Fluttershy, a very pretty, pastel yellow, pegasus pony with a pale pink mane and tail, walked down the street with a sack of fresh produce hanging in her mouth. Her little white bunny friend, Angel, was the pickiest eater she ever did know, and the always considerate Fluttershy could not let the poor little thing starve, so she had gone out, much later than usual, to make sure the spoiled rabbit had whatever he wanted. That being said, it was late, and the sun was about to set, casting oranges and pinks across the skies of Ponyville. Fluttershy wondered if she would make it home before dark, she didn't much like the dark. Already the shadows around the timid mare had grown long and spooky. She tossed her head back and forth warily, looking for whatever scary things might lurk in the shadows.
Suddenly she collided with somepony else, fresh ingredients scattered everywhere! "Oh no!" Fluttershy lamented as strawberries, apples and oranges went rolling away in every direction. For a moment she forgot the other pony standing in front of her, but when she finally looked up a cold chill ran down her spine at the sight!
The pony standing before her wore a hooded cloak that left most of the pony's face in shadow. Dark gray fur showed where the black cloak did not cover. However the part that had Fluttershy's green eyes wide in fear happened to be the way this strange pony just stared at her with dark, dark unmoving eyes. She had never seen this dark and fearsome stranger before in her life, and her instincts screamed at her to run!
Fluttershy lost no time in scrambling to her hooves and dashing away, mumbling a few short words of apology in her wake. The dark hooded strange-pony never moved, never spoke, but simply stood amongst the forgotten groceries.
~
The next day Fluttershy went to meet her friends for a picnic they had planned a week prior. "There she is!" called out her friend Rainbow Dash, a fellow pegasus. Dash, as they tended to call her, had cyan blue fur and a mane colored in a full rainbow of hues. "You're late!" Dash's rough voice grated irritably.
"Aww, come on, Dash, I'm sure she has a reason as ta why she's late. No need ta be mean to 'er," drawled Apple Jack, AJ for short, an orange earth pony with a blonde mane and adorable freckles.
"Yes, Fluttershy is not typically one to be late for our social gatherings," Rarity, a white unicorn with a beautiful violet mane said with an heir of nobility. She tossed a hoof through the stylish rolling curls of her mane as she spoke.
"Well, perhaps if everypony could quiet down to give Fluttershy a chance to speak!" said the voice of reason, a voice that belonged to the other unicorn if their group, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, as they had nicknamed her, sported lavender fur with a mane of both darker and lighter shades of purple.
"Well, um, you see, what happened was, umm, well..." Fluttershy stammered. "It's, ahh, it's kinda complicated."
"It's okay if you'd rather not say, we'll understand," said the little purple dragon with green fringe scales named Spike. He lived with Twilight and helped her with her research for she was a student of Princess Celestia.
"Yeah, yeah!" squealed the last of her friends, Pinkie Pie. "I'm just glad all of my wonderful friends are finally here! Now let's get this party started!" She bounced enthusiastically all around the others, her wild magenta curls slapping her in the face. The rest of Pinkie's pink fur shone just as brightly as her personality.
"No, it's okay," Fluttershy began again. "You see, I was out getting food for little Angel when I suddenly ran into some frightening strange-pony! I must admit that I was so frightened that I ran away as fast as I could." Then she hung her head in shame as she added, "I even forgot poor Angel's dinner."
"There's somepony new in town?" Pinkie trilled. "We should throw a party!"
"No! I think that might be a bad idea," Fluttershy warned.
"Why do you say that?" Twilight asked, more curious than concerned.
"Oh, because, well, you guys didn't see this pony like I did." A shudder ran down her spine again as she remembered. It wasn't until AJ placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder before she could go on. "That pony was walking around in the shadows, covered up in a dark scary cloak. And when I saw those black eyes..." She had to pause for another shudder. AJ hugged her for comfort. "It was like that pony was glaring into my soul!"
"Oh, how very frightening! You poor dear!" Rarity exclaimed joining AJ in comforting their shivering friend.
"Next time you see this pony, you just call me and I'll beat 'em up for you!" Dash boasted throwing a few punches into the air for show.
"But every new pony needs a welcome party," Pinkie lamented.
"Maybe it's best you stay away from this new pony, Pinkie. Not every strange-pony you meet is nice, despite what you think," Twilight said in her best authoritative voice.
