The Power Within

The hour went by pretty quickly. I didn’t really have that much time to worry, as I was deeply mesmerized by the ponies playing outside. They all looked so happy, especially three young fillies who obviously were good friends. I had no idea what they were trying to do, but it sure was fun to watch. An orange pegasus with the purple mane was trying to fly through the hula hoop that the yellow filly with red mane was trying to hold up with her white unicorn friend.

The pegasus didn’t quite make the jump and stumbled on the hoop, crashing on top of her friends; Causing them to roll together against the nearby tree and laugh for a while. I laughed too.

I would have stayed watching them much longer, had it not been for the hoof steps I heard from the hallway. I guess that Nurse Redheart had arrived with somepony that was going to show me around the town now.

I turned around as the door opened, and saw a purple unicorn coming in. The mare had darker purple mane and tail, with a couple different colored highlight stripes. She also had a saddlebag on, who was she and where was the nurse?

“Hello, are you Shimmering Thunder?” My new visitor suddenly asked, tilting her head cutely. Was this the pony Redheart was talking about? Or somepony else from the group of soldiers who had now come to finish me off? How else could she know my name? Quickly taking a look at her eyes, I realized that she meant no harm. Plus, I can’t remember any of the attackers being females, except their commander.

“Uh, yes... That’s me,” I stammered bluntly, still wondering where the nurse was and feeling a bit uneasy.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Twilight Sparkle. Nurse Redheart asked me to show you around the town, she will be here in a minute” she revealed.

“Nice to meet you too,” I replied and bowed with one leg, lowering my head slightly.

“Oh, no need to be so formal, I’m nopony that important,” she giggled and came next to me, watching out of the window as well. “So you’re new here? ” she asked.

“Yeah, I kind of need a place to stay,” I said carefully, trying to avoid the subject somehow. It wouldn’t take much to count one plus one; an injured pony in the hospital looking for a new place to stay; to figure out what happened.

“How did you get such bad shape?” She asked the question I had feared, damn it.

“With all due respect, Miss Sparkle, that’s none of your business I believe,” was heard from the doorway. We both spun around to see Nurse Redheart walking in with a clipboard.

“Oh, of course, I’m sorry, Mr. Thunder,” Twilight pleaded, and bowed to me instead.

“It’s okay, It’s kind of a long story anyway, and please call me Shimmering,” I offered. Maybe I’d tell her at some point if I was going to stay here long enough. I couldn’t hide my past forever if I was living here. Then again I didn’t want to get everypony all worried because of what happened to me, but they had the right to know, right?

“Okay, Shimmers!” Twilight exclaimed happily. Oh well, close enough.

“Now that you have both met, I will release Shimmering from our care. Twilight will show you around,” my white caretaker announced formally; earning a soft smile from me in return. Maybe too soft actually, I felt my cheeks getting hotter suddenly.

“Yes I will!” The unicorn nodded determinedly, already heading to the door. “Come on now, this will be fun!” she exclaimed again. Was she always that excited, I wonder.

However, Nurse Redheart stopped me.

“Just wait a little moment, I will take few of these bandages off first, as the wounds are already healing quite nicely,”
Twilight stopped as well and peeked from the doorway, while Redheart tried to remove my burrito outfit.

“Let me help you,” the unicorn chirped, and before I knew it; her horn started to glow and I felt how my hooves leave the ground and bandages started to fly off. Soon the purple aura of magic vanished around me, and I was gently lowered back to the floor. There were still a couple bandages left here and there, only on the most critical spots.

“There!” she squealed happily.

“Thank you, Miss Sparkle,” said Nurse Redheart. I was almost sure I sensed some kind of tension in those words.

“No problem,” Twilight replied absently over her shoulder, grabbing me in her magic and levitated me out of the room; leaving Nurse Redheart behind.

Hehe, I didn’t mind traveling like this. But I needed some exercising after all.

“Wow, you are really good with your magic, but would you mind to put me down now? I would like to walk myself,” I teased playfully.

