The Story of Riddle the ponyby Riddle the ponyChaptersThe start of a long taleSecretsA talk with DashThe start of a long taleBeware of the Everfree Forest! Turn back Now! I rolled my eyes, I knew where I was going despite the many signs telling me to turn around. I was a bit annoyed that nopony manged to care for this dirt path I was walking along, at least they could've done was trim the plants near the path, but sadly nopony had the gut to walk even close to the forest. Even the elderly stallion I had met before entering the forest told me that it was a stupid thing to do, which was pretty surprising to me that they treated this forest so badly. Thankfully, I spotted a hut nearby hoping to Ceslestia that the pony there had some respect for nature. I walked into the clearing and admired the hut since I never saw a hut like it. "Hello there my friend, what brings you to my den?" a rich exotic voice ringed out from the window. I looked and was surprised, in the window was a very friendly looking zebra. "Sorry to intrude my dear zebra but I was wondering if you knew where Ponyvile is?" I spoke after walking closer to the window. "Ah! Ponyvile is that way" She points toward another path that was, thankfully, clear of branches. "May I ask from where have you came, and your name? She said with a bit poetic passion and a nice smile. "I'm from Canterlot" I said with a bit of pride "My name is Riddle, thank you miss." I went over to the path and went down it thankful for the nice zebra and realizing that I didn't ask for her name. Welcome to Ponyvile! I read the first sign that didn't tell me to turn around and go away which was nice for a change. Slowly, I walked around Ponyvile and looked around at everything. I had to admit, it was nice, really nice and homey. I was walking past "Sugarcube Corner" when a bouncing pink mare ran right in front of me and we both fell over. Naturally, I got up first and helped her back up. "Are you alright?" I was pretty worried since she looked a bit dizzy. But my fears were for nothing as she started laughing and giggling like a filly. "Well of course I'm fine, what pony wouldn't be happy to meet a new friend?" I was shocked, I knocked her to the ground and she was fine with it? I just never heard of something like that. "Um.... I meant if you were hurt." The pony giggled up again. "I know that, I mean of course I am fine but I was wondering what a new unicorn was here by Sugarcube Corner?!" She gasps loudly. "You must try their cupcakes!" Suddenly I was being pull by my collar into Sugarcube corner by the energetic pink mare before I could say a word. Well.... I was a bit hungry. Sugarcube Corner I read the sign as the crazed pink pony pulled me inside with strength I couldn't figure out where she got it from. Finally she plopped me in front of two elderly pony which I assumed were a couple. "I brought you another customer!" The pink mare bounced around the store. "Oh dear, I'm sorry about that sir, Pinky Pie can be an bit..... energetic." The wife pony said watching Pinky Pie bounce. "A bit?!" I was silently thinking. "It's fine" I said getting up again. "Truthfully, I was kind of hungry. Could I get a batch strawberry cupcakes?" The couple looked a bit surprised but thankfully smiled. "Yes sir" They went to work as I watched Pinky bounce off walls. ("How does she do that and still have energy?!")After a bit, a plate full of steaming hot cupcakes was put on the table in front of me, I had to admit, they smelled good! I picked up the plate carefully with my magic and brought it to a table so I could start eating, Pinky decided to stop bouncing long enough to come over and start eating with me. As we started to eat, I noticed that Pinky had no table manners as she chopped down each cupcake licking the frosting on her nose while I took small bites savoring the incredible taste. While we were eating an orange mare walked in with an apple basket and put it on the counter. "Here ya go, this weeks apples." The husband nodded and put them away. "Thank you Applejack." Applejack turned to leave when she saw Pinky Pie and then saw me, our eyes met for a second and then she walked over to us. "Howdy there, I see ya'll met Pinky." She said as she stood in front of us. "Uh huh! He's new or I would've seen him before!" Pinky Pie said through her 7th cupcake as she got up for more. I had to say it."Is she always-?" I started to ask Applejack. "Yes." Applejack answered with a sigh. "But that's why she's interesting to be around." I simple nodded, I knew that she was asked this a lot from her sigh. "So..... what's your name?" Applejack said trying to change the subject. "Riddle." I answered back biting into another cupcake I hide from Pinky Pie. "Applejack, nice to meet ya." She said watching Pinky devour countless cupcakes and slices of cake. After a little bit more me and Applejack left Pinky to eat in peace. *** After a