The 'Equestrian Express,' is what they call the great metal..... thing I am currently in. A feat of technology and magic used to transport groups of ponies and cargo from place to place using pre-placed pathways. As interesting as the contraption is, its occupants are far more so. I am sitting in a transport 'car' with my captors, or as Celestia put it, friends.

The pink one is an oddity I still don't quite understand. She is called 'Pinkie Pie', but I am to call her Pinkie, so she tells me. It is what her friends call her, so I should as well, apparently. She is a baker, and swears I shall try her cupcakes. The element of laughter is strange indeed.

The orange earth pony is a farmer, an apple farmer so aptly named Applejack. She appears hardworking, and I imagine she would have great difficulty telling even the smallest lie, fitting for the element of honesty I suppose.

Both the pegasi, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, the elements of loyalty and kindness respectively, had very little to say. After my wounds were tended to, Fluttershy has not spoken to me save to tell me her name. Rainbow Dash said she was a weather pony and clammed up shortly after. I do not know why.

Rarity is a master of cloth, or 'fashionista' as she puts it. One who sows and mends clothing. At first I thought it might be a good idea to ask her where I might find a bear, or at the very least, bear fur. But when the element of generosity brought up Fluttershy's pet bear, I deemed it unwise. There was also a small purple drake near her hooves, hanging on her every word. I knew not why he was there but I did know he had been at the wedding that I crashed.

The last of my captors is the element of magic, Twilight. Who has been bombarding me with questions non-stop since we climbed aboard this steel contraption.

"How is it that your wounds mended so fast?" I opened my mouth to respond.

"Well I-"

"Celestia expected you to be out for weeks but you recovered in just two days! How did you do it?" She questioned from the bench next to me. I glowered at her a bit then sighed.

"...I draw from airborne magic to heal my wounds."

"You draw on ambient magic and are able to manifest it? Fascinating!" The overexcited unicorn's eyes lit with passion.

"Starswirl wrote of how difficult is was for him to draw on ambient magic and he was one of the best! Do you use Starswirl's theorem of magical resonance or Clover's theorem of ambient magical atrophy to achieve such an impressive healing factor?"

I opened my mouth to tell her that I have no idea who these ponies are, but before I could..

"Oh I know! You use the more modern magic synthesizing theorems to suck magic right out of the air don't you! But you don't have nearly enough mass to achieve that, unless... say, do you...."

I clamped my hand over her mouth. She struggled briefly then stopped and stared at me. I very slowly removed my hand . She sighed dejectedly and rested her head on her fore hooves.

"Sorry, I get a little excited sometimes,"

I chuckled quietly.

"Believe me Twilight, I have seen much worse."

Her friends were on the other side of the car. Having some idle conversation and glancing our way every so often. I could tell Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow dash still harbored suspicion of me. Why wouldn't they?

I looked out the window and beheld a mountain in the distance, forested and tall, with a silver and gold city atop it. The city was foreign to me, but the mountain was not. So many years...gone. Wasted.

I sat, brooding, with my head turned to the window, when I noticed a weight on my lap. I looked and saw Pinkie was laying there, belly up. With her position, and the way the glanced from my hands to her belly, there was no room for argument, this pony wanted a belly rub.

I sighed and began to pet her, lightly patting her soft belly fur beneath my calloused fingers. She layed there with a dreamy smile all the while. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at me with smiles of amusement, but the other three seemed disturbed. I ignored them and returned to staring out the window, this time greeted by the fleeting vision of the mountain as well as a grassy plain. The sounds of the ponies conversation returned.

Soon I had a dozing pony in my lap, she had stretched her legs when she fell asleep, leaving herself in an awkward pose on my lap. I gently flipped her over and returned to idly petting her as my mind began to slow down and tire as well. I noticed twilight leaning on me, I looked at her with a raised brow and she just yawned, and claimed my arm in a hug. She was soon asleep, before too long, so was I.

"This is Ponyville station, Ponyville. Will all passengers for this destination please disembark. Thank you and have a nice day.