“Oh, of course,” said the unicorn, as she lowered me back to the floor again. “Sorry about that, I’m just so happy to meet a new pony and show you around the town. The book said you can make the first impression only once, so I decided to make a good one!” She continued to say while pulling a book out of her saddlebag and proudly presenting it to me.

‘How to make a good first impression,’ was written on the cover. Huh... I’m not sure if she had actually read that, at least according to her idea of a good first impression.

“The book told you to drag me around the hospital, with your magic?” I asked with a large grin, trying to be as sarcastic as possible; but apparently failed in my attempt.

“Uh, no, not exactly, I mean... I,” she stammered and started to go through the book as if trying to find what she was trying to do. “Oh no, where did I go wrong?” the poor unicorn almost whimpered, while reading faster and faster, pages flying with blurring speed. How could a book about first impressions even be so thick?

“Relax, you already made a good first impression. You made it when we met, I saw it in your eyes that you are a really nice pony. That’s why it’s called ‘first impression’,” I comforted her the best I could.

For the slightest moment, I noticed a delicate shade of pink on her face as she put the book away.

“Hehe, I guess that the books don’t always have the right answers,” she replied sheepishly.

I grabbed my saddlebag for safe keeping, then we headed outside. The sun was shining brightly, but I didn’t see those fillies playing in the yard anymore. I was kind of interested in what they were doing.

“Where do you want to go first?” asked Twilight.

“Uh, I don’t really know the town, so you can take me where ever you want to. But I’d like to drop by the Mayor Mare’s office later so I could ask for a place to stay;” I mentioned absently, still trying to look for those three. They were a great diversion to keep my thoughts away from sadder things.

“Alright, I will take you to the marketplace then. You can buy all kinds of things there,” Twilight cheered.

The marketplace was crowded when we got there. The sweet aroma of different foods and treats wafted in the air, while the ripple of conversation momentarily startled me. There were a lot more ponies than I had first imagined. Everywhere somepony was buying and selling something. I was not used to seeing such crowds. The population in the marketplace alone was bigger than in my home village, Whitestone.

“Here we are, what do you think?” my new friend asked excitedly.

Hmm, new friend? Did I really consider her as a friend already? We had barely met twenty minutes ago. Oh well, why not?

“It sure is crowded in here, is it always like this?” I asked timidly. Twilight just giggled and watched me for a moment.

“Actually, no. There’s a harvest going on, and everything’s really fresh at the moment. So everypony wants to get the best ingredients they can,” she answered.

Oh, I guess that makes sense.

We walked past few stands, while Twilight chatted with almost everypony that we came across. Apparently, she was a pretty popular girl around here. At least everypony seemed to show an enormous amount of respect to her.

“Howdy, Twi! Came to buy sum’ apple fritters? They’re de-licious!” An orange mare wearing a stetson shouted from one of the stands.

“Oh hi, Applejack, how’s the business?” Asked Twilight, while I slowly walked next to her, taking a closer look of the mentioned pastries. They looked really good, she wasn’t kidding.

“Business is good as always, especially with tha big apple pie sale comin’ up t’is weekend,” she replied to my partner; before suddenly turning to me. “And what can ah get for you mister?” the country mare asked excitedly. Oops...

“Oh ah, I’m not buying anything,” I stammered, earning a slight frown from her.

“Well, ah’m real sorry sugarcube, but these ain’t free ya know,” she said and stared me for a second. Probably waiting for me to step aside from in front of the paying customers.

“Want me to buy you one, Shimmering?” Twilight offered, smiling widely.

Baffled by the offer, I just gaped my mouth in surprise. I looked first at her, then the country mare in front of me, not knowing what to say. Everypony’s been so kind to me, and now my new friend wanted to buy me a pastry. Who even knew how expensive it was.

“Oh, a friend of yours, Twi?” Applejack asked while I didn’t get even a single word out of my mouth.

“Oh no, where’s my manners, I’m sorry!” Twilight suddenly gasped, “Shimmering, this is my dear friend, Applejack. She’s got an apple farm called sweet apple acres, and she’s here selling her own products. She’s a really good baker, and one of the most hard working ponies I have ever seen.”
Twilight proudly presented her friend, who then kindly bowed to me and awaited my response.

