Mark of The World

Mark of the World

Chapter 1

In the cool morning dawn, gray clouds lazily floated by, shielding Ponyville from the final summer sun. The wind picked up and died down in indecision between a light breeze and a full blown storm. Leaves, browned during the changing seasons, fluttered by, scratching the ground and rustling against the grass blades. In the middle of the matted field, manicured and plucked for any stray weeds and other extraneous foliage, mares and stallions were dropping their young off for the first day of school, the excited foals gathered in clusters as they chatted with their long separated friends, catching up on the adventures that they had over the summer. “Fillydelphia” this and “Salt Lick City” that. Some foals had acquired their very own cutie marks over the break, showing off their flanks to all their pony friends and anypony that would trot by. Among these ponies were a mare and her son slowly stepping towards the school gates.

“Now David,” began the mare, “be a good foal and enjoy your first day at school.” Sweet Plum looked at her son. He was simply staring at the entrance, observing the freshly polished bars on the aged gates. “C’mon, sweetie, it’ll be just fine.” The plain brown coated foal sulked down to his hooves, occasionally rubbing his dark-brown mane for comfort.

“This isn’t home...” David softly winced. He pawed at the ground, forming a small depression underneath his hooves.

“I know you’re nervous,” she said as she nuzzled his neck, soothing the anxious foal, “but you’ll be just fine. Trust me.”

David continued to massage the ground, hoping for an escape of some sort. “What if they don’t like me?”

Sweet Plum sighed, “Oh, don’t be so pessimistic. You’ll do just fine.” The mare’s son slinked further into his jittery hooves. “Hey now, look at me,” she commanded.

David looked up at his mother, her deep violet coat true to her name, a fine gloss shined on her fur. Her soft, loving eyes seemed to stare into his very heart, melting it despite the chilly weather in the morning.

“You will be just fine. Understand me?” David gave a little smile, emitting a slightly confident sounding sigh. “That’s the spirit, sweetie.” Her soft voice trailed into his ears as she rustled his mane playfully. “Now go make some friends.” She carefully nudged him forward towards the school.

“I will, mother.” With that, David trotted into the elementary school, willing to embrace the foreign land with slightly more open arms.

Upon entering the building, the shy colt was greeted by the sound of hooves smacking the concrete floor as children rushed to their classes. Voices trailed off in the halls, young ponies hurriedly asking their friends which classes they had as the hallways bustled with motion and noise. Amidst the commotion, David attempted to navigate through the halls, bumping into foals too excited to notice, and eventually made his way through the maze of manes just as the bell rang, the last foal to get to class. With his face down, David remained small and sat in the farthest seat in the back as the other young ponies chatted away, the cacophonous chatter coming to a premature end as the teacher waltzed into the classroom just as the bell rang.

“Good morning my little ponies!” Cheerilee’s smile radiated throughout the classroom. “I am so very excited to have a new batch of budding flowers in my classroom for the new school year! And what school year would this be if we didn’t start out with some introductions?” Some foals groaned at the news, others squealed with excitement at the prospect of sharing their adventures, and a few of the shyer ponies contorted their faces at the thought of having to get in front of the class.

Cheerilee gave a chuckle and sighed at the reaction. “Well, since most everypony knows every pony, I guess we don’t have to bother with introductions.” A few sighs of relief came from the more introverted ponies in the class. “But! There is one pony here that just moved to Ponyville, so let’s have him introduce himself and then you will all introduce yourselves to him as well.” This news piqued the classroom’s interest as a string of murmurs and speculation began over who the new resident was.

“Now, I would like you all to give a warm welcome to our newest resident here in Ponyville.” Cheerilee scanned the room for the new resident until she locked in on her target, sulking with his head down all the way in the back. “David, why don’t you come up here and introduce yourself?”

David’s eye’s widened as he frantically looked left and right in the vain hope that she was talking to a different David. Letting out a defeated sigh, he reluctantly shuffled to the front. As he walked the long road to the blackboard, the classroom buzzed with whispers and mumbles inquiring about the newcomer.

