Chivalry Reborn

Chapter 10:

Greeting the Locals

Twilight and I quickly reached the bridge that travelled above a running river, showing the heart of Ponyville: Town Square, shortly after leaving the park. On the other side, I could see a large, circular porch in the center of the area. It had a cream color for the walls, with brown wood planks supporting the structure, using the same color for the roof. It had bubble gum pink glass windows on all sides of it, having two blue flags waving in the wind on the top section.

There was also a small pool. Within the center, a statue of a pink earth pony stood, balancing on a ball with one hind leg, a joyous smile on her face. Her hair was pull back, making a small V on the top of her head, and it flowed back to the bottom of her neck, along with a small blanket, draped on her back. I don't why, but she seemed like she was having real fun performing on top of that ball in the middle of the water like that.

Crossing the bridge, Twilight began to point out landmarks about Ponyville. The porch was used for city announcements and ceremonies. The statue was one of an entertainer named Snowflake. She was one of the first ponies to discover the town during an event called Winter-Wrap Up, and was the main source of hope during the hard times building the town. Legend has it that she suddenly disappeared, chasing some sort hidden secret that not even Princess Celesta knows well of.

As Twilight narrated through the history of the statue, I noticed that some of the ponies that sauntered by were looking my way. I could see some of them looking at me with a questioning look, others had a worried one. Most others just ignored my presence completely, too busy with the day’s chores, or maybe grabbed a nearby buddy and started whispering into their ear.

Twilight seemed to have caught this as well and waved it off casually. “Don’t mind them,” she assured me, a small pep in her step from just showing me her knowledge. “They’re just curious about you. They’ll warm up to you in no time.”

“If you say so,” is all I answered with, following her toward a very fancy looking building. It had almost everything considered classy on it that wasn’t electronic. It had blue walls, with purple roofing, as well as a deep gold-shaded trim and curtains. The door was a deeper shade of blue with a blue diamond framed window in the center.  This was without a doubt Rarity’s home, meaning that this was the Carousel Boutique.

Twilight politely tapped her hoof against the sapphire frame three times, and shortly after we heard a “coming!"followed by the sound of hoofsteps approaching the door. (I guess that'll work for this place. No real footsteps here but mine, so..)

A few moments later, Rarity opened the door, smiling modestly. She was wearing dark orange glasses, probably meant to give her sight more focus to see minor details in her outfits. “Hello an- Oh, Twilight! And I see you brought along Mr. Flash!” Her eyes were sparkling with anticipation, turning her eyes to me. “Have you decided to let me make you more fashionable clothes? I have all sorts of little ideas I could use. We could start by- “Oh god, she’s starting to rant on clothing designs, someone stop her!

“Sorry Rarity, but I only stopped here to show Winston the way here.” Twilight stopped Rarity midsentence to explain herself. Rarity pouted at this. “I see…Well then, I suppose I shall get back to my clients’ requests. I have quite a schedule to follow, I’m afraid.”

She began to turn around, her horn shimmering to close the door, when I slipped chipped in a small offer.

“How about I stop by tomorrow morning?” I shuffled my feet, kind of shyly. I never had anyone show much interest in my sense of clothing, so this was new to me. “Maybe I can give you a tip or two on what’s hip on Earth”

Her ears perked up the instant I finished my sentence. She pivoted around, a huge smile on her face. “Oh, that’ll be just perfect! I’ll have all the materials ready for you when you come in! Oh, this will be ever so delightful!” She looked like she wanted to bounce in place in joy.

I chuckled nervously. “Heh, yeah. I’m sure it’ll be a load of fun. Well, see ya.”

I turned to leave, Twilight following suit. “Bye, Rarity!” She waved back at her white friend ,we began to walk to the more bustling part of town.

“Farewell, you two! Do take care!” Rarity called back, waving back before turning back into her boutique, closing the door behind her.