Everypony else agreed.
~
Roughly a week passed, and Pinkie Pie had a broom in hoof as she swept in front of Mr. And Mrs. Cake's shop after a long busy day. Pinkie hummed to herself cheerfully as she worked, the twilight sky painting Ponyville into lovely shades of reds and purples. That's when Pinkie saw the strange-pony for herself.
Just as Fluttershy had described, the mysterious new pony donned a fully hooded black cloak! Pinkie stood frozen staring at the new comer. Her instincts screamed at her to go and meet the pony, but her friends had warned her against it. This new pony was supposedly bad news.
Then the cloaked stranger took notice to the pink earth pony, and trotted over. Pinkie couldn't decide what to do! She was fascinated with the new comer, but a little wary as well since hearing her friends' warnings. The hooded pony stopped right in front of Pinkie.
A moment of silence followed, tense and awkward. Finally Pinkie spoke, apprehensively because her friends' words. "Can I help you with something?"
The strange-pony spoke with a low timbre, flat and just a bit gravely, but just noticeably feminine, "Do you know a yellow pegasus with a pink mane?"
What in Celestia did the stranger want with Fluttershy? Pinkie remembered how her friend said that those black eyes stared into her soul. Did the new comer want to eat Fluttershy's soul! That would be horrible! Pinkie glared at the strange-pony and said in her best growl, "You'd best stop asking around about her, and leave her alone, or else!"
Then the cloaked pony did something that surprised Pinkie. "I'm sorry for asking. I won't bother you again. I'm sorry!" she said with a bow, and then dark eyed stranger turned and ran off. Pinkie stood staring after her. How peculiar she had been. Something didn't seem to fit. Pinkie needed to talk to her friends about this. Before she turned to go back inside she found a strange little object lying on the ground where she had just swept.
~
A couple of days later all six pony friends and Spike the dragon gathered together at the library that also happened to double as Twilight's home. Being that it was Twilight's home she felt that she should speak first. As formal as Twilight liked to be she began their meeting by addressing the group with a somewhat formal statement. "Hello everypony. I called you all here on behalf of Pinkie who claims to have something she wishes to discus."
"What is it, another party planning thing? What are we celebrating this time?" Dash said with a bit of annoyance.
"No, not this time," Pinkie defended herself. "It's about that new Strange-pony, the one in the cloak. I actually met her!"
"Now we all dun warned ya 'bout talkin' to that pony, Pinkie Pie!" AJ scolded her.
"Why would you do that!?" Fluttershy cried with tears in her eyes.
"Will you just hear me out here?" Pinkie said, uncharacteristically aggravated. Everypony froze in a state of momentary shock. The earth pony continued. "I met the cloaked pony in front of the cake shop. It was late, and at first I was wary of her, just like all of you told me to be. She asked about Fluttershy."
The pegasus let out an involuntary squeak of fear at that. Rarity threw a hoof around her cooing, "There there, dear. We won't let anypony hurt you."
Pinkie went on ignoring the interruption, "So I demanded that she leave Fluttershy alone, but then she apologized for bothering me and ran away. Now I'm confused. Bad ponies don't apologize!"
"Hmm," Twilight hummed thoughtfully, "That does seem to put a hole in our assumption that she is up to no good."
"Umm, hello! She could have just been ACTING nice! Duh," Dash pointed out, ever so slightly rude in her delivery.
"But I don't think she was," argued Pinkie.
"But those black, evil eyes!" Fluttershy retorted, the tears spilling down her face.
"Why would an innocent pony run away? She obviously had a reason to run. That there is proof enough that she's your to no good!"
Rarity pointed out still holding Fluttershy close.
"Rarity's got a point there," AJ agreed. Spike nodded vigorously.
"But you guys, there's still the possibility of the new pony NOT being bad! All I'm saying is we give her a chance!" Pinkie yelled. It looked like her friends were diehard for believing the new pony was bad. She felt betrayed! At least Twilight started to agree with her, right?
"Twilight?" she questioned the most level headed of her friends for support.
"Twilight?" AJ called skeptically.
"Twilight!" Rarity all but demanded.
