The Stars Shall Aid in Her Escape

The Stars Shall Aid in Her Escape

Chapter 3 – Stranger

Orion wasn’t one for the busy life. Large cities crowded from end to end with ponies frightened the poor girl half to death. In fact, had it not been for her studies, she likely would have hated every minute she spent living in Cantorlot. It was probably because she had spent her entire life in the small town of Fillydelphia. It was a quant place. Rarely crowded, it was also comfortable, one of those places where you were always likely to bump into a good friend while going trotting around town.

But compared to Ponyville, Fillydelphia was Manehatten.

When the conductor first announced that the train was approaching Ponyville, Orion had thought that he had made a mistake. Gazing out the window, she could just make out a few houses, and several orchards. When the train finally pulled into the station, she could barely believe that such a place even existed. The houses were small, and for the most part nearly identical. They also looked extremely fragile, almost as though you could pull them right off there foundation and drag it halfway across town with only the most minimal of effort.

But there was something else about the town that caught the student’s attention. It was the ponies themselves. Like Fillydelphia, most of the ponies in town were earth ponies, with only a handful of pegasi and unicorns mixed in. Each one was busily engaged, either working or shopping.

But that wasn’t what was so strange. It was how the ponies acted towards each other. An orange filly zipped past on a small scooter, leaving havoc in her wake, but everypony acted as though it was a common occurrence, merely stepping out of her way when she got too close. A cross-eyed pegasus was attempting to deliver mail, but seemed to have trouble fitting the mail into the small boxes slot. The owner, a white Unicorn with a very well kept violet mane however didn’t seem to mind. Instead she came out and took the mail, while exchanging pleasantries and giving the pegasus a muffin (which, Orion noted, she accepted with great enthusiasm.)

These weren’t strange occurrences. Every single pony in this town was extremely cheerful and friendly with one another. It was almost as though everypony in town knew every other pony and they were best friends. It was kind of disarming, being a stranger in a town where everyone felt so familial with each other. In fact, it was almost…

“Hi!”

Orion had been so enthralled with her own thoughts, that she hadn’t noticed the sudden pink fuzz ball with shining blue eyes and a massive smile in front of her until it spoke. In fact, she almost would have thought that it had appeared out of nowhere, except that was clearly impossible.

“Um… He…”

“I’ve never seen you before. Oh! That must mean that you’re new here, which would probably explain why you just got off the train. Ooh, where did you come from? What was it like there? Did you have a lot of friends there? Everypony should have a lot of friends! That’s why when I saw you, I said to myself ‘Pinkie, you need to go and be that pony’s new best friend.’ I mean, it’s no fun moving to a new town and not having any friends.”

Orion didn’t know what surprised her more: The sudden friend request from a pony she’d just met, or the fact the frizzy maned mare got the whole thing out in one breath. “Well, Miss Pinkie, I… “

“Oh my gosh! You already know my name?!? See. It’s destiny that we’re supposed to be friends! Or is it density? Diversity? Divinity?”

The pink pony started fumbling over words, and drew her attention away from Orion. This was her chance. Orion slowly started to back away, hoping to escape. However, the second she turned around, the strange mare was once again magically right in front of her face.

“Oh well, that doesn’t matter. What does matter is the super duper totally awesomerific party that we should throw for you in honor of your moving to Ponyville.”

“Um… Pinkie…”

“We’ll have cake and cookies and sundaes and sassperilla!”

“Pinkie.”

“And we’ll have games and music and dancing!”

“Pinkie.”

“And we’ll invite every pony in Ponyville so that you can make lots and lots of new friends!”

“PINKIE!”

Orion didn’t want the attention that she would gather by raising her voice, but it was unfortunately the only way to get the hyperactive pony’s attention.

Pinkie stopped and flashed an innocent smile. “Yes?”

Orion sighed. “Sorry to burst your bubble Pinkie, but I’m not moving to Ponyville. I’m only stopping by to pick up some books.”

Pinkie laughed. “But of course you’re moving here silly. Why else would my back hooves be shaky?”

The unicorn was unsure how to respond. She just gave the grinning pony a blank stare. “Huh?”

“My back hooves were shaky. That means that somepony new is moving into town. Then when I saw you and I knew I had never seen you before since I know everypony in Ponyville. And then my hooves stopped shaking. That means you’re going to be moving to Ponyville!”

“But that doesn’t make any sense!”

