,' the raspy voice of the stallion reached my ears, as he lightly noogied my head. “ You'll be just fine, I have every faith in you....You and your sister take care of each other, you got me?” He looked into my eyes and I gave a silent nod, to which he grinned his lazy grin again, before letting go.

“Now, like your sister said, go enjoy the party! Go eat, drink, dance and make friends with anypony cool enough to be worthy of your friendship, yeah?” the older pegasus winked, infectious in his mirth.

I grinned wide. “Chyeah!” I nodded in response, and ran off into the sea of ponies partying it up in the Golden Oak library.

That's another thing that differs from the show. You watch an episode of the cartoon, and they show the interior of Twilight's home to be fairly standard, with most of the room taken up by towered shelves filled tight with tomes of knowledge, books covering the walls as far as the eye can see, and the rest fo the space appear to be somewhat cramped. Oh how wrong they were, for as I looked around, I had to guess their was atleast 2/3s of the town here for the party. The library was freaking huge! It was like, unfathomably large in here! It was a large without fathom! There was just ponies as far as the eye could see, and yet I had plenty of room to walk inbetween everypony without breaking their personal space bubble.

Which was greatly appreciated.

I wasn't a bubble breaker. Those are the kind of people you could do without, like people who get a plate of french fries and instead of dipping each individual fry into a separate supply of sauce they squirt it all along the top of the french fries themselves. Horrid monsters, if you ask me.

“Oh my gosh, there you are!”

Speak the bubble-breaking devil...

I jumped back in surprise as my field of vision was suddenly and drastically invaded by a considerable amount of pink and pearly whites, as Pinkie Pie's smiling mug was thrust without warning into mine. I couldn't help but blush abit, considering her lips were merely centimeters away from my own. It was at this point that I realized, that my new biology gave me insight into the attractiveness of other ponies I'd come into contact with. It made sense, considering I was a growing young lady (It still made my chuckle inwardly, thinking of myself like that) with pony hormones. My body would naturally react to other ponies now that I was one, I came to reason. The only thing was, my mind was my own, and so I still had my preferences in tact. And so, I was attracted to females, and Pinkie Pie, I noticed, had an 18 Charisma.

I blinked out of my thoughts, realizing that the bubblegum colored party expert had been rambling about something for awhile, and I had zoned out on her while I was blushing, which she didn't seem to notice.

“-and than that's how Gummy managed to win their trust and respect, and so like after that the turtles totally made him an honorary member of their tribe!' she finished her story, grinned big and cutely, seeming to be a little proud of her pet alligator for....whatever it was she was telling me. My mind vaguely remembered that alligators regularly ate turtles, so perhaps Pinkie was telling a moving story of Gummy and these turtles somehow overcoming their differences to become friends? Huh, I'd have to ask her to tell the story again sometime, as that sounds pretty cool now that I had a second to think about it...

I was startled once again as Pinkie's face came incredibly close to mine again, a worried expression on her face as she felt her forehead to mine, causing the blush that had slowly been fading to flare up again, my cheeks bright pink.

“Are you feeling okay, Kiwi? Your face is really, really, really red and your super-duper warm!' she asked, glancing upwards as if to mentally compare our temperatures, before turning those big blue eyes to stare back into mine. OH, how expressive they were. “You're not sick are you? Oh! I hope you're not sick, because that'd be really horrible, and I'd hate for my new friend to suffer and feel bad! Is there anything I can do for you? Do you need a blanket? Juice? Soup? Nyquil PM??”

“I-wait, what was that last one?” I stammered, before shaking my head. “No, thanks Pinkie Pie, but I'm not sick, I'm fine.”

She narrowed her eyes, suspiciously.

“RE-he-he-he-heaaaaaally?” she said, making my think of Jim Carry for some reason or another. “If you aren't sick, then why is your face so red? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM??????”

I couldn't help but blush a little bit deeper as she pushed her face farther into mine. Oh god, if I wasn't careful when I responded, I could end up frenching her, she was so close.

“Well....' I began, nervously, trying to be mindful of my lips. “My face isn't red because I'm sick.....it's red because.....well......uh, well it's because you...are very pretty....”

I wanted to die. Seriously, I wish Discord had just killed me if I knew something like this was going to happen. I'm not sure if you guys could tell or not by the first chapter, but I wasn't exactly a 'ladies man'.....Infact, I really didn't have much experience with the fairer sex at all. No hand-holding, or hugging, or kissing, or....talking. I always second-guessed myself when I was younger and just ended up intimidating myself before I managed to have a descent conversation with a girl. So, it goes without saying that talking to the pretty ones, like Pinkie Pie, was a bit too much for me to handle.

Though, I don't think I had ever been so good talking to a girl before then, so....chalk it up to a small win, in hindsight?

Pinkie Pie gasped when I told her, and I couldn't meet her gaze, I was thinking back to all my insecurities when I was younger, and waited for her reaction. Geez, great job, me. First day as Kiwi Blitz and you alienate one of your Top 3 favorite characters by being a creepy little girl who hits on other mares....Great job! Let's call it a day and head to Disneyland. We've earned it!

I glanced up through my emerald bangs to see what kind of reaction the older mare was revving up and was surprised to see a big, happy smile on the pink pony's face. Before I could speak up I was pulled into a bone-crushing hug of epic proportions!

“Do you really mean it?! You think I'm pretty?” she asked, excitedly. It was like she never got that compliment before, I mused idly as I was being crushed into the dust. “Thank you so much! You're such sweetie to say such a thing! Mmmmmm!”

Gosh, she was really touched by such a small compliment? She seemed so happy...I could break her of such joy, atleast not right now, so I hung limply in her vice-like embrace, mentally muttering a mantra I used to use when working out at the gym.

“Abs don't fail me now! Abs don't fail me now! Abs don't fail me now! Abs don't-”

Rainbow Dash had watched the lime-green filly that was her little sister run off and get swallowed up by the pony tsunami that was the party, a small smile her her face as she hovered by Sunflash and Island Dusk. Heh, she was a cute kid....which was pretty uncharacteristic, the cyan speedster thought. The last time she saw her little sister, the kid had behaved how she normally did: like Rainbow Dash. Ever since the green little pegasus was born, she had worshiped the ground the Element of Loyalty had flown over. Scootaloo looked tame compared to the levels of hero-worship that Kiwi had showered her with over the years. And now....she was completely different. It was like her whole personality had swapped with somepony else's.

Dash turned to the others as soon as she was sure the kid was out of earshot, and fixed a stare on the couple. “Okay. I'm waiting.” she said, expectantly.

Sunflash looked taken offguard as he blinked rapidly. “What do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes and raised an eyebrow for good measure. “What do you mean what do I mean?,' she sighed, impatiently. She jerked her head over one shoulder in the direction Kiwi had gone, her multi-colored mane bobbing with the motion. “What happened to Kiwi Blitz? She's like a whole different pony! She's been super quiet and, I dunno, reserved! That's not the baby sister I remember, so spill it. What happened?”

Island Dusk sighed, her pretty face scrunched up in a look of extreme worry. If Rainbow Dash noticed it, I can't be going crazy, she thought. “I don't know what's wrong with her....she was perfectly fine this morning when we left to get on the train. We were walking along in a big crowd of people, and somehow Kiwi just tripped and hit her head on the sidewalk. I was so scared, I thought she was hurt, but she simply got back up and told me she was fine. I had her checked out, just to be sure, and it didn't seem like she was hurt or anything, so we just got on the train to come her.' she told the story, shaking her head slowly. “She was really excited about getting to come and see you, she wouldn't stop talking, you know how she is. It was going to be a long train ride, the trip from Manehatten takes 6 hours to get to Ponyville, so eventually she wore herself out and took a nap. When I woke her before we got her, she was just...different. She seemed confused and a little scared at first, and looked around at everything like she'd never seen a train or another pony before. And she's been acting strange ever since....Oh, I just knew we should have taken her to the hospital, Flash! Maybe their scan spells would have picked something up that mine missed! My poor baby....that's it. Screw the tour, my child comes first! Kiwi!”

The mango furred unicorn worked herself up into a panic, and she started to run into the crowd, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Quickly, Sunflash grabbed a hold of his wife and dragged her back with a little effort, trying to comfort her.

“Now, don't be going crazy on me, okay? You can't cancel this trip, Dusk. You've worked too hard to get where you are and Kiwi would blame herself if you canceled it to fuss over her,' he held her by the shoulders, rubbing them gently with his hooves and maintaining eye contact. “You're overreacting. Kiwi is fine, she's isn't hurt, your spell was perfect. Now, I don't claim to know why she's acting so weirdly, but I know it's nothing to worry about. I feel it.”

Island Dusk was looking a little calmer, but she was still worried.

“But-”

“No buts,' the stallion interrupted her. “Kiwi is probably just going through some phase. She's growing into a fine young mare, and she's probably going to go through a few changes. You remember what that was like, right? Don't worry so much, okay? Rainbow Dash is going to take good care of her, aren't you girl?”

Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest and slapped a hoof against it, the swag rolling of her in awesome waves. “You can count on me, Dad!” she replied with confidence many people only dreamed of.