walk with Applejack Applejack was teaching me about Apple-bucking. "So you see, you simply kick the apples lose and they will fall into the baskets" She does a quick buck on an apple tree to prove the point, each apple falls in with precision. "Wow, that's pretty cool." I said impressed. "Could I try?" Applejack looked unsure but smiled. "Sure, just be careful." I saw a pretty good tree and followed Applejack's example only to find the apples falling in multiple directions while Applejack started to giggle. "You had a pretty good start but work on where you hit. do it a few times while I get the apples put in the baskets." I shook my head. "No need, here." I used my magic to lift the apples into the baskets, which Applejack shook her head. "We don't use magic here on the farm to do work Riddle. We do things the old fashion way here." I was a bit confused why, but I stopped using magic since it was her farm and stop pressing the matter since she didn't want to talk about. "Ok, sorry, I didn't know." I was honestly sorry, but she seemed to get even more mad. She muttered something about "Unicorns who can't keep their magic under control" and started Apple-bucking again. I joined her and we continued to Apple-buck until the job was done. *** After we finished Apple-Bucking, I was having dinner with the whole Apple family. I had to say it was one of the best meals I ever had, I ate whatever they put in front of me and they didn't seem to run out of food. Big Macintosh was sitting next to me on my right while Applejack was on my left, both watching me in amusement as I packed my cheeks with sweet treats. It was a bit embarrassing since I bet I looked a lot like Pinky Pie when she was shoving food down her throat but the Apple-Bucking made me really hungry so I really didn't care. "Better?" Applejack asked me after I slowed down my eating. I couldn't help but grin and lick my lips. "Much." Suddenly I felt really tired as my eyes started to droop. "First time Apple-buckers are always are tired afterwords, do you have anywhere to stay?" Applejack looked a bit worried for some reason. I knew that I had no place to stay, except maybe a hotel, so I just shrugged. "You could stay here if you want." Applejack said. The caused Big Mac to give his sister a quizzical look. I felt that it was a bit weird to stay the night at their house when I didn't know them that well but they seemed nice so I thought it would be fine. "Ok, sure. Where would I sleep?" *** At Dawn the next morning Applejack woke up in her bed as usual, her head telling her to stay in bed a bit longer instead of getting up to help around the farm. Slowly, she wiggled out of her bed and headed towards the bathroom when she saw the unicorn sleeping on the floor in front of her bed. Then she remembered the unicorn was her guest and was confused why he was sleeping on the floor instead of the spare mat in the room, so she nudged him until he woke up. "Unh?" I groaned as I woke up. "Hey, why aren't you on the sleeping mat I gave you?" Riddle looked around before returning his gaze to Applejack. "I thought I was." He got up and shook his mane, stretching his muscles. "It's fine Applejack, I've been worse. So is it okay if I help out some more today?" Applejack shook her head. "I thank ya for helping yesterday, but really, I don't want to impose." I just smiled. "Nonsense, I would be glad to help. After all, you did give me a place to stay for the night." He looked around for a bit. "Have you seen my hat? I could've sworn it was next to me." Applejack looked around and saw it by the bed. "There it is." Riddle walked over to the bed,picked up the stylist black hat with his magic and put it on. "Thanks, I'll leave you to get ready." He leaves the room as Applejack gets ready to take her shower. Applejack stepped out of the house after getting dressed to see Riddle helping Big Mac apple bucking the other side of the farm's trees. She smiled and walked over to them but stopped and listened to them the second she heard her name. ".... So she knows other ponies in town well?" Riddle asked as Applejack tried to decide whether to stop eavesdropping or keep listening. "Eeyup, she knows every pony in Ponyvile" Riddle stopped to give Big Macintosh another basket. "So who are her friends? I know Pinky Pie, but I'm wondering if their all like her." Big Mac had a good laugh. "Naw, their more relaxed... most of the time. Theirs Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, uh Rarity and um Twilight." Riddle kept working and moving the baskets in and out of the way when they got filled with apples. "They definitely sound interesting, maybe after we finish, me and Applejack can go talk to them." He clears his throat and states loudly."That is if you want to go and see them Applejack, instead of hiding behind that apple tree" Applejack could feel herself blushing as she stepped closer. "How long did you