Random Ideasby themouthofmushChaptersGood Talk, Bad TalkAU Grey HomecomingYour SongFirst MeetingWhinneyDuetGood Talk, Bad TalkIdea 1: Good/Bad Talk There have only been two moments where I thought my house was going to be destroyed. The first was when Pinkie brought her new industrial strength party cannon to celebrate my birthday. Thankfully the only damage was from me accidentally going through a table; felt that for weeks. The second time was when Ditzy and I tried to teach Icy to bake. To this day, I have nightmares about waking up to my house being on fire. How somepony could almost burn an entire kitchen in the span of twenty seconds is beyond me. Right now, me sitting on my couch as I watched Twilight and Flitter walk around my living room and have a “polite discussion” was starting to feel like another one of those moments. “He can’t be serious!” Twilight yelled. “What’s wrong with the idea?” Flitter asked. “He is planning on taking care of a monster! That’s what’s wrong with it!” “How do you know that he’s a monster?” Flitter pointed a hoof at her. “You haven’t given him a chance to talk to you.” “Why would I? You didn’t see what those things could do firsthoof,” Twilight waved a hoof, “the destruction they can cause.” “And you haven’t seen how scared he was when we found him.” Flitter’s voice wavered a little. “The fear in his eyes, how wounded he was.” Twilight groaned. “It was a ruse to give him some love and affection. Its species loves on that, needs that, to survive. You don’t think he would have been taught to pray on a pony’s heart?” “Twilight, that’s enough,” I said. “But Gre-“ “I said that was enough.” I must have said those words in a way to scare her because she took a step back. “You say that he is a monster because of what the changelings did during the wedding, am I hearing that correctly?” I asked her, getting a nod as a reply. “If that’s the case, wouldn’t Spike also be a monster because of the things dragons have done throughout recorded pony history?” “Those two things are unrelated! Spike-“ “Is special, I know.” I got up from my seat. “The same goes with the little one sleeping in the other room.” “But Grey, his kind is evil.” I smiled at that. “That’s not how I see it Twilight. If your subjects were on the brink of starvation and you learned of a possible way to feed them all, wouldn’t you do it? Wouldn’t you do such an act, something deemed ‘evil,’ for the sake of your subjects? “What I’m trying to get is life isn’t as simple as good and wrong, black and white. Life has moments where it just sucks and you’re force to pick the lesser of two evils, and even then, we still make poor choices. Princess Celestia has done amazing things, but has also caused a stigma against changelings. Being her student, I get that you agree. But what I see is a starving child, who I can help. Imagine if it was Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle, would you still act the same way?” AU Grey HomecomingIdea 2: AU Grey Homecoming The cold, starry night made it easy to walk through the town – the town that I grew up in, the town I came back to years later, the town I left behind later for my goals – everypony fast asleep already. Even though it had only been three years since I left Ponyville, I couldn’t help getting a sense of nostalgia whenever my eyes went: over there was when I first met Pinkie (she tackled me then dragged me to Sugarcube Corner), over there was the first time I got the nerve to talk to Flitter, over there the time I smacked Pop eight times in a row. Those memories brought back as much joy as it did sorrow. I took a deep breath and tried to settle myself, not letting the memories get to me. I left everything, my friends and family, everypony I have ever known, loved, and cared for, for a reason. There’s no reason to let those memories stop me now. Checking to make sure my saddlebags were on right and the contents secured, I walked down the path to the town library, the second to last location for my journey, taking in and enjoying the quiet of the night for as long as I could, as if it would be the last time I’d ever get a chance. As I rounded a corner, I managed to hit a shadowy figure. It took me a bit to realize who it was, but the moonlight illuminating his pink eyes helped. “Hey there Pop,” I said. He just looked at me, stared at me, as if he was seeing a ghost, like he was losing his mind. A few seconds passed and the bewilderment turned into rage. “You, you are supposed to be dead!” he shouted. “Geez, not sure everypony in Canterlot heard you there.” I went to pass him, but he held me down. “You are supposed to be dead. Your name is on the plaque of the fallen.” He stared me in the eyes, with a look that would have fazed me three years ago. “Yeah; what about it?” I told him, releasing myself from his grip. “I was there, we were there, at that ceremony, to pay my respects to all those lost in the invasion.” He jabbed a hoof at my chest. “I went to pay my respects to you.” I swatted away his hoof. “So? You want a cookie or something?” He growled. “Forget this.” He made to walk away but sucker punched me across the jaw. “Do you know what happened because of that day? Icy is gone; Rarity never leaves her house; Fluttershy is in an asylum; Rainbow can’t fly anymore; Spike boarded up the library from the inside; Flitter has gotten distant.” He emphasized each statement with a punch. My eyes never moved away from his the whole time. “Are you done using me as a punching bag then?” He growled. “Since when do you not care about what happened to your friends?” “Since I already knew what happened to them,” I replied, dusting myself off a bit. “You, you knew? You knew the whole time what was going on and you didn’t even bother on letting any of us know you were still alive?!” Using both of his forehooves, he pinned me to the side of a building, propping me up against it. “You better give me a good reason not to end you right now,” he told me, adding pressure to my shoulders. I rolled my eyes. “Fine, I will, but let me give you some advice first.” I then brought my forehooves together, breaking his grip before tossing his hooves down and bringing them back up for a double hoof strike to his chest. He staggered back, winded as I charged him, wrapping a foreleg around his neck in a single lariat. I then twisted, bringing him down to the floor before pulling up sharply while sitting on his back. “If you are going to pin somepony, make sure that they can’t get out of like I did.” My point given, I got off of his back. He turned and looked up at me. “Just what happened to you these past three years?” I