“Is that him?”

“Huh, thought it’d be someone more, I dunno, interesting.”

“He’s kind of cute!”

“Look, he ain’t got a cutie mark.”

“Not much for words, I bet.”

“Check out the blank flank on this guy. Must suck to be him.”

“I wonder what shampoo he uses. He smells nice.”

“Blank flank.”

“Raw hide.”

“What kind of a name is David anyway?”

David remained silent, increasing his pace slightly to get out of the vicinity of the commotion. With each passing remark, he became smaller and smaller, as if attempting to become a tinier target for their comments to hit. Despite his meek and shy posture, he walked firm to the front of the classroom. The murmurs died down, waiting for the young pony to speak. Silence filled the room instead.

David looked around the classroom as nervously shifted his feet. Ponies of all shapes and sizes stared directly at him, watching his every move. Not a single familiar face was here to greet him. His throat gave a nervous cough before swallowing some more trepidation.

Cheerilee decided to interject at this point, “Now, David, you’re from San Fouta, correct?” The meek colt nodded. “I hear they have wonderful beaches and weather!” Another nod. This time she’d coax him to speak. “What things did you do at San Fouta?”

It took a moment for him to speak up. “A lot of stuff...” he responded quietly, all eyes glued directly on him. That was the best response Cheerilee would get out of him on that matter.

“Well, what about family? Do you have any siblings?”

“No...” David mumbled.

“Any pets?”

“No...”

“Any hobbies?”

“Well, kind of. I like to walk or swim sometimes.”

“Oh really? How often do you do those activities?”

David hesitated for a moment before mumbling, “I dunno...sometimes?”

After a few more questions and short quips for answers from David,  Cheerilee finally allowed him back to his fortress of solitude in the back. Halfway to his fort, however, a mischievous red colt stuck his hoof out under the newcomer, causing him to tumble over in an impromptu meeting with the floor.

“Why dontchyou watch where you’re going, blank flank?” The red colt snickered as the class laughed at David’s expense.

Cheerilee gave the colt a cold stare, not amused in the slightest. “Acey Mac! I see you enjoy bringing attention to yourself, so why don’t you come on up here and tell us about your summer break?” The red foal scoffed at this but gave an annoyed sigh of compliance as David scurried back to his seat in the back.

The ponies introduced themselves, one by one. Each of them recounted their experiences over the summer, relaying their adventures, or just describing their unorthodox sleep schedule during their vacation. David didn’t really pay much attention to them, though he gave the occasional courteous clap to feign attentiveness. He was simply waiting for the time to pass by, hoping that he would stay out of harms way for the rest of the day. He gazed out the window just as a streak of light emerged through the clouds, like a bridge to the sky.

At that moment, he heard her. Her high pitched voice called for his attention. His head whipped over to the sound. Her coat was a somewhat diluted pinkish color while her mane was a darker shade of blue.

“…and then when my dad took us camping in the forest, he lost the map so we spent an extra two days just trying to find the trail. It wasn’t that bad since we got to see a ton of nature, which was nice. We sang a bunch to pass the time.”

“Oh yes, I hear you are quite the talented singer!”

“Yes ma’am, as my name would suggest, my super special talent is singing!”

“Would you be so kind to sing us a song, uh, Sing Song?”

“It would be my pleasure, Ms. Cheerilee.”

Sing Song cleared her throat, took a deep breath, and her music came alive. Her voice pierced his ears in the most pleasant way, hitting every high note just right. Even her low notes, despite her voice not being suited for lower ranges, struck a chord with David. The whole room seemed to stop just to listen to her singing. But all good things must come to an end, and her song was no exception. Immediately the class erupted in cheers, blown away by her angelic performance. David still retained the aftershock, deep in a trance. He heard a quick, high pitched giggle and snapped out of the hypnosis in time to see Sing Song looking right at him, a smile of content spread ear to ear on her muzzle. Embarrassed, he quickly sulked back down in his desk as if nothing happened.

