Adventures of Obie
To the Ground Again
Obie felt very good about his encounter with Pinkie Pie. He found himself flying high. That is, he flew upwards to exhaust his excitement. His wings beat hard so he rose fast but his smile wouldn’t fade. This was a new and exciting kind of happiness! His hopes were that he’d make many good friends and learn as much from them as possible and they were coming true! Obie flew blind over Ponyville as his grinned so wide, his cheeks forced his eyes closed.
Once he managed his eyes open, the blue pegasus examined the town proper. The town was just as good looking as it had been from the ground. Busy ponies were doing various chores and socializing with each other. It seemed far too busy for such a small town but the energy was nice and welcoming. Which was quite opposite from the last few villages. They were small as well but were tight-knit and unwelcoming. The size of the town from this height made the party seem less overwhelming. There would not be so many ponies to remember.
All the sights and sounds of the town below and the grand conclusions of Obies mind about the town only heightened his spirit. He began to do dives and turns and small, easy tricks. It seemed he forgot that anyone could be watching. Some ponies caught the laughable spectacle from the ground. They mocked him for the most part, some were confused, but nopony recognized the fairly large pegasus performing laughably simple and half hazard stunts. Most all were curious as to who he was and why he would make a scene of himself. He continued on, completely unawares for the greater part of a quarter hour until he was finally interrupted.
The interruption didn’t come from a pony watching from below but from one above. At the sound of a ‘What the hay are you doing?’ Obie reigned in is inhibitions immediately and turned to face the unexpected pony with blushing cheeks.
“Oh! Uh… Just got a little excited I guess.” Obie rubbed at the back of his neck and smiled so wide it forced his eyes shut again.
“Well I could see that!” a mare responded with an overtly judgmental tone. “And that was a really pathetic show. It looked like you barely sustained flight.” In response Obie smiled dumbly.
He lowered his grin enough to open his eyes. Then he dropped the smile completely and gaped at the pegasus as he got his first good look at her. Never before had he seen a rainbow colored pony! Her coat was a very light blue but her mane and tail detailed the all the colors he’d ever seen. She even had a matching lightning bolt as part of her cutie mark. He thought of how he didn’t notice Pinkie Pies cutie mark. Which led his mind to the party invitation and then to a particularly fitting name. “Are you Rainbow Dash?” The whole scene made Obie appear as that of a fan boy who immediately recognized his idol but couldn’t believe it and that’s exactly how the rainbow pony interpreted it.
With a smug smile, she spoke; “That’s right! The one and only Rainbow Dash! Perhaps you heard about how I single hoofedly save the Wonderbolts from certain death by breaking the sound barrier and performing the Sonic Rainboom? Not to brag but it won me the Young Fliers Competition” She laid her hoof on her chest and continued to smirk at Obie.
“I’m lost,” he responded simply, “I didn’t know about that.” She gave him a puzzled look and Obie thought he offended her somehow so he added, “I’m sure that it was an amazing feat and that the, um, ‘Wonderbolts’ were very happy you saved their lives.”
“What?” she roared, “All of Equestria was talking about it!” Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow in confused disbelief.
“Oh, then it was something I probably should have known.” Obie began to feel nervous and eyed around for a nice place to land so he could escape the situation. The mare obviously disliked him.
“Then I guess you’re not from around here?” The rainbow mane pony began to calm.
“No. I mean, yes. I’m from Equestria! Just not around here, Ponyville.”
“Well what’s your name?” She was obviously annoyed. “You know, since you mysteriously know mine, even though you’re not from here.”
“I’m sorry. Call me Obie.” He began to think up excuses to get away from her kindly. “I’m starting to feel tired of flying, may we land?” He was hoping she would not want to so he could do so alone.
Rainbow Dash looked down at the town. A small amount of ponies had been watching the ordeal for a while and she realized that she had become part of the lame scene she had happened across. She blushed and said, “Yeah, sure. Let’s go sit over there.” She hurried off to a nearby cloud and plopped on it. Obie fought to hide a grimace; he didn’t want to spend much more time with her. The thought of sitting on the cloud did make him frown however as he would rather be on ground.
Reluctantly, he sat on the cloud a comfortable distance from his host. His wing almost hit her in the head as he did so, prompting a “Watch it, big guy!”
“I’m sorry!” he hurriedly said, “I’m not a very talented flyer.” He could feel his uneasiness in his gut.
“I’m fine, it’s cool.” Rainbow Dash flashed a halfhearted smile. “But I’d think that with wings wide as yours you’d be a great flyer.”
“That so?” Obie wanted to be off the cloud and back on the ground as soon as possible.
“Yeah, it’s not every day I meet a pegasus with the wing span of a griffon, either.”
“Really?” he asked, intrigued, “I’ve never met one.”
“Did they not let griffons into your flying school?”
“I’ve never been to a flying school.” At that Rainbows mouth gaped but she quickly regained composure.
“Geez, I’ve never met a pony like you! Never been to flying school and you don’t know about the Wonderbolts? You’re a pegasus, for Celestias sake! How sheltered are you?” Her somewhat condescending and speculative tone made Obie uncomfortable. Then, she thought for a second and added, “What kind of a name is Obie, anyway?”
Obie made no attempt to hide his annoyance. His voice deepened to a tone he hated to take when he had to. “My name is Obsidian Shield. I’m as proud of it as my mother was when she gave it to me! And I like the name Obie. Everyone I ever cared for calls me that! And I’m not so sheltered to not know when I’m being insulted! Good-bye.”
He stood and extended his wings, just missing Rainbow Dashes head again. He then proceeded to jump off the cloud with an audible “Hmmph.” As he began to glide to the ground, Obie felt a pang of guilt in his stomach. He’d never lashed out at anypony like that before. Not even when he was picked on as a colt. This overwhelming feeling like she had insulted his father just enraged him. In hindsight, however, it was probably an innocent question. Like when Pinkie Pie asked. Her manor of asking just seemed rude.
“Hey! Wait up!” Rainbow Dash called. Obie ignored her.
She was on him in a flash, “Hey! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to insult you!” She sounded sincere.
Obie responded in a hot silence. He forgave her already; happy to hear an apology, but he wouldn’t show it. He held onto his pride in an attempt to keep face.
Rainbow steamed. “You know, I don’t even know you! I don’t have to apologize but I am! So, just get over it already.”
They touched ground just to the south of Ponyville together but Obie still clung to his pride, even though it made him feel bad. He didn’t respond. He started to trot off.
“Woah, hold it!” She blocked him. “Now I know I sounded mean. I was just surprised a pegasus would be… well, like you.” She stopped to think, not wanting to seem rude again. “Look, I know you’re mad but I can’t just let you go off thinking I’m a bad pony. I just think I struck a nerve by mistake, uh?”
Obie stayed silent but his face gave away what he was feeling. Guilt over getting upset over something he should’ve overlooked.
“From what you said,” Rainbow Continued, “it seems to me like your protective of your family. Is that why you have that shield for a cutie mark?” She was being careful with her tone.
“Yeah…” he trailed off, thinking back about home. “I’m sorry. I knew after I did it I was wrong to snap at you. I really don’t know what got over me.” Obie began to feel better, like letting go of his pride made being happy easier. He made a mental note not to do it again.
“It’s okay! I’ve got a friend who can get that way sometimes. I’m kind of used to it.” Rainbow smiled at him. This made Obie smile back uncontrollably. He was beginning to feel a lot better about this pony. Maybe he’d judged her too harsh before.
“Thank you,” he said slowly, “for accepting my apology. I still feel ba-“ Rainbow Dash cut him off.
“This whole conversation’s starting to get drawn out. I mean, saying sorry back and forth won’t get us anywhere.”
At that, Obie laughed. Rainbow beamed. She was glad to have changed him back into an oaf.
“So how long will you be in town? I’d like to get to know you more.”
“Oh yeah!” Obie fumbled about his saddle bags and found his invite and presented it to the mare. “I met your friend on the way into town. She gave me this. That’s why I knew your name.”
She inspected the paper. “That makes you far less creepy. Leave it to Pinkie Pie to invite a total stranger.”
“She did come off as being fun-loving.” Said Obie, oblivious. “I like her.”
“You mean she didn’t scare you or intimidate you? She can get pretty out there sometimes.”
“Not at all. She was very pleasant to talk to. I really liked her attitude.”
“Oh yeah? Give it a while; she can get on anyponies nerve.”
Obie nodded and hoped Rainbow was wrong. But he didn’t know Pinkie Pie as well as she did.
“You know where you’re staying tonight?”
“Does this town have an inn?”
“Yeah.” Rainbow thought for a moment and said, “You know what? Why don’t you crash on my couch?” Obie was immediately taken aback. He barely knew her!
“That’s really not necessary! I’m fine in an inn.”
“No way. I’m going to make it up to you. You know, for getting you mad at me.”
“I’m not sure.” Obie thought hard. What bad could come out of this? Nothing came to mind.
“That’s too bad because I’m not taking no for an answer.” She gave him a sly smile. With that simple logic, she had won. No way around it.