“Applejack, this is Shimmering Thunder, he’s moving in and I’m showing him around the town,” the unicorn beamed.

“Real nice to meet ya,” Applejack greeted with a warm smile.
“You can take one if ya like, consider it as a welcomin’ gift from the Apple family;” she continued, and tilted her stetson behind her blond mane, smiling softly at me.

I looked first at her, and then Twilight, who was already levitating one apple fritter in my direction. As it slowly stopped in front of my muzzle, I carefully took it in my mouth and mumbled a muffled, ‘thank you’ for both mares, as we continued our way.

I opened my saddlebag and carefully placed the precious fritter inside. However, Twilight gave me a questioning look.

“Aren’t you going to eat that?” she asked.

“I uh, want to save it for later. I don’t really have money to buy more. Guess I’ll have to start looking for a job as soon as I find someplace to stay,” I managed to say. The last words almost getting muted by the concerns of finding neither. I was still not sure if Redheart was kidding about the delivery job or not... I’d sure take it if possible.

“Don’t worry, we will help you get back on your hooves in no time,” Twilight encouraged softly. She was so kind.

Wait, what? Whom did she mean by “we”, I had no idea? Just me and her? Maybe Applejack too?

“Uh, we?” I asked absently, wondering if she actually meant the whole community by now.

“Me and my friends, of course! There’s no such thing as too many friends, and I’m sure you’ll get along just fine,” she exclaimed happily.

“Thank you, Twilight, I’d be glad to make some new friends,” I responded, suddenly feeling a light heat on my cheeks. Most of the ponies seemed to be females here; I had seen one male doctor in the hospital and few more on the marketplace. But other than that, the population seemed to be very different compared to Whitestone. It was more like fifty-fifty there, maybe a few more stallions, though.

“Let’s go to Sugarcube Corner next, since it’s nearby,” my friendly companion suggested softly. “You can get some of the best treats from there,” she continued merrily.

During the short walk, Twilight told me about a few other places that were along the way; until we stopped in front of a delicious looking house. How could a house look so delicious, though? This one did anyway. It looked like some kind of cake to me, and the roof looked like it was made out of gingerbread and whipped cream.

There were quite a few ponies around here as well, but the atmosphere was much more relaxed. A small sigh escaped from my lips.

“This is the Sugarcube Corner, come on, let’s go inside,” Twilight chirped.

Oh, I hope she wasn’t trying to buy me another expensive thing from here. I didn’t want to owe her anything. Though I had the feeling she wasn’t a kind of pony to demand back those few bits she wanted to spend on me. Was it kindness, or was it a pity, though? I didn’t have much time to think about it, as she was already going inside.

Inside the shop, I immediately smelt an army of different delicious flavors greeting us. Getting my mouth watering in a record time, I had never smelt anything so good. Surprisingly, there were only a few customers inside at the moment. One of them being the rarer male pony, I noticed, checking that on my mental notepad. They were ahead of us so we had to wait a little bit, giving me some time to look around.

The pink mare behind the counter, serving the customers, really seemed to enjoy her job. I wonder if she was Twilight’s friend as well since she wanted us to go inside. I wasn’t going to buy anything, so options were very limited in my mind.

Soon it was our turn, and we walked to the counter.

“Hi, Pinkie!” Twilight greeted, while I walked next to her.

“Ooh, hi Twilight, who’s the handsome stallion with you? Finally found yourself a coltfriend?~” the pink mare teased Twilight.

Okay, they definitely knew each other. So she was her fri... Wait, what!?

My poor purple unicorn friend went completely red, while both our jaws dropped. I bet my face was red as well, I wish there was a mirror somewhere so I could see my face.

The pink mare started to laugh hysterically, and disappeared behind the counter, rolling on the floor. Yeah, really funny.

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. “He’s not my coltfriend!” She defended quickly, gritting her teeth at the mare.

“You should have seen your face, Twilight! First, you were like, ‘whaaaat’, and then you were like ‘no way, how could she know?’ And then I was like, ‘Yup, I knew it!’ Haha!” The pink mare celebrated her obviously faulty assumption. Pinkie, she called her?