know?" Riddle looks unsurprised but smiles. "Since you walked up, so what do you think?" Applejack was confused. "About what?" Big Mac chuckles. "About showing him to your friends little sis." Applejack looked relieved. "Sure, they should be around town somewhere. So let's finish up here and go and look." The trio continue the work until every tree was bare of apples. *** Applejack and I walked around Ponyvile looking for a unicorn named "Rarity". I had to say, I heard about this pony from one of my old friends and he was going gaga over her designs. I wondered what she looked like and told Applejack my thoughts. "Well, she's a unicorn with a white mane and purple hair." I nodded and kept walking, I was after all going to see her. We walked up to the door of her shop, I was going to knock but Applejack already opened the door and waited for me in the doorway. "Come on then! You don't need to be formal." "OK." I walked in and was amazed at the outfits in her shop. There must have been at least half a hundred of the most stunning, amazing styles I saw since Canterlot. "Rarity, y'all have guests" Applejack said as we walked into a room where a stunning mare was creating dresses. "Ah, Applejack dear, could you give me a moment." The mare said keeping focused on the dress she was working on. After putting the finishing touches, she turned and faced us. "Oh, you brought a friend." She walked up to me with a bit of grace. "I'm Rarity, I run the store here in Ponyvile, keeping every pony fabulous!" She looked at my dirty clothes with delight. "You came in for a change! Oh how simply marvelous!" "Um, I rather you didn't." I didn't want to dash her hopes but my clothes were just fine, old, but reliable. Besides, I didn't want to reveal my wings just yet. "Oh....... are you sure? You might like the new you." Rarity said with the cutest look trying to make me break,I very nearly did but I held strong. "I'm sure, maybe some other time." Applejack coughed and got our attention. "I hate to be rude but I still need to show him around Rarity." Rarity smiled. "I understand, see you two some other time." We walked out of Rarity's store and continued to walk around. Applejack nudged me. "A bit for your thoughts?" I shook my head "Nope, it's nothing." Applejack couldn't help but grin. "Thinking about Rarity?" I felt a ping of sadness as I told her. "No..., about my home." She stopped grinning and we walked together in silence. SecretsWe continued to walk along the path in town to find another one of Applejack's friends, this time to find a "Twilight" which sounded kind of different compared to the other ponies here. We walked up to a library and went in, from what Applejack has told me she was sort of an "egghead with magic" in a way. We both went in and were met with a purple unicorn pacing in a well made rut in the ground, I kept my distance since I knew that she was clearly stressing on something to the point where her magic would be dangerous. "Howdy Twilight" Applejack said as she tripped over a pile of crumbled papers. "Oh no, tell me your not worrying about those those stupid letters again, are you?" "I need to send Princess Ceslestia a letter every week! Or I'm nothing but a bad student! Twilight seemed to add more to the word "overworked"; she looked exhausted,hungry, and frantic. "Easy there sugarcube, why dont'cha ya sit down and rest? You’re stressing too much over nothing." Applejack nudged Twilight towards the bed, hoping she could take the hint. Twilight however was way too stressed to stop and instead moved back to her attempts to make a decent letter. "Um, maybe we should go. She doesn't look like she's budging." I tried to reason with Applejack but by Ceslestia she pushed past me and shook Twilight hard. "Listen sugarcube, I know that your stressed by I don't you flippin' out on us again! Please just rest." I was a bit confused on just when Twilight flipped out but I knew better to pry on personal matters, especially when it came to mares when they were upset. Twilight started to calm down when a small dragon walked into the room, surprising me since I was right next to door and didn't expect to see a dragon up close, naturally, I was scared. "Hey Twilight, how's the letter going?" the small dragon said as he walked up. "Applejack? What are you doing here? I thought you were working today." "I was, but I had some extra help so I get it done faster." Applejack looked around to find me on top of the bookshelf. "What the hay are ya doing up there? Get down before you hurt som'thing." I shook my head; there was no way I was coming down while a fire breathing dragon was standing in the same room as me. "Don't tell me your scared of a puny- eeny weeny, cute little baby dragon, are you?" Applejack said with a smirk, even Twilight seemed to relax and snicker a bit. "Come on!" the small dragon groaned. "Stop treating me like a baby." Twilight