“Okay, everypony, it’s just about time for recess! You may all run along and get some exercise. We have a lot to learn in the coming months, so I expect you all to do your very best!”

With that, the children rushed out of the classroom, eager to demolish the newly planted dirt with some good old fashioned roughhousing and play.

David maneuvered through the hallways, following behind the stampede of young ponies out the back door into the playground area. The weather was still a bit moody with a few rogue gray clouds peppering the sky and the wind passing over the playground with a little more aggression. The pegasi were getting lazy, it seemed, though it was still a nice climate for play.

As the brown colt made his way through the playground area, he hoped to find an isolated area where he could be by himself, silently observing the other young foals at play. Some were at the slides, others ran around playing a game of tag, but most simply sat with their friends, yammering on about their summer adventures some more. The thought of introducing himself to a random pony crossed his mind, he pushed that musing aside. What would he say anyway? There wasn’t anything really interesting he could mention to them to start a conversation. Besides, they were already trying to catch up with their friends’ more exciting adventures anyway. They wouldn’t like him anyway...

Lost in his train of thought, David failed to notice the large, red colt in front of him as he bumped into the foal. Startled out of his thoughts, David looked up, meeting a smug Acey Mac towering over him.

“Jeez, raw hide, you can’t see anywhere you’re going, can you?” Acey Mac’s friends chuckled at his snide comment as Acey Mac shifted his shoulders becoming even bigger than he was before. David shrunk away from the aggressive foal, back pedalling from his assailant.

“What, you gonna run away? That your talent, blanky?” Another round of chuckling emanated from the group as they slowly cornered David into a playground set. “You non-Ponyville ponies always bring trouble in this here town, so why don’t run back to where you came from?” The gang nodded in agreement as David huddled closer to the ground. “It’s kind of sad how you don’t got your cutie mark yet,” he laughed, motioning towards his rear, “All the important ponies got them already.”

David frowned at his last comment, softly muttering something under his breath.

“What’d you say, blank flank?”

“Leave me alone.” David’s voice quivered slightly, “Leave me alone, I’m not hurting anybody and I don’t plan to. There are other kids without cutie marks, why bother me?”

The aggressive colt cocked his eyebrow until he couldn’t contain his laughter. “Listen here, white bum, these other kids? They know their place around these here parts already. Me? I keep them in their place.” He motioned to his own flank with three apples, red, yellow, and green, hovering over a white picket fence. “See this? This is my cutie mark, got it a few summers ago helping out in the apple orchard. My family owns the Sweet Apple Acres in this here town, and if it weren’t for us this place wouldn’t even be a dot on the map. Long story short, we’re kind of important here.”

David was forced up against his back as Acey Mac gave him a threatening pat on the shoulder. “Our cutie marks put us on our place. We know our roles and we stick to them. You don’t got a cutie mark, you ain’t useful ‘till you do. Unless your cutie mark turns out to be a box for shippin’ our world famous Apples, you ain’t nothin to me.”

Acey Mac gave the brown colt a smack on the arm, just enough to get a small flinch out of him. “Whenever outsiders come into town, trouble always brews. And an outsider that we don’t even know what he’ll do? And one of those weird foreigny names? That ain’t safe, and it’s my duty to protect my farm. And my town.”

Finally, Acey Mac and his gang backed off. The red coated leader stopped to say one last thing, “Know your place, blank flank, and we’ll be fine.” With that, the gang walked off with David sitting all alone in the middle of the playground, rubbing his shoulder. A small, circular bruise came up, though his coat hid it well. He stared at the mark and the thought of his own cutie mark inevitably popped up. What would his be? When would he get it? Most importantly, would it be better than his tormentors?

“I’ll show them,” he muttered to himself, “I’ll show them all. One of these days he’ll be pushing boxes for my apples. Or something.” David sighed. He’d be patient, he could put up with that self-righteous colt for a few years, tops.

Just as David stood up, the bell rang and he scurried on back to his classroom, the last foal once again.