shrugged. “Just what needed to be done.” “’What needed to be done’?” I started to walk away, looking behind me as I went. “Don’t tell anypony that you saw me.” I stared ahead, seeing the library in sight. “Not like anypony would be able to stop me anyway...” Your SongIdea 3: Your Song The small alcove was a buzz of activity, with all the ponies dancing on the dance floor, the leaves swaying to the beats of the song. Two ponies however sat off to the side, at a small circular table just left of the dance floor. The tablecloths were the finest linen, only the best for the occasion, as a certain fashionista said. The light was provided by the glittering stars and the bright full moon, which seemed awfully close. A dozen candles strengthened the mood, dotted along the tables. Food covered the exquisite cloth, ranging from salads and lasagna, to cupcakes and the largest nine and three fourth layered cake, brought by the one and only Pinkie Pie. The two ponies sitting down, watching the festivities held each other’s forehoof tightly. The pony to the left wore a slick white button up shirt, a glossy silver tie straight down the center. The shirt itself was ironed to precision, the collar neat and folded at a ninety degree angle. His cuffs were heirlooms from some distant relative he had only found out about months ago, his family crest embedded onto the dull gold and emerald. His steel blue coat was brushed and groomed to perfection, along with his slicked back mane and tail, which was only a shade darker. His wings were preened, feathers neatly arranged. His bandaged eye was freshly changed, the bright white standing out against his fur, while his cerulean blue eye watched the others dance the night away. The pony to his right, with a glittering silver tuxedo jacket draped over her shoulders, was another pegasus, this time a butter-yellow coated mare. Her bubblegum mane was combed and interwoven with flowers, fresh cut daisies. A thin piece of white and powder blue fabric wrapped around her neck, crisscrossing across her chest that held up her dress. Mint green dotted throughout the white gown, highlighted by bright golden stars. Her wings and body were hidden, buried under the white gown and a light emerald green veil. Her sparkling ocean blue eyes illuminated under the light sheen of mascara and blush that rounded out her cheeks The pony beside me cuddled up next to me. “The breeze cool you a little honey?” I asked her. “Just a little,” she replied softly. I turned to her and saw a slight blush going on her lavender face before she turned away. “You just wanted an excuse to get close to me, didn’t you?” Not even my smile was able to stop the punch I got from her. “Knew it,” I laughed. “You guys did a good job setting up the procession, Grey.” “When you have the combined talents of Pinkie and Rarity working toward, without either of them butting heads, you are bound to have something amazing.” “That might be the case, but you were in charge the whole time.” She leaned against me. “I’m sure Icy and Fluttershy love it.” “I’m honestly surprised that we were able to make such a small procession into something that feels big.” The sounds of a microphone being tabbed made everypony look towards the dance floor at a well-dressed pink idiot. “Now, if I can get your attention ladies and gentlecolts, I believe that it is time for the newlyweds to have their first dance.” Pop turned towards the bride and groom. “Wouldn’t you agree you two?” Fluttershy started to shrink, having their entire guests look at her, but Icy whispered into her ear a little, calming her down. He then got up and offered her his hoof, flashing her with a small smile, which she took as the two of them went off to the dance floor. They started to dance together while a simple orchestral song played. Twilight kissed me on the cheek. “They really do make quite a pair.” “Yeah, they really do,” I said, chuckling a little. “Just wish it didn’t take them as long as it did for them to realize it.” “It’s not like you knew they were made for one another from the start.” Twilight straightened up and looked at me. “Wait, did you know that?” I smiled and got up. “I’ll answer that right back. I have to give the lovebirds one last wedding gift.” Working my way through all of the partygoers looking at the couple dance, I reached Pop and tapped his shoulder. “You still up for this Grey?” he asked. “I know how you get with stage fright.” “If it’s for them, I can manage it for a bit.” It felt like he wanted to say more, but he nodded, handed me the mic, and went towards Vinyl. I waited for the first dance to be over before I tapped onto the mic. “Give it up for the fine couple everypony.” Everypony clapped and cheered, much to the disdain to Icy. He was giving me the look he usually reserves for trying to talk me out of something. I just smiled at them. “I’m not sure about all of you, but it didn’t seem like they danced enough yet. So, why don’t we get some more ponies onto the dance floor to join them?” That got some more cheers, making me laugh a little. Oh, he’s going to hate me. I gulped a little. “I’d like at this moment to offer up a song for the newlyweds and anypony else to dance to.” I waved at Vinyl, who started to play a new song. A soft ensemble of violins started to come out of the speakers. “My gift is my song and this one’s for you.” I tried to keep my voice low to match the ensemble as I kept singing the song. When a piano joined in, I decided to raise my voice just a little bit louder. As the pace and rhythm started to pick up, I just rolled with it with my voice. Just as quickly as it picked up it slowed down, making me soften my tone, that was until it picked up yet again right at the end. I kept that last note for as long as I remembered that note to be held for. I was just thankful that it didn’t last for longer than a few seconds. As the song ended with a soft playing of violins, everypony gave me a round of applause. I felt like I should bow, but Icy and Fluttershy hugging the air out of me kind of stopped that from happening. “That was amazing Grey,” Fluttershy told me. “It really was something,” Icy said. The tips of my ears started to heat up. “Well, you two are family. What else was I supposed to do?” First MeetingIdea 4: First Meeting The punch knocked me back into the chain linked fence, followed by a few more for good measure, the links trying to dig into my skin with each hit. The fight was over something stupid, like most of those fights were, but I knew that I wasn’t going to lose if I could help it. My attacker, a blue earth pony colt, went for a jab, but I dodged it and