Possibilitesby WisemonChaptersI: The FirstII: Sleep 101III: Why I Don't Like PeopleIV: EyesV: Love-Induced PanicVI: I Bet It's The KGBVII: IgnorantiaVIII: Side-EffectsIX: Only One Tolerable “Friend”X: Unattainable RespiteXI: Swift ReminderXII: I Ran Out Of Ideas For TitlesI: The FirstSlogging through the forest with my boulder sized bag that sat quite precariously on my shoulders, I searched for a clearing to set up camp. The light of the sun slowly approaching the horizon had everything bathed in a golden glow. The whisper of the wind and the chirp of the birds kept me company as I roamed the woods. It’s not often I encounter such pristine places to settle—these bloody humans don’t know how to care for Mother Earth properly. That is, if there were even any humans around… Shifting my bag, I glowered slightly at the thought of who’s “in charge.” I pushed the idea out of my mind and kept walking, hoping to find a resting spot soon. I didn’t feel like walking much further. I ran my hand through my mussy silvery gray hair as I walked along, trying to clean up its appearance a bit. Rather than flattening, it poofed back up and returned to its spiky and somewhat unkempt state. Contrary to the color of my hair, my face didn’t display any signs of the vale of years. Rather, a middle-aged, almost adolescent, one took its place. Why I had chosen to look like this I’m not sure myself, but something about it seemed to describe me well and I had grown quite fond of it over the years. With the way I looked, you could say I was already a natural born liar. As I blew a stray hair out of my face, I pushed a low hanging branch out of the way to prevent me from walking into it. Sometimes it was cumbersome being 6’4”. Not finding any naturally sufficient spot, I spied a decently sized tree rooted right in the middle of what could be a nice place to rest. It was relatively short compared to the rest of the trees, but still had a nice width. I removed the bag from my back and placed it against another tree, my acoustic guitar clanking against the ground. Taking out a small axe from my bag, I returned the to center tree and began whacking away at it. I felt a little bad for chopping down a tree for the mere purpose of providing more space and firewood I would probably barely even use, but there were countless others around me. A couple of unfortunate squirrels ran out from the leaves of the tree. I winced as I watched them scamper by, irritated by the fact I may have ruined the home of some of the native animals. Hopefully they would be able to find a new home soon enough, that is, if this tree was their home to begin with. After swinging at the tree for several minutes, it finally began to crack under its own weight and meager support. Eventually, the whole thing came crashing down, landing on the grassy ground with a massive “thud” that I felt in my chest. The only thing that remained was a stump, which would be fun to get rid of. Rolling the fallen tree out of the way, I started smacking at the base of the stump, hoping to give myself some flat ground to use. It took me a good long while to get through it fully, but when I did and it was hanging on by only a few roots, I managed to tug it out by hand, landing on my back as the wooden mass rolled around in front of me. I chuckled faintly of my blunder before getting back up and placing the trunk at the bottom of the tree. The only thing that was left was a few roots sticking out of the ground in a divot in the dirt; perfect for a fire pit. Then chopping my way through the fallen tree for several minutes, I stacked the fresh wood away from the to-be pit to allow it some time to dry. I returned to my bag, putting the axe back and taking out a small magnesium lighter, placing it in my pocket for later use. I take my bow strapped to the side of the bag and a single arrow; I only needed one anyway. I walked silently away from the site listening closely for any sounds that may come from potential dinner. I find a nice tall tree and bite down on my bow and arrow as I climb it. Perched in the tree, I grab the bow and arrow again and wait, drowning out other unimportant noise in an attempt to hone in on anything worth hunting. I waited for a good half an hour before I heard an anomalous rustling in the grass. I cast my gaze in which I thought the sound was emitted and saw a deer walking about. I drew my bow and pointed it towards the animal, slowing my breathing and focusing. The deer heard a noise and looked in the direction it came from. I took this opportunity and let loose the arrow. It whispered through the air and quickly pierced the deer’s eye, embedding itself in its skull and killing it immediately, the limp body of the deer falling to ground with a small “piff” as it disturbed the grass around it. I hopped down from the tree and dragged the fresh corpse to my makeshift campground. By now, the sun was about an hour before setting. I removed the arrow from the deer’s head, making a sickening sucking sound as I pulled it out. I would’ve felt nauseated, but this wasn’t so bad from what I’ve seen before. I pulled out a knife from my back pocket and began to skin the animal. Before moving further, I removed my shirt. I didn’t need any blood getting on it. My black angelic-like wings glistened in the afternoon night. They’ve been caked up against my back because of my bag, so it was nice to stretch them out a bit. My physique wasn’t something to gawk at; I was of a decent build with some defined muscles, but definitely nothing like some body builder. I didn’t need to be one either; my muscle fibers were more closely packed together and I had an increased ratio of red blood cells than normal humans, allowing for increased strength and stamina. The only issue with this is that it has the unfortunate side effect of making me a hell of a lot heavier than I should be. After I had separated enough skin from the cadaver, I stretched it out the underneath the carcass and removed the undesirable organs; the intestines, stomach, liver, etcetera. I took the meat, deboned it and place it on another part of the skin lying on the ground. I wiped my hands of most of the deer’s blood on the grass and checked the wood. It wasn’t as dry as I would’ve hoped, but that’s what I get for making firewood out of a recently living tree. I gather up a few logs and place them in the pit in a sort of tepee formation. I wandered around the area, picking up various sticks and leaves that had drifted to the ground to use as tinder and extra fuel. Bringing the bundle to the pit and put in a few sticks in here and there, then taking a handful of leaves and laying them in the base of the logs. I removed the magnesium lighter from my pocket and scrape the magnesium bar on the side with my knife. The shavings land on the pile of leaves and grass, pattering as they fall within it. I strike the lighting mechanism of lighter, allowing sparks to shower on bits of metal. After the first strike, the magnesium in the pile flashed white and ignited the surrounding material, making me flinch. I allowed the flames to soak in to the rest of the wood before placing a slab of venison on one of the upright logs and letting it cook. By now the sun has dipped significantly and some stars have begun to appear. In the meantime, I gathered up the discarded organs and bones and dump them off away from the camp. I return to the site and sit by the fire, the wood cracking and the flames licking up at the night sky. I took the excess meat and wrap it up in the deerskin, hanging it in a high tree. I didn’t know what kind of wildlife lived around here, but I was going to presume bears were a threat and take the necessary precautions to prevent one from rummaging through my food supply. I retrieved my shirt and put it back on. The cool evening had begun to make some dew form, causing my shirt to gather some of it from the grass, making it feel cool and damp against my warm skin. After a few minutes, I flipped the venison steak so it would cook thoroughly; I didn’t feel like vomiting all night from undercooked meat. More stars had begun to emerge from the deep dark velvet blue sky, like white hot sowing needles poking through the heavens. I looked up and tried to make out any constellations. I caught Orion and Ursa Major, maybe Boötes too, but I wasn’t sure at that time. The smell of the venison broke me away from the night sky, so I poked it to test if it was done. It seemed to be well done, but I didn’t have anything to put it on. Sighing to myself, I simply snatched the venison from the flames, burning my hands slightly in the process. I quickly threw the steak into my good hand and shook around the burned hand in a futile attempt to cool it down. I cursed to myself as I stuck the burned portion of my hand into my mouth and sucked on it. Eventually, my natural healing process took over, the pain in the scorched flesh slowly ebbing away in a reasonable amount of time. I removed my hand from my mouth to confirm that it wasn’t too severe. “Should be healed by tomorrow.” I thought to myself as I scrutinized my wound. Once I was satisfied it would be fine, I took a nice bite from the side of the steak, a small bit of succus ran down my chin which I wiped away with my sleeve. It hadn’t retained all of its juices, but the flavor was still great. I swallowed the meat and flicked off a few pieces of charcoal that had stuck to the steak, taking another bite. It was kind of gamey for my preferences, but I don’t know what else I expected from a deer. I finished the steak and laid down on the cool, moist grass, staring into the now star filled sky. Wherever I was, it was sure free of pollution, I could see hundreds upon thousands of stars, allowing me to observe a large quantity of constellations from the Northern hemisphere from here. It was truly a breathtaking sight despite having seen similar things to this before. But the awe I have for such sights always linger inside me. I continued to gawk at the sky for a good long while until I decided to go ahead and pitch the tent to get some rest. I pulled out a tent from my large bag and begin setting it up, pulling out rods and feeding them through slots in it. In a few minutes, I had a small but cozy tent to sleep in. I took a sleeping bag from the top of the bag and laid it out in the tent, completing my simple setup for the night. I laid down again and stared up at the sky, being childish and trying to make my own images of the stars. I finally decide on sleeping. It had been a long day of hiking and my feet ached. I crawled into the tent and slipped into the bag, closing my eyes. I pondered of what I may be able to do the next day, eventually dozing off, thinking of how to prepare lunch for tomorrow. II: Sleep 101I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of a branch snapping followed by a slight gasp. I snapped open my purple cat-like eyes and listened closely. I heard slow breathing not far from the tent. Whether or not this person knew I was awake was unknown. However, by the fact that he (presuming it’s a ‘he’) slowed his breathing told me that he either fears someone is near or he knows someone is near He began to walk closer to the site with the sound of the grass giving away his position. I silently left the sleeping bag and stepped over to the tent door. I unzipped the door slightly and peered out with one of my eyes into the inky blackness of the night. It was quite dark with the night lit up only by the pale light of the moon. Judging by the position of the stars I presumed it was around 3 AM. Why this person was out so late escaped me, but I preferred to keep him away. The fire pit had been reduced to lumps of smoldering coal, some of it still glowing and snapping. I caught slight movement out of the corner of my eye and concentrated carefully in that direction, allowing my pupil to dilate to let in more light and get a better view of whatever was approaching. Eventually, a…sky blue colored…thing…appeared from behind a tree. Its basic anatomy was similar to that of a horse, but it was too small to be one. It seemed more accurate of a pony. Its mane was a sight to behold though. It was long and bright although dimmed by the darkness of the night. It was quite colorful, a rainbow in fact, its tail being the same vivid scheme. “Hello?” It called out in a rather masculine voice, but with a hint of femininity to it. She looked at the coals glowing in the fire pit, then started to look around. She was an observant little one. I then noticed she had a small pairs of wings affixed to her torso which I found strange. Presuming the people who watched the skies for a living were doing their jobs, they should’ve noticed something like this flying around. Then again, considering I have wings as well, it’s a surprise they haven’t found me either. I didn’t think this thing would like something other than its own species to suddenly appear upon it. It probably would like something at least resembling itself. I took a good long look at her anatomical structure and quickly formulated a model I could assume. Adding my own masculine tweaks of course. I zipped the door back up and started to think of the cosmetic changes. Nothing too crazy, just a black version with a light gray mane, purple eyes and a more masculine facial structure. I considered keeping the cat-like eyes, but quickly brushed it off; it would be too conspicuous. I finally finished my mental picture and put it to the test, slowly shifting my structure to that of what I thought of. My hands and feet became hooves, hair became mane, muscle and bone moving around and reshaping to accommodate this new form. It does feel rather strange when I change my outward appearance. It feels like I’m being shoved into a place I don’t quite belong. Similar to shoving a pillow in a small jar and still making it fit. With my now baggy clothes, it was a little difficult to see how much I had really changed. I shook off my clothing and stuffed them into the very bottom of the sleeping bag. Once finished, I looked at my new self. Shorter, that was for sure, but I was still taller than whoever or whatever was out there. I could presume I kept handsome, but I didn’t want to be too haughty. I took a deep breath and unzipped the door fully, facing whomever this was. She seemed to have heard the zipper, the pony whipping her head in my direction. I didn’t know what her visibility was, but I could see just fine; I was attuned to seeing in dark places. “Don’t fall into the fire pit, the coals are still awful hot,” I said as I walked out into the brisk night air. “Duh. You think I’m stupid?” She replied snottily. “I wouldn’t suppose so, I just wanted to announce my presence.” I didn't like her right off the bat. “Besides,” she added, “they wouldn’t hurt that much anyway.” I held back a sour look. “Whatever you say… So what are you doing around here so late? Shouldn’t you be sleeping or something?” I questioned as I gathered up a couple logs and placed them into the pit. “Do you think I have some sort of ‘bedtime?’ I’m not a filly ya know.” “I was just curious, most would just be sleeping at this hour. I was sleeping, up until you decided to start yelling around my camp.” I said before blowing on the coals, provoking a small flame to start to burn, the meager fire lapping eagerly at the lumber. “Yelling? That was barely even a holler. If that woke you up you must be one light sleeper. Besides,” she scoffed, “sleep is for the weak. I can go for days without sleep, even weeks." “Well, all living beings need sleep on a regular basis, too little sleep can lead to serious health problems such as depression, heart disease, and strokes. Not to menti-” “Yeah, blah blah blah, that’s boring.” She said cutting me off, “why are you so boring? You sound just like that egghead Twilight… Why don’t you be more interesting for once? Like me!” She pointed to herself, her face showing a hint of a smirk. “Never mind then.” I said, sighing to myself. By now fire had grown enough to make a bubble of light encircle the two of us. She finally got a good look at me and is slightly taken aback. I noticed she seemed slightly nervous and began avoiding eye contact. I shifted in my spot and looked down into the fire. I didn’t expect this reaction from such a self-absorbed brat. I sat down on the ground in front of the flames and caught her staring at me across the fire. “Are you feeling okay?” I asked. She stood there for a moment, finally snapping out of her dazed stupor. “Y-yeah I’m, fine. Just a little tired is all.” She said as she sat down in front of the fire as well. “Ah, the sleepless knight is foiled by fatigue. What did I tell ya?” I said, attempting to maintain my composure. “Yeah,” she said, chuckling nervously, “I guess you were right.” I decided to have a little fun with this to offset my anxiety. “Well, why don’t you go ahead and stay here for the rest of the night? Let you catch up on some rest.” She perked up at hearing this and became quite flustered. “A-Are you sure? I-I can just go home and sleep there instead. I-I wouldn’t want to b-bother you.” “No, no, I insist,” I said, gesturing toward the tent. “There’s plenty of room for two.” “W-Well I mean, I have my own bed and things. I don’t want to m-mess up your time out here and yeah I’ll go ahead and stay.” “Great,” I said, smiling as warmly as I could, “you want to go ahead and sleep now or wait a little bit to-?” “No, I’ll go to bed now! See you in the morning!” She rushed inside and zipped up the tent door almost faster than I could register. She was a strange little thing. I sat by the fire looking into the flames as they danced around in the black of the night and pallid moon light. It finally came to my attention that I didn’t know her name, if she even had one that is. “Oh hey, you got a name?” I asked to the tent. “Of course I have a name,” she said, returning to her stuck-up self, “it’s Rainbow Dash.” “Rainbow Dash huh? Strangest name I’ve come across in a while. Especially considering your first name is two words, if that's what I'm getting here.” She poked her angered head out of the tent and said, “Now you listen here…” But she stopped abruptly and simply stared at me again. “I’m listening,” I said, waiting for any insult she could conjure up, but she merely shook her head and continued. “B-But you can call me Dashie.” She said as she returned inside the tent once more, not even bothering to ask my name. I looked back at the fire. “Dashie…” I said, “cute nickname.” I heard an ever so slight squeal from the tent and glanced over at it. I thought about bringing it up, but I had tortured her enough already. I sat and waited for the fire to die down a little bit before returning to sleep. Once it had gone down enough to be left alone, I made my way over to the tent and walked through the door, zipping it up behind me. Inside the tent, she appeared to have stolen my sleeping bag and was now using it. Although I could tell she wasn’t asleep just yet; her breathing was too rapid. Luckily, she wasn’t long enough to reach the very bottom of the bag and feel my clothes. That probably would’ve been a dead giveaway. I sighed and laid down on the floor about a foot away from her, silently hoping the tent would trap enough heat to keep me warm for the night. I thought a little about how I would get rid of this creature, but I didn’t get too far; I was too tired for that. I simply attempted to doze off as the night progressed. And, eventually, I succeeded. III: Why I Don't Like PeopleBirds chirping all around the tent and the wind lazily blowing through the trees. The sounds one wishes to hear upon waking up. So beautiful. I opened my eyes and looked around the tent. Not much to see—just Rainbow Dash still resting in my sleeping bag. I yawned loudly, possibility disturbing her in her slumber. She turned a little in the bag, but didn’t wake. It was about then that I had noticed the sleeping bag was closer to me. A lot closer. So close in fact, the bag was touching me and I could feel her warmth through the skin of the bag. I jumped up onto my feet…erm…hooves and stepped back a little. I didn’t know whether she had intended to move over by me or not, but I was hoping for the latter. I stepped around her and unzipped the door exiting the tent, opening out into a brightly lit forest and a smoldering fire pit. I noticed that there was an apple tree not far from the camp, so I walked over to it and flapped my wings silently, rising up to it and snapping a few apples ripe-looking apples from the braches, bringing them back to the camp. I set them in a small pile next to my bag and began eating one. To occupy my mind, I lifted one up without physical means, the apple hovering around and spinning as if possessed by some bored spirit. I chuckled lightly before taking another bite of my apple. I heard Rainbow Dash toss about again and then sit up in the tent—startling me and making me drop the hovering apple suddenly—yawning and rubbing her eyes. She looked to the left of the bag, then right. Looking all around the tent until she noticed me through the still open tent door. “‘Morning sleepy head.” I said and tossed an apple to her. She shot a foreleg out of the bag and caught it. “Thanks.” She said quietly, biting into the crisp apple. “So when I woke up, I noticed you were awful close to me. Any reason for it?” I asked. She choked on her bite of apple and slammed her hoof on her chest a few times as she sputtered. “W-w-well I don’t know, I wasn’t awake then. It was p-probably just cold. Yeah, it was very c-cold last night. S-so I got closer to you to keep warm.” Sure. That bag was rated for Antarctic weather conditions. Although, with me having an internal core temperature of about 38 °C, I must’ve felt nice to lay against. But I didn’t want her to think I thought she had a little something for me, although she was doing a bad job of hiding it already. “Oh, that’s why. Okay, I was just wondering.” I said, placing more wood in the pit and lighting another fire. She got out of the bag, holding the half-eaten apple in her mouth. She sat next to me as I watched the fire build up strength again. She bit down on the apple, letting the other half fall out of her mouth and catching it before it hit the ground. I looked over and got a good look at her. Her mane superbly vibrant in the morning light. It made me feel like rainbows were a tangible thing. I would’ve stroked her mane, but not only would that’ve been creepy, I’m sure it would send the wrong message. I shifted my gaze to her face, noting she wasn’t that bad looking for a different species. The way she looked around confidently, taking in her surroundings and analyzing it. She was obviously intelligent to some extent, but how far in that I wouldn’t know. I noticed that her irises were a beautiful deep red, like that of a cherry. Luckily that meant my brighter purple eyes wouldn’t be too out of place. She noticed me looking and swallowed her chunk of apple. “W-what are you looking at punk?” She said, trying to keep her composure. “Oh, I just noticed what a beautiful shade of red your eyes are.” I said plainly, taking another bite out of the apple. “Thanks.” She said, looking away to hide her face that was mostly likely reddened from flattery. “So Blueberry, what do you do for a living?” I asked. She looked back at me. “Well,” she started, “I… Wait, did you just call me Blueberry?” “Yeah, why not? You're blue, aren't you?” “Well, yeah, but only my friends can call me names like that!” She said, becoming defensive. “Whatever you say, Dashie.” “Anyway, if you must know, I’m part of The Ponyville weather patrol and I’m a member of the Wonderbolts Reserves.” She said confidently, sticking her chest out. “Wonderbolts? Who are they?” I asked. Her eyes widened and she stood up, ignoring her apple that she dropped to the ground. “You’re a Pegasus and you don’t know who the Wonderbolts are?!” “Apparently not, Blueberry.” “And don’t call me Blueberry!” “Whatever.” I said. She shoved her face in mine and began ranting, “They are the absolute BEST fliers in all of Equestria! They go from town to town doing all of these awesome stunts and acrobatics! The fact I get to fly with them is a great privilege! You’re just jealous that you don’t have the skill to accompany them!” I wiped the saliva from my face and pushed her back. It seemed she wasn’t expecting this passive-aggressive reaction. She looked at me, confused to my calm response toward her hostile vanities. Now normally I wouldn’t have taken much offense to such claims. However, because of her boastful attitude, I felt it necessary to remind her who she’s talking to. I looked at her with a dead serious face and took on a menacing tone. “Now listen here and listen well because I’m only going to say this once. I understand you may be all big-headed belonging to such a ‘big’ organization and all, but you must remember…I’ve had many years to perfect my flying skills. More than you could even fathom. I don’t need any big shot Wonderbolts to challenge my abilities. And trust me,” I chuckled a bit, “I can outfly all of them anytime anywhere. Got that…Blueberry?” She leaned over me again and smiled a sinister smile. “I don’t need them to show that you’re a pathetic little bug when it comes to flying. How’s about you and me do a little flying, pretty boy? Right here. Right now.” I pushed her back once more, making her huff in anger. “Bring it on.” I said, gritting my teeth. She spread her wings and launched off into the air with a rainbow following her like a smoke trail on a plane. I was slightly perplexed at this phenomenon, but I didn’t care. I was going to show her. I opened up my wings and raced up after her. We both reached an altitude of about half a mile before hovering as we planned out our course. “Okay,” she said, “we’ll loop around those mountains over there. Then,” she said, turning around, “stop at that waterfall and fly back to the top of the last mountain. That should be easy enough for you.” I analyzed the course and calculated the most efficient route to fly. “You ready then?” I asked. “Ready? I was born ready…” She said confidently. IV: Eyes“Okay, on the count of three,” she said. “One…” I eased my breathing and focused on reacting quickly, rotating my head and popping my neck. “Two…” I rotated my wings into a more comfortable position and to optimize the output of thrust. “Three!” We both stormed off toward the mountains. She had good acceleration, great in fact, and as I trying to keep up, I still managed to fall behind. Her technique was subpar as well, the way she kept her hooves in front of her as she flew would only increase drag. She had obviously practiced quite a bit, and yet somehow failed to realize that fatal flaw. The wind roaring in my ear as I flew, I kept my hooves to my sides, preventing them from increasing my own drag. However, it wasn’t until I actually noticed a burning against my arms did I notice the reason why she did so. Keeping ones arms to the sides may have decreased drag slightly, but it certainly affected the wings. I was so used to having thinner arms in proportion to my body and having my wings a little closer to my shoulder blades, I automatically assumed the same for this form. I corrected my flying position and continued forward at blistering speeds, much more comfortably than before. We zoomed around the mountains, curving left and right over and over again. I held tight to the edge of the cliff sides, but she had somewhat larger and more drawn out turns, allowing me to pull ahead slightly and recover from my initial error. She turned her head and scowled at me, losing a bit more ground before turning her head back again and flapping her wings harder. I made a 180 degree turn around the last mountain and raced back to the waterfall. She wasn’t far behind and I could feel her brain screaming at her as she tried to keep up. We both cleared the mountains and left us with a long patch of nothing until we reached the waterfall. I decided this was enough and proceeded to accelerate to roughly Mach 1. Flapping my wings at an ungodly speed, I quickly increased my speed to about the speed of sound. Good thing I moved my arms. The sonic boom blasted in my ears, making them ring. No doubt hers too; she was barely able to reach Mach 1 and wasn't far behind. “That’s it!” I heard her scream behind me. What was it? Did I let my anger get the best of me and now my identity is in jeopardy? Well, I didn’t need to worry about it now; the deed was done. I heard a sonic boom behind me and refrained from turning around to look at her—that would only lapse my focus and increase my own drag. Approaching the waterfall, I slowed down to give me enough room to turn effectively. Reaching the waterfall in no time, I performed a compressed Half Cuban 8 and raced back toward the mountains at about Mach 1 post haste. Rainbow dash was only about ten meters behind me as I did so. Whatever move she performed to turn around I wouldn’t know, but it evidently cost her some time. I hope she wasn’t hurting herself, I would hate to be the cause of any of her injuries. A burning in my wings and an involuntary increase in my breathing rate signaled I was straining myself as well; I hadn’t flown like this in ages and it was showing. I got to the mountains fairly quickly and looped through them once more, slowing down from Mach 1 to let me turn. reaching my destination, I slowed down even more as I didn't want to break anything. My hooves skidded and scratched on the peak, leaving long white trails in the rock, finally allowing me to come to a halt on the top of the final mountain. Panting furiously, I turned around to look for Rainbow Dash who shouldn't have been too far behind. I was a lot more winded than I had expected, I would have to start a practice schedule to get back in to shape. I sat down and waited for her, but it only took a few seconds before I was able to focus enough to see her flapping into view. She slowed to a hover before crash landing in front of me, gasping for air and attempting to stand up. “How did you…fly so…fast…? You reached a…rainboom so…quickly…” She mumbled, very much out of breath. Rainboom? I’m pretty sure she meant to say sonic boom, but she was probably too exhausted to think straight. I composed myself and attempted to slow my heaving chest, succeeding to a certain degree. “I told you, years of perfection.” I said, smiling confidently. She flopped down onto the ground and continued panting. “But you don’t even…look tired…” She wheezed. “How is that…even possible…?” “I’m very efficient at flying, plus I have a lot of energy.” “You gotta…teach me sometime…” “Maybe…” I said, unsure of how that would work out. “Are you well enough to move much?” “Give me a few…and I’ll be able…to walk soon…” I laughed a little, “Alright, Blueberry, I’ll give you some time.” I said, waiting for her to regain her energy. It was kind of chilly on the mountain top, so I walked up beside to her and laid down, pressing up against her in an attempt to keep her warm as she looked at me with a surprised face. “W-what are you…doing…?” She wearied. “Just making sure you don’t freeze to death.” I reassured her. After a few minutes of laying there in silence, she stood up and said, “All right, I’m ready to go. Are we going back to your camp? Or do you have somewhere else in mind?” I pondered her proposition for a moment before saying, “I really don’t know the lay of the land. I’ve only been here one day, so we can go wherever you want to go.” She seemed pleased with this, smiling and saying, “Great, that means I can show you the rest of the crew!” “Who?” I asked. “Oh, just follow me and you’ll find out.” She said, flying off. I just shrugged and followed after her. We flew for a short time and eventually reached a small town north of our original position, bustling with activity. We landed in the middle of a crowd and she began walking through them. The crowd didn’t please me. There were too many eyes. How I would have loved to have gouged them all out. Smiling lightly at the thought, I was interrupted by the flying blue pegasus. “Come on you!” She yelled above the roar of the town. “I’m coming I’m coming, hold your horses.” I said, attempting to maintain my composure. She chuckled and continued walking through the crowd. We ended up in what seemed like the town square with a rather clean and official looking building in the center. There was an even more compact group of ponies in front of the building with one at a podium in front of the door. The one behind the podium had a coat of beige with a hint of gray, her mane and tail was a light gray with a lighter streak running down the middle of her hair. She wore glasses akin to that of which one would expect a librarian to wear. More eyes. “Maybe they’re at the town hall, c’mon!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed before running around the crowd. I hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow her. I kept my head low to avoid being seem too much. I think I heard a remark or two about me somewhere, but that may have just been paranoia. Looking around, I noticed these pony-like creatures were an assortment of all sorts of fantastic colors, including ones I didn’t even think were naturally possible. Maybe their coats were dyed for some cultural reason... “Attention everyone!” The pony at the podium announced authoritatively to the crowd in front of her. “I have decided that yes, we have excelled in the field of magic. So why not expand our knowledge elsewhere? In light of such, I hereby decree the construction of a new laboratory right here in Ponyville!” The crowd cheered, although I felt mildly upset. Whatever they could research and discover would further their current technology, yes, but I would be able to teach them so much more. However, the knowledge that I had may cause them to question who I am or where I got this information. Then there would be even more eyes. They’re probably not even prepared for a jump that far ahead in the sciences, seeing as everything looks somewhat Victorian and medieval at the same time. I finally caught up with Rainbow Dash who was flying off of the ground slightly so she could see through the sea of heads. She had a hoof up to her brow and was scanning back and forth with the other hoof on her hip. “Where could they be…?” She spoke to herself. “Oh, isn’t this fantastic? Think of the things we could learn!” I caught a female voice say strangely above the rest of the crowds mumblings. I looked over in the direction of the voice to see a violet pony with a mane of deep blue with streaks of deep violet and rich red. She had wings the same color as her coat and was also sporting a horn on her forehead that split her bangs apart. I didn’t think alicorns actually existed anywhere, but I’ve been wrong before. She seemed to stand out from the remainder of the crowd—more competent than the rest. “Hey Blueberry, who’s that over there?” I asked her as stable as I could, looking up at her and pointing out the purple pony. “Oh, her? I’m glad you spotted her, come on!” She said, making her way over to the pony and through the crowd. I accompanied her eagerly—being that I could finally leave this crowd—as we made our way to the purple one who spotted Rainbow Dash once we got close enough, namely because she was still flying above the crowd. “Oh, hi Rainbow Dash! Where have you been?” the purple one asked happily. V: Love-Induced Panic“Did you find Dashie?!” Said a shrill voice from behind the purple one, making me wince. A pink pony with a fairly curly pink mane jumped out from behind the purple one, smiling. Gaining the expression that she was about to cry, she lunged at Rainbow Dash and hugged her tightly. She looked up at Rainbow Dash and rambled, “We thought you were dead! We didn’t know where you were and that maybe you got stuck in the Everfree forest and got lost! Or eaten! Or even just died right there in the forest! Just like that! Boom! Dead! I’m so glad Twilight found you! Did you get hurt? Are you injured? I’ll give you a great welcome home party just to celebrate you’re A-OK! Do you wa-?” “Pinkie, I’m fine! I just saw something in the Everfree Forest worth investigating. Sheesh…” Rainbow Dash said, cutting off “Pinkie.” Immediately she stopped wailing and let go of Rainbow Dash. Clearly she was not firing on all cylinders. “Oh, okay!” She said, smiling once more. I leaned over to Rainbow Dash and whispered, “Is she bipolar…?” “No, she’s not she’s just very…” She paused for a moment, looking at “Pinkie,” “eccentric.” “Ah.” “Who’s your friend Dashie?” The purple one asked, looking at me. “Oh, this is…Uh…” She leaned over to me, “What’s your name?” I chuckled a bit. “My name is Xavier.” I told her. “This is Xavier.” She told the purple one. “Nice to meet you Xavier,” the purple one said, “I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me Twilight.” “Pleasure to meet you, your majesty,” I said warmly, bowing. I didn’t know the customs in this place, but I’d prefer not to get my head cut off because of indecency to royalty. “That won’t be necessary to do every time you’re in my presence.” Twilight said, giggling as I stood back up. “Aye, but I believe respect is still due.” I said. In all honesty, I just didn’t want to get killed by some corrupt government official. “Well, thank you, that’s very humble of you.” Twilight said. “Pinkie” walked up to me and got uncomfortably close, examining me as carefully as the finest example specimen. I tilted back a bit as she squinted at me, seemingly looking at every detail of my complexion and looking for some error in it. “This here is Pinkie Pie, but everyone just calls her Pinkie.” Twilight said. Pinkie finally gave me some breathing room and turned to Rainbow Dash, saying bluntly, “He’s a handsome one, isn’t he? Where did you find him?” “Oh come on Pinkie, that’s awful rude.” Twilight said, giving Pinkie a small nudge. “You’re awful straightforward aren’t you?” I asked Pinkie. “Not always! I can walk straight forward, side to side, and even backwards!” She said, unfazed by Twilights reprimand and walking around in all directions while still facing me. “Not what I meant, but okay…” I said, slightly confused at the sheer ignorance of this particular pony. “Come on, Twilight, let’s go find the others.” Said Rainbow Dash. “You’re right,” she replied, “we’ll have them all meet Xavier and give him a great big Ponyville welcome.” The three of them set out of the town hall and begin walking down the street with me in tow not far behind, avoiding anyone else’s gaze. The din of the town slowly faded as we entered a part of town that was little less populated, but still had a resident here and there walking to run errands or talking to someone on the side of the street. I felt plenty more comfortable here. While we walked, Rainbow Dash and Twilight were talking about something, but it was too hushed for me to hear it. It probably wasn’t important for me to know anyway. “Is that them up there?” Rainbow Dash asked. Ahead, I spotted a small fountain with three more ponies hanging around it chattering amongst themselves. “It looks like it.” Agreed Twilight. We reached the fountain and the three looked over to see the four of us walking toward them. “Hi girls. How’ve you been today?” Twilight asked. They each responded in their own separate fashion, but I wasn’t really paying attention to notice what they each said. I was too busy thinking of how to get these ponies off my case. The leftmost pony had a white coat and a curled indigo mane. She had a sort of shimmering and sparkly look, like