moved to the dragon's side and pinched his cheek. "But you still are a baby dragon Spike." Spike moved away and rubbed his cheek. "Doesn't mean I can't have a bit of respect once in a while." he looked over at me, still clinging on the top of the bookshelf. "Relax; I don't even have full control of my flames yet. You can come down now." I slowly eased down from the top, careful not to knock anything down as I made it down, trying to hold on to whatever bit of dignity I had left after that performance. "So, this is Riddle. He's new to town, he spent most of yesterday and this morning helping me and Big Mac." Applejack introduced me to her dragon Spike and Twilight. "Pleasure, say... you seem pretty familiar. Have we met before?" Twilight said as we shook hoofs. "No... um... I just have one of those faces ponies seem to remember." I said as I moved away out the door. Applejack was confused but followed him out. "Um Twilight... where did you remember Riddle from?" Spike asked as he closed the door. Twilight looked thoughtful as she started to clean up her mess of letter fragments. "Well, I remember it was in a book. I was reading a few weeks ago." Suddenly she looked up from her letters and rushed to one of her bookshelves. "Twilight? What is it?" Spike followed and dodged a few books as she flung them down from the bookshelf. Twilight pulled a old worn book from the top shelf, laid it on the table nearby and flipped to the index . "O... P... Q... R!" She flipped through a few pages and found a story labeled "The Rejected Son" by Clover Clever. Spike looks at the picture in the front of the story, it showed an alicorn, tied tightly, being pushed off of Canterlot's edge by Ceslestia herself. In the background were dragons watching over the scene, seemly ready to attack. "He looks just like Riddle!" Twilight quickly moved Spike away as she noticed bleeding cuts on the alicorn, hoping Spike wouldn't get nightmares. " You don't want to read this Spike. Trust me, it's not pretty, but basically it's about a alicorn born from a peasant earth pony and Ceslestia herself." Spike was confused and tried to look at the book again. "So? Why does that matter so much?" Twilight shook her head, closed the book, and put it away. "It matters because at that time royalty couldn't... um... well you know. Anyway, if royalty was found to have been with a peasant, there were only two things that could happen." Spike didn't like where this was going but he did it anyway because of his curiosity. "What could happen?" Twilight pushed Spike away from the bookshelf. "I shouldn't say, I wouldn't feel right to tell you. Something’s are just too cruel to say." Spike held his ground and kept her from moving him away. "What would happen?" Twilight sighed and moved towards the window and saw Riddle and Applejack talking. "The child would be banished and stripped of their heritage," Twilight sighed and looked away. "Or... the child would be killed and the father would be imprisoned and... tortured until death." Spike could only gasp in horror. ********** Applejack was curious about Riddle’s sudden fear, since he seemed pretty calm before. “Why are ya afraid of Spike?” I shook my head, still shaken up about seeing a dragon again. “I rather not say, sorry.” I walked away before it got to my past but I was a little too slow. “Did something happen to you?” I froze; this was something I didn’t want to talk about, not even a little bit. “No…” Applejack got up from her seat and stood in front of Riddle, stopping him from leaving. “You’re lying, what’s wrong?” “It’s nothing, Applejack, could you please drop it?” “No, ether ya tell me, or I bug ya until I find out myself.” “Applejack, please drop it.” “No.” “Applejack-“ “No, tell me Riddle” “Applejack, stop it, I don’t want to talk about it” “Well I’m not going stop until ya tell me.” “By Ceslestia! Are all of you ponies so damn stubborn?!” I snarled angrily. Applejack jumped back in surprise, she thought this normal unicorn was so calm but now he was snarling at her. I quickly realized what I just did and stopped. “Applejack… I’m… I’m sorry. Please forgive me, but it’s something I don’t want to talk about. It hurts too much.” Applejack tried to give him a hug to try and forgive him. “It’s okay; I was just worried is all. I didn’t want to see you upset.” We remained in the hug for a few seconds; I felt tears run down my cheeks as we broke out of the hug. It felt like years since I had an honest hug, and somepony who cared for me. I felt… happier. “Um… Riddle? Could I talk to you for a second? It won’t take long, just a few minutes.” I turned to see Twilight standing nearby; I quickly wipe away my tears. “Sure, just give me a second.” I gave Applejack a quick smile and followed Twilight back into the library. I stepped into the library and Twilight closed the door with a click. “So Twilight… what did you want to talk to me about?” “Oh, it’s nothing really. It’s just I didn’t get to know you so well since, you know, you ran up the bookshelf.” I frowned. “You’re not going to tell anypony about that are you?” Twilight gave me a sly smile but before I could be serious she started to giggle. “Nah, but it’s kinda funny. Big tough unicorn is scary of a baby dragon.” I continued to frown. “Not a baby dragon, BIG, Scary Dragons.” Twilight tilted her head to one side. “Do you know somepony named Fluttershy?” “No, should I know her?” “I guess not, but she shares your fears.” This was interesting. “Really? Maybe I should visit her at some point, say hi.” I still held my frown though. “You still need to promise me that you won’t tell anypony.