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful for David. He stayed in the back and paid attention to the teacher occasionally, keeping an eye out for Acey Mac just in case more trouble sprouted. Every now and then he’d take a furtive glance towards Sing Song a few seats away. Her song still rang in his head, an earworm that never overstayed its welcome. He had heard she was the very first filly to get her cutie mark in the whole school.

Along with some other unsavory things in the school rumor machine.

“No cutie mark, eh? Not too many left without one.”

“I dunno, some ponies take time.”

“Must suck not to be special.”

Every comment made him wince a bit at himself as he remained small and avoided the other ponies. He never gave too much thought into his empty rear end before, it would come when it would come. As time wore on, however, he continued to think. Was something wrong with him? There were barely any foals left with empty rear ends at this point. He was already struggling to fit in, why did he have to suffer through thus teasing?

Then another thought occurred to him; The foals that talked behind his back out this flaw? They’d all see the error of their ways eventually. He’d come out with a cutie mark that would stun them all, he was sure of that. Good things come to those who wait, and wait he would.

At the end of the school day the clouds were heavy with water on the verge of spilling over along with the wind rapidly picking up in speed.  The young ponies were eager to get back home, piling out of the gates to beat the upcoming rain. David remained at the back of stampede as he attempted to keep a low profile among the foals. It was fairly chilly out in the courtyard when he made it out but nothing that really bothered him. His home was a little under half a mile away, it’d be no big deal if he’d get a little wet from the rain.

“Hey! You!” A high-pitched voice reached his ears. Curiously, he looked over his shoulder and it was Sing Song with her lush pinkish coat. His eyebrow raised in confusion as he glanced around. “Yes, I am talking to you, silly!”

He hesitated for a moment, unsure what to really say. Did she come in peace? Or was she yet another filly to point out his empty behind?

“H-hi,” a timid response finally left his mouth.

“So, your name is David, right?” He slowly nodded in response. “Not much of a talker, are you?”

David shrugged, “Not much to really say.” Sing Song starred with her mouth agape. “…what?”

“It’s just…that’s the most I’ve heard from you all day!” Sing Song delivered another high-pitched giggle. “So there is someone behind those tight lips!” She trotted up next to him, pleased to have extracted more personality out of him. “Any more wise sayings inside that noggin of yours, blank flank?”

David let out a frustrated huff from his snout, and without a second thought he walked away. She was just like the rest of them, so why bother with her? She’d only bring more trouble for him, just another foal against him in this town, and he’d had enough ponies for that.

“Hey, where are you going?” Sing Song caught up with him, “Is it something I said?” David looked straight ahead as he gave her the cold shoulder. Her face formed a pout, annoyed with his sudden hostility, and as the seconds went by she finally realized her mistake, “Oh, jeez, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to call you that! Really, honest, I don’t think about what I say half the time, it just comes out. You know, every pony gets his or her cutie mark at different times, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of! Why, my granny didn’t get her cutie mark until she was-“

“Ashamed of? What’s there to be ashamed of?”

“Exactly, there’s-uh, pardon? Wait, I did it again, didn’t I? I didn’t mean to insult you, I just trail off half the time and don’t know what-”

David couldn’t help but be somewhat amused by her ramblings. As she fumbled her words, the brown colt decided to take pity on the filly. She was trying to be nice and strike up a conversation, after all.

“I’m not ashamed. It’ll come when it’ll come. My mother has always told me that good things come to those who wait. So I’ll wait. That’s all there is to it.” Again, Sing Song just stared at him. Her giggle brought relief to the awkward silence.

“I like you, you’re full of surprises.”

David gave out a small laugh himself. At least she meant well.

“So...what kind of a name is David anyway?” Sing Song questioned.

The brown colt simply shrugged, “It’s a weird name, I guess.”

“That’s not what I meant, silly. I mean, how’d you get it, what does it mean or whatever?”

“I never really bothered to think about it.”

The pink filly sighed, “Well, what do you think about?”

David’s stomach groaned in hunger, “Right now I’m thinking of food.”

“Oh! You should totally come by my house sometime! My mom makes the best daffodil soup ever, fills you right up and you still want more afterwards. You know, she got the recipe from my uncle during his wilderness years when he was crazy, which reminds me of the time when my dad went out to look for him.”