The marketplace was quite busy, for it to be so early in the morning. Pony’s of all sorts of colors passed us by, going to their next destination. Some of them were shopping at the carts and booths that mostly sold fruit, vegetables and other things such as plates, marbles, and beads.

Twilight was simply trotting away, swaying through the crowd, never using speed. I, on the other hand, was having all sorts of trouble maneuvering through the technicolored sea of horses. Struggling to keep up with her, Twilight continued to point out particular shops that had their own uses. There was the Bowling Alley (How-, whatever), the Bookshop, the Joke shop, the hardware store, and so on.

After what felt like a lifetime, she stepped out of the crowd. FREEDOM! I stumbled out of the wave of mares, barely able to keep my balance. I now knew how a fish feels trying to swim up a downward stream. Twilight looked over at my direction, an eyebrow raised, before looking back ahead. I followed her gaze; my eyes landing on something that I’m sure would have given a good amount of people back at college diabetes.

It was a house, but not just a house, literally a candy-looking house. It blew the normal houses a distance away from the contest for absurdity in architectural design. The purple front door was guarded by two candy cane pillars, which lead up to a chocolate bar rooftop, trimmed with frosting. At the top, was a pink cupcake, with three candle-shaped lights, signaling that the business was open for business. This had to be Sugarcube Corner. So that means if the design and purpose of the building was anything to go by, Pinkie Pie was innnnnnn-COMING!

I failed to notice the pink blur of pure ball of energy flying right at me in the corner of my eye.

“FLASHY-WASHY WINSTON!”

WHAM!

Is that cotton candy I smell?

“YAAAAH!”

Thud

Before I could even begin to turn my head to react, Pinkie Pie had already smashed into my left side, tackle-hugging me from what seemed like nowhere. Twilight must have developed some kind of sense to warn her of this, because she stepped back, to avoid being hit by my body when Pinkie glomped me. She got back up on her feet in less than a second, bouncing around me, singing a tune she probably came up some time yesterday.

"Flash-y, Flash-y, oh so Flash-y!"

“P-Pinkie…” I stammered slightly, trying to stop my eyes from spinning from the impact. I sat up, shaking my head. She was still going.

"Look at the sky, he soared by crash-ing!"

“Pinkie Pie….” I was getting up now, getting a little irritated by the random song. She didn’t even pause.

"And gape at the way he sailed by Dash-ing!"

“PINKIE PIIIIE!!!”

I hollered to get my voice through her music-flooded ears.

A bunch of the locals stopped what they were doing to look my way, wondering if I had lost it.

Pinkie stopped bouncing and singing and turned to me, a smile still plastered on her face.

“Yes, Winston?” She asked me pleasantly, looking down at me with listening ears. She didn’t sound upset or bothered at all. Just who WAS this pony?

I glance behind me at the audience, before turning to Pinkie, groaning. “Could you save the songs until we get to this party you’re throwing me?” I thought she was going to take offence to the request, but then she just chimed out a rhyming response.

“Okie dokie lokie!”

My face just swapped my calm demeanor for a configuration of utter disbelief. Was this pony serious? I turn around quickly at the crowd. They were already going back on their way to the next appointment, seeing what my outburst was about.

Was this freaking *expected** from this cotton candy smelling wonder!?* I twist around to look at Twilight, who had her hooves up in a classic “beats me” gesture.  This is madness! My brain was writhing at the wackiness of it all. MADNESS, I SAY!

“So, what did you need, huh? I bet you came to see what kind of preparation I made for your welcome party!” Pinkie was already going off in a speedy dialogue again. “I have all sorts of fun-fun-fun things for you to try! There’s gonna be balloons, music, Pin the Tail on the Pony, drinks, cake, and DANCING!” She got in my face as she said that last bit. Apparently, the term personal space doesn’t mean anything to this mare.

Twilight was stifling her laughter when she broke in between me and Pinkie. “We just came by so Winston would know how to find the store in case he ever wanted to help or anything.”