pushed him back into his two lackeys, a forest green unicorn colt and a white unicorn colt. I smirked at my opponent. “I didn’t know I was getting hit by a filly.” “What did you call me!?” he yelled. “I called you a filly, in case you didn’t hear.” I got into a low stance. “And you just stood there and took it.” The colt roared and launched himself towards me. He went for a left jab with his foreleg, which I blocked, only to be followed with a quick kick from his right hind leg, hitting me on my right. Our heads smacked into each other, making him stagger. I used that as an opportunity to get in two quick hits to his head before kicking him in his chest. He shot me a death glare. “That was a cheap move.” “Says the pony that brought two lackeys to a one-on-one fight,” I told him. “We aren’t lackeys!” his two friends said together. “Well, isn’t that cute,” I chuckled. “You taught them to speak at the same time.” The two of them lunged at me, striking me at both sides, forcing me against the chain link fence. I couldn’t be able to block all of the hits, so I brought my hooves close to my frame and hoped I could tire them out. It probably would have worked if the blue colt hadn’t decided to sucker punch me on the face. I went from against the fence to on the floor getting the snot beaten out of me in less than a blink. “Looks like you are done for, Grey,” the blue colt told me. I tried to get up only to be kicked in the face by his friends. “Do us all a favor and stay down.” “Mrs. Yard is coming!” a voice shouted out from somewhere. “Who said that?” the forest green colt asked, looking everywhere. “We’ve got to go now!” the white colt said. The blue colt looked across the school yard. “You lucked out Grey. You better stay out of our way next time.” They each kicked me once as they left. I used the fence as support as I tried getting up; would have fallen down again if it wasn’t for somepony helping me. “Are you alright?” a soft feminine voice asked. “Yeah, I’m alright. Just have to get onto my hooves.” I staggered and would have almost fallen if she wasn’t supporting me. I felt her mane brush up against my face. “There’s a bench right over there under that tree. It would let you get off your hooves for a bit.” I wanted to argue, saying that I didn’t need that, but I knew that she was right. I just nodded before she led the two of us to that bench. It felt like we took longer than we should have, she going slow to make sure I wouldn’t fall down on the way. She carefully sat me down on the bench. “How are you feeling?” The worry in her voice was easy to hear. I finally looked at her and felt like I knew her from somewhere. She was a soft brownish-grey coated pegasus filly, her wings, mane, and tail slowly going beige the closer it got to their tips. Her maroon eyes were looking all over me. “What are you doing?” I asked her. “I’m trying to see if you have any cuts or bruises, in case I have to go run to get the nurse.” She started to touch my hooves. I brushed her away. “I’m okay; I don’t need the nurse.” “Are you-“ “I’m sure,” I told her. “I don’t need the nurse.” It looked like she had something else she wanted to say, but she simply sighed and sat next to me. We sat there for a while, not saying anything to one another, just letting the soft breeze brush up against us. “So, why did you get into that fight with those sixth graders to begin with?” she asked me. I looked at her. “Why do you want to know?” “Because I’m curious?” She shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” “You are some curious filly, aren’t you?” She rolled her eyes. “You going to answer my question or are you going to be a smart aleck?” I couldn’t help but shake my head and smile. “You are something, you know that. Most don’t even bother to talk to me this long.” “So, you aren’t going to tell me then.” I held up my hooves. “Never said I wasn’t; just found that funny.” I leaned back on the bench and looked up at the tree’s branches. “They were making fun of my sister. I didn’t think it was funny. Nothing really hard to figure out.” She giggled at that, getting my attention in the process. “Okay, how is that funny?” She waved a hoof in the air. “It’s you, you doof. You’re different than I thought.” That took me back a bit. “What do you mean?” She smiled a little. “Don’t worry about it.” “You’re an odd one, you know that.” “Maybe; maybe not.” She got off of the bench. “You should be good for now. Doubt those three will come back because of that scare I said.” “Scare? What are you.....wait that was you? You saved my neck?” She just smiled and started to walk away. “You going to at least tell me your name?” I called out to her. She spun around and met my eyes. “I’m Nightingale.” WhinneyIdea 5: Whinney A crowd of ponies followed Twilight and me as we left the theaters, the two of us talking about what we just watched. She wanted to go see a Whinney movie the theater was showing with the girls, but they each had something to do. Oddly enough, each one of them told her to invite me to go watch it, which ended up happening since I had nothing to do. “I still don’t think most of that movie could actually happen,” Twilight said as we rounded a corner. “It just wouldn’t make sense.” “Which parts?” I asked her. “The talking to animals, the magical help, two ponies falling for one another at first sight...” She shook her head. “You know what I mean Grey.” “Oh, I know what you meant Twilight,” I smiled, “just felt like being a smart-aleck.” She turned around to give me a look, which just made me chuckle. “Besides, even if the points I think you were talking about don’t really make sense, it doesn’t really take away from the movie.” “You like the story of how Cinder’s family treated her?” she asked me, stopping in her tracks. “Oh, no. I don’t like that part of the story, but I am a fan of the romance part of the movie.” I looked around, to see if anypony was listening in, before leaning in. “I’m a sucker for romance stories where ponies end up happily ever after in the end.” “Never would have seen you like that Grey,” she told me. She tilted her head a bit and asked, “Wait, does that mean that you’re the one recommending all of those novels that Rarity reads?” “Oh no.” I ran a hoof through my mane. “I honestly don’t know where she gets all of them. It’s amazing in a weird kind of way.” Twilight went to say something, but my stomach cut her off. My ears burned at the moment. “Didn’t you eat all of our popcorn?” She said, a coy smile on her lips. “It’s theater popcorn; it doesn’t really fill you up.” Looking around, I realized that we weren’t all that far from Café Hay. “So, since