“I suppose I have to then,” said Obie. Defeat could have been worse.
“Alright then,” Rainbow hopped into the air and began to hover. “My cloud-home is about a half-mile east of Ponyville. It’s just above the cloud layer most of the time. I’ve got some weather stuff I need to catch up on so I’ll see you there!”
But the weathers perfect, thought Obie as he gave Rainbow Dash a good-bye. She began to fly higher and leave when suddenly a thought hit him. “Wait!” he exclaimed.
“What?” She stopped, confused.
“You live in a cloud-home?”
“Yeah. Don’t tell me you never heard of those either.” She groaned.
“I have.” Obie shifted his hoofs nervously.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I uhh,” he coughed, “I don’t like being on clouds.” His voice died away and he stared at the ground.
Rainbow Dash face-hoofed.
Adventures of Obie
Around Town
Rainbow Dash left Obie after affirming her home was far more comfortable than a normal cloud. Although, Rainbow had seemed more like she was berating than assuring. Obie agreed he’d be there before her imposed curfew of sunset. With that, she soared high into the air and over Ponyville until she was out of sight. Obie took note that she flew in the direction where the clouds were least thick. He wondered what kind of weather job would involve so few clouds.
He quickly dismissed the thought. The sun was still showing high in the sky, placing the time around an hour and a half past midday. There was still a lot of Ponyville to experience. With time on his side, Obie broke into a happy trot back north towards town. A light smile was becoming wide as his thoughts filled with what the town would be like.
A deep hum radiated from Obies throat. He varied tunes as they came to mind. He kept his eyes on the town, anticipating his arrival, and intensifying happy tunes. A pony left the town pulling an empty cart. As he neared he saw the pony was a large red stallion, a very large stallion. He was a farm pony, obvious because of the yoke he wore, and had dirty blonde hair. The large earth pony chewed a sprig of wheat as he eyed Obie apathetically. The pegasus silently amazed at the size of the proud earth pony nearing to pass him. He hadn’t met many ponies larger than himself and those that were had not dwarfed him as much as this stallion.
As they passed he smiled and gave a quick hello. This only prompted a slight nod as the red pony carried on. Obie found that he respected the earth pony’s demeanor. Almost past the cart now, a light snoring could be heard from the empty cart. A quick glance revealed a yellow filly sporting a bow in her mane napping carelessly. This touched Obies heart. She's probably that fellow’s daughter, he thought. He became faintly homesick for a moment but it passed.
Not long after, Obie entered Ponyville for the first time. It was just as happily buzzing as it had been when he flew over it. He made his way somewhat aimlessly toward the center of town. Ponies took notice of him; some gave small hellos and welcomes, some gave a passing glance, and some giggled at the sight of him. Obie had forgotten that ponies had witnessed the embarrassing moments he had with Rainbow dash and simply regarded the mocking ponies as rude.
At the center of Ponyville was a large, round, two story town hall. It had a very inviting look. Obie looked around, searching out the most interesting buildings. He took note of a tree-building that seemed ignored amongst the hustle of the town. Was it a home or business? Curiosity peaked; he began to trot to the direction of the strange tree house-building thing when he remembered Sugarcube corner. That was where the party was to be hosted. Obie wanted to see what he was in for.
After asking a nice unicorn for directions, Obie made a short trot toward Sugarcube Corner. It was ever apparent that the building deserved its name. It looked just like a gingerbread house! Cupcakes, gumdrops, and other confections and candies were painted fittingly all over. It was a fairly busy shop with ponies frequenting it even as Obie approached. He made his way through the open door and found the store brightly colored and kept the same demeanor as it had from the outside. It had an open space that led to the business counter which was manned by a tall skinny stallion. Tables lined along the edge of the front of the shop in front of a large window. Directly across the fairly large room was a raised dining area that could also double as a stage. Next to the stage a flight of stairs disappeared into the second story. Overall, it seemed a fun place to be.
Obie walked to the line and began to wait, wanting to fill his stomach before he became hungry. His place was behind an orange maned Earth pony mare with a triple carrot cutie mark. She looked forward in silence for a while until her eyes began to wander. When their gaze landed on Obie she turned just enough to allow her head to face him. She stared, mouth agape, and after an uncomfortable moment said, “wow”.
“Hello,” Obie said. He smiled nervously.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve seen a pony like you around here before.” She faced him and her expression became more relaxed and open. She smiled.
“Well that’s because I’ve never been here before.” Obie noticed the line begin to move.
“Wow,” she said again with an exaggerated tone, “What brings you to Ponyville, stranger?”
“I’m traveling Equestria. I’d like to visit as many places as possible and make lots of friends.”
“How interesting.” The line moved forward again. She couldn’t have noticed.
“Yes, umm…” Obie was thinking of a polite way to tell the mare she was holding up the line.
“My name’s Golden Harvest. What’s yours?” She was oddly wide-eyed.
“Obsidian Shield. Please call me Obie.”
The mare began to smile and fidget excitedly. “Wow, what a neat name.”
“Yes well,” Obie felt uncomfortable with her sudden behavior, “your name is nice too.”
The mare giggled.
“Uh-hum!” Some mare behind them in line cleared her thought in that obvious ‘pay attention’ mannor. Golden Harvest took a quick glance at the line and then at the stallion behind the counter. There was no line in front of her. She blushed and cantered to the front. “My usual” she said meekly to which the worker replied “Of course, Golden.” He left through a nearby door and reappeared quickly carrying a small paper sack filled with a confection of some kind. She left quickly, but not before throwing a wink Obie’s way. He didn’t know how to correctly return the gesture so he smiled back and then made his way to the business counter.
“Quite a character, huh?” The business pony said.
“Yeah.” Obie Chuckled. “A small piece of that carrot cake, please?”
“Sure thing. Would you like to take it to go?”
“No, I’ll eat it here,” Obie said after a small amount of thought. The yellow pony retrieved a piece of cake on a disposable plate and Obie took out the required bits for the purchase.
“I’m Mr. Cake, by the way, and if you need anything just give me a shout.”
“Okay. I’m Obie.” He smiled and added, “thank you.”
Obie took an open table by the window. He sat down his treat and relieved himself of his saddlebags. The store kept busy with ponies going about their own business. Obie enjoyed his slice of cake while he watched the buzzing of the store for a small while. Ponyville seemed a good place to live. Nopony ignored the other and everypony wore smiles.
The pastry had been finished for a while when Obie saw Pinkie Pie enter. She was all smiles and hellos to everypony. Passing conversation followed her around the shop. She’d noticed Obie and gave him a smile which he returned. After a few obligatory greetings, she made her way to his table. They exchanged hellos and Pinkie sat across from Obie.
“So, I have time now,” Pinky started, “would you mind if we spoke? You know, get to know each other?” She beamed, seemingly with anticipation.
“I would like that, yes.” Obie replied.
“Good, ‘cause I want to know as much about you as possible!”
“Well, uh…, what do you want to know?”
“How about, what brings you to Ponyville? You wouldn’t just come here without a reason would you?”
“I suppose not. But my reason isn’t so special, I’m just traveling Equestria.” Obie chuckled. “This is only the third place I’ve visited. The other two villages weren’t worth spending too much time in.”
“Why not?” Pinkie Pies voice was laced with concern.
“They were just not as nice a place as this. They didn’t like strangers.”
“Doesn’t sound like anyplace I’d like to be, I love meeting new ponies!”
“I hear you. The first impressions those places gave off made Equestria seem like an unwelcoming place.” Obie sighed in relief and added, “I like it here.”
“So you’ve never left home before now?” A head shake gave the answer. “So this has to be extra fun for you! It’s exciting to leave home for the first time. I know it was for me.”
“You’re not from Ponyville?”
“No, I lived on a rock farm. It wasn’t a very happy place. I did what I could but making it too fun there was… counterproductive. So, as soon as I was old enough to, I moved here. Now I get to have as many parties as I could possibly dream!” The pink mare smiled and clopped her hooves excitedly.
“That’s inspiring. Is partying your special talent?”
“Yes sir!” she lifted her flank into view, “See? I have three awesome balloons to show for it as my cutie mark! What does your shield mean?”
Obie thought back on what chance Pinkie had on looking at his flank and nothing came to mind. He ignored the thought. “I think it’s because I’ve a protective personality. Not really sure.”
“How do you not know what your cutie mark stands for?” Pinkie Pie made a humorous face of confusion.
“I uhh… don’t know. I must have been very young when I got it. I’ve always just had it.”
“Wouldn’t your parents know it if you were too young to remember?”
“No, I was adopted.” The pegasus looked away and rubbed the back of the head with his hoof.
“Oh…” Pinkies ears folded back and she grimaced, “sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like I knew who my blood parents were. I only know my real parents. It’s not something I’m ashamed to share or something to apologize for asking about.”
“Okie-Dokie!” The instantaneous bounce back could catch anypony off guard. “So, have you seen much of Ponyville, yet?” The mare leaned over the table, anxious to hear anything Obie had to say.