the sun was glinting off of her. The middle pony had a coat of a light orange and mane a simple blonde color. She had the ends of her mane and tail wrapped in a red ribbon and was also wearing a Stetson. The rightmost and last pony had a light gold coat and light rose mane. She seemed kind of timid and I felt a slight pity for her, while at the same tie curious of her mental condition. All three of them seemed to look at me at the exact same time and the white pony bit her bottom lip and appeared rather keen on keeping her eyes locked on me. I shifted left and right slightly, but her eyes continued to follow me. This is about where I began to break down, whispering “oh god” under my breath. Never before had I ever had this reaction from anyone—let alone by members of a different species. My system flooded with enough adrenaline to kill a full grown man, making me feel like I was going to vomit and shake involuntarily. “And who is this with you?” The white one asked batting her eyelashes at me. I gulped quietly, still shaking. Her eyes were the most troublesome. “Everyone, this is Xavier. He’s Dashie’s friend.” Twilight said. “Xavier, this here is Rarity,” pointing to the white one, “Applejack,” pointing to the orange one, “and Fluttershy,” pointing to the gold one. Fluttershy seemed to shrink back a little at the mention of her name. I would’ve felt bad if it weren’t for my current situation. “N-nice to meet you all,” I said as I stepped back a little and looked for something else to occupy my mind with. Music tended to calm me down in times of duress, but I had left my acoustic guitar at the camp. I looked around for a guitar or any other musical instrument I could play. I spotted someone talking to someone else, a guitar propped up against the building next to him. The odds of this occurring was highly unlikely, but I didn’t have time to question the odds, quickly trotting over to him and nabbing the guitar. The others watched as I broke off from the pack and walked over to the man, some with more interest than others. “Now what’s he up to?” Pinkie asked out loud, thoroughly interested. The man who was previously busy conversing suddenly looked behind himself to see me grasp it, making me freeze in place. He looked at his guitar, then at me. “What do you think you’re doing?” He asked with deep hostility. I looked at him and folded my ears over my head in an attempt to show I was no threat. “Please, I just need this really quick… It’s an emergency…” I said. He raised an eyebrow. “What could be so important that you would need to steal my guitar for it?” He asked. He really didn’t want some stranger to take his stuff and I couldn’t blame him—I would react the same in his situation. I quickly tried to think of some reason in which he would back off and allow me to use it. “It’s for…uh…therapeutic reasons.” I said, becoming increasingly unstable the more time progressed. “Well why didn’t you just say so? Just make sure to give it back.” He said, finally opening up. I grinned. “Thank you so much, I’ll give it back as soon as I’m done.” I said. I picked up the guitar and took it over to the opposite side of the fountain to the girls. I removed the pick that was stuck under the low E string and sat in front of the fountain. I started strumming with no clear direction, just something to calm my nerves. At first it was just a discord of noises, but soon an upbeat and warm melody finally found its way through, something akin to the beginning of “Stairway to Heaven." I have no bloody idea how I did this with hooves. I slowly stopped shaking and smiled as I forgot the world and the situation I was in, simply listening to the strumming of the guitar and feeling the vibrations of the strings. I thought I heard someone talking to me, but I couldn’t be sure at that time, I was too engrossed in my music. It sounded like someone was talking to me again, so I cut off the middle of my riff and looked up, jumping a bit to find Applejack standing in front of me. VI: I Bet It's The KGB“You play the guitar a bit, huh?” Applejack asked, a southern accent present in her voice. The other five rounded the fountain and stood over by Applejack and I, silently watching these events unfold. “Yeah, I’ve played for a while, as long as I can remember.” I said, strumming an open chord once. She sat to the right of me and leaned back on the fountain, taking in the music and closing her eyes. I decided to play something a little slower and more calming for the time being. I didn’t let myself fall too far into a trance of my music, just in case one of them decided to do something I objected to. I soon noticed something, or someone, sliding closer to me from the left as I played. Eventually, the blob in my vision became so close to me, it was touching my shoulder, making me flinch. I pretended not to notice, which was probably a bad idea, because it kept moving closer. Propping itself up against me, the thing laid its head on mine, its indigo locks getting in my face. I blew her mane out of my face and kept playing. I looked down at her and noticed she was looking deep into my eyes with her own. She smiled as I looked at her, snuggling closer to me, causing me to whip my head back straight ahead to avoid eye contact. The other two who seemed interested earlier seemed somewhat envious, shifting in their positions and quickly giving Rarity disapproving glances now and then. “Applejack!” I heard a voice bellow from in front of me. Applejack jumped and looked around lazily—as if she was previously beginning to drift off—confused and curious as to why someone would be yelling her name. Rarity was startled as well, but didn’t seem as down to earth as Applejack and quickly brushed off the sudden outburst. I stopped playing and looked up to see a stallion with a red coat, orange mane and a work horse collar around his neck walking toward us. He didn’t seem too pleased. “What do you think y’all are doing?” He spoke once more, himself also having a Southern drawl. “I was just listening to his music.” Applejack said nonchalantly, flicking her hat up to better see the stallion and chuckling lightly, “I almost fell asleep there too.” The man narrowed his eyes at her. “Have you had anything to drink recently?” He suddenly asked, Applejack sitting up straight, furrowing her brow and frowning. “Big Mac, ever since that whole kerfuffle at the tavern a few weeks ago, any time I get tuckered out somewhere that isn’t my bed, you ask if some stallion gave me a drink. No, I haven’t. He hasn’t given me anything and no one else has either. I understand you’re just looking out for me, but you know I can handle myself.” Applejack retorted. I didn’t have to ask what had happened to understand the situation. Big Mac gruffed and looked to the side slightly. “I know you’re capable of handling yourself…when you’re awake. You’re just lucky-“ “Hey Big Mac! Have you met Xavier here?” Pinkie suddenly butted in, dashing up in front of the stallion and gesturing to me. I wish she hadn’t done that; I didn’t want to be hauled into this matter. Big Mac rose an eyebrow at me as he looked me over. His eyes felt softer, yet still maintained a certain rough authority in them. I attempted to maintain a calming disposition as he regarded me, simply staring at me as if he was searching for something. I shifted around in my spot and disturbed Rarity slightly, but I didn’t care, I just wanted him to look away. He continued to gaze at me for a long and rather quiet period of time before I gave a nervous smile. “Hi.” I said quietly in an attempt to be at least mildly respectful. He stared at me further before turning to Applejack and walking up to her a bit. “I want you to be careful around him. Something about him seems…off…” He told her softly before taking one more quick look at me. She smiled back at him and nudged him slightly. “Don’t worry too much, Big Mac. I’m certain we can take care of him if he gets out of hoof.” She replied. My heart skipped a beat. What kind of sick town is this? Was this kind of attitude expressed everywhere? What exactly was she implying by ‘take care of him’? Part of me didn’t want to know, but the other felt like I needed to, just so I could understand what would occur if I stepped out of line. Maybe there was a corrupt government or society at work. Big Mac stepped away from Applejack and gave her a nod and a smile before saying goodbye to her and the others—but not me of course—soon walking away in the same direction that he had entered from. I remained quiet for a moment, cherishing the silence that ensued after the small quarrel with Big Mac. Looking over at the man who I had borrowed the guitar from, I frowned at the sight of him. He seemed like he had finished talking to whomever he had been with and was looking at me while tapping his hoof on the ground. Not wanting to make him wait any longer, I removed Rarity from my shoulder—which she seemed saddened at—and returned the guitar to the man. He seemed pleased with my honesty and went off down the road with the guitar strapped to his back. I let out a sigh and returned to the group of girls huddled around the fountain, giving them a once over while everyone was silent. Some were exchanging glances with one another occasionally, attempting to find something that would lift this awkward air from us, but coming up empty. My eyes eventually settled on Rarity, who seemed to be staring back at me and biting her bottom lip. God. Those eyes. I should’ve brought a spoon. I frowned and returned my gaze to the others, a certain two with their eyes locked on me lustfully. We all sat there for a few moments before Rarity finally broke the silence. “Well then…what else should we talk about? Any ideas Xavier?” I returned my gaze to her, scratching the back of my head and trying to think of something, but coming up mostly empty. Small talk wasn’t really my forte. “Well…um…what do you all do for work?” I asked, unsure if this was a meaningful question to ask. Evidently it was, as they one by one explained what they did for a living. Applejack lived on a farm where she grew various types of apples, which I internally corrected as being an apple orchard, but didn’t bring it up. Twilight didn’t really have a job at the moment, but, as she had stated before, she was a princess and studied magic to a large extent. At the mention of magic, I think my eye twitched and I almost stopped her in her tracks, preparing to dissuade her from the grandiose illusions she partook in, but I allowed her to continue. Pinkie worked at a bakery with some other people called the ‘Cakes’ where they prepared assorted types of confectionery goods. Fluttershy took care of the wildlife in the area, as well as any pets that required attention, claiming to be able to communicate with them. TalkiTalking to animals seemed a little out there, although some humans are considered “animal whisperers” and some actually do show some talent, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt and nodded in false understanding. Rarity was a fashion designer who created all sorts of dresses and clothing with the hopes of someday making it big and becoming famous. “In fact, maybe I’ll make you something ravishing to wear, my darling. My treat.” Rarity exclaimed, brushing her hair to the side and adjusting her bangs. “Maybe…” I nervously said as she stared half lidded into my eyes. “RARITY AND XAVIER, SITTING IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Pinkie sang while she danced around us, making me laugh. I didn’t mind her eyes so much. “Oh hush Pinkie, that is rather uncalled for!” Rarity snapped at the pink mare. “Maybe…but it’s also not polite to staaaaarrrrre!” Said Pinkie, smiling while rolling her eyes like googly eyes. I take it back. I do mind them, holy hell. “I don’t think we need to go pointing fingers on who’s in love with who. Besides, it’s getting late and I’m feeling kind of tired, especially after racing Blueberry over here.” I said in an attempt to break up the disturbance and hopefully prevent it from progressing further. Twilight looked at me oddly when I said fingers. “Race? What race?” Asked Applejack. “Oh, Xavier and I had a little race this morning.” Said Rainbow Dash. “That’s explains the rainbooms I heard earlier.” Chuckled Twilight. Was everyone here delusional? “I bet you beat him by a landslide! Right Dashie?” Asked Pinkie, smiling and bouncing in anticipation. And why the hell did it sound like she was jumping on cartoon springs? “Um, well no…” Said Rainbow Dash. Everyone’s jaw dropped and gasped simultaneously as their manes wafted in a soft breeze that blew. “Rainbow Dash, you’re one of the best fliers I know. This is an awful big surprise for you to be beaten by someone you’ve just met.” Said Twilight. “Hey! One pony beat me, big deal! I don’t think another one will have the pleasure of doing that again.” Rainbow Dash seethed, becoming defensive once more. “Listen, so what if I beat her? It was a silly little race.” I said, coming to her defense. “Yeah, so what? He’s just one of those rare… Gifted… Fast… Muscular…” Rainbow Dash listed off, looking into the distance, becoming more and more distant with each adjective. Applejack waved her hoof in front of Rainbow Dash’s face. “Uhh, Dash? You okay?” She said. Rainbow Dash didn’t respond, continuing to stare into space. “DASHIEEEE!” Pinkie screamed in Rainbow Dash’s ear which seemed to snap her out of it, making her recoil her head away from Pinkie and shaking her head. Rainbow Dash looked down and kicked at dirt on the ground. “Hehe… Sorry…” She said quietly. “RAINBOW DASH AND XAVIER, SITTING IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Pinkie started up again. Rainbow Dash kicked her lightly in the leg. “Ow!” She squeaked, rubbing the spot that Rainbow Dash struck. “Ladies ladies, calm down.” I said, making them all look at me. These girls were insane, if I didn’t do something about it, they would probably kill each other. “Now, the real predicament here is it’s almost night and I’m pretty far from my camp. So I’ll need a place to stay for tonight.” At hearing this, a choice few jumped in, saying “Me! Me!” Or “You can come over to my place.” All of that and the sort. All of them except for Fluttershy, still shying away from talking to me or even making eye contact. I wondered what had caused her to be like this. A bad experience? Or just simple nature? Maybe she was like me. Whatever the cause, I thought it best to just not bring it up. “Now sorry to break Blueberry’s hopes, but I probably won’t stay with her considering how I’ve already spent the night with her somewhere. So it’s down to you five, erm, four.” I said. Rainbow Dash frowned. “Four? Who are you counting out besides me?” Asked Rainbow Dash. “Fluttershy; she doesn’t seem too keen about me and I don’t feel like pushing her to do anything she doesn’t want to.” I said. Fluttershy looked up at the mention of her name. “Aww, that’s awful considerate of you Xavier.” Rarity cooed. “I don’t like to force people to do things.” I said, wondering just how true that statement really was. “I mean, yeah sure not Fluttershy, but come on man! I barely even knew you then and we can do so much more awesome stuff now!” Rainbow Dash complained, her wings stiffening behind her. “I know I know, I might add you back in later, I don’t know.” I said. She smiled and fist pumped. Or would it be hoof pumped? Quite frankly, I’m not too sure at this point. “So I think I’ve decided on who to stay with tonight.” I said with a sense on finality. They all yelled “Who?!” In unison. “Calm down gals, sheesh.” “Just tell us!” Pinkie said as she flopped down onto the ground. “I’m dying over here…” “Okay okay. I have chosen to go with Rarity for the night.” Now. Going with Rarity would be my last choice and probably the last decision I ever make if I played my cards terribly. However, in lieu of being away from others, I could find some sort of respite from my initial feelings toward her. Growing to like her presence may not be a viable option, yes, but tolerating it would be much more likely. “Yes yes yes!” Rarity exclaimed, jumping up and down. “Now I can make something for you to wear and you will look absolutely smashing! Oh! I can’t wait!” She grabbed me by the mane with her teeth, my head burning as the follicles were tugged on, and dashed through the streets, presumably toward her home. I immediately regretted my decision. I looked back at the rest of the group and noticed some of their disappointed faces. Although they all seemed slightly upset, I could feel that Fluttershy was the saddest. I really felt bad for her, maybe I should’ve chosen her instead… Well, I couldn’t do anything about it now, I was practically being kidnapped. We eventually reached a well done up and large house that Rarity dragged me inside. The interior consisted of a rather uniform theme, colors ranging in mostly the pink and purple variety. “Sweetie Belle, I’m home!” Rarity called through the residence, giving my head a break while she spoke. I rubbed my temple where the hair was attached, cringing as it stung under light pressure. “Oh great, Rarity’s here…” Said a muffled voice from upstairs. “Oh it’s not that bad, we can meet up somewhere else for tomorrow. Sweetie, go down and see if she wants anything.” Said a different voice with an accent similar to that of Applejack’s. “All right, just don’t break anything while I’m gone.” Said a third voice, presumably Sweetie Belle’s, followed by the sound of someone making their way through the second floor. A seemly smaller version of Rarity happily made her way down a staircase, practically skipping down. Her coat was the same color as Rarity’s and she also had a little horn on her forehead, but her mane was a shade of mulberry with rose streaks. “Hi Rarity!” She said, her voice sweet and full of innocence. “Hello there Sweetie. You and your friends didn’t break anything while I was gone did you?” Rarity asked. “Nope, not yet anyway…” Sweetie Belle said. Rarity eyed Sweetie. “And you’re not planning on it are you?” She said, a more motherly tone making its way through into her voice. “Well of course not! We wouldn’t even dream of breaking anything on purpose.” Sweetie said. “Then don’t use the word ‘yet.’ It makes me feel like you’re up to something…” Said Rarity. As if on cue, a crashing sound emanated from upstairs, followed by a quiet “oops.” “Oh great…” Rarity said. She clomped up the stairs, once again grabbing me by the mane that now burned with a fury that even the Devil would have been pleased with. Once upstairs, she took me to a room with all manners of colors of cloths and materials along with partly and completely finished dresses on pony-shaped eyeless mannequins. There was also a purple king sized bed with a canopy hanging over it with several winding strands of lace adorning it. There were two other little ponies standing beside what seemed like a broken old fashioned sewing machine. One of them had an orange coat akin to that of Applejack’s and a cherry red mane with tiny little wings on her sides. This one was the closest to the wreckage, standing on a chair and sticking her hooves up into the air as if she were reaching for something on the nearby table. The other had an olive coat and deep red mane with a little crimson bow. This one was standing a small distance away from the broken machine, but not as close as the other and was on the floor. She was staring at Rarity with a terrified look in her eyes. “It was Apple Bloom’s fault.” Said the orange one, pointing at the olive one, apparently being Apple Bloom. “No it wasn’t! I wasn’t even near the thing, it’s Scootaloo’s fault!” Apple Bloom said, pointing at Scootaloo with that telltale accent. The two continued to bicker back and forth over whose fault it could’ve been despite the fairly obvious conclusion that anyone could have reached immediately until Rarity broke the rant. “Enough!” She scorched, the two immediately quieting. “Great, now I’ve got to go out and get a new sewing machine…” “Actually, judging by what’s left on the floor, I could probably put it back together—so long as you have the manual or give me enough time to fiddle with it—but just by looking at it, I can assure you it can be fixed.” I said reassuringly to Rarity. “You can?” She said, apparently surprised I was capable of such things. “Oh yes, of course. Simple little contraption really, I’ll have it fixed in no time.” I said, hoping I could stick true to my statement. “Oh thank you again, you’re a lifesaver!” She said, kissing me on the cheek and hugging me tightly for an extended period of time. She didn’t seem to at all mind that the kids were watching. Scootaloo stuck out her tongue and pointed to her mouth, making both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom laugh a little. Rarity finally let go and cleared her throat, “Sorry, I didn’t really mean to do that in front of them… Or for that long…” “Um, yeah…no, it’s…fine…” I said, fretting about how this night would work out. I made my way over to the broken sewing machine and sat down on the floor, examining the mess strewn around me. “I guess I won’t be needing any tools for this, seems like a simple job of putting the gears and other mechanisms back into place and sealing it back up.” “Oh good, I’m glad it’s nothing serious that you wouldn’t be able to fix.” She said, sighing with relief as I looked over at her. “When it’s this simple, most can.” I said, returning to the pile of debris and trying to figure out how the blasted machine worked. VII: IgnorantiaI placed the machine bed in my lap and began examining the gears and other assorted inner workings of the machine. I hadn’t fiddled with such outdated technology in years, so the sight of this machine elicited within me some sort of nostalgic response. I had completely forgotten the exact locations for the parts for this particular device and almost wasn’t sure where to start. It was much simpler than the technology I was accustomed, but luckily I was able to infer where some pieces went and roughly how the machine worked. As I mulled over the broken equipment, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom sat to my left and Sweetie Belle on my right. I looked over at them and smiled before looking back down to continue working. Children’s eyes are one of my favorites. “So what’s your name?” Sweetie Belle asked me. “My name is Xavier.” I said, not raising my eyes from my work. “That sounds like a smart pony’s name, are you really smart?” Asked Apple Bloom. “I reckon so.” I said, mimicking her southern accent and making her laugh a little. “You know Rarity loves you, right?” Scootaloo asked me quietly. “Yeah, she’s not doing a very good job at hiding it.” I said in a low voice so Rarity wouldn’t hear me. She was on the same floor and in the same room, but was tidying up her bed and rearranging fabrics and other assorted tools one would expect to find in a seamstresses arsenal, possibly preparing secondary sleeping accommodations. “Do you love her back?” Whispered Apple Bloom, cocking her head to one side. I stopped working for a moment and looked at her. “I don’t think it’s necessary for you guys to be meddling with other people’s personal affairs.” I said softly while shaking my head lightly. They all leaned in closer to me with a rather smug expression on their faces. “What?” I said, denying it. I took the horizontal arm of the sewing machine and snapped it over the now (hopefully) repaired assembly. “There we go, good as new! I think…” I exclaimed as I held up the newly mended sewing machine. Rarity looked over from her bed and gasped. “Oh that’s simply marvelous!” She rejoiced, hugging me and kissing me on the cheek again, a little closer to my lips this time. She held on for a good minute snuggling me as I saw the kids exchange glances and giggle amongst themselves. She really needed to cut this out. Rarity let go and fixed her hair. “I really need to stop doing that…” She said to herself. “Alright kids, you should go home now, me and Xavier have a few things to discuss.” They all groaned in sync as they trudged over to and down the steps. They all said goodbye to me and Rarity as they passed. Before disappearing down the staircase, Scootaloo looked over at me and raised her eyebrows a few times at me with a smug face. I rolled my eyes and she left down the stairs. It was silent except for the little steps of hooves on the ground floor, then a door opened and closed. “Well, it’s just me and you now. So what did you want to talk about?” I asked. She didn’t say anything, she just stared at me, her eyes glittering. “Um, Rarity? You all right?” I questioned. She shook her head, her mane bouncing as she did. “Sorry, I was just lost in your glorious violet eyes.” She said, giggling a little and turning her head to the side slightly. “Oh, um, thank you, I guess…?” I said, anxiously. “So what did you want to discuss then?” “Oh, I thought we could talk a little, get to know each other. That and the sort.” She wheedled as she slowly stepped closer to me. I looked around nervously, trying to avoid eye contact and attempting to find something to change the subject to. “That’s…um…quite the bed you got there.” I said, quickly trotting over to the bed and admiring the craftsmanship. “Oh that? Yes, it is quite the beauty, just like me of course.” She said, chuckling. “I wouldn’t be so haughty all the time.” I thought to myself, rolling my eyes. This would definitely take some getting used to if I was going to survive the entire night with her. Maybe I should make myself a medal for making it even this far without strangling her. “So where do I sleep then?” I asked. “Well, that’s the thing, I don’t have another bed anywhere. So as far as I can tell we’re only left with the option of sharing a bed.” She lied. “Ohh…” I said as beads of sweat began forming on my forehead. “Are you sure you can’t just pull out another blanket and I can sleep on the floor?” I asked. “That’s another thing, I don’t have any spare blankets. I’m so very unprepared for a guest to visit.” She said, lying again. “Besides, the floor is awfully cold. I don’t think you’d be very comfortable down there. What? Are you scared to sleep with a lady?” She said, batting her eyelashes. “W-well no. I mean…b-but-” “Then it’s settled! You’ll be sleeping in the bed tonight.” She said. I let out a long and weary breath, knowing there was no way out of this. “Well, I guess since that’s out of the way, what else do you want to talk about?” I asked, prepared for the worst after what had just occurred. Suddenly, something soft and fluffy brushed up against my leg. Looking down, I saw a little white cat with a bow on its head purring and rubbing its cheek on my leg. It was a wonder I hadn’t seen it before. “Now who’s this?” I inquired as I sat down next to the feline and began to pet it, in turn making it purr loudly. It seemed quite satisfied simply by my mere presence. “That’s Opalescence, but we just call her Opal. She’s my pet cat, hopefully you’re not allergic to them.” She answered. “Oh no, not at all, I absolutely adore cats.” I said, scratching her under the chin, the cat closing her eyes and tilting her head up slightly. “And she’s warmed up to you awful quickly, she only seems this happy around Fluttershy.” “Is that so?” “Oh yes, Fluttershy is amazing with animals. She has her own little house on the outskirts of town with various animal companions for her to be around.” Rarity reached her hoof out to pet Opal, but Opal hissed and clawed at her before walking behind me to avoid being in Rarity’s line of sight. I twisted my body so I could continue to pet Opal. “I wonder why she’s like that…” I thought aloud. “Oh I don’t know, it’s just her personality I think. But she does have excellent taste in dresses.” I picked my head up suddenly and glared at Rarity. “Are you telling me a Felis Catus can interpret and critique a complex concept such as fashion?” “Felis…Catus…?” She asked, genuinely puzzled. I stood up. “Yes, it’s the scientific name for cats, it’s Latin. Felis Catus.” Her eyes lit up. “You can speak other languages?!” She exclaimed. Was that all she got out of that statement? If so, that was utterly pathetic. “Well… Not exactly. I mean, I know the scientific names for a few of animals, and being that the domestic cat is rather common, but that’s about it. As I digress, tell me how a ca-” “Say something else in Latin!” she begged. Was she serious? This was beginning to become borderline ludicrous, but I didn’t really feel like arguing; I was getting tired and this cat thing was going to bore a hole in my head when I tried to sleep. “Canis lupus familiaris…” I said unenthusiastically while rolling my eyes. She beamed with a joy that was almost unequalled in anyone I had ever seen. “That was absolutely beautiful! What does it mean?” She asked, becoming increasingly interested. “It's just a a domesticated dog, but the cat!” I yelled, pointing at the cat who was now licking her paw, disinterested at the commotion unfolding in front of her. Rarity still seemed to only pick up on the Latin portion. “Oh my…that’s so elegant…” She moaned. She was starting to creep me out. No wonder Opal didn’t like her very much. I looked down at Opal to see if she had any reaction for this. She merely stopped licking her paw, looked up at me and shrugged her shoulders. I would have to examine her more in depth at some point; she appeared to have a clear understanding of what was going on and it was astounding.Either that, or she didn’t knew what was going on and didn’t really care. Knowing cats, I could assume the latter. “Listen, if you don’t mind me, I would like to go to sleep now. I’ve had a long trek in the woods and that race with Dash, so the fatigue is really starting to set in now.” I said. Rarity recovered from her moment of bliss. “Oh of course, just go ahead and get in the bed. I’ll be back shortly.” She said. I clambered into the bed and laid down on the mattress as Rarity went into another room. Opal jumped onto the bed with me and laid down on my legs, purring the entire time, making me chuckle. “Is she always like this?” I quietly asked Opal. The cat lifted up her head and tilted it from side to side, eliciting a smile from me. I loved this cat; so full of character. I put my head onto the down stuffed pillow, almost falling asleep right then. It was one of the best pillows I’ve ever had the privilege resting my head against. In fact, I think I fell asleep before Rarity even returned. I woke up the next morning once again greeted by birds chirping outside. I looked around my environment to gather myself and remembered the wonderful pillow I slept on last night. I felt an anomalous warm presence on the right side of my torso and looking over at it, I saw Rarity—and despite having practically a three meter wide bed—cuddled up with me with one of her forelegs around me and a vast number of curlers in her mane. “Typical,” I thought to myself, looking back down at Opal who was still curled up on my legs and sleeping soundly. My brain suddenly snapped awake enough to notice that Rarity was cuddling me, causing me to jump a bit. I attempted to wiggle out from her grip, but every time I moved away she seemed to nudge closer and hold on tighter. This is what I get for giving in. I sighed, realizing this was futile and resorted to waiting for her to wake up. My squirming had disturbed Opal, making her look up wearily and yawn. She stood up and stretched her back before jumping off of the bed, possibly in search of food or something to do. It took some time, but Rarity finally came to in the middle of me pondering the presence of electricity in this realm, which I mostly doubted. She slowly raised her head up and looked at me drowsily. “Good morning, darling.” She said, smiling slightly with heavy eyes. I cleared my throat loudly, although she didn’t seem to register what I meant immediately. I cleared my throat again and gestured with my head toward her. She finally got the message and she let go quickly, sitting up in the bed and taking the blanket up with her so it covered her torso. “Ah…um…I-I can explain. Y-you see I was-” she started. “It’s fine. You needn’t explain.” I said; I wasn’t in the mood to hear any of her nonsense. “Oh…” She said, surprised and still shaken. “Well I’m going to take these thing out, I shouldn’t be long.” She got out of the bed on the opposite side and walked out of the room. I laid in the bed again, closing my eyes and wishing to wake up someplace where I wouldn’t have to bother with these ridiculous shenanigans. I heard Rarity step back into the room return several minutes later and I opened my eyes. She had removed the curlers and was practically glowing as the early morning sun poured through the windows and on to her. “How do I look?” She said. If she was still embarrassed from earlier she wasn’t showing it. I sat up in the bed. “You look fantastic.” I said, rubbing the gunk from my eyes. Once I had finished, I lowered my arms and noticed Rarity was gone from her previous position. I looked to the right and found nothing. I looked to my left and a sudden kiss greeted my lips with a shocking amount of force. VIII: Side-EffectsShe quickly realized where she hit her mark and shot back. “I-I didn’t mean to kiss you there, I meant to kiss you on the cheek when you turned around…” She said rapidly, her face flushing a mild shade of red. Amazingly, I blushed a little too, but it in all likelihood was difficult to see under this black coat of mine. And I didn’t blush because I’m starting to fall for her, it’s just I haven’t ever really gotten a kiss like that before. I know what you’re thinking, but just bear with me here. I hopped out of the bed and stood up. “Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. You just…do whatever you want, but don’t go overboard.” I said. I didn’t want see to upset her, although it would lead to emotional and mental distress on my part. I plan on leaving these people as they were when I arrived with no trace of my existence in this realm. “Oh…” She said, surprised at my response and smiling happily. “All right.” “Now what about that article you wanted to make for me…?” I asked. But while I’m here, might as well get some free merchandise, right? Only issue is whether or not it’ll be worth the effort. “Oh yes! I completely forgot! Come over here and I’ll get some measurements done.” She said, eagerly walking over to a large mirror set up in the bedroom. I walked up in front of the mirror as she searched for some supplies, soon returning with a measuring tape hovering near her head bathed in a light blue glow. “This shouldn’t take long.” She said, holding the tape up against me as she took notes on a floating paper. She spent a rather long time with the tape, holding them up to my legs and chest, all the while muttering things about something being “perfect” and “magnificent.” She did happen to spend a significant amount of time at my rear, leading me to wonder what she could have possibly been doing… When she had finished, she looked at me with glittering eyes. “All done. Sorry it took so long, I just wanted to make sure everything was perfect.” She said with a smile. “I’ll bet you did…" I thought to myself, invisibly gritting my teeth. “No worries, I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist myself. A bit of a curse really…” I said as I attempted to avoid direct eye contact with her. “Oh, but it makes sure you get all the fine details…” She purred, inching up to me. I darted my eyes about nervously, wishing for this nightmare to end. I chuckled with uncertainty. “Why don’t we go ahead and meet up with the others? I’m sure they’d like to…” I said, clearing my throat before continuing, “…talk with you and…stuff…” She seemed surprised, holding a hoof to her chest and letting her mouth open a bit. “But you haven’t even eaten breakfast first!” She exclaimed. “I can’t have you running about on an empty stomach! Please, follow me.” Walking back downstairs, she had me trail her into a sparkling kitchen with a table to our right and an oven surrounded by wooden cupboards—save for above the stovetop. Notably, there was no refrigerator, but an icebox in its place. “What would you like to eat, my dear? I myself will be having a breakfast quiche.” She asked, beginning to remove various food items from her cupboards. “Umm…” I mumbled, deciding upon a safe option. “Whatever you’re having.” I replied, not wanting to bother her with anything else. “Absolutely.” She replied, humming a tune I didn’t recognize as she mixed several ingredients in a bowl using that same mystical force ascertained to be “magic” by these folks. Sitting at a nearby table, I gazed out a nearby window at the scene before me. The only things visible from this view was a line of buildings, a tree here and there, and some mountains in the distance above them. Setting my head in my hooves and sighing heavily, I cleared my mind and thought of absolutely nothing—like most men do a lot of the time anyway. It was rather peaceful, not bothering to think about my situation and what lies ahead. I have no idea how much time had passed, because, before I knew it, Rarity had finished. “Are you ready to eat, darling?” Rarity suddenly spoke, snapping me out of my trance and causing me to whip my head around to face her. She didn’t have any eyes. Why didn’t she have any eyes? Just dark sockets devoid of life or a soul. With quivering chest and arms, I rubbed my eyes in hopes of removing such a terrifying sight from before me. It seemed to have worked, as once I lowered my hooves, her eyes had returned to their normal state. I didn’t understand any of it. Noticing my demeanor, Rarity tilted her head to one side. “Are you feeling alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She said, turning around to look behind her to make sure there wasn’t anyone or anything there. Satisfied there was nothing to fear, she sat across from me and set the now finished quiche on the table along with two plates, two forks, and two knives. “Xavier? Is everything okay?” Rarity asked again. I snapped out of my trance before giving her a look. “Yeah, no. I’m fine.” I replied, clearing my throat and looking down at the table. “So what’ve we got here?” I asked in hopes of getting my mind off of what had just occurred. “It’s just a little breakfast quiche I whipped up. Hopefully I made it correctly and it suits your tastes.” She said, cutting a piece with a hovering knife and setting the steaming wedge on my plate. Going through the motions, I picked up the fork and nipped off a sliver of the quiche, setting it in my mouth with no intent on enjoying the flavor. My thoughts were rickety and unstable. I was still processing what had happened. I had never had any sort of schizophrenic episodes or any other mental blurring of reality. It terrified me beyond words. Finishing my quiche, but my hunger not sated, I laid back in my chair and looked up at the ceiling, waiting for Rarity to finish. She may have tried to converse with me, but I wouldn’t have known. I was too deep in thought. When she finished, she offered me another piece, at which I declined, before she she put the plates in a sink and wrapped up the quiche for later use while I went to wait at the front door. When she had finished cleaning up the kitchen, she met me at the door and, before leaving, Opal walked up to me and pawed at my hooves, evidently upset with my departure. I chuckled and rubbed her head gingerly. “I’ll be back, don’t you worry.” I said soothingly. She appeared to smile and meowed before walking back off to another