Ghost Story
Dan's Comments
DISCLAIMER: My Little Pony is the property of Hasbro, Inc.
I always wanted to come to Ponyville, I watched every show, argued on the forums and Reddit, dressed up as Shining Armor for Halloween 'just to escort the little ones', yeah, read and wrote fanfiction, and dreamed of going to Equestria. Wish granted.
I ran around like a idiot, at once exuberant, and at the same time cautious. I'd read plenty of stories of people arriving in Ponyville, and the varied reactions, but never one of someone arriving at night and waking up the whole town.
Considering how Zecora was treated, I thought as I trotted down the dimly lit streets, I don't want to make too bad an impression. First impressions count.
There's the library! And Sugarcube Corners! And the flower shop! I wonder if Fluttershy or the Apples are the real early risers! No, head out to Sweet Apple Acres and just watch, the Everfree Forest is too dangerous at night! I wish I had a watch! This is so cool!
I started to run all the way to Sweet Apple Acres, but several trips and falls convinced me to walk.
Where the heck is the moon, it's always somewhere in the sky, I wondered, Behind some trees maybe. Okay I can run around like a maniac once the moon rises, or better yet the sun. I wonder what kind of party Pinkie will throw, or will everypony hide in their houses? I could just tell them I'm a dwarf minotaur. Wait, would I be a dwarf? I might be taller than minotaurs, wouldn't that be wild, calling Celestia 'shortie', Her Imperial Shortness.
I laughed at that. The trip to Sweet Apple Acres took some time, but I arrived, and calmed down to await the dawn. I had a better vantage point and could see more of the sky, and couldn't see the moon anywhere.
So does that mean it's setting and the sun will rise soon, or did I arrive right after sundown and the moon is just slow? I wonder, Naw, if I arrived around sundown some ponies would still be up, but if it's near dawn, wouldn't some ponies be up by now, or at least some noise from the house and barn? I could get closer, but that would really put a damper on things. Wait a second, Sugarcube Corners has to be getting going for the breakfast crowd. Even if they're not open, there should be lights and things!
I jogged back faster than was wise, and felt a right idiot as I saw the lights of Sugarcube Corners on, a beacon in the darkness.
Maybe it's some festival nopony ever talked about where they leave the whole place in darkness to let anypony look at the stars.
I looked up at the elaborate starfields and had to stop and stare at their beauty. Luna had outdone herself. I realized how small I was in the vast universe.
After a time of star and naval gazing I walked up the Sugarcube Corners. The sign was illegible, and the door was locked, so I circled around to peer in the windows the light was shining out of.
Okay, I know the pony word for 'Closed', I thought, Do I need a pony name? Glittering Icon? Naw, Steel Knight, naw.
My stomach growled at the smell of baked goods, and I peered through the window to see the setups for the day's sales, but no ponies. Everything was laid up, but no Pinkie, no Cakes, and no evidence where they'd left to in such a hurry. I looked behind to see if they were all sneaking up on the intruder, me. But no ponies. I stared in the window and tried to listen as hard as I could.
I heard the wind, and the creaking of houses, but nothing else.
Wait a second, I thought, No birds, no bugs, nothing? I could believe someone spotted me and warned the town when I left, but not even bugs? Should there at least be crickets or cicada?
I stepped close to the garbage cans and listened, and watched as much as the bright star light allowed. Nothing. No noise and no movement.
The garbage of a bakery doesn't have flies buzzing around it? I wondered, Okay time for action.
I ran to the fountain in the center of town. While there was water in it, there were no jets or water flows.
"HELLO! IS ANYPONY OUT THERE?" I shouted, and listened. Listened really hard.
I sat down and waited, wishing I'd had a watch when I'd arrived so I could tell how much time passed. I tried to remember if the clock shop was fanon or canon.
