"You're doing great."
I landed on my new all fours, panting heavily after the exercise. It had been....pff...Faust knows how long, I should probably ask her, since everything started. Or rather ended. I still feel sad at times, but not overly depressed anymore, knowing my family is okay. Somwhere. You know I never thought much about my family. They weren't bad or anything, but I pretty much slowly broke contact, after I started living with an old friend in a small apartment. You can guess how much I regretted not spending more time with them, when I had he chance.
The alicorn next to me couldn't do much in that regard. She may be a goddess, but I quickly learned even she had her limits. She had to separate each soul into it's own dimension, yes, each freaking human alive at the time! She also spends time with each of us in the "void" as I like to call it, this black "landscape" she and I were in.
It was here where the goddess broke the news to me of her plan on giving everyone a second chance. It is also here where she helps each soul overcome their depression, no matter how long it would take. Heck, it felt like my own depression lasted for a year or something. It's hard to tell, when you don't have a watch with you. I don't know how she can stand it, I mean I must have soaked her entire fur with my tears. Guess that is what makes a mortal different from a goddess.
In any event, I'm getting off topic before I even start. I had my emotional episode behind me and right now Faust was training me in my new pegasus body. Nope, no alicorn available. As long as I was in the "void" I didn't need to eat or drink or anything, but I did get tired and could increase my stamina. It was a way to ensure that I was not completely out of the loop of living a normal life, as normal as it can be as a former human.
"Oh man..." I breathed out. "No one said flying is that hard." I collapsed on the ground, spreading all of my limps out. I still wasn't 100% used to my pony body. I especially wasn't used to that a certain male part of my body...eh...yeah, that one thing about pony anatomy. It's just weird, 'kay?!
Faust didn't comment on anything. Instead she placed herself next to me and put her wing over my body. "Rest up. You deserve it, after what you accomplished today. At this rate it won't take long until I can send you to your new life." she spoke in her motherly tone. It was something I've gotten used to over time. According to her she talks this way to everyone.
The prospect of going to Equestria soon, made me both excited and sad. Excited, because hell, this void life got boring pretty fast. Wake up, learn how to walk, flying lessons, preening lessons, how to buck clouds, it all gets to you, when you do it in the same boring environment. Okay, from time to time Lauren would summon an illusion to make things more bearable, but she couldn't just summon air, water or anything else out of nowhere. At least not in a matter of seconds or even days.
You see, when we were not trying to give me basic exercise about how to handle a pegasus body, she would tell stories. Her special talent was writing stories after all and so she told me all kinds of tales. Most of them were made up, but sometimes she would tell me little stories about Equestria or even Earth from a random time period. Today she did the same.
"Do you want to hear a story?" she asked.
"Sure, why not?" I shrugged. It always helped me falling asleep and she really liked telling stories.
"This one is about a young Starswirl, trying to transform a chicken into a pony. Being the studious stallion he was, he thought that by turning an animal into a pony, he could learn more about each individual animal, by transforming them. So his first subject became the chicken he bought from a farm.
Back at his home he brought the chicken out of the cage and placed it on a chair. He aimed his horn at it and started the spell. However before it could hit the poor animal, it jumped off the chair barely avoiding being hit by his magic. Instead the spell hit the chair, causing its legs to be turned into pony legs. Annoyed he tried to reverse his mistake, but the all of the sudden the chair started moving, slowly at first. Thinking it didn't matter, he still started the reversed spell, but completely forgot about the chicken.
The little dear walked up without him noticing and started picking on Starswirl's leg. "Ouch!" he screamed. Distracted by the sudden pain, he instead used the transformation spell again, this time hitting his study desk. It had the same effect as before, its legs being turned into pony legs. Startled by the sudden bright light, the chair held up its legs, before it started galloping straight out of the front door.
Starswirl cursed loudly, scaring the table away, which jumped out of the window, galloping away. Panicking, Starswirl followed the chair first, running down the street, which lead into the city."
[...]
The day eventually came, where I had to say goodbye to Faust. There was that part of me that didn't want to let this be farewell, especially after how the last one went. We hugged for a very long time until we let go of each other, reluctantly from my part. "Are you ready?" she asked me.
"Eh...not really." was my reply."But then again, I'll probably never really be ready."
"i see, good luck and remember: I'll be watching."
Her horn glowed up in a very bright light. I needed to close my eyes and lifted my foreleg in order to shield them. A few seconds later I heard something I haven't heard in what seemed like ages: birds chirping among each other. I lowered my foreleg a little and opened my eyes slowly.
"Whoa!" I exclaimed. I thought I was getting an epileptic attack. The colors! I mean, I spend so much time in a colorless region and now all those green, blue, brown, white, a freaking rainbow in the distance! I slumped down on my butt, my jaw dropping on the floor. I must have been looking like a complete idiot, staring like that at what was just a grass field. It took a butterfly landing on my nose, causing me to come back to reality. I sneezed the little insect away and shook my head clear. I needed to find civilization, a job, a place o stay for the night and just needed to find out where Faust dropped me off.
I stood up, getting my wings into position, ready to take off. But then I hesitated. Why? This would be my first time flying with the possibility of dying, if I did a mistake. I got back into normal standing position and took a good look on my wings. They looked really easy to break. I considered walking the entire way, but then I slapped myself (it hurt). I wasn't Fluttershy. I trained so long to be finally be able to fly in the skies of Equestria and now i was chickening off? No way.