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Fine, I swear I won’t say anything. So get rid of that stupid frown, you’ll get wrinkles.” “I’m not that old.” “Could’ve fooled me, you look like you’ve seen a lot.” I gave her a curious look. “And what pray tell shows it off?” “Well the cuts are a good start, where did you get those?” I frowned. “Walking through the Everfree Forest, there are a lot of sharp branches” Twilight walked closer to me. “They seem pretty deep for simply branch cuts. What about the heavy clothes you wear, during the summer heat wave?” I was pretty annoyed at her constant questions. “I like them, they fit well.” “Uh huh, or are you hiding something you don’t want others to see?” This time I walked closer to her until we were face to face, staring angrily. “And what do you think I’m hiding, little pony? Twilight looked into my eyes with a stern look as a yellow pegasus walked into the library with another pegasus in a blue color. “Um… “ The other pegasus jumped between me and Twilight; she shifted into a fight stance. “What the hell were you about to do?” I stood my ground; she didn’t scare me in the slightest. “Look mare, I was only-“ She got in my face, trying to scare me. “Back off her now, or this gets ugly.” Twilight tried to stop the pegasus. “Rainbow, relax, I’m-“ I didn’t even let her finish, so I moved Twilight out of the way and got in Rainbow’s face.” I’m not scared of you, mare. Stop trying to act tough. Dash started to freak out, clearly annoyed by me. “That’s it! You crossed the line! I challenge you to a fight! Twilight’s eyes sprang open in surprise. “A fight?! Rainbow Dash! You must be kidding!” I made sure to show my angry side, Dash seemed to flinch but shook it off. “You’re on, where?” “Sweet Apple Acres, lunch time, don’t be late.” Dash stormed out, pulling the yellow pegasus out with her. Twilight stopped me before I could leave. “Please tell me you’re not going.” “I am.” “No, I’m not letting you hurt my friend.” “That’s your friend? She’s pretty hotheaded; even so, I can’t back out of a fight. She needs to learn control and I’ll be the one to teach her.” “If you hurt her, I swear, you’ll face me and you’ll lose.” “Relax; I’m not going hurt her bad. Just enough so she’ll learn to back off once in a while, I swear.” I was about to leave when I realized something. “Um… Twilight?” “Yes?” “Um… where’s Sweet Apple Acres?” Twilight face hoofs and sighs. “Applejack’s farm.” “Right… thanks.” ****** I was standing by the barn when Rainbow Dash landed right in front of me, looking ready to take on all of Equestria. “Are you ready to lose?” I shrugged. “Are you?” She was going insane from my taunts, she looked pretty angry. “You’re going down!” She swung at me, trying to clock me in the jaw. I dodged it by a hair length and spun around before bucking her straight in the head causing her to fall to the ground in a daze. “Ow…” She groaned as she got up before she snapped her wings into place and soared straight at me. I didn’t have time to move out of the way. Next thing I know, I’m being held very high in the air by my collar. “What the hell are you doing?!” Rainbow Dash grinned “Seeing how tough you really are.” That’s when she let go. Now, I know that some ponies love to fly, personally I don’t mind a bit of air through my mane. However, when a pegasus drops me from the sky with no change to survive, it can be pretty understandable to scream like a little filly on the way down. I was about to hit the ground when Rainbow Dash swooped in and grabbed me by my clothes and tossed me into a pile of hay. Rainbow Dash landed next to the pile and started to laugh really hard. “You looked like such an idiot! Not so tough now, huh? After I showed you who the true pony around here is?” I couldn’t help but grin as I tackled her and pinned her wings and fore hooves down. “Nah, your still 2nd best on the ground. But still not bad, you got me by surprise this time.” Rainbow Dash struggled to break free but couldn’t get through my grip. “It’s 3rd best down on the ground, Applejack holds the title.” She sighs and stops struggling. “Can you let go now?” “Sure.” I ease up and got off her, only to get pinned myself. She was