part of the house. Not long after leaving the house, we heard a voice from along the street call, “Hi Rarity!” I looked in the direction of the source of the noise and spotted Sweetie Belle trotting toward us. “Oh, hi there Sweetie! How are you this morning?” Rarity said. “Just great! Have you seen the rest of the crusaders? We have something important to discuss for today.” Sweetie asked. “No I haven’t, I’m sorry, dear.” Said Rarity. “But look at my hair, isn’t it gorgeous?” She said, turning attention to her mane for some reason. As if I didn’t believe she was narcissistic before, I was sure of it now. “Wow! It looks amazing! Did you do that yourself? Or did you get your boyfriend to do that for you?” Sweetie giggled, causing Rarity’s face buckle into an embarrassed scowl. “He’s not my boyfriend! We’re just friends and I did it myself, thank you!” Rarity fumed. “Whatever you say ‘Mrs. Xavier.’” Said Sweetie, snickering. Rarity's face contorted even more, Sweetie Belle soon getting the message. “Well I’m going to look for the rest of the crusaders, bye!” She said quickly and ran off in an attempt to avoid Rarity’s wrath. She turned back to me. “Heh…kids… What an imagination… Hehe…” She chattered nervously. “Right...” I responded, not too concerned about the situation. We eventually found them again, somehow conveniently at the same water fountain as yesterday. Fluttershy looked over at us and quickly turned away, possibly telling something to the others. The rest of them turned to look at the two of us, smiling and waving at our arrival. “Hey guys,” I said, “How are you?” They all responded in a conglomeration of “goods” and “okays.” Fluttershy even responded, which I found surprising; I never thought I’d hear her speak. Her voice was soft, calm, and rather soothing. It’s a shame she didn’t talk more often around me. She almost reminded me of someone. It also seemed like she was pushing through the rest so she could be a little bit to be closer to me. Maybe she was trying to warm up to me. Whatever she was attempting to do, she seemed determined to do it. “Hi there guys.” Rarity said, fluffing her mane, obviously trying to draw attention to herself. “WOAH! Your hair looks amazing! How did you get it to look like that?!” Exclaimed Pinkie. “Well, I did it myself of course. Today I tried something a little different and it seems to have worked out for the better.” Rarity said. “I doubt this is a coincidence! I bet Rarity got inspiration from Xavier for it! What did I say about Rarity and Xavier, huh? They are so obviously in love! I bet they cuddled and kissed each other all night!” Pinkie butted in, hugging herself and making kissing noises. “Oh hush Pinkie, you don’t know that…” Rarity said, angrily. “Oh sure I don’t…” Pinkie said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Although Pinkie seemed clueless most of the time, she did have a point. Rarity was probably planning a little something more than simply allowing me to spend the night there. As of now I could only guess what, but whatever she had in mind, I doubt I would agree with it. “So who’s this Xavier pony?” Said a voice from behind Twilight, a small bipedal lizard soon walking around from behind her and taking a gander at me. Crossing his arms, he looked back up at Twilight. “Is this the stallion you were blabbering on about yesterday, Twi?” Twilight appeared taken aback. “Erm… Well…maybe not blabbering. I just wanted to tell Spike of the new friend I had met.” She said. Is this a dragon? I wouldn’t know. He didn’t appear to have any wings. I hadn’t ever met a dragon before, mostly because they normally don’t exist. This place was getting more interesting by the day. “Yeah…no, it was a blabber. You didn’t shut up about him.” Spike said. Twilight blushed a little more. “Stop it Spike, you’re embarrassing me…” She said, poking him with her hoof. Spike looked like he was going to say something else, but another thought came to his mind. “Anyway, why did you stay with Rarity last night? Don’t you have your own place somewhere?” He asked, jealously sorely present in his voice. I had to keep myself from laughing. How a relationship between a lizard and a pony would work out I couldn’t be sure, but it certainly sounded ludicrous. “Well, no, I don’t. I’ve only been here one day.” I replied. He furrowed his brow. “Whatever you say.” He said, keeping his eyes locked on me. “So who are you going to sleep with… I mean…bunk with tonight Xavier?” Twilight slipped, covering her face with her wings as she realized what she had said. All the girls narrowed their eyes at Twilight. “Oh Twilight…” Rarity cooed. “Now we all know what’s on her mind.” All of them laughed except for Spike, who just looked disgusted. I merely rolled my eyes. How immature where these guys? “Shut up you guys!” Twilight thundered, ripping her wings away from her face and thrusting them outward. “It’s not funny!” “Whatever you say Twi, but just know that your secret is out…” Rainbow Dash said, chuckling and poking Twilight in the side. “Listen,” I interjected. “I haven’t made a decision just yet, but I’ll let you guys know later when I’ve come to a conclusion.” I said, some mild fury leaking out. All but Twilight sighed in disappointment, the purple mare just grumbling to herself as she brought her wings back in to her body. “And don’t pester Twilight like that, it was probably just an accident. I’m sure she’s not like that.” I said. “Thank you, Xavier.” Twilight said. “At least someone here is willing to stand up for me.” At saying this, Fluttershy looked at the ground and backed away from Twilight a small step. What a sad, sad little pony… So easily hurt… My stomach suddenly grumbled, breaking the silence. “Oh! You must need something to eat. You should hop on by the Sugarcube Corner! We have cupcakes and muffins and cakes galore!” Said Pinkie. My mouth watered at hearing of this. I hadn’t had sweets of any kind for almost a month and was determined to end this fasting. Rarity was about to interject, but I cut her off. “Yeah sure, why not?” I said, making sure my grand anticipation didn’t show through. Pinkie led us to a building that was decorated to mimic the appearance of a gingerbread house. She took us inside where the aroma of pastries and other assorted baked goods danced around inside. Also inside was a showcase of presumably what they had in stock. Being the food connoisseur I was, I was inclined to try absolutely everything, but I didn’t want to seem like a pig. Saliva threatened to pour out of my mouth in a waterfall at the sights and smells, but I managed to keep it back. “Welcome to the Sugarcube Corner! We’ve got anything your sweet tooth desires!” Pinkie said as she jumped behind the counter. She laid one of her forelegs across the top of the glass countertop and leaned in to it. “What can I getcha?” She said. I held back my animal-like desire to consume the entire establishment and discreetly licked my lips. “I’d like some tiramisu please.” I said. Pinkie looked at me confused. “Tira-ma-whatta?” She said perplexed, her smile melting away. “Well, you said you had ‘anything’ I desired, and I currently have a hankering for tiramisu.” I said. She smiled nervously. “Sure, let me just ask the Cakes real quick.” She said, and she walked off into some double doors that lead to what I assumed was the kitchen. Twilight walked up behind me. “What is tiramisu?” She asked. “Tiramisu is an Italian dessert with coffee and liquor-soaked layers of sponge cake alternating with mascarpone cheese and chocolate.” I defined. Rarity split from the group and slid up next to me gracefully, pressing up against my side. “Ooooo, an exotic dish. I might want some, too.” Rarity said, biting her lip staring me in the eyes. Spike’s eyes widened at Rarity’s sudden gesture of affection toward me, crossing his arms and granting soon after. Keeping a distance from him seemed like the best option at this point; there was no telling what he would do. “Maybe I’ll share some with you if they even have a recipe for it. Hopefully you can hold your liquor.” I said. “I don’t think many of us drink all that often, so we may not have that much.” Said Twilight. “Oh come on, Twi, our cider is some of the hardest stuff around, and you’ve had that before. I don’t think a little liquor is going to stop you. Besides, I bet I could drink y’all under the table any time.” Applejack stated haughtily. I shrugged. “Whatever you please.” I said. Pinkie flew out from the double doors, clearly excited with something. “Good news! One of the Cakes found a dusty old recipe for…whatever that was again. So they’re making it now! It’ll probably take a little while though.” Pinkie said. “That’s fine, I can wait.” I said, although I wasn’t sure how much longer I could contain myself. I was also surprised they had something Italian in origin even though Italy most likely didn’t exist here. We all sat around a table in the lobby talking while we waited for the tiramisu to be finished. Fluttershy stole the seat next to me, making sure she could sit adjacent of me. I thought this was nice, although mildly aggressive. The way they sat was also quite different than I would’ve done, despite one of their knee joints being able to kick backward. They sat on the very edge of their chairs so they could simply let their legs dangle off the edge of the seat. I deviated from this and sat with my knees bend over the edge of the chair. As we talked, Fluttershy put in her own two cents every now and then, which I was happy for. I’m glad she was finally getting comfortable around me. A certain three of them mostly asked me about what I would look for in a mate while the others attempted to divert from that subject. What she would look like, her personality, what she was good at, et cetera. I complied, although I was cautious not to reveal anything too personal. Spike kept asking how the night with Rarity went, to which I answered with short and simple replies that only half answered his questions, just to toy with him. “Oh, I almost forgot. So you know how Opal is usually quite touchy around anyone she meets, save for Fluttershy?” Rarity said. I sighed deeply and let my head sag while the rest of them nodded and said their “yes’s.” “Well, while Xavier was at my place last night, Opal absolutely loved him. You would’ve thought he was Fluttershy.” Fluttershy downright loved hearing about this, perking up her ears and scooting her chair closer to mine with a warm smile full of intrigue. “How did you do it? Did you speak to her? Or maybe show her you liked dresses too?” Fluttershy inquired of me, shifting in her seat as she waited for an answer. “W-well, no… She just seemed to like me is all… Heh…” I trembled. Fluttershy frowned with clear discontent for my response. “Oh… O-okay…” She said mildly. “And not only that happened!” Rarity piped up again. “Oh no…” I groaned as I buried my head in my hooves. Fluttershy took note of this and put a hoof on my back consolingly. At least someone was willing to comfort me in this time of distress, even if she didn’t have a reason to. “I discovered that Xavier can speak Latin.” She whispered, flicking a glance at me every now and then. “Latin…?” Twilight said, confused. “What's Latin…? I’ve never heard of that language before and I’ve read of many different dialects.” I was afraid of this. Rarity began looking at me suspiciously. “Is Latin even a legitimate language, Xavier…?” She questioned, eyeing me doubtfully. I sat up straighter in my chair. “Of course Latin’s a real language! It’s the root of many languages around the world!” I said defensively. “I’m surprised you don’t know anything about it! And no, I do not speak it! I just know some scientific names is all! Like ‘Canis lupus familiaris.’ That’s it.” Twilight didn’t seem convinced. Either that, or was as infatuated with me as Rarity was when I first spoke just Latin sentence to her. If she was trying to hide it, she was doing a good job at it. Twilight looked down at Spike. “Spike, go get a translation book for me. You know where to find them.” She asked. “I don’t speak Latin, dam-dang it!” I screamed, avoiding an uncalled for slip of the tongue, but no one appeared to care. Spike nodded and ran off out of the Corner, leaving us to sit in silence as we waited for him to return. It was very awkward; the general buzz of activity had ceased, leaving a deafening silence within the group. I merely kept my arms crossed and avoided looking at anyone. A few minutes later, Spike ran in the doors, panting and holding a worn leather bound book over his head. “Here you go, Twi.” He sighed as he laid it out in front of her on the table before a thought suddenly occurred to him. “And why didn’t you just teleport the book here? Wouldn’t that have been easier?” “Thanks Spike.” She replied, avoiding Spike's question as the book lifted up off of the table surrounded by a raspberry colored aura that was the same color as a plasma-like substance that coated her horn. The book opened up and Twilight began to flip through its pages. “There are a few entries about Equin in here, which seem to be similar to ‘Latin’ in background, and this book seems to cover the basics.” She said, turning through the pages some more. After a few minutes she said, “I can’t find anything in here that explains what you said. Are you certain you’re not lying?” Taking in a deep breath in through my nose, I prepared to unload a fury of insults and explanations at her and the group around me. Instead of that, I let the air out slowly out and attempted to speak in a softer tone. “Tell me, why would I be lying?” I asked, my teeth clamped together. “Well, some ponies would do anything to look better to others. We have no reason to trust what you’ve said yet.” Said Applejack. “Applejack is right. Some ponies are so infatuated with his or her own image, he or she would want others to think he or she is just as good as he or she thinks he or she is. He or she would even go as far as to fabricate information to look better.” Twilight lectured, as if I needed it. “That sure was a mouthful…” Rainbow Dash said. “So long as it's grammatically correct, I’m not complaining.” I sighed, resting my head on my hooves. I remained silent for a and shut my eyes few moments; I just wanted to sleep and wake up somewhere else so I wouldn’t have to deal with these creatures. I opened my eyes again—with more difficulty than I had anticipated—to find that the group had ceased talking and was simply looking at me. I sat up straight and twisted my back. “Can I help any of you?” I groggily said, curious to know if I had actually fallen asleep. “We were just discussing you and your Latin knowledge. I had Spike bring over a book of various animals and creatures and, sure enough, the scientific names for them are similar to what you previously described, although in Equin.” Twilight explained. “Oh.” I muttered rubbing one of my eyes. “Well, that’s nice.” Twilight nodded in return. “I apologize for doubting you like we did, I feel we came off a little bit too harsh.” The purple mare continued. “Don’t worry about it.” I yawned. “I’m sorry too!” Pinkie shouted, making me jump in my seat. “I'm sorry, Xavier.” Applejack added. “I am as well.” Rarity agreed. “I guess me too.” Fluttershy accepted. “Me too. If this stallion talks as good as he flies, then why not trust him?” Rainbow Dash said, soon receiving several odd glances from the rest of the group. “What?” She breathed, folding her arms and knitting her brow while returning glances back to everyone else. “So you know a bit of Latin, huh? Why Latin though? What would you use it for?” Queried Rainbow Dash. “Every now and then you may need it in scientific studies, but this gun isn’t only loaded with one and a half bullets.” I answered. Rainbow Dash looked puzzled. “What the hay is that supposed mean?” She asked. Wasn’t she supposed to be smart? My metaphors were always lost on the ignorant… And “what the hay?” That was one of the worst puns I had ever heard, unless that was actually their diction, in which case I would have even more language related items to get used to. Rarity’s face lit up once more like it had when she first discovered I knew certain Latin phrases. “It means he can speak more than just two languages! Oh my Celestia, aren’t you talented?” Rarity sang out, bringing up hoof to her chest. The others at the table sparkled when they finally realized what I meant, beginning to throw differing phrases at me that they wanted me to translate into various languages. All—if not most—I had never even heard of. The sudden attention I was receiving from them was too much for me to handle, causing me to gradually shrink back. All those eyes expecting so much. The only one who stopped was Fluttershy, once again picking up on my cue that I was rather uncomfortable. She looked back and forth between the others and I, trying to think of something to do to help me. I began to shake and slowly break down before them, speaking to myself quietly. “It’s okay. Calm down.” I repeated to myself quietly. I couldn’t help myself, I didn’t have any sort of musical instrument and I couldn’t just leave, so this seemed like the only way to prevent me from exploding. I hated undue attention. Especially when they stared. It always made me feel like I was being torn apart from the inside out. I couldn’t take much more of it. I finally snapped. “Enough!” I screamed. They immediately settled down and frowned, a few of them almost fearful. I tried to seem calmer, but how well I did on that I couldn’t be sure. “I just…I just can’t handle with this right now. Maybe later, okay? I’m sorry. I just…can’t…” They all sat there as if they were waiting for further instructions. “And that means…?” Asked Applejack. I rose an eyebrow. “What do you mean what do I mean? It was plain as day what I said.” Applejack turned to Twilight. “Can you find out what language he’s speaking now, Twilight?” She asked. Now I was becoming concerned. Was she serious? I hadn’t gotten stuck in another language in a while, and even when I did, it was only in the most stressful of circumstances. I guess this just may have fit the bill. Twilight looked confused at first, but then appeared to understand, soon flipping through the book for several seconds before resting it on the table. “I’m not sure, it’s not covered in this book.” She said, lowering the book once more. “What? No I’m not… I’m speaking English…” I said, becoming frightened. My ears subconsciously folded over my head. At the mentioning of English, Twilight gave me another look of bewilderment. “Come on guys, he’s had enough, don’t mess with him like that…” Fluttershy said in my defense. It finally clicked. Cruel, but clever. Sort of. If only they knew that it actually happened to me on occasion. “Oh. Ha-ha. Funny. You really had me fooled.” I said unenthusiastically. The entire table giggled except for Fluttershy. Finally, a rather tall and thin pony wearing a small round hat came out from the kitchen doors holding a plate with a large chocolate brown block, consisting of several layers of differing colors of chocolate, a stack of smaller plates balanced precariously on his head, numerous forks, and a knife. “I believe this is yours. And because you waited so long, this is on the house.” He said. I sniffed it, allowing the alcohol permeate my nostrils and settle my nerves. “Oh yes, this is it. Thank you.” I said as my anticipation grew. Saliva once again threatened to pour out of my mouth, but I held it back as much as I could. He placed it on the table along with the smaller plates and went back into the kitchen. I took the knife and cut out a square corner of the cake, placing it on one of the smaller plates, then taking a fork and cutting a smaller chunk off of that piece and putting it in my mouth. The liquor burned at the back of my throat while the coffee had a bitter taste, counteracted by the sweetness of the cake. I could taste that there was too much liquor in it and the cake was practically soaked in it, each slice consisting of at least a shot or more of liquor, but I didn’t care. It was utterly delicious. I had to keep myself from moaning from the sheer bliss I was experiencing. “Well? How is it?” Pinkie asked, leaning forward with anticipation as I swallowed the piece. “It’s heaven…” I groaned, trying to keep my unparalleled delight from emanating into my voice too much. Pinkie cheered and shouted, shooting onto her hind legs and raising her hands…ugh…hooves to the ceiling. She almost fell over while doing so, which I thought would’ve been funny to see. The rest of them started cutting off pieces and eating them, talking about how it tasted; what they liked and what they didn’t like. I didn’t participate much, seeing as I had my mouth full of cake most of the time. Despite the fact several of them expressed distaste for the cake in a few different aspects, they kept coming back for more. I told them to slow down because of the excessive amounts of alcohol in it, but they didn’t listen, possibly too enraptured in the flavor of the cake. After a short while the cake was gone. I had eaten only two slices while the rest had at least four or five and had visibly gotten a little tipsy. Everyone except for Fluttershy—who only had one piece—and Spike—who didn’t have any. I would’ve had more, but I wasn’t expecting them to eat so much of it. I wanted to save it for later and I frowned as I realized I wouldn’t be able to. And when Twilight said they didn’t drink often, she wasn’t kidding. There I was, sitting in the middle of a bunch of drunken ponies trying to keep them from falling over. Rarity leaned over to me, almost crawling over the table and getting too close for comfort. “Has anyone ever told you how sexy you look?” She said. I could smell the alcohol on her breath combined with something minty. At least she brushed. Spike scowled and rolled his eyes again. “I would totally marry him just for his looks. Not to mention he’s soooooo smart.” Twilight said, almost falling over in her seat. Fluttershy began to look disgusted and shifted in her spot. I couldn’t blame her; this was getting weird. “He’s, like, so handsome, I bet Celestia would marry him.” Said Rainbow Dash, causing them to all laugh, save Fluttershy and I. We exchanged awkward glances. She probably felt as uncomfortable as I did, maybe even more so. “I know,” Piped up Twilight, “I’ll send Celestia a letter telling her Xavier loves her and wants to marry her.” They all started cackling again. Fluttershy straightened her spine and looked around nervously. Whoever this Celestia person was, I don’t think I would want to mess with her. Then again they could’ve been just joking around. Although I don’t remember how it feels to be drunk, it’s been a rather long while. “Spike, take up a letter.” Twilight told Spike. He hesitated for a moment, before smirking lightly and pulling out a sheet of paper and a feather pen. Where he got these items escapes me. “Dear Princess Celestia,” Twilight began, Spike scribbling on the parchment as she spoke. “It has come to my attention a certain someone is in love with you. I’ve met him recently and I think he wants to meet you.” Fluttershy began waving her hooves to grab Twilight’s attention and stop her, but she was too busy talking to notice. I was simply interested that this place was governed by a monarchy. Twilight continued without hesitation, “He’s a handsome black Pegasus with beautiful purple eyes. If you would come to meet him as soon as possible I think he’d greatly appreciate that. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike tossed the pen aside and rolled up the paper, breathing fire on the roll which caused it to burn and vanish. A trail of smoke wafted up from where the paper was and flew out the window as if it had had a mind of its own. The dragon put his arms behind his back, appearing satisfied with himself. Still uncertain as to what was going on, I merely sat in silence. IX: Only One Tolerable “Friend”Fluttershy got up and hesitantly slapped Twilight in the face, which seemed to snap her out of her drunken state. Her sudden violent action confused me; everything she had done so far lead me to believe she was shy, not aggressive. Even Fluttershy herself seemed surprised. “Oh! I’m so sorry…are you okay…?” Fluttershy apologized as Twilight rubbed her pain-filled cheek. “Yeah, I’m fine. I needed that…” Twilight consoled. It took a moment for Twilight to register what had just happened beforehand. When she did, her eyes widened and she ceased massaging her cheek. “On no!” Twilight said, looking sincerely afraid. I think the sight of her being terrified made the rest come to. They all looked in angst, either chewing on their hooves or unable to keep still. I wish could’ve assisted in their sobering up, but unfortunately, such thing is beyond my abilities. Everyone’s gaze suddenly locked on me, making me feel uneasy. “What?” I said. We all me jumped back when Spike’s face turned slightly green before he appeared to regurgitate another roll of paper. I jumped back at the sight of the paper, startled by what had just occurred but not the sudden action of it. Where in the heavens above did it come from? Fluttershy pat me on the back and said to me in that calming voice of hers, “It’s okay, that’s just a letter system used to send messages between Twilight and Princess Celestia. We haven’t used it a lot recently though.” “Never seen mail handed out that way before…” I said, thinking over several ways it could occur. Although without wormholes or some biological fax machine, it didn’t seem too likely it should exist in the first place. Fluttershy giggled. “It’s not used by everyone.” She said. Spike handed the paper to Twilight as her horn glowed, unraveling it. “Dear Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight read, her voice shaking. She cleared her throat before continuing, “I am not sure why you would bring my attention to such a matter. Nonetheless, I have gone over at my schedule and will pay Ponyville a visit this afternoon. I hope you will prepare for my arrival accordingly, but it need not be extravagant. And make sure you have your ‘handsome’ friend there. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.” “Hold on a moment. Who’s this ‘Celestia’?” I asked. “WHAT?” They all shrieked in unison. “Princess Celestia is the main ruler over Equestria and she also happens to have been my teacher.” Twilight said. “Oohhhh…” I breathed, still a little uncertain about a few details. “Why isn’t there a queen? Or a king? Shouldn’t there be at least one of them somewhere?” Twilight raised her hoof as if she was about to say something, but Rainbow Dash cut her off. “How do you not know who Celestia is?” Questioned Rainbow Dash, Twilight shooting a nasty glance at her for interrupting. “I don’t know… I just don’t get around much I guess…” I said, Spike narrowing his eyes at me. They all started clamoring about what to do and whose fault this was a voice suddenly crackled in my left ear, making me flinch. “Saga AI unit still ready and operational,” a heavily modulated computer generated voice said. I almost forgot about that earpiece; I should probably clean it soon. Saga is an AI program I made a long while back to keep me company, being that I don’t handle human accompaniment very well. I forget exactly when I made him and how long it took, but I know it was at least over a year dwelling on the same subject. He’s still a little rudimentary, but he gets the job done. He’s currently residing in my bag way back at my camp. I guess he noticed that I had left him unattended for a relatively long time. I “accidentally” knocked a fork on to the floor and leaned under the table slightly and speaking softly. “Saga, send out the drone. I want a map with a one hundred mile radius from your current position. Be quiet about it.” I whispered as I picked up the fork. “Already on it sir.” Saga replied after a few moments of silence. I straightened my back and placed the fork back on the table. In about an hour or more, I should have a good sized 3D map of the area. Hopefully the people who watch the skies for a living won’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Someone suddenly grabbed me and forcefully turned my face toward him or her. “What are we going to do Xavier?!” Exasperated Twilight. I thought about it for a moment and pulled her hooves off of my face. “Well, the way I see it, you could just tell her the truth. Honesty is the best policy and we all make mistakes now and then.” I said reassuringly, eliciting a nod from Applejack and a few others. And maybe, just maybe, if she got in enough trouble, I wouldn’t have to deal with her so much. That seemed to calm her down. “Maybe you’re right…” She sighed, letting her head sag. “I know!” Said Rainbow Dash. “We’ll just say you misheard somepony else talking about Celestia, and you thought it was Xavier, and you wanted to surprise him. Not everyone gets to hang around a Princess you know.” Twilight perked up. “Perfect!” Twilight exclaimed, causing me to sigh and bang my head on the table, startling Fluttershy. Even with my vast knowledge of things, I’ll never understand women. I rose my head back up and read a clock on a wall—almost 1 p.m. The letter said Celestia would be here in the afternoon, so by a technicality, she could be arriving at any time now. “Well I don’t know about you guys, but I think I’ll go and gather my stuff and bring it here. See you in few minutes or so.” I said. I left the Corner, avoiding the gazes of the group behind me and various others as I launched off and into the sky. Flapping quietly through the sky, I looked for my original camp site, which wasn’t that hard; I have a pretty good memory. I think. I landed and morphed back into my humanoid form rather quickly. I stretched my arms and moved my fingers—it was great to have digits again. Although being naked didn’t make me feel very safe, it would have to do and I was going to be changing back soon anyway. I removed the sleeping bag from the tent and emptied it of my clothes, wrapping up everything and storing them in the bag. I looked at the bag a moment, devising a structure that could fit atop my Pegasus form without restricting movement. I came up with a bloated saddlebag that would still fit all of my belongings and allowed for the use of wings. Taking out my knife and a small sowing kit, I refashioned my previous bag—which was getting old and needed replacing anyway—content with the result. Once I had finished, a metallic probe flew down from the sky and landed back into the bag, snapping onto something metallic. “Mapping complete. Data will be stored locally.” Saga said in my earpiece. Strange. It should’ve taken him much longer to map out the land than this. “Why so quick? Did you omit parts of the land?” I asked Saga, hoping he wasn’t discovered while he flew the probe about. “I had already begun mapping the landscape before I grabbed your attention. In fact, I was about to tell you I was doing so, but you interrupted me.” He said snidely. He was always rather quick at such comebacks, but not much else. I gruffed at his attitude. “You know you don’t have to be so ill-mannered.” I told him. “I’m aware.” He replied. I took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Thanks Saga.” I sighed. I crouched down and took out a decent sized panel hooked onto Saga I had fashioned myself out of a bunch of scraped computer parts with a screen that responded to touch. I booted it up and took a look at the new map he had created. The landscape was absolutely gorgeous; hills and mountains, waterfalls and forests. There even seemed to be a large stagnant body of clouds about thirty miles northeast of here which seemed very much worthy of checking out. There was so much luscious land to explore and discover, I could barely contain myself as the tablet in my hands unwillingly trembled. I powered down the panel and placed it back into the bag, making a mental note to look at the map again and plan out an expedition across this new country later. I morphed back into my Pegasus form, put my bag on and flew off back to town. It was a little clunky with the bag, but I managed to get back without losing anything. Reaching the town once more, I landed not far from the Corner and saw the group of six hanging around outside the front doors. I also saw a very large pony—this one being more akin to a horse—with a rather long horn, wings, and a ridiculously long flowing mane. It was even waving despite the fact there was barely any wind. The physics in this place was weird. Her coat was a bright white and her mane mimicked a brightened up rainbow, albeit it was missing a few notable colors. Several armored ponies surrounded the large one, consisting mostly of pegai with a few unicorns scattered here and there, some of them tied to a gilded chariot placed off to the side of the Corner. There was a large and loud crowd encircling them, several of them bowing now and again, so it was understandable when the group didn’t seem to notice me as I walked up. I envisioned everyone’s eyes burning out of their sockets as I ventured into the cacophony of voices to reach the front. Pushing through the crowd to try and reach the others was no easy task. The people here were rather stubborn and wouldn’t move from their spots very easily. And they kept looking. However, after receiving several rude glances and vulgar remarks, I finally made my way to the front without breaking down. “Hi guys.” I said as steadily as I could. They all perked up when I spoke and rushed me, save the large one—who merely looked with intrigue—and Spike—who was sitting against the outside of the building with his arms crossed. “Xavier!” They all shouted as Rarity rushed ahead to guarantee an uncalled for hug from me. “What’s this for?” I asked as she looked up at me. “I don’t know…” Rarity said, letting go and fixing her hair a bit. Spike balled his hands up in fists and grit his teeth as he watched. “Xavier, this is Princess Celestia.” Said Twilight, gesturing to the large white horse. “Your majesty.” I said, bowing down. The guards watched me cautiously as this new face appeared before the supposed ruler of the land. One of them even seemed to deem me suspicious, whispering something inaudible to another guard. “You may rise.” Celestia said in a commanding tone, but didn’t come across as too menacing. Raising back up, I merely saw the scrutinizing eyes of royalty, looking me over as if I was some new species she had never seen before. Royal eyes are the worst kind. “Twilight, may I speak with you for a moment? And without Spike please.” Celestia requested as Twilight bit her lip and avoided eye contact with the horse. “Oh… O-okay…” Twilight stammered as she shifted on her hooves. They both went into the Sugarcube Corner and others in the crowd tried to follow. The guards blocked the door and prevented the crowd from advancing. “They wish to speak in private, leave them their space!” one of them spoke authoritatively. A few guards entered the establishment and emptied it out, allowing Celestia and Twilight to converse in total secrecy. The guards then shut the doors and allowed no one to enter or exit. I took my bag off and set it against the building making my acoustic guitar clang against the wall, making me recall the sweet sound that it echoed when played. I took it off the bag and sat down, propping myself against a wall of the Corner. I brushed aside the chatter of the crowd as I played, immersing myself in my music while feeling the sting of the assembly as they watched me, which I ignored. “It’s all in my head. This will help me feel better.” I thought in an attempt to justify my actions in front of the crowd. The bright sound of the guitar echoed throughout the area, filling it with a sort of homey feel and that sounded like “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp.” I smiled to myself as I watched the strings vibrate on the neck as I plucked out the chords. I ended on a nice high note several minutes later that rung out and bounced off of the nearby buildings, giving it a beautiful reverb. I looked up from my guitar to see most of the crowd quietly staring at me. I smiled nervously and put the guitar back in my bag, being careful not to hit it against anything or begin hyperventilating in the process. I looked over at the girls and saw a couple of them staring at me longingly, although Applejack was gone. I looked to my right and saw her sitting against the building a small distance away from me, looking up at the clouds. She noted I had ceased playing my guitar and shifted her gaze over to me. “You play that guitar mighty fine, Xavier.” She complemented as I merely nodded in thanks. The rest of the girls sat down near me and propped themselves against the Corner, Rarity pressing against me on my right and Rainbow Dash on my left. I tried to move, but I was too squished to even break my arm free. Rarity kissed my right cheek and batted her eyelashes again. Spike stared knives at me, almost as if he was trying to blow up my head using some sort of cerebral stimulus. Cute attempt, but of course, nothing occurred. Rainbow Dash bit her lip and looked about the crowd, not knowing what to do. Looking for something to do as I was quietly waiting, I twisted my head around and planted my right ear on the wall of the corner. The voices were muffled, but I could still make them out. “…he is? I can’t merely go off of circumstantial evidence. Solid proof would be more preferable.” Celestia said. “I don’t have anything that could lead to a solid conviction yet, but I’ve been looking rather hard. You see, he’s…” I heard Twilight begin before I was interrupted by a guard. “You!” A voice boomed from in front of me, making me flick around to see a well-built and rather disgruntled Pegasus standing in front of me wearing what I hoped was iron armor painted gold. “Yes?” I replied, attempting to keep on my best behavior. “They went into a private setting for a reason. You have no right to listen in on royal on-goings without permission. This is a warning. If I catch you doing that again, I will be forced to arrest you for conspiring against the government. Do you understand?” He barked. I had never really liked any sort of authority to begin with a few marked exceptions. I respected them, but sometimes, they really didn’t know what they were doing and often abused their power. Whether or not this was true here, I would not know unless I had constant contact with such guards. “I understand.” I said. “Good.” He miffed, walking back over to an area more concentrated by those of his same stature. I puffed, forcing my arms free so I could cross them, completely forgetting the two ponies sitting by my sides. However, the few sentences that I did catch. Who were they talking about? Was it me? Was this whole “drunken pony” thing a ruse? They both sounded rather professional in there, almost like it was a business meeting or other intelligent discussion. I couldn’t know exactly what they were scheming without listening in more, but I’d rather not be put to death by that one Pegasus who still seemed to be staring at me. A few more minutes passed as I was pondering the implications of the current circumstances before the guards eventually shifted away from the door so as to allow Twilight and Celestia to walk out. Once outside, the two of them looked at me and all the others sitting around me. Twilight gave me a smile and joined us by sitting on my lap, wrapping her forelegs around me and tucking her head under my chin while she closed her eyes. The others seemed