Bliss in Darkness

A Friend to the Ponies

"So she just... Passed out? Wait... What were you all doing at your house so late? I saw you in the window last night..." I said. It was a really odd situation. Nevertheless, I picked up Fluttershy and set off for her cottage.

"Well...ah... yeah. We were just...baking some late night treats," Applejack looked at Pinkie with an imperceptible smile,"She's just mighty squeamish ah s'pose.." Applejack said, surprising me with her vocabulary. Not that the farm pony wasn't smart, she just never showed much of a talent in words. I also thought it was strange that the Element of Honestly was trying to lie to me.

"Ohhhkay. Well I guess I'll just forget that lie you just told me and leave well enough alone!" I said with a smile. I didn't want to pry. Hell, they could have been having all kinds of crazy lesbian pony sex for all I knew, although that was pretty unlikely.

"What AJ means to say is we were organizing a super secret party!" Said the bouncing one.

"Whatever you say Pinkie." I said with a grin. It's moments like those that made me glad I stayed in Equestria. I set Fluttershy to rest in her bed and felt a sharp object painfully striking the back of my head. I turned around, poised to kill, and found nothing but a small bunny.

"Angel! He is a friend!" Pinkie said to the small white rabbit. She scrunched up his face and looked me dead in the eyes. Obviously, he didn't know how quickly I could end his small existence. He gave me a glance that said 'I'm watching you' and jumped onto Fluttershy's bed.

"Well. I'm off to take care of some things. Have fun you two. Try not to get too steamy." I joked, turning the mares a bright red color. Well, I could only assume Pinkie was blushing, I couldn't see it through her already pink coat.

I departed Fluttershy's humble abode and thought about what I should be doing as I headed in the general direction of Ponyville. I thought about Luna, and the biggest mistake I have made since arriving here. I then thought about Twilight and how I was going to go about earning her trust back. I thought about the girl, Eliza, and how much I wanted her the hell out of here. Then, I thought about the biggest problem of all. The rift. I decided to push all other matters aside and deal with that first. After all, if it was breached by the wrong people there wouldn't be any point in repairing my connections to Twilight and Luna.

After I quelled my running mind, I realized I was standing in the middle of Ponyville square. Everypony's eyes were on me and they were all slack jawed. I could see the fear in their eyes as I turned and gazed upon each and every one of them.

"So... Anypony know where I can get a decent flank-steak around here?" I said as casually as possible, preemptive tears of laughter welling up in my eyes. That wasn't the smartest thing to do, but it was the most fun. The cries of ponies blocked out all other sounds of the town, and I saw them all tripping themselves up trying to escape the horrible monster. I couldn't help but laugh. It was then I noticed a small pony at the base of my feet. Being a filly, she barely came up to my knees. She was orange and had a pink mane. I also noticed that she lacked a mark on her flank that all other ponies had. Cutie marks they call them? Yeah, definitely a little girls show.

"I'm not scared of you!" She yelled in a voice I wouldn't have expected from such a small source.

"Oh yes? Why exactly is that?" I replied. This was fun. Maybe I could make a new friend,and show Ponyville I wasn't dangerous after playing around a bit first.

"Just because you are big doesn't mean you scare me!" She said as she turned on her front hooves and bucked me right in the shins. I felt a stinging pain, but it was nothing too serious. I took a look around to see if the town was witnessing its only defender, proudly holding off this strange beast with her own four hooves. I saw the eyes of all the town residents upon me, still quivering in fear from inside the many shops and houses that lined the area.

"Come here you!" I shouted, pretending to be angry. "Do you not know what I'm capable of?!" I screamed as I opened my mouth and showed off my abnormally large canine teeth. I grabbed her and brought her up to my face as I prepared to take a bite out of the orange filly. She was screaming in sheer terror as she squirmed for her life. I chuckled to myself as I saw the look of pure terror on her face, her eyes pleading me not to harm her. I brought her soft belly to my face and pressed my mouth against her soft, orange stomach.

Instead of biting down, however, I puckered up my lips and blew. Her cries of terror were quickly replaced by cries of laughter as I forced air out of my lungs and through the tight seal of my lips on her small orange belly. After I was out of air, I brought the filly's face to mine and whispered.

"Gotcha."

***

'Where the buck is Charlie...' Twilight thought as she paced around her library once more. She awoke with a pounding in her head after last night's injury. Many things ran through her head at that moment, but Charlie was the most prominent. She checked on Eliza, finding her to still be asleep.

"What have I done..." The lavender unicorn sighed, and lowered her head. Why was the fate of Equestria always on her shoulders, she thought. 'I shouldn't have kicked him out like that, but he is dangerous. He is a murderer. Still, he did save many lives since he got here..'