With new found determination I crouched down, flexed my wings and took off into the sky. This was the first time I could feel the wind brushing against my fur and boy, it got me excited, I increased my speed and flew up until I was as high as the clouds. I landed on one of those of course, because I learned quite quickly during training that the were the best pillows ever. I'd so get my own cloudhouse.
As much fun as it was walking on a cloud, I looked around for any sign of civilization. Yet the only thing I found was a little dirt path, down below. I could either follow it down the plains or towards the mountains. Knowing that Canterlot was sitting on top of a mountain, I made up my decision fast. Besides, it wasn't even a 50-50 chance. The path had to lead somewhere, right?
I took off once again, following the path down below and accidentally flying into a bunch of birds in the process. "Ow, ow, ouch!"
The birds weren't happy either. If they could talk they probably would have shouted something along the lines of: "Idiot!", "Watch where you're flying!" and stuff. I lost my balance there a little, but managed to catch myself and continue my flight, this time looking out for both the path and obstacles in the sky. It wouldn't have been nice if I accidentally flew into a storm cloud.
After around 20 minutes of flying and still nothing in sight, I started singing to myself. Now I hate singing in public, not because I'm shy (okay, part of being a little shy), but ever since I got into my teenage years, i just couldn't hit the notes anymore. I was in choir class in my school before that happened and I was relatively good.
Mentally going through my music library, I started with the Smile Song, went through an entire album of a band called "Scorpions" and settled with a few fan made songs of "Five Nights at Freddy's". Yeah, I'm a fan of that game too, but more because of the story, than the game. Last time I played it I hurt my balls, hard, because of a jumpscare.
Eventually I got bored of singing as well. I should have asked for my mp3, before coming here. Hmm, wonder what kind of music ponies make here around. And how the heck do they get their music into their headphones. I didn't see Vinyl carrying a player. Oh! Land- eh, I mean, TOWN AHOY!
It were only a few small dots at this point, but I increased my speed in order to get there faster. Though it was still a good distant away, something I didn't realize immediately. Luckily I flew over a stream at one point, from where I could refresh myself. Of course drinking not sterilized water, at first I had my doubts. But then I remembered this wasn't earth with all of the pollution and stuff, but Equestria. The worst that could probably happen to me here was becoming Pinkie Pie's co-worker.
Fueled up, I took off once again, watching my pacing this time. I had no idea what time it was, but from the looks of things I guessed it was around lunch time. I wasn't hungry yet, probably thanks to Lauren. Maybe she gave me a little energy boost for the first few hours. It must have been the case, because it took me seemingly another hour or two (my internal clock isn't that great mind you) to get to the town. About ten minutes before I got to the borders I could make out another city in the distance.
"Holy shit! Is that Canterlot?! That means the place over there must be Ponyville! JACkPOT!" I pumped my fist...hoof into the air, before sprinting (can you call it that?) the rest of the way there. My heart leaped in joy, as I could finally make out details and other ponies in the distant. I also slowed down, because there was way more traffic in the air above the city. Not much, but it wouldn't do me any good, making a bad first impression by bumping into someone mid-air. Excuse me, somepony. Eh, that'll take some time to get used to, just like I needed lots of time to respond to my new name: Summer Gambit.
Excitedly I had the lookout for everypony I might recognize, especially a certain pink earth pony. Have you ever seen real life sketches or computer made pictures MLP Ponies? They don't look bad at all. It wasn't all cartoony, but at the same time I recognized so many cartoon colors...it was new experience for my eyes, let's put it that way.
Of course, being such a small community some ponies immediately noticed the new addition in town. Well addition may be overdoing it, since officially I had no home. And no money. That's something I hadn't thought off in my confused state, but then again I didn't think of a lot of things that might be important later on. But, why didn't Faust give me some starting money? I knew things were a tad easier in Equestria, but money was still money.
I was thinking about where to go first, when all of the sudden I found a cyan blur flying past me and heading towards the ground. "Woah!" I exclaimed, as I was sucked towards the ground a little, by the passing wind. I was able to catch myself soon enough and could see the blur hitting the ground. I flinched, when I finally could make out Rainbow Dash, who was rubbing her forehead.
The heck is her skull made off? Oh shit, it's Rainbow Dash!!! No inner fanboy, keep it down! Wait, she's head weather manager! Maybe I can get a job! With that in mind, I flew towards the ground, until I landed right in front of her.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
"Eh, it was nothing." was her reply.
Keep. It. Down. Fanboy!
"If you say so..." I trailed off. "Anyways, my name is Summer Gambit."
"I'm Rainbow Dash." she proclaimed loudly. "The fastest flier in Equestria!" she added, doing a little loop in the air. "You're new here, aren't ya?"
"Yeah...new, jobless and homeless, to be honest."
"Wow, really? You lazy or something?" she asked.
"Bad luck." was my reply. I could feel my ears folding against my skull. "Stuff...happened. I don't really like talking about it." I shook my head, suppressing the memories. "Anyways, I kinda need a job, fast, 'cause urrgh...no money." I muttered, but Dash caught on none the less.
"Ouch, sucks to be you." she stated bluntly.
"I guess that is what happens if your special talent is luck." I looked down at my cutie mark.
"Luck?" Rainbow asked. "I thought it was money or something."