flabbergasted at Twilight’s action, myself included. I had no idea how to react to such a display of affection. It was rather nice and warm of course, a little comforting even, but it seemed too intimate for me as I squirmed underneath her weight. The horse made her way over to the chariot, saying nothing despite Twilight’s rather uncalled for actions that a former instructor would surely disapprove of. Once she was in the chariot, she gave me one final look. It may have been one of confusion or anger, I couldn’t tell. The few unicorns that were present boarded the chariot with Celestia as the two pegai tied to the front flapped their wings and lifted the chariot off the ground and into the sky—which stayed parallel to ground despite their comparatively low velocity—the other guards surrounding it as she flew off. X: Unattainable RespiteInteresting how time flies. The sun had dipped quite low in the sky by now and the crowed had begun to dissipate, although slowly. I think some of the females stayed the longest, probably to gawk at me which the mere thought of was appalling. The main six that I had been surrounded by were still sitting by or on me, and by then my arms felt like pins and needles. “Okay ladies, I think it’s about time I head off.” I said in an attempt to get them to give me some space. The three of them groaned and got up, my arms and legs finally able to breathe again. Rarity kissed me one last time on the cheek, making Spike growl quietly and banging the back of his head on a wall of the Corner before he stood up. Rainbow Dash and Twilight gave me a hug while Fluttershy simply gave me a smile and Applejack tipped her hat—the last two probably the most welcome of the gestures so far. Twilight’s horn glowed when she hugged me, which I guess was weird. I was inclined to believe anything was normal at that point. Pinkie gave me a cupcake, which I thought was a rather nice treat. I thanked her warmly and stashed the cupcake in my bag for later. “So who are you going to be with tonight Xavier?” Pinkie asked. “I was kind of thinking Applejack.” I said. I thought about giving Fluttershy the night, but I decided on giving her more time. Plus, I thought it would give me break to be away from those who were infatuated with me. I saw Spike fist pump and quietly say something out of the corner of my eye. I was unable to hear what he said, but then again, I really didn’t care too much about him. Applejack smiled delightfully. “Oh this is going to be great! I can show y’all the family! And you can play your guitar for everypony too!” She exclaimed. I clumsily put my bag back on and followed the ever-excited Applejack. I looked back and saw Rarity waving happily, but the Rainbow Dash seemed upset. Twilight even looked somewhat angry as she attempted to hide the emotions that stirred within her. I rose one of my hooves to wave back, but ended up tripping instead. Catching myself mid-fall, I shot back up onto all fours and continued following a now laughing Applejack as if nothing had happened. After walking for about 10 minutes in silence, we reached a farm that was quite large; lots of acreage on this plot. “Welcome to Sweet Apple Farms, I work and live here with my brother, sister and grandma. We specialize in growing apples and make some of the best homemade cider in all of Equestria if I do say so myself.” She said as we entered the property. “My big brother’s name’s Big Macintosh, but everyone just calls him Big Mac, you met him back by the fountain not too long ago.” “Yeah, I remember him.” I said, recalling the experience. “My sister is Apple Bloom. She’s a cute little thing, I won’t let her bug you too much though.” She continued, “And then there’s Granny Smith, she’s got a bad hip, but boy can she cook! You’ll have to try one of her apple pies sometime.” “Yeah sure, I’ll give it a shot.” I said. We neared a small greenish house not far from the barn. A brown and white collie that was laying in front of the house looked up, barked once, and bounded up to meet us. It reared up its hind legs and wagged its tail, barking again. Applejack giggled and stroked the back of the dog. “Xavier, this is Winona, our dog.” Applejack said. The dog walked in front of me and sat down, merely looking up at me and cocking her head to one side. Winona whimpered and laid down, placing her head on her paws while still looking up at me. Applejack was about to say something, but the dog sprung up and started barking happily, cutting her off. Winona hopped all around me playfully, clearly excited to see a new face that she might be able to play with. Applejack laughed again. “She really seems to like you!” She exclaimed over the barking. “Seems so.” I replied, laughing to myself. As we walked to the house Winona followed us, jumping around and barking the whole way. It wasn’t until I whispered “quiet” that she ceased barking and followed us calmly. When the dog quieted down, both Applejack and I looked puzzled and glanced over at the now silent canine. “Did you ask her to stop barking?” She inquired of me. I looked at her with a confused face of my own. “Yeah, why?” I asked back. “She doesn’t really listen that well to strangers, it’s amazing how quickly she warmed up to you. It’s almost like what Rarity said happened to…Opal…” She trailed off, looking into the distance and stopping in her tracks. I cursed myself in my thoughts for being so reckless, stopping as well. She shifted her gaze back to me. “Are you an animal whisperer?” She asked. “No, I don’t think I am.” I answered, shaking my head. I was just as confused as Applejack was; I didn’t expect the animals here to become so comfortable with me so quickly. They had no reason to trust me, yet they were rather content around me. After a short silence, we began walking again as Applejack mulled over the recent odd occurrence. We entered the house and walked into a cozy and rustic foyer that was a mildly dim because of slightly inadequate lighting. “Granny! Apple Bloom! Big Mac! I’m home!” She yelled through the house. An old and jittery looking pony with a light lime green coat and light gray mane shambled into the room. “Quiet down, there’s no need to yell.” She said, also sporting a Southern accent. “Xavier, this is Granny Smith.” Applejack said. “Hello there ma’am.” I said kindly. Old people’s eyes were another one of my favorites. “Got yourself a stallion now did you? At least he’s a dapper fella.” Granny said, making Applejack chuckle. “Anyway, Apple Bloom is upstairs in her room. Big Mac is off somewhere doing Celestia knows what.” I peered around the room at the various furnishing and décor before finding a rickety wooden staircase that lead upstairs, ascending it carefully. “Nosy one isn’t he?” I heard Granny Smith say. I went into what I presumed was Apple Bloom’s room, being as she was sitting at a table and seemed to be writing something. I walked up behind her and peered over her shoulder. She seemed to be writing a to-do list with several activities that seemed to require some amount of skill to accomplish. She was also writing with her mouth, which seemed like a poor use of appendages. “Whatcha writing there?” I asked. The pencil in her mouth shot out and jabbed into the paper, leaving a gray mark as she jumped up in her seat and turned around quickly. “Don’t startle me like that!” Apple Bloom said, then recognizing it was me. “Oh, hi Xavier! I didn’t know you were coming over.” “It was a last second decision.” I said. “So what do you have going on here?” I asked a second time, peering over her shoulder. “Oh this?” She said, holding up her list written in crude English. “It’s a list of what me and the Crusaders are going to try out tomorrow to see what our special talent is!” I chuckled a bit. “At least you have your priorities straight.” I said as Applejack walked into the room behind me. “So who are these Crusaders?” “It’s me, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Babs, my cousin who is in Manehattan right now. We go around trying different things to see what our talent is.” Apple Bloom said excitedly. Ugh, more equine puns. “Sounds fascinating. I wish you luck in your endeavors.” I said, making Apple Bloom smile. “Yeah, well sometimes they get in the way or cause a ruckus.” Applejack said playfully. “At least we’re trying!” Apple Bloom said defensively. “I’ll give you that, but you need to be careful. Don’t need you and your friends getting hurt.” Applejack said. “I know…” Apple Bloom groaned. “C’mon Xavier, I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.” Said Applejack, walking out of the room. “You keep it up, but don’t hurt yourself.” I said to Apple Bloom as I walked out. “We’ll try our best!” She said, making me laugh. Applejack walked through the second floor to another room. It seemed quite cozy, but the bed was kind of small, a stark contrast from the luxury of Rarity’s house. Then again, it was a country house, so I shouldn’t expect too much from it. “This is where you’ll be staying.” She said. “You have sleeping bag in there, right?” She queried, gesturing to my bag. “Of course.” I nodded, laying my stuff down on the floor on the opposite side of the room to the bed before the sound of a door opening and closing echoed downstairs. “I’m back Granny!” Said a muffled Big Mac. “Well look who’s finally back.” Smiled Applejack. “Where’s Applejack? Has she come back yet?” Said Big Mac. “She’s upstairs with some boy of hers.” Granny Smith said. “A boy? What did he look like?” Asked Big Mac, sounding agitated. “I think he was some black stallion, I can’t remember.” Said Granny, leaving an awkward silence for a moment. “APPLEJAAAAAACK!” Big Mac yelled. XI: Swift ReminderApplejack’s ears folded over her head and winced as Big Mac’s voice bellowed through the house. Stomping was heard as he came up the stairs and trudged to Applejack’s room. He entered with nary an expression on his face, making it difficult to guess what he was thinking; it was unexpectedly intimidating. “Applejack. What did I say about this pony?” He said plainly. “But Big Mac, he just needed a place to stay for the night!” Applejack pleaded. “How do you know? He could be some sadistic serial killer or rapist for all we know. Or maybe he’ll kidnap you in the middle of the night and we’ll never see you again! I’ve never seen him around here before, have you?” Big Mac said sternly. He had a point, even I barely know who I am. Applejack was about to say something before Big Mac looked at me like he had before, examining me closely. “Now listen here, it’s all just a simple misunderstanding.” I said, hoping he would take into consideration my words. “I’m just here to stay the night, I mean no harm to you, Applejack, Sweetie, or Granny. I just want a place to lay my head down. If you’d be so kind as-” Big Mac rose up hoof, signaling for me to stop talking. I compiled, not wanting to infuriate him further. “Applejack, do you trust him?” He asked, turning to look at his sister. She looked at me, then back at Big Mac. She seemed torn, like she didn’t know what to say. I understood her hesitation; she hardly knew me as it was. I was anticipating her to say no. Not many people enjoyed my presence anyway. She stood in silence for several seconds as she looked back and forth between me and her brother, God knows what going through her head. Eventually, she sighed and rested her eyes on Big Mac, nodding slightly. My eyes widened and I let my mouth go slack a bit. What could have driven her to such an answer? She didn’t seem like she was as misguided as the other three and she seemed a lot more realistic and down to earth. Maybe I’ll have to ask her later. Big Mac nodded silently back before turning to me once more and nodding to me, and soon after, leaving the room. Applejack looked at the floor for a moment before shouting her brother’s name and dashing out of the room, her hat blowing off of her head and onto the floor at her sudden burst of speed. Raising an eyebrow at the doorway, I meandered over and picked up her hat, examining the cotton fabric it was fashioned from. After doing that for moment, I placed the hat on my head, walking in front of a small mirror that was stationed in the room. It seemed to fit fairly well, although it was little small on me. “Maybe I should get my own Stetson while I’m here.” I thought as Applejack walked back into the room, seeming more content with herself than before we saw me wearing her hat. “I beg your pardon, but that’s mine.” She said, frowning and pointing at the article atop my head. “Oh, sorry.” I answered, taking it off and handing it back to her who promptly placed it back on her head. “If there’s one thing you must know while you’re here, it's that this hat, is my hat. Got that, boy?” She commanded. “Right…” I sighed, looking back in the mirror to check if I needed a shave when I saw an infuriated Big Mac standing way back in the hall. He didn’t do anything, he just stood there watching, but left down the stairs after he saw I noticed him. “So what do you do for a living?” She asked, at which I turned around. “I don’t really have anything definite, I bounce around doing all sorts of things. I like to keep rooted in the sciences though. Fascinating field it is.” I said. She began to twirl bits of her mane. “Oh. I was just wondering.” She said. “Just because you don’t have your Cutie Mark and all.” “What’s a Cutie Mark?” I asked sincerely. She looked at me and scrunched up her nose. “What do you mean ‘what’s a Cutie Mark?’ You been living under a rock?” She said, utterly bewildered. “I just don’t get around much is all…” I said, shifting in my position. She sighed and began explaining what Cutie Marks were. They were simply some tattoo-esque symbols that appeared on your flanks when you discovered something you were good at, the symbol resembling something that is associated with that talent. “Ah.” I said, rubbing the back of my neck and biting my lip. “It’s strange you didn’t know about this before. Where did you come from?” She asked, tilting her head. “Just from a small place in the forest to the south.” I fibbed. I didn’t know what was anywhere really, so I just spoke of the place I set up camp. “So the Everfree Forest then?” She questioned, her voice faltering slightly. “Um, yeah. The Everfree Forest.” Her eyes widened at hearing this. “Is it difficult to live there? There must be all manners of critters you have to worry about in there…” “It's not too hard, just takes bit of getting used to.” “Hm.” She huffed, turning away slightly. “I didn’t know there was a town there; I’ve never seen anything there on any maps.” “I actually didn’t live in a town. As far as I know, I have never met my parents. I grew up in those woods alone for as long as I can remember, too frightened to leave the solitary protection of the trees. Living off of the land and not even encountering others much.” Applejack looked at me, with a sense of awe and concern. “You lived out there all by yourself for your whole life?” She asked. I nodded. “That explains why you don’t know a lot of things…” She whispered to herself. “You’re a stallion of the land then, aren’t you?” “You bet.” I said. Finally, something I wouldn’t have to lie about. I absolutely adored nature and always made sure to go camping once in a while to remind myself of the world that was out there. “Speaking of land, why don’t you show me around this farm of yours?” I asked. She perked up from her previously dreary state. “That’s a brilliant idea! Come on, I’ll show you the ins and outs of Sweet Apple Acres.” She said excitedly. She happily made her way downstairs and out of the house as I followed. As we were leaving, I saw Granny and Big Mac in the kitchen, Mac glaring at me as we passed. Applejack showed me around the farm, telling me what types of produce they grew and what kind of animals they kept. She even went into detail on some farming and raising techniques she found useful and that I tried to remember for my own use. We eventually came to a stop inside the barn and I laid down on a pile of hay. Applejack was tending to a few of the animals, so she didn’t notice me right away. I closed my eyes and just lost myself in thought, doing what men do best. Nothing. I suddenly realized I felt rather odd. Rather…good actually. I’m not sure why, but it was nice at least. I opened my eyes again to see Applejack looking at me. “Are you comfortable?” She asked. “Quite.” I replied. She started walking toward me when she stepped on a broom on the floor. She slipped on the broom and fell on top of me with an “oof,” knocking some of the wind out of my lungs. Applejack shook her head and she chuckle when she realized she was on top of me. “Um… Hi…” I said warily. “Hey there.” She spoke before rolling off of me and lying beside me, the both of us staring at the wooden ceiling. We’re both silent for good long while, although I’m not sure specifically how long it was. My eyes began to feel heavy from the extended period of silence and the comfortable position I was in. “So what kind of music do you like?” Applejack asked, jerking me suddenly from my sleepy state. “Well…” I started, sitting up and propping myself on my elbows. “I enjoy most forms of music, although not much rap. Some metal and all—if not, most—rock suits me.” I answered, yawning shortly after. The orange mare nodded while she listened, twisting onto her side and facing me. “Metal isn’t really my cup of cider, although I do enjoy some rock songs. As you may have guessed, I’m more of a country gal, but I’ll listen to most anything.” She said in response, making me chuckle a bit. “Yeah, I sort of figured.” I said before turning to look at her. She seemed deep in thought about something. “When you were alone in the Everfree, how did you defend yourself?” She questioned. I wasn’t really expecting that. “Being that I have these wings here and have some rather strong legs, I just book it when I see something a little too much for me to handle. However, if I can’t run away or is it’s small enough, I have a bow and a few arrows in my bag that I use.” “So you’ve killed things in their before?” “Oh yes, many a time. So much so, blood doesn’t startle me too much, not even my own when it's drawn sometimes.” She gave me an odd look. “Um… That’s interesting…” I turned to look at her. “What? Something wrong?” She shifted in her position. “Well, if I started to bleed or something, I would be at least a little worried. Even if it were a small cut, I’d get myself patched up as soon as I could.” “Oh I put dressings on my wounds when I must, but I don’t worry about them all too much. They merely hinder progress.” Laying back down on the hay, Applejack simply stared up at the ceiling as she processed the information that I had given her. “You’re an odd one, you know that, right?” She suddenly asked. “I guess I am.” I sighed, actually enjoying the small talk we were having more than I had expected to. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I felt like I could take on the world. Shortly after that exchange of words, we both agreed to head inside. Once we had returned to the cozy house, Applejack went to help Granny and Big Mac cook something in the kitchen while went upstairs to prepare my sleeping arrangements. There, I saw Apple Bloom rummaging through my things. For what end, I wasn’t sure, but it certainly made me feel clammy. “What do you think you’re doing?” I asked with a mildly shaking voice, furrowing my brow. She stopped looking and turned around slowly, chuckling and smiling nervously. “Uh…hi… This isn’t what it looks like…” She said. “Sure it’s not, and I’m Nikola Tesla.” I said sarcastically, attempting to lighten my mood. Apple Bloom cocked her head to one side and looked at me puzzled. “Nikola Tesla? Who’s that?” She asked. I suddenly realized who I referenced and that he may not exist in this realm. “He’s someone I know,” I said quickly, “now step away from my stuff.” “Why…? Got something to hide in here…?” She said with a smirk. She turned around again and continued to search through my things. “Get out of there!” I yelled walking over and picking her up by her back. I turned her to look at me, revealing that she was holding a battered iron helmet that had since lost most of its original green hue and a chinstrap that was surprisingly still intact between her hooves. Apple Bloom looked over it with a most intrigued look plastered on her face. “Why was this in there? Why is it so beat up? I’ve never seen such an odd hat before…” She rambled in an attempt to elicit some sort of explanation from me. It didn’t work as I only grew enraged at the ignorant child, the very sight of the headwear making my pulse race through my veins. “Why don’t you put that back before I get really pissed off…?” I seethed through clenched teeth. She wasn’t expecting such a reaction, evident by her folding back her ears and solemn expression. Setting her down on the floor, she returned the helmet to where she found it in my bag before backing away from me, trembling softly and avoiding eye contact with me. I stared knives at her the entire time, making sure she didn’t damage nor run off the with article. “Will you ever go through any of my stuff ever again…?” I miffed, my rage ever so slightly melting away. She shook her head as a response, still not having looked up from the floor. “Good. You may leave now.” Turning around and not so much as giving me a second glance, she silently sulked out the room. Once I was certain she had completely left, I made my way over to my bag and stuffed the helmet as far down as it would go. “I have no idea why I still have that fuc-bloody thing…” I whispered to myself, once again avoiding a slip of the tongue. XII: I Ran Out Of Ideas For TitlesHaving completed the task of burying my past, I allowed myself to settle down with the aid of continued odd feelings and a few more gentle thoughts. Finally recalling what I had originally come upstairs for, I found my compressed and rather wrinkled sleeping bag, smoothing it out as much as I could on the floor near the window, placing a pillow at the head shortly after. Sighing to myself, I gazed out at the setting sun of the afternoon. The gorgeous reds and oranges covered the sky in luminous and vivid schemes, some of the color projecting onto a nearby cloud or two. I felt notably more calm—probably the most calm I’ve been here so far—setting my elbows on the window sill and resting my head in my hooves, I merely stared and cherished the sight before me. After a short while of admiring the scenery before me, I noted that a small entity had enter my field of vision from afar. I couldn’t quite make out who or what it was from here, so I simply watched with intrigue as the object danced around in the sky with absolute grace and dazzling speed. It made hairpin turns at seemingly breakneck speeds, several areal tricks that I had never seen before, and a most memorable finale. As I watched all this unfold, the thing rose high into the sky before plummeting back down to the earth. I straightened out my arms and placed my hooves on the sill, frightened that this phenomenon would lead to the death of such an elegant creature. I even reached out a hoof, as if I could reach the being and save it from its imminent and gruesome end. At the last moment, it shot back up and darted away from the ground that I was certain would be the creature’s grave. Breathing a sigh of relief, I continued to look with awe as, in a sudden flash of light, a rainbow in the shape of a ring flew out from the creatures during its ascent. “Wow…" I whispered, not even bothering an attempt to understand how the being accomplished such a feat. I merely wanted to relish the moment and all of the wonders it had to offer that I could feast my eyes on. A moment later, I heard the loud burst that accompanied the rainbow blast, causing the house to vibrate minutely. I let out a lighthearted sigh—such a beautiful creature with such whimsical talents. Oh how I wished to know of the source of such fantastic exquisiteness. Shortly thereafter, the being hovered in the sky, smack in the center of the sun that was half covered by the horizon. I stared at it oh so intently, trying to make out any fine details that could lead to a classification, but alas, the only things I could pick out were its wings. Those strong, powerful, well-tuned wings. I couldn’t help but yearn for such might and prowess. The soft and gorgeous background of the setting sun acted as a perfect juxtaposition for the hardened talent and stunning nature of the creature. It then flew off without another trace and my heart sank. I poked my head out of the window to try and see where it was off to, but because of it prodigious speed, I could not ascertain where it had gone. I lingered out of the window for a moment longer, hoping it would return and grant me another spectacle of its abilities, but after waiting for a solid five minutes, it was evident it wasn’t returning any time soon. I fell back into the house and smiled lightly, my feelings of anger and hostility completely replaced with serenity. Curious as to what the rest of the household had thought of the events I had just recently witnessed, I hopped happily down the stairs. In the foyer, Applejack was with Granny making flighty conversation, Big Mac chiming in every so often. When he noticed I had entered the room, he seemed a little more wary and observant of me, flicking a glance in my direction every so often as Apple Bloom also made her way down the stairs behind me. “Did you finish your list?” I softly asked Apple Bloom, who jumped slightly at my voice and merely shook her head afterward. I hoped I hadn’t frightened her too much earlier; I just can’t help myself sometimes. I think Big Mac took note of Apple Bloom’s demeanor, his eyes narrowing at me as if he was blaming me for something. Clever boy. “Oh! Apple Bloom, Xavier.” Applejack noted, “Granny and Big Mac made some apple pie, so if you want there’s some in the kitchen.” Applejack said. “Oh boy! Apple pie!” Apple Bloom said gleefully, scampering into the adjacent room. “You can have some too if you want Xavier.” Applejack said, smiling. “Oh sure.” I said, walking into the kitchen after Apple Bloom. The sweet aroma of freshly baked cinnamon and apple pastry wafted around in the air. I took a deep breath in through my nose and let it out with a deep sigh. Two sweet treats in one day? How lucky was I? “Ah yes…” I said to myself looking over at the partly eaten pie resting on the counter, Apple Bloom standing next to it on her hind legs atop a chair to reach it. “Did you say something?” She asked suddenly. “Hm? Oh, no, nothing important.” I responded, soon after adding in, “Um…Apple Bloom…?” To which she merely turned her head to look at me. “Sorry about what happened upstairs…I just…don’t like people rummaging through my stuff…” “It's fine, I shouldn’t have been so nosy anyway. Sorry about that.” I wasn’t expecting such a lax response. I was about to ask her if she was serious, but decided to let it slide. At this point, the less questions I asked, the better. Smiling, I gave a quick nod before walking over to the pie, cutting a reasonably sized piece and giving it to her. “Thanks!” She said, sitting down in the chair and scarfing the pie down. It was kind of disgusting, but at least she wasn’t eating something worse. I took a small bite of the pie and let the flavor spread along my tongue and rest of my mouth. I could slightly taste the spice of the cinnamon and the combination of the sweetness of the apple… Perfect. This Granny really knew how to bake. By the time I went to take my second bite, Apple Bloom had finished her piece. Little crumbs stuck to her face as she looked up at me, smiling a toothy grin with little bits of apple and flaky crust stuck between her teeth and on her cheeks. Not exactly a sight I wanted to see. “Let’s get you cleaned up here…” I said, placing my piece down on the countertop and grabbing a washcloth from a sink that looked reasonably clean to wipe off her face. She wriggled and squirmed as I removed the pie crumbs. “Hey! Mbmbphh… Cut that out!” She giggled as she continued wiggling. “I’m just cleaning you off, now quit moving!” I said as I laughed. I soon finished and removed the washcloth from her face. “There, now you’re not all pie encrusted. No pun intended.” She laughed a little and said thanks again, hopping off of the chair and leaving the kitchen. I turned around and took another bite of my pie, savoring it to the fullest degree possible. It took me a while to finish the slice; I wanted to savor everything this moment had to offer. I sighed once I finished and looked at the pie tin, thinking about sneaking another piece. I cringed as I was suddenly hit by a blast of euphoria. “The pie wasn’t that good.” I thought to myself, shaking slightly and rubbing my eyes. I sat in the chair Apple Bloom was standing in earlier, closing my eyes and rubbing my temples while breathing deeply. Now it’s not that this release of dopamine feels bad, it feels great in fact. It's just that its probably going to cloud my judgment and I do not need that while I’m here. Why was this happening? Had I been dragged? I continued to ponder the possibilities of why this would occur when suddenly a name and a face popped into my head. Twilight. I wasn’t anywhere near thinking about her when she randomly appeared in my thought processes. I tried to think of other things, but she was always lodged somewhere off to the side or in the shadows of my thoughts. It was like someone had cut a hole in my brain and stuck a picture of Twilight there just to annoy me. Which I guess was okay; she wasn’t half bad looking anyway. About then, Applejack walked in with a smile on her face. She looked prettier than I remembered. “So how was the pie?” She asked. “Yeah, it was great. Your grandmother is a great cook.” I said, patting my stomach with glee. “She sure is! I’m glad you enjoyed it!” She said, noticing something about me. “Hey… Wait a minute there…” “What is it?” I asked. “I’ve seen somepony else sit like that before, not many do.” “Really? Enlighten me if you will.” “Lyra I think her name is. She’s the first one of us to study anthropology.” “Anthropology? Well, what took you guys so long?” I said, snapping out of my stupor a bit. As far as I knew, I simply walked here somehow. A different universe with (seemingly) different physics and sentient beings. It’s a wonder humans haven’t been cataloged just wandering into the place. Applejack tilted her head to one side. “What do you mean took so long?’“ She asked, scrunching her nose. I stood up from the chair, wobbling a bit. “Well, I mean, isn’t there extensive documentation of humans coming here?” I asked. “I wouldn’t know, I don’t study that kind of stuff. I haven’t really asked Lyra about them either. She’s a…well…she’s certainly a character. You sound like you know something about them though. You should talk to her.” She said. “I might…” I mumbled. “Also, how would you know so much about humans anyways? Lyra barely has any information on them as it is.” “You don’t want to know.” I thought to myself. “Well, I mean, I don’t know too terribly much about them, but I think two researchers are better than one.” I said. She nodded. “Two heads are always better than one.” She said. “Not always.” I thought. “You betcha. Oh, didn’t you want me to play the guitar for your family or something also?” I diverted the conversation; her ears perked up. “Oh yeah! Get your guitar and I’ll let everyone know.” She said, walking out of the room and informing everyone of the coming events. As she did, I walked up the stairs to get my guitar, grabbing it from my bag and slinging it across my back. I walked back downstairs into the den where Granny and Big Mac were already waiting, Granny sitting in a wooden rocking chair and Big Mac standing beside her. Granny smiled at me, so I smiled back. I smiled at Big Mac and he nodded back at me, no smile or anything. Apple Bloom reluctantly walked down the stairs with Applejack not far behind. “I keep getting interrupted! I got to have that list for the Crusaders tomorrow! They’re counting on me for this!” Cried Apple Bloom. “Oh quit your whining and have some respect, this won’t take long.” Applejack said. They both sat on the floor next to Granny, Apple Bloom crossing her forelegs in irritation and Applejack sat looking at me, smiling. “God she is absolutely gorgeous.” I (now regrettably) thought—luckily no one could hear me—breaking myself from her gaze as I stood up on my hind legs and shifted the guitar around to my front. Applejack inched closer as she eagerly awaited whatever I would strum. I took the pick off of the guitar and, instead of just playing some random flowing riffs, I played and song “Yesterday” by Lennon–McCartney. As much as I like my own music, I also quite enjoy other pieces. It was a shame I didn’t have any violins or cellos to accompany me, otherwise it would’ve been perfect. As I played, Apple Bloom unfolded her front legs and watched me, starting to get into the swing of things. Applejack closed her eyes and swayed slowly to the beat of the music. Granny also closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair. Big Mac’s face even seemed to soften a bit, which was the most calm I’ve ever seen the big guy. My voice resonated in the house as well as outside; however far I didn’t know, I would have to calculate that later if I had time to kill. I prided myself on my voice; a nice tenor or baritone when generally talking or singing, but I could still reach countertenor or bass if the time called for it. I neared the end of the song, humming the last verse and slowly plucking out the ending, letting the notes hang in the air like a fog. There was silence for a moment, then Applejack and Granny opened their eyes. “I haven’t heard a song like that since I was a filly,” she said, probably reminiscing of her youth. “Oh Xavier…” Said Applejack, bringing her forehooves to her chest, “that was beautiful…” I smiled. “Thank you.” I said warmly, hoping, at that time, I had made a great impression on her. “I guess that was pretty good, but I’ve heard better.” Big Mac said, mumbling something else under his breath I couldn’t quite catch. “I don’t care what Big Mac says, I think it was great!” Exclaimed Apple Bloom, bouncing in her seat. “Thank you Apple Bloom.” I said, laughing a little. I stuck the pick back underneath the strings and spun the guitar around to my back, allowing me to resume standing on all fours. “Do you play any other instruments?” Apple bloom asked. “I play quite a few—I’ve learned a few over the years. Let’s see… I play the guitar—both acoustic and electric—piano, violin, and…nope, that’s it.” “Wow… You should apply to be in an orchestra or something.” Applejack piped up. “Oh really? Is there one around?” I asked with intrigue. I would never consider joining one—too many eyes of course—but I would love to listen to one. “Sort of. We have a theater here in Ponyville that ponies sometimes play at. There’s even one who plays the cello who lives around here. Octavia.” “I do enjoy a spot of classical music occasionally. I might have to speak to her at some point.” “Well I don’t know about you guys, but I think I’ll be getting back to my list.” Interrupted Apple Bloom, jumping off of the couch and heading up the stairs. “Okay then, sleep well and don’t stay up too late.” I said. “You too!” She said back. “Maybe I should add something musical to the list…?” I heard her say to herself as she ascended the stairs. “I think I’ll be getting to bed too.” Big Mac said, heading for the stairs. “G’night Mac!” Said Applejack. “Good night.” I said. “Good night everyone.” He said, walking up the stairs. “I think I’ll be fine here.” Said Granny, starting to rock in the chair. “Y’all go off and get some sleep too, it’s pretty late.” I agreed, the sun had dipped below the horizon quite a while ago, and this deviant of a pony was beat. “I think you’re right.” I said, turning to Applejack. “I’ll be upstairs if you want anything.” “A’ight.” She responded. I walked up the stairs and passed Apple Bloom’s room. I peered around the ajar door and saw her lazily writing as her head bobbed back and forth from lack of sleep. I chuckled to myself and entered Applejack’s room, placing my guitar beside my bag. I looked up and out the window, gazing into the pale darkness of a field and rolling hills in the beyond. “Maybe living here won’t be so bad.” I thought to myself, curious to know how a relationship between one of the girls and I would work out. “No no, that’s ridiculous. Why would I ever dream of getting together with those…things…?” Now that was something I could excogitate. Through this moment of clarity and nothing to distract me, why would I even think that I could get together with anyone here? I’ve just been feeling so strange lately. Did Twilight have something to do with it? I could imagine so, seeing as these people’s use of “magic” is signified by the lighting up of his or her horn, and Twilight’s horn glowed on me a while back. I couldn’t ensure these were the true and actual events that occurred, it’s all so circumstantial, so I reserved my later judgements for until I had enough evidence to work with. Applejack trotted into the room, smiling with bags under her eyes. “You ready to sleep yet?” She asked. I removed whatever unfitting emotions that may have lingered on my face and turned around. “Yeah, I could use some shuteye. I already have my bag set down over here, so I should be set for the night.” I informed. “Ah, good,” she said, offering me a blanket in case things got cold on the floor during the night. I accepted, at which she gave me a woolen blanket from a chest near her bed. I thanked her before slipping into my bag and placing the blanket over me. Applejack went over and flicked a switch, shutting off the light in the middle of the room. She then jumped into her bed and yawned. “Good night.” She said lazily. “Good night…” I sighed as I laid there facing toward the window and looking out to the moon. It was rather bright, but nothing too much so as to prevent me from sleeping. Nature’s nightlight. As I attempted to stop thinking about anything so I could sleep, I felt slightly woozy, but I just brushed this off as a side effect of this odd happy feeling I kept experiencing against my will. Hopefully I’d feel better tomorrow. Laying in my sleeping bag, I pondered how I would be able to get back home. I was amazed I hadn’t thought about this before. I may have to make a universal jump gate, which I’ve only theorized about and would likely destroy everything in a on the planet. The materials for it were so rare, it would take me ages to build, and I think some of them aren’t even on earth. It would take decades to create here, especially considering the fact the technology required probably doesn’t exist here yet. I could also just walk around in the forest for a while until I would randomly teleport back to Prime, but the statistical probability that I was transported here without assistance was already astronomical. I doubt I would be able to suddenly just hop back to Prime. Although I wouldn’t go back just yet; this universe was just so fascinating. I finally had another world to discover and unveiling its secrets would be an adventure in itself. I abruptly felt tired and decided it would be good to get some actually restful sleep. Before I had almost fallen asleep, I thought I felt a presence of standing someone very close to me. I checked, but I saw no one around. Satisfied with my safety, I once again closed my eyes and drifted off.