my stomach is apparently demanding attention, would you like to get some late lunch, my treat?” Twilight’s smiled wide before coughing into her hoof; I swore that it got lighter and calmer in that one second, but odds are that it was all in my head. “Y-yes, I’d like that.” I led the way and we were able to get a table as soon as we arrived at the café. Twilight ordered a daisy sandwich and side salad while I ordered a veggie burger and hay fries. We chatted a little about how our week has been so far and about the movie we just watched; we didn’t even notice when our meals got to our table, at least not right away. “I still don’t get how they got away with treating Cinder like that,” Twilight said in between bites. “You’d think somepony would have found out before the prince got involved in her life.” “With any guests seeing her doing all the housework, I doubt they would have thought she was anything more than a housemaid.” I pointed a hay fry at her. “Though I’m with you on that front; they were really messed up to her for no real reason.” “Exactly,” she said, using her salad fork to accentuate the word. “It’s just like that whole ‘one true love kiss’ thing Whinney does.” Putting my burger down, I looked at her curiously. “What do you have against that?” “Well, it’s just that those kinds of things don’t happen in real life.” She padded the leaves of her salad. “It only happens in fairy tales.” I knew what I was going to say was going to be cheesy as possible, but I didn’t really care. “Just because it happens a lot in fairy tales doesn’t mean that it can’t happen in real life Twilight. Just means that it’ll have more of a meaning and impact when it happens.” Twilight seemed to hesitate for some reason before looking me straight in my eyes. “Grey?” “Yeah?” I replied. “Would you...would you ever....be okay with getting a Whinney like kiss from somepony?” The sounds of a heart beating a million miles an hour started to pound my ears, with the urge to run away as fast as Rainbow increasing with each beat. Even though I knew that that wouldn’t be the right answer, that it could offend Twilight in some way, the urge just kept increasing. Looking at her perfect violet orbs of hers didn’t help much. “W-w-well, I guess I’d be ok-kay with that,” I told her. “W-would just depend on the m-m-mare.” “What kind of mare would it be?” “W-well, I guess as long as its s-somepony that I know well and wouldn’t mind g-getting a kiss from me, it wouldn’t matter who.” The sound of somepony clearing their throat brought me out of wherever I was. Apparently the waiter has been trying to get our attention, to see if there was anything else that we’d like to order. I told him that we didn’t and he politely left. “Wonder why we...” I started, but suddenly came to a realization: Twilight and I were close, like really close. Our shoulders were rubbing against one another, sharing each other's warmth. Somehow, my tail had wrapped around hers, and I became aware of the warmth and weight of her hoof on mine. I looked up at Twilight and there were pools of red on her face, probably matching the ones I had on mine. She scooted away from me, trying to look everywhere but at my direction. “Are...are you okay?” I asked her. I went to grab her hoof, in hopes of calming her down if I did anything wrong, but she moved her hoof close to her chest. “Y-yes, I’m okay Grey. W-why wouldn’t I be?” she said quickly, laughing a little bit. “It’s just that you don’t really stutter unless you’re uncomfortable about something.” I gulped, feeling my ears lay flat on my head. “Did I do something wrong?” “No, of course not,” she said, raising her hooves. “It’s just that....that....that I just remembered I had to do something with Rarity and Pinkie right now! So, I have to go.” Before I could say anything, Twilight teleported away, leaving me alone, confused and bewildered with a few other café patrons looking at me funny. I left some bits at the table, enough for the check and a tip, and decided to go ask Icy what just happened. DuetIdea 6: Duet I tapped on the microphone. “Yeah, I don’t hear it Juke,” I told him, lightly tapping the microphone again. “It sounds as good as usual. I think your hearing is-” Soft guitar plucking started to come out of the bar’s speakers, signaling for everypony inside to look to the stage, for somepony was about to perform. After two seconds of hearing the chords, I knew what song it would be. That being said, couldn’t help but glare at Juke and the smug grin he had on his face. If he wanted me to do another song, he could have just asked me. I took a breath and sang into the microphone, “Don’t remind me that somedays I’m a windshield,” using the song’s pauses to breathe before continuing on. When the cymbals joined in, I couldn’t help but smile, especially with the crowd clapping along with the beat. Couldn’t help but know that Juke was the one who started it. “Boy, I need a hug,” came a voice, providing backup vocals. Didn’t want to show how much that startled me. Seriously, who randomly provides backup vocals to a guy singing? Seems like my question was answered with Twilight singing right beside me when the chorus came. What’s more is that she sang the next two verses, spot on, almost as if she was the one who sung that portion to begin with. Now, that, that caught me off guard. Almost would have stopped singing if it wasn’t for her looking at me, her eyes telling me to keep going. When the chorus came back, I had to put that shock behind me and continue performing, each of us providing subtle background vocals to the other. Couldn’t help but shake my head, the whole situation being surreal, hopefully adding some of that bewilderment to my voice, adding another layer to the song. When the cymbals did a mini drop, I decided to go all in and gave our audience more of a show, with me sliding around and joking with Twilight, she not caring at how silly the whole thing probably was. We took turns singing each line of the next verse. Some might say that I showed off a wee bit with the following verse, but that would be completely silly and possibly maybe not completely untrue, especially since she showed off a wee bit at the ending line. We each gave each other a bashful look, along with a small smile. Not sure if it was me or the song, but I walked up to her and grabbed onto her hoof. “And if I reached for her hoof for the rest of my life,” I sang, looking into her eyes. “Who knew the other side could be so green?” she sang, just as the cymbal clash signaled the end of the song. The two of us stood there, looking at each other, for what felt like hours, just the sound of us slowly breathing to catch our breath.
