Prologue - Life and Times
So They Called Her Puppy Love
Prologue
Life and Times
Puppy Love had a simple foalhood, at least until she earned her cutie mark; a perky little Pegasus filly with a pale green coat, and dark, green and brown mane and tail. She was a little smaller than most mares her age. Her parents were Earth Ponies with recessive Pegasus genes. Her mother, Vivid Dream, was a Doctor at Fillydelphia Hospital hailing from Ponyville, while her father was the famed musician, Johnny Bits, born and raised in Apploosa. He was often out on tour and away from the family.
School had been normal. Puppy had friends and enemies like any foal. She wasn’t the last in her year to get her cutie mark, nor was she the first. Her father was performing in Fillydelphia, and Puppy was anxious to see him there. So, she came back from school, dropped off her stuff, grabbed her VIP pass and rushed back out the front door. She was meant to wait for Vivid to get back from work and they would go together. Puppy very quickly got lost in the large city.
She had been obsessing over her dad’s music a lot over the past few weeks, and it had got the best of her in the last moments. Sat on a bench in an unknown park, and on the verge of tears, Puppy felt a strange feeling in her heart. It felt like it was pulling her. Puppy was also a curious filly, and with the opinion that she couldn’t get any more lost, she followed her tugging heart. There was no precision to the direction of pull, and eventually it start become vaguer, its force weakening. By this time though, the massive venue building that was Puppy’s intended destination was in view.
She met the guard at the backdoor. He let her in, calling over another pony to guide her. The guide led her to her father, who, before seeing his daughter, had a worried expression. He saw her, hugged her, almost suffocating her in the embrace. Vivid arrived shortly thereafter and mimicked her husband. Eventually both parents calmed down, and that was when they noticed her newly apparent cutie mark. It was a winged heart with speed marks, seeming to be travelling quite fast. Needless to say, the combination of the cutie mark discovery and Johnny’s gig, that night was the best moments in Puppy’s life.
*
The second greatest moment in her life was when she met her BBFEFL (Bestest Best Friend EVER For Life!)… Dave. Puppy was in her last year at school. At this point, she had grown used to her special talent, and could give it an adequate description: ‘To have a natural long range compass directing her towards her latest obsession.’ This was used to her advantage as a reporter for the school newspaper. No-one, and I mean NO-ONE, got away from her. She’d mastered the streets and paths of Fillydelphia so that, once she was too close for her special talent to help, she was close enough to work the rest out herself. That and she could spot anyone she wanted out of a crowd. Needles in haystacks weren’t a problem for her.
On the day she met Dave, the school was visiting Ponyville to witness their traditional Winter Wrap-Up. Puppy’s most recent obsession had been the dangerous creatures of Equestria such as Manticores and Timberwolves. So it was no surprise to her teacher that Puppy had snuck off to Everfree Forest, bar the fact that she’d been keeping a vigil eye on the silly filly, and said filly had disappeared right in front of her (Little was it known that Pinkie would later adapt this technique after leaving her current residence at the Rock Farm).
Puppy had the belief that her natural colouring and some extra mud to cover her scent (she does do some research so give her some credit) would help her hide in the bushes and spy on the wildlife. Her theory proved itself right, as after a few of hours, she had sketched a Manticore, a pack of Timberwolves and even a Cockatrice. She also took notes on the experience of seeing them first hand. The day eventually started turning to night and Puppy quietly started on her way back, remembering the route she came. A male voice spoke out and made Puppy freeze on the spot.
“For a pony with mad ninja skillz, I am somewhat confused as to why you’re about to step in some Poison Joke.”
Puppy looked down at her forehoof, which was hovering over a familiar patch of flowers. She had passed it on her through earlier that day, but had avoided going through it due to its blue colouring. Now, the dark night had sapped the colours of day away, and the unsuspecting Pegasus no longer cared about the flowers, seeing as they, and herself, were now different shades of darkness. She retracted her hoof and looked around for the voice.
“Who’s there?”
“I’d answer you properly, but I don’t really have a name per say; never needed one.”
The voice came from underneath. Jumping back, Puppy saw something small where she had been stood.
“My brethren know me as -silence-, though you probably didn’t get that as not even unicorns can pick up the magical wave I exuded to identify myself.”