I: The FirstSlogging through the forest with my boulder sized bag that sat quite precariously on my shoulders, I searched for a clearing to set up camp. The light of the sun slowly approaching the horizon had everything bathed in a golden glow. The whisper of the wind and the chirp of the birds kept me company as I roamed the woods. It’s not often I encounter such pristine places to settle—these bloody humans don’t know how to care for Mother Earth properly. That is, if there were even any humans around… Shifting my bag, I glowered slightly at the thought of who’s “in charge.” I pushed the idea out of my mind and kept walking, hoping to find a resting spot soon. I didn’t feel like walking much further. I ran my hand through my mussy silvery gray hair as I walked along, trying to clean up its appearance a bit. Rather than flattening, it poofed back up and returned to its spiky and somewhat unkempt state. Contrary to the color of my hair, my face didn’t display any signs of the vale of years. Rather, a middle-aged, almost adolescent, one took its place. Why I had chosen to look like this I’m not sure myself, but something about it seemed to describe me well and I had grown quite fond of it over the years. With the way I looked, you could say I was already a natural born liar. As I blew a stray hair out of my face, I pushed a low hanging branch out of the way to prevent me from walking into it. Sometimes it was cumbersome being 6’4”. Not finding any naturally sufficient spot, I spied a decently sized tree rooted right in the middle of what could be a nice place to rest. It was relatively short compared to the rest of the trees, but still had a nice width. I removed the bag from my back and placed it against another tree, my acoustic guitar clanking against the ground. Taking out a small axe from my bag, I returned the to center tree and began whacking away at it. I felt a little bad for chopping down a tree for the mere purpose of providing more space and firewood I would probably barely even use, but there were countless others around me. A couple of unfortunate squirrels ran out from the leaves of the tree. I winced as I watched them scamper by, irritated by the fact I may have ruined the home of some of the native animals. Hopefully they would be able to find a new home soon enough, that is, if this tree was their home to begin with. After swinging at the tree for several minutes, it finally began to crack under its own weight and meager support. Eventually, the whole thing came crashing down, landing on the grassy ground with a massive “thud” that I felt in my chest. The only thing that remained was a stump, which would be fun to get rid of. Rolling the fallen tree out of the way, I started smacking at the base of the stump, hoping to give myself some flat ground to use. It took me a good long while to get through it fully, but when I did and it was hanging on by only a few roots, I managed to tug it out by hand, landing on my back as the wooden mass rolled around in front of me. I chuckled faintly of my blunder before getting back up and placing the trunk at the bottom of the tree. The only thing that was left was a few roots sticking out of the ground in a divot in the dirt; perfect for a fire pit. Then chopping my way through the fallen tree for several minutes, I stacked the fresh wood away from the to-be pit to allow it some time to dry. I returned to my bag, putting the axe back and taking out a small magnesium lighter, placing it in my pocket for later use. I take my bow strapped to the side of the bag and a single arrow; I only needed one anyway. I walked silently away from the site listening closely for any sounds that may come from potential dinner. I find a nice tall tree and bite down on my bow and arrow as I climb it. Perched in the tree, I grab the bow and arrow again and wait, drowning out other unimportant noise in an attempt to hone in on anything worth hunting. I waited for a good half an hour before I heard an anomalous rustling in the grass. I cast my gaze in which I thought the sound was emitted and saw a deer walking about. I drew my bow and pointed it towards the animal, slowing my breathing and focusing. The deer heard a noise and looked in the direction it came from. I took this opportunity and let loose the arrow. It whispered through the air and quickly pierced the deer’s eye, embedding itself in its skull and killing it immediately, the limp body of the deer falling to ground with a small “piff” as it disturbed the grass around it. I hopped down from the tree and dragged the fresh corpse to my makeshift campground. By now, the sun was about an hour before setting. I removed the arrow from the deer’s head, making a sickening sucking sound as I pulled it out. I would’ve felt nauseated, but this wasn’t so bad from what I’ve seen before. I pulled out a knife from my back pocket and began to skin the animal. Before moving further, I removed my shirt. I didn’t need any blood getting on it. My black angelic-like wings glistened in the afternoon night. They’ve been caked up against my back because of my bag, so it was nice to stretch them out a bit. My physique wasn’t something to gawk at; I was of a decent build with some defined muscles, but definitely nothing like some body builder. I didn’t need to be one either; my muscle fibers were more closely packed together and I had an increased ratio of red blood cells than normal humans, allowing for increased strength and stamina. The only issue with this is that it has the unfortunate side effect of making me a hell of a lot heavier than I should be. After I had separated enough skin from the cadaver, I stretched it out the underneath the carcass and removed the undesirable organs; the intestines, stomach, liver, etcetera. I took the meat, deboned it and place it on another part of the skin lying on the ground. I wiped my hands of most of the deer’s blood on the grass and checked the wood. It wasn’t as dry as I would’ve hoped, but that’s what I get for making firewood out of a recently living tree. I gather up a few logs and place them in the pit in a sort of tepee formation. I wandered around the area, picking up various sticks and leaves that had drifted to the ground to use as tinder and extra fuel. Bringing the bundle to the pit and put in a few sticks in here and there, then taking a handful of leaves and laying them in the base of the logs. I removed the magnesium lighter from my pocket and scrape the magnesium bar on the side with my knife. The shavings land on the pile of leaves and grass, pattering as they fall within it. I strike the lighting mechanism of lighter, allowing sparks to shower on bits of metal. After the first strike, the magnesium in the pile flashed white and ignited the surrounding material, making me flinch. I allowed the flames to soak in to the rest of the wood before placing a slab of venison on one of the upright logs and letting it cook. By now the sun has dipped significantly and some stars have begun to appear. In the meantime, I gathered up the discarded organs and bones and dump them off away from the camp. I return to the site and sit by the fire, the wood cracking and the flames licking up at the night sky. I took the excess meat and wrap it up in the deerskin, hanging it in a high tree. I didn’t know what kind of wildlife lived around here, but I was going to presume bears were a threat and take the necessary precautions to prevent one from rummaging through my food supply. I retrieved my shirt and put it back on. The cool evening had begun to make some dew form, causing my shirt to gather some of it from the grass, making it feel cool and damp against my warm skin. After a few minutes, I flipped the venison steak so it would cook thoroughly; I didn’t feel like vomiting all night from undercooked meat. More stars had begun to emerge from the deep dark velvet blue sky, like white hot sowing needles poking through the heavens. I looked up and tried to make out any constellations. I caught Orion and Ursa Major, maybe Boötes too, but I wasn’t sure at that time. The smell of the venison broke me away from the night sky, so I poked it to test if it was done. It seemed to be well done, but I didn’t have anything to put it on. Sighing to myself, I simply snatched the venison from the flames, burning my hands slightly in the process. I quickly threw the steak into my good hand and shook around the burned hand in a futile attempt to cool it down. I cursed to myself as I stuck the burned portion of my hand into my mouth and sucked on it. Eventually, my natural healing process took over, the pain in the scorched flesh slowly ebbing away in a reasonable amount of time. I removed my hand from my mouth to confirm that it wasn’t too severe. “Should be healed by tomorrow.” I thought to myself as I scrutinized my wound. Once I was satisfied it would be fine, I took a nice bite from the side of the steak, a small bit of succus ran down my chin which I wiped away with my sleeve. It hadn’t retained all of its juices, but the flavor was still great. I swallowed the meat and flicked off a few pieces of charcoal that had stuck to the steak, taking another bite. It was kind of gamey for my preferences, but I don’t know what else I expected from a deer. I finished the steak and laid down on the cool, moist grass, staring into the now star filled sky. Wherever I was, it was sure free of pollution, I could see hundreds upon thousands of stars, allowing me to observe a large quantity of constellations from the Northern hemisphere from here. It was truly a breathtaking sight despite having seen similar things to this before. But the awe I have for such sights always linger inside me. I continued to gawk at the sky for a good long while until I decided to go ahead and pitch the tent to get some rest. I pulled out a tent from my large bag and begin setting it up, pulling out rods and feeding them through slots in it. In a few minutes, I had a small but cozy tent to sleep in. I took a sleeping bag from the top of the bag and laid it out in the tent, completing my simple setup for the night. I laid down again and stared up at the sky, being childish and trying to make my own images of the stars. I finally decide on sleeping. It had been a long day of hiking and my feet ached. I crawled into the tent and slipped into the bag, closing my eyes. I pondered of what I may be able to do the next day, eventually dozing off, thinking of how to prepare lunch for tomorrow.
II: Sleep 101I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of a branch snapping followed by a slight gasp. I snapped open my purple cat-like eyes and listened closely. I heard slow breathing not far from the tent. Whether or not this person knew I was awake was unknown. However, by the fact that he (presuming it’s a ‘he’) slowed his breathing told me that he either fears someone is near or he knows someone is near He began to walk closer to the site with the sound of the grass giving away his position. I silently left the sleeping bag and stepped over to the tent door. I unzipped the door slightly and peered out with one of my eyes into the inky blackness of the night. It was quite dark with the night lit up only by the pale light of the moon. Judging by the position of the stars I presumed it was around 3 AM. Why this person was out so late escaped me, but I preferred to keep him away. The fire pit had been reduced to lumps of smoldering coal, some of it still glowing and snapping. I caught slight movement out of the corner of my eye and concentrated carefully in that direction, allowing my pupil to dilate to let in more light and get a better view of whatever was approaching. Eventually, a…sky blue colored…thing…appeared from behind a tree. Its basic anatomy was similar to that of a horse, but it was too small to be one. It seemed more accurate of a pony. Its mane was a sight to behold though. It was long and bright although dimmed by the darkness of the night. It was quite colorful, a rainbow in fact, its tail being the same vivid scheme. “Hello?” It called out in a rather masculine voice, but with a hint of femininity to it. She looked at the coals glowing in the fire pit, then started to look around. She was an observant little one. I then noticed she had a small pairs of wings affixed to her torso which I found strange. Presuming the people who watched the skies for a living were doing their jobs, they should’ve noticed something like this flying around. Then again, considering I have wings as well, it’s a surprise they haven’t found me either. I didn’t think this thing would like something other than its own species to suddenly appear upon it. It probably would like something at least resembling itself. I took a good long look at her anatomical structure and quickly formulated a model I could assume. Adding my own masculine tweaks of course. I zipped the door back up and started to think of the cosmetic changes. Nothing too crazy, just a black version with a light gray mane, purple eyes and a more masculine facial structure. I considered keeping the cat-like eyes, but quickly brushed it off; it would be too conspicuous. I finally finished my mental picture and put it to the test, slowly shifting my structure to that of what I thought of. My hands and feet became hooves, hair became mane, muscle and bone moving around and reshaping to accommodate this new form. It does feel rather strange when I change my outward appearance. It feels like I’m being shoved into a place I don’t quite belong. Similar to shoving a pillow in a small jar and still making it fit. With my now baggy clothes, it was a little difficult to see how much I had really changed. I shook off my clothing and stuffed them into the very bottom of the sleeping bag. Once finished, I looked at my new self. Shorter, that was for sure, but I was still taller than whoever or whatever was out there. I could presume I kept handsome, but I didn’t want to be too haughty. I took a deep breath and unzipped the door fully, facing whomever this was. She seemed to have heard the zipper, the pony whipping her head in my direction. I didn’t know what her visibility was, but I could see just fine; I was attuned to seeing in dark places. “Don’t fall into the fire pit, the coals are still awful hot,” I said as I walked out into the brisk night air. “Duh. You think I’m stupid?” She replied snottily. “I wouldn’t suppose so, I just wanted to announce my presence.” I didn't like her right off the bat. “Besides,” she added, “they wouldn’t hurt that much anyway.” I held back a sour look. “Whatever you say… So what are you doing around here so late? Shouldn’t you be sleeping or something?” I questioned as I gathered up a couple logs and placed them into the pit. “Do you think I have some sort of ‘bedtime?’ I’m not a filly ya know.” “I was just curious, most would just be sleeping at this hour. I was sleeping, up until you decided to start yelling around my camp.” I said before blowing on the coals, provoking a small flame to start to burn, the meager fire lapping eagerly at the lumber. “Yelling? That was barely even a holler. If that woke you up you must be one light sleeper. Besides,” she scoffed, “sleep is for the weak. I can go for days without sleep, even weeks." “Well, all living beings need sleep on a regular basis, too little sleep can lead to serious health problems such as depression, heart disease, and strokes. Not to menti-” “Yeah, blah blah blah, that’s boring.” She said cutting me off, “why are you so boring? You sound just like that egghead Twilight… Why don’t you be more interesting for once? Like me!” She pointed to herself, her face showing a hint of a smirk. “Never mind then.” I said, sighing to myself. By now fire had grown enough to make a bubble of light encircle the two of us. She finally got a good look at me and is slightly taken aback. I noticed she seemed slightly nervous and began avoiding eye contact. I shifted in my spot and looked down into the fire. I didn’t expect this reaction from such a self-absorbed brat. I sat down on the ground in front of the flames and caught her staring at me across the fire. “Are you feeling okay?” I asked. She stood there for a moment, finally snapping out of her dazed stupor. “Y-yeah I’m, fine. Just a little tired is all.” She said as she sat down in front of the fire as well. “Ah, the sleepless knight is foiled by fatigue. What did I tell ya?” I said, attempting to maintain my composure. “Yeah,” she said, chuckling nervously, “I guess you were right.” I decided to have a little fun with this to offset my anxiety. “Well, why don’t you go ahead and stay here for the rest of the night? Let you catch up on some rest.” She perked up at hearing this and became quite flustered. “A-Are you sure? I-I can just go home and sleep there instead. I-I wouldn’t want to b-bother you.” “No, no, I insist,” I said, gesturing toward the tent. “There’s plenty of room for two.” “W-Well I mean, I have my own bed and things. I don’t want to m-mess up your time out here and yeah I’ll go ahead and stay.” “Great,” I said, smiling as warmly as I could, “you want to go ahead and sleep now or wait a little bit to-?” “No, I’ll go to bed now! See you in the morning!” She rushed inside and zipped up the tent door almost faster than I could register. She was a strange little thing. I sat by the fire looking into the flames as they danced around in the black of the night and pallid moon light. It finally came to my attention that I didn’t know her name, if she even had one that is. “Oh hey, you got a name?” I asked to the tent. “Of course I have a name,” she said, returning to her stuck-up self, “it’s Rainbow Dash.” “Rainbow Dash huh? Strangest name I’ve come across in a while. Especially considering your first name is two words, if that's what I'm getting here.” She poked her angered head out of the tent and said, “Now you listen here…” But she stopped abruptly and simply stared at me again. “I’m listening,” I said, waiting for any insult she could conjure up, but she merely shook her head and continued. “B-But you can call me Dashie.” She said as she returned inside the tent once more, not even bothering to ask my name. I looked back at the fire. “Dashie…” I said, “cute nickname.” I heard an ever so slight squeal from the tent and glanced over at it. I thought about bringing it up, but I had tortured her enough already. I sat and waited for the fire to die down a little bit before returning to sleep. Once it had gone down enough to be left alone, I made my way over to the tent and walked through the door, zipping it up behind me. Inside the tent, she appeared to have stolen my sleeping bag and was now using it. Although I could tell she wasn’t asleep just yet; her breathing was too rapid. Luckily, she wasn’t long enough to reach the very bottom of the bag and feel my clothes. That probably would’ve been a dead giveaway. I sighed and laid down on the floor about a foot away from her, silently hoping the tent would trap enough heat to keep me warm for the night. I thought a little about how I would get rid of this creature, but I didn’t get too far; I was too tired for that. I simply attempted to doze off as the night progressed. And, eventually, I succeeded.
III: Why I Don't Like PeopleBirds chirping all around the tent and the wind lazily blowing through the trees. The sounds one wishes to hear upon waking up. So beautiful. I opened my eyes and looked around the tent. Not much to see—just Rainbow Dash still resting in my sleeping bag. I yawned loudly, possibility disturbing her in her slumber. She turned a little in the bag, but didn’t wake. It was about then that I had noticed the sleeping bag was closer to me. A lot closer. So close in fact, the bag was touching me and I could feel her warmth through the skin of the bag. I jumped up onto my feet…erm…hooves and stepped back a little. I didn’t know whether she had intended to move over by me or not, but I was hoping for the latter. I stepped around her and unzipped the door exiting the tent, opening out into a brightly lit forest and a smoldering fire pit. I noticed that there was an apple tree not far from the camp, so I walked over to it and flapped my wings silently, rising up to it and snapping a few apples ripe-looking apples from the braches, bringing them back to the camp. I set them in a small pile next to my bag and began eating one. To occupy my mind, I lifted one up without physical means, the apple hovering around and spinning as if possessed by some bored spirit. I chuckled lightly before taking another bite of my apple. I heard Rainbow Dash toss about again and then sit up in the tent—startling me and making me drop the hovering apple suddenly—yawning and rubbing her eyes. She looked to the left of the bag, then right. Looking all around the tent until she noticed me through the still open tent door. “‘Morning sleepy head.” I said and tossed an apple to her. She shot a foreleg out of the bag and caught it. “Thanks.” She said quietly, biting into the crisp apple. “So when I woke up, I noticed you were awful close to me. Any reason for it?” I asked. She choked on her bite of apple and slammed her hoof on her chest a few times as she sputtered. “W-w-well I don’t know, I wasn’t awake then. It was p-probably just cold. Yeah, it was very c-cold last night. S-so I got closer to you to keep warm.” Sure. That bag was rated for Antarctic weather conditions. Although, with me having an internal core temperature of about 38 °C, I must’ve felt nice to lay against. But I didn’t want her to think I thought she had a little something for me, although she was doing a bad job of hiding it already. “Oh, that’s why. Okay, I was just wondering.” I said, placing more wood in the pit and lighting another fire. She got out of the bag, holding the half-eaten apple in her mouth. She sat next to me as I watched the fire build up strength again. She bit down on the apple, letting the other half fall out of her mouth and catching it before it hit the ground. I looked over and got a good look at her. Her mane superbly vibrant in the morning light. It made me feel like rainbows were a tangible thing. I would’ve stroked her mane, but not only would that’ve been creepy, I’m sure it would send the wrong message. I shifted my gaze to her face, noting she wasn’t that bad looking for a different species. The way she looked around confidently, taking in her surroundings and analyzing it. She was obviously intelligent to some extent, but how far in that I wouldn’t know. I noticed that her irises were a beautiful deep red, like that of a cherry. Luckily that meant my brighter purple eyes wouldn’t be too out of place. She noticed me looking and swallowed her chunk of apple. “W-what are you looking at punk?” She said, trying to keep her composure. “Oh, I just noticed what a beautiful shade of red your eyes are.” I said plainly, taking another bite out of the apple. “Thanks.” She said, looking away to hide her face that was mostly likely reddened from flattery. “So Blueberry, what do you do for a living?” I asked. She looked back at me. “Well,” she started, “I… Wait, did you just call me Blueberry?” “Yeah, why not? You're blue, aren't you?” “Well, yeah, but only my friends can call me names like that!” She said, becoming defensive. “Whatever you say, Dashie.” “Anyway, if you must know, I’m part of The Ponyville weather patrol and I’m a member of the Wonderbolts Reserves.” She said confidently, sticking her chest out. “Wonderbolts? Who are they?” I asked. Her eyes widened and she stood up, ignoring her apple that she dropped to the ground. “You’re a Pegasus and you don’t know who the Wonderbolts are?!” “Apparently not, Blueberry.” “And don’t call me Blueberry!” “Whatever.” I said. She shoved her face in mine and began ranting, “They are the absolute BEST fliers in all of Equestria! They go from town to town doing all of these awesome stunts and acrobatics! The fact I get to fly with them is a great privilege! You’re just jealous that you don’t have the skill to accompany them!” I wiped the saliva from my face and pushed her back. It seemed she wasn’t expecting this passive-aggressive reaction. She looked at me, confused to my calm response toward her hostile vanities. Now normally I wouldn’t have taken much offense to such claims. However, because of her boastful attitude, I felt it necessary to remind her who she’s talking to. I looked at her with a dead serious face and took on a menacing tone. “Now listen here and listen well because I’m only going to say this once. I understand you may be all big-headed belonging to such a ‘big’ organization and all, but you must remember…I’ve had many years to perfect my flying skills. More than you could even fathom. I don’t need any big shot Wonderbolts to challenge my abilities. And trust me,” I chuckled a bit, “I can outfly all of them anytime anywhere. Got that…Blueberry?” She leaned over me again and smiled a sinister smile. “I don’t need them to show that you’re a pathetic little bug when it comes to flying. How’s about you and me do a little flying, pretty boy? Right here. Right now.” I pushed her back once more, making her huff in anger. “Bring it on.” I said, gritting my teeth. She spread her wings and launched off into the air with a rainbow following her like a smoke trail on a plane. I was slightly perplexed at this phenomenon, but I didn’t care. I was going to show her. I opened up my wings and raced up after her. We both reached an altitude of about half a mile before hovering as we planned out our course. “Okay,” she said, “we’ll loop around those mountains over there. Then,” she said, turning around, “stop at that waterfall and fly back to the top of the last mountain. That should be easy enough for you.” I analyzed the course and calculated the most efficient route to fly. “You ready then?” I asked. “Ready? I was born ready…” She said confidently.
IV: Eyes“Okay, on the count of three,” she said. “One…” I eased my breathing and focused on reacting quickly, rotating my head and popping my neck. “Two…” I rotated my wings into a more comfortable position and to optimize the output of thrust. “Three!” We both stormed off toward the mountains. She had good acceleration, great in fact, and as I trying to keep up, I still managed to fall behind. Her technique was subpar as well, the way she kept her hooves in front of her as she flew would only increase drag. She had obviously practiced quite a bit, and yet somehow failed to realize that fatal flaw. The wind roaring in my ear as I flew, I kept my hooves to my sides, preventing them from increasing my own drag. However, it wasn’t until I actually noticed a burning against my arms did I notice the reason why she did so. Keeping ones arms to the sides may have decreased drag slightly, but it certainly affected the wings. I was so used to having thinner arms in proportion to my body and having my wings a little closer to my shoulder blades, I automatically assumed the same for this form. I corrected my flying position and continued forward at blistering speeds, much more comfortably than before. We zoomed around the mountains, curving left and right over and over again. I held tight to the edge of the cliff sides, but she had somewhat larger and more drawn out turns, allowing me to pull ahead slightly and recover from my initial error. She turned her head and scowled at me, losing a bit more ground before turning her head back again and flapping her wings harder. I made a 180 degree turn around the last mountain and raced back to the waterfall. She wasn’t far behind and I could feel her brain screaming at her as she tried to keep up. We both cleared the mountains and left us with a long patch of nothing until we reached the waterfall. I decided this was enough and proceeded to accelerate to roughly Mach 1. Flapping my wings at an ungodly speed, I quickly increased my speed to about the speed of sound. Good thing I moved my arms. The sonic boom blasted in my ears, making them ring. No doubt hers too; she was barely able to reach Mach 1 and wasn't far behind. “That’s it!” I heard her scream behind me. What was it? Did I let my anger get the best of me and now my identity is in jeopardy? Well, I didn’t need to worry about it now; the deed was done. I heard a sonic boom behind me and refrained from turning around to look at her—that would only lapse my focus and increase my own drag. Approaching the waterfall, I slowed down to give me enough room to turn effectively. Reaching the waterfall in no time, I performed a compressed Half Cuban 8 and raced back toward the mountains at about Mach 1 post haste. Rainbow dash was only about ten meters behind me as I did so. Whatever move she performed to turn around I wouldn’t know, but it evidently cost her some time. I hope she wasn’t hurting herself, I would hate to be the cause of any of her injuries. A burning in my wings and an involuntary increase in my breathing rate signaled I was straining myself as well; I hadn’t flown like this in ages and it was showing. I got to the mountains fairly quickly and looped through them once more, slowing down from Mach 1 to let me turn. reaching my destination, I slowed down even more as I didn't want to break anything. My hooves skidded and scratched on the peak, leaving long white trails in the rock, finally allowing me to come to a halt on the top of the final mountain. Panting furiously, I turned around to look for Rainbow Dash who shouldn't have been too far behind. I was a lot more winded than I had expected, I would have to start a practice schedule to get back in to shape. I sat down and waited for her, but it only took a few seconds before I was able to focus enough to see her flapping into view. She slowed to a hover before crash landing in front of me, gasping for air and attempting to stand up. “How did you…fly so…fast…? You reached a…rainboom so…quickly…” She mumbled, very much out of breath. Rainboom? I’m pretty sure she meant to say sonic boom, but she was probably too exhausted to think straight. I composed myself and attempted to slow my heaving chest, succeeding to a certain degree. “I told you, years of perfection.” I said, smiling confidently. She flopped down onto the ground and continued panting. “But you don’t even…look tired…” She wheezed. “How is that…even possible…?” “I’m very efficient at flying, plus I have a lot of energy.” “You gotta…teach me sometime…” “Maybe…” I said, unsure of how that would work out. “Are you well enough to move much?” “Give me a few…and I’ll be able…to walk soon…” I laughed a little, “Alright, Blueberry, I’ll give you some time.” I said, waiting for her to regain her energy. It was kind of chilly on the mountain top, so I walked up beside to her and laid down, pressing up against her in an attempt to keep her warm as she looked at me with a surprised face. “W-what are you…doing…?” She wearied. “Just making sure you don’t freeze to death.” I reassured her. After a few minutes of laying there in silence, she stood up and said, “All right, I’m ready to go. Are we going back to your camp? Or do you have somewhere else in mind?” I pondered her proposition for a moment before saying, “I really don’t know the lay of the land. I’ve only been here one day, so we can go wherever you want to go.” She seemed pleased with this, smiling and saying, “Great, that means I can show you the rest of the crew!” “Who?” I asked. “Oh, just follow me and you’ll find out.” She said, flying off. I just shrugged and followed after her. We flew for a short time and eventually reached a small town north of our original position, bustling with activity. We landed in the middle of a crowd and she began walking through them. The crowd didn’t please me. There were too many eyes. How I would have loved to have gouged them all out. Smiling lightly at the thought, I was interrupted by the flying blue pegasus. “Come on you!” She yelled above the roar of the town. “I’m coming I’m coming, hold your horses.” I said, attempting to maintain my composure. She chuckled and continued walking through the crowd. We ended up in what seemed like the town square with a rather clean and official looking building in the center. There was an even more compact group of ponies in front of the building with one at a podium in front of the door. The one behind the podium had a coat of beige with a hint of gray, her mane and tail was a light gray with a lighter streak running down the middle of her hair. She wore glasses akin to that of which one would expect a librarian to wear. More eyes. “Maybe they’re at the town hall, c’mon!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed before running around the crowd. I hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow her. I kept my head low to avoid being seem too much. I think I heard a remark or two about me somewhere, but that may have just been paranoia. Looking around, I noticed these pony-like creatures were an assortment of all sorts of fantastic colors, including ones I didn’t even think were naturally possible. Maybe their coats were dyed for some cultural reason... “Attention everyone!” The pony at the podium announced authoritatively to the crowd in front of her. “I have decided that yes, we have excelled in the field of magic. So why not expand our knowledge elsewhere? In light of such, I hereby decree the construction of a new laboratory right here in Ponyville!” The crowd cheered, although I felt mildly upset. Whatever they could research and discover would further their current technology, yes, but I would be able to teach them so much more. However, the knowledge that I had may cause them to question who I am or where I got this information. Then there would be even more eyes. They’re probably not even prepared for a jump that far ahead in the sciences, seeing as everything looks somewhat Victorian and medieval at the same time. I finally caught up with Rainbow Dash who was flying off of the ground slightly so she could see through the sea of heads. She had a hoof up to her brow and was scanning back and forth with the other hoof on her hip. “Where could they be…?” She spoke to herself. “Oh, isn’t this fantastic? Think of the things we could learn!” I caught a female voice say strangely above the rest of the crowds mumblings. I looked over in the direction of the voice to see a violet pony with a mane of deep blue with streaks of deep violet and rich red. She had wings the same color as her coat and was also sporting a horn on her forehead that split her bangs apart. I didn’t think alicorns actually existed anywhere, but I’ve been wrong before. She seemed to stand out from the remainder of the crowd—more competent than the rest. “Hey Blueberry, who’s that over there?” I asked her as stable as I could, looking up at her and pointing out the purple pony. “Oh, her? I’m glad you spotted her, come on!” She said, making her way over to the pony and through the crowd. I accompanied her eagerly—being that I could finally leave this crowd—as we made our way to the purple one who spotted Rainbow Dash once we got close enough, namely because she was still flying above the crowd. “Oh, hi Rainbow Dash! Where have you been?” the purple one asked happily.
V: Love-Induced Panic“Did you find Dashie?!” Said a shrill voice from behind the purple one, making me wince. A pink pony with a fairly curly pink mane jumped out from behind the purple one, smiling. Gaining the expression that she was about to cry, she lunged at Rainbow Dash and hugged her tightly. She looked up at Rainbow Dash and rambled, “We thought you were dead! We didn’t know where you were and that maybe you got stuck in the Everfree forest and got lost! Or eaten! Or even just died right there in the forest! Just like that! Boom! Dead! I’m so glad Twilight found you! Did you get hurt? Are you injured? I’ll give you a great welcome home party just to celebrate you’re A-OK! Do you wa-?” “Pinkie, I’m fine! I just saw something in the Everfree Forest worth investigating. Sheesh…” Rainbow Dash said, cutting off “Pinkie.” Immediately she stopped wailing and let go of Rainbow Dash. Clearly she was not firing on all cylinders. “Oh, okay!” She said, smiling once more. I leaned over to Rainbow Dash and whispered, “Is she bipolar…?” “No, she’s not she’s just very…” She paused for a moment, looking at “Pinkie,” “eccentric.” “Ah.” “Who’s your friend Dashie?” The purple one asked, looking at me. “Oh, this is…Uh…” She leaned over to me, “What’s your name?” I chuckled a bit. “My name is Xavier.” I told her. “This is Xavier.” She told the purple one. “Nice to meet you Xavier,” the purple one said, “I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me Twilight.” “Pleasure to meet you, your majesty,” I said warmly, bowing. I didn’t know the customs in this place, but I’d prefer not to get my head cut off because of indecency to royalty. “That won’t be necessary to do every time you’re in my presence.” Twilight said, giggling as I stood back up. “Aye, but I believe respect is still due.” I said. In all honesty, I just didn’t want to get killed by some corrupt government official. “Well, thank you, that’s very humble of you.” Twilight said. “Pinkie” walked up to me and got uncomfortably close, examining me as carefully as the finest example specimen. I tilted back a bit as she squinted at me, seemingly looking at every detail of my complexion and looking for some error in it. “This here is Pinkie Pie, but everyone just calls her Pinkie.” Twilight said. Pinkie finally gave me some breathing room and turned to Rainbow Dash, saying bluntly, “He’s a handsome one, isn’t he? Where did you find him?” “Oh come on Pinkie, that’s awful rude.” Twilight said, giving Pinkie a small nudge. “You’re awful straightforward aren’t you?” I asked Pinkie. “Not always! I can walk straight forward, side to side, and even backwards!” She said, unfazed by Twilights reprimand and walking around in all directions while still facing me. “Not what I meant, but okay…” I said, slightly confused at the sheer ignorance of this particular pony. “Come on, Twilight, let’s go find the others.” Said Rainbow Dash. “You’re right,” she replied, “we’ll have them all meet Xavier and give him a great big Ponyville welcome.” The three of them set out of the town hall and begin walking down the street with me in tow not far behind, avoiding anyone else’s gaze. The din of the town slowly faded as we entered a part of town that was little less populated, but still had a resident here and there walking to run errands or talking to someone on the side of the street. I felt plenty more comfortable here. While we walked, Rainbow Dash and Twilight were talking about something, but it was too hushed for me to hear it. It probably wasn’t important for me to know anyway. “Is that them up there?” Rainbow Dash asked. Ahead, I spotted a small fountain with three more ponies hanging around it chattering amongst themselves. “It looks like it.” Agreed Twilight. We reached the fountain and the three looked over to see the four of us walking toward them. “Hi girls. How’ve you been today?” Twilight asked. They each responded in their own separate fashion, but I wasn’t really paying attention to notice what they each said. I was too busy thinking of how to get these ponies off my case. The leftmost pony had a white coat and a curled indigo mane. She had a sort of shimmering and sparkly look, like the sun was glinting off of her. The middle pony had a coat of a light orange and mane a simple blonde color. She had the ends of her mane and tail wrapped in a red ribbon and was also wearing a Stetson. The rightmost and last pony had a light gold coat and light rose mane. She seemed kind of timid and I felt a slight pity for her, while at the same tie curious of her mental condition. All three of them seemed to look at me at the exact same time and the white pony bit her bottom lip and appeared rather keen on keeping her eyes locked on me. I shifted left and right slightly, but her eyes continued to follow me. This is about where I began to break down, whispering “oh god” under my breath. Never before had I ever had this reaction from anyone—let alone by members of a different species. My system flooded with enough adrenaline to kill a full grown man, making me feel like I was going to vomit and shake involuntarily. “And who is this with you?” The white one asked batting her eyelashes at me. I gulped quietly, still shaking. Her eyes were the most troublesome. “Everyone, this is Xavier. He’s Dashie’s friend.” Twilight said. “Xavier, this here is Rarity,” pointing to the white one, “Applejack,” pointing to the orange one, “and Fluttershy,” pointing to the gold one. Fluttershy seemed to shrink back a little at the mention of her name. I would’ve felt bad if it weren’t for my current situation. “N-nice to meet you all,” I said as I stepped back a little and looked for something else to occupy my mind with. Music tended to calm me down in times of duress, but I had left my acoustic guitar at the camp. I looked around for a guitar or any other musical instrument I could play. I spotted someone talking to someone else, a guitar propped up against the building next to him. The odds of this occurring was highly unlikely, but I didn’t have time to question the odds, quickly trotting over to him and nabbing the guitar. The others watched as I broke off from the pack and walked over to the man, some with more interest than others. “Now what’s he up to?” Pinkie asked out loud, thoroughly interested. The man who was previously busy conversing suddenly looked behind himself to see me grasp it, making me freeze in place. He looked at his guitar, then at me. “What do you think you’re doing?” He asked with deep hostility. I looked at him and folded my ears over my head in an attempt to show I was no threat. “Please, I just need this really quick… It’s an emergency…” I said. He raised an eyebrow. “What could be so important that you would need to steal my guitar for it?” He asked. He really didn’t want some stranger to take his stuff and I couldn’t blame him—I would react the same in his situation. I quickly tried to think of some reason in which he would back off and allow me to use it. “It’s for…uh…therapeutic reasons.” I said, becoming increasingly unstable the more time progressed. “Well why didn’t you just say so? Just make sure to give it back.” He said, finally opening up. I grinned. “Thank you so much, I’ll give it back as soon as I’m done.” I said. I picked up the guitar and took it over to the opposite side of the fountain to the girls. I removed the pick that was stuck under the low E string and sat in front of the fountain. I started strumming with no clear direction, just something to calm my nerves. At first it was just a discord of noises, but soon an upbeat and warm melody finally found its way through, something akin to the beginning of “Stairway to Heaven." I have no bloody idea how I did this with hooves. I slowly stopped shaking and smiled as I forgot the world and the situation I was in, simply listening to the strumming of the guitar and feeling the vibrations of the strings. I thought I heard someone talking to me, but I couldn’t be sure at that time, I was too engrossed in my music. It sounded like someone was talking to me again, so I cut off the middle of my riff and looked up, jumping a bit to find Applejack standing in front of me.