"Oh, I'm pretty good in math and general paperwork, after all I need some skill. But luck is where my real strength is. I wager the risks, roll the dice and hope for the best. Seriously, most times in my life I rely on my luck. More than enough I was called a lucky bastard." I chuckled. "But seriously, do you know if I can find a job somewhere in this place? i thought about a weather job, but have no experience whatsoever."
"No experience?" Rainbow asked. "Where have you been living? The Everfree Forest?"
"Nah, there was just no job available in that regard, so I needed to find other stuff. Ended up in a bureau, getting a little fat around the flanks over time."
Rainbow chuckled. "Hmm, tell you what. I'm the head weather mare here in Ponyville. I'll give you a chance and if you don't buck up too bad, you're hired."
"Really? Thanks. It's true what they say, they're friendlier on the countryside."
"Yeah, yeah, come on. Time's a wasting." And she zoomed out.
"Hey, wait for me!" I shouted after her, knowing full well she wouldn't slow down.
I think she went easy on me. Still, I was only barely able to follow her rainbow trail. Luckily we didn't fly far, just a little outside of Ponyville. I landed right next to Rainbow on a cloud, catching my breath.
"Oh man. I pity everyone who tries to beat you in a race."
Rainbow chuckled, making a little pose. "I'm just that awesome. Anyway, let's see how awesome you are. I want you to clear all those clouds as fast as you can." she waved her hoof around. I looked around. Well there were a few clouds in the area. I guess no one really bothered about those, because they were not above Ponyville.
"Phew. I'm glad a friend of mine taught me the basics of being a weather pony. Alright" I fluttered my wings. "I need the exercise anyway." I said and took off. I had only flown so fast as I was flying at that moment, during my time in the "void". Bucking clouds luckily was nothing hard or special. What basically happened, when you buck a cloud is the pegasus magic would cause the mini raindrops the cloud was made of to be separated explosively. The molecules would fly so far away, you wouldn't notice a difference in the air humidity.
Since I was an inexperienced flier, I couldn't take 90 turns or anything. Instead after every cloud I either stopped for a few seconds and flew towards the next or took long curves. I also didn't pull off any stunts and only used my front legs to get rid of the clouds. I always managed to get rid of them in one buck. When I started training, it always took me a few bucks to get rid of the clouds.
After I was done, I was out of breath. Hey, I just tried to impress the fastest flier in Equestria, cut me some slack. "Heh, not bad." Rainbow commented, hitting me two times on my back. "There's room to work here, but I can tell you were giving your best. You're hired."
"Thanks." I slumped down on the single cloud left.
After I recovered a little, Rainbow decided to treat me at Sugercube Corner. Of course she needed to prove her superior speed once again, by getting to the weather station and then to the sweet shop, before I arrived. She brought some paperwork with her, which I had to sign. It was way less than you had to fill in for getting a job at home, but some basics were still present. I needed to leave out a couple of things, since...I didn't really think of a backstory, but my luck struck once again. Or in other words, Rainbow's laziness struck. She tucked the paperwork away in her saddlebag without even looking over it. I hoped that would happen.
"Say Rainbow, is it normal for weather ponies to get payed every week instead of every month?" I asked. It was something that stuck out to me as a little odd.
"Yeah, don't tell somepony higher up from Cloudsdale, but I made that 'cause one of my friends is working both as a weather pony and a mailmare. She's got a kid, which she has to take care of all on her own."
"Oh...I get it." Must be Derpy. Or is it Ditzy? Wait, didn't they recently change her name into Muffin? I better ask later.
"all right come on, I'm starving myself." Rainbow proclaimed before heading into the pastry shop. I followed her quickly, my wings accidentally hitting the frame of the door. I must have been subconsciously ready to fly after Rainbow Dash. Inside she was already standing at the counter, waiting for someone to appear. I walked up to her.
"Did you try the bell?"
The door to the kitchen opened before she could answer and out of it came Mr. Cake. "Oh hello Rainbow Dash and Mr...?"
"Summer Gambit. But please, leave the "mister" part, 'kay?"
"I see. You can call Mr. Cake. So, what can I bring the two of you?" he asked us.
"I'll get an chocolate eclair and a strawberry milkshake." Dash answered immediately.
I blew a little raspberry, as I looked over what was at the counter and what the menu card said was available. "I'll get a donut and some apple juice for now."
"Right away." Mr. Cake got to work, showing surprisingly high diligence, while getting everything on a plate, handling the glasses filled with our drinks and then bringing the entire plate over to the counter with his mouth. Rainbow placed some bits at the counter and luckily picked up the plate, carrying it over to a nearby table. No broken ceramic today it seemed.
I did placed myself at the table like a pony from the show normally did. No need to stick out more than necessary on my first day in Ponyville. About table manners, Rainbow Dash at least seemed to have some of them. I took my donut in both hooves and started munching it down. It tasted a little different from donuts on earth, but it was nothing special. Now the apple juice on the other hand, was downright delicious (again I used both hooves). I was about to order some more, when I remembered it was Rainbow Dash, who was paying for all of this. I didn't want to abuse her generosity after all.
"So, what brings you here to Ponyville?"
I suppressed certain feelings that were about to show themselves again and answered with a shrug. "Eh, it was next best choice to be honest. Just need a new place to settle down, get a job...that kinda stuff. Speaking of settling down, I still need a place to stay."
"Ah, don't worry about that. You can crash at my place, until you got yourself your own place."
"Really? Thanks a ton Rainbow. I owe you, definitely."
"I'll hold you on to that." she smirked at me.