Okay, the library is the place to go, unless it got burnt down, I thought, If it did, then the Friendship Castle, and maybe Discord. Yeah! That's it, he's doing all this to protect the ponies! I just have to act nonthreatening for a while and convince him and the Princesses I'm okay, and then everything will be fine.
I immediately reset the counter to zero when I raced through the town as I saw the door to Sugarcube Corners was open. The place was all set up for the daily's customers. The shelves were full of baked goods, a large plate heaped with muffins beside the cash register, and no one there.
"Hello! I'm here, I'm not dangerous! I'm just lost!" I shouted, and looked around, "Look, I'm willing to be arrested and locked up if you're nervous, but please, I just want to talk to someone."
Nothing, only the echoes of my shouting answer me. I look at the sky again. No moon, no promise of dawn, just the stars.
I walked to the library, and found the door unlocked. The writing in the books was gibberish, the place looked like Twilight had been up all night studying, but no evidence of Spike, Twilight, Owlicious, or any library patrons.
Maybe I should go up and sleep in Twilight's bed, I thought, Keeping her out of the library and her own bed would provoke a response. A negative response.
I got through some of the books Twilight was studying, trying to get a clue of what's happened. The only pictures and diagrams are like those in advanced math or statistics, unless you have a vague idea what they are talking about, you'll never figure them out.
That failed, I steeled myself and marched for Sweet Apple Acres. The cows and sheep can't be in on this too. If that fails, Fluttershy and Zecora are my last two possibilities. If nothing else, the sun should be up by then.
The barn was full of tools. All the stalls and the pig pen were empty. The house had the breakfast dishes in the drainer, so it's past breakfast. Buckling apples shouldn't be silent, but I can't hear anything. I walked past the school house and it was empty, so that's not where Applebloom is, and the Crusaders should be the one discovering the alien and having wacky hijinks.
The place was empty, and the evidence was that they didn't tidy up, they just left suddenly. The dishes also meant that it sun should be rising or should have risen already. There was no sun in the sky, and no moon.
The sudden pain in my chest felt like someone was crushing me. I sat down heavily, gasping for breath and mewling in pain. I felt like I was having a heart attack, then I realized it was a panic attack. I tried to remind myself that there was food, and shelter, and that eventually someone would have to deal with me, if only to get rid of me out of a place so they could use it again.
The pain and panic subsided and I could start back to the town. I would check in at Sugarcube Corners, but look at some other places.
All hail the Cakes for pastries, I thought, But I wanted something more substantial than cake to tide me over.
I looked in and saw that the shelves filled with baked goods, a large plate half-full of muffins near the door, and no one there. It stopped for a second. Looked carefully at the plate. It was the same pattern as the heaping plate that had been beside the cash register, and it had been filled near to overflowing.
Someone was moving stuff, I realized.
"Is there anypony here?" I shouted as I vaulted the counter, yelling more as I raced around the place yanking open every cupboard, drawer and cooler, "Is anypony here? Don't come out, just give me a sign! Just let me know I'm not the only person in the whole town!"
After nearly an hour of being a total crazy person, I got tired and more importantly, hungry.
I sat in the cafe munching some 'stolen' baked goods. All hail the Cakes for pastries, but the site of my first real freak out was not where I want to eat. The street was filled with wagons, carts, and farther down the street were stalls selling all kinds of things.
And I had no desire to race around like an idiot trying to fine the mysterious ponies who were setting these touches of active Ponyville lift up, and then scurrying off before I could see them.
They are better at hiding than I am at sneaking, I admitted to myself, Or, like I thought earlier, they are just hiding from the threat. So I have to quit being a threat. I need something to take my mind off of being alone.
"Or I'll go stark, raving volleyball," I said, "Why won't this human listen to what I'm telling him, I know how to build a radio out of coconuts and bamboo, and I could get us off the island, but he won't listen!"
I laughed at that. Squared away, I walked into Ponyville and accepted I was alone here.
No I didn't, I just rejected the likely explanation to preserve my sanity.