“That’s nothing, my dad once lived in the jungle for a couple years. Said it didn’t bother him at all.”

Sing Song looked at him in disbelief, “Seriously? And you didn’t think to say anything like that?”

He shrugged, “I dunno, it’s hard for me to tell what’s interesting and what’s not.”

She giggled at this new bit of information as David joined in on the laughs. “I knew you had something interesting to say, after all!”

The colt gave a smile. “Well, I need to go, my house is just around the cor-” Lightning streaked through the sky followed by roaring thunder, startling the young foals out of their conversation. The rain already began to smack the ground, quickly transforming into a full downpour as the ponies sprinted for shelter under a nearby tree.

“What the? I thought pegasi controlled the weather, where did this rain come from!” David yelled over the pouring rain.

"I dunno, I guess they got caught on an off day," Sing Song hollered over the storm, "They can't always handle what nature tosses at them! Guess they got hit pretty hard this time around!"

Through the pouring rain and the booming thunder, the young ponies galloped as fast as they could towards the corner of the street, quickly soaking up rainwater in their coats as the unrelenting rain continued, the wind violently working against them.

“Hey!” Sing Song yelled over the storm, “My house isn’t that far from yours! Isn’t that neat?”

“Then go to your house!” David thoughtlessly yelled as he trampled the already forming puddles. The rain water began seeping into both their coats as they fought the aggressive wind. He finally spotted his house in the now pouring rain, making a mad dash for his porch. “Mother! Open up!” David desperately banged on the front door, his mane flattened and dripping water from the impromptu shower.

“What do you mean go to my house?”

David let out a yelp, not expecting the filly to stick around. Sing Song was right behind him with a pout on her face as she shivered from the harsh wind on her matted coat.

“Is that how you treat all your friends? Just, ‘see ya! Whatever, goodbye!’ or whatever? Gosh!”

“You said your house was-” The door flew open and his mother was right there with a towel, immediately scrubbing him down.

“Oh dear, David you’re soaked!” Sweet Plum did a double take of Sing Song, “And so is your friend!”

Sing Song gave a quick sneeze, sneaking in a mischievous grin at David, “Yes ma’am, my name is Sing Song and I met David today at school and I just wanted to know so much more about him! He really made an impression at the school today!”

Sweet Plum squealed in delight at her son’s achievement, “Oh, that’s just great sweetie! I knew you’d do just fine at school.”

“But mother, her house is-“

“Really, really, uh, far away...on the other side of Ponyville! I was hoping to get to know him, um, David, then meet my dad at the park, yeah, but as you can see, that’s not going to happen!”

The mare squealed again at this news, “Well now, you’re more than welcome to stay for the night! I’ll just message your father to let him know what’s going on.” Sing Song glanced at David with a sneer, pleased that her devious plan was coming underway. “Wash your hooves on the cloth, David, you’ll get mud all over the floors!”

As David cleaned he offered his towel to Sing Song. “Is that how you treat a lady? Giving her a dirty, wet rag? Oh, I can only imagine what you give your friends for their birthdays!” Her self-satisfactory giggle was interrupted by a dirty, wet rag slapped on her face. This only made her giggle more, “Alright, alright, I’ll quit teasing you.” Her delight in her success was quickly replaced with fear as another crack of thunder echoed throughout Ponyville.

Sing Song shut the door behind her and was greeted by the warm glow of the fireplace. It was a fairly quaint little home. The living room in the center was simple with some furnishings and a fireplace, a kitchen to the right and a hallway to the private rooms of the left. Wood was a common theme, with wooden chairs and sofas layered with softer hay-filled cushions, as the walls nicely matched the firm floor. Some interesting little trinkets decorated the walls and shelves. Most of them seemed to be foreign, some odd looking masks and some jewelry. Maybe they were collectors? Or some antiques from relatives or ancestors? Either way, they were pretty to look at. By no means were they destitute, but with what they had it fitted David perfectly; subdued with an underlying hint of charm.