"So, what were you doing, before I came by? It looked like you were stunt flying or something." I pointed out, thinking back on how we met an hour earlier.
"Close enough. I was training some of my tricks. The Summer Sun Celebration is next week and it is there where I'm going to impress them!" her eyes beamed with excitement.
"Them?" I asked, before it hit me. "Oh, let me guess. The Wonderbolts."
"Exactly!" she exclaimed loud enough so that everyone inside the shop could hear it. "Once they see my impressive movements, they'll have no other choice than to take me in!"
"Well, good luck. Though impressive moves are one thing, military discipline and teamwork are something completely else. Heard the drill recruits have to go through aren't exactly easy. I don't claim to be an expert, but from what I know about military organizations is that they..."calm down" some of the hot-headed recruits. Can't exactly let them charge recklessly at a dragon, while the rest are sticking to the plan or something."
I doubt she really listened to me, except the dragon part. "Pfft, I can take on a dragon all on my own."
I gave her a deadpan stare, but didn't comment on it.
After our meal, Rainbow Dash decided to show me around Ponyville a little, starting with the weather station, which consisted of a small warehouse, filled with all kinds of clouds and a small, messy office for Rainbow Dash.
"This is where we store all the clouds from Cloudsdale. Easy to remember. There we have the normal clouds, over there rainclouds and behind that door" It had an high voltage sign on it "are the storm clouds. Not much, but we're next to the Everfree Forest. If we're out of clouds, we can easily just get them from there. The weather ain't natural over there, I tell you."
Oh Rainbow, if only you knew. I thought to myself.
"We need to be here tomorrow around 9 AM. We'll work out your schedule tomorrow." she explained. "Any questions?"
"Not really." I shook my head.
"Alright, then let's get going."
At least while she was giving me the tour at a reasonable pace and not just flying from place to place. Right now, we were flying above the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres and seriously. How the hell can 4 ponies, one of them being still a kid, take care of everything?!
"My friend Applejack and her family run Sweet Apple Acres." Rainbow explained to me in mid-air. "They make the best apple cider in all of Equestria. Last I heard, her family is coming over for the celebration next week."
"Uh huh." I nodded. "You know, I bet Ponyville could easily fit into those orchards down there."
"Oh hey, there she is. Hey, AJ! Mac!" Rainbow shouted. I followed her gaze and found AJ and her brother Big Macintosh carrying each a cart down the dirt path. They both looked up and waved their hooves at us. We both flew down towards them, landing right in front of them.
"What's up AJ? Big Mac? The dude over here is Summer Gambit. He's new here and I'm showing him around. Summers, these are Applejack and her brother Big Mac."
"Nice to meet you." I held out my hoof for a little shake. I almost could hear my bones being crushed by AJ grabbing my hoof (somehow with just one of her own) and shaking it like crazy. "Well how ya doin' Summer? Welcome to Ponyville. I bet you'll lahke it here."
"Eeyup."
She let go of my hoof and I tried not to wince. From the corner of my eye, I could see Rainbow smirking at my expense. "Well, I just arrived here, so I'm still making myself a picture of the place."
"Ah, dun worry. We got a might crazy folks here, but everypony is overall friendly. Well, we'd love to stay and chat, but we gotta prepare for our family. The first are gonna be here by tomorrow."
"Alright, see you around AJ. Mac."
"Later RD, Summer!"
"See ya!"
"Eeyup."
Once again we were in the air, flying above the town. "This is the market place. The farmers normally sell they're stuff over here. Over there are all kinds of shops. You can check them out on your own later. This way goes to the bowling alley. You ever bowled?"
"A couple of times." I replied. "Been a while actually. I prefer billiard."
"Well, I think Berry Punch has a table standing in her bar."
Wait, they actually got billiard tables here?
"Anyways, there's only one last part to show." She flew ahead towards the south-east side of the town, showing me the town hall, the spa (more on accident) and Rarity's Boutique.
"Though, be careful around Rares. She's a little fashion nutjob, if you catch my drift."
"So, AJ wasn't lying, when she said the townsfolk is a little crazy?"
"Eenope." Rainbow shook her head. "Besides, AJ is a terrible liar. Over there we got the Everfree Forest."
"Oh yeah, that place.Heard...let's say "interesting" stories about the place. Makes me wonder who's crazy enough to build a town next to a nest filled with monsters."
"I dunno. Oh yeah, over there" she pointed towards a building in the distance "lives my friend Fluttershy. She takes care of tons of animals. Though, don't expect her to talk to you. She's pretty shy. And really sensitive." My new boss informed me. "Okay, we're done! I'm gonna go back to my training. Wanna watch me pull off some awesome moves?"
I chuckled at her brashness. "No offense Rainbow Dash, but I'd like to get the town more a little. Another time?"
"Eh suit yourself. My house is on the south-west side of the town. You can't miss it, since I'm the only one living in a cloudhouse. See ya around, Summers."
"Laters." I managed to say, before she dashed off.
Being on my own again, I decided to check out Fluttershy's cottage. Despite knowing that the chances of her talking to me at this stage were beyond zero, I could try, right? I also hoped to meet some of her animals, but sadly today there were none in front of her cottage.