“Pinkie, please! He is not my coltfriend!” Twilight repeated frustrated, while my cheeks kept getting hotter and hotter by the minute. I had no idea why it hurt so much to hear those words though? She sounded like she’d never even think about liking me in that way. Maybe it was just my imagination.

“Oh, is he my coltfriend then? You’d get me a coltfriend?” Pinkie asked, sounding much more serious suddenly.

Okay, this was getting really awkward now. Apparently, it was hard to find a coltfriend around here. But I can’t blame her. Most of the ponies I had seen so far had been females, so some of them were bound to be either alone or go with another mare. The latter scenario wasn’t all that common in Whitestone, but maybe things were different here.

“He’s nopony’s coltfriend - At least that I know of,” Twilight grunted, but decided to continue with a slightly friendlier tone. “Shimmering is new here, and I’m showing him around the town, please be polite to him.”

Pinkie looked at me curiously for a moment. I bet my expression startled her a bit, I probably looked like I had seen a ghost or something.

“I’m sorry, Shimmering... Uh, Cupcake?” She offered a pastry for my last name.

I couldn’t help but laugh, this mare was a riot, that’s for sure. I kind of liked her. Twilight facehoofed, while Pinkie just grinned sheepishly. I somehow managed to collect myself, however.

“Thunder, Shimmering Thunder. Nice to meet you, Pinkie... Uhm, uh...” I tried to come up with the last name for her instead, while she, eagerly waiting for my response. Looking at her flank for hints would be really awkward, so I decided not to.

I tried to think something food related as well, and quickly looked around me, noticing a poster on the wall. From the poster, I recognized Applejack holding up some kind of a pastry with the following text: ‘Apple pie sale this weekend!’ Well, I guess that’ll have to do.

“...Pie,” I stated shortly.

The pink mare in front of me let out a sharp and extremely long gasp. Twilight looked stunned as well. Great, I had probably just offended her somehow.

“Twilight, I think he’s a wizard or something,” Pinkie whispered to the unicorn, holding her hoof in front of her muzzle. Oh? Was I actually correct?

“Ahem, so anyway,” Twilight coughed and shook her head. “Shimmering, this is my friend Pinkie Pie, as you already somehow guessed it. And she’s working here with Mr. and Mrs. Cake, who owns the place.”

“I also live here, can you imagine?” Pinkie interrupted merrily and let out a small squee. I simply chuckled at her.

“Pinkie, this is Shimmering Thunder and he’s moving in once we find a home for him.” Twilight introduced me - and my current state of living, which was homeless. Yeah, things were going really great for me.

Pinkie on the other hoof looked like she was about to burst from the excitement.

“That’s AWESOME!, I am going to throw you the best ‘welcome to Ponyville’ party ever! There’s going to be cake, and balloons, and streamers, and candy, and even more streamers! It’s just going to be so EPIC!” My new pink friend squealed like a filly, I knew she’d be my friend, no second thoughts about it.

Suddenly I heard a loud explosion and saw a huge cloud of confetti and streamers flying around. What the hay was that!? Twilight merely blinked, though, while I looked around, trying to find the culprit, being in semi-panic.

“First thing first Pinkie, we need to find him a home first.” Twilight reminded her friend and then turned to me, while Pinkie was just bouncing around and apparently going through the things she needed for the party. Shouldn’t we pay some attention to her?

“We should get going, there's still few places to show you,” said Twilight.

I simply nodded and waved a goodbye to Pinkie Pie as we walked outside. Twilight let out a pretty heavy sigh, earning a smirk from me.

“That’s Pinkie Pie for you, I’m sorry for what happened. But she didn’t really mean it,” My unicorn friend apologized for her friend.

“Don’t worry, Twilight. I think she was really nice,” I comforted her; making the unicorn relax noticeably. She really seemed to care about the first impressions. “Where to next?” I asked, suddenly wanting to meet more of her friends.

“Well, if you ever want to get some clothing, or a new saddlebag or something. You want to visit the Carousel Boutique,” she offered.

Not that I could afford anything at the moment, I still wanted to go; for Twilight’s sake at least.