Twilight relieved her weight on her bed once more and closed her eyes. She wished it was night time again. Some stargazing would surely do her well. In her closed eyes, she envisioned all the fates that might have befallen Charlie. Her mind also recalled the shocking sight of Applejack and Pinkie the night before. Twilight sighed and once again thought to herself.

'I need to get out of here for a few hours... I'm driving myself crazy.' She got her saddlebag and filled it with magical reading tools. She was going to gather the others, with or without Charlie, and get to the bottom of this problem. She packed some apples and carrots, as well as some hay for snacks. After she was done in the kitchen, her thoughts returned to her. 'Eliza will probably want to go home...'

She peeked in on her spare room finding the sleeping girl right where she left her. As odd as it was that the girl knew all about Equestria before even meeting her, she couldn't help but smile at the sight. She was on her back with her head tilted up. Her long curly hair tangled in knots, and her mouth slightly open in a light snore. As much as she hated having to admit it, she was going to have to send the girl home soon.

"Hey Eliza... wake up." She said quietly as she could while still waking her. No response came however. After a few more attempts at waking the small child, Twilight decided that it would probably take a few days to figure out the anomaly anyways, and departed the room without Eliza. She told Spike to fix her guest breakfast, and departed her wooden home, off to find the Elements. She decided she would avoid Sugarcube Corner until the last possible minute, just to avoid the awkwardness of the previous evening just that much longer.

"That leaves Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Now where is that house of hers..." She said as she surveyed the skies for Rainbow's fluffy floating home in the sky.

***

"... and that's how I saved the Princesses from nightmare moon!" I finished recalling the story. After I played around with the orange filly, who I discovered was named Scootaloo, the rest of Ponyville opened up to me slightly. It took some convincing after my flank-steak joke, but I somehow managed to befriend the whole town in a matter of minutes. It turns out that the whole town had hundreds of questions they were all too afraid to ask.

Twilight said you told her about something called a... tea vee? Why do you walk on two legs? Why are you growing a mane on your face? Is it true that you have the situation out in the forest under control? What are those sausages on your hooves? Why do you have dragon-eyes? How did you know I was ticklish? The list of questions went on and on. I was particularly flattered when they referred to them as dragon-eyes, and not freaky lizard eyes. Dragon eyes made me sound more bad-ass.

Over the span of an hour or so most of the ponies had said their goodbyes, leaving a few behind to bombard me with more questions. These ponies were more interested in the world I lived in before. They were shocked to learn that there was no Alicorn princess raising the sun every morning. It was difficult to explain to workings of gravity on celestial bodies, but it was more difficult still to explain the lack of such laws in Equestria. It was like explaining drowning to a fish, or death to a god.

After several more minutes of questioning all the ponies had dissipated from the square, and I was left with a small giftshop-worth of goods. I had several business cards of craftsponies who could make my furniture, and even a few offers of temporary boarding when I explained that I was technically homeless. I laughed to myself as I left the town square in search of Steel Hammer, the local blacksmith and self entitled "Best craftspony in all of Equestria." I would have to put his work to the test.

My mind raced with questions I should have been asking the crowd of ponies. Why was it so nice here? These ponies thought I was going to cook and eat them not even a day ago, and now they were offering to let me live in their homes. This place was a far cry from Earth, that's for sure. Even if it was the imagination of Earthlings that created this land. Suddenly it clicked in my head and I conversed with myself once more.

'That's it! How could I have been so stupid.'

'Easy, you spend all your time in school staring at Claire.'

'Shut up, you. This world is everything Earth is wished to be. This land was created by people on Earth who wish to escape the evils of their own world.'

'Took you that long to figure out?'

'I guess so. Who would have thought I would end up in utopia?'

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of metal hitting metal. I followed the directions given to me, which was miraculous given the fact that hundreds of ponies were shouting questions at me during the time I was receiving them. I surveyed my surroundings and my eyes found a small shack on the outskirts of Ponyville. 'This is it.' I thought.

"I thought I might see ya soon! Sure as shit can't have ya sleepin' on a broken bed now can we?" Steel Hammer said as I walked in the door, narrowly avoiding hitting my head on a beam running the length of the ceiling. He was a rather large stallion, with a grey coat and darker grey mane. His eyes were piercing orange however, reflecting the forge in which he spent most of his time.

'Ponies swearing? Does the word 'shit' exist here?'

'Obviously it does. This world was imagined into existence by humans remember?'

'Ah. I like his Irish accent. I wonder who imagined that...'

"You got that right my friend." I said. I could tell this pony and I would get along quite well.