I looked around a little, taking in the calm scenery. The Everfree Forest didn't look that scary, if I'm honest, but I knew better of course. The sound of a door opening caught my attention just in time, for I was about to head back into town. Slowly and carefully looking around for predators (aka other ponies) Fluttershy stepped out of her cottage, closing the door behind her. She looked almost like a delicate flower, one that could get broken with a single touch. Now I was afraid to scare her by simply talking to her. Inner fanboy and inner reason were fighting with each other, until I decided: Fuck it. I'll get a chance to talk to her at the party. Oh right, Pinkie Pie still doesn't know that there's a new pony in town. With that thought in my mind, I left Fluttershy alone. Besides, she'd be crept out by a complete stranger walking up to her.
Besides flying was so much damn fun. Sure having the magic of a unicorn would have been really cool, but I don't think I can ever completely give up flying. My destination was Sugercube Corner again, since it was the most likely place I would find her. Too bad, I wasn't that lucky this time. Well, I could have asked around, but I couldn't think of any good excuse as to from where I could have heard about Pinkie's parties. Sure I generally could have heard about them, but the less I give out about my seemingly non-existent past, the better.
As a result, I started walking around, randomly going into that and that allay and making myself familiar with the town. I turned around another corner, when I accidentally bumped into another pony. "Ow, sorry. Wasn't looking where I was going." I told the pony I bumped into. And no it was not Pinkie Pie. It was Rarity and she didn't seem too pleased with getting her coat a little dirty. None the less she stayed formal. "It's...alright. Though I advice you to be more careful next time."
"Yeah, sorry. I'm new in town and thought taking a nice stroll would be a good idea to familiarize myself with it a little bit." I then noticed that she had been carrying some backs. Luckily the contents weren't spilled out o the ground. "Let me help you with them." Awkwardly picked the plastic bags up with my wings. It didn't really feel nice on my feathers. "It's the least I can do."
"My, what a gentlecolt." she commented, smiling. "Well, if you insist, who am I to turn down the offer? If you would follow me please. My house is just over there."
"Alright. My name is Summer Gambit, by the way."
"I am Rarity Belle, dear, Ponyvilles local fashion designer."
"Ah, you're Rarity? Rainbow Dash told me a little bit about you." I informed her.
"You know Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked.
"Yes, she was so nice to give me a job. She also showed me a little bit of Ponyville."
"Did she now?" Rarity asked in a rhetorical manner. "Now then, we're here. Welcome to Carousel Boutique, were everything is chique and unique. You can give me those bags now dear." She unceremoniously grabbed the bags of my wings, allowing me to stretch them a little. I made a mental note not to do that anytime soon again.
"Well then Mr. Gambit, would you mind for some tea?" she asked.
"Oh I really don't want to impose Ms. Rarity." Seriously, the "miss" part just slipped through my mouth. It's kind of a reaction from me. When someone's polite to me, I am polite to them. Later I'm more open, when I get to know the person or from now on I should say pony better.
"Oh please, it's no bother at all. These days it's very difficult to come by such a nice stallion as you are. I would like to have a little chat with you."
Nice stallion? Don't get the wrong idea, man. She just means that you have helped her a little out, although my wording was anything but that of a gentlecolt. "Alright, if you insist." I nodded.
"Splendid, please follow me." she trotted through a door, which was signed with small gold letters, saying: "Employees only."
We immediately came into a little hallway, from which Rarity took the second door to the right. I followed her and we immediately came into the kitchen, which seemed to be sparkling. Scratch that, it was sparkling. "Well now I feel a little dirty." I commented.
"Oh, pish, posh, darling. You're looking fine. Although, if you allow the comment, your mane could use some work here and there."
I laughed. "This is what happens if you try to keep up with a speed demon." I replied.
"Mhm." Rarity set up the tea kettle. "Do take a seat darling." she brought out some biscuits onto the table and placed herself on a chair. "Well, then Mr. Gambit, where do you come from?"
Again with the ears folding against my head. They gave way too easily away, what I was really feeling. Rarity of course immediately caught up to the gesture and frowned herself. "Sorry. Stuff...happened. I'm still not completely over it."
"Oh..."
There was an awkward silence between us, until the tea kettle let out a shrill whistle. Rarity quickly put the leaves and the water into our teacups and placed the kettle away. I sighed, deciding to break the silence. "I'm not from Equestria. I'm actually from...a different country. My mom in fact is from yet another different country, but I was too lazy to learn her mother language." I chuckled at the one day I actually tried to learn Russian. Later it turned out I wasn't good at learning ANY languages.
"I...see..."
I waved off. "Anyway, we can't change the past, only accept it and learn from it. Unnecessary quotes aside, let's talk about something else. How's business going? I guess you're only getting local customers, seeing that despite it's close location to Canterlot."
Rarity chose not to press further on my past, but rather go along. "Actually I do get a lot of out of town customers. Usually travelers or tourists."
"Mhm." Carefully I picked up my teacup and blew into it to cool it a little more down. Somehow I managed not to get my fur soaked with hot tea water. Didn't stop me from cooking my own tongue once again. Me and tea we have a history.
"So slowly you get your name spread all around Equestria, huh? Well too be honest, I was never one to follow fashion trends. I only ever wore something formal on weddings, funerals and job interviews. Aside from that I like to wear vests. Too bad I didn't bring my old ones with me..."
"Mhm." Rarity nodded. "Well I for my part do love to wear something more exquisite every now and then. Sadly, nopony else in this town seems to share my love for fashion." she sighed a little over dramatically.
"You know, I know I basically said I'm not one for fashion, which doesn't mean I don't like seeing a piece of art every now and then. And that one dress you have hanging right in the front window. I swear I've seen a lot of stuff in my life, but this one takes the cake." She had a beautifully lavender dress hanging on the store front, adored with gemstones just at the right places.