Sweet Plum peeked outside, her concerned look reflecting off the window. Shaking herself out of the trance of falling rain she went to the task of notifying Sing Song’s father about the situation after extracting his name from the filly. As Sweet Plum was sending the message to a particularly dedicated, though odd, gray coated mare, Sing Song took the opportunity to get to know David some more.

David was lying face down on the hay-filled sofa next to the fireplace, not only to warm up after the assault of rain that he endured but also to take a mental break from the day’s events. The primary event on his mind was Sing Song’s performance. He just couldn’t get it out of his head; her sweet melodies and pitches just spoke to him. At least she didn’t hit him or call him names (on purpose), that was certainly a plus.

The colt woke up from his hypnosis when the sofa gave a sudden bump. Tiredly, he looked up from the comfortable cushion and Sing Song was right in front of him, a smug smile stretched across her face. Even when she was a bit smug she showed it off in a sort of nice way.

“So it looks like I’m sleeping over for the night, blank-flank!” David cocked his eyebrow, waiting for her to figure out her slip of the tongue. She had a beautiful voice, though sometimes it wasn’t used in such a lovely manner. Sing Song cocked her own eyebrows in confusion for a few seconds until it dawned on her yet again, rolling her eyes in frustration, groaning at her own stupidity.

“Darn my big muzzle. Look, I won’t talk about flanks or how blank they are from now on, that’s something that shouldn’t matter at all! I mean, who really cares if somepony hasn’t found their special talent, loads of foals haven’t found it yet and it’s only a matter of time until I’m still running my mouth and talking about it, aren’t I?” His casual stare spoke for itself.

Sing Song huffed at her idiocy again. “Look, I’ll make you a deal. I keep my mouth shut if you open up yours. Please? I really would like to get to know you.”

David sighed, both from exhaustion and the filly’s insistence. Then again he wasn’t making it easy for her in the first place. Friendship is a two way street. A slightly awkward silence filled the room as the rain softly grazed the roof.

“Not much to tell, really,” he began, “My family lived in an apartment in San Fouta ever since I was born. My dad got a job offer here and we moved over the summer.”

Sing Song opened her mouth, obviously readying a witty remark on David’s brevity, but decided against it, keeping her promise in the hopes that he would do the same. He didn’t and another awkward silence came up. The rain continued to pour.

“So, yeah, your dad," Sing Song said as she attempted to break the silence, "what about him? I haven’t seen him, does he travel for his work or something?”

“No, he should be back in a bit.”

“What’s he like? Is he, like, one of those solemn, no-nonsense kind of guys or a happy, fun-loving kind of father that lets their kid do whatever? Like, I remember Green Tea’s dad was really nice, but when she snuck out and he found out he was all,” Sing Song caught herself, “and, yeah, well, what’s he like?”

David hesitated for a moment before he could muster up the words. “He’s...reserved when he needs to be. He says a lot but they’re usually some stupid quotes or something.”

“Oh, one of those dads. My dad likes to drop by the occasional words of wisdom himself, but half the time they don’t even make sense, like ‘beat around the bush’ or something. What does that even mean, seriously!” David smiled with Sing Song. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard after all.

The odor of warm chocolate snuck its way into the ponies’ noses immediately grabbing their attention. Sweet Plum was by the kitchen table, two steaming cups of succulent beverage on coasters and a plate of sandwiches tantalizingly presented. “Go ahead, eat up, I’m sure you two are famished from the day’s events.” With rumbling stomachs reminding them of this fact, the two ponies waltzed up to the kitchen, eagerly devouring the treats.

“So, Sing Song,” Sweet Plum began, as the foals munched on their snacks, “Your father sent a message back with an a-okay response, faster than I thought he would I may add, especially in this pouring rain.” The purple mare gave a subtle wink at Sing Song, to which she responded with an innocent shrug. “But regardless,  please, tell me about yourself. How did you meet David?”