We conversed for about a half hour, our topics ranging from my potential house across the street from Fluttershy, to his life as one of the only males in Ponyville. Apparently Applejack had a big brother who was Steel Hammer's drinking partner. I could tell that me and this pony were going to get along really well. Once the clock struck 5 pm, I decided I should take my leave. I had to meet with the Elements at some point today, no matter how much I wished to avoid the awkwardness of facing Twilight again.

"Alrighty then, take care of ya'self lad. I'll see you once you take care of that... whatever it is that ya' doin' out in tha' forest!"

"Thanks Steel, same to you." I said quickly as I departed his shack. I thought about all the ponies I had met today and how friendly and happy they seemed to be once they opened up to my different appearance. I sighed as I thought again back to Luna, who I may or may not have ruined my chances with. I decided that I was going to drop in to visit with Fluttershy. My talk with Steel Hammer led to a suggestion of building a house just across the way from her peaceful surroundings, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't encroaching.

My blood ran cold as I passed the Everfree forest on the way to her cottage. It had only gotten worse since my last visit. The place reeked of the evilness of the world beyond, bringing back foul memories of my past. It was only a matter of time before something bad happened, and I struggled to keep the thought out of my mind, at least until I finished my visit with Fluttershy.

"Is anybody home?" I called out as I knocked on her door. I heard animals scurrying about inside, and thought I heard her trademark 'EEP!' when I first struck the hard wood of the door. I knew she was home, so I tried to door. It was unlocked.

"Fluttershy... what in the world are you doing?"

"Oh.. I uhh... just.. yeah... sorry. I was practicing my tree impersonation." The yellow pegasus said as she put the branches down and took the leaves out of her pink mane. Was she trying to... hide from me?

"Why were you doing that?"

"I just... well.. I like trees and... my animals like trees and...." I decided to cut her off before her story could get any more absurd.

"Fluttershy... were you hiding from me?" I said raising an eyebrow, remembering the sharp 'EEP!' that came from her during the previous evening.

"I just... I was scared you would be mad at me for listening to your private conversation with Princess Luna..." She said in an almost inaudible squeak. This mare was too cute. She was so sweet I was afraid I would develop type two adult onset diabetes by just standing in her presence.

"Oh you..." I started laughing, causing her to tense up as if I was yelling. "Really, it is fine. Don't worry about it."

"Oh... ok... so, uh, what brings you here this evening?" She said, seemingly warming up to my presence. I was pretty intimidating, with the all black attire and the beard, but I thought she knew me well enough by now to know that I wasn't dangerous.

"I was just talking with Steel Hammer about building a place of my own here in Ponyville, once we have taken care of the problem in the forest. I love this area, and I was wondering if it would be okay if I built my home across the way from you?" I asked.

"Oh! That would be lovely! I am very lonely all the way out here and I could use a neighbor... um.. if that's ok..." She said, suddenly snapping out of her timid mindset for a few seconds.

'She must really like the idea of me being her neighbor.'

'I think she might be coming on to us.'

'Fluttershy? Isn't she married to that oak tree out back?'

'Very funny. Don't say I didn't warn you...'

"Its is definitely okay Fluttershy. I am..." My statement was interrupted by a knock at the door. Fluttershy flinched and her mane instantly returned to its post, guarding her face from all things intimidating. I sighed, and walked over to the door, not wanting to wait for Fluttershy to recover from shock.

I opened to the door, and was shocked to see Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, and by the looks of it they were surprised to see me. Before a single word could be said, I knelt down on one knee and whispered to Twilight.

"We will settle our differences later. There's more important things to be done right now."

She replied with a sympathetic nod, and I turned to the rest of the group and smiled.

"How are you, my friends?"

"I am simply marvelous!"

"I'm feeling awesome!"

"I am just fine thank you." Came the replies from Rarity, Rainbow and Twilight. I turned to Fluttershy and beckoned her forward. She joined the group and we spoke amongst ourselves for a little while. It was always calming for me to just talk casually with my new friends. Rainbow always had some 'awesome' story to tell, and Twilight always had something interesting to say. Rarity was fun to mess with, and Fluttershy was just fun to watch. Pinkie and Applejack were... wait.

"Where's Pinkie and Applejack?" I asked the group, "they aren't..." I started.

"I don't know.. Let's go get them." Twilight said with an obvious hint of embarrassment. Maybe there was crazy lesbian pony sex after all? We set off from Fluttershy's and headed toward Ponyville. The cheery conversation drowning out and giving way to my fear of the coming events. I tried my best to be as cheery and positive as my friends as a familiar dark presence entered my mind.

***

"You have no control over me Nightmare. Twilight and the Elements have made sure of that."