Good Talk, Bad TalkIdea 1: Good/Bad Talk There have only been two moments where I thought my house was going to be destroyed. The first was when Pinkie brought her new industrial strength party cannon to celebrate my birthday. Thankfully the only damage was from me accidentally going through a table; felt that for weeks. The second time was when Ditzy and I tried to teach Icy to bake. To this day, I have nightmares about waking up to my house being on fire. How somepony could almost burn an entire kitchen in the span of twenty seconds is beyond me. Right now, me sitting on my couch as I watched Twilight and Flitter walk around my living room and have a “polite discussion” was starting to feel like another one of those moments. “He can’t be serious!” Twilight yelled. “What’s wrong with the idea?” Flitter asked. “He is planning on taking care of a monster! That’s what’s wrong with it!” “How do you know that he’s a monster?” Flitter pointed a hoof at her. “You haven’t given him a chance to talk to you.” “Why would I? You didn’t see what those things could do firsthoof,” Twilight waved a hoof, “the destruction they can cause.” “And you haven’t seen how scared he was when we found him.” Flitter’s voice wavered a little. “The fear in his eyes, how wounded he was.” Twilight groaned. “It was a ruse to give him some love and affection. Its species loves on that, needs that, to survive. You don’t think he would have been taught to pray on a pony’s heart?” “Twilight, that’s enough,” I said. “But Gre-“ “I said that was enough.” I must have said those words in a way to scare her because she took a step back. “You say that he is a monster because of what the changelings did during the wedding, am I hearing that correctly?” I asked her, getting a nod as a reply. “If that’s the case, wouldn’t Spike also be a monster because of the things dragons have done throughout recorded pony history?” “Those two things are unrelated! Spike-“ “Is special, I know.” I got up from my seat. “The same goes with the little one sleeping in the other room.” “But Grey, his kind is evil.” I smiled at that. “That’s not how I see it Twilight. If your subjects were on the brink of starvation and you learned of a possible way to feed them all, wouldn’t you do it? Wouldn’t you do such an act, something deemed ‘evil,’ for the sake of your subjects? “What I’m trying to get is life isn’t as simple as good and wrong, black and white. Life has moments where it just sucks and you’re force to pick the lesser of two evils, and even then, we still make poor choices. Princess Celestia has done amazing things, but has also caused a stigma against changelings. Being her student, I get that you agree. But what I see is a starving child, who I can help. Imagine if it was Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle, would you still act the same way?”
AU Grey HomecomingIdea 2: AU Grey Homecoming The cold, starry night made it easy to walk through the town – the town that I grew up in, the town I came back to years later, the town I left behind later for my goals – everypony fast asleep already. Even though it had only been three years since I left Ponyville, I couldn’t help getting a sense of nostalgia whenever my eyes went: over there was when I first met Pinkie (she tackled me then dragged me to Sugarcube Corner), over there was the first time I got the nerve to talk to Flitter, over there the time I smacked Pop eight times in a row. Those memories brought back as much joy as it did sorrow. I took a deep breath and tried to settle myself, not letting the memories get to me. I left everything, my friends and family, everypony I have ever known, loved, and cared for, for a reason. There’s no reason to let those memories stop me now. Checking to make sure my saddlebags were on right and the contents secured, I walked down the path to the town library, the second to last location for my journey, taking in and enjoying the quiet of the night for as long as I could, as if it would be the last time I’d ever get a chance. As I rounded a corner, I managed to hit a shadowy figure. It took me a bit to realize who it was, but the moonlight illuminating his pink eyes helped. “Hey there Pop,” I said. He just looked at me, stared at me, as if he was seeing a ghost, like he was losing his mind. A few seconds passed and the bewilderment turned into rage. “You, you are supposed to be dead!” he shouted. “Geez, not sure everypony in Canterlot heard you there.” I went to pass him, but he held me down. “You are supposed to be dead. Your name is on the plaque of the fallen.” He stared me in the eyes, with a look that would have fazed me three years ago. “Yeah; what about it?” I told him, releasing myself from his grip. “I was there, we were there, at that ceremony, to pay my respects to all those lost in the invasion.” He jabbed a hoof at my chest. “I went to pay my respects to you.” I swatted away his hoof. “So? You want a cookie or something?” He growled. “Forget this.” He made to walk away but sucker punched me across the jaw. “Do you know what happened because of that day? Icy is gone; Rarity never leaves her house; Fluttershy is in an asylum; Rainbow can’t fly anymore; Spike boarded up the library from the inside; Flitter has gotten distant.” He emphasized each statement with a punch. My eyes never moved away from his the whole time. “Are you done using me as a punching bag then?” He growled. “Since when do you not care about what happened to your friends?” “Since I already knew what happened to them,” I replied, dusting myself off a bit. “You, you knew? You knew the whole time what was going on and you didn’t even bother on letting any of us know you were still alive?!” Using both of his forehooves, he pinned me to the side of a building, propping me up against it. “You better give me a good reason not to end you right now,” he told me, adding pressure to my shoulders. I rolled my eyes. “Fine, I will, but let me give you some advice first.” I then brought my forehooves together, breaking his grip before tossing his hooves down and bringing them back up for a double hoof strike to his chest. He staggered back, winded as I charged him, wrapping a foreleg around his neck in a single lariat. I then twisted, bringing him down to the floor before pulling up sharply while sitting on his back. “If you are going to pin somepony, make sure that they can’t get out of like I did.” My point given, I got off of his back. He turned and looked up at me. “Just what happened to you these past three years?” I shrugged. “Just what needed to be done.” “’What needed to be done’?” I started to walk away, looking behind me as I went. “Don’t tell anypony that you saw me.” I stared ahead, seeing the library in sight. “Not like anypony would be able to stop me anyway...”