Island Dusk was breathing normally again and looking from her husband to Rainbow Dash and back again. She took a deep, calming breath and slowly let it out, before giving a weak smile.

“Y-yeah, yes. Yes, you're right. I'm being silly...' she put a hoof to her head, as a dull throbbing took over her temples. “I think we need to be going.”

“Right, it's getting late, we'll be cutting it close,' Sunflash agreed, noting the time on a wall clock. He gave his daughter a playful hoofbump, and nodded at her as they left the library. “See you, Rainbow Dash, and thanks again. We'll write real soon, kay?”

Rainbow Dash nodded and waved them off with a grin. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't you got a train to catch? Better juice!”

Sunflash matched her grin, and a second later the couple vanished into the dark night outside.

Rainbow Dash let out a stressed breath she didn't know she had been holding in, and turned in mid-air to scan the crowd. Quickly she caught sight of Kiwi. Rainbow smiled, seeing Kiwi and Pinkie becoming rather good friends. For some reason, Pinkie had given her little sister a bone crushing hug, but it seemed to be more intense then the usual ones. Afterwards, it looked like Kiwi finally spoke up about the oxygen issue, and Pinkie let go, and dragged Kiwi off into the crowd, probably to introduce the filly to everypony.

“...does Pinkie seem more affectionate than usual?” she raised an eyebrow as she watched them go, before grinning. “Naaaah, who cares? It's party time!” She give a whoop, which was echoed by a group of ponies nearby, before she dashed off to go mingle.

Seemingly to reward my Casanova ways, Pinkie Pie had taken it upon herself to introduce me to each and every pony that existed in the world, or at least that's how it seemed. I couldn't help but wonder if the party pony was always THIS energetic about dragging somepony around.

Maybe I'm just being weird, and seeing things that aren't there. It's not like it'd be the first time. I used to do that quite a lot, getting trapped in my head and daydreaming scenarios of certain interactions. This was just Pinkie being Pinkie, as they say.

Regardless, in our Crusade for Friendship, Pinkie Pie dragged me to and fro, with incredibly speed one wouldn't expect from her, as we zipped around the party in a cartoonish fashion, introducing me to many of the background ponies as we went. I gotta say, it was very interesting, meeting all my favorites characters.

“Hey there girls!,' Pinkie chirped as we stopped at our next destination. I wobbled abit, unused to the Pinkie Pie Express, before noticing two ponies I had seen early that day. “This Rainbow Dash's little sister, Kiwi Blitz! Say hi, Kiwi!”

I smiled and gave a slight nod. “H-hi, nice to meet you.'

Bon Bon smiled warmly, she had a motherly feel to her that endeared her to you. “Oh, nice to meet you Kiwi Blitz. I'm Bon Bon, I run the candy shop down town. Stop by if you like, I'll be sure to give you a welcoming discount.” she smiled. That's pretty cool of her. The prospect of spending less money was always welcomed in my opinion. I used to hoard coupons like nobody else!

The mint unicorn next to her wobbled a bit, as she looked up from her glass. “Oh hayyyyyy...'she slurred, a goofy smile spread on her face with a hiccup. “Which one of you is Kiwi and which one is...is Blitz?”

I blinked, wondering just how shitfaced this human loving musician was.

Bon Bon scowled as she looked next to her. “Lyra! Are you drunk already?! How many glasses of punch did you have?” she asked in a scolding manner.

“Not-not many, I just...'she paused to hiccup. “I just had.....uh....h-how many is a baker's dozen?”

“You had 13 glasses of punch?!” the candy-maned earth pony exclaimed.

Lyra started to shake her head slowly, but then she stopped and looked confused, before she looked pleased with herself and nodded. “Yeah.” she said, in an awed tone at her feat of alcohol heroism.

“How did you even manage to do that? We've only been to the punch bowl once! We've been sitting her together the whole time!”

Lyra giggled, and extended a hoof to boop Bon Bon's nose. “I have-I have-urp...I has a horn,' she said, then broke into a giggle, falling into Bon Bon's lap and looking up at her. “I'm horny!”

Bon Bon blushed ever so slightly, but most looked exasperated. I couldn't help but feel for the mare, and the things she had to put up with. Lyra is generally portrayed as a bit of a spaz, to be sure, in the fandom....

Lyra's whole expression changed as she looked up at Bon Bon. “I wish I was a human, 'she said. “Then I'd have hands....and fingers! D-dyou know what I could do with fingers?”

Bon Bon sighed heavily. “No. what?” she humored her friend.

Lyra grinned seductively. “Oh, the things I could do to you....' she purred, making the candy maker blush beet red and I decided that was our time to leave.

“Um...how about we go meet somepony else, eh?' I turned to Pinkie. “What do you say, Pinkie-huh? Pinkie? Pinkie Pie?” It turns out, I shouldn't have turned away from Pinkie at all, because she was no where to be found once I turned back to her. I looked around for a sign of the hyper girl, but alas, not a glimpse of cotton candy hair anywhere around me.

Now where the heck did she get to? Does she have a penchant for disappearing into thin air like she does for appearing out of it?

“The places I could reach....' I heard Lyra continue on.

“LYRA!!!!” Bon Bon yelled and I could practically hear the blush in her voice.

That's when I decided to just go attending the party by my self.

I made me way through throng after throng of ponies, saying hi and shaking hooves and getting hugs. Everypony was just so gosh darn nice! I could really get used to it. Unfortunately though, while all these guys were great and all, I had yet to run into a single Mane Six character! After leaving the drunk shenanigans of Lyra, I had scoured about the library for close to an hour, meeting ponies and having snacks and I even danced a few ponies too.

But in all that time, not a single Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie or Applejack anywhere! I was starting to really wonder what happened to them. Did they leave? Was there an emergency of some sort that they had to go deal with? And if so, when would they be back? I was supposed to be living with Rainbow Dash, so I could imagine not being able to go home with her would be a bit of a problem. Man, I was getting worried.

I decided that getting all worked up about it wasn't going to get me anywhere, so I found a line of chair next to the refreshments and made my way over. Which minimal difficulty crossing the dancing ponies, and several more introductions and waves, I had made it to the folding chairs. Immediately, I climbed up on one close to the snacks and plopped my plot down. I rolled my neck from side to side, unaware of just how tired I was until I had sat down.

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes for a moment, just listening to the vibe of the room. In one corner, I heard Vinyl Scratch ask if anypony had an song requests as she was now taking them, I heard laughed and shrieks of merriment, accented by a background hum of music and conversation. I sighed, my mind thinking about all that happened to me today. It was all a wonderful experience, so far. I was happy to be here, that wasn't in doubt....but honestly the implications of what had happened to me really hadn't hit home yet, and I was dreading how I might react once it finally did. Until then though, I was going to enjoy myself.

With renewed purpose, I sat forward and opened my eyes.

Big chocolate brown eyes met my gaze, and my heart almost jumped out of my chest at the sudden invasion of my personal space.

Standing before my chair was a pony I had never seen before. She looked like a filly, though she was definitely several years older, 3-4 if I had to guess. She had a dirty white coat, like a really light shade of tan, an off-white. Her hair was a gorgeous, silky looking mane that flowed down her back and all around her in a midnight blue waterfall. I noticed her ears were folded in the middle, like that breed of cat, but with the big floppy ears of an equine, it was positively heart-stopping cute. And again, I stared into those big brown eyes that seemed to swirl with emotion and intelligence.

“Uh...” I eloquently stated, that damn blush coming back. This girl was really cute and while she wasn't Pinkie-close, she was still leaning into my personal space.

She just smiled in a friendly manner, and reached out a hoof. I flinched as she went for my face, but relaxed a bit as the gentle touch took me by the chin, and she softly turned my green mug this way and that, moving my face to many different angles. Her eyes shone with scrutiny, as if was inspecting a piece of artwork.

After this dragged on for several minutes, I found my nervousness at this cute girl had faded into impatience and exasperation. “Um....can I help you?”

She smiled that pleasant smile again and shook her head. “Uh-uh.' she vocalized, and her voice brought my back into nervousness, blushing again. What was with this place and the attractive voices of everypony!? Geez, man....

“O-kayyyyyy....' is what I managed to respond with, and sighed. Resigned to my fate, I simply let this strange(but super cute) earth pony play with my face.

After another couple of minutes, she stopped moving me about and stood back, nodding to herself in satisfaction. “Yup, just like I thought....' she said to herself.

I arced a brow, curious. “What?' She sounded like she had confirmed something.

She looked me in the eyes and smiled that wonderful smile.

“I like you."

The Welcoming of Kiwi Blitz pt2

I had a bit of a history when it came to mishearing others and thinking they said one thing, when they had actually said something else. It's a bit of an embarrassing thing to admit, since I like to consider myself a good listener, but it had happened quite a few times in the past. I remember once a few years back, my good buddy was finally gonna marry his high school sweetheart and he was super excited, as was I, I was totally happy for him. He was like a little brother to me and so I wanted to do everything I could to help him and his blushing bride-to-be set up the ceremony. While they appreciated the sentiment, they wanted to handle all the planning and the catering and stuff by themselves, but my buddy did see how much I wanted to help out and so he called me up one day and told me I could go and take care of the invitations. So, I agreed, happy to help in anyway and asked of they had anything specific they wanted printed on the invitations. So, my buddy has me write down stuff he wants to be included in them and then tells me to just make something flowery and nice sounding for the rest of it. I say sure, no problem dude. Easy peasy!