“I haven’t seen much. Although, I did run into Rainbow Dash.” He decided he’d not tell her about the disagreement.
“Oh really? That’s great! Isn’t she great? How’d you like her?” Imagine a wide eyed pink pony with a grin longer than her face.
“She was nice. She even offered to let me stay at her house.”
“That’s very nice of her. I wonder why she’d just offer up her place like that, doesn’t seem much like her.” Pinky tapped her hoof on her chin in a puzzled manner.
“Well, uh… we really hit it off.” A wide smile obscured Obie’s half-truth.
“Oh, wow! That’s so amazing! I’m glad. Say, would you like me to show you around Ponyville? We have plenty of neat things here.” At that, the pink pony giggled.
“I would like that.”
“Okay! Let’s get going!” Pinkie Pie stood and took the disposable plate in her mouth and trotted off to a trash bin.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Might as well! I work here so I clean up after messy ponies all the time.” She chuckled at her tease.
Obie giggled. How could this pony get on his nerves like Rainbow dash said? Apparently, through extended conversation. Though he liked her forward demeanor, he found himself overwhelmed from the constant barrage of words. She explained just about anything and everything. Over expressive descriptions about bland looking houses and businesses flowed fluently and with little breath from her mouth. For the most part, Obie could catch the gist of what she was saying. Colgate’s Dentistry, Quills and Sofa’s, and the hardware and some other various places that Pinkie’s descriptions sped through were in particularly unimpressive. Obie often spaced out as they trotted along. Often, he fell behind and would need to cantor back to his guides side, who seemed never to notice.
“And this is where Golden Harvest lives! She grows carrots in her backyard garden and sells them at the market! They’re really good! Okay, Next!”
Obie heard a familiar name and snapped to attention. “I know her. We met in Sugarcube Corner.” Pinkie Pie was suddenly ecstatic.
“Ooh! Really? Maybe if she’s working in the garden she’ll come up front and we can talk to her.”
“I don’t think-“Pinkie interrupted him with a ‘shhh’ and stared at the side yard where the pony would supposedly come from. They waited.
“Pinkie, I-“Obie was immediately silenced by another ‘shhh’. Defeated, he waited in silence. One moment followed another as the mare stared at the empty space in the lawn. She was completely silent and motionless. A slight smirk adorned her face and she furrowed her brow concentration. More time passed.
A significant amount of time passed before Golden Harvest did emerge. The yellow pony had opened her front door and asked, “Pinkie, what are you doing?”
“Hi, Golden Harvest! Obie said that he met you at Sugarcube corner, so I thought if we could catch you on your way to the front yard we could all talk.” Pinkie beamed.
“So, that’s why you’ve been staring at my yard for ten minutes?” Golden asked, slightly amused.
“Yeah!” The pink pony’s expression didn’t change.
“What did you want to talk about?” Golden made her way to Obie and Pinkie Pie. To Obie she said, “Nice to meet you again,” with a smile.
“You too.” He smiled back.
“What are you two doing?” The orange mane pony asked.
“I’m showing Obie around town!” Pinkie Pie smiled with pride as she began to hop in place excitedly.
“Introducing him to everypony, eh?”
“Nope!” She stopped hopping.
“What?” Golden asked in surprise.
“I’m waiting to do that at Rainbows party! It’ll be so much more fun and easy that way!”
Golden Harvest giggled. “I bet. Say, Obie, how long do you plan on staying in Ponyville?” She looked into Obie’s eyes with flushed cheeks.
“Not too long. I’ll probably leave the day after the party.” He thought about how short a stay it was in such a wonderful place.
“Oh really,” Golden’s voice slowed, “Are you staying at the Inn tonight?” She lowered her head a bit but did not look away from Obie.
“No, I met Rainbow Dash and she is practically forcing me to ‘crash on her couch’.”
“Isn’t that nice of her?” Pinkie Pie interjected.
“Yeah, it is.” The yellow mare trailed off. After a small moment, she said, “I forgot that I have something to take care of. I’ll see you guys at the party tomorrow.” With that said, she cantered back to her door and quickly entered her home.
“I wonder what’s wrong with her.” Pinkie said concerned.
“I don’t know. Do you think she’s in trouble? Should we do something?”
“No, she probably has something to do. Let’s go! We still have plenty of time in the day.” Pinkie Pie then bounced on her way. Obie followed, unable to shake the feeling that he’d done something wrong.
The thoughts soon left Obie’s mind as Pinkie Pie began to go on about the town again. She mentioned a few places that were, to her, important sites to be. She showed him town hall, which he’d already seen, and the Carousel Boutique, that was owned by a friend of hers. The two went over various other places for a few hours. There wasn’t much to see in the town, but Pinkie made sure they went over it all and in detail. Obie found, as time went on, that the eccentric pony was easy to listen too if he ignored the less important things she had to say. They came upon the strange tree-building that Obie wanted to investigate before.
“This!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, “is Golden Oaks Library! My friend Twilight lives here with her assistant, Spike. She’s a student and is really smart! She’s really good with magic and lives here to study friendship! Isn’t that neat?”
Obie stared at the strange building. “So, it’s a library. That’s interesting. I was going to visit this place earlier. Just to see it, you know? I couldn’t tell kind of building it was.”
“It’s a tree-house, silly.” Pinkie smiled dumbly at her tourist who only sighed in defeat. “Want to go in and check it out?” Without waiting for an answer she took him by the hoof and brought him to the door. The mare knocked on the door and it opened a few moments after.
Disbelief stained Obie’s face. The ponies were greeted by a smiling little purple and green dragon wearing an apron. He was shocked to see such a miniscule monster casually address Pinkie and he as they stood there. Having no idea how to react to the situation, Obie stood still and stared, dumbfounded.
“What’s up with him?” The dragon asked Pinkie Pie, gesturing an opposable talon toward Obie.
“He’s new to town. I’d bet a bit that he’s never seen a dragon before.” Pinkie giggled.
“Yeah, I know how intimidating we dragons can be.” The little guy tried to bear his fangs menacingly, but only succeeded in making a cute, wide smile. He then extended his claw open toward Obie, “Names Spike, nice to meet you. Don’t worry, I’m not as nasty as any stories you might have heard.”
Even if he wanted to be, he couldn’t, thought Obie, the little thing doesn’t even reach my shoulders. “Obie. Sorry if I seemed rude,” Obie took the claw in a shake, “It’s true that I’ve never seen a dragon. I’m a little awestruck.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s all good. Come on in, you guys, I’ll get Twilight.” Spike then hurried inside and upstairs. The ponies entered the library. It was more perfectly round than the tree shape would have made it appear from the outside. Along the rounded interior were bookshelves carved into the wood. There was a statue in the center of the shelved area. To the left of the entrance was a small study area with two desks and seats that could comfortably seat four ponies. There was a door to the right with a label etched in the wood that read “Kitchen”. Between the study area and shelved area rested a door labeled “Basement”. Stairs to the second floor winded above some shelves. The entire place had a very welcoming atmosphere and was surprisingly well lit. Windows seemed placed strategically along with a small amount of candles to achieve this goal. Generally, it was a very serene place.
“She’s on her way down,” Spike said as he rushed downstairs. He gave the two ponies a toothy smile before leaving through the door labeled “Kitchen”.
Soon after, a violet unicorn descended the stairs. She had a blue mane and tail with a purple and pink stripe running through them. With a practiced grace, she made her way toward her guests and greeted them with a warm smile.
“Hello, Pinkie Pie,” she said.
“Hey ya, Twilight!” Pinkie bounced a few times as she spoke, “I wanted to introduce you to my new friend, Obie!”
“It’s nice to meet you, Obie, my names Twilight Sparkle.” She offered her hoof.
Obie took it. “Hello and likewise,” he said simply.
“So, what brings you here? Something you need or is Pinkie just introducing you to everypony in town?”
“Nah, Twilight,” Pinkie Pie answered for him, “I’m going to do that tomorrow at Rainbows party. He was curious to see the library.”
“Well, I’ve never seen a tree carved into a building like this before.” Obie stated. “It’s very interesting.”
“It is, isn’t it?” the violet pony began, “It was built almost eighty years ago. I think the most interesting thing about Golden Oaks is that the tree is still alive. It takes periodical maintenance to make sure it’s growth doesn’t interfere with the layout of the library.”
“Neat.” Obie looked around, thinking about how the place would only get bigger.
“What brings you to Ponyville?”
“I’m traveling Equestria. I want to see as much as I can and make lots of friends along the way.” Obie smiled at Twilight as if proud that he could make the statement.
“That’s quite an undertaking. Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I don’t. I’m from a small mining town nestled among the Northern Equestrian Mountains.”
“Wow, that’s a long ways away from here,” Twilight said, amazed, “Have you seen a lot?”
“Not really, I’ve kept to small villages. The last few were not as nice as this one. I plan on going to a larger town soon. Maybe, Trottingham, it’s nearby enough.”