Your SongIdea 3: Your Song The small alcove was a buzz of activity, with all the ponies dancing on the dance floor, the leaves swaying to the beats of the song. Two ponies however sat off to the side, at a small circular table just left of the dance floor. The tablecloths were the finest linen, only the best for the occasion, as a certain fashionista said. The light was provided by the glittering stars and the bright full moon, which seemed awfully close. A dozen candles strengthened the mood, dotted along the tables. Food covered the exquisite cloth, ranging from salads and lasagna, to cupcakes and the largest nine and three fourth layered cake, brought by the one and only Pinkie Pie. The two ponies sitting down, watching the festivities held each other’s forehoof tightly. The pony to the left wore a slick white button up shirt, a glossy silver tie straight down the center. The shirt itself was ironed to precision, the collar neat and folded at a ninety degree angle. His cuffs were heirlooms from some distant relative he had only found out about months ago, his family crest embedded onto the dull gold and emerald. His steel blue coat was brushed and groomed to perfection, along with his slicked back mane and tail, which was only a shade darker. His wings were preened, feathers neatly arranged. His bandaged eye was freshly changed, the bright white standing out against his fur, while his cerulean blue eye watched the others dance the night away. The pony to his right, with a glittering silver tuxedo jacket draped over her shoulders, was another pegasus, this time a butter-yellow coated mare. Her bubblegum mane was combed and interwoven with flowers, fresh cut daisies. A thin piece of white and powder blue fabric wrapped around her neck, crisscrossing across her chest that held up her dress. Mint green dotted throughout the white gown, highlighted by bright golden stars. Her wings and body were hidden, buried under the white gown and a light emerald green veil. Her sparkling ocean blue eyes illuminated under the light sheen of mascara and blush that rounded out her cheeks The pony beside me cuddled up next to me. “The breeze cool you a little honey?” I asked her. “Just a little,” she replied softly. I turned to her and saw a slight blush going on her lavender face before she turned away. “You just wanted an excuse to get close to me, didn’t you?” Not even my smile was able to stop the punch I got from her. “Knew it,” I laughed. “You guys did a good job setting up the procession, Grey.” “When you have the combined talents of Pinkie and Rarity working toward, without either of them butting heads, you are bound to have something amazing.” “That might be the case, but you were in charge the whole time.” She leaned against me. “I’m sure Icy and Fluttershy love it.” “I’m honestly surprised that we were able to make such a small procession into something that feels big.” The sounds of a microphone being tabbed made everypony look towards the dance floor at a well-dressed pink idiot. “Now, if I can get your attention ladies and gentlecolts, I believe that it is time for the newlyweds to have their first dance.” Pop turned towards the bride and groom. “Wouldn’t you agree you two?” Fluttershy started to shrink, having their entire guests look at her, but Icy whispered into her ear a little, calming her down. He then got up and offered her his hoof, flashing her with a small smile, which she took as the two of them went off to the dance floor. They started to dance together while a simple orchestral song played. Twilight kissed me on the cheek. “They really do make quite a pair.” “Yeah, they really do,” I said, chuckling a little. “Just wish it didn’t take them as long as it did for them to realize it.” “It’s not like you knew they were made for one another from the start.” Twilight straightened up and looked at me. “Wait, did you know that?” I smiled and got up. “I’ll answer that right back. I have to give the lovebirds one last wedding gift.” Working my way through all of the partygoers looking at the couple dance, I reached Pop and tapped his shoulder. “You still up for this Grey?” he asked. “I know how you get with stage fright.” “If it’s for them, I can manage it for a bit.” It felt like he wanted to say more, but he nodded, handed me the mic, and went towards Vinyl. I waited for the first dance to be over before I tapped onto the mic. “Give it up for the fine couple everypony.” Everypony clapped and cheered, much to the disdain to Icy. He was giving me the look he usually reserves for trying to talk me out of something. I just smiled at them. “I’m not sure about all of you, but it didn’t seem like they danced enough yet. So, why don’t we get some more ponies onto the dance floor to join them?” That got some more cheers, making me laugh a little. Oh, he’s going to hate me. I gulped a little. “I’d like at this moment to offer up a song for the newlyweds and anypony else to dance to.” I waved at Vinyl, who started to play a new song. A soft ensemble of violins started to come out of the speakers. “My gift is my song and this one’s for you.” I tried to keep my voice low to match the ensemble as I kept singing the song. When a piano joined in, I decided to raise my voice just a little bit louder. As the pace and rhythm started to pick up, I just rolled with it with my voice. Just as quickly as it picked up it slowed down, making me soften my tone, that was until it picked up yet again right at the end. I kept that last note for as long as I remembered that note to be held for. I was just thankful that it didn’t last for longer than a few seconds. As the song ended with a soft playing of violins, everypony gave me a round of applause. I felt like I should bow, but Icy and Fluttershy hugging the air out of me kind of stopped that from happening. “That was amazing Grey,” Fluttershy told me. “It really was something,” Icy said. The tips of my ears started to heat up. “Well, you two are family. What else was I supposed to do?”