The filly finished up her sandwich, giving an audible gulp before responding, “Well, I’ve lived in Ponyville for my entire life. In fact, most of my family has lived here. And obviously, as my name shows, my talent is singing. That’s how I met David, he really liked my singing. People tell me I’m good, but I still have a long ways to go.”

“Oh come now, some ponies can sing, but only the special ones have their special talent be singing. I’m sure you’re just great, you’ll take the world by storm!”

Sing Song blushed slightly at the compliment. “I’m not too sure I want to sing when I grow up, I do it mostly for myself. I just sing when I feel like it, not really to impress anyone.”

As David finished up the last of the snacks he heard a thud coming from the front door followed by a slew of swears and curses regarding the weather. “Oh! Your father is home!” Sweet Plum rushed over to tend to her husband’s needs.

“Ah! My little bushki, how’re you?” David’s father gave his lover multiple pecks on the cheeks, “I got caught in the rain, no trolleys at work.” The father gave a seductive glance at his wife, “I’m in needing of some of your special Equestiran love,” winking at the end.

Sweet Plum gave a cute blush, “Oh, deary, not now, we have company!”

“Eh? Company? What, we turning into a motel or something?”

“Now dear, be nice, it’s David’s friend!” Her voice dropped to a whisper, almost menacing, “And he needs a mother’s support now more than ever.”

He got the message, “Okay, so, where is little Davrhid’s friend? Is it the little pink one over there?”

Sing Song scurried away at being discovered and ran back into the kitchen. She only got a glimpse of him for a few seconds but that was all she needed. The unique accent that attracted her curiosity fit together with his heavy build and striking mane. The distinctive black stripes on his white coat, or maybe it was the other way around, could have been spotted a mile away. No doubt about it, David’s father was a unique specimen.

“Your dad’s a friggin’ zebra?” She whispered loudly, “And you didn’t think to mention that at all?”

David simply shrugged, “I...didn’t think it was that important?”

Sing Song sputtered out a random assortment of letters and sounds, “Oh, yeah, sure, and the fact my dad’s a serial killer isn’t be that important either!” This time she huffed at his stupidity, trying to mix and match anything in the past day that would indicate this odd anomaly. She glanced at David with a very disturbed face on him. “Oh, he’s not really a serial killer! Far as I know anyway. Though it would be kind of cool, in a sort of twisted way, and that whole sort of alter ego and stop changing the subject!”

“I didn’t change it!”

“Then shut up!”

“I wasn’t saying anything!”

“Well maybe you should have said more! It’s not exactly, you know, common for a zebra dad.”

“Why would it matter?”

“I dunno, it’s something interesting about you and-” The debate was interrupted by a light cough from the doorway. The two ponies turned their heads as they were greeted by the couple at the doorway. Sing Song sheepishly held her head down in embarrassment.

“Oh, no need to be embarrassed little pony, I’ve gotten worse reactions from this, trust me.” Sweet Plum went over and picked up the empty plates for washing while David’s father took a seat by a red hot Sing Song. His size was intimidating, clearly a match for his deep voice.

“I’m sorry,” she nervously mumbled, “It’s just...well...we don’t get too many of your...kind...around here. I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with you guys, just...you know...just...uh...”

The father took pity on the poor filly and gave a hefty shrug, a simple commanding movement that silenced her, “To be fair, I never saw too many of your kind back in my home country.” Sweet Plum brought over a cup of some sort of herbal tea, taking a dignified gulp out of. “Dravkhe, by the way, is my name. Mostly people call me Drake.” Sing Song gave a quick nod of her head, still fairly intimidated by Drake. So many questions rang in her head.

Drake gave a soft chuckle, “I’ll get your first question out of way. Long story short, I was an exchange student and I met my lovely wife. We hit off and that was that.”

“Dear, you make it sound so unromantic!”

The zebra rolled his eyes, “Well what would you have me tell them, they’re kids, they don’t care about romance. Yet.” A laugh echoed through the room, “Besides, I’m not that good of a story teller anyway.”

Sing Song built up the courage to follow up, “I thought your people were renowned for their culture of storytelling?”