“I hear it’s nice there, this time of year. Now, I’m sorry, I really don’t want to be rude but, Spike and I are about to have dinner. We’re going to have to take this conversation to the party tomorrow.”
“Is it that late already,” Pinkie Pie asked, “Oh boy, can time fly!”
“It was nice to meet you, Twilight Sparkle,” said Obie.
“Likewise! See you two tomorrow.”
“Bye, Twilight!” Pinkie exclaimed and she and her tourist left the house.
“It’s really late!” Pinkie Pie moaned.
“The sun won’t set for a while yet.”
“Yeah, but it’s dinner time. I’ve got to get home to the Cakes.”
Before Obie could respond, Rainbow Dash appeared before the two of them out of the sky.
“I’ve been looking for you.” The rainbow mane pony pointed a hoof at Obie.
“Wha- why?” Obie was suddenly frightened.
“Have you eaten?” she still appeared menacing, “I’m calling in your curfew early.”
“No I haven’t.” The stallion was confused.
“Well come one. You’re eating with me.” She smiled mischievously then laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“You! You don’t want to go do you?”
In truth, he was dreading the idea of spending the night on a cloud. He’d never done it before. “That’s not it, you’re just being scary.”
Rainbow laughed hard, “You’re scared of this little filly? You’re a weird one Obie.” He blushed.
“You guys seem to be taken care of. I’ll head on home, Don’t want to be late to help out Mrs. Cake with dinner! Later, Obie, Rainbow Dash!” She hopped away. The pegasi gave her good byes.
“You ready?” Rainbow asked placidly. She launched into the air and hovered, waiting for Obie.
“I suppose.” He followed the mare’s example. They flew towards the east out of town.
“So, Obie,” Rainbow started, “why didn’t you go to flying school?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“It’s just weird, is all. I’m curious.”
“I think it’s because I was raised by earth ponies. There was no need to fly when working in the mines I worked with my father and brother.”
“Your parents were earth ponies? And you worked in mines? You’ve got to be the wei-“ she caught herself, not wanting to seem rude. “I mean, most unique pegasus I’ve ever met.”
“It seems that way. I was adopted, you know. So that should help make more sense of my parents.”
“It does, I guess.”
They didn’t say much more as they flew off toward the east to Rainbow Dashes house. She seemed a little distant. Obie didn’t press her. The two flew above the cloud layer and out of sight from below. It was about this time that Obie realized he was going to stay over at a mares house for the first time.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Authors note: Kind of a rushed ending for this Chapter. Don’t judge to harshly.
Sleepover, Party, and Goodbye Ponyville
Adventures of Obie
A Sleepover and a Party
Obie was caught up in his thoughts. Why am I getting so worked up? It’s just a favor. She’s obligated, for some reason. The stallion shook his head and glanced at his guide. Rainbow Dash had a hopelessly bored expression on her face. She had to slow down a lot so Obie could keep up. Obie hadn’t noticed how much he’d slackened and thought about how she obviously wasn’t concerned with the childish notions he was. So, he shouldn’t either.
A few more shakes of the head somehow straitened the jumbled up mess of Obie’s mind. A large bunch of clouds with what looked like streaks of rainbows in it slowly came into view. The two were heading straight for it so that was the clear destination. Obie Smiled as he thought out a fun little prank.
He slowed down just enough to be out of Rainbows eyesight and he rose in the air. He then dove for a sudden boost of speed and rocketed past the unprepared mare. “Race ya!” managed from his lips as he flew ahead, pumping his wings hard. In no time, however, a rainbow maned face began to overtake him. Flying backwards and still slowly gaining ground, she blew him a raspberry, turned and took off. Obie bit back his awe and struggled in vain to increase his speed. There was little he could do, however, as the mare raced far ahead of him toward her home. She’d been waiting on her cloud homes floating patio. On which, Obie landed sprawled out. Rainbow Dash laughed at him as he caught his breath.
“Hahaha! What was that about?” Rainbow Dash almost choked.
“I’d always beat my sister.” Obie smiled dumbly.
“Yeah, I bet your sister isn’t one of the fastest mares alive.”
“Still,” Obie stood, “It worked just the same.”
“What?” Rainbow asked.
“You don’t look so bored now.” Again, the stallion smiled dumbly.
“You’re a riot, you know that?” She chuckled.
“I consider myself pretty plain.”
“You’re anything but, Obie.” With that, Rainbow opened the unlocked door to her cloud home.
It appeared to be made out of compressed cloud, most all of the house was. What wasn’t cloud appeared to be rainbows and or rainbow waterfalls coming out of more natural looking cloud decorations. The building proper is a two story building of moderate size. It was loosely cylindrical shaped with parts of it appearing to melt into the clouds the building rested on. A classic Pegasus keyline design separated the first and second story and decorated the door. The roof appeared to be loose cloud slung across arbitrarily but was to perfectly so to be true. Where the cloud roof tendrils out, it had aesthetic pillars to support it. Cirrus ‘vines’ crawled along the building and along the cloud yard. They blew in the wind slowly, giving the building a more lively feeling then the unnatural steadiness of the cloud material allowed. The entire thing was a classic example of pegasus architecture. Obie had no idea about that. This was his first time looking at such, but was impressed nevertheless.
“What are you staring at?” Rainbow’s words shook Obie from his thoughts a little.
“Your house. It’s amazing.”
“I thought you’ve been to a cloud house before?”
“I lied,” Obie stated shamelessly, “It’s beautiful.”
“Oh man, I’d love to see the look on your face if you ever see Cloudsdale.” She gestured through the doorway and added, “Come on in.”
Obie followed her inside. The interior of the building was similar to the exterior but was far less flashy. The living room had a few cloud couches draped with some kind of cloth surrounded the center somewhat sporadically. A rainbow colored rug somehow supported a table decorated in the same Pegasus Keyline design on the houses exterior. The pattern also lined the bottom of the walls. Aside from two doors parallel from each other and a hole leading to the second story, the rest of the inside was off-white walls, ceiling, and floor. Light seemed to just seep in from nowhere and anywhere.
“You have a nice home.” Obie mentioned as he passed through the entrance.
“Yeah it’s cozy,” Rainbow Dash said nonchalantly, “Just relax on the couch and I’ll be back with something to eat.” She closed the front door and started to float to another portal across the room.
“Say, do you have a pla-“ The stallion stopped speaking as a realization came to him. Obie groaned. “I forgot my saddle bags at Sugarcube Corner. I have to go back.”
Rainbow paused midflight, “Nah, don’t sweat it. The Cakes will make sure your stuff is taken care of.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to leave my things with just anyone,” Obie stated, unsure.
“Look, the Cakes are among the best ponies in town about things like that. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure they’ve put it back for you to come get your stuff tomorrow before the party.” She thought for a moment and added, “Nopony wants to interrupt anypony during supper anyway.”
Obie exhaled a defeated sigh, “I’ll trust your judgment on that, then.” The stallion then trotted to a couch and sat down as his host continued to the door that he was sure was the kitchen.
He did not wait long before Rainbow Dash returned, balancing two simple bowls of salad in her fore hooves as she flew. She sat the salads on the table one across from her and gestured Obie to join her. The guest stood and joined the host.
“You know, you really didn’t have to do this. Thank you.” Obie detailed to his host. In response, Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously. This was noted and ignored by the stallion as the two began to eat. The two pegasus finished in silence and Rainbow took the bowls up in her hooves again.
“Oh man, you’re probably thirsty too. Water fine?” She was obviously preoccupied.
“Yes, please.” Her guest smiled at her, but Rainbow Dash turned without response and left the room. Obie mumbled to himself, “What’s wrong with her all of a sudden?”
She returned with a glass of water and offered it to her guest. Rainbow then took her place opposite from Obie at the table. Awkward silence. “Uh…” the spectrum maned pony let out suddenly, “What brings out to Ponyville. I never got a chance to ask you.” She seemed anxious.
“I’m traveling Equestria. I want to see what the world has to offer, you know?” Obie made a gentle grin.
“I guess.” Pause. “I- uh…” Pause. “Umm…” Pause. “Well… man.” She sighed and rubbed at the back of her head.
“Rainbow Dash, is something wrong? If you’re uncomfortable, I can leave. You’ve done plenty enough, trust me.”
“It’s not like that. I just…” Pause. “I just… don’t have many guests, you know… Don’t know how to act.” She chuckled nervously. Obie just gave her and understanding nod. “I hardly stay at home as it is. Most nights I just sleep on a cloud enjoying Lunas’ moon.”
The stallion pegasus sympathized with that. “I understand and I know I’m making this awkward,” Obie suddenly felt like he was on a cloud and he was and he didn’t like the feeling as per usual, "I can get my saddle bags and be out of your mane.”
“No!” Rainbow quickly placed a hoof on the table. It made a unique type of clop noise on the cloud. “Really, Obie, I know it’s weird, but I really want to make up for what I did earlier. It’s something I’d like to prove to myself.”
“And what is that?”
“It’s personal.”
“I guess I understand.” He didn’t.
“Yeah. Uh… Thanks.”
“No problem.” Awkward silence.