First MeetingIdea 4: First Meeting The punch knocked me back into the chain linked fence, followed by a few more for good measure, the links trying to dig into my skin with each hit. The fight was over something stupid, like most of those fights were, but I knew that I wasn’t going to lose if I could help it. My attacker, a blue earth pony colt, went for a jab, but I dodged it and pushed him back into his two lackeys, a forest green unicorn colt and a white unicorn colt. I smirked at my opponent. “I didn’t know I was getting hit by a filly.” “What did you call me!?” he yelled. “I called you a filly, in case you didn’t hear.” I got into a low stance. “And you just stood there and took it.” The colt roared and launched himself towards me. He went for a left jab with his foreleg, which I blocked, only to be followed with a quick kick from his right hind leg, hitting me on my right. Our heads smacked into each other, making him stagger. I used that as an opportunity to get in two quick hits to his head before kicking him in his chest. He shot me a death glare. “That was a cheap move.” “Says the pony that brought two lackeys to a one-on-one fight,” I told him. “We aren’t lackeys!” his two friends said together. “Well, isn’t that cute,” I chuckled. “You taught them to speak at the same time.” The two of them lunged at me, striking me at both sides, forcing me against the chain link fence. I couldn’t be able to block all of the hits, so I brought my hooves close to my frame and hoped I could tire them out. It probably would have worked if the blue colt hadn’t decided to sucker punch me on the face. I went from against the fence to on the floor getting the snot beaten out of me in less than a blink. “Looks like you are done for, Grey,” the blue colt told me. I tried to get up only to be kicked in the face by his friends. “Do us all a favor and stay down.” “Mrs. Yard is coming!” a voice shouted out from somewhere. “Who said that?” the forest green colt asked, looking everywhere. “We’ve got to go now!” the white colt said. The blue colt looked across the school yard. “You lucked out Grey. You better stay out of our way next time.” They each kicked me once as they left. I used the fence as support as I tried getting up; would have fallen down again if it wasn’t for somepony helping me. “Are you alright?” a soft feminine voice asked. “Yeah, I’m alright. Just have to get onto my hooves.” I staggered and would have almost fallen if she wasn’t supporting me. I felt her mane brush up against my face. “There’s a bench right over there under that tree. It would let you get off your hooves for a bit.” I wanted to argue, saying that I didn’t need that, but I knew that she was right. I just nodded before she led the two of us to that bench. It felt like we took longer than we should have, she going slow to make sure I wouldn’t fall down on the way. She carefully sat me down on the bench. “How are you feeling?” The worry in her voice was easy to hear. I finally looked at her and felt like I knew her from somewhere. She was a soft brownish-grey coated pegasus filly, her wings, mane, and tail slowly going beige the closer it got to their tips. Her maroon eyes were looking all over me. “What are you doing?” I asked her. “I’m trying to see if you have any cuts or bruises, in case I have to go run to get the nurse.” She started to touch my hooves. I brushed her away. “I’m okay; I don’t need the nurse.” “Are you-“ “I’m sure,” I told her. “I don’t need the nurse.” It looked like she had something else she wanted to say, but she simply sighed and sat next to me. We sat there for a while, not saying anything to one another, just letting the soft breeze brush up against us. “So, why did you get into that fight with those sixth graders to begin with?” she asked me. I looked at her. “Why do you want to know?” “Because I’m curious?” She shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” “You are some curious filly, aren’t you?” She rolled her eyes. “You going to answer my question or are you going to be a smart aleck?” I couldn’t help but shake my head and smile. “You are something, you know that. Most don’t even bother to talk to me this long.” “So, you aren’t going to tell me then.” I held up my hooves. “Never said I wasn’t; just found that funny.” I leaned back on the bench and looked up at the tree’s branches. “They were making fun of my sister. I didn’t think it was funny. Nothing really hard to figure out.” She giggled at that, getting my attention in the process. “Okay, how is that funny?” She waved a hoof in the air. “It’s you, you doof. You’re different than I thought.” That took me back a bit. “What do you mean?” She smiled a little. “Don’t worry about it.” “You’re an odd one, you know that.” “Maybe; maybe not.” She got off of the bench. “You should be good for now. Doubt those three will come back because of that scare I said.” “Scare? What are you.....wait that was you? You saved my neck?” She just smiled and started to walk away. “You going to at least tell me your name?” I called out to her. She spun around and met my eyes. “I’m Nightingale.”
WhinneyIdea 5: Whinney A crowd of ponies followed Twilight and me as we left the theaters, the two of us talking about what we just watched. She wanted to go see a Whinney movie the theater was showing with the girls, but they each had something to do. Oddly enough, each one of them told her to invite me to go watch it, which ended up happening since I had nothing to do. “I still don’t think most of that movie could actually happen,” Twilight said as we rounded a corner. “It just wouldn’t make sense.” “Which parts?” I asked her. “The talking to animals, the magical help, two ponies falling for one another at first sight...” She shook her head. “You know what I mean Grey.” “Oh, I know what you meant Twilight,” I smiled, “just felt like being a smart-aleck.” She turned around to give me a look, which just made me chuckle. “Besides, even if the points I think you were talking about don’t really make sense, it doesn’t really take away from the movie.” “You like the story of how Cinder’s family treated her?” she asked me, stopping in her tracks. “Oh, no. I don’t like that part of the story, but I am a fan of the romance part of the movie.” I looked around, to see if anypony was listening in, before leaning in. “I’m a sucker for romance stories where ponies end up happily ever after in the end.” “Never would have seen you like that Grey,” she told me. She tilted her head a bit and asked, “Wait, does that mean that you’re the one recommending all of those novels that Rarity reads?” “Oh no.” I ran a hoof through my mane. “I honestly don’t know where she gets all of them. It’s amazing in a weird kind of way.” Twilight went to say something, but my stomach cut her off. My ears burned at the moment. “Didn’t you eat all of our popcorn?” She said, a coy smile on her lips. “It’s theater popcorn; it doesn’t really fill you up.” Looking around, I realized that we weren’t all that far from Café Hay. “So, since my stomach is apparently demanding attention, would