“Yes it does silly,” the exhuberant pony exclaimed bursting into a fit of giggles. “It makes Pinkie Sense!”

Words escaped the unicorn. Not that it would have done any good. Whatever foolish reason this pony had for this crazy idea of hers, it was clear that nothing Orion could say would change her mind.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to come up with a response. A slightly rough voice from behind her took care of that for her. “Pinkie Pie! What in tarnations do you think you’re doing? Can’t you see you’re scaring the poor girl.”

Orion turned to match the southern accent with a face. Quickly approaching, was an orange earth pony with clearly visible freckles dotting her face. Her long blond hair was tied in a simple ponytail which was blowing along behind her. He head was adorned with a Stetson, which had clearly seen more than one day in the hot sun.

Actually, that was a pretty accurate description for the mare as well. She was well built and strong, the obvious results of years of hard labor. As she grew closer, Orion could see that her hair was slightly unkempt, clearly not a high priority for the pony. In fact, while the unicorn would not deem the earth pony as “dirty”, there was dried mud on her hooves, and a light layer of dust coating her fur.

Seeing her friend, Pinkie zoomed across the street to meet her. “Oh, Applejack, thank heavens you’re here! Now I can introduce you to my new best friend!” Instantly she was again by Orion’s side, with an arm around her. “We were just talking about the big party that we need to throw in honor of her arrival! Now you can help us plan it too. It’ll be the most awesomest of all parties ever if you help.”

The orange mare, now in front of the two, chuckled before speaking. “You know Pinkie, if you’re planning a party, don’t ya think you should go and ask Rarity for help with the decorations before it’s too late?”

The party pony’s face immediately changed as she let out a massive gasp. “Oh my gosh! I totally didn’t think about that! Sorry, gotta run!” And just like that, she was gone without another word.

As the party loving pony zoomed off, Orion finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks for that,” she exclaimed to her savior. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t show up…”

She didn’t have a chance to ask her name. In an instant, the new mare grasped Orion’s hoof and furiously shook it. “Name’s Applejack ma’am. And it’s no problem at all. We here in Ponyville just love helping folks out and making new friends.”

Even though Applejack had released her hoof, Orion couldn’t stop herself from shaking. Good Grief, is everypony in this town this crazy? She thought to herself.

“So what brings you ta town Miss…”

“Orion”, the unicorn responded while rubbing her still throbbing hoof. She jerked as realization struck her. “What I meant was… I mean… I’m…”

The light orange mare just chuckled at Orion’s sudden flustering. “What’s the matter partner? Can’t remember your own name now?”

Orion cringed. She had been instructed to remain incognito while in town, and without thinking she’d already dropped her real name. Some spy I am, she thought to herself.

Her mind raced for a good explanation. “Ah… Of course not. It’s just that... this is a strange town and uh… we’ve never met before. Yeah! That’s it, my dad always told me not to talk to strangers, and I guess I just took it a little too much to heart.”

Flashing a bright smile, Orion could feel the beads of sweat starting to form on her forehead. She hoped Applejack wouldn’t notice.

It seemed for a second as though the plan had already failed, as the orange pony tilted her head back and forth, peering over the unicorn. In the end though, it seemed to be for naught, as she returned the smile with a hearty grin of her own and a slap on the back. “Aw shucks. Ain’t nothing to be afraid of here. Why, I reckon you’d be hard pressed to find another group of ponies as nice as the ones you’ll find here.”

Or as mentally instable I think…

“But ya still haven’t answered my question. What brings ya round to Ponyville today?”

“Oh well, I’m just passing through, and I needed to grab some books from the library before I go.”

Applejack’s smile grew. “Well. Ain’t that just the craziest coincidence? I just so happen to be on my way to the library right now to have lunch with my friend Twilight. I’d be happy to show you the way. That way we can get to know all about each other. I’m just dying to learn more about ya.”

Out of all the worst things that could happen, this was the easily the worst possible thing. Technically, Orion had not lied to anypony yet, but now what could she do? She couldn’t exactly give an excuse and wait for Applejack to leave. She’d only draw more attention to herself by standing around suspiciously. Not to mention, that might mean bumping into Pinkie Pie again, and having to help plan a party in her honor. Not to mention, if Applejack was planning on spending lunch at the library, what would she say when Orion showed up later? She did have a train to catch, and didn’t have time to dawdle.