“What are you?”
“Now that I can answer! I am a magical sprite of the cricket family, 314th generation, formerly in line to be head of said family, and former guardian of this subsection, designated ‘Cricket Pi’, of Everfree Forest.” As he said this, the sprite began to glow in the dark.
“’Former guardian’? What are you on about?”
“Well, I’ve recently been bored with the whole watching over the area. Interaction is forbidden you see, except for emergencies. I’ve always wanted to spruce things up. Then you come along, going all Stealth Mode, and fearlessly stalking creatures that would kick themselves if they knew a potential meal had been so close. So, while stalking the Stalker of the Woods (as I took to calling you), I posted my resignation over the Intersprite (Patent Pending).”
“What? Why?” Puppy still hadn’t realised she was talking to an undiscovered species.
“Well, to hang out with you of course! You’re frickin’ awesome! I just know if I stay with you, I’ll see some cool stuff. And, assuming that, like most ponies, you don’t live in this drab place, I can do whatever the heck I want. It’s gonna be sweeeeeeeet!”
“Buh…Wuh… Guh… HUH!?”
“Soooooooo, you know who I am… well, sorta… Aren’t you gonna be all polite and tell me who you are?”
“…Puppy…”
“Bit short for a pony name. And silly I might add.”
“Puppy Love.” The confused Pegasus put herself back together. “Can I give you name that I can actually say?”
“Go ahead. What’d you have in mind?”
She didn’t know. This thing- erm, sprite, was just so random. Maybe just the first thing that came to her head… Jim? No, that sounded… taken for some reason. Maybe…
“Dave; how’s that?”
“Where’d you get ‘Dave’ from? Not very pony-esque, is it?”
“I dunno… It just came to me. Don’t you like it?”
“Hmm… Dave… Dave… Dave...D-” He carried on repeating the name in different tones and accents, until finally, “DAVE! IIIII LLLLLIKE IT!”
“Keep it down!” Puppy hissed.
Sadly, there were heard, and a roar came in reply.
“Aaaaaaaand we’re outta here!” Dave called out, zooming off through the Poison Joke. Puppy was not too far behind, fear blinding her to the mistake she just made.
They did make it out safely, thankfully, and once there were they burst out laughing for some reason Puppy can’t explain to this day. They made it back to the hotel, Puppy introduced Dave to her teacher, distracting her from the lecture she was giving, as well as to her friends. The next day, the Poison Joke kicked in, making Puppy Love the slowest moving pony ever, and so had to be carried to the train. Dave was unaffected, which he explained with an anecdote on how he’d touched the stuff before without any problems. His family doctor told him that he was so random the flowers couldn’t do anything as it was only a physical ailment, and would not affect the mind.
The two new friends spent the train journey telling each other of their lives so far. Dave was the first-born of his generation, with countless siblings, all now having moved up a rank with his departure. His magical gifts included glowing, telekinesis and teleportation of himself and objects. The objects were limited to whatever was within sealed containers (from boxes to rooms) marked with a symbol of his choosing. And they could only be teleported between Dave and their specific containers. A handy trick to know, as the two of them would find out.
*
Puppy Love was now nineteen years old. Upon finishing school she had found a job with the Ponyville Inquirer. They were an honest newspaper that went to many major towns and cities in Equestria, covering news all over the country, but have since suffered under the competition of the Tabloids. Slowly but surely, they shrank back to their original place of print Ponyville, unable to afford the paychecks of journalists further out. Puppy Love was one of their best and liked their work ethic, deciding to stay with them and move to Ponyville.
They still managed to cover some major stories, some with exclusives thanks to Puppy, or ‘Pup’ as Dave called her. She soon became their sole employee, any other reporters being volunteers getting experience before going elsewhere. Most recently, the incidents with Nightmare Moon and Discord have given the paper a chance to shine again, said events focusing around the poor town. Heck, Pup had managed to interview the two villains, the former loving Dave stroking her ego (‘quite the gentle-…sprite’) and the latter loving Dave’s exaggerated randomness. The sprite had certainly been a big help.