Looking around, Obie noticed the walls beginning to change from the off-white cloud color to a light orange. He began to look around busily, and questioned out loud about the color change to nopony in particular.
His host laughed, “The suns setting. The walls reflect light weird… Twilight could probably explain better. It’ll turn white again when the moon gets a little higher in the sky.”
“Wow… You know I don’t like being on clouds, but I could get used to living in a place like this. Walls that change colors… That’s cool.” Obie Smiled stupidly while looking at the slow change through the colors of the twilight sky.
“You’re so weird.” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “We still got some time… You wanna play a board game or something?”
“Sure.” In response the mare suddenly flew up and shouted something about her favorite game. In no time, she returned with a box which bore an image of two young ponies playing with a board game. Rainbow quickly explained the rules, which were fairly simple made complex by the speed at which she spoke. It didn’t help much that the mare rambled off immediately about ‘strategies’ and ‘skill’. The advice seemed pointless as the game seemed to amount to guessing numbers and letters. Obie didn’t pay much attention as a consequence.
They played twelve rounds and he didn’t win at all.
***
Obie woke the next morning on the cloud couch. He’d tossed around most the night. Sleeping on a cloud had been more uncomfortable to him than just standing or sitting on one. Rainbow Dash had lied about a cloud house being more comfortable than normal clouds. Obie considered it just deserts for lying about seeing a cloud home before. Groggily the pegasus stood.
The walls had returned to their off-white color again which put the time at least past early morning. There wasn’t a way to tell without going outside to see the sun or looking at a watch. Not that Obie really took notice. He was thinking about how to go about getting his things from Sugarcube Corner. Or he was lazily waking himself up and occupying his mind with stupid situations that would never happen just to get his bags back.
He rolled lazily off the bed and turned to remove himself from the cloud couch and plant all four hooves on the floor. A sense of vertigo attacked him as he felt like he’d begun to fall back to earth. Wings extended in panic, Obie fell to his knees and yelped only to soon after realize that he couldn’t fall through the clouds. Relief and embarrassment flooded his face with red as the thought of how humiliating it would have been for Rainbow to have seen it. She probably could have. She probably did. Obie looked around.
Nopony in sight. The pegasus breathed a sigh of relief. He could only margin a guess at how long Rainbow Dash mocked him after every lost game last night she’d probably do the same had she seen his performance. Obie didn’t mind it. From afar, she could seem cruel but there was honesty in the way she went about her teasing. She was like how a sibling would treat another.
Obie walked about the room. A look out a window revealed the time of day to be mid-morning. Was this window here yesterday? Obie thought first and then Is Rainbow Dash awake? Inconsiderate for any pony that may be sleeping in for their day off and birthday, the pony called out for her. No answer.
She was probably out or refusing to wake. Either way he wouldn’t get to thank her for giving him a place to sleep until the party. Which was when? He thought. Not bothering to dwell on what he’d forgotten, the large winged pegasus made his way to the exit and then back to Ponyville.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The ‘closed’ sign on the door of Sugarcube Corner betrayed the buzz on the inside. A buzz created by one pony who was zipping about, setting up shop for the party. Pinkie Pie wore a content smile while she rushed about undisturbed. Obie viewed the scene through the window with a perplexed face. She moved about all quirky and erratic yet the pink pony seemed completely relaxed and at ease. There was no way a pony could move that fast in a trot but there she was. In aw the pegasus watched until he was interrupted.
“Enjoying the view?” a mares’ voice chided. Obie turned quickly to the voice, immediately embarrassed how he must have looked spying on Pinkie Pie like that. He was facing the Orange maned pony from yesterday. Whose name was…? Obie had completely forgotten.
“Oh, Hi! Uh, I wasn’t looking for any bad reasons! She’s just so, uh… I mean, she’s really, oh man.” Obie looked at the ground, unable to come up with a reason for staring at Pinkie that didn’t make the mare he was talking to think badly of him. She’s just so weird, he thought.
He couldn’t see the brief pang of emotion on Golden Harvests face. She quickly recovered and asked, “Are you, um, crushing on Pinkie Pie?”
At this Obies’ head shot up. “What? No. It’s just that I’ve never seen anything like it… It’s kinda, um, weird. Look at her.”
She looked past Obie to see the pink mare trotting back and forth at ridiculous speeds between setting tables and decorating the walls with various ‘happy birthday’ decorations. It’d be easier to finish one then the other, right? Then again, this was just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. Golden Harvest knew this and, like most ponies in Ponyville, was used to it. She looked back to Obie who bore the most foalish pleading expression she’d ever seen on a stallion. The pegasus was heartily laughed at.
Not quite sure how to respond but fairly certain that he was in the clear, Obie smiled. Pinkie Pie stuck her head out the door of the confectioner’s shop.
“Hi, Golden Harvest!” That’s her name! “Hi, Obie! I was wondering how long you were gonna watch me so I decided to ask. When you coming in?” Forward like what he appreciates.
“Right now, thanks,” Obie replied, ignoring any harboring embarrassment. He began to trot to the door of the shop but Pinkie hadn’t moved from her spot occupying it.
“You coming in too, Goldie?” Pinkie Pie asked. Obie turned to the aforementioned mare to see her wearing a look of surprise for some reason. She nodded. Pinkie moved to hold the door for the ponies. Obie entered, followed by Golden, then Pinkie.
“I guess you know I came here for my saddlebags,” started Obie, “They around here somewhere?”
Pinkie tapped he hoof on her chin while looking away in thought comically. “Hmm… I remember! I gave them away to a pony I didn’t know in the street.” She stood firm and smiled proudly.
“What!?” Obie raised his voice in panic, “What’d they look like!? Where’d they go? I thought you knew everypony in this town?!” The desperate stallion pleaded with the pink mare wearing the same foalish begging expression he wore for Golden.
At this Pinkie Pie fell down laughing. Through the snorting and neighing she managed to say, “I do! I was just fooling with you, silly-willy!”
Golden Harvest joined in with the party pony, sitting down on her haunches and covering her mouth with her hoof in an unsuccessful attempt at stifling her laughter. Obie also sat down, confused. He stared at the laughing mares wondering exactly what was so funny. His bags were okay, right?
Pinkie began bouncing around the confused pegasus. “Hey now! Don’t be bummed! It’s all in good fun, Obie. Mr. Cake put away your things as soon as we left yesterday.” The pink party pony stopped bouncing and stared at Obie. Behind her, Golden Harvest wore a halfhearted smile.
Obie slipped onto the floor, wings spread out weakly. He sighed in relief and said “You’re horrible.” He then blew her a raspberry and smiled with his tongue still hanging out of his mouth, prompting a new laughing fit from Pinkie Pie. Golden smiled more wholeheartedly as she giggled.
After a quick moment, Pinkie calmed. “I’ll get your saddlebags for you.” Pinkie trotted quickly past the blue pegasus and into a door behind the service counter.
Obie stood and looked at Golden Harvest who swiftly looked away. The stallion found this awkward and so also turned his head in a different direction to examine the store a little. Streamers, balloons, and a cleared stage ready for some kind of entertainment decked the shop. Continued silence filled the shop like a smell Obie couldn’t ignore. He looked back to Golden Harvest.
Golden had her mouth open, ready to speak. She closed it. Open. Close. Open, “Um… You excited for the party?” She smiled sheepishly.
Obie was happy to have something to talk about. “Yes, I am. Also, I’m kinda nervous. The whole situation is very unusual and sudden to me. Will Pinkie Pie really make an effort to introduce me to everyone she knows?”
In response, Golden chuckled and said, “The only reason she didn’t throw you a party is because of Rainbow’s birthday party, I’m sure.”
“What? Really? Why?”
“It’s something she loves to do,” she shrugged, “She does it for most everypony.”
“That’s… daunting. I don’t see how she could manage it.”
“Neither does anyone else…” Golden spoke in an annoyed tone.
Silence followed the short conversation until Obie broke it again. “Pinkie sure is taking her time… Makes me wonder if my things are even here.”
“Yeah.” The yellow mare seemed blue, as in sad.
“Can’t help but think this will cut into her preparation time.”
“Oh! You’re right!” A high pitched voice piped in from just out of sight. The pink party pony popped in from the portal she’d exited before. She had Obie’s saddlebags slung across her back. “I guess I’ll have to get back to it soon.”
“Were you just waiting there?” Golden Harvest asked.
“Yuppie doodles!” Pinkie Pie responded cheerfully.
“Why?” Obie asked.
“I was waiting on Golden. She’s so slow.” The pink mare lay her burden on the ground next to the items owner. “There ya go, Obie.” She had maintained a perfectly happy smile the entire conversation.
Golden huffed. “Well, I uh… Urgh! I’ll see you at the party later.” She left the store abruptly without waiting for a reply.
“’Kay! See you then!” Pinkie called out anyway, still sporting a smile.
Obie Looked at the door then to the mare still with him and sighed. “I’m confused,” he said, “what’s going on?”