grinning as she held me down. “One question, who are you?” “Riddle, your Rainbow Dash right?” “Oh, so you do know my name. Good, “mare” was getting pretty old.” She got up and shook off some dust. I did the same. “Introductions never came up, what was I supposed to call you?” Rainbow Dash gave me a look. “Anything but mare, so, why are you here in Ponyvile?” “I’m just passing through. Plan to stay here for a few nights before I head out again.” “Huh, where are you from?” “Canterlot.” Rainbow Dash gave me another look. “For a pony from Canterlot you seem less snotty than the other ponies.” I chuckled. “Traveling does that to you, you lose the attitude that you own the place after enough ponies beat you up.” Rainbow Dash started to smile. “You’re not bad, see you around.” She snapped her wings out and soared out into the sky. I couldn’t help but smile as I walked back to Twilight’s; already I had made a few good friends.” ******* I walked in with good spirits when I saw Twilight, then my feelings disappeared. Twilight stood in front of me with a sad look. “I know.” “Know what?” “Guess.” I was a bit confused but went along with it. “Um… I dunno. What is it?” “Your past.” I blinked in surprise and lowered my head. “… I see. When did you find out?” “A few weeks ago, but I only connected the dots when you showed up today at the library.” I kept my head pointed at the floor and closed my eyes. “What gave me away?” “There was a book written about you, by Clover the Clever.” I blushed and face hoofed. “Damn it, after I told her not to say anything, she goes and writes a book.” Twilight tried to pat Riddle's back but her pushed her away. “Don’t touch me; I don’t need your pity.” Twilight was surprised at his sudden threatening voice and cowered. “Riddle, please, I just want to understand.” I gave her a withering stare and got in her face. “You could never understand what I went through, don’t you dare tell me otherwise!” Twilight started to wimper and back away after Riddle’s wings tore free of his clothes. “I… just… wanted… to… help.” I took a breath and calmed down. “I’m… sorry, it… it hurt so much.” I lowered my head in shame. “I should’ve taken it out on you.” Twilight hesitantly gave Riddle a hug to calm him down, he started to cry. “It’s ok Riddle, it’s ok.” “I’ve… I’ve just been so lonely; no pony ever seemed to care about me. It took hundreds of years for me to come out again and try to do this.” “So you’re really hundreds of years old? “ “Yep. A thousand and one to be precise.” “Seriously?” “Yeah, is that so hard to believe?” “To be honest… yeah it is.” Suddenly she smiles. “So you and Clover had a thing?” I couldn’t hold back my blushing. “Yeah, did she write about…?” “Nah, your clear there.” Then she grinned after I sighed in relief “She didn’t mention it in too much detail” I felt like dying right there. “How popular was it? How many books were made?” “Pretty popular, it sold over 2 million in the first year.” I felt my knees give out in shock; I could barely gasp in the pure shock and embarrassment. “Does any pony else know now?” Twilight’s smile vanished as she stopped hugging me. “Nope, Celestia banned them a few years later after Clover promised a sequel with an interview with Celestia herself. I’ve got the only one left.” “Good.” I got up, shaking off the shock. “I don’t want anypony else to know. Please don’t tell anypony about me.” Twilight’s smile returned. “What will I get in return?” “Uh… what do you want?” “Everything you know about Clover, everything.” “I don’t know, I'm not sure she would like it if I blab about her." "It's her or I'm talking about you, your choice." I hung my head. "Fine, but this might take a while and I think I left Applejack for way too long. Some other time." "Tomorrow night. If Applejack asks, it's a sleepover." "Fine, bring paper and something to write with." I left before she could say anything else. A talk with Dash“A sleepover?” Applejack couldn’t believe what she hearing. “Yea, what’s the problem?” I said as I picked up my hat from the ground outside the house. “It’s only for the night.” “Sugar, ya are twice her size and probably weight three times her weight. Forgive me if I seem a bit worried.” I turned around and gave her a strange look. “Are you suggesting that I might hurt her? Applejack, you insult me.