I was rudely awoken to a booming overhead voice. I wearily processed what it said as my instincts took over and I tried to rise to a defensive position, But when I tried however, I noticed something was...off. I looked down and realized I was covered in ponies. I remembered the sleeping party pony on my lap and swore internally.

When a pony falls asleep, if other ponies are idle, they will congregate to said pony and fall asleep as well. The harmony magic at work within them causes this I surmise, or perhaps they are simply very affectionate as a species. Regardless, Pinkie was still on my lap, and during the remainder of the journey Twilight had spilled over into my lap as well. The other 4 were on either side of me, laying down. I was in the very center of a pony-pile. The only one not in the pile was the drake. Who was already awake and looking through a small booklet across the isle.

As cute as these ponies were when they slept, we had to get off the metallic behemoth if that voice was to be believed. I slowly rose, carefully brushing all but Pinkie off my lap. I stood cradling the baking pony and began heading for the exit, all of the ponies groggy but waking thanks to the voice, whatever it was. I found the door quickly enough and walked out into the night.

Wherever we were was lit by small lights encased in glass, atop large metal poles. I examined the quaint but oddly rural town as I waited for the other 5 ponies. It was not a large town, only a couple thousand ponies could live here in total. Why would such a small village be so near their capital city? My captors came lumbering off the train, groggy with drooping eyes.

"Whew, I'm beat, hey, we'll should talk tomorrow, I'm gonna go get me some shuteye," Rainbow Dash proclaimed as she took off into the night sky. I gave her a hollow wave with my free hand.

"That sounds like a plan, I'm gonna hit the hay too, I'll see y'all tomorrow." Applejack said as she trotted away, stumbling slightly as she did so.

My load suddenly seemed much lighter. I looked down at my hand holding Pinkie to notice the pony was gone, but in her place, a note. Curious... I did not see her move. I read the note.

Dear Wrath

Tomorrow at exactly 5 O Clock is your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party.

Don't be late!

- Your Friend

Pinkie

P.S. I hope you like cupcakes!

P.S.S. I really hope you like cupcakes!

I rose a brow and quickly memorized the paper, before feeding it to a small plume of fire. I looked up to see a confused Twilight with the small, sleeping drake riding her back was all that remained of my 'entourage'. The rest must have departed while I read.

"What was that?" She asked, her curiosity beating out her weariness.

"A note from Pinkie, I apparently have a party tomorrow at 5 O clock," I paused. Twilight watched me expectantly.

"And for some reason it is imperative to her that I am fond of something called a 'cupcake',"

She only laughed as she began to lead me through the city.

"So for the next year, it is likely you will be staying with me."

"Indeed, as decreed by your princess," She slowed down and looked back at me, raising her head slightly so she could look me in the eye.

"Please don't think of this as a prison sentence Wrath. I promise you will have fun!" She smiled. Fun? I grunted in response. She sighed and returned to full stride. We passed many a small thatch-roofed house, and made many turns before arriving at what appeared to be a tree. A tree complete with windows and a door. I blinked.

"This is your home?" I asked.

"Yes, it is. Now lets go inside shall we?" She approached the door and unlocked it with practiced ease using her magic. She ushered me in and I was met with a library. A library complete with a kitchen, a bust of a unicorn, and several other oddities. I skeptically looked at the purple unicorn as she climbed a set of stairs leading to a second floor. The irony of a library filled with books made from trees, inside a tree, was not lost on me.

"Come on now, there is a guest bedroom down this hall," She pointed with a forehoof to a corridor branching off what appeared to be her and her drake's sleeping arrangements.

I carefully climbed the small steps and walked down the corridor.

"First room on the- *yawn* left," Twilight tiredly stated. I estimated it was several hours after midnight. I followed her instruction and went into a small but homely looking room with a dresser and a bed. I carefully lay myself in the much too small bed. My head was resting on the pillow, but my legs were bent at the knee and my feet were on the ground.

I have slept on worse. I closed my eyes and relaxed my body, this time willingly allowing sleep to take me.