Pinkie patted him on the head and said “Aunty Pinkie’s got it all understood. It’s nothing to worry about.”
Obie accepted this and smiled. His smile faded as he thought aloud, “You don’t seem to be older than me.”
“Don’t ask a mare her age,” Pinkie teased. “Wanna help me set up the party?”
“That sound’s great. I won’t even have to worry about being here on time.”
“See? Auntie Pinkie always knows what she’s doing.”
The party pony was surprisingly meticulous about decorating party favors. Certain things had to be a certain height. Others needed to be ‘rightly but a little leftish’. It was a weird kind of eccentric fussiness that, despite its slight annoyance, kept a smile on Obie’s face. Keeping him from boredom and ensuring they had fun with their now shared chore seemed to be all that Pinkie cared about.
When they’d finished, Pinkie Pie went on talking about anything and everything. From her friends to her family and just about any related subject. Obie tried his best to pay attention but the little pony with a mouth just had too much to say for him to be able to remember it all, which made his side of the conversation rather useless.
What he did manage to pick up on was the time of the party; soon. It would be over before or around dusk. This seemed a little early to Obie who thought parties were supposed to start late and go into the night. When he voiced his thoughts, Pinkie responded with a laugh and a snort and said “It’s a weekday, silly. Ponies need their sleep for work and stuff.” She then proceeded to go on about other things to do with partying. And boy, did she have a lot to say.
Time passed this way for a relatively short time. Ponies began to show up at the doorstep of the confectionary shop. The first was a white unicorn with a spiky blue and cyan mane who was to be the DJ for the event. Her name was Vinyl something or other but her stage name was DJ Pony 3 or Pon3 or something to the effect. The pegasus had a hard time following the machine gun fire of facts about the white pony who took the strange situation with a practiced nonchalant attitude. She barely acknowledged Pinkie and Obie before she was off to the stage to set up the equipment she’d brought in on a small cart.
The next pony to come in was an all blue earth stallion named, apparently, Blues. His talent was also music but he wasn’t going to perform tonight. Also, a mountain of other facts Obie couldn’t catch up on. More ponies arrived. Each and every time somepony opened the door they were immediately met with Obie, who could barely utter a hello before the host began to speak for both parties.
Everypony seemed to be used to such a spectacle. Most simply smiled or gave a gesture of greeting before finding their place at the beginning of the party. Soon ponies were starting conversations over the music that began playing. Pinkie eventually left Obie to his own devices so that she could handle some party thing or another. This suited the pegasus just fine until he realized he didn’t have the nerve to casually mingle about with the any of the small town ponies who knew each other intimately and he not so much. He was about to make himself comfortable with sitting off like a wall flower and enjoying the atmosphere of the party when an orange maned, yellow coated mare took him by a hoof unexpectedly and pulled him away from his search for an empty seat to take.
***
Rainbow Dash was resting uncomfortably on a cloud a while away from Ponyville. She’d been there all day. She’d woken surprisingly early and left her guest alone without a note or anything. She mentally kicked herself. Some host she was.
Just what kind of point was she trying to make for herself? Obie seemed like a nice enough stallion. Was it unfair and selfish for her to ask him to stay the night for the reasons she’d had? Would the mare that’s been plaguing her mind have felt any better? They were two different ponies, neither of whom she knows very well. Maybe she was an immature pony that really hadn’t grown since junior speedster’s flight camp.
The only thing she’d succeeded in doing last night was have an awkward conversation. It was stupid to begin with. He’d already forgiven her for the misunderstanding, why have him stay the night as means of apology? And now she felt bad. Could she have treated that mare better? Would she be as forgiving as he was?
Rainbow Dash continued to think herself in circles as she lay on the cloud. As she lay, a party for her continued without her.
***
Golden Harvest was keeping Obie busy and engaged at the party. The carrot marked mare was a most welcome change of pace compared to the constantly fierce social momentum of Pinkie Pie. Golden had more casually introduced the stallion to some of her friends, most of who immediately sympathized with Obie about Pinkie. None, however, had anything else negative to say about the party pony. Apparently, she was far more considerate and involved than she led on to Obie originally.
Time passed as the party waited for the mare of the hour. Obie was enjoying himself with Golden Harvest as they both relaxed at a table. The music set a rather lazy atmosphere as the DJ repeated a slow ‘pre-party’ song meant to provide some kind of ambiance as the ponies waited for Rainbow Dash. The two’s conversation on the topic was cut short when a hoof tap on Obie’s shoulder took demand of his attention.
Pinkie Pie stood along with Twilight Sparkle and an orange and blonde mare with whom Obie hadn’t yet been introduced. All of them bore concerned looks. Pinkie bade the pegasus to follow the trio for a more private conversation. Feeling the urgency of the situation, Obie left Golden Harvest with an apology and left to a more secluded area in the shop.
“Is something the matter?” Obie asked cautiously. He was pretty sure he’d done nothing wrong.
“Yeah,” Pinkie started, “Rainbow Dash hasn’t arrived yet. She’s a full hour and a half late.” Obie hadn’t realized how fast time had passed. It sure is concerning that the mare be late for her own party. Pinkie pie continued. “None of us have seen her at all today and now that she’s late we’re starting to worry.”
The orange mare spoke up, “We figured since you was the last to see her, you might have some idea where she might be.”
“Oooh!” Pinkie Pie sounded, breaking from her concerned demeanor and replacing it with her usual one, “You haven’t been introduced. Applejack, Obsidian Shield. Obsidian Shield, Applejack.” She’d either forgotten or ignored giving Applejack Obie’s preferred nickname.
The two exchanged greetings before Twilight asked, “Well, Obie? Do you know anything as to where she could be?”
“No, sorry. She had either gone or was still asleep when I left her house this morning. So I guess I haven’t seen her either.”
“Well, shoot!” Applejack let out and then sighed, “Thank ya, anyway.” She then turned to Twilight, “I’ll give a quick search around.”
“That’s a good idea,” she replied and added after a short thought, “If Fluttershy shows up before you return, I’ll have her search about the cloud layer. If I know Rainbow Dash, she’s probably napping somewhere.”
“Good thinking, Twi’. See ya in a bit.” Applejack made a timely exit from the confectionaries shop.
“I’ll keep the ponies entertained until she comes back with Rainbow Dash.” Pinkie hadn’t lost her chipper attitude since she’d introduced Obie to Applejack. “Come on, Obie!” She gestured for the stallion to follow her back to the party area.
He did not respond to her immediately and stood idly shifting his hooves. After an awkward moment, he said uneasily, “I’d like to help look for her.”
Twilight gave Obie an understanding look, “Thank you, but it’s not necessary. I’m sure she’s just napping in a cloud somewhere. It isn’t the first time this has happened. You can just enjoy the party and wait for her.”
“I know I could, but I feel like if there’s something I can do I should.” Obie smiled, “Besides, it’s kinda in my nature to worry uselessly.” He turned and lifted his wing, presenting to Twilight his cutie mark.
The purple mare sighed, “Fine. Just look around the clouds a bit. I promise that you’ll wake her up and she’ll rush straight here and everything will be okay.” She thought for a second and added, “And I understand you, Obie. I know a guy with a fairly similar cutie mark.”
Obie nodded and let the mares alone as he left Sugarcube Corner. Standing outside the entry to the shop, the stallion looked up at the sky. There was still some time left in the day as dusk hadn’t quite made its appearance. As yesterday, the clouds were mostly cleared except for a few which, although they must have had some more useful function Obie new nothing about, seemed mostly aesthetic. He turned his head to look in the direction, or at least the direction he hoped was the correct one, that he’d seen Rainbow Dash fly off toward the day before. There was a small patch of cloud far apart from any other. He took a guess that is where the missing mare would be.
Obie took to the air and flew into the direction of the cloud patch. After flying some distance and rising above the cloud layer, he saw the pegasus mare was indeed laying there. She noticed him as he approached.
“Oh, uh, hey Obie. What’re you doing here?” she asked with ease as he landed roughly on the cloud.
“Looking for you. You’re late for your party and your friends are worried.”
“Oh, man!” Rainbow Dash jumped up and looked at the position of the sun, “I totally lost track of time. Shoot.” She then immediately took off toward the place the party was being held. Obie followed.
Rainbow wasn’t flying nearly as fast as she could have. She seemed to wait up for Obie.
“Hey, uh… Can I ask you something?” She questioned to the stallion as he closed the distance between the two.
“Okay. What’s up?” he answered.
“Well, I’ve been thinking a lot lately… Kinda why I was late and all, you know. All caught up in my thoughts.” She paused, fumbling to think of words. Obie let her continue, “Uh… What do you think of me? You know, like, as a pony?”
“Oh, uh… You seem really nice,” He responded, “Truth be told, I don’t know you very well at all. It’s only been two days. Why do you ask?”
“I just wanted a stranger’s perspective…” She didn’t seem to like his answer much.
“Don’t be sad!” He didn’t mean to make her upset, “I mean, you let me, a stranger, stay in your own home! You’re more than nice, you’re… uh, awesome? Yeah! Really cool.” Obie gave Rainbow Dash a goofy smile.