Finally she spoke, her words ringing with wisdom and finality. "I'm not going to say we were completely wrong about this new pony before, but I'm also not going to say she's completely harmless. This strange-pony is acting very weird and unpredictable. None of us should approach her by ourselves, and if we DO see her again we should use caution when dealing with her."
"Spoken like a true wizepony!" Spike flattered, but no pony disagreed with the dragon, or with Twilight.
"Aww, Spike," Twilight said with a blush. "Well, it's settled then. It's getting late. Everypony should head home before it gets dark."
As the group disbanded Pinkie hung back until the others had left. Things didn't go as Pinkie would have liked, and so she didn't want to show the others the object she had found that night. When Twilight noticed the pink mare hadn't left with the rest she said, "Pinkie, I said it was time to go home."
"I know, but I wanted to know if you knew what this was." As she finished she produced the little object she had found. Twilight took it and examined it, turning it every which way to get a good look at it.
"It has numbers all over it," Twilight remarked.
"Well even I could figure that part out," Pinkie sighed, "but why?"
"I'm not sure. I'll look through my books and let you know in the morning if I find anything."
"Okay. Did you need to keep it for the research?" Pinkie asked with a concerned frown. Twilight read her friend's expression easily.
"No, it's pretty simple. There's no reason for me to keep hold of it. It's yours to do whatever you want with!"
Pinkie smiled and when bouncing away with her peculiar little toy!
~
That same night, out in front of the Cake's shop, the cloaked pony wandered about with her head down, fixedly studying the dirt. Pinkie, as she returned home, saw the strange-pony before she could see her. "Hey!" Pinkie called out.
The cloaked one jerked and looked up. As soon as she saw Pinkie the new pony began sprinting away. "Hey! Wait!" Pinkie called after her, but the dark-eyed pony did not stop. Without thinking it through, Pinkie began to chase the strange-pony. She dashed through dark ally after dark ally until she reached the edge of Ponyville, just outside of the woods.
When the cloaked pony realized she was still being followed she spun to face Pinkie and tossed her head in a whip like motion. A violet glow shone from under the hood, the telltale sign of unicorn magic, and the next thing Pinkie knew she was flying backwards after being lifted off the ground and thrown with the magic!
The hooded unicorn vanished into the darkness as Pinkie slammed into the back of a building. She landed in a heap, dazed, but mostly unhurt. It had been foolish to chase her, and this encounter had done more to prove the others right than it did to support her side. However Pinkie couldn't help but feel that the unicorn in the shroud had done this in fear and desperation rather than hate and malice. A sad Pinkie slowly walked back the Cake's shop that doubled as her home.
~
The next morning Twilight rapped on the door to Pinkie's room rather loudly. "Pinkie? Pinkie, I have something important to tell you about that object! Pinkie, are you there?"
Pinkie, still tired from last night's ordeal, answered the door with little speed, and none of her usual gusto. "What is it you're saying, Twilight?"
"Pinkie, that object you showed me; according to my findings that is a ritualistic device for performing dark magics. It's innocent enough, unless it is in the hooves of an evil unicorn who knows how to work its tainted magic. Pinkie, where did that thing come from? Don't tell me it was the mysterious strange-pony." Quite abruptly her tone changed dramatically. "Pinkie! What happened to your face!?"
"My face?" Pinkie asked in confusion, "What's wrong with my face?"
Twilight guided the pink pony back into her room and pointed to the reflection in the vanity mirror. Just below one of Pinkie's large baby blue eyes a long gash marred the pink fur of one cheek, a bloody stain smeared all throughout. "Oh my, that must have been when she..." Pinkie's words cut off with out warning. She did not want to share her most recent encounter, not even with Twilight.
"She?" Twilight asked suspiciously. It seemed like it was already too late to keep it from Twilight. "Did you see the strange-pony after we told you not to? Pinkie that was dangerous!"
"She's not dangerous, Twilight!" Pinkie argued, pushing herself away from the researcher.
"Look what she did to your face, Pinkie!" Twilight yelled back with a dramatic gesture to the mirror.
"It was an accident," Pinkie said in defense, although she didn't put as much heart into it.
"Pinkie, I know you mean well, but sometimes it's best to listen to the advice of ponies who know better, ponies with a little bit more wisdom."
Fire rose inside Pinkie, and she felt one of those rare moments of righteous rage. "You think I don't know anything?" she began yelling in hurt filled anger. "You think I'm not wise enough? You think what I have to say DOESN'T MATTER?"