So I go through this local bridal shop and have a few hundred invites custom ordered as my wedding gift to my friend and his fiance, and it was a pretty easy process. Soon after, I take them home and set about inserting them into the fancy envelopes they came with and after a few hours they're ready to be shipped off. A quick run over to the post office and they invites are sent out. I call my buddy up and let him know they were taken care of. Nice, he says, and he thanks me, but wants to see what they look like. I had anticipated such a request, as it was really only natural, and brought the leftover invite I had kept to the side over to his place.

When I got to his house and hand over the invite, he smiles. He really likes how formal and nice they look, complimenting my choice of a certain type of font. He opens it up and his eyes move along the lines printed, smile still on his face. Until he gets to the bottom of the card. Smile quickly disappearing, he actually looks a little worried. Without looking up from the invite, he asks me if I wrote down what he told me to put on the card, and I said yeah. Why wouldn't I? I put every word he had wanted. He looks up and glares at me, and brings to me attention that I did not, in fact, put down every word correctly, pointing to a line inside the card. I look to where he is gesturing and feel really bad about my blunder. He had been telling me he didn't want a dress code or anything for the wedding goers, and so had asked me to put down 'formal attire optional'. I had misheard, not catching the 'formal' part. So, I didn't blame him for being super upset, since it was a possibility some people might come to his wedding naked.

After that little fiasco, I always tried to remember to clarify things if I don't think I heard correctly. Which brings me back to the party. That little flashback had passed through my little green head for a second after this cute filly before me had spoke, and I stared at her for just a moment, before shaking my head to get out of my funk.

“I'm sorry,' I chuckled a bit, smiling unsure. “I don't think I heard you, with all the music and noise, could you please repeat that?”

Clearly I had misheard her, there is no way she said she liked me after examining my face, right? It's just too unusual.....though, given my current circumstances, I'm not sure if I'm qualified to accurately spot something unusual anymore, but you get the point.

She still smiles that wonderful smile.

“I said I like you,' she said patiently, though speaking louder for my benefit.

Well dang....

I guess my pony ears are working just fine.

My blush deepened and I avoided eye contact with the filly, looking at her face to avoid being seen as rude, but unable to gaze into those deep brown eyes.

“Uh.....o-oh, um thank you....'I stuttered awkwardly. I rubbed the back of my head with a hoof and grinned, nervously. “I-I don't know what to say, Miss.....?”

She giggled softly, her beautiful blue locks bouncing about her face. She shook her head, amused by my reaction, and her chocolate eyes twinkled as she fixed me with a compassionate stare, capturing the attention of my malachite orbs.

“You don't have to say anything, if you don't want to. I just wanted to let you know,' she said innocently. “My name is Sapphire Dream, what's yours?”

'Wow, such a pretty name...it really suits her,' I thought to myself, before sitting up straighter in my chair, trying to look friendly and confident. “My name's T- I mean, my name is Kiwi Blitz. It's nice to meet you, Sapphire Dream.” I said, faltering for second and almost used my human name, but quickly caught myself. I extended a hoof out to her, smiling.

Sapphire looked at my hoof for a second, then decided to ignore it, by reaching forward and wrapping me into a gentle, but strong hug. My heart started beating faster than was probably healthy, and I may have taken a subconscious wiff of her mane (she smelled of strawberries and vanilla~), as she held me to chest tightly. I wondered if she cold feel they heat in my cheeks on hers, as the hug brought them together. It seemed to last for a life time, but in reality was over in a few seconds.

The filly stepped back after embracing me and smiled in the pleasant way she had since she appeared, though her eyes shined brightly with caring and kindness and...a bit of mischief?

“Call me 'Sapphire', Kiwi. And it's very nice to meet you too,' she said, meeting my eyes with hers. “I hope we can be good friends. Bye!” And she started to turn and leave.

“W-wait!' I reached a hoof out, frowning in confusion. “Where are you going?”

She glanced at me from over one shoulder. “I'm going home. I came to the party to meet the new pony and see if I liked them. I met the new pony. She looks very cool and seems to be fun to be around. I really, really like her. So, my job her is done.” she smiled in a matter-of-fact kind of way, it was innocent and straight forward.

I couldn't even comprehend what she was talking about, she had confused me so much. So, she says she really really likes the new pony, i.e. ME, but is leaving after meeting me? Hubba hazzah wha?? Oh my poor brain, I fear it may never know what it was like to be a solid every again, for alas! Once more, my pitiful gray matter was of the pudding variety once more.

“But-but, don't you wanna stay and hang out or something? If you like me, wouldn't you want to get to know me better and make friends with me?” I ventured, hesitantly. She said she wished we could be friends, right? You guys heard that too, right? Does she think she can just forge a relationship without any kind of social interaction? I mean, it's not like friendship just grew on trees!

…

Okay, I know there's a Tree of Harmony, but that doesn't count. I said 'grew ON trees', not 'grew INTO a tree'. So, yeah. I dunno wanna hear it.

Sapphire nod earnestly, her smile widening at the prospect. “Oh yes! I would love nothing more than to hang out with you Kiwi. I have some much I wanna know about you, and I feel like we will be the greatest friends in the world!' she said excitedly. “But, I can't right now. Daddy says a mysterious introduction will keep me prevalent in your mind and increase my chances of being a more important character in the story. So, next time! It'll be super fun!” She giggles and winks, before disappearing into the pony ocean of party-goers before I can even fully process everything she just said.

I sat there in the chair for a minute or two, just staring off after the 'mysterious filly' that had so suddenly inserted herself into my consciousness and then just of suddenly exited, stage right. My over-sized wings twitched behind me as I held my hoof out, and my mouth hung open ever so slightly.

As the hamster in my little noggin tried to tred pudding and stay afloat, my confused little face slowly but surely tilted to the left, solidifying the amount of 'I don't even' going through me at that time.

My mouth worked to say something, but paused.

My eyes glanced upwards in thought, as I tried to find the perfect word for what I was feeling.

Ah yes, that'll do nice.

“....huh.' I expressed my opinion on the matter, getting up off the chair and walked off into the crowd aimlessly.

She held her confident stride until she was sure the green pegasus filly was no longer able to see her, before she lost her composure and her off-white face exploded into a flush of deep red, making Sapphire wobble as she walked at the intensity of her feelings. Oh my Celestia, just what was doing? She totally came on a little too strong, she fretted to herself as she searched for her father. Kiwi probably thinks she's a crazy fillyfooler or something! Oh no, she really hoped that she didn't ruin her chances of being her friend! Sapphire really liked the new girl and would just be devastated if she didn't like her too.

'No, Saph, don't get discouraged!' she thought to herself, a determined expression forming on her face as she wove her way between party guest. 'You always second guess yourself and end up blowing it. Just be cool and Kiwi will totally be your friend! She just has to be! Before you know it, you and her will be inseparable and will be doing everything together and having loads of fun! You know you will, so just settle down....'

She stopped for a moment and turned her head to look at her flank. A glance at her cutie mark seemed to calm her down, a sapphire heart with a pair of eyes laid over it, and turned back to find her father.

'We're all destined to find our best friend, and I finally found mine...Kiwi Blitz...'

Well, one thing about what Sapphire Dream said was for sure, I certainly wouldn't be forgetting her anytime soon.

Strangest introduction I've ever had, and I've had some really strange encounters over the years. Not that it was really a bad thing, I actually enjoyed her company, for what little time I shared it. The more I thought back to the conversation with the older girl, I realized that despite the blushing and heart beats, I felt really....well, calm in her presence. It was a very weird feeling and I didn't quite understand it.

And so, I did my best to put it out of my mind for the moment and just enjoy the party. The bass vibrated through the air as a heavy dance mix rocked through the library and the ponies danced together in a big group in the middle of the floor, stomping their hooves and shaking their bodies restlessly, working up a big sweat.

I was never much into the dance club scene back home, so I didn't decide to join in or anything. I observed the ponies making a frenzied storm of movement from a safe distance, and had fun watching some of the moves they were pulling. I saw a vermillion mare doing a hectic type of jitterbug with another mauve unicorn, the ladies giggling wildly and perhaps a little intoxicated, from how sloppy their movements were. I saw Vinyl Scratch break-dancing next to a gray mare I figured was Octavia, who was simply leaning from side to side as her DJ friend seemed to be trying to get her to cut loose and she was having none of it. (I wondered how the music could play without a DJ, but didn't worry too much about things I didn't know about) I spotted PON-3's buddy Neon Lights dancing nearby the other two, obviously trying to helping Scratch in encouraging the cellist to get wild, the rapping stallion in the middle of 'the worm'. I might have imagined the earth pony fighting to keep her face straight as she watched the two friends antics before her, but you never know. Scanning the crowd, I saw more and more scenarios similar to that one, with all kinds of background ponies dancing in wild, awesome ways. Heck, one pony with black-framed glasses was dancing Gangnam Style! I laughed at that, it was just so bizarre and entertaining, yet strangely familiar.....hm....