The cyan mare laughed at that. “Relax. It’s not like you did anything wrong.”
“Something’s got you in the gutter, though.” Obie spoke with an alarmingly straight face.
“Yeah, well, uh…” Rainbow sighed, “Is it so obvious?”
“Kinda. Honestly, you seem to have some really caring friends. They’ve probably noticed you this way if I have.”
“I doubt it ‘cause you’re the one that got me to thinking about it. Why’d they send you, anyway? I figured they’d send Fluttershy.”
“Actually, I volunteered because that pony hadn’t arrived yet.” Obie suddenly became very confused. “So… it IS my fault that you’re down?”
“What? No,” Rainbow rubbed her hooves together nervously, “Not exactly.”
“Then what is it?” Still confused.
“I, uh, know this mare… She’s moving to this town soon. I picked on her as a filly and feel bad about it. You got me to thinking yesterday about how she might see me now.” She crossed her forhooves and looked away dejectedly. “I’m worried she’ll not forgive me.”
“Huh,” Obie thought aloud, “Well, that explains a lot.” Rainbow looked his way, annoyed. “Sorry.” He gave her a stupid grin. “Anyway, if you’re genuinely sorry, I don’t see a problem. I don’t think I’m very good at that kind of thing, really. You’d probably be better off confiding in one of your friends.”
“Yeah… Sorry about treating you weird.”
“Nah, you’re alright.” Obie smiled a goofy grin and the conversation ended there.
They arrived at Sugarcube Corner shortly after. Waiting for them outside the door of the confectionary shop stood Twilight Sparkle and Applejack who noticed their approach and waited there for them. After some thanks and welcomes they entered the doorway to the party.
The four ponies were immediately bombarded with confetti and a roar of ‘surprise’. Pinkie Pie jumped out of seemingly nowhere to give Rainbow Dash a vice grip hug stating, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I know it’s not a surprise party but it doesn’t mean I can’t surprise you!”
The rest of the party was fun and engaging for Obie. Golden Harvest had found him again and insisted they dance. He agreed, happy to have made a friend in Ponyville who was nice enough to ensure he had a good time. The music was different for Obie who wasn’t used to the electronic, bass heavy music but he soon came to enjoy it has he learned some dance moves from Golden as she encouraged him on. It seemed to matter less how he ‘danced’ but more that he just kept in motion and swayed with a rhythm that he really couldn’t find in the music.
The pair took frequent ‘cool down’ breaks to take in the refreshments of the party. There were no alcoholic drinks at this party, much to Obie’s liking. It seemed that Pinkie never allowed such things at her party. Obie was more than fine with this as he’d never been heavy on drinking. Golden was on the opinion that it would liven up the party a bit but didn’t dwell on it.
At the peak of the party, Pinkie Pie asked the DJ to stop the music so everyone could witness Rainbow Dash getting a present. Five mares, including a pink maned yellow pegasus he assumed to be Fluttershy and white and purple unicorn he didn’t recognize as well as the three he knew to be Rainbow’s friends, surrounded the birthday girl in a semi-circle and presented her some tickets to a show off somewhere. They must have been the perfect gift because Rainbow immediately gathered her friends up in a group hug and thanked them generously. After that the music continued and ponies danced and spoke with each other.
As the event began drawing to the close, ponies began leaving Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie took post by the exit to give them all farewells. The party mare had already explained that it was a weekday and that the party started early and ended early so accommodate for working ponies. Obie could appreciate the amount of thought and work that she went into her parties after spending the day helping and attending this one. In a way she seemed a very work orientated mare, even if the work made her seem less than that.
Obie had spent most his time at the party with Golden. She was such a kind and polite mare, always complementing him and laughing at his flat jokes. Between her and Pinkie Pie, he felt truly welcome in Ponyville. Such good and fun friends aren’t made this quickly or readily and Obie sure cherished them. The revelry would be over soon, however, and he would have to leave them.
Most party goers had dispersed. Left behind were Golden, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Obie. Rainbow was helping Pinkie with the cleanup and Golden had just extended to Obie an invitation.
“So, Obie, would you mind coming over to my place to continue with our own party? It won’t be as showy as one of Pinkies, but at least I’ll have some real drinks. You could also, you know, crash over if you need. What do you say?” Golden was wide eyed and hopeful.
The pegasus hesitated in thought for a moment. In truth, he didn’t much care for drinking but he couldn’t just deny the kind mare outright. Before he had come to a decision and answer, Rainbow Dash had come over with Pinkie and had spoken up.
“Of course he will,” she stated cheerily, “Because I want to, too and if he doesn’t then I don’t.”
The earth pony mare looked at Rainbow apprehensively. “You, uh, want to come with?”
“Hay yeah!” she responded as she jumped into the air excitedly and began to hover, “It’s way too early for this birthday girl to call it a night and nopony else is drinking on a weeknight. I figure ‘the more the merrier’, you know?”
Golden gave Obie a dejected look. To the stallion, it seems she was seeking his approval on the matter. So he simply and dumbly smiled as he said; “Sounds like fun.”
As if Rainbow Dash asked permission, the earth pony gave a meek sigh and stated flatly; “You can come.” Rainbow did a backflip as she landed on the floor in celebration. “Do you want to come along too, Pinkie?” she added.
“No thanks, Goldie.” Pinkie stated cheerily. “Got stuff to take care of in the morning. Have a good time!”
The three after-party goers bade the smiling pink pony a farewell and made the short trip to Golden Harvest’s house. When inside, the hostess left the two in her living room to retrieve the alcohol. It didn’t take long for her to return with a fairly large bottle of hard apple cider and three glass mugs all precariously balanced on a tray she had held in her mouth. She passed each mug out to all of them after filling them up generously.
Rainbow immediately toasted to good company and a great birthday and began to chug her own. Golden and Obie simply gave small gestures with their cups as to agree and drank from their own cups. The earth pony was quick to refill the pegasus mare’s glass who had quickly finished drinking all of the warming liquid.
Golden continued drinking with more enthusiasm after she refilled the glass. Rainbow took notice and remarked about it being a race; thus issuing a challenge. The earth pony, who was strangely cross about it, accepted the challenge.
As the drinking contest ensued, Obie quietly sipped his own drink and enjoyed the two bickering mares as they began to make crude and, oddly, not very insulting remarks about the others mane. They were only funny in that they were becoming more slurred as the contest continued on. Somewhere between ‘prism head’ and ‘carrot top’ the bottle had run dry. The mares each stared confused at the bottle as Golden tried in vain to coax some liquid out of the empty bottle.
“Well, hey. I thhhink I win.” Rainbow Dash smiled lazily in triumph.
Golden gave her a cold stair through her half-lidded eyes and said, “You did not. I jussh ran out of booze. I’d drink you under sha table ish it were jush you an’ me. I only got enough for two jush for tonight.”
“Wha? So, you don’t hash any more?”
“Thash what I jush said, shpectral locksh.”
“Oh,” Rainbow responded absently. She scratched her chin for a moment. “You know. We’ve been here a while and it’s late. I thhink I’m gonna go hit hay at my housh.” This comment made Obie take a glance at the clock Golden kept hanging in the room. The sun was just starting to set and the current time was half past eight. They’d been there a little over an hour. It had neither been long nor was the time late in the usually sense. The stallion couldn’t set the feeling in his gut that time was passing both fast and slow at the same time.
“Alright. I’ll show you the door. Guess I’ll find someshing elsh for Obeh and me to do,” Golden groaned.
“Actually,” Obie spoke up, startling the mares who just realized he hadn’t spoken since they’d arrived, “I think I’ll fly Rainbow home.” He sat down his mostly finished glass and stood.
“But, but,” Golden fretted, “why?” Her eyes were no longer half-lidded but were pleading.
“It’d dangerous to fly when you’re drunk,” Obie stated simply. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
The earth pony stared at Obie for a few moments longer before she nodded and turned to the exit. Rainbow said nothing and just smiled as she watched Golden Harvests reaction and followed the yellow coated mare next to Obie. After exchanging goodbyes, the two pegasi left the portal of the house. As the door shut Rainbow burst out into laughter and began to trot happily away. Obie followed, confused.
“What’s so funny?” Obie asked.
“Oh,” Rainbow chuckled out, “It’s jusht that mare. If it’s not one shtallion, it’s another.” Whatever the joke was, Obie didn't quite get it.
After she’d calmed down, Rainbow took to an unsteady flight in the direction of her home. Obie also took to the air, cautiously reminding the mare to keep low to the ground and not to fly fast. Rainbow mocked his cautions and deemed them unnecessary. Curiously, she heeded his advice. Obie didn’t know if she intentionally did this or not but was glad for it nevertheless.
The two arrived at Rainbows cloud home without incident much to Obie’s relief. The mare charged through her own door as if ready to confront someone behind it. She’d shouted ‘My humble home!’ before stumbling across the house near to the hole that lead off to her room.