Feigning a smile, Orion nodded in agreement, and the two set off towards the center of town. Eager to keep the discussion off of herself, she decided to start up the conversation. “So, Applejack, have you lived in Ponyville long.”

“Sure have,” explained the cowpony filling with pride. “My family’s actually the ones who helped settle Ponyville. Just over that there hill, you’ll find Sweet Apple Acres, one of the prides and joys of this here town.”

“Oh. So you own an apple orchard?” the unicorn enquired.

Wrong question. The orange mare stopped in her tracks and turned to face her follower. “Now, don’t ya tell me ya ain’t never heard of Sweet Apple Acers famous apples before?”

The glare from the earth pony was extremely unnerving. “Um… no. Sorry, can’t say I have.”

“Our mouth-watering apple cider?”

“Nope, not that either.”

“Not even our Equestria famous Zap Apple Jam?”

Orion shook her head. “Afraid not. Never seen it where I’m from.”

“And where the hey exactly is this crazy place that ain’t got any apples?”

The question forced every muscle in the Unicorn to tense simultaneously. You walked right into that one, she cursed herself. Quickly, she tried to come up with a good cover story. Can’t tell her I’m from Philydelphia. She might be able to find out who I really am if I tell her that. Canterlot is out of the question. I’m sure they’ve heard of her apples there. Trottingham is in the wrong direction that I came from, plus it’s also to close. Oh why couldn’t I have come up with a good story on the train? Why can’t I come up with some place like…

“Well?”

“MANEHATTEN!” The unicorn suddenly blurted out. Shifting her eyes, almost surprised that she had spoken, she quickly following it up with another faux smile aimed at the orange mare.

Applejack was taken aback by the outburst, but only for a brief second. Again she looked the visitor over with a gaze that seemed to pierce Orion’s very soul. “Manehatten huh? No offence sugarcube, but you don’t look much like a Manehattenite to me.”

Cringing slightly, Orion wondered if she had made the wrong decision. Too late now, she had no choice but to run with it. “Well, and I suppose a pony like you would know exactly what a somepony from Manehatten would look like?” It sounded a lot harsher coming out than she had hoped, but what choice did the unicorn have?

Applejack stayed silent for a few moments, continuing her strange gaze that Orion was far too familiar with by now. Finally she relaxed and her cheerful deminor returned. “I suppose you’re right. What would a country pony like me know about you city folk.” She turned and continued trotting on.

Orion breathed a slight sigh of relief. So far, so good. Now if only she could keep the conversation away from herself, then just maybe…

“Course, that makes me wonder. What brings a high-falutin’ city pony to a little town like Ponyville?”

Ugh. So much for that plan. Now she had mere seconds to try and come up with a good reason for her to be all the way from “home”. Thankfully, she had given this a least the tiniest bit of thought.

“I’m an astronomer,” She stated matter of factly. “I’m heading towards the Royal Sister’s Observatory in Trottingham to conduct some advanced research.” This was, of course, another set of lies, but at least she was able to pull this one off without falling into a complete panic. It was her dream job after all.

“Ah, so you’re one of them star-gazin’ ponies. Makes sense why you’d come all the way out here then. Probably don’t get to see much out in Manehatten.”

Applejack’s assessment, seemed to be accurate since Manehatten was such a big city, but since Orion had never actually been to Manehatten, she didn’t know how to respond. Surely there had to be someplace out there where ponies could stargaze. No matter though. This gave her an opportunity to swing the conversation away from her again.

“Oh. Are you interested in stargazing also?”

For a brief second, Applejack flashed a sign of annoyance but quickly shrugged it off. “Nah. Can’t say I care for it all that much. Kinda borin if you ask me.”

Orion felt a little dejected from the farmer’s comment. Apparently she wasn’t good at hiding it, because after looking back Applejack immediately tried to rectify her previous statement. “Uh… what I meant was, it’s just not really my thing. But that’s just my opinion. If you really wanna talk stars with somepony, you should talk ta Twilight. She’s crazy about the things.”

“Twilight. You mentioned you were having lunch with her before. Is she the librarian?”

“Darn straight. Took over the job when she moved here two years ago. Been doing a right old job of it ever since.”

This caught Orion’s attention. Perhaps she could get some information before charging headfirst into a potentially awkward situation. “She sounds interesting. What’s she like?”

Apple turned back, flashing a wry smile. “You’ll have to find that out for yourself. We’re here.”