VI: I Bet It's The KGB“You play the guitar a bit, huh?” Applejack asked, a southern accent present in her voice. The other five rounded the fountain and stood over by Applejack and I, silently watching these events unfold. “Yeah, I’ve played for a while, as long as I can remember.” I said, strumming an open chord once. She sat to the right of me and leaned back on the fountain, taking in the music and closing her eyes. I decided to play something a little slower and more calming for the time being. I didn’t let myself fall too far into a trance of my music, just in case one of them decided to do something I objected to. I soon noticed something, or someone, sliding closer to me from the left as I played. Eventually, the blob in my vision became so close to me, it was touching my shoulder, making me flinch. I pretended not to notice, which was probably a bad idea, because it kept moving closer. Propping itself up against me, the thing laid its head on mine, its indigo locks getting in my face. I blew her mane out of my face and kept playing. I looked down at her and noticed she was looking deep into my eyes with her own. She smiled as I looked at her, snuggling closer to me, causing me to whip my head back straight ahead to avoid eye contact. The other two who seemed interested earlier seemed somewhat envious, shifting in their positions and quickly giving Rarity disapproving glances now and then. “Applejack!” I heard a voice bellow from in front of me. Applejack jumped and looked around lazily—as if she was previously beginning to drift off—confused and curious as to why someone would be yelling her name. Rarity was startled as well, but didn’t seem as down to earth as Applejack and quickly brushed off the sudden outburst. I stopped playing and looked up to see a stallion with a red coat, orange mane and a work horse collar around his neck walking toward us. He didn’t seem too pleased. “What do you think y’all are doing?” He spoke once more, himself also having a Southern drawl. “I was just listening to his music.” Applejack said nonchalantly, flicking her hat up to better see the stallion and chuckling lightly, “I almost fell asleep there too.” The man narrowed his eyes at her. “Have you had anything to drink recently?” He suddenly asked, Applejack sitting up straight, furrowing her brow and frowning. “Big Mac, ever since that whole kerfuffle at the tavern a few weeks ago, any time I get tuckered out somewhere that isn’t my bed, you ask if some stallion gave me a drink. No, I haven’t. He hasn’t given me anything and no one else has either. I understand you’re just looking out for me, but you know I can handle myself.” Applejack retorted. I didn’t have to ask what had happened to understand the situation. Big Mac gruffed and looked to the side slightly. “I know you’re capable of handling yourself…when you’re awake. You’re just lucky-“ “Hey Big Mac! Have you met Xavier here?” Pinkie suddenly butted in, dashing up in front of the stallion and gesturing to me. I wish she hadn’t done that; I didn’t want to be hauled into this matter. Big Mac rose an eyebrow at me as he looked me over. His eyes felt softer, yet still maintained a certain rough authority in them. I attempted to maintain a calming disposition as he regarded me, simply staring at me as if he was searching for something. I shifted around in my spot and disturbed Rarity slightly, but I didn’t care, I just wanted him to look away. He continued to gaze at me for a long and rather quiet period of time before I gave a nervous smile. “Hi.” I said quietly in an attempt to be at least mildly respectful. He stared at me further before turning to Applejack and walking up to her a bit. “I want you to be careful around him. Something about him seems…off…” He told her softly before taking one more quick look at me. She smiled back at him and nudged him slightly. “Don’t worry too much, Big Mac. I’m certain we can take care of him if he gets out of hoof.” She replied. My heart skipped a beat. What kind of sick town is this? Was this kind of attitude expressed everywhere? What exactly was she implying by ‘take care of him’? Part of me didn’t want to know, but the other felt like I needed to, just so I could understand what would occur if I stepped out of line. Maybe there was a corrupt government or society at work. Big Mac stepped away from Applejack and gave her a nod and a smile before saying goodbye to her and the others—but not me of course—soon walking away in the same direction that he had entered from. I remained quiet for a moment, cherishing the silence that ensued after the small quarrel with Big Mac. Looking over at the man who I had borrowed the guitar from, I frowned at the sight of him. He seemed like he had finished talking to whomever he had been with and was looking at me while tapping his hoof on the ground. Not wanting to make him wait any longer, I removed Rarity from my shoulder—which she seemed saddened at—and returned the guitar to the man. He seemed pleased with my honesty and went off down the road with the guitar strapped to his back. I let out a sigh and returned to the group of girls huddled around the fountain, giving them a once over while everyone was silent. Some were exchanging glances with one another occasionally, attempting to find something that would lift this awkward air from us, but coming up empty. My eyes eventually settled on Rarity, who seemed to be staring back at me and biting her bottom lip. God. Those eyes. I should’ve brought a spoon. I frowned and returned my gaze to the others, a certain two with their eyes locked on me lustfully. We all sat there for a few moments before Rarity finally broke the silence. “Well then…what else should we talk about? Any ideas Xavier?” I returned my gaze to her, scratching the back of my head and trying to think of something, but coming up mostly empty. Small talk wasn’t really my forte. “Well…um…what do you all do for work?” I asked, unsure if this was a meaningful question to ask. Evidently it was, as they one by one explained what they did for a living. Applejack lived on a farm where she grew various types of apples, which I internally corrected as being an apple orchard, but didn’t bring it up. Twilight didn’t really have a job at the moment, but, as she had stated before, she was a princess and studied magic to a large extent. At the mention of magic, I think my eye twitched and I almost stopped her in her tracks, preparing to dissuade her from the grandiose illusions she partook in, but I allowed her to continue. Pinkie worked at a bakery with some other people called the ‘Cakes’ where they prepared assorted types of confectionery goods. Fluttershy took care of the wildlife in the area, as well as any pets that required attention, claiming to be able to communicate with them. TalkiTalking to animals seemed a little out there, although some humans are considered “animal whisperers” and some actually do show some talent, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt and nodded in false understanding. Rarity was a fashion designer who created all sorts of dresses and clothing with the hopes of someday making it big and becoming famous. “In fact, maybe I’ll make you something ravishing to wear, my darling. My treat.” Rarity exclaimed, brushing her hair to the side and adjusting her bangs. “Maybe…” I nervously said as she stared half lidded into my eyes. “RARITY AND XAVIER, SITTING IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Pinkie sang while she danced around us, making me laugh. I didn’t mind her eyes so much. “Oh hush Pinkie, that is rather uncalled for!” Rarity snapped at the pink mare. “Maybe…but it’s also not polite to staaaaarrrrre!” Said Pinkie, smiling while rolling her eyes like googly eyes. I take it back. I do mind them, holy hell. “I don’t think we need to go pointing fingers on who’s in love with who. Besides, it’s getting late and I’m feeling kind of tired, especially after racing Blueberry over here.” I said in an attempt to break up the disturbance and hopefully prevent it from progressing further. Twilight looked at me oddly when I said fingers. “Race? What race?” Asked Applejack. “Oh, Xavier and I had a little race this morning.” Said Rainbow Dash. “That’s explains the rainbooms I heard earlier.” Chuckled Twilight. Was everyone here delusional? “I bet you beat him by a landslide! Right Dashie?” Asked Pinkie, smiling and bouncing in anticipation. And why the hell did it sound like she was jumping on cartoon springs? “Um, well no…” Said Rainbow Dash. Everyone’s jaw dropped and gasped simultaneously as their manes wafted in a soft breeze that blew. “Rainbow Dash, you’re one of the best fliers I know. This is an awful big surprise for you to be beaten by someone you’ve just met.” Said Twilight. “Hey! One pony beat me, big deal! I don’t think another one will have the pleasure of doing that again.” Rainbow Dash seethed, becoming defensive once more. “Listen, so what if I beat her? It was a silly little race.” I said, coming to her defense. “Yeah, so what? He’s just one of those rare… Gifted… Fast… Muscular…” Rainbow Dash listed off, looking into the distance, becoming more and more distant with each adjective. Applejack waved her hoof in front of Rainbow Dash’s face. “Uhh, Dash? You okay?” She said. Rainbow Dash didn’t respond, continuing to stare into space. “DASHIEEEE!” Pinkie screamed in Rainbow Dash’s ear which seemed to snap her out of it, making her recoil her head away from Pinkie and shaking her head. Rainbow Dash looked down and kicked at dirt on the ground. “Hehe… Sorry…” She said quietly. “RAINBOW DASH AND XAVIER, SITTING IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Pinkie started up again. Rainbow Dash kicked her lightly in the leg. “Ow!” She squeaked, rubbing the spot that Rainbow Dash struck. “Ladies ladies, calm down.” I said, making them all look at me. These girls were insane, if I didn’t do something about it, they would probably kill each other. “Now, the real predicament here is it’s almost night and I’m pretty far from my camp. So I’ll need a place to stay for tonight.” At hearing this, a choice few jumped in, saying “Me! Me!” Or “You can come over to my place.” All of that and the sort. All of them except for Fluttershy, still shying away from talking to me or even making eye contact. I wondered what had caused her to be like this. A bad experience? Or just simple nature? Maybe she was like me. Whatever the cause, I thought it best to just not bring it up. “Now sorry to break Blueberry’s hopes, but I probably won’t stay with her considering how I’ve already spent the night with her somewhere. So it’s down to you five, erm, four.” I said. Rainbow Dash frowned. “Four? Who are you counting out besides me?” Asked Rainbow Dash. “Fluttershy; she doesn’t seem too keen about me and I don’t feel like pushing her to do anything she doesn’t want to.” I said. Fluttershy looked up at the mention of her name. “Aww, that’s awful considerate of you Xavier.” Rarity cooed. “I don’t like to force people to do things.” I said, wondering just how true that statement really was. “I mean, yeah sure not Fluttershy, but come on man! I barely even knew you then and we can do so much more awesome stuff now!” Rainbow Dash complained, her wings stiffening behind her. “I know I know, I might add you back in later, I don’t know.” I said. She smiled and fist pumped. Or would it be hoof pumped? Quite frankly, I’m not too sure at this point. “So I think I’ve decided on who to stay with tonight.” I said with a sense on finality. They all yelled “Who?!” In unison. “Calm down gals, sheesh.” “Just tell us!” Pinkie said as she flopped down onto the ground. “I’m dying over here…” “Okay okay. I have chosen to go with Rarity for the night.” Now. Going with Rarity would be my last choice and probably the last decision I ever make if I played my cards terribly. However, in lieu of being away from others, I could find some sort of respite from my initial feelings toward her. Growing to like her presence may not be a viable option, yes, but tolerating it would be much more likely. “Yes yes yes!” Rarity exclaimed, jumping up and down. “Now I can make something for you to wear and you will look absolutely smashing! Oh! I can’t wait!” She grabbed me by the mane with her teeth, my head burning as the follicles were tugged on, and dashed through the streets, presumably toward her home. I immediately regretted my decision. I looked back at the rest of the group and noticed some of their disappointed faces. Although they all seemed slightly upset, I could feel that Fluttershy was the saddest. I really felt bad for her, maybe I should’ve chosen her instead… Well, I couldn’t do anything about it now, I was practically being kidnapped. We eventually reached a well done up and large house that Rarity dragged me inside. The interior consisted of a rather uniform theme, colors ranging in mostly the pink and purple variety. “Sweetie Belle, I’m home!” Rarity called through the residence, giving my head a break while she spoke. I rubbed my temple where the hair was attached, cringing as it stung under light pressure. “Oh great, Rarity’s here…” Said a muffled voice from upstairs. “Oh it’s not that bad, we can meet up somewhere else for tomorrow. Sweetie, go down and see if she wants anything.” Said a different voice with an accent similar to that of Applejack’s. “All right, just don’t break anything while I’m gone.” Said a third voice, presumably Sweetie Belle’s, followed by the sound of someone making their way through the second floor. A seemly smaller version of Rarity happily made her way down a staircase, practically skipping down. Her coat was the same color as Rarity’s and she also had a little horn on her forehead, but her mane was a shade of mulberry with rose streaks. “Hi Rarity!” She said, her voice sweet and full of innocence. “Hello there Sweetie. You and your friends didn’t break anything while I was gone did you?” Rarity asked. “Nope, not yet anyway…” Sweetie Belle said. Rarity eyed Sweetie. “And you’re not planning on it are you?” She said, a more motherly tone making its way through into her voice. “Well of course not! We wouldn’t even dream of breaking anything on purpose.” Sweetie said. “Then don’t use the word ‘yet.’ It makes me feel like you’re up to something…” Said Rarity. As if on cue, a crashing sound emanated from upstairs, followed by a quiet “oops.” “Oh great…” Rarity said. She clomped up the stairs, once again grabbing me by the mane that now burned with a fury that even the Devil would have been pleased with. Once upstairs, she took me to a room with all manners of colors of cloths and materials along with partly and completely finished dresses on pony-shaped eyeless mannequins. There was also a purple king sized bed with a canopy hanging over it with several winding strands of lace adorning it. There were two other little ponies standing beside what seemed like a broken old fashioned sewing machine. One of them had an orange coat akin to that of Applejack’s and a cherry red mane with tiny little wings on her sides. This one was the closest to the wreckage, standing on a chair and sticking her hooves up into the air as if she were reaching for something on the nearby table. The other had an olive coat and deep red mane with a little crimson bow. This one was standing a small distance away from the broken machine, but not as close as the other and was on the floor. She was staring at Rarity with a terrified look in her eyes. “It was Apple Bloom’s fault.” Said the orange one, pointing at the olive one, apparently being Apple Bloom. “No it wasn’t! I wasn’t even near the thing, it’s Scootaloo’s fault!” Apple Bloom said, pointing at Scootaloo with that telltale accent. The two continued to bicker back and forth over whose fault it could’ve been despite the fairly obvious conclusion that anyone could have reached immediately until Rarity broke the rant. “Enough!” She scorched, the two immediately quieting. “Great, now I’ve got to go out and get a new sewing machine…” “Actually, judging by what’s left on the floor, I could probably put it back together—so long as you have the manual or give me enough time to fiddle with it—but just by looking at it, I can assure you it can be fixed.” I said reassuringly to Rarity. “You can?” She said, apparently surprised I was capable of such things. “Oh yes, of course. Simple little contraption really, I’ll have it fixed in no time.” I said, hoping I could stick true to my statement. “Oh thank you again, you’re a lifesaver!” She said, kissing me on the cheek and hugging me tightly for an extended period of time. She didn’t seem to at all mind that the kids were watching. Scootaloo stuck out her tongue and pointed to her mouth, making both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom laugh a little. Rarity finally let go and cleared her throat, “Sorry, I didn’t really mean to do that in front of them… Or for that long…” “Um, yeah…no, it’s…fine…” I said, fretting about how this night would work out. I made my way over to the broken sewing machine and sat down on the floor, examining the mess strewn around me. “I guess I won’t be needing any tools for this, seems like a simple job of putting the gears and other mechanisms back into place and sealing it back up.” “Oh good, I’m glad it’s nothing serious that you wouldn’t be able to fix.” She said, sighing with relief as I looked over at her. “When it’s this simple, most can.” I said, returning to the pile of debris and trying to figure out how the blasted machine worked.
VII: IgnorantiaI placed the machine bed in my lap and began examining the gears and other assorted inner workings of the machine. I hadn’t fiddled with such outdated technology in years, so the sight of this machine elicited within me some sort of nostalgic response. I had completely forgotten the exact locations for the parts for this particular device and almost wasn’t sure where to start. It was much simpler than the technology I was accustomed, but luckily I was able to infer where some pieces went and roughly how the machine worked. As I mulled over the broken equipment, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom sat to my left and Sweetie Belle on my right. I looked over at them and smiled before looking back down to continue working. Children’s eyes are one of my favorites. “So what’s your name?” Sweetie Belle asked me. “My name is Xavier.” I said, not raising my eyes from my work. “That sounds like a smart pony’s name, are you really smart?” Asked Apple Bloom. “I reckon so.” I said, mimicking her southern accent and making her laugh a little. “You know Rarity loves you, right?” Scootaloo asked me quietly. “Yeah, she’s not doing a very good job at hiding it.” I said in a low voice so Rarity wouldn’t hear me. She was on the same floor and in the same room, but was tidying up her bed and rearranging fabrics and other assorted tools one would expect to find in a seamstresses arsenal, possibly preparing secondary sleeping accommodations. “Do you love her back?” Whispered Apple Bloom, cocking her head to one side. I stopped working for a moment and looked at her. “I don’t think it’s necessary for you guys to be meddling with other people’s personal affairs.” I said softly while shaking my head lightly. They all leaned in closer to me with a rather smug expression on their faces. “What?” I said, denying it. I took the horizontal arm of the sewing machine and snapped it over the now (hopefully) repaired assembly. “There we go, good as new! I think…” I exclaimed as I held up the newly mended sewing machine. Rarity looked over from her bed and gasped. “Oh that’s simply marvelous!” She rejoiced, hugging me and kissing me on the cheek again, a little closer to my lips this time. She held on for a good minute snuggling me as I saw the kids exchange glances and giggle amongst themselves. She really needed to cut this out. Rarity let go and fixed her hair. “I really need to stop doing that…” She said to herself. “Alright kids, you should go home now, me and Xavier have a few things to discuss.” They all groaned in sync as they trudged over to and down the steps. They all said goodbye to me and Rarity as they passed. Before disappearing down the staircase, Scootaloo looked over at me and raised her eyebrows a few times at me with a smug face. I rolled my eyes and she left down the stairs. It was silent except for the little steps of hooves on the ground floor, then a door opened and closed. “Well, it’s just me and you now. So what did you want to talk about?” I asked. She didn’t say anything, she just stared at me, her eyes glittering. “Um, Rarity? You all right?” I questioned. She shook her head, her mane bouncing as she did. “Sorry, I was just lost in your glorious violet eyes.” She said, giggling a little and turning her head to the side slightly. “Oh, um, thank you, I guess…?” I said, anxiously. “So what did you want to discuss then?” “Oh, I thought we could talk a little, get to know each other. That and the sort.” She wheedled as she slowly stepped closer to me. I looked around nervously, trying to avoid eye contact and attempting to find something to change the subject to. “That’s…um…quite the bed you got there.” I said, quickly trotting over to the bed and admiring the craftsmanship. “Oh that? Yes, it is quite the beauty, just like me of course.” She said, chuckling. “I wouldn’t be so haughty all the time.” I thought to myself, rolling my eyes. This would definitely take some getting used to if I was going to survive the entire night with her. Maybe I should make myself a medal for making it even this far without strangling her. “So where do I sleep then?” I asked. “Well, that’s the thing, I don’t have another bed anywhere. So as far as I can tell we’re only left with the option of sharing a bed.” She lied. “Ohh…” I said as beads of sweat began forming on my forehead. “Are you sure you can’t just pull out another blanket and I can sleep on the floor?” I asked. “That’s another thing, I don’t have any spare blankets. I’m so very unprepared for a guest to visit.” She said, lying again. “Besides, the floor is awfully cold. I don’t think you’d be very comfortable down there. What? Are you scared to sleep with a lady?” She said, batting her eyelashes. “W-well no. I mean…b-but-” “Then it’s settled! You’ll be sleeping in the bed tonight.” She said. I let out a long and weary breath, knowing there was no way out of this. “Well, I guess since that’s out of the way, what else do you want to talk about?” I asked, prepared for the worst after what had just occurred. Suddenly, something soft and fluffy brushed up against my leg. Looking down, I saw a little white cat with a bow on its head purring and rubbing its cheek on my leg. It was a wonder I hadn’t seen it before. “Now who’s this?” I inquired as I sat down next to the feline and began to pet it, in turn making it purr loudly. It seemed quite satisfied simply by my mere presence. “That’s Opalescence, but we just call her Opal. She’s my pet cat, hopefully you’re not allergic to them.” She answered. “Oh no, not at all, I absolutely adore cats.” I said, scratching her under the chin, the cat closing her eyes and tilting her head up slightly. “And she’s warmed up to you awful quickly, she only seems this happy around Fluttershy.” “Is that so?” “Oh yes, Fluttershy is amazing with animals. She has her own little house on the outskirts of town with various animal companions for her to be around.” Rarity reached her hoof out to pet Opal, but Opal hissed and clawed at her before walking behind me to avoid being in Rarity’s line of sight. I twisted my body so I could continue to pet Opal. “I wonder why she’s like that…” I thought aloud. “Oh I don’t know, it’s just her personality I think. But she does have excellent taste in dresses.” I picked my head up suddenly and glared at Rarity. “Are you telling me a Felis Catus can interpret and critique a complex concept such as fashion?” “Felis…Catus…?” She asked, genuinely puzzled. I stood up. “Yes, it’s the scientific name for cats, it’s Latin. Felis Catus.” Her eyes lit up. “You can speak other languages?!” She exclaimed. Was that all she got out of that statement? If so, that was utterly pathetic. “Well… Not exactly. I mean, I know the scientific names for a few of animals, and being that the domestic cat is rather common, but that’s about it. As I digress, tell me how a ca-” “Say something else in Latin!” she begged. Was she serious? This was beginning to become borderline ludicrous, but I didn’t really feel like arguing; I was getting tired and this cat thing was going to bore a hole in my head when I tried to sleep. “Canis lupus familiaris…” I said unenthusiastically while rolling my eyes. She beamed with a joy that was almost unequalled in anyone I had ever seen. “That was absolutely beautiful! What does it mean?” She asked, becoming increasingly interested. “It's just a a domesticated dog, but the cat!” I yelled, pointing at the cat who was now licking her paw, disinterested at the commotion unfolding in front of her. Rarity still seemed to only pick up on the Latin portion. “Oh my…that’s so elegant…” She moaned. She was starting to creep me out. No wonder Opal didn’t like her very much. I looked down at Opal to see if she had any reaction for this. She merely stopped licking her paw, looked up at me and shrugged her shoulders. I would have to examine her more in depth at some point; she appeared to have a clear understanding of what was going on and it was astounding.Either that, or she didn’t knew what was going on and didn’t really care. Knowing cats, I could assume the latter. “Listen, if you don’t mind me, I would like to go to sleep now. I’ve had a long trek in the woods and that race with Dash, so the fatigue is really starting to set in now.” I said. Rarity recovered from her moment of bliss. “Oh of course, just go ahead and get in the bed. I’ll be back shortly.” She said. I clambered into the bed and laid down on the mattress as Rarity went into another room. Opal jumped onto the bed with me and laid down on my legs, purring the entire time, making me chuckle. “Is she always like this?” I quietly asked Opal. The cat lifted up her head and tilted it from side to side, eliciting a smile from me. I loved this cat; so full of character. I put my head onto the down stuffed pillow, almost falling asleep right then. It was one of the best pillows I’ve ever had the privilege resting my head against. In fact, I think I fell asleep before Rarity even returned. I woke up the next morning once again greeted by birds chirping outside. I looked around my environment to gather myself and remembered the wonderful pillow I slept on last night. I felt an anomalous warm presence on the right side of my torso and looking over at it, I saw Rarity—and despite having practically a three meter wide bed—cuddled up with me with one of her forelegs around me and a vast number of curlers in her mane. “Typical,” I thought to myself, looking back down at Opal who was still curled up on my legs and sleeping soundly. My brain suddenly snapped awake enough to notice that Rarity was cuddling me, causing me to jump a bit. I attempted to wiggle out from her grip, but every time I moved away she seemed to nudge closer and hold on tighter. This is what I get for giving in. I sighed, realizing this was futile and resorted to waiting for her to wake up. My squirming had disturbed Opal, making her look up wearily and yawn. She stood up and stretched her back before jumping off of the bed, possibly in search of food or something to do. It took some time, but Rarity finally came to in the middle of me pondering the presence of electricity in this realm, which I mostly doubted. She slowly raised her head up and looked at me drowsily. “Good morning, darling.” She said, smiling slightly with heavy eyes. I cleared my throat loudly, although she didn’t seem to register what I meant immediately. I cleared my throat again and gestured with my head toward her. She finally got the message and she let go quickly, sitting up in the bed and taking the blanket up with her so it covered her torso. “Ah…um…I-I can explain. Y-you see I was-” she started. “It’s fine. You needn’t explain.” I said; I wasn’t in the mood to hear any of her nonsense. “Oh…” She said, surprised and still shaken. “Well I’m going to take these thing out, I shouldn’t be long.” She got out of the bed on the opposite side and walked out of the room. I laid in the bed again, closing my eyes and wishing to wake up someplace where I wouldn’t have to bother with these ridiculous shenanigans. I heard Rarity step back into the room return several minutes later and I opened my eyes. She had removed the curlers and was practically glowing as the early morning sun poured through the windows and on to her. “How do I look?” She said. If she was still embarrassed from earlier she wasn’t showing it. I sat up in the bed. “You look fantastic.” I said, rubbing the gunk from my eyes. Once I had finished, I lowered my arms and noticed Rarity was gone from her previous position. I looked to the right and found nothing. I looked to my left and a sudden kiss greeted my lips with a shocking amount of force.