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “I did just meet ya yesterday, something about you still are a bit shady.” I sighed. “Applejack, I won’t hurt her. In fact, she’s the one forcing me to come.” Applejack giggled and walked closer to Riddle before looking him in the eyes. “Forcing ya? That shy little bookworm mare? Ha! What could she have on ya that’d force you? I moved away before she could see my blush. “You don’t want to know, trust me. I’ll be back tomorrow, are we still gonna try and make my hut?” “Of course, ya are staying here for a while right?” I hated to lie but I put on my best fake smile, I didn’t want to leave quite yet. “Yeah, I’m not going anywhere for a while.” “Good.” Before I could go inside she put her hoof on my shoulder. “I didn’t want to ask but… what’s with those gashes? “ I winced; I was hoping not to lie to her so soon. “Just some cuts going through the forest, those branches really hurt.” “Also, I couldn’t help but notice ya’ll never wear anything that shows ya cutie marks, why is that?” I couldn’t help but smile “I didn’t know anypony was looking for it. Are you?” Applejack blushed but she got a grip. “Funny, you didn’t answer my question.” “I just have the habit of wearing clothes for cold weather, I did travel through most of Equestria, things can get pretty cold if you’re not prepared. But you didn’t answer my question ether, are you looking at where my cutiemarks are? Applejack was hoping somepony would interrupted them so she couldn’t answer. “Um… excuse me… if you don’t mind.” The voice came from behind us. “Ah… Fluttershy… you came at the right time.” Applejack walked over to the pegasus. I looked over to Appejack and saw the yellow pegasus from before. “Hey, Fluttershy.” She shyly looked away. “You know me?” “Not really, Twilight mentioned you before. Something about a dragon.” Fluttershy jumped in surprise and hid behind Applejack. “Dragon?! Where?!” Applejack gave me a sour look before comforting Fluttershy. “Easy there sugarcube, there’s no dragon around here.” Fluttershy slowly moved out from behind Applejack. “Really?” Applejack tries to hold back her annoyed sigh. “Yes, just relax now.” “Oh… ok, um, Rainbow Dash… wanted to see somepony named Riddle. She said he’d be here with you.” I raised a hoof. “Present, what did she want to see me about?” “Um… she something about a talk with you. I’m uh… supposed to walk you over.” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “She asked ya to bring him over for a talk? That seems a bit suspicious for Rainbow Dash; normally she just talks to ponies if she wants to talk to them.” “Um… I don’t know, I’m just supposed to bring him over.” Applejack gave Fluttershy an odd look “Where?” “Um… I’m not supposed to say.” Applejack looked pretty annoyed. “Then I’m coming with him.” Fluttershy shakes her head but still speaks softly. “You’re…um… not allowed, only Riddle.” I walked over to Applejack and patted her back. “Don’t worry, it’s just a talk. Besides, I can handle myself.” Applejack sighs but keeps her determined look. “Fine, but if anything happens, you will tell me right?” “Of course, see you soon.” I followed Fluttershy to find Rainbow Dash. ********** I followed Fluttershy to an air carriage after walking through the town. I raised an eyebrow to Fluttershy. “What is this?” Fluttershy was quiet. “It’s a quick way to Rainbow Dash… just get in… um… if you want.” I was a bit confused but stepped on with her as the stallions flew in a certain direction. “So where are we going?” Fluttershy was quiet but looked away. “I’m not supposed to say.” “Hey, Applejack isn’t here and I want an idea of what’s going on.” “Well… um… ok, but don’t tell Rainbow please.” I tapped my hoof impatiently. “Well?” “Well… um… we’re going to the… uh… one of the forests.” “Why are we going to the forest?” “Um… Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy blushed. “She wants to be alone with you” I was starting to get a bad feeling this was just a mistake, but I knew that I was too far from walking away. “Is this another fight?” “Um… not exactly.” ************* We landed in a clearing deep in the middle of a forest, Fluttershy pointed me in the right direction before the carriage flew off with her. I sighed and followed the direction she pointed until I hit another clearing; this one however had Rainbow Dash standing in the center. “I see you found you way alright.” Rainbow Dash said with a bit of pride. I however was completely suspicious. “Why did you bring me here?” She walked closer to me. “Just wanted to talk, is something wrong with that?” I frowned. “Only if things take too long, it’ll be dark soon and I need to keep an appointment with Twilight.” Rainbow Dash looked surprised. “You have an appointment with Twilight? For what?” I coughed nervously. “It’s none of your concern. What did you want to talk to me about?” Rainbow Dash walked until she was right in front of me. “About you, we have time, so talk on.” I was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. “Well um, I was born in Canterlot, lived there until I was 3 and left.” “Who were your mother and father?” Crap, more lies, I hated to lie. “My father was an earth pony, my mother… I never knew her but she must’ve been a unicorn or, you know, I would be a earth pony.” “Where did you go after you left Canterlot?” I could tell the truth this time, she wouldn’t go and check. “I went to the far off lands, where sand and heat are common things each day. I lived there for 6 years and moved on to other communities until I ended up here.” Rainbow Dash was extremely close to me that I could feel her breath. “Last question, are you seeing Applejack?” My eyes popped out in surprise. “Wha-what?!” “You heard me? Are you or not?” I was glad it wasn’t about my past but this was equally awkward. “No, I’m not. We’re just friends.