Just A Dream

Chapter 2

As Willie sat on Fluttershy’s couch, he couldn’t help but try to hear what the ponies in front of him were talking about. He could hear soft whispers from each of them, sometimes able to decipher small bits like, such as “what should we ask him,” and “that question isn’t relevant.” He was implicitly curious about these entities, these ponies, their existence, this world, many questions flowed through his head like a river as he heard the three converse, their quietness, to him at least, we acting as a field to keep him from hearing the conversation.

“Will I be in a retirement home before you three are finished?”

“Just a few seconds Willie, Okay?” Twilight requested this patiently. He smirked a bit at himself as he leaned back, his stomach growling softly. After about half a minute, the three turned around, and Pinkie stepped forward before they could.

“Listen, I know you probably don’t know what a Pinkie Promise is, so I’ll explain. If you make a Pinkie Promise, you vow to keep it no matter what. Okay?” Pinkie smiled softly as she looked him in the eye.

“I don’t know what you ponies here do or what your standards are of trust, but frankly, I don’t make promises that can jeopardize my personal information for one, and second, if I cannot make a promise I can’t keep, I will not agree to it. Understood?” Willie said this with direct pupil contact to Pinkie, staring in pure determination to make sure she understood. Twilight and Fluttershy nodded. Pinkie furrowed her brow for a second and then stuck out her hoof.

“I can accept those terms. But when you take a Pinkie Promise, you have to never, ever, ever back out. We need you to answer our questions honestly, okay?” Willie simply shook his head.

“I will answer the questions, yes, as long as my answer does not have to be related to revealing any personal information about myself. I won’t shake your hand because, simple fact, where I am from, it meant ‘deal.’” Pinkie lowered her hoof and seemed a bit sad for a moment. Twilight stood beside her, looking directly at the boy.

“Now I have some questions,” Twilight mused, but Fluttershy began to stutter softly as she raised her hoof.

“Before this goes any further, I just wanna say I’m sorry for getting mad at you. You just surprised me,” stated Fluttershy, her soft voice creating a few seconds of silence.

“Fluttershy, it’s alright, I mean I did break your house,” Willie mused, crossing his legs as he leaned back and stretched, yawning softly as he went back to a sitting position just a few seconds later. “Now Twilight, you were saying?”

“I’m going to ask these questions one by one, okay? First, what species are you?” Willie snickered softly as he sighed.

“I’m a human; hair on certain parts of the body, bipedal, and with opposable thumbs, part of a race that doomed itself when it wanted more and more. Next?”

“Uh… Okay?” Twilight was just a tad confused by his last statement but decided to move on. “Next question is; full name, age, and occupation?”

“Full name is Willie P. Keyser Age is sixteen. The rest is classified.” Willie had begun to sit up straight, both legs in front of him and uncrossed as he looked her in the eye. “Next?”

“Any bad habits?” Twilight seemed to get just a tad irritated as she let loose a soft sigh.

“Short Temper, eat a lot, talkative, and almost an insomniac, the rest is classified.”

Twilight began to shake her head as Pinkie Pie looked at the boy with curiosity. “What doe classified mean, Twilight?”

“Need to know only, or meant for certain people. Basically restricted,” answered Twilight, looking at the boy with a hint of aggravation. “Have you used any weapons, ever?”

“Small cutting weapons, made for self-defense. Only one large cutting weapon, a two headed axe, also for self-defense, but in my own room it was rare to see it held by me. It basically became a show-model. I never have had to use the weapons I owned in a fight, because I believed fist-to-fist was the only indication of fair.”

“Oh… Dear…” Twilight said, backing up a bit.

“Relax, unless you pose a threat to my life, you could use my weapons. If I had them anyways,” Willie responded calmly, leaning back on the couch as he looked outside. The rain was beginning to soften up, but there were still dark clouds. “Any more questions?” After this question, he turned back to the three, seeing Pinkie raise her hoof in the air like a child wanting her questions answered by a teacher. “Yeah, Pinkie?”

“Do you like to party? And have fun?” Pinkie was almost ready to spring to the ceiling and off the floor, almost like a slinky that could extend and defy gravity. However, Willie’s only response was a shake of his head.