Oh well.

“It's pretty awesome seeing one of Pinkie's parties in person...' I said to myself, continuing my stroll through the happening scene.

“Yeah, it's something alright.”

I jumped in surprise at the voice behind me and turned to see a pony standing behind me.

“Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to startle you,' the lavender alicorn smiled apologetically, and my eyes widened as I saw Twilight Sparkle standing there. “Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle. You're Kiwi Blitz, right? Rainbow Dash's sister?”

I nodded dumbly, and stuck out a shaking hoof. “Y-yeah....nice to...meet you...”

She nodded and took my hoof in hers, giving a firm and friendly shake. “Same here,' she says brightly, and raises an eyebrow at my expression. “Are you okay?”

I snapped out of it pretty quickly. She must have realized I was staring at her, I mean it was pretty freaking obvious, no magic needed to discern the awe I had oogled at her with. I chuckled and smiled sheepishly.

“Eh heh heh....sorry,' I apologized, shrinking back a little bit. “I didn't mean to stare or anything...I guess I just didn't think I'd be meeting you....”

She tilts her head, incredulously. “You didn't think you'd meet me in my own home?” she says, deadpan.

Oh, right.

I sigh and facehoof, gently though, didn't wanna brain myself on my first day as a pony. “Right, what was I thinking?' I looked back at her, seeing her smirk in a playful manner. “I just meant...well, you see....you're THE Twilight Sparkle.....and I'm a big fan...” I will admit that I gushed juuuuuust a smidge when I said the 'fan' part.

She double blinks in surprise, and then smiles modestly. “Oh, I'm not anything special...' she waves a hoof, dismissively.

“NOT ANYTHING SPECIAL!?” I couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief, turning a few heads in the process. “You're Twilight FREAKING Sparkle! The most magical pony this side of magical ponies! You saved Princess Luna, your stopped Discord, you helped save Canterlot from a changeling invasion, you helped save the Crystal Empire, you REFORMED Discord, and done so much for the world of Equestria as a whole, as was rewarded by becoming a Princess! You are the Best Pony!!”

I blinked, realizing how I had went off on her and somehow pressed my nose against hers and backed her into a corner. She stared at me with wide-eyes, a faint flush of embarrassment coloring her light purple cheeks. I tentatively looked around me and saw all the ponies nearby staring with similar expressions at my outburst. Boy, it felt like my face was on fire!

I promptly back away from the magical pony princess and sat on my haunches, hanging my head and using my wings to hide my face for a moment.

Holy crap, and I had promised myself I would never do that if I ever met the Tara Strong-sounding Element of Magic.

And I broke it.

Geez, I'm such a fanboy...

This stays between us, right?

“Sorry....” I managed to say, meek and ashamed.

Twilight slowly came away from the way and eyed me with an air of caution for second, before relaxing and smiling in understanding.

“You don't have to apologize, Kiwi,' she said warmly. “I'm flattered you think that highly of me. Thank you.”

I look up, and blink. Did she really not get creeped out by that? If I was in her horseshoes, I would have been so disturbed by some random filly pressing me against a wall and screaming my accolades at me, I'd slap a restraining order on her flank so fast her head would spin!

“Really? You're not mad?” I asked, surprise in my tone.

She chuckles and shakes her head. “Really. While it was certainly...surprising, I was offended or upset in anyway with what you did.' she looked down at me, and walked over to sit beside me.

I noticed nopony was watching us anymore. They were probably desensitized to this kind of weird stuff after several years of the Mane Six had subjected the town to their specific brand of crazy and antics.

“Heh, yeah, sorry about that...' I said, sitting up a little straighter now that I didn't feel like a creeper. “I just got excited and got a little carried away right then.

Twilight laughed. “Don't worry about it, I'm used to that kind of reaction. You should see your sister whenever she meets one of HER heroes,' she grinned down at me in good humor and I returned it.

I snorted. “Yeah, she really wears her admiration on her sleeve, doesn't she?'

“Well, that's just how she is,' the older mare replied, nodding in agreement. “It's one of the things that makes Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash. “

I smiled and turn to watch the ponies party once again. Twilight made a good point, I realized. It was great to see that the characters were all more or less themselves do far, and it made me think about my own friends, back in the human world. My buddy that got married should be having his first child soon, his wife was pregnant before this happened. I may not have had much of a life back home, but they were like family to me, and.....and I just now realized that they'd never know what happened to me.

I would never see them again, I was fairly certain.

I know in lots of fanfictions I've read with the main characters in the same kind of situation I'm in, they all are pretty adamant to get back home and out of Equestria from the get go. They think that this isn't where they're supposed to be and want to return to their own lives, without the hardships that being trapped in an entirely new dimension brought to their lives. Whether their lives were happy or crapped on them every day of their lives, the majority of them just really wanted to go home.

If I thought about it, really my life hadn't been that bad. Sure, I lacked to much of a social life and didn't have a bunch of friends, but I had a handful of close friends that I would've died for, and they for me. My job wasn't glamorous, but it was stable and I enjoyed what I did and the people I worked with. And okay, so I wasn't on the greatest of terms with my parents and siblings, but the love was very clearly there and we always were there for each other. I had a better life than most, so you'd think I'd be obsessed with trying to figure out how to change things back to the way they were.

But, I wasn't.

It wasn't some huge internal struggle for me, nor did I feel like I didn't belong here. I wasn't crushed or freaked out by my drastic change in anatomy or species, nor was I put off by all the walking, talking technicolor creatures cutting a rug or getting blitzed (heh) on cider about me. I wasn't shocked at my physical attraction to the equines I found to be pretty, nor was I bothered by me being technically gay now that I was female and still attracted to females (I always believed love is good, no matter who it is.). I wasn't particularly worried by the fact that magic and monsters existed or that there was a possibility I might become heavily involved with either/or. All these generalized reasons that you read in those fics for why the MC wants to get home, and I can see from their perspectives about why they were legitimate concerns.

I just didn't see them that way, myself.

And while I may miss the people and things I knew and loved, I realized in that moment something profound. It wasn't in anyway in doubt in my mind or in my heart. It was true, it was fact, and I actually felt a little guilty for thinking about it.

I had no desire to go home.

“What's the matter, Kiwi?” I was brought out of my inner thoughts be a gentle wing draped over my shoulder and I looked up to my side to see the worry in a certain adorkable alicorn's face as she stared at me. “You got really quiet and sad looking for a minute there. Are you okay?”

Aw, I didn't realize I had zoned out on her as I reflected on my moral drama. Now I felt a little worse, Twilight was such a sweetheart.

“Ah...yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, Twilight, don't worry,' I reassured her, speaking slowly, to help drive it home to me, as well. “I guess I was just feeling a little....homesick.”

It was true enough. I did miss my home. I did miss my friends and family. And I know I would certainly miss all of the things I enjoyed as a hobby over the years, like anime and pro wrestling and football and video games and junk food and meat...OH GOD! MEAT! Yeah, okay, I forgot about 'lacking bacon cheeseburgers' being a significant reason most people hated being here in those stories....was it too late to change my mind about hunting Discord down?

Yeah.....surprisingly, I'm willing to sacrifice that kinda stuff to live here.

Probably would make me sick in this body, anyway.

“I can understand that,' Twilight said, giving me a little nuzzle that I instinctively leaning into and returned. Oh wow, I didn't know ponies were so physically affectionate. That might take a little getting used to. “ Everypony feels that way sometimes. But you don't need to feel sad, okay? You have your big sister here and also all of us to talk to and keep you company if you ever get lonely, okay?”

I couldn't help but smile big, a genuine giddy feeling making my lightheaded.

“You mean it?” I asked, knowing full well she did, but a childish part of me needed to hear her confirmation before I did a mental celebration of the prospect of hanging out with them.

She giggled at the hopeful tone that had been in my voice. “I mean it.' she assured me, and gives me a little squeeze with her wing, before getting up. I stand up with her, and watch her look around the library, a contemplative frown on her face as she squints her eyes. “There sure are a lot of ponies in here, it looks like the whole town came for the party. I can't find Spike or the girls anywhere!”

I stood next to her as she sighs, attempting catch sight of any of the Mane Six as well. I had completely forgot that that was I had set out to do earlier, having been distracted by Sapphire Dream. My face felt hot as I remembered the older filly and tried hard to focus on looking for the others. Twilight and I scanned the ponies in each room for what seemed like hours, scouring the main room, the kitchen, the basement, upstairs, even the bathrooms (I apologized profusely when I walked in on Berry Punch, I never knew somepony could “KYAA!” in real life....) but to no avail.

“This is ridiculous! I didn't even think the library was big enough to hold everpony!' Twilight sighed in frustration, starting get just a little impatient about the search for her missing compatriots.

And really, I had to agree. It was almost impossible to find anypony in here, and with Vinyl Scratch now back to the turntables and having 'dropped the mad wubz' as she put it, it would probably be impossible for anypony to hear you even if you shouted out to them. Why, you'd have to have some sort of physics defying powers to do that! Which is impossible and sounds kind of ran....dom....

Why didn't I think of it before??