I awoke to something small and pointy tapping against my shoulder. My sleep had been dreamless yet rejuvenating, as always. I opened my eyes and looked to a small purple drake as it poked my shoulder. When it saw I was awake it did something I did not expect.

It talked.

"I made breakfast, Twilight is already awake and told me to come get you, so c'mon!" The drake was pulling at my shoulder, trying futily to pull me with him. I simply sat up.

"You can talk?" I asked, bewilderment lacing my tone.

"Of course I can talk"

"But you are just a hatchling aren't you?" I asked the strange drake. He looks no older than a year, yet he can talk? A normal drake cannot speak until they reach two to three years of age. How was this one talking?

"I am ten years old thank you very much!" The drake then stormed out of the room, offended. Now I was just more confused. How is a dragon that old that small? I wondered. It was a mystery for later however. I retraced my steps to the kitchen where I found a groggy Twilight with a checklist suspended in her magic. The list went from the top of a clipboard down onto the ground in a large heap. There were a large stack of golden disks on the table. They looked unlike anything I had ever seen.

"What are those?" I asked the purple pony. She slowly rose her gaze from the list to the disks, and then looked at me a little more awake than before.

"You mean you don't know what a pancake is?" she asked. I shook my head.

"Well, it is a baked good made from wheat and flour, traditionally eaten with maple syrup." She smiled and floated a bottle, some 'pancakes', and a plate toward a seat at the table.

"Do come and try one, Spike is very good at making them," I approached the table and gingerly sat in one of it's chairs, it creaked some, but it held. I relaxed and looked toward the wonderfully smelling 'pancakes'. This is new.

A sickening crunch resounded around the small clearing. An overturned merchant wagon was slowly burning as its contents, silk and other cloth, lay scattered on the ground. The monster was devouring a poor pony merchant couple who had decided to stop their traveling carriage and look for a little filly lost near the outskirts of the jungle. They had ventured in calling to the foal. Only to meet a swift and brutal end.

The monster finished its meal and let out a throaty chuckle. The most important meal of the day. It thought as the sun began to peak over the tops of the trees surrounding the clearing. The monster rather enjoyed the taste of the ponies flesh. It was sweet and tender. Completely unalike the tough flavorless meat of the jungle fauna.

I must have more of it.

The monster than began to bound out of the jungle. Its two legs acting as springs it made it to the treeline very quickly. Once there is cautiously looked about. The slight shrubbery slowly gave way to a grassland that spread as far as the creature could see. It began in a mad dash into the tall grass, running fast enough to win medals all across Equestria. The speeding predator seemed a stray gust of wind, gently blowing across the grassland as it sped eagerly toward whatever may be out there.

After finishing the 'pancakes', Twilight and myself had departed the library to visit her friends, the other elements of harmony. We were to begin with those in town, then move to those out of town. We would not be visiting Rainbow Dash's home in the clouds.

Moving through the town had been easy. Ponies parted for me as if I was some long lost princess of equestria. Some even bowed. Why would they treat me this well? All I did was battle changelings... That brought something else to the forefront of my mind. The changelings.

"Twilight," I asked slowly.

"Yes?"

"Whatever happened to all those changelings after their queen died?"

"Well, we are not really sure." I rose my brows as we kept walking. Looking at her intently.

"After a day of stumbling around aimlessly, the changelings all suddenly took off, heading in different directions. I have no idea why. But that is a riddle for another time, we are here."

Our first stop is easily the strangest building I have ever seen. It looks to be made of candy, it is both a bakery and Pinkie Pie's home. Twilight and myself walk up the steps and enter the confectionery. Inside a motherly looking blue mare greets us from behind a counter.

"Hello Twilight! And hello..." The pony trails off, looking directly at me. I blink. She blinks. She gestures with a hoof. I cock my head to the side.

"Wrath," Twilight interjects. "His name is Wrath Mrs. Cake, is Pinkie in?" She looks thoughtful for a moment before responding.

"Yes, she is in the back baking something for a party later tonight, another one of her 'Welcome to Ponyville' parties I assume."

"That does sound like her, lets go say hello, shall we Wrath?"