Drake gave a curious look at the filly, and following a slightly awkward few seconds of silence he gave out a chuckle. “I like this girl, she doesn’t have a krhavki-shrakoni like I thought she would! Her head has some brains in it, doesn’t it?”

The pinkish pony gave a nervous laugh, “Thanks...I think?”

“Now Drake, be nice, the girl is just curious.”

The zebra settled down, conceding with his wife, “Yes, little pony, my people are renowned for their storytelling prowess, though not all of us are born with this ability.” Drake took a sip of his beverage before continuing, “Traditionally, the shamans have the ability of rhyme, exceptions of course. They were the medicine zebras of the tribes, sometimes the history keepers. They would keep their recipes in code, tell the stories of the tribes to the people in rhyme. After all, is easier to remember things by song, no?”

The bulky zebra took another sip of his tea, pausing to recollect any more details, until he finally found them, “That was back then, nowadays is not too important. Some still keep the tradition alive, but most don’t bother. I was born with the voice of a shaman, but I suppose it wasn’t meant to be. Though I can put out a rhyme occasionally, as you can see.” He chuckled at his own cleverness, taking a final sip of his drink.

Sing Song, still slightly at awe at the hulking horse, spoke up, “Well, you certainly...uh...gave us a lot of your history I didn’t know! You know...learn something new every day?”

Again the zebra gave the pink foal a funny look before bursting into laughter once again, “I really do like this little pony! She knows what to say at the right time!”

The ponies continued to talk for a while, primarily about Drake’s culture, and as he answered them, Sing Song gained more questions to ask the bulky zebra. Drake gave a peek at the clock as it struck a late hour. “How time flies! Maybe someday you will hear more stories from me, but for now it seems you ponies must be off to bed.”

The two ponies groaned at the reminder. “Aw, can’t we stay up a little longer? I’d really like to know more about you,” Sing Song pleaded to Drake. A dozen questions still rang in her mind about him and David and Sweet Plum. But he simply chuckled and rustled the filly’s mane.

“Don’t worry little filly, I have a feeling you will have plenty of time to ask questions. Besides, sleep is good, keeps you fresh. Bushki, grab a mattress for the little one to sleep on in Davhrid’s room. I need a bath.” With that, Sweet Plum ushered them through the hall into David’s room. Along the way, Sing Song admired the decorations throughout the house. A few photos hung from the wooden walls, most of them black and white, some with groups of people and others of the odd couple that she just met. One picture was of David as a baby, staring at something off camera with an expressionless face. Just like the David now, she supposed.

Sing Song waltzed on into David’s room, hoping to find anything else that would clue her in on his character. But David was nothing if not an elusive foal as his room was appropriately simple with some standard things one would expect in a young colt’s room. As Sweet Plum left the room to get a mattress, the two were left in an awkward silence. Sing Song attempted to think of anything to say, but optimistically stuck to her promise of keeping her mouth shut in the hopes that David would open his. To his credit he certainly looked as though he was trying to think of something as his face contorting as his brain oiled the gears to think of a good conversation starter.

Sweet Plum mercifully came back to the room with a mattress between her teeth. As the two young ponies settled in to their respective hay-filled mattresses, Sweet Plum gave a peck on David’s forehead. “Good night sweetie. Pleasant dreams, you two.” With that, the purple mare shut the door leaving the two in the quiet night.

After several minutes of laying in the dark a high pitched voice rose up, piercing the night.

“Hey David,” she said, “I like you.” Silence crept back for a few seconds before being broken again, “I mean, not in that way, really, but just as, like, you know... So, can we, you know, hang out sometime?” Another pause. “At least, when the weather’s better. You’re a neat guy. I’d like to know you better.”

David absorbed the information, half entranced with with her voice. He thought of responding, but couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Well...goodnight.”

He let her words hang in the air for a bit, still trying to absorb them. Finally, after several long seconds of contemplation, he responded.

“I like you too.”

Another few seconds passed, followed by a soft giggle.

David let out a contented sigh. He made a friend. A friend that would last a lifetime.

***