“C'mon, Twilight!' I called to her, with a confident grin. I tugged lightly on her tail with my teeth, getting her attention, and I gestured for her to follow. “I have an idea!”

Blinking, Twilight followed after me, confusion in her pretty eyes.

With my idea in my head, and with what I know about a certain pony, I knew exactly what I could do to find them! Heck, once we flushed her out, we'd have no problem finding them others, and I could finally meet everypony I've loved since the show began! Trotting at a light gallop, we made it back downstairs as I led the Best Pony to the location where my genius plan would show results.

“Why are we at the refreshments table?”The alicorn asked quizzically.

I looked at all the assorted treats on the table, and there was a lot of them, looking for a specific confection. “I have plan for finding the rest of the girls.' I say simply. Where is that treat?...

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “How does eating a snack help us find the others?” Hm, she sounds skeptic...ah! There it is!

With a glint in my eyes, I snagged a certain cupcake and held it up for her to observe. “You'll see, just watch!' I promised, and she sighed and watched me with a frown. Oh, ye of little faith...

I swiftly brought the frosted treat to my mouth and took a big bite.

GOD MY OH!!!!!

If I didn't believe in Heaven this morning, I certainly did now. This cupcake was perhaps the single most delicious thing I had ever had the extreme joy of putting in my tongue. It was the type of cupcake to bring a man to elightenment, granting them all the knowledge and wisdom in the universe. The cake itself was so deliciously fluffy, soft and moist, and the pink frosting had just the perfect amount of sugar and used a mixture of different kinds to make the perfect balance in sweetness, with the sprinkles on top accenting the flavor perfectly. I had never been as happy in my entire life as I was in that moment, chewing that bite of cupcake. It was like I had found my soulmate....

And as such, it would kill a little of my soul with what I was about to do.

I spat the bite out of my mouth in a loud display of disgust and faux-retched, my tongue hanging out in exaggeration of dislike.

“YUCK! THESE ARE THE WORST TASTING CUPCAKES I'VE EVER HAD IN THE HISTORY OF EVER, FOREVER!!!!” I shouted, tears of shame for such a lie running down my face. Twilight stared at me in wide-eyed horror and shock.

She was about to say something, when it happened. The earth shook, the heavens trembled as they were torn asunder, and the it seemed like the very moon and stars themselves lamented the horrors brought onto these lands by such blasphemy as that. A veritable explosion of red liquid exploded from the punch bowl and a angry pink demoness roared from within, eyes shining with a eldritch malice as she rocketed forward and once more got in my face, this time not making me blush, but quake in fear as the mortal fool as I was.

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!!!!!!!!' Pinkie Pie growled, tears in the corner of her eyes that made my heart hurt.

“-is the exact opposite of how I feel about these cupcakes.” I said softly, genuinely meaning it, as I savored the rest of my cupcake and wrapped my forelegs and wings around the party pony in a hug. “They're delicious, Pinkie.”

Instantly, the angry demoness was no long there, in her place was the same old Pinkie Pie, only blinking in confusion for a second. Reality around us turned back to normal, and the everypony in the vicinity let a breath the had no idea they were holding.

“Don't scare me like that, Kiwi...' Twilight exhaled. “That wasn't a very nice thing to do to Pinkie, either.”

I smiled apologetically, as the mare in question had quickly got over her confusion and hugged me back affectionately in forgiveness. I blushed a bit as she nuzzled me and started rambling on about how she was glad I enjoyed her cupcakes and grinned at Twilight behind her.

“I told you it'd work.”

Author's Note

Sorry it took so long! I had to deal with a lot of stuff this week, including my dad being put in the hospital and having to do loads of extra hours at work, so I hope you forgive me for the long wait.

I made sure to double check this chapter and I don't believe there are any inconsistencies or mistakes this time around! Yayness! But if you guys spot any, please let me know. I'll be sure to go through the previous chapters and clean them up a bit too.

So, we're quickly going to be getting into the story here in a bit. Just one party chapter to go and then we'll get into other locations and shenanigans, and maybe one of those absurd threats I've promised y'all.

See ya soon! <3

The Welcoming of Kiwi Blitz pt 3

“Make sure you watch your step, Kiwi!” Twilight called over her shoulder.

“No problem! I'll be just fine, thanks,' I responded to her from behind.

We were currently making our way down a dark and dusty set of stairs leading to the library's basement. I couldn't help but wonder why these rickety old planks of wood were so dirty?I mean isn't Spike supposed to keep things all spic and span around here? What gives, man? The little purple lizard was losing his touch, as far as I was concerned. A real man makes sure that his duties are fulfilled, no matter what. It goes without saying, really.

Though, then again, the poor guy probably puts up with quite a lot of crap on a regular basis, from what I've seen on the show. I guess I couldn't fault him for getting tired or missing somethings here and there. Everyone needs to take it easy now and again, or they burn out. Right, so I'm giving the little guy a pass on the gunk my poor green hooves have to slip on. It's not up to me to be so judgmental or getting on him for not cleaning something. Seems like he has it rough enough as it is and could probably use a little bro support.

Right, cool.

Anyway, after we managed to lure Pinkie Pie out of hiding, and after she stopped crushing me in a hug that made my wings do questionable things, I gave her the 411. I told her how I wanted to meet every pony else among their friends and also thought it'd be nice to spend some time with my (technically new) big sister and I figured she new how to find them. Turns out I was right, she said something about how she could use of Pinkie Sense like a Friend-dar, that being a 'Friend radar', and new where all her friends where at any given time. Okay, so I ignored how disconcerting the idea that if you wanted to get away from Pinkie you couldn't was, and decided to issue out her orders. After giving her the mission of rounding up the Mane Six and bringing them back to the snack bowl for us to regroup, the cotton candy-maned party mare adjusted her camo helmet, gave a stiff salute, and through a smoke bomb at her hooves, vanishing into the crowd.

Alright, I have to say I was thoroughly entertained by her antics and made a note to spend a day with Pinkie Pie sometime in the future. I had always wondered about the impossible powers she held, and made it a goal to try and see how many I could witness. Dear god, what would happen if Pinkie Pie ever donned the Mask from that one Jim Carrey movie!!!?

...probably nothing, now that I think about it. I mean, she already has all those powers in the first place, I can't imagine much changing if she put it on.

Huh, okay, false alarm.

Anyway, after Pinkie went all “NINJAH VANEESH!” on us, Twilight realized that with my method of having drawn the pink one out in the open has left us without a bowl of punch. And so here we were, delving into the depths of the 'treebrary' to grab some bottles of juice to bring up and make some more punch. We had first went to the kitchen to see if there was any there, but to no avail. Luckily, Twilight remembered there was some sparkling juice and lemonade in the basement left over from New Luna's Eve, and should still be good. I figured it would make a decent punch, as far as I knew about it, so I went to help her.

“It's really dusty down here...' I couldn't help but comment, considering I could see my own hoofprints on the stairs as we descend. “I thought I heard you had science-y stuff and machines down here?” I'm not sure if it's common knowledge or not to know about Twilight's machines and stuff, but I am betting that I could get away with explaining that I heard it from Rainbow Dash if any questions come up.

Twilight shook her head, smiling. “ Well, my 'science-y stuff and machines' are indeed down here, I just haven't had much of a chance to utilize them in a while.' she said. I could hear the good humor in her voice as she quoted me. “It's just been one thing after another ever since I became a princess... I'm still not really sure how to feel about the whole thing, but I've been doing my best with what I've been given. You came at a good time, Kiwi, we've actually been in a bit of a lull around here for a little bit. If you came a few weeks ago, I'm not sure if you'd have got that great of an impression of Ponyville....' She shuddered slightly and muttered something about black vines to herself, obviously not for me to hear, but I did anyway.

Alright, so it's been several weeks since the Season 4 premiere? That certainly gives me a sense of timeline and where I might be in it, but if that's true shouldn't it already be past the Summer Sun Celebration? That might be something to keep in mind... My appearance might have thrown the timeline out of whack. Heck, maybe I'm not even in the “Mane Timeline”, and maybe some events of that season will be different or not even happen....

Oh jeez, maybe past events haven't happened either! I hope not, because I really wouldn't want something from a past I don't recognize to resurface. Like, a some previously thought resolved storyline returning to come and bite us in the plot.

A plot biting plot, perhaps?

Nah, it's funny, but cheesy too.

“Well, whatever. I'm just happy to be here with everb-everypony. I've wanted to meet you guys for a long time, and I'm looking forward to spending sometime with Rainbow Dash...' I said, a little nervously. It was a strange feeling to be admitting something like that aloud, and to the very once-fictional characters I had fantasized about meeting. Huh, there must be a boiler or a furnace down here. That would explain the heat in my face.

Twilight giggled a bit and turned to smile warmly at me once she reached the bottom of the steps. Those eyes conveyed so much to me, they were so expressive and deep, indigo pools of friendship and comfort. I am not too proud to say my heart raced like a school girl and my insides had the warm-fuzzies when she stared into my malachite windows to my soul.

“We're very happy to have you hear, too,' she said. “And I know Rainbow Dash is excited to spend time with you as well. We all are, and you're always welcome to stop by whenever you want.”

Oh wow, that was....and she meant it too. All the feels? All the feels.

