One Last Chance

"You've got to be kidding me." The strange pegasus walked into the surprise party, a frown adorning his face. Then again, it didn't differ much from his regular expression.

"Hey there!" Twilight Sparkle, heading up the group of friends that had arranged the party, greeted the pegasus. He looked at her and around the room, he wasn't impressed. "Sorry to be so forward, but I didn't catch your name." She said, hoping he might just let it slip out. He looked at her, but once again he said nothing. He tried to walk away, but the friends dragged him back in, chanting that he wasn't leaving just yet. For a second he considered just muscling his way through the six, but the beige one looked particularly strong. He made his way in the other direction, examining the large hall that made up the foyer. It was quite the party, very high energy. He didn't like it, or at least he didn't show it. The six friends were confused, what did he have against parties? Then again, Princess Celestia did say that he was shy, so maybe he just needed to warm up to everypony. They showed him around and introduced themselves, again. He didn't give his name, again. Fortunately, Pinkie Pie finally broke this ridiculous name barrier and got right to the point. Running up to him and bringing her head really close to his she said,

"Alright, Mister Strange Pegasus, I can't think of one good substitute name for you. So you'd better cough up your real name before I think of something really stupid to call you!" He got even closer to her, uncomfortably close, practically pressing his forehead against hers, and said,

"No."

This drove Pinkie nuts. She frowned at the pony, actively showing her distaste. She knew everypony's name, everypony's, except for his. He seemed adamant about not giving up his name. She guessed she was going to have to give him a name for the time being. It wasn't possible he didn't have one, was it?

"Alright then, guess I'll have to name you myself, but be warned! It could be anything..." Pinkie said, walking backwards, never breaking eye contact. She had to go off and think for a little while. Of all the things to withhold, why his name? Everypony had one, there was nothing special about them. Well, everypony's entitled to their secrets weren't they? The stallion walked past the friends and surveyed the party. Plenty of ponies had come, not to introduce themselves or anything, most only came for the free cake and the company. They remained huddled in their little groups, chatting and enjoying the sweets Pinkie Pie had prepared. He couldn't help but admire the effort.

"Thanks for the party. I know I never sound happy, but this is actually refreshing and it's very nice of you to throw a party for somepony you barely know, especially after I caused so much trouble." The stallion said, not sounding very excited, but for all they knew, he hated parties and was just trying to make them happy.

"It really wasn't a big deal." Applejack said, "Pinkie Pie's thrown so many parties it's practically a reflex."

With that their new acquaintance walked along to explore this energetic gathering. The white pegasus sat down at a table and looked around, admiring Pinkie Pie's handiwork. He decided that since he was already up he might as well enjoy himself, or try. He told the five friends to go do their own thing. He got up to talk to somepony he met earlier, he didn't get far, though, again, as a pink projectile was barreling back towards him, looking a little too excited.

"Alright then. It's been decided." Pinkie Pie was back, from out of nowhere. "Are you prepared for your new name?" She said to the pegasus, with a tone of seriousness to her voice. He was convinced, this pony was completely insane. "I took the liberty of writing it out on the banner. Cuz you know, welcome to Ponyville, mysterious stallion we found frozen on the road doesn't really roll off the tongue. Sorry, getting off topic, are you ready?" She asked him, bubbling with excitement.

He nodded hesitantly, slightly concerned as to what everypony would be calling him for the next few months.

"Hey Pinkie, did you come up with a name for him yet?" Rainbow Dash asked, soon accompanied by the rest of her friends. Everypony was very confused as to why he was being so stubborn with his name, but if he wasn't going to give it up, they might as well just give him a name, hopefully some embarrassing nickname that Pinkie came up with, then again that was almost a guarantee considering who was naming him.

"Yes indeedy!" Pinkie Pie was very excited about naming the stallion. After all, if she named him, even if it was just a temporary name, then she knew everypony's name again. Then it was just a matter of finding out his birthday...

"So. What is it?" They asked. Pinkie wore a proud smile on her face.

"Why don't you see for yourselves?" She said, running over to the banner she had hung on the ceiling only moments ago. She yanked a rope, unsheathing the banner that they had all set up before the party, revealing his new name with a loud, ta-da!

Welcome to Ponyville, Myst!

...

Myst? What kind of a name was that?

"Get it? It's short for mysterious!" She said cheerfully, "Because he's all vague and unusual and he kinda makes me angry!" At this everypony's expression changed from confusion (and concern on 'Myst's' part) to realisation. "I've got a whole naming scheme set up! I'll show you all later."