“Got a friend there as well?” I inquired, receiving a soft smile from her.

“Yes, Rarity is an amazing designer. And probably wants to make you something as a gift too,” she giggled.

Somehow I had no problem believing her. Nothing against the free gifts, but it felt like I was just abusing her friends. I just wanted some place to stay until I’d decide what to do next. I wanted to know if my sister or parents were still alive... And even if they weren’t, they’d at least deserve a proper funeral.

Twilight nudged me gently, snapping me out of my grim thoughts; and causing a piece of streamer stuck in my mane to drop on my muzzle. I quickly blew it away. What the hell was that explosion anyway?

“Done daydreaming?” She smirked and motioned me to follow.

I shook my head and opened my wings, flapping them couple times; testing if I was actually able to fly. Twilight watched me carefully as I slowly left the ground and hovered closer to her. The wound under my left wing felt still a little bit sore, but shouldn’t affect my flying.

I inspected my body a little bit longer, pretty much ignoring Twilight, who was waiting for my report. I felt pretty good so I nodded to her.

“Yup, I’m fine. Let’s go,” I smiled and followed her as she led the way.

She seemed a little quiet all of a sudden, as I saw her peeking at me few times. She probably wanted to ask me something about my background, but knew that I didn’t really want to talk about it. I felt sad for her, though. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell her, but now wasn’t the time or the place for that.

I gave her an apologetic smile, hoping she’d understand.

Eventually, we stopped in front of a building, I assumed to be the so-called Carousel Boutique. At least it looked like one if I ever had to use my limited imagination.

“Well, here we are,” Twilight chirped, seemingly happier now. She was about to knock on the door before it suddenly opened; somepony was coming out.

It was the same white unicorn filly whom I saw from the hospital window earlier today, playing with the other fillies. Her mane and tail were curled, and two-colored with purple and pink.

“Oh, hi Twilight and the unknown stranger!” The white filly greeted us happily, cracking her voice, sounding absolutely adorable. “Are you here to see Rarity? ” she continued. My smile widened, she was just so sweet.

“Hi, Sweetie Belle. Yes, we’d like to meet with her, if she’s not too busy,” Twilight answered. ‘Heh, another fitting name,’ I thought.

The little filly then looked at me curiously and was clearly about to ask something, but Twilight interrupted her.

“Uh, this is Shimmering Thunder. I’m showing him around the town as he’s moving into Ponyville,” she spat out rapidly.

“What happened to you?” the little unicorn asked directly from me, completely ignoring Twilight’s efforts of stopping her; while still cracking her voice adorably. She looked confused, but not scared at least. I gave her a soft smile.

“It’s a long story,” I said while closing my eyes for a second. I didn’t want to lie, especially to a little filly like her. “It’s also a pretty sad story, and not for young ponies to hear,” I revealed; making Twilight gasp and blowing her eyes wide open.

Sweetie Belle looked more like disappointed than horrified though.

“Aww, okay,” she sighed but got happy just as fast. “Well, I’ll have to go now, see you later Twilight, and welcome to Ponyville Shimmering!” The little filly exclaimed merrily and hopped away.

I watched her, smiling widely. She was just so adorable. Twilight on the other hoof, still had her mouth gaping wide as she watched me before she shook her head.

“Uhm, right... Let’s go inside,” she suggested anxiously.

I raised my left wing to block her way before she did though.

“I’m sorry, Twilight. I will tell you what happened once I’m ready. It’s not an easy subject for me to talk about. Especially when I don’t know all the answers myself. Please, give me some time to settle in first, okay?” I pleaded, looking directly into her eyes.

Making such eye contact with strangers wasn’t easy for me, but now I had to do it. I didn’t want her to panic, but I had to stay calm myself too. Fortunately, Twilight relaxed a bit and nodded.

“Okay, when you are ready,” she repeated before continuing. “Shall we go and see Rarity now?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” I nodded absently, relieved that she dropped the subject. Well, the subject that I brought up myself this time.

We walked inside the Carousel Boutique, Twilight leading the way. The atmosphere was elegant and clean as we entered the main room. There was also a pleasant aroma lingering in the air. Probably from the perfume, or flowers maybe?