“Parties are nothing. Just a gathering of people I don’t know in a place I hate, with a lot of noise. I’d rather be at my desk, writing poetry in the dead of night. And fun? Please define that. Everyone has a different definition of it. I have a definition of fun, and frankly, that will remain classified on a need to know basis.” Willie turned around, looking out the window one more time. The rain was already gone. “Wait, did I just lose my mind or is the rain already gone?”

Twilight almost looked surprised as she stared out the window. “Oh, that’s the work of a Pegasus, Rainbow Dash. She probably slept in late today and couldn’t stop the rain quick enough.” Pinkie Pie wasn’t happy as usual. She seemed a bit sad.

“That’s kinda bad though, being alone.” Pinkie softly proclaimed, looking at the boy with a small frown. “Wouldn’t you like friends?” Pinkie was ever so soft-toned when she asked this. The boy stood up, about two feet taller than the ponies directly to his front.

“Listen. I’d be your party killer because I’ll leave every time. Twilight over here I already know is aggravated with me because I like keeping some information confidential, and Fluttershy… Well, I broke her house,” he said gesturing to the ceiling above them as he hinted at it like a compulsive man.

Twilight stepped forward ever so slowly a Pinkie and Fluttershy followed, staying around him. “Friends come to forgive friends, even if they have horrible perks, and they stay together through the worst.”

“So now I’m your friend? Wow, gee, listen, I don’t know what friends are, or even if I am meant to have them, but the moment you give me a good reason to believe I need friends, you come right to me. In the meantime, I’m gonna go exploring. Who knows, maybe I’ll find friends. Wait, no, they don’t exist,” Willie spoke like he had never experienced friendship, and opened the door, walking out into the puddles as he saw a blue blur followed by a rainbow trailing it. He shrugged, looking back at the house as he waved, walking oh so calmly down Fluttershy’s path, staying quiet as he progressed with a smile.

Meanwhile at the house, all three of the ponies were looking at each other in disbelief. They looked sad at what the boy had said as Twilight sighed. The three didn’t know what to say, not even to each other.

“Why would he say something like that?” Fluttershy asked, seeming hurt from what was said, Pinkie was almost sad looking as she began to walk to the door, ignoring Fluttershy as Twilight stepped infront of her.

“What do you think you’re doing Pinkie?” Twilight asked in frustration. She gave Pinkie a soft look, but a concerned one as well.

“I’m going to convince him about friendship, one way or another. I hate seeing people alone like that.” Pinkie gave a look of reverence, almost begging Twilight to let her by.

“But Pinkie,” Twilight said, sighing softly as she looked her straight in the eyes. “You know you won’t be able to do it alone.” Twilight seemed like she was actually considering this move on someone with that attitude.

“Shouldn’t we wait a while before we try to convince Willie? I mean… If he hasn’t experienced friendship, us shoving it in his face may force him away further… And nopony should be forced into something they don’t want to be into, they have to be coaxed into it,” Fluttershy stated, her soft voice drawing the eyes of the two to her as she looked at them both. “Remember you Twilight? When you first got here you really didn’t want any friends. You relied all on your studies. Until we had some convincing to do, and then you ended up here. If we don’t give him time, it would be like you going back to Canterlot. And sadly enough, it seems like he is just like you when you came here, only worse: like he had no friends at all, almost like he relies all on himself.”

“Fluttershy’s right, Pinkie… Maybe we should give Willie some room. Some time to breathe. After all, he just literally fell through a roof… We’ll find him in a few hours, okay everypony?” Twilight smiled softly until she looked at Pinkie, who seemed somewhat depressed over the decision.

“But what if he is gone in a few hours? What if he never learns what friendship is?” Pinkie said, a single tear falling. It seemed like she

had a genuine heartbreak thinking about what Fluttershy had just said. What if it was true, Pinkie thought to herself.

Twilight nodded with a soft smile, putting her hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. “Until then, we can have faith and practice. Maybe with the right words, we can lure Willie in and teach him what it is all about. I mean, I’d love to hear some of the poetry he must have thought of. I mean, he does seem nice. Let’s just rehearse until we have to find him. What say we head to my library?”

Fluttershy nodded slowly as she began to walk forward, stopping right infront of Twilight. “I’m with you.” Pinkie simply nodded, smiling just a bit as she looked to Twilight. As Twilight turned to leave out the door, Pinkie and Fluttershy followed, keeping a steady pace as they began their trek back to the library, already talking of what to use to convince Willie about friendship, and maybe try and win him over as a friend.