"Pinkie, I didn't say..."
"Well, that's just fine! I'll have to go prove to all of you that I can be right! She's not a bad pony! And I'm gonna prove it!"
"But Pinkie, the evil in that thing you found!"
"I know she's not bad! I don't care what your books say. You didn't see her face like I did!" And with that Pinkie stormed away feeling hurt, betrayed, and untrusted.
~
Twilight tried to chase after Pinkie, but when the energetic earth pony set her mind to something there was little anypony could do to stop her. The only thing she could think of doing was asking the others if they had seen her. Nopony had, but they all agreed to help look.
As afternoon approached they all gathered at the Apple Acres Farm. Nopony had had any luck in finding Pinkie Pie. "Well, where else cloud she be? I reckon we checked about every place we coulda thought ah," AJ sighed.
"Well, I, for one, am exhausted after all of this searching!" Rarity complained.
"You don't think the strange-pony DID something to her?" Fluttershy cried! "That would be just awful!"
"No way!" Dash said with confidence. "Pinkie is too tough for that. If anything I'd be afraid that Pinkie did some weird crazy thing to HER!"
"As much as that may be, Rainbow Dash, I'm still worried about Pinkie Pie. I feel we may need to broaden our search. Perhaps start asking some of the ponies in town if they've seen her," Twilight suggested. "I feel like we should split up into pairs."
"I'll go with Rarity!" Spike piped in, his green slitted eyes sparkling.
"Me and AJ will be a team since we are the fastest!" Dash announced.
"I suppose that leave Fluttershy with me. Be careful everypony! We don't know yet how dangerous this other pony is!"
~
Pinkie waited behind the building she had collided with the night before, her eyes fixed out into the woods. With her anger subsided she couldn't help but wonder if Twilight had been right. Had she acted too rashly by coming out here to wait for the strange unicorn? But how silly would she look wondering back with her tail between her legs? She'd be putting her hoof in mouth after accusing Twilight like that. No, she couldn't go back.
Late afternoon rolled around and the strange pony emerged, still covered by the cloak. Pinkie's stomach turned over with nerves. What should she do? "Just be yourself, Pinkie," she told herself aloud, and then, with no more hesitation, she cantered out to meet the strange-pony for the third time.
"Hiya, there, stranger!" Pinkie called in cheerful greeting. The hooded pony crouched defensively.
"Look, we might have gotten off on the wrong hoof," she continued, "and I'm really sorry if I made you scared or mad. All I really want is for us to be friends! Oh! Here, I found this, and I think it's yours. I found it by my house the other night when you left. My friend Twilight says it’s for black magic, but I know she has to be wrong. So, what do you say? Friends?" Pinkie finished holding out the little object with its numbers written all over it.
"Friends?" The strange-pony asked. Pinkie nodded, her teeth bared in a huge smile. The unicorn’s mouth cracked into a fiendish grin. "Okay, sure. How about I show you what that die is REALLY for?"
Pinkie's stomach flip-flopped. What had she just gotten herself into?
~
Twilight and Fluttershy asked all over town, from the teacher at the school for the foals, to vast majority of shop owners. No pony had seen Pinkie Pie. Twilight began to suspect that Pinkie has left Ponyville proper. What would they do next? Most likely they would have to circle the town and widen their search in a spiral pattern, but if it came to that, what, pray tell, will be left of their dear friend to find? Twilight felt ill just thinking about it.
"Excuse me," Fluttershy interrupted a fruit vender, and coincidently Twilight’s racing thoughts. "Yes, I'm most sorry for the intrusion, but would you happen to have seen our friend Pinkie Pie? She is a pink earth pony with a very curly magenta colored mane, usually so very full of energy. So have you seen a pony like that?"
"I know Pinkie Pie, why everypony knows Pinkie Pie," the older vendor sales pony said. "But I must say, I have not seen her today."
"Oh, I see. I'm sorry to be a bother to you then," Fluttershy said with an apologetic bow. The yellow pegasus had already turned to leave with the elder called out.
"Before you leave, I have something for you." He put strawberries, apples, and oranges into a sack with a few other random items and gave it to Fluttershy.
"What's this for? I don't have any money to pay for all this," The pegasus explained.