“Hey Rarity, what’s up?” My purple friend greeted another unicorn; a white mare with a beautiful curly purple mane and tail. My, she was gorgeous, I wonder if she was somehow related to Sweetie Belle? There were multiple similarities anyway; curly mane, white coat, they were both unicorns. She just came from here, and they were really beautiful... Uh, no wait, the latter went for almost every mare around here it seemed.

The white unicorn stopped her sewing machine and spun around to face us.

“Why hello, Twilight!” she said, before pausing for a moment while laying her big blue eyes on me. “Oh my, you brought somepony with you?” She inquired and slightly frowned at me over her red glasses.

I guess these bandages weren’t the best conversation starter there was. On the other hoof, Pinkie Pie or Applejack didn’t seem to care at all. Oh well, nothing I could do about it now. Twilight responded quickly anyway.

“That’s right, Rarity. This here is Shimmering Thunder. He’s moving into Ponyville, and I’m showing him around the town. Shimmering, this is my dear friend Rarity-” Twilight introduced, while Rarity bowed gracefully. “-and she’s running a fashion shop here. She’s really famous, even ponies in Canterlot knows her work;” she ended. Rarity earned a bow from me as well, though it wasn’t nearly as elegant as hers.

“Oh my, a real gentlecolt I see,” said Rarity. “But how did you end up showing him around, Twilight?” She suddenly asked while she seemed to inspect my bandages. Did she think that Twilight caused this to me?

Apparently Twilight wasn’t waiting for such a question, as I noticed her starting to get a little nervous. She peeked at me as if looking for hints of what could she tell her about me. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to go and talk everypony, but just show me where everything was. However, I cleared my throat to answer for myself.

“As Twilight said, I’m new here,” I started. “I have had a rough journey, and I ended up in the hospital. Nurse Redheart told me that she can arrange somepony to show me around,” I tried to stay as calm and as vague as possible, and it seemed to work.

“Ah, I see,” Rarity mumbled and eyed elsewhere, while Twilight sighed quietly. “Well, it’s always such a delight to get new friends, and I sincerely hope that you will enjoy your stay in Ponyville. Why, I’d even like to make you a welcoming gift as well!” she beamed.

‘Spot on Twilight, spot on,’ Twilight giggled knowingly for my silent expression.

“Thanks, but-” I tried to turn down the offer, only to get immediately interrupted.

“No buts! I simply must make you something!” Rarity huffed and looked at me, eyes narrowed. “How about a new saddlebag?” She suggested while pointing at me.

Glancing at my back, I felt a hard lump form in my throat. I really liked my old saddlebag, besides it had a lot of sentimental value to me. It was also pretty much the only thing I had salvaged from the attack. Mostly due to the fact that it was already on my back, containing few personal items and food.

“N-no, I don’t-” once more she interrupted me.

“How about a new hat, or a scarf?” the white unicorn demanded. I sighed, giving up for the idea of not getting anything.

“Okay, you can make me a scarf,” I grunted, hoping it wouldn’t cost me anything later. Because I didn’t have much money left, nor a job; not yet at least.

“Oh, that’s simply marvelous! What color would you like it my dear?” she inquired.

Wow, I didn’t know what to say anymore. She sure was a character, just like Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Twilight had some enthusiastic friends I noticed.

“Surprise me,” I simply stated, closing my eyes while nodding.

“Oh, you will be surprised,” Rarity beamed. “It will be one of my finest works! Every stallion will downright envy you!” She exclaimed, while already pulling various materials out of the shelves.

“Thanks... I, I really appreciate it,” I stammered at her. The scarf would actually be nice in the winter, I didn’t have one yet anyway. I never had any actual clothes or hats for that matter, it was pretty warm all year around in Whitestone.

Rarity peeked at me, smiling widely.

“You are more than welcome darling. I’m simply glad I can help such a gentlecolt,” she said; leaving me wondering how this kind of paradise could even exist.

