Graycoat of Everfree

Chapter 2

Graycoat awoke, his head still planted on the desk but kept his eyes shut. Come on just a few more minutes, the sun isn't even up yet. As if it had been cued he felt the warmth of the suns rays hit his face. Damn I guess I have to get up. He opened his eyes but not to the sight of the sun rising above the tree tops, but rather the light from a candle, in the mouth of a pink pony

“Surprise, you almost slept through your party silly!” Pinkie pie chuckled as the stallion woke up. He realized that he and his desk had been moved to Sugarcube corner.

“What... how did... why didn't you just wake me up and bring me here?” the stallion inquired angrily since he would have to haul the desk back.

“Because it wouldn't have been a surprise.” The pink mare grinned. It was at this time that Graycoat realized that there were other ponies there, and remembered his blank flank. He quickly looked down and saw he was still wearing his saddle bags much to his relief. He examined the crowd and recognized the purple unicorn from earlier, she gave a light smile as encouragement.

“I want you to meet my five bestest friends in ALL of Ponyville, You already met Twilight.” She said as she pointed to the purple mare. The pink pony had placed a front leg around his neck and used her other leg to point.

“This is Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity!” Pinkie said with a smile as she pointed out the remaining mares in front of him.

“Um Pinkie pie there are only four ponies in front of us.” The stallion said as he tried to get her leg off of him. This revelation was met with a small “eep” coming from the potted plant, to which Pinkie immediately jumped behind.

“And this is Fluttershy!” Pinkie said as she pushed the yellow Pegasus from behind her hiding spot. The two ponies recognized each other, and instantly looked away out of habit.

“Why is he wearing saddlebags?” The brash cyan Pegasus asked.

“Why don't ya take em off sugarcube, they must be mighty uncomfortable.”

“I'd  rather not.” The gray stallion smiled nervously while he backed his way towards the door.

“OH NO YOU DON'T!” Pinkie pie shouted as she ran to intercept him. For the second time in one day he was tackled, but this time he fought back. In the ensuing struggle the saddle bags were kicked off of him and then he was kicked out of the dust cloud created by the scuffle. As the dust cleared the room was eerily silent.

“What?” The stallion then followed the gaze of the mares directly to his flank. His eyes narrowed and heart rate slowed. Before anypony could say anything he bolted to the door and left before Pinkie had a chance to react.

Graycoat ran. He ran with no intention of stopping for anypony. He wanted to run forever, escape this life and never return. In the darkness a root embraced his hoof, and barreled hard into a nearby tree. His head rang and his lungs screamed for air from both the run and his impact with the tree. He reflected on what happened at the party, and a single tear rolled down his cheek. He wiped it away and stared at the stain left on his leg. He realized what the tear meant, and in a fit confusion and rage he bucked the tree behind him as hard as he could muster.

"That tree doesn't have any fruit silly." The pink mare said as she bounced towards.

"You." The stallion said with noticable anger in his voice, causing Pinkie to stop where she was. "You ruined my life!"

"I didn't ruin your life, I made it mor-"

"NO!" The stallion interupted, his face contorted into a snarl as he advanced on the pink pony. "I enjoyed my life of solitude, I could work without fear of interuption." As he moved closer his eyes started to betray his intended aggresion, hot tears started to stream down his face, but this went unnoticed by the now visibly upset mare. "Then you tackle me out of nowhere and destroyed my life entirely." The two ponies were now face to face. He looked at the mare who now had tears starting to stream down her face. These new emotions started to overwhelm him as he realized in horror at what he did.

His scowl broke and all traces of anger left as he broke down in front of the mare. He apoligiezed repeatedly through his sobs as he embraced her around the neck. Pinkie pie returned his embrace, and the two held to each like there was no tomorrow. After what felt like hours, the two broke away.

"Pinkie... I'm so sor-" The pink mare placed a hoof to his muzzle, effectively silencing him.

"You said it enough already." She said giving him a small smile, her eyes still moist from crying. As he looked upon her, he felt something new, a lightness that made him feel like a colt again. A solitary tear rolled down Pinkie's face, and he brushed it away, causing the two to blush.

"We should probably head back." The stallion said, breaking the silence. Pinkie nodded quietly, and the two walked back to Sugarcube corner.

The two ponies walked through the entrance of Sugarcube corner, and were greeted by five apolegetic ponies.

"You're back, I think Applejack and Rainbow Dash have something to say." Said Twilight Sparkle as she motioned towards the two.

"Graycoat, a'hm mite sorry that we put ya in that situation." Applejack said while adjusting her hat.

"Yeah sorry about tha- woah what happened to you two?" Rainbow Dash said as she looked at Graycoat and Pinkie. The two ponies looked at each other in the light of the building, and saw that their eyes were bloodshot, and the fur near their eyes was matted and still damp.

"That doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that I shouldn't have tried to hide myself from you guys, and doing so was rude." The stallion swallowed knowing what he was gonna do next. "I have a blank flank." He cringed expecting some sort of horrified reaction, but when it didn't come he opened his eyes.

"Darling it doesn't matter what your special talent is, all that matters is if you are a good person on the inside." Rarity said with an encouraging smile. He looked at the rest of the ponies who nodded an agreement. He had finnaly felt something that he thought he never would: acceptence.And with that he began to cry.

"Oh no don't cry!" Pinkie Pie said as she and her friends moved to comfort him. He leapt at Pinkie and tackled her to the ground with a powerful embrace.

"Thank you... Thank you so much." He said through joyful tears.

"YAAAAAY!" Pinkie giggled as confetti shot into the air and with that the party was underway.

As the party wore on Applejack was the first to leave, needing sleep if she wanted to be useful for harvesting apples the following morning. One by one the rest left until it was just Pinkie, Graycoat and her pet alligator(crocodile?) Gummy.

"Why is he called Gummy?" Graycoat asked looking at the tiny reptile.

"Because he doesn't have any teeth!" The mare said as she opened her pet's mouth.

"Uh huh... That is certainly... interesting." He said as he looked into the creature's maw, he looked up and saw Pinkie balancing cupcakes on her nose. Graycoat gave her a quizzical look, she giggled and ate them all in one bite. He stood up and stretched his back, and headed towards the door.

"You're leaving?" She said with a frown.

"I had a great time." Graycoat said with a smile. She returned his smile and he left.

The walk back to the Everfree forest was uneventful, and gave him time to think. He entered his house and lied down on clear spot on the floor and slept. His dreams featured a certain pink mare and he couldn't be happier.

Graycoat woke with a start and immediately remembered what day it was.

"Oh buck its due today!" He looked over and saw his desk had been returned to him. He rushed over and checked to see if the document was there. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found it, and quickly looked it over, hoping that he could finish it before noon. But as he looked it over he felt a sense of dispare, the problem he had been trying to solve, had already been answered.

End Chapter 2