A Different Kind of Paradise

Chapter III: Welcome

“Epica, Karma, The Fourth Legacy, you really lucked out man.”  Nero said as he inspected the shelves lining Danny’s room; somehow each of their rooms had something tailored to each of them.  Nero’s room had a sunroof with open able panels so he could take off into the sky at any point, Gabe’s room had its own library that he proceeded to bury himself in, he wanted to get as much information about this place as he could that wasn’t from some giggly fanboy; and Nero was sifting through Danny’s record collection.

Danny chuckled at Nero’s comment as he broke in his new bed “This isn’t luck, this is destiny.”  If there was one thing Danny was more fascinated with than ponies it was his concept of fate, that actions were pre-ordained.  “This is just further proof that we were supposed to come here and start brand new lives.”

“I guess.”  Nero agreed; he hated to admit it but he did like how easy everything was here, plus there was the fact that he could fly.  “I wish that Gabe could enjoy it a bit more though.”

“Um, guys.” Gabriel called from down the stairs; most of the house was one story, save for Danny’s room which had its own set of stairs.  “Can you come down here?”

Curious, Nero started down the stairs as Danny hopped off of the bed.  When they reached the bottom they saw Gabe with a nervous expression on his face “What’s wrong buddy?”  Nero asked.

“Well” Gabe began “I was studying when I wanted a drink, so I came out of my room, but before I got to the kitchen I saw that.”  Gabe pointed towards the table in the living room, and more importantly the large present sitting on it.

“Where?”  Nero asked jokingly “Behind the present?”

Gabe led the others toward the box before scolding Nero “No.  It’s just a little off-putting that someone came in here without us knowing and put this here.”

“DEAR GOD!”  Nero joked “SOMEONE GAVE US A GIFT AGAINST OUR WILL!!  CALL THE POLICE!”

While the others were bickering Danny had figured out who this package was from, but not why she’d be so indirect.  He started to undo the ribbon with his magic, but had his horn painfully flicked by Gabe.   “Danny, can’t you take this seriously?  We have no idea who this is from”

“Well what’d the tag say?”  Danny retorted.

Gabe rolled his eyes at Danny’s naivety “There was no name, which worries me.  All it said was “open me””

“Well I guess there’s only one thing to do.”  Nero said, toying with the ribbons while flying over the box.  Well out of reach of Gabe.

“Will you stop?”  Gabe said, trying to swat Nero away

“Nm hm” Nero said, using his mouth to pull the ribbon off.

As soon as the ribbon unwound itself the lid flew off, covering the boys in a smokescreen.  They all coughed as Nero used his wings to clear the smoke, but when he did they realized just what the present was for.  When the smoke cleared the gang saw that they had somehow arrived at the building Danny knew as Twilight’s library.

Gabe and Nero were shocked by the transport and were looking in all directions, all over they saw different ponies mingling.

“Hi there!”  A pink curly-haired pony said as she appeared out of nowhere “I’m Pinkie Pie and I threw this party for you, and you, and you.”

“What?!”  Gabe asked, startled.

“I. Am. Pinkie. Pie.  What’s your name?”  Pinkie asked, pointing towards each of the three.

“Gabriel”

“Michael, but everyone calls me Nero.”

When Pinkie looked to Danny she got no answer, the others then noticed that he hadn’t moved since they found themselves here, he just stared wide-eyed and grinning into the party; nopony noticing his horn glow brighter and brighter, until his eyes lit up and a huge flash covered the whole party.

Danny then snapped out of his trance as loud rock music started to play.  Everypony in the room began to move in like patterns.  Danny took a few steps forward and began to sing.

Everypony is here

The feast can soon begin

Vanity we celebrate

My favourite of sins

Chandeliers so grand

That heaven sees the shine

And my friend declares

Everything I look at could be mine

Pinkie Pie then walked up to his side as they began a short dance, mixing itself with the next verse.

It's a miracle

Life till now has been a waste

You have proved to me

By your hoof I'm truly graced

Unbelievable

Gold and glitter blinding me

So adorable

All these mares from my fantasies

He sang with tears in his eyes, eyeing five other ponies that seemed to stand out from the rest: a purple unicorn, a yellow pegasus, a white unicorn, a blue pegasus, and an orange earth pony.

He then appeared in between Nero and Gabe, wrapping his forelegs around them and leading them towards the center of the festivities.  Gabe couldn’t help but feel something dark among all of the glee Danny was putting off.

Come with me my little ones

Let's revel for the free

Raise your glass and praise the fact

How easy life can be

Danny then threw the two into the middle of the crowd as several ponies began to circle up as he sang some more.

In the splendour of the night

I've found company

Once again I feel that life's begun

All the wrongs seem to be right

Drowned in ecstasy

Every star is like a newborn sun

Nero and Gabe were stunned as Danny held out the last note.  They then realized that everypony around them began stomping their hooves against the floor making a clap-like sound.  As the music grew more intense they began to pair off, some random mares even coming towards them, and they began to dance.  They didn’t want to fight it, but something was very off about all of this.