“Gee....uh, thank you, Twilight. That means a lot to hear you say that.' I managed to respond, my overly large wings shifting with nervous, yet joyous energy. I blow my emerald bangs out of my eyes and matched her warm expression as I stepped off the last of the stairs and joined her in the basement.

“You're welcome, Kiwi.” the lavender alicorn said simply and turned to area before us.

Feeling pretty good about everything now, I brought my attention to the large room about us. The stairs we had climbed down had curved downwards as he hugged the wall, allowing the basement itself to be rather large and spacious. I looked about at the old-style machinery to one side of the basement, grinning as I saw loud of cables and vacuum tubes and I'm pretty sure there was one or two Tesla coils hidden behind some manner of computer device. To the right of the heavy devices was a large wooden table with all manner of test tubes and vials filled with chemicals laid out on it. I spotted a Bunsen burner and a microscope with slides and petri dishes about it. On the right side of the room were additional bookcases and boxes of of dusty looking tomes. One box I noticed was dedicated to scrolls, with a broken seal on them. Interesting, I guess that's where the letters from Celestia would go?

Twilight trotted over to that side of the room, and I followed close behind her... But not for that reason. Perv.

"Hmm, I last remember telling Spike to put those bottles down here somewhere...' she mused thoughtfully.

I wandered about the area, just looking around at nothing in particular. I figured Twilight knew what she was doing, and to be honest my organizational skills left so much to be desired, they sort of blended into other aspects of my abilities, such as searching for something. I remember misplacing my car keys one afternoon and I ended up tearing my apartment to pieces like somebody had dropped a bomb on it, only to find they were in my pocket where I had left them...though in my defense, that pair of jeans had big pockets. It was totally possible to miss an object in there....even if they were the only things in the pocket....and I had looked twice already before that.

Shut up.

While Twilight dug around the clutter of boxes and books with her telekinesis, I took to the bookcases themselves with interest. All the books shelved away here were big, thick hardcover literature of various types. The titles of the books were engraved into the thick covers and painted with gold and silver lettering, though it was hard to read what they said through the thick layer of dust coating them. With a flash of inspiration, a smug grin found itself upon my cute little face as I reached out with my big old wings and gentle brushed them. Aw yeah, built in feathdusters, baby! I took a strange amount of relief in the fact that if I couldn't get a decent job in the future, I could always get a gig as a maid.

Hm, do they have French maid outfits in Equestria? I don't know if I'm fearful of them, or weirdly anxious....

Anyway, I coughed a bit as the dust was cleared from the books and set to float in the air. I gave a little flap of my wings, sending the offensive air particles packing and clearing my field of vision and breathing space. I blinked to clear my eyes of anything left over, and eager returned to scrutinizing the bookshelves. I felt a wave of excitement wash over me, as I (awkwardly) grabbed a big dark blue tome from it's place and the shelve with a hoof and brought it down to read.

…

Aaaaaany second now...

Damn, this was starting to really hurt my eyes and give me a headache. I had no clue what was going on. I shook my head, thinking maybe that would help me out, and then tried again. Looking at the writing on the front cover was very trippy, I didn't know what to make of it. I mean, I understand the Equestrian alphabet, I know I did because there were parts that I could read, but only for a split second, before the letters seemed to float about the cover. I squinted my eyes in concentration and in an attempt to catch the magical symbols, opening the book and flipping through the pages, skimming the contents to find that the same thing was present no matter where I looked. Some letters let me read them before dancing around the pages, some letters turned into different letters, and other letters didn't register as written Equestrian to me.

What was going on? Was there something wrong with me? How come it was so freaking hard to try to do something that I used to love, and did on a regular basis? Maybe because I have my old human brain inside this pony body? Could there be some kind of compatibility issue or something?

Glaring and shaking my head, I put that book back on the shelf and grabbed another one, hoping it was just that one tome, but alas my hopes were crushed. The same bullcrap happened in this one as did the last one. I tried in vain to make anything concrete out, but only ended up frustrated and with a deeper headache. I shook my head violent, refusing to give up. The books had to be the problem! Maybe that why they were down here and not upstairs where they could be checked out. These books must have some kind of magical mishap cursing them, and so Twilight had them all stored down here since they were unreadable. It all makes sense now!

There wasn't anything wrong with me. It was the damned magical books! Oh, those rascals! They had me going there for a minute! But I'm too smart and strong willed to fall for such a thing, yessiree bob!

After realizing the problem with the books, I decided to continue to look through them anyway, but I wasn't gonna try to read the words. I settled for looking at the pictures and illustrations, discovering that a lot of these books seemed to be guidebooks of some sort. I found several books with pictures of Canterlot, and several books with pictures of wildlife and forests and the such, I even found a couple of pony cookbooks! As I was pulling a new book down from one of the shelves, I saw a satisfied looking purple alicorn strut over to where I sat on my haunches, several bottles of liquid floating along behind her enveloped in a light purple glow.

“Found them,' she annouced, shooting a playfully sardonic look my way. “Thanks for your help, Kiwi.”

I grinned at her and waved a hoof at her magnanimously. “Think nothing of it!' I winked.

She rolled her eyes.

“So, whatcha got there?' she asked curiously, walking up to look over my shoulder as I held one of those un-readable books.

“Eh, just one of these magic books you got stockpiled here.' I shrugged, flipping through the tome and noting the illustrations of what looked to be monsters and magical creatures.

“Magic books?' she repeated, and I could almost hear the headtilt in her voice. “ I don't have any books on magic stored down here. Only guides and help manuals. See, like that outdated 'A Guide to Magical Beasts' you're looking through. I mean, sure it deals with monsters and things like that, but nothing magical about them.”

I stiffened in mid page turn, and turned to look at Twilight. “Er, well, yeah, I knew that,' I stammered, then turned to gesture at the dancing font on the page I had stopped on. “I was talking more about how these books are unreadable, see?” I held the tome up for her, a part of me praying she would agree with me. That it was the books, not me. I couldn't be the one with the problem!

I felt the gentle touch of her telekinesis grab the book from my hooves and I turned to watch as she brought it up to her face.

“Well, the terminology is ancient, but I wouldn't go as far as to call it 'unreadable'”, she said with a laugh. “This is a perfectly good entry on Goblins, besides the fact that it's now void.”

My mind was reeling at the implications of what I just heard. Twilight could read it just fine. I could not. This logical meant that my previous theory of the books having been cursed or otherwise magicked was no long plausible, and it was more probable that I simply couldn't read the language....That's what it had to be. I knew it wasn't the simple 'not knowing the written language' problem, as there were bits and pieces I understood, this seemed more like a problem with me being from another dimension. Could my being an alien trapped in a foreign body have made things messed up in said body? What other normal functions would be messed up because of my intrusion? This was looking bad, especially with school on the way. They'd know something was wrong the minute I tried to read aloud to the class!

With my mind frozen by this crushing revelation of problems to come in my little life as a filly, I latched onto something to take my mind off of it.

“Wait, goblins?” I asked, snapping my head up to stare at Twilight curiously. “Those little green things with the red eyes and the teeth?”

“The very same,' she nodded in response, levitating the book around the show me. It seems I had found the entry on the little green bastards, as an illustration eerily similar to the one I had encountered earlier today stared out at me.

“What do you mean by the entry being void?”

Twilight stood up a little straighter, apparently shifting into 'exposition mode'. “I mean that goblins went extinct hundreds of years ago. They were creatures created by an ancient necromancer named The Horned One, and were used as minions in his army. They were weak and fragile and they weren't very bright, but they were quick and small, could blend into their surroundings and apparently had a inherent glamour that made it difficult for most ponies to even notice them, and so The Horned One used them as spies and scouts.' she explained, thankfully seeming to give me an abridged history. “When Princess Celestia banished The Horned One in to the Shadowlands, the goblins were so attuned to their master they were banished along with him. It's been seven hundred years since then, and not a single goblin has been seen since. So, they're basically extinct.” She placed the book back on the shelf, and and made for the stairs. “Come on, let's get this punch up to the party!”

I frowned. “But I saw one.”

“Saw one what?' she raised an eyebrow, pausing before the stairs.

“A goblin.” I stood up and followed after her, looking at her with a serious expression. “ I saw a goblin before we arrived at the party today. It was stealing apples. I chased it!”

Twilight smiled and continued up the stairs. “Oh, that's not possible.' she chuckled. “I'm not saying something didn't steal and apple and you chased it, but it couldn't have been a goblin. It might've looked similar and you just thought it was a goblin, but it wasn't a legitimate little green creature.”

I glared as Twilight turned back to face front and led the way back up the stairs. Oh, so that's how it was gonna be, huh? Because I'm a kid I can't possibly know what I'm talking about, is that right? I sighed to myself, knowing that there was no reason continue the subject any further. I've seen enough movies about this kind of thing, and most importantly I knew what I saw.

I made a mental note to find away past my reading predicament and coming back to study that tome. I had a feeling I hadn't seen the last of that little booger, and I could only guess how many of them their actually was where that one came from.

But I'd worry about that later. Right now, I had a party to enjoy and ponies to meet!