"It's already been paid for," the vendor replied.
"By who?" Fluttershy asked astounded.
"By whom?" Twilight corrected.
"I didn't get her name, but she seemed to be a new philly in town, gray fur, she wore a cloak.
Fluttershy looked in the sack again, strawberries, apples, and oranges. "These are the same things that I had the night I ran into the strange-pony!" She turned to Twilight with an urgent, serious expression. "I've made a horrible mistake! Pinkie was right about the new pony all along!"
Twilight nodded. "We all owe Pinkie an apology." Hopefully Pinkie could find it in her heart to forgive them.
"Not only Pinkie, but the new pony too," FlutterShy amended.
"You're right, her too."
"There you are! Hey Twilight, Fluttershy! Over here!" a familiar shrill voice called out. There stood Pinkie, or there jumped Pinkie rather, as she flailed about attempting to get their attention. With her stood AJ, Dash, Rarity and Spike, along with another pony Twilight had never seen. The new pony's gray fur still remained mostly hidden by the black cloak, but the hood had been pulled back to reveal a unicorn horn as well as a jet black mane that had streaks of crimson running through it. Her eyes, although just as dark as her hair, shined with a vibrant cheerfulness that reminded Twilight of another cheerful pony.
"Come here, come here! Meet my new friend!" Pinkie cheered.
Twilight trotted over to the new pony and said solemnly, "We are all very sorry for the way we treated you on your arrival to Ponyville. We were frightened by your clothes and, uh, customs and sort of jumped to false conclusions about you. Please forgive us!" She knelt humbly before the new pony.
"Yes," agreed Fluttershy, "Please forgive us! We are terribly sorry." and she two bowed.
"Um, no sweat," said the new pony. "I'm not very good at meeting new ponies. I can give off the wrong vibes at times, I know. The name is KenDee Em."
Twilight smiled warmly and gave her own name, "Twilight Sparkle, but you can call me Twilight."
"And I'm Fluttershy. I tend to get spooked easily. I'm sorry again."
"I said it's all ok. We're good. Pinkie here straitened the whole thing out. Oh, and you all can call me KenDee, or DM, whichever you prefer."
"Oh!" piped in Pinke, who was acting very much her normal self once again, "And KenDee has this super awesome, fun game that she plays, and you use these!" Pinkie produced a small satchel and spilt its contents on the ground. Little dice of all different shapes and sizes went rolling everywhere. A twenty-sided one landed with the number "20" face up. "And that means I'm the winner! Yay!"
KenDee was slightly less enthused as she fretted over the other dice skittering away. "Don't just dump them out! You’re gonna loose them all!"
"Oops, sorry, DM," Pinkie apologized and began helping KenDee in scooping up the scattered dice. As she went she continued talking. "At first when DM explained the game I thought, 'A game that only involved sitting around and doing math? That doesn't sound very fun,' but then she showed me! You can be any kind of creature you can imagine, a dragon, a wolf, or even a human! And it's so easy. You just say what you want to do and roll the dice to do it. I know, it doesn't really make sense, but it will when you try it!"
"Pinkie, Pinkie, slow down!" Twilight said, but to no avail.
"KenDee used to play game all the time where she used to live in Trottington, but when she and her Special-Somepony had to move to Ponyville she had to leave her friends behind. The reason she was wearing the cloak is because one of her friends made it for her as a costume for her game character. It's like playing pretend for grown-ponies!"
"We prefer to call it 'Role-play'," KenDee corrected with a sigh.
"Your friend doesn't have much fashion sense," Rarity disdainfully commented, earning a cold glare from KenDee. She quickly gave the new pony an apologetic smile and added, "On second though I suppose it does have a simple, vintage charm."
Pinkie dropped the last die into the satchel and continued rambling as if there had been no interruption, "And I was having so much fun that I said, 'Lets invite the rest of MY friends to play,' so KenDee and I went to find you all, and THEN we find out you guys were looking for me! How silly, huh? Oh, but now that we are all friends we can have a welcome party all night long and play KenDee's game until the sun comes up! And I can make cupcakes!"
"It's called Dungeons and Dragons," KenDee informed, "but often times those of us who play call it DnD."
So Pinkie Pie and all of her friends, including her new one, all went to KenDee Em's house where the learned to play DnD, and continued playing all the way till morning.