"Why thank you darling. It's always nice to hear a compliment every now and then." She said before taking another sip from her tea. I think I was gradually getting her on my good side.
"Mhm, belief me, I know what you're talking about. I have a hobby, which I sadly am not able to follow at the moment, because I think it's practically none-existent in Equestria. Have you ever heard of fanfiction?"
Rarity looked up. "No, I belief I do not. Would you mind explaining what this is?"
"It's very simple. You take a fictional work, normally a book or a movie and write your own story about it. Most people..eh ponies...don't get very creative, including myself I have to admit. They just add a character and simply rewrite the original story with this character or pair up two characters together they feel should come together, but there were really original once. I'm sure you know the story about the mare in the moon."
"Honestly, who does not?" Rarity chuckled.
"Well, some...pony who calls himself Pen Stroke, wrote a story about a cult who wants to revive the "Dark Goddess". They capture a mare, who is used for a blood ritual. Luckily the royal guard can intervene and the ritual fails. Some perpetrators escape. Now here starts the interesting thing. The mare goes back to where she had been kidnapped, because she lost something that was important to her. She finds it, but that's not the only thing she finds."
Rarity now leaned over, fully enthralled. Pen Stroke, you're awesome. I hope you got to live your next life in the Nyxverse.
"A sound in the bushes startles her and she goes to check it out. Carefully she removed some the leaves and found two serpent like blue eyes staring back at her. Shrieking she jumped back, startled by the sudden revelation. It seemed like the ritual did work after all. The mare prepared herself for her inevitable demise, which surprisingly never came. Had she been seeing things? Maybe she was suffering from aftershock? She checked out once again, removing the bushes completely. There hovering in fear was a little black alicorn filly."
I leaned back letting the information settle into Rarity's brain, who refilled her cup. "A filly?"
"Mhm." I nodded. "At first she wants to get rid of the filly, but seeing her so helpless, the mare changes her opinion, but then she gets a change of heart and decides to adopt the filly."
"Oh my. You certainly have my interest now. Although I am more of a romance fan myself, I admit."
"Eh...I'm all about fantasy, with a little romance inside, as long as it is believable and not...love at first glance or something along those lines."
My tea had finally cooled down and I could finally really enjoy it. Only I totally forgot to put sugar in it and it was all bitter. Sucking it all down, I placed my cup on the table.
"Some more tea?" Rarity asked.
"No thanks." I replied. "I think I'm good for now."
"Oh well, there is more if you want. Now then-"
*BANG*
Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by the entrance doors being slammed open. "RARITY!" Oh, oh, I knew that voice. And it sounded like Pinkie Pie had one of her random moments already. I wasn't sure if I was ready for one of those. Almost as fast Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie zoomed into the room, slamming the door against the wall, hard enough for cracks to appear and the door to get deformed...instead of cracks to appear there as well, like there should be. My first taste of cartoon logic, guys.
"RARITY!" Pinkie Pie screamed, while holding Rarity's cheeks in her hooves. My ears were ringing from the high pitched scream and from how Rarity's eyes were rolling (literally!!) she wasn't fairing any better.
"Everypony tells me there's a new pony in town, but I can't find this new pony!" she yelled. "How am I supposed to throw this pony a party, when I don't know what he looks like?!?!" I didn't understand one word she said. It was just too fast. Oh and for the record, two things. One, Pinkie Pie was shaking Rarity like crazy and two, Pinkie Pie looked like a stage one lesson zero crazy Twilight Sparkle.
Rarity was sort of whimper whispering and pointed a shaky hoof towards me. I gulped, my heart skipping several beats. I didn't want to die. AGAIN! On my first day in Equestria.
Pinkie Pie slowly turned only her head around, like the girl from "The Exorcist", looking at me with big, Twilight crazy eyes. And then she finished her 360. Out of nowhere Pinkie took some deep calming breaths, her stray mane hairs getting back into her poofy position. She turned around and looked at me. Then it happened. She gasped. Normal? Yeah, more or less for Pinkie standards. I was actually calming down a little bit, expecting her to bail out of the shop. She didn't. Instead she ran over to me and inspected every inch of my body, stretching my wings, ears, tail, grabbing my mane and sniffing my breast fur and THEN bailing out of the shop, slamming the kitchen door shut. It was back in shape.
After about two more kettles of tea (and some bathroom breaks) and tons of biscuits, we both significantly calmed down and were able to talk again.
"That was...something else." was my first comment.
"Indeed." Rarity agreed. "Pinkie Pie is...very energetic. Don't get me wrong, she is a nice friend, but only in small dosages."
"What...was she doing here, anyway?" Of course I could think of a couple of reasons, but I needed to act like I didn't know anything.
"Oh...don't worry about it too much for now." she waved off. "You'll get used to her silly antics and learn to love her overall cheerfulness."
Belief me, I already do. No, I'm not one of those guys who's attracted to ponies in a sexual way and I'm especially not one who falls in love with fictional characters.
...
Which are not fictional anymore.
...
Brain, shut up.
I looked outside the window. The sun was still up. "Well then, thanks for your hospitality, but I hoped to get to see a little more of the town, before sundown. And I guess, you could use some alone time to relax."
Rarity nodded. "Yes thank you. And regarding today, don't let this scare you off from visiting again. Especially as a customer."