Three hours after the party ended a young Earth Pony filly named Golden Gloves finds herself to be incredibly bored, sitting upside down in a comfy sofa in her best friend Clockwork Cherishs basement lab. " Are you done yet, 'Rish?"

The young unicorn in question was at her work bench, goggles donned and tools working, sparks flying and metal clanking, her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth as she concentrated on her work.

"Almost, Goldie~' she responded in her nasally voice without looking up from her work. " I just gotta solder these last components, and then apply the outer casing and bolt it down, and I'll be done! Oh, wait- I actually gotta apply the fake fur, too, THEN I'll be done!"

Golden Gloves tried to entertain herself by sucking on the air to bring her bangs closer to her, than blowing them away, then rinse and repeat. " Why do you gotta build your Dad a robot cat, in the first place? Why don't you just go 'n BUY a little furball for him?"

"I've already told ya, Goldie, Papa's allergic to em, but he loves cats more than anything in the world. So, I figure for his birthday, I'll give him the Clockwork Cat, patent pending, and he won't have to go to the ER for his bloating. I'm telling you, this Cat will be just like a real one, down to every last detail you'd expect a cat to have!"

"Except for being alive and junk, huh?' Golden Gloves muttered.

" Not only will this be pivotal to my Poppa's health and happiness, this prototype will serve as a glorious test run of my new line of Clockwork Pets, trademarked, toys for those who want a real one but can't for whatever reason! I'll not only be filthy rich, but once again I'll prove my genius to those RUBES down at the Makina School of Robotic Arts, and they'll ALL be sorry they turned down my genius and denied me entrance into their school!!!"

Golden Gloves gave her friend a strange look as the filly had suddenly went on a maniacal sounding rant of frustration. She watched her BFF breath heavily for a few seconds, before blinking once and slowly responding.

"Dude, it's a college for ponies with triple digit IQs."

"EXACTLY! They could have made use of mine!!!"

"...you're just a kid though, that school was for old eggheads, ya know."

"And that's another injustice that I shall prove to have been wrong! I'll rub it in all their smug, grown-up faces!! PWAHAHAHAHA!" Cherish did her ' mad scientist cackle w/ lightning background' schtick she seemed to do more often then not, her copper mecha backpack producing holographic lightning and doing the thunder sound effect. She looked pretty silly(if not impressive), but Golden Gloves could never find the heart to tell her... plus, she prefered to laugh silently to herself whenever her Bestie did it.

'I sure hope she can get the recognition she deserves, if only because she really is a genius at this stuff...' she thought, running a hoof through her dirty yellow mane. 'But I'm not so sure making robotic pets is the way to do it...'

"Now the preparations are all completed!' she exclaimed and then pointed at Golden Gloves dramatically. " Gol-gor! Throw the switch!!!!"

Goldie suppressed a giggle and played along, making a face and posture imitating that of a hunchback assistant. " Yyyes, Master!" she said in a voice to go along with it, and then trotted over to "The Switch", throwing it on.

A momentary crackle of electricity filled their ears, as the robotic cat convulsed and jittered around on the table.

"Yes...Yyyyes...YEEEEEES!!!!" Cherish laughed loudly at her creation as it started to come to life. "I HAVE DONE IT! I HAVE BREATHED INTO MY CREATION....LIFE!!!!!!"

Goldie threw the switch off again as she took the cliched and overused line Cherish shouted as her cue. She'd started to grow used to her friend's peculiarities by this time, and had played "Gol-gor" to her "Steinsdale" many a time by know.

Golden Gloves joined Clockwork Cherish in looking down at the workbench at the black cat robot, and they waited for a moment together in silence.

"....did it work?" Goldie asked after a beat or two.

Cherish snorted incredulously. " Oh, puh-lease~ Goldie. This is a creation of MINE, we're talking about? And as such, it's pedigree of quality is just the same as all of my genius creations!" she said with pride, hoof to her chest for effect.

The larger filly gave the inventor a flat look.

"... so you're not sure."

"Eeeyeah...." Cherish said sheepishly. "Eh heh heh..."

Goldie rolled her eyes at her friend affectionately, and they returned their gaze back to the cat and waited.

After roughly an hour, they decided it wasn't going to work at all.

"Awwwwwww...." Cherish groaned sadly, deflating visibly. " What went wrong? Did I use too much juice? Was the CAT AI program buggy in anyway(I'll have to take my notes to Miss Sparkle later...)? What went wrong?"

"Hey, Hey...' Golden Gloves said gently, wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulders and pulling her in. " There's still time before your Dad's B-day, 'Rish! You'll figure it out in time, you always do! You ARE the smartest filly in Ponyville afterall~"

"Pony." Cherish muttered.

"Pony!,' Golden Gloves rolled her eyes as she amended herself.

Cherish's smile returned at the opportunity to talk good about herself. " That is the truth....Oh well, you're right, Goldie~ C'mon, I'll make ya some smoothies while we figure it out!"

"What's this 'we' stuff, poindexter?" Golden Gloves grinned playfully as they exited the lab, chatting amiably together as the made their way up the stairs, and turning off the lights as they closed the door behind them, not noticing the feline eyes lighting up in the growing darkness behind them....

Author's Note

Here we are, a little something to tide you wonderful folks over!

Next chapter we're going to skip to after the party and get to some important development and some other fun things~

The Introduction of Kiwi Blitz pt1

The rest of the party went without a hitch once we returned from our foray into the basement to acquire the snacks and drinks we needed to restock after my ' smoke out Pinkie' plan worked so epically. Twilight used used her magic to carry all the supplies back upstairs, despite my offer to help carry some. I guess when you're a little filly most ponies find such an offer cute and simply appreciate the sentiment, but don't think too seriously about it. Though to be fair, I didn't really fight for my right to be treated like a capable adult, as my mind was drawn to recent discoveries about myself.

What the heck was up with that book thing back there? Why did the letters dance about the page and taunt me so? Even just trying to remember what was on each page brought back the ghost of a migraine, centered right behind my eyes. This was a dilemma that really bothered me. If there was one thing I could pride myself on growing up, it would be my reading ability. From an early age, I was able to read things well behind the level of my peers and classmates, and it was one of the few things that made my parents happy and proud of me. I felt such joy at the attention and praise they'd give me when I was a little tyke, and it just kind of stuck with me as I grew up. I lived my life with a passion for reading, and I had collected quite of a nice library by the time I had moved out on my own. Reading was a big part of me, something I identified about myself, what made me the awesome hunk of a man turned adorable lime green pegasus filly that I was today. And why should problems reading the Equestrian script be a thing anyway? I mean, I had no trouble with any of the other things this body could do. It only took me a few seconds to master walking, and after giving it a try I had found how to move my big feather dusters I called wings( though I'll admit that was a little harder to do), and I understood and spoke the local dialect flawlessly! One would think that as an extension of the language thing that a filly of my age would be able to read, so why couldn't I?

And I was looking forward to reading 'Daring Do', too... If you are a fan of show, at one poitn or another you wondered about just how good of a story those books were...

But rather then being left to mope and fry my brain trying to figure out why I seemed to have such a horrendous handicap in the world of my dreams, I was pleasantly drawn from my inner turmoils by introduction time! Turned out, like the loyal trooper I knew she was, Pinkie Pie had rounded up the rest of the Mane Six for me to meet. And God My Oh! Did I have a TIME resisting the urge to squeal like a little girl. Because that would have been embarrassing. Because despite all appearances, I was a man! And men don't squeal like little school girls.

...though that mostly because I was too star struck at first to form coherent sentences.

The first mare to grace me with her pleasantries was the divine Rarity, and oh my, was she divine! I was beginning to wonder why Twilight and the gang weren't beating of what stallions there was with a stick, because with all six of them gathered around my, I noticed a trend of just how mind-blowingly gorgeous they all were. Rarity stood with poise and confidence that the show just didn't have the capability of portraying, her elegant purple mane seemed to glitter and shine in the dim party lights like a beacon in a rainstorm. Her eyes were crystal pools of intelligent blue, the kind of eyes that expressed just so much of her soul and heart that it was a wonder you didn't fall victim to Cupid's arrow every time your gaze met with hers. Her body was covered with a pristine white coat, like the color of virgin snow embracing the ground in a blanket of purity, adding to the appeal of the voluptuous curves of the mare's womanly form. Similar to Pinkie Pie, Rarity had generous proportions in all the right places, but unlike the party pony's form, Rarity's body had a tight, controlled look to it, like you could just imagine that she spends a lot of time maintaining her figure with exercise and diet. She looked much less pudgy than my favorite cuddle buddy in the pink fur, but was just as full-figured. A beautiful contrast formed between the two as the stood near one another, and I was A-okay with it!

Don't judge me, they ARE that hot!

...okay, it still feels a little weird to think that, but I stand by my weirdness!

“Oh, and this lovely young lady must be Kiwi Blitz. I have heard just ever so much about you, darling! My name is Rarity, and it is a pleasure to finally meet you,' Rarity introduced herself and I couldn't help but smile wide at the novelty of meeting one of my favorite cartoon characters of all time in the flesh. My small muzzle must have been curled upwards into quite a happy grin, as I could still feel my cheeks hurt hours later. The fashionista gave me a brief summary of what it was she did, how she was happy to meet me and glad I seemed to be such a kind, sweet filly( still a little weird to hear somepony call me that, and I don't think that will change anytime soon). What surprised me, however, was mid-way through our little chat, Rarity began to look me over... reaaaaaaally closely.