"Of course," She leads the way through the customer part of the store, behind a counter, and into a large kitchen. Where Pinkie is diligently trying to do.........something, I'm sure. She is staring at a peculiar metal box, with strange knobs and a glass pane.

We stood in silence for over a minute before Twilight decided to break the ice and grab the mare's attention.

"What are you baking pinkie?"

She slowly looks up from the contraption and turns her head to us. Madly grinning, she jumps toward me.

I catch her and hold her up like a puppy.

"Can I help you?" I ask her.

"Well, yeah! Duh! You can try these cupcakes!" She looks thoughtful for a split second before wrenching herself from my grasp and bolting back to her seat in front of the metal box.

"Just as soon as they are done!" She sits unmoving from her position on the floor.

"Pinkie, watching the oven that closely might hurt your eyes." Twilight tried to convince the party mare.

"But if I don't watch them this closely, how will I know when they are at the right delishinatude?" She didn't look away from the oven.

"Delishinatude.......right......well we are going to go see Rarity now, I guess we will see you later, right pinkie?"

"Oh yes Twilight, you will," She turned and gave us both a rather predatory grin. "You too Wrath," she added. I nodded slowly and began to back out of the store, Twilight on my heels.

"She is weird, but she has never been that weird before." Twilight said once we were safely outside.

"That mare is most disturbing," I added gravely. "Now to the element of generosity's home, yes?"

"Yes, its right this way," she began walking down the road with me following. "It is quite a.....unique building."

"How do you mean?"

"Oh, you'll see." She nodded sagely. "Its just up ahead."

We came into view of a garish circular building. It is unlike any building I have ever seen before, marking the third time in 24 hours that such a sight has occurred.

"Do all of you elements have a disturbingly unique home?"

"Well..... I mean..." she trailed off, we were nearly at the front door before she finished. "I suppose so, except maybe Fluttershy,"

We entered the lavish home, a bell striking at we crossed the threshold. A sing-song voice carried down from the top of a set of stairs.

"♫ Be with you in just a moment!♫"

We waited and I examined the room. There was white pony figures everywhere. Some bare and some draped in pony clothing. The supplies for such clothing spread everywhere in the room. The room being connected to a hallway leading deeper into the house. A white unicorn foal with a bi-colored purple mane appeared walking out from said hallway. She had on a saddlebag.

"Rarity I'm going to meet Applebloom and Scootaloo ok?" the foal shouted as she entered the room proper. As she walked onward she saw Twilight, and began to smile, then she saw me. Her body froze mid stride. Her mouth hanging open dumbly.

"Have fun dear!" Rarity's voice shouted back from above. The foal didn't move, and neither did I. Twilight however, did. She approached the foal and waved a hoof in front of her face.

"Are you ok Sweetie belle?" She asked the frozen filly.

".................what is that..........." The filly whispered. I could not hear her, but I could read her lips.

"That is my friend Wrath, Sweetie. Are you going to be ok? He won't hurt you, if that is what you are thinking." Twilight answered the foals unasked question and she calmed herself. Lowering her mid-air hoof back to the ground.

"Yeah ill be fine," she meekly replied before slowly making her way toward me. I realized I was blocking the door and moved aside for the young pony to pass. Once the door closed behind her we heard Rarity descending the stairs.

Turning, I saw her approach Twilight and hug her. She looked to me.

"How are you enjoying Ponyville so far?" she asked. After a moments thought I responded.

"It is a quaint town, it is nice, however the populace seems to think I am royalty. They vacate the area wherever I go," I responded. The two mares looked to each other with unreadable expressions. They seemed to have a silent conversation before Twilight turned to me.

"I thought you knew, the ponies aren't doing that because they think you are royalty, they do it because they are scared of you," She looked pained to say it and smiled nervously. "I'm sure they will get over it with time, they did with Zecora anyway." I stared at her with my usual stoic face. Afraid of me? It appears some things do not change. I snorted. What possessed me to think they were treating me like royalty?