I grinned at her. "Don't worry. I'm sure there'll be some day I'm gonna need a suit again. Or new winter clothes." I suddenly remembered even ponies here wore winter clothes too, although the fur was supposed to protect them. Maybe through some random mutation, they just don't grow a thicker fur like other animals normally do.
Regardless, I'd need winter clothes in a few months, so I made myself a mental note. Walking outside, the first thing I did was flying upwards and sticking my head into a cloud. Yeah, I still wasn't over my Pinkie shock.
It took me three dives into the cloud, before I could shrug it all off and fly back into town. I got to know the marketplace a little better, because to be honest, all I remembered was the apple stand, which wasn't there today for some reason, the cherry and lemonade stand and those two only because I downloaded the MLP app and...that was it. Wow I just noticed, but I didn't even remember the stands were Fluttershy got ripped off. That's something.
I did a little bit of "window shopping", as they call it. Some of the ponies of course called out to me, trying to make me, trying to sell their stuff to me. I needed to turn them down of course. Didn't want to buy anything anyway.
After that little episode, guess what? I did some more window shopping! Well, what else should I have done? I already spoke to 4 of the mane six-
I stopped in my trails. I know I should have noticed this one way earlier and I'm pretty sure at one point that day I did. The Summer Sun Celebration was coming up. Twilight was not here as of yet, Nightmare Moon was still on the moon at this point. At this very moment a very, very, VERY stupid grin appeared on my face. "I am so dead." I said smiling, before heading off into the sky. I needed to do some...research.
"I probably should have asked Rainbow for better direction." I muttered to myself, while looking around in mid-air. At this point Celestia was lowering the sun and I still had no idea where it was. I mean it was the most outstanding house in Ponyville, how could I not have found it at this point!?
"There you're." I heard her voice. Sighing in relief I turned around and found her approaching me. "Where have ya been? I've been looking all over for you." she said angrily.
"Sorry. Was looking for your house. And still didn't found it." I chuckled awkwardly.
"Yeah, right. Anyways, there's something I forgot to show you something important...for your job tomorrow. You know."
It would have been believable without the stuttering, you know? I thought to myself.
"Alright, lead the way."
I followed Rainbow for a little while, until she headed down towards the town hall. It also would have been more believable if Rainbow didn't wait in front of it for me and asked me if I was ready. I mean, that kinda gives away something's up. I just gave my okay and Rainbow Dash opened the door. You know I expected a shout of "SURPRISE!" What I didn't expect was a confetti canon, a few inches away from my head and finally being shot at point blank range.
"SURPRISE!!" I made out Pinkies's shout just before I landed in an empty barrel, knocking it over in the process. I didn't know what hurt more, the shot or the landing, on top of that the sudden motion sickness. Yes, that apparently can happen if you hit the back of your head. It certainly didn't help, that when I tried to get out of the barrel, I accidentally managed to get it to start moving.
Luckily an outside force called Rainbow Dash, managed to stop the thing before I rolled straight into town. "You okay in there?" she asked me. I groaned in response and slowly crawled out of that thing. "I think...so..." I trailed off and just laid there on the ground for a few more seconds, before getting up very slowly. I was a bit shaky on my legs and hey can you blame me? It's not fun to be shot at, party canon or not, it hurts.
It certainly didn't help that Pinkie appeared right in front of me and started blabbering. "Hi there, I'm Pinkie Pie. We already met at Rarity's, you know. When I came storming in looking for you, because everypony asked if I already knew that there was a new pony in town. You see, I throw a Welcome to Ponyville Party for every new pony, but I haven't seen you, which meant of course I could still plan your party, but what if there were two new ponies in town and I only saw one of them. I would have thrown only one of you a Welcome Party and the other one wouldn't have gotten one, which meant he'd feel left, which would make him sad. He'd think this town was full of meanie ponies who didn't care about him, but then he wouldn't belief a single thing we said, even if we threw him another party and mmhmm, mmmmph, mhmhmhm mmmph m m mmm. Mhm mmmphmm mmph mmmm mmm mmhmmhmhmm-"
Rainbow Dash put a hoof in Pinkie Pie's mouth. It didn't really shut her up, but it helped my upcoming migraine. This was not how I expected my fist Pinkie Party to start. I shook my head clear and looked at Pinkie, who was slightly frowning herself, noticing I wasn't feeling so well.
"Ow...please. Don't do this...ever again!" I breathed out, spitting some confetti out along the way. Damn, my head hurt.
"You alright, buddy?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Nope. Definitely nope." Probably shouldn't have said that, because that got Pinkie Pie really sad. Rainbow Dash found herself pretty much torn between her loyalties. On the one hand I had the right to be angry. I could understand a joke or a prank, but this one went a little bit too far. On the other hand, Pinkie Pie was Rainbow's friend and the pegasus knew that the earth pony had just been her normal childish self.
As for me, I couldn't even stand watching any of those ponies being sad. Plus Pinkie Pie looked like she was about to cry. I needed to salvage the situation, fast. No need to get everyone in Ponyville to hate my guts before they even really get to know me. "Just gimme five minutes, 'kay? Need to sort out my brain a little. I'll come back afterwards to...what was it again, a party or something?"
"Yup." Pinkie looked a little more cheerful. "Your Welcome to Ponyville Party."
"Uh huh. Some kind of town tradition, I guess? Anyways, sorry to just go, but I really need some fresh air."