VIII: Side-EffectsShe quickly realized where she hit her mark and shot back. “I-I didn’t mean to kiss you there, I meant to kiss you on the cheek when you turned around…” She said rapidly, her face flushing a mild shade of red. Amazingly, I blushed a little too, but it in all likelihood was difficult to see under this black coat of mine. And I didn’t blush because I’m starting to fall for her, it’s just I haven’t ever really gotten a kiss like that before. I know what you’re thinking, but just bear with me here. I hopped out of the bed and stood up. “Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. You just…do whatever you want, but don’t go overboard.” I said. I didn’t want see to upset her, although it would lead to emotional and mental distress on my part. I plan on leaving these people as they were when I arrived with no trace of my existence in this realm. “Oh…” She said, surprised at my response and smiling happily. “All right.” “Now what about that article you wanted to make for me…?” I asked. But while I’m here, might as well get some free merchandise, right? Only issue is whether or not it’ll be worth the effort. “Oh yes! I completely forgot! Come over here and I’ll get some measurements done.” She said, eagerly walking over to a large mirror set up in the bedroom. I walked up in front of the mirror as she searched for some supplies, soon returning with a measuring tape hovering near her head bathed in a light blue glow. “This shouldn’t take long.” She said, holding the tape up against me as she took notes on a floating paper. She spent a rather long time with the tape, holding them up to my legs and chest, all the while muttering things about something being “perfect” and “magnificent.” She did happen to spend a significant amount of time at my rear, leading me to wonder what she could have possibly been doing… When she had finished, she looked at me with glittering eyes. “All done. Sorry it took so long, I just wanted to make sure everything was perfect.” She said with a smile. “I’ll bet you did…" I thought to myself, invisibly gritting my teeth. “No worries, I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist myself. A bit of a curse really…” I said as I attempted to avoid direct eye contact with her. “Oh, but it makes sure you get all the fine details…” She purred, inching up to me. I darted my eyes about nervously, wishing for this nightmare to end. I chuckled with uncertainty. “Why don’t we go ahead and meet up with the others? I’m sure they’d like to…” I said, clearing my throat before continuing, “…talk with you and…stuff…” She seemed surprised, holding a hoof to her chest and letting her mouth open a bit. “But you haven’t even eaten breakfast first!” She exclaimed. “I can’t have you running about on an empty stomach! Please, follow me.” Walking back downstairs, she had me trail her into a sparkling kitchen with a table to our right and an oven surrounded by wooden cupboards—save for above the stovetop. Notably, there was no refrigerator, but an icebox in its place. “What would you like to eat, my dear? I myself will be having a breakfast quiche.” She asked, beginning to remove various food items from her cupboards. “Umm…” I mumbled, deciding upon a safe option. “Whatever you’re having.” I replied, not wanting to bother her with anything else. “Absolutely.” She replied, humming a tune I didn’t recognize as she mixed several ingredients in a bowl using that same mystical force ascertained to be “magic” by these folks. Sitting at a nearby table, I gazed out a nearby window at the scene before me. The only things visible from this view was a line of buildings, a tree here and there, and some mountains in the distance above them. Setting my head in my hooves and sighing heavily, I cleared my mind and thought of absolutely nothing—like most men do a lot of the time anyway. It was rather peaceful, not bothering to think about my situation and what lies ahead. I have no idea how much time had passed, because, before I knew it, Rarity had finished. “Are you ready to eat, darling?” Rarity suddenly spoke, snapping me out of my trance and causing me to whip my head around to face her. She didn’t have any eyes. Why didn’t she have any eyes? Just dark sockets devoid of life or a soul. With quivering chest and arms, I rubbed my eyes in hopes of removing such a terrifying sight from before me. It seemed to have worked, as once I lowered my hooves, her eyes had returned to their normal state. I didn’t understand any of it. Noticing my demeanor, Rarity tilted her head to one side. “Are you feeling alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She said, turning around to look behind her to make sure there wasn’t anyone or anything there. Satisfied there was nothing to fear, she sat across from me and set the now finished quiche on the table along with two plates, two forks, and two knives. “Xavier? Is everything okay?” Rarity asked again. I snapped out of my trance before giving her a look. “Yeah, no. I’m fine.” I replied, clearing my throat and looking down at the table. “So what’ve we got here?” I asked in hopes of getting my mind off of what had just occurred. “It’s just a little breakfast quiche I whipped up. Hopefully I made it correctly and it suits your tastes.” She said, cutting a piece with a hovering knife and setting the steaming wedge on my plate. Going through the motions, I picked up the fork and nipped off a sliver of the quiche, setting it in my mouth with no intent on enjoying the flavor. My thoughts were rickety and unstable. I was still processing what had happened. I had never had any sort of schizophrenic episodes or any other mental blurring of reality. It terrified me beyond words. Finishing my quiche, but my hunger not sated, I laid back in my chair and looked up at the ceiling, waiting for Rarity to finish. She may have tried to converse with me, but I wouldn’t have known. I was too deep in thought. When she finished, she offered me another piece, at which I declined, before she she put the plates in a sink and wrapped up the quiche for later use while I went to wait at the front door. When she had finished cleaning up the kitchen, she met me at the door and, before leaving, Opal walked up to me and pawed at my hooves, evidently upset with my departure. I chuckled and rubbed her head gingerly. “I’ll be back, don’t you worry.” I said soothingly. She appeared to smile and meowed before walking back off to another part of the house. Not long after leaving the house, we heard a voice from along the street call, “Hi Rarity!” I looked in the direction of the source of the noise and spotted Sweetie Belle trotting toward us. “Oh, hi there Sweetie! How are you this morning?” Rarity said. “Just great! Have you seen the rest of the crusaders? We have something important to discuss for today.” Sweetie asked. “No I haven’t, I’m sorry, dear.” Said Rarity. “But look at my hair, isn’t it gorgeous?” She said, turning attention to her mane for some reason. As if I didn’t believe she was narcissistic before, I was sure of it now. “Wow! It looks amazing! Did you do that yourself? Or did you get your boyfriend to do that for you?” Sweetie giggled, causing Rarity’s face buckle into an embarrassed scowl. “He’s not my boyfriend! We’re just friends and I did it myself, thank you!” Rarity fumed. “Whatever you say ‘Mrs. Xavier.’” Said Sweetie, snickering. Rarity's face contorted even more, Sweetie Belle soon getting the message. “Well I’m going to look for the rest of the crusaders, bye!” She said quickly and ran off in an attempt to avoid Rarity’s wrath. She turned back to me. “Heh…kids… What an imagination… Hehe…” She chattered nervously. “Right...” I responded, not too concerned about the situation. We eventually found them again, somehow conveniently at the same water fountain as yesterday. Fluttershy looked over at us and quickly turned away, possibly telling something to the others. The rest of them turned to look at the two of us, smiling and waving at our arrival. “Hey guys,” I said, “How are you?” They all responded in a conglomeration of “goods” and “okays.” Fluttershy even responded, which I found surprising; I never thought I’d hear her speak. Her voice was soft, calm, and rather soothing. It’s a shame she didn’t talk more often around me. She almost reminded me of someone. It also seemed like she was pushing through the rest so she could be a little bit to be closer to me. Maybe she was trying to warm up to me. Whatever she was attempting to do, she seemed determined to do it. “Hi there guys.” Rarity said, fluffing her mane, obviously trying to draw attention to herself. “WOAH! Your hair looks amazing! How did you get it to look like that?!” Exclaimed Pinkie. “Well, I did it myself of course. Today I tried something a little different and it seems to have worked out for the better.” Rarity said. “I doubt this is a coincidence! I bet Rarity got inspiration from Xavier for it! What did I say about Rarity and Xavier, huh? They are so obviously in love! I bet they cuddled and kissed each other all night!” Pinkie butted in, hugging herself and making kissing noises. “Oh hush Pinkie, you don’t know that…” Rarity said, angrily. “Oh sure I don’t…” Pinkie said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Although Pinkie seemed clueless most of the time, she did have a point. Rarity was probably planning a little something more than simply allowing me to spend the night there. As of now I could only guess what, but whatever she had in mind, I doubt I would agree with it. “So who’s this Xavier pony?” Said a voice from behind Twilight, a small bipedal lizard soon walking around from behind her and taking a gander at me. Crossing his arms, he looked back up at Twilight. “Is this the stallion you were blabbering on about yesterday, Twi?” Twilight appeared taken aback. “Erm… Well…maybe not blabbering. I just wanted to tell Spike of the new friend I had met.” She said. Is this a dragon? I wouldn’t know. He didn’t appear to have any wings. I hadn’t ever met a dragon before, mostly because they normally don’t exist. This place was getting more interesting by the day. “Yeah…no, it was a blabber. You didn’t shut up about him.” Spike said. Twilight blushed a little more. “Stop it Spike, you’re embarrassing me…” She said, poking him with her hoof. Spike looked like he was going to say something else, but another thought came to his mind. “Anyway, why did you stay with Rarity last night? Don’t you have your own place somewhere?” He asked, jealously sorely present in his voice. I had to keep myself from laughing. How a relationship between a lizard and a pony would work out I couldn’t be sure, but it certainly sounded ludicrous. “Well, no, I don’t. I’ve only been here one day.” I replied. He furrowed his brow. “Whatever you say.” He said, keeping his eyes locked on me. “So who are you going to sleep with… I mean…bunk with tonight Xavier?” Twilight slipped, covering her face with her wings as she realized what she had said. All the girls narrowed their eyes at Twilight. “Oh Twilight…” Rarity cooed. “Now we all know what’s on her mind.” All of them laughed except for Spike, who just looked disgusted. I merely rolled my eyes. How immature where these guys? “Shut up you guys!” Twilight thundered, ripping her wings away from her face and thrusting them outward. “It’s not funny!” “Whatever you say Twi, but just know that your secret is out…” Rainbow Dash said, chuckling and poking Twilight in the side. “Listen,” I interjected. “I haven’t made a decision just yet, but I’ll let you guys know later when I’ve come to a conclusion.” I said, some mild fury leaking out. All but Twilight sighed in disappointment, the purple mare just grumbling to herself as she brought her wings back in to her body. “And don’t pester Twilight like that, it was probably just an accident. I’m sure she’s not like that.” I said. “Thank you, Xavier.” Twilight said. “At least someone here is willing to stand up for me.” At saying this, Fluttershy looked at the ground and backed away from Twilight a small step. What a sad, sad little pony… So easily hurt… My stomach suddenly grumbled, breaking the silence. “Oh! You must need something to eat. You should hop on by the Sugarcube Corner! We have cupcakes and muffins and cakes galore!” Said Pinkie. My mouth watered at hearing of this. I hadn’t had sweets of any kind for almost a month and was determined to end this fasting. Rarity was about to interject, but I cut her off. “Yeah sure, why not?” I said, making sure my grand anticipation didn’t show through. Pinkie led us to a building that was decorated to mimic the appearance of a gingerbread house. She took us inside where the aroma of pastries and other assorted baked goods danced around inside. Also inside was a showcase of presumably what they had in stock. Being the food connoisseur I was, I was inclined to try absolutely everything, but I didn’t want to seem like a pig. Saliva threatened to pour out of my mouth in a waterfall at the sights and smells, but I managed to keep it back. “Welcome to the Sugarcube Corner! We’ve got anything your sweet tooth desires!” Pinkie said as she jumped behind the counter. She laid one of her forelegs across the top of the glass countertop and leaned in to it. “What can I getcha?” She said. I held back my animal-like desire to consume the entire establishment and discreetly licked my lips. “I’d like some tiramisu please.” I said. Pinkie looked at me confused. “Tira-ma-whatta?” She said perplexed, her smile melting away. “Well, you said you had ‘anything’ I desired, and I currently have a hankering for tiramisu.” I said. She smiled nervously. “Sure, let me just ask the Cakes real quick.” She said, and she walked off into some double doors that lead to what I assumed was the kitchen. Twilight walked up behind me. “What is tiramisu?” She asked. “Tiramisu is an Italian dessert with coffee and liquor-soaked layers of sponge cake alternating with mascarpone cheese and chocolate.” I defined. Rarity split from the group and slid up next to me gracefully, pressing up against my side. “Ooooo, an exotic dish. I might want some, too.” Rarity said, biting her lip staring me in the eyes. Spike’s eyes widened at Rarity’s sudden gesture of affection toward me, crossing his arms and granting soon after. Keeping a distance from him seemed like the best option at this point; there was no telling what he would do. “Maybe I’ll share some with you if they even have a recipe for it. Hopefully you can hold your liquor.” I said. “I don’t think many of us drink all that often, so we may not have that much.” Said Twilight. “Oh come on, Twi, our cider is some of the hardest stuff around, and you’ve had that before. I don’t think a little liquor is going to stop you. Besides, I bet I could drink y’all under the table any time.” Applejack stated haughtily. I shrugged. “Whatever you please.” I said. Pinkie flew out from the double doors, clearly excited with something. “Good news! One of the Cakes found a dusty old recipe for…whatever that was again. So they’re making it now! It’ll probably take a little while though.” Pinkie said. “That’s fine, I can wait.” I said, although I wasn’t sure how much longer I could contain myself. I was also surprised they had something Italian in origin even though Italy most likely didn’t exist here. We all sat around a table in the lobby talking while we waited for the tiramisu to be finished. Fluttershy stole the seat next to me, making sure she could sit adjacent of me. I thought this was nice, although mildly aggressive. The way they sat was also quite different than I would’ve done, despite one of their knee joints being able to kick backward. They sat on the very edge of their chairs so they could simply let their legs dangle off the edge of the seat. I deviated from this and sat with my knees bend over the edge of the chair. As we talked, Fluttershy put in her own two cents every now and then, which I was happy for. I’m glad she was finally getting comfortable around me. A certain three of them mostly asked me about what I would look for in a mate while the others attempted to divert from that subject. What she would look like, her personality, what she was good at, et cetera. I complied, although I was cautious not to reveal anything too personal. Spike kept asking how the night with Rarity went, to which I answered with short and simple replies that only half answered his questions, just to toy with him. “Oh, I almost forgot. So you know how Opal is usually quite touchy around anyone she meets, save for Fluttershy?” Rarity said. I sighed deeply and let my head sag while the rest of them nodded and said their “yes’s.” “Well, while Xavier was at my place last night, Opal absolutely loved him. You would’ve thought he was Fluttershy.” Fluttershy downright loved hearing about this, perking up her ears and scooting her chair closer to mine with a warm smile full of intrigue. “How did you do it? Did you speak to her? Or maybe show her you liked dresses too?” Fluttershy inquired of me, shifting in her seat as she waited for an answer. “W-well, no… She just seemed to like me is all… Heh…” I trembled. Fluttershy frowned with clear discontent for my response. “Oh… O-okay…” She said mildly. “And not only that happened!” Rarity piped up again. “Oh no…” I groaned as I buried my head in my hooves. Fluttershy took note of this and put a hoof on my back consolingly. At least someone was willing to comfort me in this time of distress, even if she didn’t have a reason to. “I discovered that Xavier can speak Latin.” She whispered, flicking a glance at me every now and then. “Latin…?” Twilight said, confused. “What's Latin…? I’ve never heard of that language before and I’ve read of many different dialects.” I was afraid of this. Rarity began looking at me suspiciously. “Is Latin even a legitimate language, Xavier…?” She questioned, eyeing me doubtfully. I sat up straighter in my chair. “Of course Latin’s a real language! It’s the root of many languages around the world!” I said defensively. “I’m surprised you don’t know anything about it! And no, I do not speak it! I just know some scientific names is all! Like ‘Canis lupus familiaris.’ That’s it.” Twilight didn’t seem convinced. Either that, or was as infatuated with me as Rarity was when I first spoke just Latin sentence to her. If she was trying to hide it, she was doing a good job at it. Twilight looked down at Spike. “Spike, go get a translation book for me. You know where to find them.” She asked. “I don’t speak Latin, dam-dang it!” I screamed, avoiding an uncalled for slip of the tongue, but no one appeared to care. Spike nodded and ran off out of the Corner, leaving us to sit in silence as we waited for him to return. It was very awkward; the general buzz of activity had ceased, leaving a deafening silence within the group. I merely kept my arms crossed and avoided looking at anyone. A few minutes later, Spike ran in the doors, panting and holding a worn leather bound book over his head. “Here you go, Twi.” He sighed as he laid it out in front of her on the table before a thought suddenly occurred to him. “And why didn’t you just teleport the book here? Wouldn’t that have been easier?” “Thanks Spike.” She replied, avoiding Spike's question as the book lifted up off of the table surrounded by a raspberry colored aura that was the same color as a plasma-like substance that coated her horn. The book opened up and Twilight began to flip through its pages. “There are a few entries about Equin in here, which seem to be similar to ‘Latin’ in background, and this book seems to cover the basics.” She said, turning through the pages some more. After a few minutes she said, “I can’t find anything in here that explains what you said. Are you certain you’re not lying?” Taking in a deep breath in through my nose, I prepared to unload a fury of insults and explanations at her and the group around me. Instead of that, I let the air out slowly out and attempted to speak in a softer tone. “Tell me, why would I be lying?” I asked, my teeth clamped together. “Well, some ponies would do anything to look better to others. We have no reason to trust what you’ve said yet.” Said Applejack. “Applejack is right. Some ponies are so infatuated with his or her own image, he or she would want others to think he or she is just as good as he or she thinks he or she is. He or she would even go as far as to fabricate information to look better.” Twilight lectured, as if I needed it. “That sure was a mouthful…” Rainbow Dash said. “So long as it's grammatically correct, I’m not complaining.” I sighed, resting my head on my hooves. I remained silent for a and shut my eyes few moments; I just wanted to sleep and wake up somewhere else so I wouldn’t have to deal with these creatures. I opened my eyes again—with more difficulty than I had anticipated—to find that the group had ceased talking and was simply looking at me. I sat up straight and twisted my back. “Can I help any of you?” I groggily said, curious to know if I had actually fallen asleep. “We were just discussing you and your Latin knowledge. I had Spike bring over a book of various animals and creatures and, sure enough, the scientific names for them are similar to what you previously described, although in Equin.” Twilight explained. “Oh.” I muttered rubbing one of my eyes. “Well, that’s nice.” Twilight nodded in return. “I apologize for doubting you like we did, I feel we came off a little bit too harsh.” The purple mare continued. “Don’t worry about it.” I yawned. “I’m sorry too!” Pinkie shouted, making me jump in my seat. “I'm sorry, Xavier.” Applejack added. “I am as well.” Rarity agreed. “I guess me too.” Fluttershy accepted. “Me too. If this stallion talks as good as he flies, then why not trust him?” Rainbow Dash said, soon receiving several odd glances from the rest of the group. “What?” She breathed, folding her arms and knitting her brow while returning glances back to everyone else. “So you know a bit of Latin, huh? Why Latin though? What would you use it for?” Queried Rainbow Dash. “Every now and then you may need it in scientific studies, but this gun isn’t only loaded with one and a half bullets.” I answered. Rainbow Dash looked puzzled. “What the hay is that supposed mean?” She asked. Wasn’t she supposed to be smart? My metaphors were always lost on the ignorant… And “what the hay?” That was one of the worst puns I had ever heard, unless that was actually their diction, in which case I would have even more language related items to get used to. Rarity’s face lit up once more like it had when she first discovered I knew certain Latin phrases. “It means he can speak more than just two languages! Oh my Celestia, aren’t you talented?” Rarity sang out, bringing up hoof to her chest. The others at the table sparkled when they finally realized what I meant, beginning to throw differing phrases at me that they wanted me to translate into various languages. All—if not most—I had never even heard of. The sudden attention I was receiving from them was too much for me to handle, causing me to gradually shrink back. All those eyes expecting so much. The only one who stopped was Fluttershy, once again picking up on my cue that I was rather uncomfortable. She looked back and forth between the others and I, trying to think of something to do to help me. I began to shake and slowly break down before them, speaking to myself quietly. “It’s okay. Calm down.” I repeated to myself quietly. I couldn’t help myself, I didn’t have any sort of musical instrument and I couldn’t just leave, so this seemed like the only way to prevent me from exploding. I hated undue attention. Especially when they stared. It always made me feel like I was being torn apart from the inside out. I couldn’t take much more of it. I finally snapped. “Enough!” I screamed. They immediately settled down and frowned, a few of them almost fearful. I tried to seem calmer, but how well I did on that I couldn’t be sure. “I just…I just can’t handle with this right now. Maybe later, okay? I’m sorry. I just…can’t…” They all sat there as if they were waiting for further instructions. “And that means…?” Asked Applejack. I rose an eyebrow. “What do you mean what do I mean? It was plain as day what I said.” Applejack turned to Twilight. “Can you find out what language he’s speaking now, Twilight?” She asked. Now I was becoming concerned. Was she serious? I hadn’t gotten stuck in another language in a while, and even when I did, it was only in the most stressful of circumstances. I guess this just may have fit the bill. Twilight looked confused at first, but then appeared to understand, soon flipping through the book for several seconds before resting it on the table. “I’m not sure, it’s not covered in this book.” She said, lowering the book once more. “What? No I’m not… I’m speaking English…” I said, becoming frightened. My ears subconsciously folded over my head. At the mentioning of English, Twilight gave me another look of bewilderment. “Come on guys, he’s had enough, don’t mess with him like that…” Fluttershy said in my defense. It finally clicked. Cruel, but clever. Sort of. If only they knew that it actually happened to me on occasion. “Oh. Ha-ha. Funny. You really had me fooled.” I said unenthusiastically. The entire table giggled except for Fluttershy. Finally, a rather tall and thin pony wearing a small round hat came out from the kitchen doors holding a plate with a large chocolate brown block, consisting of several layers of differing colors of chocolate, a stack of smaller plates balanced precariously on his head, numerous forks, and a knife. “I believe this is yours. And because you waited so long, this is on the house.” He said. I sniffed it, allowing the alcohol permeate my nostrils and settle my nerves. “Oh yes, this is it. Thank you.” I said as my anticipation grew. Saliva once again threatened to pour out of my mouth, but I held it back as much as I could. He placed it on the table along with the smaller plates and went back into the kitchen. I took the knife and cut out a square corner of the cake, placing it on one of the smaller plates, then taking a fork and cutting a smaller chunk off of that piece and putting it in my mouth. The liquor burned at the back of my throat while the coffee had a bitter taste, counteracted by the sweetness of the cake. I could taste that there was too much liquor in it and the cake was practically soaked in it, each slice consisting of at least a shot or more of liquor, but I didn’t care. It was utterly delicious. I had to keep myself from moaning from the sheer bliss I was experiencing. “Well? How is it?” Pinkie asked, leaning forward with anticipation as I swallowed the piece. “It’s heaven…” I groaned, trying to keep my unparalleled delight from emanating into my voice too much. Pinkie cheered and shouted, shooting onto her hind legs and raising her hands…ugh…hooves to the ceiling. She almost fell over while doing so, which I thought would’ve been funny to see. The rest of them started cutting off pieces and eating them, talking about how it tasted; what they liked and what they didn’t like. I didn’t participate much, seeing as I had my mouth full of cake most of the time. Despite the fact several of them expressed distaste for the cake in a few different aspects, they kept coming back for more. I told them to slow down because of the excessive amounts of alcohol in it, but they didn’t listen, possibly too enraptured in the flavor of the cake. After a short while the cake was gone. I had eaten only two slices while the rest had at least four or five and had visibly gotten a little tipsy. Everyone except for Fluttershy—who only had one piece—and Spike—who didn’t have any. I would’ve had more, but I wasn’t expecting them to eat so much of it. I wanted to save it for later and I frowned as I realized I wouldn’t be able to. And when Twilight said they didn’t drink often, she wasn’t kidding. There I was, sitting in the middle of a bunch of drunken ponies trying to keep them from falling over. Rarity leaned over to me, almost crawling over the table and getting too close for comfort. “Has anyone ever told you how sexy you look?” She said. I could smell the alcohol on her breath combined with something minty. At least she brushed. Spike scowled and rolled his eyes again. “I would totally marry him just for his looks. Not to mention he’s soooooo smart.” Twilight said, almost falling over in her seat. Fluttershy began to look disgusted and shifted in her spot. I couldn’t blame her; this was getting weird. “He’s, like, so handsome, I bet Celestia would marry him.” Said Rainbow Dash, causing them to all laugh, save Fluttershy and I. We exchanged awkward glances. She probably felt as uncomfortable as I did, maybe even more so. “I know,” Piped up Twilight, “I’ll send Celestia a letter telling her Xavier loves her and wants to marry her.” They all started cackling again. Fluttershy straightened her spine and looked around nervously. Whoever this Celestia person was, I don’t think I would want to mess with her. Then again they could’ve been just joking around. Although I don’t remember how it feels to be drunk, it’s been a rather long while. “Spike, take up a letter.” Twilight told Spike. He hesitated for a moment, before smirking lightly and pulling out a sheet of paper and a feather pen. Where he got these items escapes me. “Dear Princess Celestia,” Twilight began, Spike scribbling on the parchment as she spoke. “It has come to my attention a certain someone is in love with you. I’ve met him recently and I think he wants to meet you.” Fluttershy began waving her hooves to grab Twilight’s attention and stop her, but she was too busy talking to notice. I was simply interested that this place was governed by a monarchy. Twilight continued without hesitation, “He’s a handsome black Pegasus with beautiful purple eyes. If you would come to meet him as soon as possible I think he’d greatly appreciate that. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike tossed the pen aside and rolled up the paper, breathing fire on the roll which caused it to burn and vanish. A trail of smoke wafted up from where the paper was and flew out the window as if it had had a mind of its own. The dragon put his arms behind his back, appearing satisfied with himself. Still uncertain as to what was going on, I merely sat in silence.
IX: Only One Tolerable “Friend”Fluttershy got up and hesitantly slapped Twilight in the face, which seemed to snap her out of her drunken state. Her sudden violent action confused me; everything she had done so far lead me to believe she was shy, not aggressive. Even Fluttershy herself seemed surprised. “Oh! I’m so sorry…are you okay…?” Fluttershy apologized as Twilight rubbed her pain-filled cheek. “Yeah, I’m fine. I needed that…” Twilight consoled. It took a moment for Twilight to register what had just happened beforehand. When she did, her eyes widened and she ceased massaging her cheek. “On no!” Twilight said, looking sincerely afraid. I think the sight of her being terrified made the rest come to. They all looked in angst, either chewing on their hooves or unable to keep still. I wish could’ve assisted in their sobering up, but unfortunately, such thing is beyond my abilities. Everyone’s gaze suddenly locked on me, making me feel uneasy. “What?” I said. We all me jumped back when Spike’s face turned slightly green before he appeared to regurgitate another roll of paper. I jumped back at the sight of the paper, startled by what had just occurred but not the sudden action of it. Where in the heavens above did it come from? Fluttershy pat me on the back and said to me in that calming voice of hers, “It’s okay, that’s just a letter system used to send messages between Twilight and Princess Celestia. We haven’t used it a lot recently though.” “Never seen mail handed out that way before…” I said, thinking over several ways it could occur. Although without wormholes or some biological fax machine, it didn’t seem too likely it should exist in the first place. Fluttershy giggled. “It’s not used by everyone.” She said. Spike handed the paper to Twilight as her horn glowed, unraveling it. “Dear Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight read, her voice shaking. She cleared her throat before continuing, “I am not sure why you would bring my attention to such a matter. Nonetheless, I have gone over at my schedule and will pay Ponyville a visit this afternoon. I hope you will prepare for my arrival accordingly, but it need not be extravagant. And make sure you have your ‘handsome’ friend there. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.” “Hold on a moment. Who’s this ‘Celestia’?” I asked. “WHAT?” They all shrieked in unison. “Princess Celestia is the main ruler over Equestria and she also happens to have been my teacher.” Twilight said. “Oohhhh…” I breathed, still a little uncertain about a few details. “Why isn’t there a queen? Or a king? Shouldn’t there be at least one of them somewhere?” Twilight raised her hoof as if she was about to say something, but Rainbow Dash cut her off. “How do you not know who Celestia is?” Questioned Rainbow Dash, Twilight shooting a nasty glance at her for interrupting. “I don’t know… I just don’t get around much I guess…” I said, Spike narrowing his eyes at me. They all started clamoring about what to do and whose fault this was a voice suddenly crackled in my left ear, making me flinch. “Saga AI unit still ready and operational,” a heavily modulated computer generated voice said. I almost forgot about that earpiece; I should probably clean it soon. Saga is an AI program I made a long while back to keep me company, being that I don’t handle human accompaniment very well. I forget exactly when I made him and how long it took, but I know it was at least over a year dwelling on the same subject. He’s still a little rudimentary, but he gets the job done. He’s currently residing in my bag way back at my camp. I guess he noticed that I had left him unattended for a relatively long time. I “accidentally” knocked a fork on to the floor and leaned under the table slightly and speaking softly. “Saga, send out the drone. I want a map with a one hundred mile radius from your current position. Be quiet about it.” I whispered as I picked up the fork. “Already on it sir.” Saga replied after a few moments of silence. I straightened my back and placed the fork back on the table. In about an hour or more, I should have a good sized 3D map of the area. Hopefully the people who watch the skies for a living won’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Someone suddenly grabbed me and forcefully turned my face toward him or her. “What are we going to do Xavier?!” Exasperated Twilight. I thought about it for a moment and pulled her hooves off of my face. “Well, the way I see it, you could just tell her the truth. Honesty is the best policy and we all make mistakes now and then.” I said reassuringly, eliciting a nod from Applejack and a few others. And maybe, just maybe, if she got in enough trouble, I wouldn’t have to deal with her so much. That seemed to calm her down. “Maybe you’re right…” She sighed, letting her head sag. “I know!” Said Rainbow Dash. “We’ll just say you misheard somepony else talking about Celestia, and you thought it was Xavier, and you wanted to surprise him. Not everyone gets to hang around a Princess you know.” Twilight perked up. “Perfect!” Twilight exclaimed, causing me to sigh and bang my head on the table, startling Fluttershy. Even with my vast knowledge of things, I’ll never understand women. I rose my head back up and read a clock on a wall—almost 1 p.m. The letter said Celestia would be here in the afternoon, so by a technicality, she could be arriving at any time now. “Well I don’t know about you guys, but I think I’ll go and gather my stuff and bring it here. See you in few minutes or so.” I said. I left the Corner, avoiding the gazes of the group behind me and various others as I launched off and into the sky. Flapping quietly through the sky, I looked for my original camp site, which wasn’t that hard; I have a pretty good memory. I think. I landed and morphed back into my humanoid form rather quickly. I stretched my arms and moved my fingers—it was great to have digits again. Although being naked didn’t make me feel very safe, it would have to do and I was going to be changing back soon anyway. I removed the sleeping bag from the tent and emptied it of my clothes, wrapping up everything and storing them in the bag. I looked at the bag a moment, devising a structure that could fit atop my Pegasus form without restricting movement. I came up with a bloated saddlebag that would still fit all of my belongings and allowed for the use of wings. Taking out my knife and a small sowing kit, I refashioned my previous bag—which was getting old and needed replacing anyway—content with the result. Once I had finished, a metallic probe flew down from the sky and landed back into the bag, snapping onto something metallic. “Mapping complete. Data will be stored locally.” Saga said in my earpiece. Strange. It should’ve taken him much longer to map out the land than this. “Why so quick? Did you omit parts of the land?” I asked Saga, hoping he wasn’t discovered while he flew the probe about. “I had already begun mapping the landscape before I grabbed your attention. In fact, I was about to tell you I was doing so, but you interrupted me.” He said snidely. He was always rather quick at such comebacks, but not much else. I gruffed at his attitude. “You know you don’t have to be so ill-mannered.” I told him. “I’m aware.” He replied. I took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Thanks Saga.” I sighed. I crouched down and took out a decent sized panel hooked onto Saga I had fashioned myself out of a bunch of scraped computer parts with a screen that responded to touch. I booted it up and took a look at the new map he had created. The landscape was absolutely gorgeous; hills and mountains, waterfalls and forests. There even seemed to be a large stagnant body of clouds about thirty miles northeast of here which seemed very much worthy of checking out. There was so much luscious land to explore and discover, I could barely contain myself as the tablet in my hands unwillingly trembled. I powered down the panel and placed it back into the bag, making a mental note to look at the map again and plan out an expedition across this new country later. I morphed back into my Pegasus form, put my bag on and flew off back to town. It was a little clunky with the bag, but I managed to get back without losing anything. Reaching the town once more, I landed not far from the Corner and saw the group of six hanging around outside the front doors. I also saw a very large pony—this one being more akin to a horse—with a rather long horn, wings, and a ridiculously long flowing mane. It was even waving despite the fact there was barely any wind. The physics in this place was weird. Her coat was a bright white and her mane mimicked a brightened up rainbow, albeit it was missing a few notable colors. Several armored ponies surrounded the large one, consisting mostly of pegai with a few unicorns scattered here and there, some of them tied to a gilded chariot placed off to the side of the Corner. There was a large and loud crowd encircling them, several of them bowing now and again, so it was understandable when the group didn’t seem to notice me as I walked up. I envisioned everyone’s eyes burning out of their sockets as I ventured into the cacophony of voices to reach the front. Pushing through the crowd to try and reach the others was no easy task. The people here were rather stubborn and wouldn’t move from their spots very easily. And they kept looking. However, after receiving several rude glances and vulgar remarks, I finally made my way to the front without breaking down. “Hi guys.” I said as steadily as I could. They all perked up when I spoke and rushed me, save the large one—who merely looked with intrigue—and Spike—who was sitting against the outside of the building with his arms crossed. “Xavier!” They all shouted as Rarity rushed ahead to guarantee an uncalled for hug from me. “What’s this for?” I asked as she looked up at me. “I don’t know…” Rarity said, letting go and fixing her hair a bit. Spike balled his hands up in fists and grit his teeth as he watched. “Xavier, this is Princess Celestia.” Said Twilight, gesturing to the large white horse. “Your majesty.” I said, bowing down. The guards watched me cautiously as this new face appeared before the supposed ruler of the land. One of them even seemed to deem me suspicious, whispering something inaudible to another guard. “You may rise.” Celestia said in a commanding tone, but didn’t come across as too menacing. Raising back up, I merely saw the scrutinizing eyes of royalty, looking me over as if I was some new species she had never seen before. Royal eyes are the worst kind. “Twilight, may I speak with you for a moment? And without Spike please.” Celestia requested as Twilight bit her lip and avoided eye contact with the horse. “Oh… O-okay…” Twilight stammered as she shifted on her hooves. They both went into the Sugarcube Corner and others in the crowd tried to follow. The guards blocked the door and prevented the crowd from advancing. “They wish to speak in private, leave them their space!” one of them spoke authoritatively. A few guards entered the establishment and emptied it out, allowing Celestia and Twilight to converse in total secrecy. The guards then shut the doors and allowed no one to enter or exit. I took my bag off and set it against the building making my acoustic guitar clang against the wall, making me recall the sweet sound that it echoed when played. I took it off the bag and sat down, propping myself against a wall of the Corner. I brushed aside the chatter of the crowd as I played, immersing myself in my music while feeling the sting of the assembly as they watched me, which I ignored. “It’s all in my head. This will help me feel better.” I thought in an attempt to justify my actions in front of the crowd. The bright sound of the guitar echoed throughout the area, filling it with a sort of homey feel and that sounded like “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp.” I smiled to myself as I watched the strings vibrate on the neck as I plucked out the chords. I ended on a nice high note several minutes later that rung out and bounced off of the nearby buildings, giving it a beautiful reverb. I looked up from my guitar to see most of the crowd quietly staring at me. I smiled nervously and put the guitar back in my bag, being careful not to hit it against anything or begin hyperventilating in the process. I looked over at the girls and saw a couple of them staring at me longingly, although Applejack was gone. I looked to my right and saw her sitting against the building a small distance away from me, looking up at the clouds. She noted I had ceased playing my guitar and shifted her gaze over to me. “You play that guitar mighty fine, Xavier.” She complemented as I merely nodded in thanks. The rest of the girls sat down near me and propped themselves against the Corner, Rarity pressing against me on my right and Rainbow Dash on my left. I tried to move, but I was too squished to even break my arm free. Rarity kissed my right cheek and batted her eyelashes again. Spike stared knives at me, almost as if he was trying to blow up my head using some sort of cerebral stimulus. Cute attempt, but of course, nothing occurred. Rainbow Dash bit her lip and looked about the crowd, not knowing what to do. Looking for something to do as I was quietly waiting, I twisted my head around and planted my right ear on the wall of the corner. The voices were muffled, but I could still make them out. “…he is? I can’t merely go off of circumstantial evidence. Solid proof would be more preferable.” Celestia said. “I don’t have anything that could lead to a solid conviction yet, but I’ve been looking rather hard. You see, he’s…” I heard Twilight begin before I was interrupted by a guard. “You!” A voice boomed from in front of me, making me flick around to see a well-built and rather disgruntled Pegasus standing in front of me wearing what I hoped was iron armor painted gold. “Yes?” I replied, attempting to keep on my best behavior. “They went into a private setting for a reason. You have no right to listen in on royal on-goings without permission. This is a warning. If I catch you doing that again, I will be forced to arrest you for conspiring against the government. Do you understand?” He barked. I had never really liked any sort of authority to begin with a few marked exceptions. I respected them, but sometimes, they really didn’t know what they were doing and often abused their power. Whether or not this was true here, I would not know unless I had constant contact with such guards. “I understand.” I said. “Good.” He miffed, walking back over to an area more concentrated by those of his same stature. I puffed, forcing my arms free so I could cross them, completely forgetting the two ponies sitting by my sides. However, the few sentences that I did catch. Who were they talking about? Was it me? Was this whole “drunken pony” thing a ruse? They both sounded rather professional in there, almost like it was a business meeting or other intelligent discussion. I couldn’t know exactly what they were scheming without listening in more, but I’d rather not be put to death by that one Pegasus who still seemed to be staring at me. A few more minutes passed as I was pondering the implications of the current circumstances before the guards eventually shifted away from the door so as to allow Twilight and Celestia to walk out. Once outside, the two of them looked at me and all the others sitting around me. Twilight gave me a smile and joined us by sitting on my lap, wrapping her forelegs around me and tucking her head under my chin while she closed her eyes. The others seemed flabbergasted at Twilight’s action, myself included. I had no idea how to react to such a display of affection. It was rather nice and warm of course, a little comforting even, but it seemed too intimate for me as I squirmed underneath her weight. The horse made her way over to the chariot, saying nothing despite Twilight’s rather uncalled for actions that a former instructor would surely disapprove of. Once she was in the chariot, she gave me one final look. It may have been one of confusion or anger, I couldn’t tell. The few unicorns that were present boarded the chariot with Celestia as the two pegai tied to the front flapped their wings and lifted the chariot off the ground and into the sky—which stayed parallel to ground despite their comparatively low velocity—the other guards surrounding it as she flew off.