“Oh.” Pinkie seemed to have calmed down for a moment, before she starting  prancing about again. “In that case, you should go inside sometime! We make a lot of mega-tasty stuff like cupcakes and ice cream!” She sure knows how to use what she’s given. I’ve never seen someone recover from a ruined topic with a new one so quickly before.

“I’ll be sure to remember that.” I replied, patting the dust off me. I turned around to leave, waving behind myself as I strolled down the path towards the more residential section of Ponyville. Twilight galloped to keep up with me, waving goodbye to Pinkie Pie as well.

“Bye Winston! Bye Twilight! Have a nice day~!”

I slowed my pace, walking into the center of the residence area of the town. I pressed my finger against my forehead, reorganizing my thoughts. Dealing with someone random in general bothers me. Dealing with someone who may as well be the very vessel of the term, is a test of the very edges of my temper and sanity.

Then again, she was just being herself, more than what I can say about how I normally behave in public. I guess you could say I kind of envied her for being able to act out like she does. I also have to consider the fact that I’ll have to see her on most days. May as well as endure it until I can tolerate it on a regular basis, I suppose.

Twilight finally catches up to me, sighing deeply. “What in the world was that about?” She looked at me with a small undertone of aggravation.

“Hm…? Oh, yeah.” I responded half-aware. “I guess how I just didn’t expect that kind of behavior.” I look at the sky, remembering my childhood memories of elementary school.

“Back when I was a little kid, I never really spoke to other kids. I would usually just go in the corner of the playground during recess and just sit on the concrete, just….watching them have the fun. I never really like interaction; so I normally would avoid it, unless it was to do business or if it was needed. I guess talking to someone exactly the opposite of who I was just pissed me off, ya know?

Twilight stood there, listening to me talk about myself. I don’t know why I was doing it. I just wanted to cut loose a little. Maybe those dreams I’ve been having were taking it’s toll on my mind.

I slowly look back at the ground, seeing the world flash back to when I was a kid. The sound of children laughing and playing, having the time of their lives. But there was always something else hidden in the background.

Chatter.

It was chatter about me. About how I was a weirdo for sitting in the corner all by myself. I knew it was me they were talking about, because they would always look away, pretending to cloud watch. I didn’t mind it, though. I just didn’t care….

I….didn’t care about anything then, really.

Don’t get caught up in the past, Winston. My mind reminds me I'm still standing in the middle of public.

I snap out of my delusional state, looking back up. Twilight was looking at me with understanding eyes.

“Oh, Winston…I didn’t know…” She started, emotion flowing into her voice.

“It’s fine.” I wave off my sudden switch in character. It was nothing to get others all worried over.

“Are you sure? I’ve felt the same way back in grade school, and-“

“Hey, hey, what did I say?” I smirk slyly,  walking back ahead of her. “Your Daddy’s okay, so don’t worry your pretty little head over it.”

She glared daggers, jabbing her horn against my lower back.

“YOW!!!” I hop a good three feet in reaction to the sudden stab."Watch where you stick that thing!"

Twilight just let out of humph, walking towards a giant tree slightly to the left of the array of houses.

It was a by far the most impressive trees I’ve seen. It had a sign out in front with the picture of a book on it. The door was red, and was split into two halves; the top half had one doorknob to the side with a picture of a candle in the center, while the lower had double doors at the height for perhaps a dog. Sitting on each branch, there laid a window, with two balconies on what I guess could be on the second and third floors. At the very top, there was another platform, but it was also accompanied by a telescope.

“This is the town library,” Twilight turned back to me slightly with a look of sass on her face. “My house.”

She lived in a tree? Well, it’s a load lot better than a giant gingerbread house, I guess.

Twilight swung open the door, walking into the trunk of the tree calling out to someone I’ve never heard of before.

“Spike! I’m home!”