"Hey... it's not silly!" Rarity said. "Actually, it's kind of catchy."

"Well, yeah. It's not like I'm only good at juvenile endeavours." Pinkie Pie responded. She actually had many talents that were in no way related to parties or candy. Her vocabulary rivalled that of Twilight's and she was, surprisingly enough, an incredibly good ballroom dancer.

'Myst' had not yet responded, in fact, he was just staring at the banner, he looked mortified, just like when he had first arrived at Ponyville. It was that same expression. Myst walked off, no one followed him. Something was wrong and nopony wanted to intrude. They saw him sit down. He didn't say anything, he just sat there.

"I'm gonna go check on him." Fluttershy was the first to speak up. Her friends looked at her, concerned. "He's obviously upset about something." Being the element of kindness, she felt obliged to help him. She walked over to talk to him.

Myst sat alone at the table, scanning the room. He saw Fluttershy approaching and tried to slink off. She didn't stop him, she just kept following him out of the room, out of the party. When Myst got outside he walked a bit faster, not quite yet content to run. Fluttershy followed him for a little while longer before pulling up next to him, the two walking side by side. Eventually, he stopped, turning to face Fluttershy.

"Did you need something?" He asked nonchalantly. Fluttershy wasn't having it. She could tell when somepony was attempting to shift focus, she practically had a built-in lie detector.

"It's alright, I can wait." She said and waited. Waiting was the best option at the moment. Eventually, he would realise he wasn't getting off that easy. This certainly took a while. They stood there for ten minutes, doing nothing. Over time Myst's expression changed from annoyance to a kind of sympathy. He looked at Fluttershy,

"You haven't moved an inch." He said, head hanging. Fluttershy just smiled.

"Well of course. I wouldn't just abandon my friend." She said happily. At this Myst raised his head to look at her.

"I'm flattered you want to help me, but I'm fine, you should just go enjoy the party." He looked very upset and Fluttershy wasn't content to leave just yet. He needed her help. Luckily she had a perfect response.

"Last time I checked, it's your party." She said, not moving an inch. Myst sat there for a few seconds, drinking in the information. Why was everypony being so nice to him? He didn't know why, but their kindness was undeniable. He sighed heavily, before turning around, back towards the castle, and his party. This made Fluttershy happy and the two headed back.

When they got back in everypony was waiting by the door for Myst. They ushered him back in, and he began chatting with the six friends. The topics though, he seemed to have difficulty communicating properly. First they talked about their jobs. Rainbow Dash was still applying for a permanent position on the Wonderbolts, Twilight was, well, a princess, Applejack almost had an infestation on her hooves, but she found the insects early, Fluttershy was recently approached about a position at a veterinarian clinic, and Rarity was super stressed out about a huge order of dresses. She always seemed to be taking on too much work.

"So, Myst, what do you do for a living?" Asked Twilight. He hesitated for a minute, unsure of what to say. Eventually he stammered out,

"You know I- I travel a lot, for work."

"So are you like a businesspony?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"No, not quite. I.. travel around to… teach, yeah I'm a substitute teacher and I can't quite seem to land a job." He said. He seemed eager to change the subject, perhaps he found his job inadequate or something, and so he immediately asked the most talkative pony he knew about her favourite thing.

"So Pinkie, do you always throw parties like this?" He asked.

"Of course! I love throwing parties, it makes everypony happy! And making everypony happy is my special talent!" Pinkie said. In Ponyville there was almost always some kind of event being coordinated and Pinkie was almost always heading up that event.

"Hey Myst, what's your special talent?" Twilight asked, glancing at his cutie mark, which for some reason she had never noticed before. "It doesn't look like it has anything to do with teaching." It was an odd symbol that she couldn't identify. Three sharp, black ovals that linked into each other. It was very plain, black, colourless.

"Yeah, what is that?" everypony else was soon gawking at his cutie mark. At this suddenly his expression changed from somewhat comfortable, to mortified.

"How did you see that?" He yelled. Everypony in the nearby vicinity snapped their heads towards him. They were all looking at him like he was crazy. His cutie mark was clearly visible, and kind of obvious. Eventually most of the ponies that were staring went back to their own conversations.

"Is something the matter Myst?" Asked Fluttershy.

"I'm fine, it's just odd. Maybe I'll explain later, I'm not sure yet." He said. At this, his new friends became increasingly perplexed. They all began prying into his cutie mark, what it meant. Unfortunately they never got any further. He was open about some things as they talked a bit longer, but he never budged when it came to the symbol on his flank. Eventually, when the group started chatting about their pets, Myst started to fidget around. He started glancing around and seemed distracted. Eventually Fluttershy noticed, and, knowing that Myst was a bit shy, nudged him and gestured away from the group. He nodded and the two walked away.