X: Unattainable RespiteInteresting how time flies. The sun had dipped quite low in the sky by now and the crowed had begun to dissipate, although slowly. I think some of the females stayed the longest, probably to gawk at me which the mere thought of was appalling. The main six that I had been surrounded by were still sitting by or on me, and by then my arms felt like pins and needles. “Okay ladies, I think it’s about time I head off.” I said in an attempt to get them to give me some space. The three of them groaned and got up, my arms and legs finally able to breathe again. Rarity kissed me one last time on the cheek, making Spike growl quietly and banging the back of his head on a wall of the Corner before he stood up. Rainbow Dash and Twilight gave me a hug while Fluttershy simply gave me a smile and Applejack tipped her hat—the last two probably the most welcome of the gestures so far. Twilight’s horn glowed when she hugged me, which I guess was weird. I was inclined to believe anything was normal at that point. Pinkie gave me a cupcake, which I thought was a rather nice treat. I thanked her warmly and stashed the cupcake in my bag for later. “So who are you going to be with tonight Xavier?” Pinkie asked. “I was kind of thinking Applejack.” I said. I thought about giving Fluttershy the night, but I decided on giving her more time. Plus, I thought it would give me break to be away from those who were infatuated with me. I saw Spike fist pump and quietly say something out of the corner of my eye. I was unable to hear what he said, but then again, I really didn’t care too much about him. Applejack smiled delightfully. “Oh this is going to be great! I can show y’all the family! And you can play your guitar for everypony too!” She exclaimed. I clumsily put my bag back on and followed the ever-excited Applejack. I looked back and saw Rarity waving happily, but the Rainbow Dash seemed upset. Twilight even looked somewhat angry as she attempted to hide the emotions that stirred within her. I rose one of my hooves to wave back, but ended up tripping instead. Catching myself mid-fall, I shot back up onto all fours and continued following a now laughing Applejack as if nothing had happened. After walking for about 10 minutes in silence, we reached a farm that was quite large; lots of acreage on this plot. “Welcome to Sweet Apple Farms, I work and live here with my brother, sister and grandma. We specialize in growing apples and make some of the best homemade cider in all of Equestria if I do say so myself.” She said as we entered the property. “My big brother’s name’s Big Macintosh, but everyone just calls him Big Mac, you met him back by the fountain not too long ago.” “Yeah, I remember him.” I said, recalling the experience. “My sister is Apple Bloom. She’s a cute little thing, I won’t let her bug you too much though.” She continued, “And then there’s Granny Smith, she’s got a bad hip, but boy can she cook! You’ll have to try one of her apple pies sometime.” “Yeah sure, I’ll give it a shot.” I said. We neared a small greenish house not far from the barn. A brown and white collie that was laying in front of the house looked up, barked once, and bounded up to meet us. It reared up its hind legs and wagged its tail, barking again. Applejack giggled and stroked the back of the dog. “Xavier, this is Winona, our dog.” Applejack said. The dog walked in front of me and sat down, merely looking up at me and cocking her head to one side. Winona whimpered and laid down, placing her head on her paws while still looking up at me. Applejack was about to say something, but the dog sprung up and started barking happily, cutting her off. Winona hopped all around me playfully, clearly excited to see a new face that she might be able to play with. Applejack laughed again. “She really seems to like you!” She exclaimed over the barking. “Seems so.” I replied, laughing to myself. As we walked to the house Winona followed us, jumping around and barking the whole way. It wasn’t until I whispered “quiet” that she ceased barking and followed us calmly. When the dog quieted down, both Applejack and I looked puzzled and glanced over at the now silent canine. “Did you ask her to stop barking?” She inquired of me. I looked at her with a confused face of my own. “Yeah, why?” I asked back. “She doesn’t really listen that well to strangers, it’s amazing how quickly she warmed up to you. It’s almost like what Rarity said happened to…Opal…” She trailed off, looking into the distance and stopping in her tracks. I cursed myself in my thoughts for being so reckless, stopping as well. She shifted her gaze back to me. “Are you an animal whisperer?” She asked. “No, I don’t think I am.” I answered, shaking my head. I was just as confused as Applejack was; I didn’t expect the animals here to become so comfortable with me so quickly. They had no reason to trust me, yet they were rather content around me. After a short silence, we began walking again as Applejack mulled over the recent odd occurrence. We entered the house and walked into a cozy and rustic foyer that was a mildly dim because of slightly inadequate lighting. “Granny! Apple Bloom! Big Mac! I’m home!” She yelled through the house. An old and jittery looking pony with a light lime green coat and light gray mane shambled into the room. “Quiet down, there’s no need to yell.” She said, also sporting a Southern accent. “Xavier, this is Granny Smith.” Applejack said. “Hello there ma’am.” I said kindly. Old people’s eyes were another one of my favorites. “Got yourself a stallion now did you? At least he’s a dapper fella.” Granny said, making Applejack chuckle. “Anyway, Apple Bloom is upstairs in her room. Big Mac is off somewhere doing Celestia knows what.” I peered around the room at the various furnishing and décor before finding a rickety wooden staircase that lead upstairs, ascending it carefully. “Nosy one isn’t he?” I heard Granny Smith say. I went into what I presumed was Apple Bloom’s room, being as she was sitting at a table and seemed to be writing something. I walked up behind her and peered over her shoulder. She seemed to be writing a to-do list with several activities that seemed to require some amount of skill to accomplish. She was also writing with her mouth, which seemed like a poor use of appendages. “Whatcha writing there?” I asked. The pencil in her mouth shot out and jabbed into the paper, leaving a gray mark as she jumped up in her seat and turned around quickly. “Don’t startle me like that!” Apple Bloom said, then recognizing it was me. “Oh, hi Xavier! I didn’t know you were coming over.” “It was a last second decision.” I said. “So what do you have going on here?” I asked a second time, peering over her shoulder. “Oh this?” She said, holding up her list written in crude English. “It’s a list of what me and the Crusaders are going to try out tomorrow to see what our special talent is!” I chuckled a bit. “At least you have your priorities straight.” I said as Applejack walked into the room behind me. “So who are these Crusaders?” “It’s me, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Babs, my cousin who is in Manehattan right now. We go around trying different things to see what our talent is.” Apple Bloom said excitedly. Ugh, more equine puns. “Sounds fascinating. I wish you luck in your endeavors.” I said, making Apple Bloom smile. “Yeah, well sometimes they get in the way or cause a ruckus.” Applejack said playfully. “At least we’re trying!” Apple Bloom said defensively. “I’ll give you that, but you need to be careful. Don’t need you and your friends getting hurt.” Applejack said. “I know…” Apple Bloom groaned. “C’mon Xavier, I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.” Said Applejack, walking out of the room. “You keep it up, but don’t hurt yourself.” I said to Apple Bloom as I walked out. “We’ll try our best!” She said, making me laugh. Applejack walked through the second floor to another room. It seemed quite cozy, but the bed was kind of small, a stark contrast from the luxury of Rarity’s house. Then again, it was a country house, so I shouldn’t expect too much from it. “This is where you’ll be staying.” She said. “You have sleeping bag in there, right?” She queried, gesturing to my bag. “Of course.” I nodded, laying my stuff down on the floor on the opposite side of the room to the bed before the sound of a door opening and closing echoed downstairs. “I’m back Granny!” Said a muffled Big Mac. “Well look who’s finally back.” Smiled Applejack. “Where’s Applejack? Has she come back yet?” Said Big Mac. “She’s upstairs with some boy of hers.” Granny Smith said. “A boy? What did he look like?” Asked Big Mac, sounding agitated. “I think he was some black stallion, I can’t remember.” Said Granny, leaving an awkward silence for a moment. “APPLEJAAAAAACK!” Big Mac yelled.
XI: Swift ReminderApplejack’s ears folded over her head and winced as Big Mac’s voice bellowed through the house. Stomping was heard as he came up the stairs and trudged to Applejack’s room. He entered with nary an expression on his face, making it difficult to guess what he was thinking; it was unexpectedly intimidating. “Applejack. What did I say about this pony?” He said plainly. “But Big Mac, he just needed a place to stay for the night!” Applejack pleaded. “How do you know? He could be some sadistic serial killer or rapist for all we know. Or maybe he’ll kidnap you in the middle of the night and we’ll never see you again! I’ve never seen him around here before, have you?” Big Mac said sternly. He had a point, even I barely know who I am. Applejack was about to say something before Big Mac looked at me like he had before, examining me closely. “Now listen here, it’s all just a simple misunderstanding.” I said, hoping he would take into consideration my words. “I’m just here to stay the night, I mean no harm to you, Applejack, Sweetie, or Granny. I just want a place to lay my head down. If you’d be so kind as-” Big Mac rose up hoof, signaling for me to stop talking. I compiled, not wanting to infuriate him further. “Applejack, do you trust him?” He asked, turning to look at his sister. She looked at me, then back at Big Mac. She seemed torn, like she didn’t know what to say. I understood her hesitation; she hardly knew me as it was. I was anticipating her to say no. Not many people enjoyed my presence anyway. She stood in silence for several seconds as she looked back and forth between me and her brother, God knows what going through her head. Eventually, she sighed and rested her eyes on Big Mac, nodding slightly. My eyes widened and I let my mouth go slack a bit. What could have driven her to such an answer? She didn’t seem like she was as misguided as the other three and she seemed a lot more realistic and down to earth. Maybe I’ll have to ask her later. Big Mac nodded silently back before turning to me once more and nodding to me, and soon after, leaving the room. Applejack looked at the floor for a moment before shouting her brother’s name and dashing out of the room, her hat blowing off of her head and onto the floor at her sudden burst of speed. Raising an eyebrow at the doorway, I meandered over and picked up her hat, examining the cotton fabric it was fashioned from. After doing that for moment, I placed the hat on my head, walking in front of a small mirror that was stationed in the room. It seemed to fit fairly well, although it was little small on me. “Maybe I should get my own Stetson while I’m here.” I thought as Applejack walked back into the room, seeming more content with herself than before we saw me wearing her hat. “I beg your pardon, but that’s mine.” She said, frowning and pointing at the article atop my head. “Oh, sorry.” I answered, taking it off and handing it back to her who promptly placed it back on her head. “If there’s one thing you must know while you’re here, it's that this hat, is my hat. Got that, boy?” She commanded. “Right…” I sighed, looking back in the mirror to check if I needed a shave when I saw an infuriated Big Mac standing way back in the hall. He didn’t do anything, he just stood there watching, but left down the stairs after he saw I noticed him. “So what do you do for a living?” She asked, at which I turned around. “I don’t really have anything definite, I bounce around doing all sorts of things. I like to keep rooted in the sciences though. Fascinating field it is.” I said. She began to twirl bits of her mane. “Oh. I was just wondering.” She said. “Just because you don’t have your Cutie Mark and all.” “What’s a Cutie Mark?” I asked sincerely. She looked at me and scrunched up her nose. “What do you mean ‘what’s a Cutie Mark?’ You been living under a rock?” She said, utterly bewildered. “I just don’t get around much is all…” I said, shifting in my position. She sighed and began explaining what Cutie Marks were. They were simply some tattoo-esque symbols that appeared on your flanks when you discovered something you were good at, the symbol resembling something that is associated with that talent. “Ah.” I said, rubbing the back of my neck and biting my lip. “It’s strange you didn’t know about this before. Where did you come from?” She asked, tilting her head. “Just from a small place in the forest to the south.” I fibbed. I didn’t know what was anywhere really, so I just spoke of the place I set up camp. “So the Everfree Forest then?” She questioned, her voice faltering slightly. “Um, yeah. The Everfree Forest.” Her eyes widened at hearing this. “Is it difficult to live there? There must be all manners of critters you have to worry about in there…” “It's not too hard, just takes bit of getting used to.” “Hm.” She huffed, turning away slightly. “I didn’t know there was a town there; I’ve never seen anything there on any maps.” “I actually didn’t live in a town. As far as I know, I have never met my parents. I grew up in those woods alone for as long as I can remember, too frightened to leave the solitary protection of the trees. Living off of the land and not even encountering others much.” Applejack looked at me, with a sense of awe and concern. “You lived out there all by yourself for your whole life?” She asked. I nodded. “That explains why you don’t know a lot of things…” She whispered to herself. “You’re a stallion of the land then, aren’t you?” “You bet.” I said. Finally, something I wouldn’t have to lie about. I absolutely adored nature and always made sure to go camping once in a while to remind myself of the world that was out there. “Speaking of land, why don’t you show me around this farm of yours?” I asked. She perked up from her previously dreary state. “That’s a brilliant idea! Come on, I’ll show you the ins and outs of Sweet Apple Acres.” She said excitedly. She happily made her way downstairs and out of the house as I followed. As we were leaving, I saw Granny and Big Mac in the kitchen, Mac glaring at me as we passed. Applejack showed me around the farm, telling me what types of produce they grew and what kind of animals they kept. She even went into detail on some farming and raising techniques she found useful and that I tried to remember for my own use. We eventually came to a stop inside the barn and I laid down on a pile of hay. Applejack was tending to a few of the animals, so she didn’t notice me right away. I closed my eyes and just lost myself in thought, doing what men do best. Nothing. I suddenly realized I felt rather odd. Rather…good actually. I’m not sure why, but it was nice at least. I opened my eyes again to see Applejack looking at me. “Are you comfortable?” She asked. “Quite.” I replied. She started walking toward me when she stepped on a broom on the floor. She slipped on the broom and fell on top of me with an “oof,” knocking some of the wind out of my lungs. Applejack shook her head and she chuckle when she realized she was on top of me. “Um… Hi…” I said warily. “Hey there.” She spoke before rolling off of me and lying beside me, the both of us staring at the wooden ceiling. We’re both silent for good long while, although I’m not sure specifically how long it was. My eyes began to feel heavy from the extended period of silence and the comfortable position I was in. “So what kind of music do you like?” Applejack asked, jerking me suddenly from my sleepy state. “Well…” I started, sitting up and propping myself on my elbows. “I enjoy most forms of music, although not much rap. Some metal and all—if not, most—rock suits me.” I answered, yawning shortly after. The orange mare nodded while she listened, twisting onto her side and facing me. “Metal isn’t really my cup of cider, although I do enjoy some rock songs. As you may have guessed, I’m more of a country gal, but I’ll listen to most anything.” She said in response, making me chuckle a bit. “Yeah, I sort of figured.” I said before turning to look at her. She seemed deep in thought about something. “When you were alone in the Everfree, how did you defend yourself?” She questioned. I wasn’t really expecting that. “Being that I have these wings here and have some rather strong legs, I just book it when I see something a little too much for me to handle. However, if I can’t run away or is it’s small enough, I have a bow and a few arrows in my bag that I use.” “So you’ve killed things in their before?” “Oh yes, many a time. So much so, blood doesn’t startle me too much, not even my own when it's drawn sometimes.” She gave me an odd look. “Um… That’s interesting…” I turned to look at her. “What? Something wrong?” She shifted in her position. “Well, if I started to bleed or something, I would be at least a little worried. Even if it were a small cut, I’d get myself patched up as soon as I could.” “Oh I put dressings on my wounds when I must, but I don’t worry about them all too much. They merely hinder progress.” Laying back down on the hay, Applejack simply stared up at the ceiling as she processed the information that I had given her. “You’re an odd one, you know that, right?” She suddenly asked. “I guess I am.” I sighed, actually enjoying the small talk we were having more than I had expected to. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I felt like I could take on the world. Shortly after that exchange of words, we both agreed to head inside. Once we had returned to the cozy house, Applejack went to help Granny and Big Mac cook something in the kitchen while went upstairs to prepare my sleeping arrangements. There, I saw Apple Bloom rummaging through my things. For what end, I wasn’t sure, but it certainly made me feel clammy. “What do you think you’re doing?” I asked with a mildly shaking voice, furrowing my brow. She stopped looking and turned around slowly, chuckling and smiling nervously. “Uh…hi… This isn’t what it looks like…” She said. “Sure it’s not, and I’m Nikola Tesla.” I said sarcastically, attempting to lighten my mood. Apple Bloom cocked her head to one side and looked at me puzzled. “Nikola Tesla? Who’s that?” She asked. I suddenly realized who I referenced and that he may not exist in this realm. “He’s someone I know,” I said quickly, “now step away from my stuff.” “Why…? Got something to hide in here…?” She said with a smirk. She turned around again and continued to search through my things. “Get out of there!” I yelled walking over and picking her up by her back. I turned her to look at me, revealing that she was holding a battered iron helmet that had since lost most of its original green hue and a chinstrap that was surprisingly still intact between her hooves. Apple Bloom looked over it with a most intrigued look plastered on her face. “Why was this in there? Why is it so beat up? I’ve never seen such an odd hat before…” She rambled in an attempt to elicit some sort of explanation from me. It didn’t work as I only grew enraged at the ignorant child, the very sight of the headwear making my pulse race through my veins. “Why don’t you put that back before I get really pissed off…?” I seethed through clenched teeth. She wasn’t expecting such a reaction, evident by her folding back her ears and solemn expression. Setting her down on the floor, she returned the helmet to where she found it in my bag before backing away from me, trembling softly and avoiding eye contact with me. I stared knives at her the entire time, making sure she didn’t damage nor run off the with article. “Will you ever go through any of my stuff ever again…?” I miffed, my rage ever so slightly melting away. She shook her head as a response, still not having looked up from the floor. “Good. You may leave now.” Turning around and not so much as giving me a second glance, she silently sulked out the room. Once I was certain she had completely left, I made my way over to my bag and stuffed the helmet as far down as it would go. “I have no idea why I still have that fuc-bloody thing…” I whispered to myself, once again avoiding a slip of the tongue.
XII: I Ran Out Of Ideas For TitlesHaving completed the task of burying my past, I allowed myself to settle down with the aid of continued odd feelings and a few more gentle thoughts. Finally recalling what I had originally come upstairs for, I found my compressed and rather wrinkled sleeping bag, smoothing it out as much as I could on the floor near the window, placing a pillow at the head shortly after. Sighing to myself, I gazed out at the setting sun of the afternoon. The gorgeous reds and oranges covered the sky in luminous and vivid schemes, some of the color projecting onto a nearby cloud or two. I felt notably more calm—probably the most calm I’ve been here so far—setting my elbows on the window sill and resting my head in my hooves, I merely stared and cherished the sight before me. After a short while of admiring the scenery before me, I noted that a small entity had enter my field of vision from afar. I couldn’t quite make out who or what it was from here, so I simply watched with intrigue as the object danced around in the sky with absolute grace and dazzling speed. It made hairpin turns at seemingly breakneck speeds, several areal tricks that I had never seen before, and a most memorable finale. As I watched all this unfold, the thing rose high into the sky before plummeting back down to the earth. I straightened out my arms and placed my hooves on the sill, frightened that this phenomenon would lead to the death of such an elegant creature. I even reached out a hoof, as if I could reach the being and save it from its imminent and gruesome end. At the last moment, it shot back up and darted away from the ground that I was certain would be the creature’s grave. Breathing a sigh of relief, I continued to look with awe as, in a sudden flash of light, a rainbow in the shape of a ring flew out from the creatures during its ascent. “Wow…" I whispered, not even bothering an attempt to understand how the being accomplished such a feat. I merely wanted to relish the moment and all of the wonders it had to offer that I could feast my eyes on. A moment later, I heard the loud burst that accompanied the rainbow blast, causing the house to vibrate minutely. I let out a lighthearted sigh—such a beautiful creature with such whimsical talents. Oh how I wished to know of the source of such fantastic exquisiteness. Shortly thereafter, the being hovered in the sky, smack in the center of the sun that was half covered by the horizon. I stared at it oh so intently, trying to make out any fine details that could lead to a classification, but alas, the only things I could pick out were its wings. Those strong, powerful, well-tuned wings. I couldn’t help but yearn for such might and prowess. The soft and gorgeous background of the setting sun acted as a perfect juxtaposition for the hardened talent and stunning nature of the creature. It then flew off without another trace and my heart sank. I poked my head out of the window to try and see where it was off to, but because of it prodigious speed, I could not ascertain where it had gone. I lingered out of the window for a moment longer, hoping it would return and grant me another spectacle of its abilities, but after waiting for a solid five minutes, it was evident it wasn’t returning any time soon. I fell back into the house and smiled lightly, my feelings of anger and hostility completely replaced with serenity. Curious as to what the rest of the household had thought of the events I had just recently witnessed, I hopped happily down the stairs. In the foyer, Applejack was with Granny making flighty conversation, Big Mac chiming in every so often. When he noticed I had entered the room, he seemed a little more wary and observant of me, flicking a glance in my direction every so often as Apple Bloom also made her way down the stairs behind me. “Did you finish your list?” I softly asked Apple Bloom, who jumped slightly at my voice and merely shook her head afterward. I hoped I hadn’t frightened her too much earlier; I just can’t help myself sometimes. I think Big Mac took note of Apple Bloom’s demeanor, his eyes narrowing at me as if he was blaming me for something. Clever boy. “Oh! Apple Bloom, Xavier.” Applejack noted, “Granny and Big Mac made some apple pie, so if you want there’s some in the kitchen.” Applejack said. “Oh boy! Apple pie!” Apple Bloom said gleefully, scampering into the adjacent room. “You can have some too if you want Xavier.” Applejack said, smiling. “Oh sure.” I said, walking into the kitchen after Apple Bloom. The sweet aroma of freshly baked cinnamon and apple pastry wafted around in the air. I took a deep breath in through my nose and let it out with a deep sigh. Two sweet treats in one day? How lucky was I? “Ah yes…” I said to myself looking over at the partly eaten pie resting on the counter, Apple Bloom standing next to it on her hind legs atop a chair to reach it. “Did you say something?” She asked suddenly. “Hm? Oh, no, nothing important.” I responded, soon after adding in, “Um…Apple Bloom…?” To which she merely turned her head to look at me. “Sorry about what happened upstairs…I just…don’t like people rummaging through my stuff…” “It's fine, I shouldn’t have been so nosy anyway. Sorry about that.” I wasn’t expecting such a lax response. I was about to ask her if she was serious, but decided to let it slide. At this point, the less questions I asked, the better. Smiling, I gave a quick nod before walking over to the pie, cutting a reasonably sized piece and giving it to her. “Thanks!” She said, sitting down in the chair and scarfing the pie down. It was kind of disgusting, but at least she wasn’t eating something worse. I took a small bite of the pie and let the flavor spread along my tongue and rest of my mouth. I could slightly taste the spice of the cinnamon and the combination of the sweetness of the apple… Perfect. This Granny really knew how to bake. By the time I went to take my second bite, Apple Bloom had finished her piece. Little crumbs stuck to her face as she looked up at me, smiling a toothy grin with little bits of apple and flaky crust stuck between her teeth and on her cheeks. Not exactly a sight I wanted to see. “Let’s get you cleaned up here…” I said, placing my piece down on the countertop and grabbing a washcloth from a sink that looked reasonably clean to wipe off her face. She wriggled and squirmed as I removed the pie crumbs. “Hey! Mbmbphh… Cut that out!” She giggled as she continued wiggling. “I’m just cleaning you off, now quit moving!” I said as I laughed. I soon finished and removed the washcloth from her face. “There, now you’re not all pie encrusted. No pun intended.” She laughed a little and said thanks again, hopping off of the chair and leaving the kitchen. I turned around and took another bite of my pie, savoring it to the fullest degree possible. It took me a while to finish the slice; I wanted to savor everything this moment had to offer. I sighed once I finished and looked at the pie tin, thinking about sneaking another piece. I cringed as I was suddenly hit by a blast of euphoria. “The pie wasn’t that good.” I thought to myself, shaking slightly and rubbing my eyes. I sat in the chair Apple Bloom was standing in earlier, closing my eyes and rubbing my temples while breathing deeply. Now it’s not that this release of dopamine feels bad, it feels great in fact. It's just that its probably going to cloud my judgment and I do not need that while I’m here. Why was this happening? Had I been dragged? I continued to ponder the possibilities of why this would occur when suddenly a name and a face popped into my head. Twilight. I wasn’t anywhere near thinking about her when she randomly appeared in my thought processes. I tried to think of other things, but she was always lodged somewhere off to the side or in the shadows of my thoughts. It was like someone had cut a hole in my brain and stuck a picture of Twilight there just to annoy me. Which I guess was okay; she wasn’t half bad looking anyway. About then, Applejack walked in with a smile on her face. She looked prettier than I remembered. “So how was the pie?” She asked. “Yeah, it was great. Your grandmother is a great cook.” I said, patting my stomach with glee. “She sure is! I’m glad you enjoyed it!” She said, noticing something about me. “Hey… Wait a minute there…” “What is it?” I asked. “I’ve seen somepony else sit like that before, not many do.” “Really? Enlighten me if you will.” “Lyra I think her name is. She’s the first one of us to study anthropology.” “Anthropology? Well, what took you guys so long?” I said, snapping out of my stupor a bit. As far as I knew, I simply walked here somehow. A different universe with (seemingly) different physics and sentient beings. It’s a wonder humans haven’t been cataloged just wandering into the place. Applejack tilted her head to one side. “What do you mean took so long?’“ She asked, scrunching her nose. I stood up from the chair, wobbling a bit. “Well, I mean, isn’t there extensive documentation of humans coming here?” I asked. “I wouldn’t know, I don’t study that kind of stuff. I haven’t really asked Lyra about them either. She’s a…well…she’s certainly a character. You sound like you know something about them though. You should talk to her.” She said. “I might…” I mumbled. “Also, how would you know so much about humans anyways? Lyra barely has any information on them as it is.” “You don’t want to know.” I thought to myself. “Well, I mean, I don’t know too terribly much about them, but I think two researchers are better than one.” I said. She nodded. “Two heads are always better than one.” She said. “Not always.” I thought. “You betcha. Oh, didn’t you want me to play the guitar for your family or something also?” I diverted the conversation; her ears perked up. “Oh yeah! Get your guitar and I’ll let everyone know.” She said, walking out of the room and informing everyone of the coming events. As she did, I walked up the stairs to get my guitar, grabbing it from my bag and slinging it across my back. I walked back downstairs into the den where Granny and Big Mac were already waiting, Granny sitting in a wooden rocking chair and Big Mac standing beside her. Granny smiled at me, so I smiled back. I smiled at Big Mac and he nodded back at me, no smile or anything. Apple Bloom reluctantly walked down the stairs with Applejack not far behind. “I keep getting interrupted! I got to have that list for the Crusaders tomorrow! They’re counting on me for this!” Cried Apple Bloom. “Oh quit your whining and have some respect, this won’t take long.” Applejack said. They both sat on the floor next to Granny, Apple Bloom crossing her forelegs in irritation and Applejack sat looking at me, smiling. “God she is absolutely gorgeous.” I (now regrettably) thought—luckily no one could hear me—breaking myself from her gaze as I stood up on my hind legs and shifted the guitar around to my front. Applejack inched closer as she eagerly awaited whatever I would strum. I took the pick off of the guitar and, instead of just playing some random flowing riffs, I played and song “Yesterday” by Lennon–McCartney. As much as I like my own music, I also quite enjoy other pieces. It was a shame I didn’t have any violins or cellos to accompany me, otherwise it would’ve been perfect. As I played, Apple Bloom unfolded her front legs and watched me, starting to get into the swing of things. Applejack closed her eyes and swayed slowly to the beat of the music. Granny also closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair. Big Mac’s face even seemed to soften a bit, which was the most calm I’ve ever seen the big guy. My voice resonated in the house as well as outside; however far I didn’t know, I would have to calculate that later if I had time to kill. I prided myself on my voice; a nice tenor or baritone when generally talking or singing, but I could still reach countertenor or bass if the time called for it. I neared the end of the song, humming the last verse and slowly plucking out the ending, letting the notes hang in the air like a fog. There was silence for a moment, then Applejack and Granny opened their eyes. “I haven’t heard a song like that since I was a filly,” she said, probably reminiscing of her youth. “Oh Xavier…” Said Applejack, bringing her forehooves to her chest, “that was beautiful…” I smiled. “Thank you.” I said warmly, hoping, at that time, I had made a great impression on her. “I guess that was pretty good, but I’ve heard better.” Big Mac said, mumbling something else under his breath I couldn’t quite catch. “I don’t care what Big Mac says, I think it was great!” Exclaimed Apple Bloom, bouncing in her seat. “Thank you Apple Bloom.” I said, laughing a little. I stuck the pick back underneath the strings and spun the guitar around to my back, allowing me to resume standing on all fours. “Do you play any other instruments?” Apple bloom asked. “I play quite a few—I’ve learned a few over the years. Let’s see… I play the guitar—both acoustic and electric—piano, violin, and…nope, that’s it.” “Wow… You should apply to be in an orchestra or something.” Applejack piped up. “Oh really? Is there one around?” I asked with intrigue. I would never consider joining one—too many eyes of course—but I would love to listen to one. “Sort of. We have a theater here in Ponyville that ponies sometimes play at. There’s even one who plays the cello who lives around here. Octavia.” “I do enjoy a spot of classical music occasionally. I might have to speak to her at some point.” “Well I don’t know about you guys, but I think I’ll be getting back to my list.” Interrupted Apple Bloom, jumping off of the couch and heading up the stairs. “Okay then, sleep well and don’t stay up too late.” I said. “You too!” She said back. “Maybe I should add something musical to the list…?” I heard her say to herself as she ascended the stairs. “I think I’ll be getting to bed too.” Big Mac said, heading for the stairs. “G’night Mac!” Said Applejack. “Good night.” I said. “Good night everyone.” He said, walking up the stairs. “I think I’ll be fine here.” Said Granny, starting to rock in the chair. “Y’all go off and get some sleep too, it’s pretty late.” I agreed, the sun had dipped below the horizon quite a while ago, and this deviant of a pony was beat. “I think you’re right.” I said, turning to Applejack. “I’ll be upstairs if you want anything.” “A’ight.” She responded. I walked up the stairs and passed Apple Bloom’s room. I peered around the ajar door and saw her lazily writing as her head bobbed back and forth from lack of sleep. I chuckled to myself and entered Applejack’s room, placing my guitar beside my bag. I looked up and out the window, gazing into the pale darkness of a field and rolling hills in the beyond. “Maybe living here won’t be so bad.” I thought to myself, curious to know how a relationship between one of the girls and I would work out. “No no, that’s ridiculous. Why would I ever dream of getting together with those…things…?” Now that was something I could excogitate. Through this moment of clarity and nothing to distract me, why would I even think that I could get together with anyone here? I’ve just been feeling so strange lately. Did Twilight have something to do with it? I could imagine so, seeing as these people’s use of “magic” is signified by the lighting up of his or her horn, and Twilight’s horn glowed on me a while back. I couldn’t ensure these were the true and actual events that occurred, it’s all so circumstantial, so I reserved my later judgements for until I had enough evidence to work with. Applejack trotted into the room, smiling with bags under her eyes. “You ready to sleep yet?” She asked. I removed whatever unfitting emotions that may have lingered on my face and turned around. “Yeah, I could use some shuteye. I already have my bag set down over here, so I should be set for the night.” I informed. “Ah, good,” she said, offering me a blanket in case things got cold on the floor during the night. I accepted, at which she gave me a woolen blanket from a chest near her bed. I thanked her before slipping into my bag and placing the blanket over me. Applejack went over and flicked a switch, shutting off the light in the middle of the room. She then jumped into her bed and yawned. “Good night.” She said lazily. “Good night…” I sighed as I laid there facing toward the window and looking out to the moon. It was rather bright, but nothing too much so as to prevent me from sleeping. Nature’s nightlight. As I attempted to stop thinking about anything so I could sleep, I felt slightly woozy, but I just brushed this off as a side effect of this odd happy feeling I kept experiencing against my will. Hopefully I’d feel better tomorrow. Laying in my sleeping bag, I pondered how I would be able to get back home. I was amazed I hadn’t thought about this before. I may have to make a universal jump gate, which I’ve only theorized about and would likely destroy everything in a on the planet. The materials for it were so rare, it would take me ages to build, and I think some of them aren’t even on earth. It would take decades to create here, especially considering the fact the technology required probably doesn’t exist here yet. I could also just walk around in the forest for a while until I would randomly teleport back to Prime, but the statistical probability that I was transported here without assistance was already astronomical. I doubt I would be able to suddenly just hop back to Prime. Although I wouldn’t go back just yet; this universe was just so fascinating. I finally had another world to discover and unveiling its secrets would be an adventure in itself. I abruptly felt tired and decided it would be good to get some actually restful sleep. Before I had almost fallen asleep, I thought I felt a presence of standing someone very close to me. I checked, but I saw no one around. Satisfied with my safety, I once again closed my eyes and drifted off.