After everypony stopped dancing Danny jumped on a table with a mug in hoof and began leading everypony in the final chorus.

In the splendour of the night

I've found company

Once again I feel that life's begun

All the wrongs seem to be right

Drowned in ecstasy

Every star is like a newborn sun

May the life I knew be gone

I accept the deed

But one point we have to modify

If I wish to linger on

In a state of still

Only then I'm yours the day I die

As if that performance wasn’t strange enough, after the song wound down everypony just returned to where they were before; as if nothing happened.  Pinkie Pie then bounced out of the crowd and greeted the group again “Oh my gosh that was SO FUN!  Next time let’s sing Nights of Aneighbia or OOH, OOH Ghost Opera!  Wait…”  She then eyed Danny suspiciously.  “I never got your name.  Tell me, tell me, tell me!”  She demanded as she began bouncing uncontrollably.

“Wha…?”  Danny was having difficulty taking in what he was hearing, he caught up and answered her.  “I-I’m Danny, nice to meet you Pinkie Pie.”

“I know.”  Pinkie nodded, prompting a chuckle from Danny.  “Hey, since we just sang “A Feast For the Vain.”  We should go eat!  There’re cupcakes, and muffins, and… y’know what?  How about I just show you.”  With that she dragged a willing, but surprised Danny into the crowd.

Nero and Gabe were stunned by what happened and took a few moments for everything to sink in.  After a short while Nero broke the silence “Well, see ya’”

“What?!”  Gabe shot back, surprised.

“This whole party is about us getting acquainted with the people…” he paused, noticing he’d have to change his vernacular “ponies here; we should go around and introduce ourselves. So I repeat:  see ya’.”

“WAIT! WE NEED TO STICK TOGETH…” but Nero was already gone.  Gabe couldn’t believe it, he and his friends were brought to a party against their will, and one was dragged off into a sea of ponies; technically they had been kidnapped.  Yet all Nero and Danny cared about was meeting pretty pink unicorns.   He sighed and rubbed his head “Well… it can’t get any worse…”

“Well that was interesting.”  A familiar voice shattered Gabriel’s wishful thinking

“Beatrice?!?”  Gabriel spun around, hoping to see someone from his past.  But instead he saw a purple unicorn with a pink streak going through her purple bangs, “you-you’re not… you’re not Beatrice.”  Gabe said as his shoulders drooped.

The unicorn didn’t understand what she just heard, but did her best to respond.  “N-no, I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight Sparkle?  Gabe thought to himself and I thought Roid Rage was a dumb name.  “Right, nice to meet you Twilight.”  He turned and started to walk away.  She sounds just like her…

“Um, hello?”  Twilight interrupted Gabe’s thoughts once again.  “You sorta forgot the part where you tell me your name.”

Gabe then remembered where he was and why he was there.  “Oh, right…” he started, with a quick hoof to the forehead.  “Um, I’m Gabe.  Hey wait; what did you say was interesting?”

It took Twilight a moment to remember the reason she came over in the first place, but when she did she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.  “Oh, well is that blue unicorn with the glasses a friend of yours?”

Gabe just nodded.

“I don’t know how he charmed the whole party into his little song-and-dance, but I am impressed, and I would like to learn a little bit more about it.”

Gabe pointed to where Pinkie Pie dragged Danny away and said “He’s somewhere over there, why don’t you ask him?”

Twilight began to chuckle before responding.  “I saw him with Pinkie Pie, and you’ve known her for a good 4 minutes so you might be able to understand why I don’t want to get caught up in one of her rants.”

This actually did get Gabriel to give a slight chuckle.  “Trust me I know how you feel.”   Hanging out with Nero and Danny was hardly any different than Pinkie Pie.    Gabe looked at Twilight, but more importantly who she reminded him of, and realized Nero was right about doing a little socializing; until they returned to their world of course.

“C’mon, think!  Rain-Bow-Dash!  You must have heard something.”  A cyan blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane was prodding Nero; apparently she didn’t like the concept of somepony not knowing who she was.  “I won the best young fliers competition, helped beat Nightmare Moon and Discord.  Anything?”

With a blank expression Nero sipped on his punch, and then his eyes widened as he jumped in shock “OH!”  He gasped, much to Rainbow’s delight “I got nothin’.”   He said, prompting Rainbow Dash to fall over.

Rainbow got up close to Nero and said “You, me, history lesson.  The topic: The awesomeness of Rainbow Dash.”

“Alright I guess.”  Nero agreed “just as long as there aren’t any tests, or quizzes, or projects, or notes.”

Rainbow laughed at that.  “Don’t worry, if you fall behind I’ll get Scootaloo to tutor you.”

“Scoota-who?”  Nero tilted his head.

“Just some friend of mah sista’s.”  Nero saw an orange earth pony wearing a cowboy hat come up beside Rainbow Dash.  “Mind if Ah’ cut in?”  She asked Rainbow.

“Go nuts AJ.”  Rainbow confirmed as she trotted off.

“Well how-dee stranger, mah name’s Applejack, and who might you be?”  She said extending her hoof.