"Alright, but you better be back in time!" Rainbow stated sternly, putting a hoof on her friend's shoulder.
"Yes, captain." I rolled my eyes, before taking off. My flying was somewhat wonky, but luckily there was a cloud nearby, on which I could just sit down and recover from the headache I was having. Hopefully the townspeople...townsponies would understand and really not be mad. I was sure tomorrow I would be able to laugh over the entire situation.
I didn't really have a watch with me and on hindsight, I regretted not taking a longer break. But still I didn't want to make the others wait any longer, so I glided down towards the town hall, where I actually found some ponies wearing party heads standing outside and chatting with each other, two of them being Lyra and Bon Bon. Wonder if I should check if the whole secret agent thing is canon. Eh, maybe another time. One headache is more than enough for now.
"Oh, there you're." Lyra was the one who spoke up.
"Sup." I greeted them lamely. "Sorry about the wait, but...yeah..."
"Oh don't worry about it." Bon Bon spoke up. She had the voice from the Slice of Life episode. Speaking of Slice of Life, who the fuck is the changeling in this town? Something to look into, definitely. "Pinkie Pie can be a hooffull at times. Everypony understands. Belief me, when I came into town, she shot cake at me at point blank range." Bon Bon informed me, causing all of us to chuckle.
"Really? That girl is crazy, isn't she?" I asked rhetorical.
We all entered the town hall and oh man, I don't like being the center of the attention, especially by such a huge crowd. Man, if this is how Fluttershy feels every single day, I don't want to be under her skin. "There you're!" And Pinkie was all cheerful again. She appeared out of nowhere, grabbed me with her hooves and pulled me into the center of the town hall. Wonder how she got permission to use this? Oh who am I kidding, it's Pinkie Pie throwing a party.
The decoration could summed up as one belonging to a child's birthday party. The food, drinks? From chips to apple-cider everything seemed to be there. Though, sadly I had to notice that it seemed like coke or any kind of soda for that matter was not available in Equestria. I made a mental note to get a stash of coke, when the mirror portal was available. Hopefully it was canon. Sorry guys, I'm not a Flash Sentry hater.
"Feeling better sugar?"
"Oh, hey Applejack. Yeah, a little. I think I'm gonna start up slow." My stomach started to grumble now of all times. "Oh great. Well at least I now know where to start."
"Alright, everypony. LET'S PARTAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!" And with that announcement, music started to play and everything became the general mess of a party. Like my stomach considered, I first went to the food stall, AJ following me there.
"So, how's yer time been in Ponyville so far?" she asked me, while I munched on a chocolate muffin. "Dem muffins!" I exclaimed. "Uh...where did that come from? Never had a muffin that tasted as awesome as this one." I commented. "Oh yeah, the place, pretty nice actually, though earlier today I already had a little...mind boggling episode with Pinkie Pie over there." I pointed at the pony who was hitting the dance floor.
AJ chuckled. "Ya'll get used to her antics. Ya didn't see nuthing."
Oh belief me Jack'o'Lantern I HAVE seen it all and moar! Clopfictions, tragedies, grim dark fictions, fan art and the FNAF rip offs.
...
...
All right, all right, hentai too. I'm a guy, what are you expecting?!
"So, this is some kind of local tradition?" I asked only to start a conversation.
"Ever since Pinkie Pie came ta town, it is." AJ nodded, eating some apple fritters herself. "When that gal came here nopony knew whut to make of her, being who she was. But shoot, we never had a better baker in town. Ya know, when she came here, she threw one big party and immediately won everypony's heart over."
"I can see why." I looked over again and saw Pinkie playing with some foals "Pin the tail on the Pony". It ended up on Filthy Rich's tail, who let out a loud comedic scream. If this would have been a cartoon, the camera probably would have zoomed outside the building and shaking violently. Luckily nurse Redheart was there with a sticking plaster for the poor dude's flank. The fillies and foals were laughing like crazy, while the adults tried to hide heir laughs. They failed miserably.
Mr. Rich himself laughed after he had been "patched up" and soon everything was back to normal.
Handling the food still needed a bit of concentration, but my wings easily made up for my missing arms and hands. Of course with hands you could handle things more precisely, but don't underestimate the wings. I now it doesn't make any sense that the bones were somehow flexible enough for me to grab things (either that or I totally misunderstood my own anatomy), but hey. I've gotten a first taste of what Pinkie Pie is capable off.
After I was stuffed and most likely would get a sugar high in the next couple of minutes, I said my goodbyes to the future element of honesty and walked over to one of the party games, which consisted of getting apples out of a barrel full of water with your mouth alone. To be honest, I never played this game.
"Hey there!" One of the ponies, which I didn't recognize called out to me. "Come on everypony, give the guest of honor some space."
A little embarrassed I walked up towards the barrel. "Sup?" I greeted them causally.
"Come on, newbie! Give it a shot!" The one who was dubbed Thunderlane (I think, I'm not an expert on background ponies) encouraged me.
"Alright, here goes nothing." I put my head into the water, eyes closed, and tried to grab one of the apples with my teeth. I could feel them hitting my head on the side. As I was about to get one I felt someone pushing me from behind and I landed straight inside the barrel, head down. Awkwardly I managed to turn around and my head popped out of the barrel. Outside I found a rainbow maned pony laughing her ass off and every other pony looking either at me or her.
I'll get my revenge, Rainbow. Just you wait and see. My revenge started with spitting water out of my mouth and hitting my new boss in the process.