you like to get some late lunch, my treat?” Twilight’s smiled wide before coughing into her hoof; I swore that it got lighter and calmer in that one second, but odds are that it was all in my head. “Y-yes, I’d like that.” I led the way and we were able to get a table as soon as we arrived at the café. Twilight ordered a daisy sandwich and side salad while I ordered a veggie burger and hay fries. We chatted a little about how our week has been so far and about the movie we just watched; we didn’t even notice when our meals got to our table, at least not right away. “I still don’t get how they got away with treating Cinder like that,” Twilight said in between bites. “You’d think somepony would have found out before the prince got involved in her life.” “With any guests seeing her doing all the housework, I doubt they would have thought she was anything more than a housemaid.” I pointed a hay fry at her. “Though I’m with you on that front; they were really messed up to her for no real reason.” “Exactly,” she said, using her salad fork to accentuate the word. “It’s just like that whole ‘one true love kiss’ thing Whinney does.” Putting my burger down, I looked at her curiously. “What do you have against that?” “Well, it’s just that those kinds of things don’t happen in real life.” She padded the leaves of her salad. “It only happens in fairy tales.” I knew what I was going to say was going to be cheesy as possible, but I didn’t really care. “Just because it happens a lot in fairy tales doesn’t mean that it can’t happen in real life Twilight. Just means that it’ll have more of a meaning and impact when it happens.” Twilight seemed to hesitate for some reason before looking me straight in my eyes. “Grey?” “Yeah?” I replied. “Would you...would you ever....be okay with getting a Whinney like kiss from somepony?” The sounds of a heart beating a million miles an hour started to pound my ears, with the urge to run away as fast as Rainbow increasing with each beat. Even though I knew that that wouldn’t be the right answer, that it could offend Twilight in some way, the urge just kept increasing. Looking at her perfect violet orbs of hers didn’t help much. “W-w-well, I guess I’d be ok-kay with that,” I told her. “W-would just depend on the m-m-mare.” “What kind of mare would it be?” “W-well, I guess as long as its s-somepony that I know well and wouldn’t mind g-getting a kiss from me, it wouldn’t matter who.” The sound of somepony clearing their throat brought me out of wherever I was. Apparently the waiter has been trying to get our attention, to see if there was anything else that we’d like to order. I told him that we didn’t and he politely left. “Wonder why we...” I started, but suddenly came to a realization: Twilight and I were close, like really close. Our shoulders were rubbing against one another, sharing each other's warmth. Somehow, my tail had wrapped around hers, and I became aware of the warmth and weight of her hoof on mine. I looked up at Twilight and there were pools of red on her face, probably matching the ones I had on mine. She scooted away from me, trying to look everywhere but at my direction. “Are...are you okay?” I asked her. I went to grab her hoof, in hopes of calming her down if I did anything wrong, but she moved her hoof close to her chest. “Y-yes, I’m okay Grey. W-why wouldn’t I be?” she said quickly, laughing a little bit. “It’s just that you don’t really stutter unless you’re uncomfortable about something.” I gulped, feeling my ears lay flat on my head. “Did I do something wrong?” “No, of course not,” she said, raising her hooves. “It’s just that....that....that I just remembered I had to do something with Rarity and Pinkie right now! So, I have to go.” Before I could say anything, Twilight teleported away, leaving me alone, confused and bewildered with a few other café patrons looking at me funny. I left some bits at the table, enough for the check and a tip, and decided to go ask Icy what just happened.
DuetIdea 6: Duet I tapped on the microphone. “Yeah, I don’t hear it Juke,” I told him, lightly tapping the microphone again. “It sounds as good as usual. I think your hearing is-” Soft guitar plucking started to come out of the bar’s speakers, signaling for everypony inside to look to the stage, for somepony was about to perform. After two seconds of hearing the chords, I knew what song it would be. That being said, couldn’t help but glare at Juke and the smug grin he had on his face. If he wanted me to do another song, he could have just asked me. I took a breath and sang into the microphone, “Don’t remind me that somedays I’m a windshield,” using the song’s pauses to breathe before continuing on. When the cymbals joined in, I couldn’t help but smile, especially with the crowd clapping along with the beat. Couldn’t help but know that Juke was the one who started it. “Boy, I need a hug,” came a voice, providing backup vocals. Didn’t want to show how much that startled me. Seriously, who randomly provides backup vocals to a guy singing? Seems like my question was answered with Twilight singing right beside me when the chorus came. What’s more is that she sang the next two verses, spot on, almost as if she was the one who sung that portion to begin with. Now, that, that caught me off guard. Almost would have stopped singing if it wasn’t for her looking at me, her eyes telling me to keep going. When the chorus came back, I had to put that shock behind me and continue performing, each of us providing subtle background vocals to the other. Couldn’t help but shake my head, the whole situation being surreal, hopefully adding some of that bewilderment to my voice, adding another layer to the song. When the cymbals did a mini drop, I decided to go all in and gave our audience more of a show, with me sliding around and joking with Twilight, she not caring at how silly the whole thing probably was. We took turns singing each line of the next verse. Some might say that I showed off a wee bit with the following verse, but that would be completely silly and possibly maybe not completely untrue, especially since she showed off a wee bit at the ending line. We each gave each other a bashful look, along with a small smile. Not sure if it was me or the song, but I walked up to her and grabbed onto her hoof. “And if I reached for her hoof for the rest of my life,” I sang, looking into her eyes. “Who knew the other side could be so green?” she sang, just as the cymbal clash signaled the end of the song. The two of us stood there, looking at each other, for what felt like hours, just the sound of us slowly breathing to catch our breath.