"Anyway, lets discuss over some tea, shall we?" Rarity was walking toward what I think is a kitchen. "Twilight I know you like Earl Grey, how about you Wrath?" She was already within her kitchen, with me and Twilight not far behind.

"........Do you have Jasmine?"

After an hour of speaking with the fashion pony we parted ways and began toward the outskirts of Ponyville toward a place called 'Sweet Apple Acres'. The farm of Honesty, Applejack. We walked toward the farmhouse and I saw, to my amazement, hundreds if not thousands of apple trees in every direction. Never in all my years have I seen a farm designed solely to harvest apples.

As we neared the farmhouse we caught sight of Applejack bucking trees a little off the path. She collected the baskets the apples had fallen into, and put them onto a wagon. She began toward the nearby barn and spotted me and Twilight, who was enthusiastically waving. She weakly waved back and returned to pulling the cart to the barn. We reached her as she reached the barn. After putting the apples within she came trotting out, a smile on her face.

"Howdy Twilight and Wrath, I didn't expect you here so soon."

"Well," Twilight began, " Pinkie was preoccupied baking so we were only there for a moment before we went to Rarity's boutique. We can't exactly visit Rainbow Dash's home, and even if we could she would not be home. So we made it here fairly quick,"

"U-huh, well, I don't really have time to chat right now, being gone in canterlot for so long has put me real behind." She gestured to the apple trees around us, which I quickly noticed were either hanging heavy with fruit, or were bare, having just been bucked by the farm mare. "I got a lot of catching up to do, but I will make it to Pinky's party tonight."

"How unfortunate," I sadly remarked. I meant it too. I have some questions for the mare that I would like answered. But it will have to wait. Lucky for me I am very used to waiting.

"Oh well, I suppose that bumps up our visit with Fluttershy. Lets get out of her mane, Wrath." I nodded to her and we began to walk back toward town. "See you tonight Applejack!" she called out.

"See ya later sugercube!" The farm pony responded from the distance.

We had to go through the entire town to get to Fluttershy's home. It is clear on the opposite side of the town from Applejack's farm. After a small bridge we neared a cabin about 100 meters from a forest. the noonday sun shone down on dozens of small creatures that scampered about the cabin.

We crossed a miniature bridge over a small stream and Twilight walked up to, and knocked, on the door. The animals seemed oblivious to us, running to and fro as if we were not even there.

Before long the door creaked open. Revealing half of the shy form of Fluttershy. Once she saw Twilight and myself she opened the door completely.

"Hello Twilight, and um, Wrath.....please come in," The butter pegasus stood aside and allowed us entry. The house was humble, with small burrows for animals everywhere. Fluttershy ushered us onto her couch and sat across from us in an armchair. This amused me. The ponies build armchairs without the proper anatomy to utilize them.

The three of us settled in when Fluttershy asked Twilight a question.

"Have I introduced you to my friend Roger?" She presented a black squirrel. "He has a problem,"

Before I knew it Fluttershy had sucked me and Twilight into a conversation about the squirrel population in the 'White Tail woods'. The population of squirrels has apparently been decreasing rapidly due to the introduction of some new predator. Twilight promised the timid mare she would look into why such a thing could happen. We exchanged pleasantries once more before myself and Twilight left for Ponyville once again.

We had spent considerably more time at Fluttershy's than anywhere else that day, and the sun now hung low in the sky.

"We should probably head over to Sugercube Corner before pinkie comes and drags us there," Twilight remarked as we made our way through the deserted town. Where are all the villagers? I wondered.

As we approached the bakery I felt a considerable amount of magic emanating from it. As if a considerable portion of the village was somehow crammed into the small building. Twilight and I stood at the precipice. Both of us unmoving.

"Well, go on then," She gave me a nervous smile. "After you,"

"No, ladies first, I insist," I responded, holding out a hand. She glared at me.

"I have had my welcome to Ponyville party already, its your turn," She glanced at the door. "Come on," she urged.

I sighed. And reached out to open the door.

Whats the worst that could happen?

Author's Note

Hey guys! sorry about the delay on the chapter. Family vacation and all that.

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