“Welcome back, Twilight!” A little boy’s voice responded from the kitchen. “I’ll be out in a minute, just have to finish these dishes!” She has a little brother?

I dip my head to fit myself in the door frame. Standing back up, rows and rows of books covered almost every inch of the walls around me. There must be at least a thousand in here! I did a full turnaround slowly, looking at all the volumes and novels that sat on the shelves.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Twilight smiled one of self-confidence. “If you ever need a book to read to pass the time or need a subject to study, just drop by! We’ll gladly check out the book for you!”

I look back down to look at the purple mare. She must be one hell of a bookworm.

Stepping out of the kitchen, a small lizard moseyed out of the kitchen with a welcoming smile aimed at the Unicorn. He was a lighter shade of purple than Twilight, with a light gray variation of green   on his stomach and the underside of his tail. His green slit eyes, dark green spines on his head, back and tail pretty much blew most reptiles I knew about out of the water. I stared at him as I stroked my chin, trying to figure out what he was, as he welcomed Twilight back home

.

“Where have you been!?” The small reptilian pressed. He sounded really relieved, though. “When you left to check out the thing falling from the sky, you never came back! What happened?”

“Oh, well…” She rolled her eyes away from Spike, a nervous smile on her face. “I’ll tell you about that in a minute.” She then proceeded to change the topic to introductions, pointing her hoof in my direction.. “Right now, I want you to meet Winston. He’s the thing that fell from the sky yesterday. He’s a human that Princess Celestia said will be staying in Ponyville from now on.”

Spike looked at Twilight slightly confused when she mentioned the word “human.” He tilted his head slightly turning his head to where her hoof was aiming at. Seeing me, his eyes widened slightly (classic.) and locked eyes with me.

Suddenly by looking at his face and noticing the little fangs that poked out of the top of his mouth, I could tell what he was. I said my guess aloud to break the silence.

“So you’re a dragon?” I asked, slightly skeptical of the word I just blurted out.

“And you’re supposed to be a human?” He countered with a retort pretty quickly. He narrowed his eyes, putting his hands on his hips.

“I’d say that’s about right,” I spoke nonchalantly. “What, you’ve never heard of a human before?”

“I’ve never come across the word before.” He shook his head, keeping his attitude. "Well except once. But that' was in a book written by some crazy old mare."

This perked my interest. “So almost every mythical creature is real in this world, but species like humans don’t exist…fascinating…”

“Indeed, it is.” Twilight snuck into the conversation, waving a hoof around to bring attention towards her. “Anyway, this here is Spike.” She stop waggling her leg around to point it at the baby dragon. “He’s my assistant who helps me around the library. He’s a good boy, once you get to know him.” She planted her hoof on Spike's head, petting him with a sisterly smile on her face.

“Twilight~!” Spike ducked his head away, a small whine of embarrassment leaving his mouth.

“Anyway, I guess that about wraps up the tour.” Twilight said, counting all the places we visited in her head, and finally nodding to confirm her statement. “Would you like anything to eat? You didn’t eat anything all morning. Maybe some apples or-“

Oh crap, apples! I forgot I got offered a job to help Applejack with applebucking as a job! I look at my watch as soon as I remember that fact. 10:57AM. I can get a good 3 hours of working done if I book it. I immediately spin around towards the door, ducking my head through the frame.

“Sorry Twilight!” I call out to her to excuse myself. “I’ve got apples to buck! Maybe next time!”

I pull out the directions from my back pocket, reviewing the directions from my house to Sweet Apple Acres. It seems like the farm is located on the other side of Ponyville from my home. But I’m at Twilight’s, which is on opposite side anyway. So that means….

My eyes slide to the north. I see a small bridge jumping over yet another river. There’s a clear green field, hills filling the background on the other end of it. Over the horizon, I can see a small hint of red. That must be the barn!

I  push my legs forward, beginning my race towards Applejack’s house. My legs are gonna hate me by the end of today.