Twilight walked next to me and gave me a soft smile. Guess I was doing good, though I wasn’t sure why we had to do this in the first place. On the other hoof, it was another great way to distract my brain from thinking about the attack. I felt tired suddenly, the whole ordeal was draining my energy. I gave Twilight a blank stare back, glancing at the front door; she took the hint.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to continue our tour now, see you later, Rarity!” Twilight chirped while heading outside with me.

“Very well then, have fun and take care,” Rarity shouted after us.

Once outside, I nearly collapsed to the ground. I fell on my haunches instead, hanging my head low. I was tired. Twilight watched me carefully, obviously feeling worried about me. But I managed to give her the ‘I’m okay, don’t worry’-type of smile.

“I’m just tired is all,” I sighed.

“Maybe we should skip few places then, and go straight to the Town Hall? We can continue our tour later if you want,” Twilight suggested.

It was almost evening already, and I was still lacking one good roof above my head. Did I even need the walls? Maybe, but that was all I could afford at the moment. Then again, it was comforting to know that there was a generous offer from Nurse Redheart to take me into her house if I couldn’t find any other place.

“Uh yeah, let’s go to the Town Hall,” the little spark of energy that was left inside of me requested.

Twilight smiled softly at me and motioned me to follow. I stood up and went after her. ‘I guess that a few more days in the hospital would have been good for me anyway.’

Town Hall looked huge from the outside, but even more so from the inside. I had seen it earlier today from the distance, but I didn’t know it was the town hall. The round shape gave the building a unique feeling, kind of like in the Carousel Boutique, but on a bigger scale.

It was roomy but also had a certain office atmosphere at the same time. If that’s something you can call it.

A brown mare with glasses and gray mane walked towards us on the hallway, snapping me out of my thoughts, while Twilight came in next to me. She also had some kind of a collar or bow on her neck.

“Oh my, if it isn’t Twilight Sparkle,” the brown mare exclaimed once noticing us.

‘I guess she was the-’

“Hi, Mayor Mare!” My purple friend greeted merrily.

‘-Knew it,’ I smirked to myself, while the Mayor trotted closer.

“What brings you here, and who’s your companion?” She inquired, while quickly glancing me with the oh-so-familiar look I had received so many times by now. It was getting old, to be honest, I kind of wanted to take off rest of the bandages too.

“This is Shimmering Thunder-” she introduced me while I gently bowed to her, trying to make at least a little better first impression. “-the reason for our visit. He’d like to move into Ponyville, is there any place you can think of?” asked Twilight.

The brown mare in front of me looked at me more closely, before softening her gaze and smiling heartily to me. I guess that was a good sign?

“I think that can be arranged,” Mayor said, while Twilight and I watched each other excitedly. “However...” she continued ominously, “You’ll have to wait a little bit. There're some paperwork and background checking to do,”

My spirit dropped immediately along with my head and ears. This meant that I’d have to spend few nights on the streets, in case Redheart wasn’t able to take me in for some reason. The background check worried me even more, though. What if they learn about the attack and think that I’m one of them and throw me into the prison? Then again I’d have a solid roof over my head and steady source of food. But other than that, it would be a horrible thing to happen. I anxiously shifted in place, going through every possible scenario in my head, while shaking like a leaf.

Apparently Twilight picked up on my behavior, as she quickly defended me.

“Oh, come on, is that really necessary? He’s got nowhere or nopony to go to.” Twilight pleaded in a way that made my heart to skip a beat.

She really cared about me that much? I was a complete stranger but she still protected me. Part of me wanted to hug her, but I wasn’t sure if that’d be wise now; no it’d be downright disturbing.

“But Twilight, you know we do have our procedures.” Mayor protested, being honestly surprised by Twilight’s behavior. Well, I can’t blame her; so was I.

‘Okay, I’ll let them do the background check and see where it goes from there,’ I thought. What more could I lose anymore? I was just about to open my mouth when...

“Fine! Come on Shimmers, you’ll stay with us then!” Twilight huffed and turned around, grabbed me into her aura of magic, and dragged me outside; leaving stunned Mayor Mare behind.

What the hay!? And who’s us? ‘Damn these unicorns and their magic!’ I cursed in my mind while being transported out of the building.