Graycoat of Everfree

Chapter 1

The sun rose above the lower trees of the Everfree forest, and pierced the darkness of a small secluded cottage.

The sudden light broke the lone inhabitant's train of thought. The gray unicorn yawned as he rubbed his eyes, heavy from lack of sleep. The stallion glared at the parchment strewn across his desk, his eyes focusing on the document directly in front of him. The parchment was covered with scrawls of incomplete thoughts, and magic incantations. He turned the page in the magic book that was lying on the floor, hoping to discover what was wrong with the spell.

That train of thought was soon broken by a rumble from his stomach. He groaned at the thought of having to postpone his work, but realized he hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. He walked away from his desk, carefully avoiding the many stacks of parchment that littered the room and entered his kitchen. Unlike the rest of his house, the kitchen was clean, but only because he was rarely in it. He opened the cabinet hoping that there was an apple treat or something of that nature that would quickly sate his hunger. In his sleep deprived state it took him a minute to understand that he had no food in his home, and another minute to realize that he would have to go into town to get some.

He preferred his seclusion over living in Ponyville, it meant that he wouldn't be bothered by other ponies when he is trying to think. He reluctantly put on his saddle bag, grateful for the fact that it covered his blank flank, having never discovered his special talent. He grabbed the little amount of bits that he received for his last patent, and left his home.

As he walked he counted his bits, and silently hoped that bread hadn't gone up in price since the last time he came into town. He skirted around the house of the yellow Pegasus that lived near the forest. He had seen her before but she avoided talking to him as much as he avoided her. He soon arrived at the market and quickly walked over to the Sugarcube Corner.

“Oh hello Graycoat, we haven't seen you for awhile.” Said Mrs. Cake with a smile. The Cakes where the only ponies to know his name in Ponyville, despite all the ponies that visit Sugarcube Corner.

“I've been busy.” He responded calmly. He disliked small talk, but knew that it was a necessary evil if he wanted to appear normal.

“The usual?” The blue mare inquired. Graycoat nodded and pulled his bit bag out of a pouch on his saddle bag. Mrs. Cake placed three loaves of bread on the counter, the smell of which made Graycoat salivate, and his stomach rumble loudly. He gave her the rest of his bits and floated the loaves into his saddle bag. He bid Mrs. Cake farewell and left Sugarcube Corner.

He walked back through the Market with a smile since everything went as planned. He hears a loud gasp but continues walking not caring for what caused. Suddenly he is hit in the side by what feels like a freight train and lands a good fifteen hooves from where he was standing. He looks up to see what tackled him only to see a pink blur hopping up in down.

“See I told you he was real Twilight!” Said a bouncy, happy voice that he could only assume came from the pink blob.

“Well I don't think you needed to tackle him Pinkie.” Said a more concerned yet scolding voice, as a purple blob came into view, and stopped next to the pink one.

“I wanted to make sure you saw him.” Said the pink blob happily. The unicorn shook his head in an attempt to correct his vision, and when it did he saw that his assailants were two mares.

“Hi!” The pink one said as she brought his face close to his, and he felt his cheeks warm at this sudden breech of privacy.

“Sorry about my friend she can be a bit... eccentric.” Said the purple one who gave a sideways glance at the pink pony next to her that was making strange faces. “I don't think I have ever seen you in town before, my name is Twilight Sparkle.” She said with a polite smile.

“And I'm Pinkie Pie!” Said the pink one who then through confetti into the air. By now the gray stallion picked himself up, and was becoming nervous at this sudden assault of attention.

“What's your name?” The purple mare asked with a slight smile. Graycoat could only stammer at the question and ran from the mares after not being able to reply.

“Wait!” The pink mare shouted as he ran away. She tried to pursue him but was stopped by Twilight.

“Let him be Pinkie. That was obviously was an uncomfortable situation for him.” The pink mare frowned at her friend, and they started to head back to the library. On the way Twilight turned her head to say something to the pink mare, but when she did Pinkie was already long gone.

He returned home tired and visibly out of breath from his run. His side still hurt from the tackle and he was no longer hungry, which upset him greatly.  He put the loaves away in the cabinet and started towards his desk, but was interrupted by the sound of twigs snapping. He pressed himself up against the wall and crept towards the window near the door. He feared that timberwolves had followed him home and tensed his hind leg's, ready for a fight.

He peered over the window sill slowly, to see how many had followed him, but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the front of his home was empty. He stood up and yawned sleepily as he walked back to his desk.

“Hi!” Pinkie Pie said, her sudden apparition catching the unicorn off guard.

“How did you-”

“What are you doing here?” The pink pony said as she cut him off, and he could only stammer as he tried to make sense of what just happened. He regained his composure and decided to try as quickly as possible to get this mare out of his home.

“What are you doing here, seeing as how I live here.” The gray stallion asked annoyed by her silly question.

“You can't live here, there is no bed, silly.” She chuckled and then tousled his hair, causing him to scowl at the pony. He realized that he didn't have a bed, which confused him when he thought about it.

“You never did give Twilight your name.” The pink mare said while examining one of the many stacks of parchment.

“ Its Graycoat, now if you'll please leave I have work to finish.” He said leading her to the door.

“Work? No you've got a party to prepare for!” The pink pony said with glee.

“I'm not going to a party.”

“Don't be silly, of course you are going, the party is for you after all!” The pink pony smiled brightly at him. What kind of pony throws a party for somepony they barely know? He thought to himself.

“If I say I'll go, will you leave?” He sighed reluctantly.

“I won't take no for an answer!”

He agreed to her invitation and she left as suddenly as she had arrived.

“How did she do that?” The gray stallion wondered, and then pushed all thoughts about the strange pony, out of his mind. He walked back over to his desk and looked over his papers. He jotted down a few notes and then looked at the paper quizzically, and slumped over on to the desk asleep.

(So that's it for the first chapter, if you enjoyed it don't forget to like it, if you find any errors please point them out. I'm currently writing the second chapter so expect it sometime tomorrow and then the next chapter whenever I finish it.)

(If you felt that it started a bit slow, so did I and I hope it becomes more interesting as it develops.)