“Hm...' she hummed to herself, sounding thoughtful. She circled me for the third time, gently poking and prodding my body in place here and there, making me shiver at the gentle touch of her hoof. “ I must say, you have quite the body...”

“Uhhh....' I replied, feeling a strange sensation in my chest, and a warmth in my cheeks. “...Do I need an adult?”

Rarity blinked, and quickly waved a hoof in dismissal, an embarrassed blush tinting her cheeks. “What?! No! Oh, no, dear! I didn't mean anything like that! I'm not that kind of mare! I'm so sorry if I scared you, really I am! I don't find you attractive in the slightest! Not that you aren't a beautiful young filly! I mean-' she paused from her startled rambling, and took a deep breath and cleared her throat, gathering herself up and becoming calm once more. “What I mean to say, darling, is that you have the look I've been wanting for an upcoming filly fashion line I have in the works, and you would be just PERFECT to model my wares! Would you be interested, Kiwi dear? I'd be sure to reward you for your participation.”

I blinked twice. Modeling? I didn't really see that coming! I mean, from what knowledge of pony standards of beauty I've seemingly inherited from my OC once I took over her body, I knew I was considered pretty, but a model? Did I really have the look for that kind of flaunting? Was I elegant enough to strut down a runway and have lots of ponies watching me, taking pictures and judging me? ...was I comfortable enough in my masculinity to do such a thing?

“Um...wow, I uh...I don't know what to say, Ms. Rarity' I said honestly. I looked up at that gorgeous unicorn, uncertainty in my eyes. “I'm really flattered you think so, but...”

Rarity's expression softened with understanding. She smiled down at me and nodded. “I understand, dear. You don't have to give me an answer right now, you take the time you need an think it over.' she said, cupping my face with a soft hoof. “And if your answer is 'no', I won't be upset in the least. So, don't be afraid to give it to me straight once you've decided, mmm?”

I smiled back at her and couldn't help but lean a little into her caress. Dang, who knew ponies felt so good?

“Thanks, Ms. Rarity' I blushed ever so slightly, and nodded to the older mare.

Rarity patted me on the cheek in an affectionate manner, an winked. “Think nothing of it, dear,' she said, stepping back and turning to chat with Pinkie.

Man, I can't fathom why there are some bronies that despise Rarity! She is just so generous and understanding...and kind!

Speaking of “Kindness”...

Fluttershy was much the same as her friends when it came to the looks department. I don't think there was single one of them with a Charisma under 18, not even my 'big sis' Rainbow Dash! If Pinkie Pie has an outgoing sort of energy to her beauty, and Rarity gave off a mature, adult feel to her visage, Fluttershy had a 'Motherly' aura. Her smile made all your bad feelings and doubts melt away, leaving you feeling secure and loved. Her pale pink mane trailed down her in a cascade of softness that made you envy her shoulders for it's touch. She was thin and petite but not overly so, and had an aura of naïve grace about her, like she was oblivious to how well she moved and how eye-catching a movement she could muster.

She was wonder to behold!

She was beautiful!

She was adorable!

She was-!

...not here?

I frowned in confusion as I looked back and forth amongst those circled around me, blinking twice in confusion. I could have sworn she was here a minute ago...

“What's wrong, Ki?” my radical older sister inquired.

“I...don't see your friend Fluttershy.' I turned my gaze upwards to the hovering embodiment of loyalty.

“Hm.' Rainbow Dash hummed to herself, as she looked around her to find the butter pegasus in question. “Hey yeah...It's like she just disappeared. Pinkie, I thought you gathered all of us?”

A curtain of pink filled my vision as the party planner seemingly appeared out of thin air, an oblivious smile adorning her face. “Yepparooni! I indeedily doodily brought each one of our friends here to meet this cute li'l patootie!' Pinkie chirped, and I quickly found myself in an affectionate yet bone-crushing hug that made me wonder if the blush on my cheeks was from her closeness or her force. “Just like Commander Kiwi ordered!”

I cleared my throat nonchalantly, and relaxed into the hug a bit. “I don't doubt you, Pinkie Pie, it's just that I thought she'd be willing to meet me...' I felt my body slump in visible disappointment. “I guess it's okay if she didn't want to be my friend...”

As hard to swallow as the idea of a pony like Fluttershy, the ELEMENT OF KINDNESS, doing something as mean as ditching a child like me was, for some reason my mind seemed to doubt itself and I feared that that was exactly the reason why she no longer stood in our presence. I began to wonder what was wrong with me? Am I just not likeable? Did the idea of humoring her best friends little sister seem like a hassle to her? My self-esteem started to take a nosedive as all these childish thoughts of unworth and self-doubt invaded my mind, but was interrupted by the laughter of the adults around me.

I blinked and looked around me as Rainbow Dash laughed her flank off, Twilight chuckled and rolled her eyes lightly, Rarity hid a titter behind one hoof, Pinkie Pie giggled uncontrollably into my mane and nuzzled my neck in mirth, while Applejack grinned and shook her head. My frown returned, though it was decidedly more bemused than before.

“What's so funny?” I looked to each of the Mane Six in turn, searchingly.

“Ah, sorry there sugarcube,' the farmpony Applejack reassured me. “We ain't laughin' at you or anythin', it's just the idea of Fluttershy not wanting to meet you...Trust me, darlin', I think the only pony that might've been more excited about your visit than RD over there is Fluttershy.”

My ears perked up at that. “R-really?' I asked.

“Yeah, no worries sis!' Rainbow managed to say between deep breaths and wiping tears from her eyes. The older pony hovered over and ruffled my mane in an affectionate manner. “ I know she'll love you, and she's been waiting to meet you ever since I told her about ya.”

Wow...nobody has ever been excited to meet me before...The idea that a mare like Fluttershy was anticipating meeting me made my heart warm up considerably. It was a tingly feeling, being the recipient of such affection and good nature. I looked up at the ponies about me and couldn't help but feel that I had been missing something my whole life before this moment, and I was just too blind to see it...

Though I may not be able to put my finger on it (mostly because I don't have them anymore haha!~), I felt like whatever I was missing in my life had finally made itself available to me here and now, in this world of talking technicolor ponies. The smiles I was receiving from my new friends and family told me that much. I quickly lost the fight against an enormous, toothy smile covering my face.

“Awesome...” I whispered happily, diverting my gaze to the floor in a sudden impulsed of bashfulness.

“Heh. Yeah, and I know she'll say the same thing and you'll get along just fine Kiwi,' my sister grinned at me before sighing and looking around the party. “...we juuuuuust gotta find her again...”

Pinkie bolted upright and gasped in delight. “Ooo! I love playing Hide and Seek with Fluttershy!' she declared to the heavens, by her enthusiastic volume. She flashed me a determined grin. “She's actually a challenge...”

She giggled, as she directed a pointed glance at Rainbow Dash, before taking off into the crowd.

“Hey! I'll have you know I'm an incredible hider!' Rainbow Dash protested after the pink pony quickly being swallowed up by the crowd, before sending a wink my way and taking off. “Good luck! Meet you back here once we find her.”

An in the aftermath of a rainbow colored contrail made sparkling by the strobe lights hanging from the ceiling, the group of me, Twilight, Rarity and Applejack were all that was left. Our eyes meet simultaneously, and as one we nodded in an unspoken agreement before turning on our hooves and taking different directions to find our wayward friend.

...you know, I was beginning to see a pattern in my introductions tonight, and hoped that for the remainder of my stay in Ponyville that I wouldn't have to out as much effort into future meetings and greetings.

And while I may have been growing tired of having to search for semi-familiar faces in a world just as semi-familiar and yet oh so new, I had to admit I was having a blast. Maybe it was the kid in me? Maybe it was just the novelty of the situation I found myself, and finding that I was in a fictional world as a fictional character. Maybe I was only riding the high of the pleasurable side of my being sucked into the world of Equestria, and had yet the chance to stop long enough to deal with and internalize that I had been forcibly made a female.

I can promise you I wasn't looking forward to such an ordeal...

In the meantime, I did have another reason to find Fluttershy than just getting to be friends with one of my favorite cartoon characters. I had questions I needed answered. Questions that could only be asked to one creature in this world. One creature who nobody knew how to keep track of, except for maybe the soft spoken winged horse I currently was searching for.

While I may not be vehemently upset about being sent to the one place I've always wanted to be, I was a little irked that I had been sent here in a way other than what was promised to me.

'Discord, you and me are gonna have a little chat...'

Author's Note

So, sorry for the long wait, but real life really kicked my in the proverbial junk for a few months there.

Weak chapter is weak. I'm not entirely satisfied with how this turned out and my revise it a little later, but with how many cuts were made from it and how many times I'd changed it around, I'm willing to let it sit as is for now and see what all of you lovely people think.

I hope you enjoy it and forgive me it's shortness. I've been in a bit of slump for awhile, but I'm actively working to get out of it.

See you all soon!~