"I could tell you were getting a bit anxious back there." She said.

"Thank you so much." Myst said. "I really can't tell you how grateful I am. I'm not used to this."

"That's alright. I can tell you're kind of shy." She replied. "I find these parties a bit too much for me as well. I prefer tea parties honestly." Myst looked at her with understanding.

"Me too. I love tea." He replied. He walked off to find somewhere more peaceful. He wasn't alone for too long though, as a familiar face soon made itself known.

"Hey there." Standing next to him was the unicorn that found him. Her mint coat and golden eyes were a dead giveaway. "You probably don't remember me considering your eyes were closed."

"No, I remember you." He said. Myst did remember the unicorn, she was very determined and he could appreciate that. She tried so hard to help him and he had kind of been a jerk to her. He felt obliged to set things straight with her. "Sorry about earlier." he said, wanting to apologise.

"What do you mean? The only time we've ever met was when you were frozen." She said.

"Well, I could still hear you, I recognise your voice." Myst replied.

"Well anyway, I never got to introduce myself. Everypony else rushed you off to the hospital almost instantly. My name's Lyra."

"Nice to meet you Lyra." He said back to her.

"So I'm guessing you're Myst?" She asked, unaware of Pinkie's incredible naming scheme.

"Temporary name." He responded. "I can be a bit stubborn about, certain things."

"Oh." She said. "Well, I think it's rather catchy. One of Pinkie's?" She asked.

"Yeah. How did you know?" He asked in return, wondering how Lyra could've known.

"Pinkie loves naming things, especially pets." Lyra remarked. "She has a this huge flow chart back at her home, it's actually kind of amazing."

"Very interesting." He said. That was worth checking into. It turned out that Lyra knew his six friends fairly well. They sat down at a table and chatted for a little while before a cream coloured earth pony with a pink and blue mane called Lyra away. Lyra promised to introduce Myst to the rest of her friends at a later date, and with that, she was off.

The party had calmed down substantially and eventually the only ones that were left were the six friends and Myst.

"So Myst, what did you think of my party?" Pinkie Pie was asking.

"It was very nice Pinkie Pie. Thank you." He said. The party had been very nice indeed, a little high energy for his taste, but then again it had been years since he had last been to a party. But this was definitely a good way to get back into them. "You six have been very kind to me. In fact, you kind of remind me of six friends I had a long time ago. Wait." He stood frozen for a few seconds, thinking. He dismissed the thought for the time being and brought his attention back to his new friends. "Sorry, you just really remind me of them."

"Where do you normally live?" Asked Rarity. "Maybe we know them."

"Oh you wouldn't know them." He said. "I live pretty far away."

"So you're not staying here in Ponyville?" Applejack asked.

"I'll be here a while. It's usually anywhere from a month to three." He replied.

"That's quite a while just for teaching jobs." Rainbow Dash said, a little confused as to why he would be staying months for a part time position.

To this he responded, a bit hesitantly, "Oh. Yeah. Well you know, I like to take on longer jobs. It… looks better on my resume. You know, teaching can be pretty competitive." At this everypony nodded their understanding. They didn't realize Myst was so savvy when it came to job hunting, but the time was late and Myst had to go. "This has been great everypony, but I have to get back to my motel room before they think I just forgot to check out." The six friends glanced at each other, all silently agreeing that they could offer him more comfortable and less expensive residence.

"Why don't you come stay with one of us?" Twilight asked. "We know how hard a substitute teaching position can be. Paying rent's just one more problem you shouldn't have to worry about."

"Yeah, it'll be fun! Like a slumber party!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Well." Normally Myst would deny, but they had been so nice to him that the least he could do was not argue with them again. He'd been nothing but stubborn and they had put up with him. He didn't want to cause them any more trouble but they wanted to help him, and so Myst agreed.

"Okay. If it's no trouble." He said.

"So, where do you want to stay?" Twilight asked. Myst didn't have to think long. In fact, the answer came almost instinctively.

"Well... if it's not too big an issue I'd like to stay with Fluttershy." He said.

"Fluttershy?" Everypony seemed confused as to why he would want to sleep over with somepony who practically ran a zoo out of her house.

"Can I ask why?" Twilight said.

"Well, I'm not really sure why, but I already feel like the two of us are friends." He replied. The six friends smiled.

"Yeah, she tends to have that effect on ponies."