“I’m Michael, but my friends call me Nero.”  He foolishly stuck his hoof out, and Applejack shook it until it was ready to fall out.  “Yeah, this is going to be fun.  Ow.”  He said, massaging his shoulder.

Pinkie had lead Danny to the buffet table and “encouraged” the self-conscious unicorn to eat something.  They had spent a fair amount of time talking about their tastes in music and baking.  Right now Pinkie was leading Danny through the crowd, zipping back and forth repeating “where is she, where is she?”

Danny finished off a muffin before asking “Ok I give up, who are you looking for.”

“Oh nopony special” Pinkie started.  “Just this friend of mine who I know you’ll like, but she’s a little sh… THERE SHE IS!”  She yelled as she dashed into the sea of ponies.

Seeing an opportunity Danny took out a brownie he had hidden and began to munch on it.  He sheepishly smiled when a grey pegasus with a blonde mane and crossed eyes caught him in the act, only to reveal a muffin she had; they toasted their pastries and continued to eat.  Danny was wondering who Pinkie left to fetch; but when he heard who, he was in no way prepared.

“Um, hello.”  A very soft voice said, Danny turned his head and there she stood: a crème yellow pegasus with long pink hair, it was Fluttershy, his absolute favorite pony.

Upon hearing her sweet, gentle voice Danny did everything in his power to keep himself from letting out the biggest fanboy squee imaginable.  It was too much to hold in however, and he fainted.

A splash of punch to the face managed to wake Danny up with a shock.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry.”  Danny looked up and saw that it was true; Fluttershy was there, talking to him.

“NO!”  Danny jumped to his feet.  “It’s alright, everything’s perfect.”  He looked deep into Fluttershy’s eyes, love struck: silently praying he wasn’t drooling.

Nervous, Fluttershy tilted her head away, covering her face with hermane.  “Oh, um, that’s good to hear?”

Danny suddenly felt something on his back; he turned his head to see Pinkie Pie standing on top of him.  “See?”  She started “can I pick ‘em or what?”

Fluttershy and Danny each chuckled in response, both blushing.

Gabe wandered through the party, he said hello and introduced himself to anypony who came up to him, but none of that mattered to him; what he wanted was to get his friends, get out, and get home.  He was so busy looking for Danny and Nero that he didn’t see the white unicorn right in front of him; he plowed right into her, he was lucky he didn’t topple her over.   “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.  Are you alright?”

The unicorn grunted as she recovered.  After tossing her glittery purple mane she spoke “Would you please watch where you’re going?  I just had my mane done.”  But her attitude changed when she saw who the one who bumped into her was.  “Oh, well if it isn’t our guest of honor.”

“Again; I’m sorry, I was just…”

“No worries” the unicorn interrupted.  “It was bound to happen sooner or later, look around, Pinkie has this place jam-packed.”

Gabe was mortified; not because of the accident, but because he felt himself start to blush.  “S-so we’re good?”

“Actually I am Rarity.”  She introduced herself.  “And what may I ask, is the name of our newest friend?”

Gabe shook his head “My name’s Gabe, it’s nice to meet you Rarity.”

Rarity giggled to herself before walking away and saying “I know.”  Before she left she batted her eyes at Gabe, causing his face to flush red.

Gabe covered his face and groaned.  “Why me?”  He sighed.  Although Gabriel was trying to enjoy himself, his mind was plagued with one concern of his; home.  Despite the fact that they had rented a place to stay, it wasn’t their real home, this wasn’t their world.  Was there any way to get home?  Would saying they’re from a different world get him and his friends institutionalized?  He decided to push it to the back of his mind until the party was over, but still.

Eventually the party began to wind down, ponies started to go home and in due time the gang found their way back to each other, with their new friends.  “I trust y’all had a good time.”  Danny opened as he was reunited with the others.

“You bet” Nero said back, grinning.  “SEE YA RAINBOW DASH!”  He called as the cyan pegasus waved him goodbye.

“What happened to you Gabe?”  Danny asked, turning to his friend.

Gabe’s face turned red before he started to get defensive “Nothing, absolutely nothing.”

“You didn’t meet anypony cool?”  Danny innocently pressed.

Gabe couldn’t find the right words, he hated lying,  but he hated the concept of him liking ponies even more.  Fortunately for him though, he didn’t have to answer.

“Alright boys, party’s over.”  Twilight said after letting out a huge yawn.  “See you later Gabe.”  She waved them out.

As soon as they got out of the library, Nero and Danny began to snicker, Gabe smacked them both upside the head.  “Shut up.”

“Nopony cool eh?”  Nero asked with a sly tone.

“I SAID SHUT UP!”  Gabe yelled as he sped off towards their apartment.

“Gabe and Twilight sitting in her tree….”  Nero sang as he flew after him.

Twilight watched from her window, and got a few laughs out of it.  She looked to her mess of a house; Pinkie called in quite a few favors to get Twilight to let her have her party here, the mess wasn’t too bad, it could be cleaned up.  But there was something beneath the mess that weighed heavier on her thoughts; somehow Danny had charmed the half of Ponyville, and she wanted to find out how.  And more importantly, why she felt like she was being watched.