She turned to her guest and blurted “I’m tired and shtuff. Don’t break anyshing and find your own way out. Or shleep on the coush. Whatever.” With that being said, she turned to her elevated door way and lazily flapped her wings. The mare floated slowly into the portal and Obie heard no other noises after a comforted sigh.
Alone, Obie thought for a moment on whether or not to leave. Though he could easily rent a room at the supposed inn Ponyville had, it would be simpler yet to make himself comfy on the cloud couch he’d slept on the night before. Choosing the lazy option, the stallion closed the door Rainbow Dash had left open and made himself at home on the couch. He wasn’t quite tired and still was getting over the unease he had of lying on a cloud so Obie let his mind wander over the events of the day to pass time until he became tired.
Thoughts of the three mares he’d met today filled his mind. Pinkie Pie, the only-seems-crazy party pony, Golden Harvest, the all to kind and talkative carrot farmer, and finally Rainbow Dash, the abrasively nice high flying mare. Every one of them did her best to make him feel welcome in this town. It blew Obie’s mind to think about how forthcoming they had all been. Starting on his journey, he’d thought about how most would distrust a wandering stranger and, by all right, ignore them. This town maybe proved that not everywhere he’d go there would be only strangers. He smiled to think that his plan to travel around and make friends and have fun over all of Equestria would truly work out.
After a long while of lying down and thinking on how awesome his day was, Obie fell asleep.
***
Immediately after waking, Obie tried to stand but fell crouching on his stomach as the feeling of falling took over him. He recovered quickly as he remembered he’d done that exact thing the day before. He quickly looked around the room and found, like yesterday, no pony had seen his embarrassing spectacle. Shaking off the feeling of déjà vu, the stallion made his way to the ceiling-door to Rainbows room.
“Rainbow Dash?” he asked toward the room. He could hear a light snoring emanate from inside. “Rainbow Dash,” he said loudly, “I’m going to leave now. I just wanted to thank you for letting me stay and being so hospitable to a stranger like me.”
“I’m sleeping!” came to Obie from beyond the door. The short silence afterword was replaced by loud, almost defiant snores. The stallion chuckled and left the home, being careful to shut the door silently. He was instantly stopped by the queer thought that a slamming cloud door probably wouldn’t make any noise to start.
Obie turned away from the cloud house to face the morning. It was very early and a fair amount of different hues of orange and blue blend in the sky. The pegasus took a deep breath and began his slow paced flight back to Ponyville.
It was a beautiful morning. Celestia’s sun hung early in the sky and the air was crisp and clean. Flying wasn’t so bad. Though faster paced than walking, there’s something to be said about how the sun or even moon seem to be floating alongside a spectator instead of looming impressively overhead.
As soon as he reached Ponyville proper Obie landed and commenced a happy trot through the streets. Various vendors had their shops open selling one particular food per vendor. Some sold fruits like apples, oranges, and cherries, others sold vegetables like celery, lettuce, and carrots. Stopping for a moment, Obie recognized the mare vendor to be Golden Harvest. She was looking groggy and bored. She saw the pegasus and immediately waved him over gleefully. Obie gladly made his way over with a smile. There were no customers at the moment.
“Hi ya, Obie!” Golden greeted him cheerfully, “How are you? Having a good morning?”
“Hello! Fine and yes,” He answered in turn with a dumb smile.
The mare giggled and asked, “What are you doing today?”
“Well, I’m going to leave today,” Obie responded, keeping his smile but anticipating some kind of sad retort.
“What?” Golden asked in surprise then stammered out, “But, but, you’ve only been here a few days.” Her eyes were pleading and she was visibly dejected. Obie knew that it would be sad to leave new friends behind but he never thought it would be this bad.
“I know. It’s just that there’s a lot of Equestria to see,” Obie rubbed at the back of his neck, “I hadn’t planned on an extended stay in Ponyville.” Actually, he thought, I haven’t planned on what to do when I got to any other place I want to go.
“I guess,” Golden Harvest mumbled. She sighed and took on a pouting face like that of a child. “I guess I’ll just see you around never then.” Just as Obie was beginning to feel a little annoyed by the attempted guilt trip, a familiar, high pitched voice rang out a greeting.
“Hi Ya, Obie! Goldie!” Pinkie Pie yelled out from fairly far away. This made many ponies look her way and to the two ponies who she called out to. Obie felt embarrassed for a short moment before sending a wave in Pinkies direction. The spectators quickly went back to their business as they were used to the party mare’s antics.
She then made her way toward Obie and Golden Harvest. Obie noticed she was carrying his saddle bags. He inwardly cursed himself for forgetting his every worldly possession for a second time. After a long and awkward trot, Pinkie joined the two ponies.
“I had a feeling I’d find you here,” Pinkie stated, giving Obie a broad and prideful grin.
“That’s a lucky feeling,” Obie responded.
“Not luck if my feelings are always right.” Pinkie didn’t lose her grin in the slightest.
“Uh, Okay,” he ignored the odd comment, “Thank you for bringing my bags. I really shouldn’t be so forgetful.” Obie motioned for Pinkie to return his belongings. In response, the mare just continued to smile at him. This made the pegasus nervous. “Um, Pinkie? You alright?”
“Sure am,” she answered then added, “Where you headed off to next?”
“Well, uh, I don’t know where I’m going to stop on my way but I know I want to head to a large city. Probably Trottingham since it’s close.”
“No.” Pinkie chirped, still smiling.
“No?” Obie mimicked her quizzically.
“No,” she repeated, “If you’re going to a big city, it should be Manehattan.”
Obie chuckled at her blatant yet cheerful suggestion and asked why.
“I have a sister who lives there,” she stated matter of factly, “And I want you to give her a letter.” The pink mare just smiled and waited for Obie to respond. He didn’t get a chance to.
“What are you, some kind of quest giver?” Golden Harvest injected harshly, “Just use a mail currier like a regular pony.”
Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to register the insult at all, “That sounds so cool! Pinkie Pie the quest master!” she giggled before continuing, “Well Obie? Will you do this favor for me?” Her eyes clearly showed how excited she was.
Obie suddenly burst out with laughter. He quickly managed to calm down and said, “This is such an odd request and I know that it’s so much farther out of my way then Trottingham. It’s so very weird but I like it! Sure, Pinkie Pie. I’ll deliver the letter to your sister.”
Pinkie cheered and thanked Obie. She then bucked his saddled bags off of herself and up over her head. Before the stallion could react, his saddlebags landed perfectly on his back over his wings. Obie stood in silent shock for a moment before he began to stammer out an explanation on exactly how she was able to perform such a feat but was interrupted by the party mare.
“The address is written on the envelope which is already inside the bag compartment that you keep your maps in. Also, I left you a cupcake in there.”
“Wow, thanks,” Obie said. After a moment of thought, he added, “Wait… You went through my things?”
“Yup.” Back to that broad and prideful smile she went.
“Okay… I’ll just not worry about that then.” Obie situated his belongings and said, “Well, looks like I’m off to Manehattan. Thank you, Pinkie, for the wonderful party invite.” He turned to Golden, “And thank you for treating me so well. You have no idea how much it means to me to meet such nice ponies like you and Pinkie. I had a lot of fun. Again, thank you. Bye.” With a small wave, Obie turned toward the west exit of Ponyville and began a happy trot out of Ponyville.
As soon as the stallion was out of ear shot, Golden said to Pinkie, “There goes another perfectly good stallion.” She sighed. “Well, almost perfectly good. Or maybe too good. I don’t know how somepony could be so thick headed.”
“Aw, it’ll be okay, Goldie,” Pinkie reached across Goldens stand and patted her on the shoulder, “Not everypony picks up on that kind of thing easily.” Golden only sighed in response. “You know, I hear Written Script is available.”
The yellow mares’ eyes immediately lit up. “Oh! He’s cute!”
***
Just outside of Ponyville, Obie fished out the cupcake from his bag. He removed it from the small cardboard box it was kept in and took the entire treat in his mouth. He savored it as he managed the box back into his saddle bag. After swallowing, he searched through the compartment he kept his maps in. He fished out the correct one, laid it out in front of him, and, after making sure he was on the right course, returned the map to its place. Obie gave it a moment of thought before he went back to his bags to retrieve the letter to Pinkies sister.
A quick examination of the envelope showed that it was addressed to an ‘Inkie’. The letter was also covered in cartoony hearts and ponies, who, Obie guessed, were supposed to be Pinkie and her sister.
Obie put the letter back in his bag and looked back at Ponyville. I’ll definitely need to find my way back here again, he thought. He then faced his intended direction and began walking. He began to hum as he took in the beautiful day.
End
Author's Note
Muahahahahahaahahahaha! They told me I wouldn't do it... But here I am... FINISHED! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No one can stop me now!
So hear it ais. Enjobs.
For the maybe 2 people who care, from now on, All my chapters in this will consist of Obies time spent in a place without breaking it into chapters. So... It would be like his current ponyville adventure would be all put into one chapter and shit, jI dont know.
Also, I couldn't make mah stupid lines show up. So Blagargle.