Pup had by now covered the new Elements and at other pints in time: the ‘Pinkie sense’, Celestia’s student, Carousel Boutique, the Best Young Flier, Sweet Apple Acres, and so on… even the Cutie Mark Crusaders. And now… well, nothing much was happening around Ponyville. The buzz from her interview with Discord was coming to an end. Pup and Dave were bored. That is until they heard the rumours.
“Rumours were abound about that strange and rare creatures have been showing up in the lands beyond Equestria, some even briefly passing through. A speechless Diamond Dog acting (for lack a better word) civilised and a Griffon working to bring back his kinds fallen empire are only two of their number. Some believe this is the residual effect of Discord’s Chaos, others the end of the world, and those that couldn’t care less as long as they keep out of Equestrian affairs; the ‘Stay off my Lawn’ approach as it’s called.
“The ace reporter and hyper obsessed Puppy Love, along with her spritely companion Dave, has decided to take matters into her own hooves, and find out just what it is that makes these creatures tick. Is she up for the job? Of course! Is she brave? Quite certainly! Is she mad? Most indubitably so! Is she plain stupid? The jury’s still out on that one, but I don’t care! This is gonna be fun on the bun!”
Pup giggled as she finished arranging the windowless room the pair was in. It containing everything she’d ever need on her outings: camping gear, supplies, disguises (courtesy of a certain party pony… and Rarity with some dresses), climbing equipment in the case of wing failure, and even some self-defence stuff like a baseball bat and so on.
“We all set?” Dave asked.
“Think so. List?”
“List.”
The list poofed into view in front of her, floating.
“We haven’t got that many here… It’ll have to do for now. Maybe the first ones we talk to can tell us about some others.” She turned from the list and trotted out the door. Dave dismissed the list and flew after her.
“Serif has us covered by some skinny colt with a camera. I think his name was Pushover… Easy Lift… somit like that. Apparently the guy’s been trying to help out since Cheerilee hasn’t got round to restarting the school paper.” Dave informed her, catching up and settling into her mane.
“She should hurry up with that.”
Pup locked the door, the key poofing away afterwards, and left the storage centre they were in. Outside the wind blew through her mane, Dave tested its direction and strength.
“’Bout 5 knots Westerly, I’d say.”
“Right.” Pup confirmed, beginning to sense the pull of her heart. A pair of goggles appeared over her face, as well as a pair for Dave.
“Wait!” Came a familiar voice.
All of a sudden, Pinkie Pie crashed into the ground. She bounced up from her crumpled heap and held out a paper bag.
“My Pinkie senses said you were having setting off on a big adventure but I was with the others on our own adventure so I used my party cannon to get here super-duper quick and give you these as a farewell gift. Well, more like a ‘see you soon gift’. They’re your favourite: PB and J muffins.”
“Yuck!” Pup’s mane exclaimed.
“And mini Vanilla and Midge ones for Dave!” Pinkie pulled out a smaller bag, which disappeared soon after.
“Ugh, midges.” Was Pup’s response.
“Anyway! I have to get back to my other friends. GOOD LUCK!” Pinkie shouted as she climbed into another cannon (that she pulled out from nowhere) and blasted off.
Several ponies had stopped what they were doing to watch that brief scene. Their heads followed Pinkie’s flight path over the horizon, then went back to their daily businesses.
“I still think she uses the same magic as me,” said Dave.
“It doesn’t really matter as long as she doesn’t go tearing any holes in the fabric of reality.” She took out a muffin for herself then held the bag up. Dave sent it to the storage room.
“You say that every time.”
Pup sent her senses inside to her heart, detecting the direction of the pull; a similar direction to Pinkie trajectory.
“But it’s still true.”
She prepared for take-off, spreading all six of her limbs.
“Tell that to Little Miss Sparkle.”
Pup smirked. Then they were gone, a dust cloud of similar shape and size left in their wake. The odd onlooker or two witnessed the departure, recalling the time when Pup had pestered Rainbow Dash too much. RD had attempted to flee, only to have Pup almost catch up. The almost comes from the fact that RD was forced to Sonic Rainboom to escape.
*****
A/N: The chapters following won’t necessarily be in chronological order as it relies on the response of the guest characters’ authors, me getting up to date with guest character plots, thinking of appropriate times to meet in the plot (and then how), and thinking up questions.