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “Good, then she won’t mind this.” Then she started to kiss me on the lips. I was completely off guard but pushed her away, wiping my lips. “What are you doing?!” Rainbow Dash looked at me weirdly “Kissing you, why? Is something wrong?” “Of course there’s a problem! Why were you kissing me?!” Rainbow Dash started to look hurt. “I like you; you seem like a good pony. Why are you so upset?” “Because you just kissed me without any warning!” Rainbow Dash looked annoyed. “I thought you said that you weren’t seeing Applejack.” “I’m not.” “You have feelings for her though.” “No, I don’t.” “Yes you do, I noticed that your right eye twitches every time you lie. You do.” Crap, found out. “Ok, fine, I do like her. What’s wrong with that?” “I like you, you like her, she probably likes you. You seem to get everypony to like you.” “Look Dash, I’m sorry but I like Applejack.” It started to get dark, it was time to go. “How do I go back to town?” Rainbow Dash looked like she wanted to stay quiet but sighed and pointed where I came from. “Go back where Fluttershy dropped you off, she should be waiting to pick you up and bring you back.” I gave Rainbow Dash a quick hug. “I’m sorry.” I headed back to Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash was pretty upset, her hopes dashed in seconds without a chance. She flew back to Ponyvile while Riddle was brought to Twilight’s library. I got off the air carriage and paid for the ride since apparently Rainbow Dash didn’t pay them and Futtershy was dead broke. I walked away with Fluttershy, hoping she would be somewhat less shy and embarrassed around me. In the distance by a plain I saw a stage with ponies going towards it. “Hey Fluttershy, what is that in the distance?” Futtershy continued to walk with me. “Oh…um… Vinyl Scratch is playing tonight.” I stopped in my tracks. “Vinyl? You mean Scratch? Vinyl Scratch?” “Um… yes?” I felt the old anger flare up in me. “When?” when she didn’t answer fast enough I snapped at her. “When?!” “I… um… don’t… know.” She looked pretty scared, she actually cowered in front of me but I didn’t pay her any attention. My hated rival was here, and she was doing a gig, this was too much to pass up but I still had to see Twi. “Go home Fluttershy.” “Wait, what… what are you gonna do?” I felt nothing but pure rage. “Nothing you need to worry about, run home.” Fluttershy walked back to her house quickly wondering why Riddle seemed so cold and angry. ****** I was walking towards the stage, hearing the heavy beats as I walked past the ponies blocking my way, after knocking enough ponies out of my way the ponies seemed to make way for me. Up on the Dj stand was… her. Vinyl Scratch is one of the few ponies that I truly hated and became my Dj rival. She was having a lot of fun, smiling as she always did while she played the beats. Just seeing her made my blood boil, she looked pretty damn happy. “VINYL SCRATCH!” I yelled her name after moving to the center of the crowd. Everything quieted down, ponies stopped dancing, everypony was staring at me including Vinyl. She crossed her forehooves and smiled as she saw me. “Well, well, well. It appears my loser rival decided to come and lose again. Hello there Shine, how have you been?” I scowled at her. “I want a rematch, no tricks this time.” Vinyl came down from her stand, even though she was small compared to me, she was very confident. “I don’t know; why should I do a rematch to such an even victory?” I stared coldly into her eyes. “Because if was cheating and also because you don’t want to disappoint your fans here by declining a contest. Which Dj is better, once and for all.” A pony in her crowd gave her a reassuring nudge. “Don’t worry Vinyl, I’m sure you’ll wipe the floor with him.” Vinyl ooked around to see the other ponies nod in agreement. “Alright Shine, one song, and if you can’t beat me, I want you to give up being a Dj and put this stupid thing to rest.” “Fine, but if you lose I want your goggles to prove that I beat you.” Vinyl looked surprised. “My goggles? I thought you would want me to quit as a Dj.” “No… I don’t want that anymore. Just give me the goggles and say that I beat you, fair and square.” Vinyl crossed her forehooves and smiled again. “Alright, but where’s your gear? You can’t fight me if you don’t have your gear.” It was my turn to smile. “You have it, after you cheated; you took my gear as your own. The question is, do you have anything to play?” Vinyl shook her head. “That’s not yours anymore, I won that. It’s mine, so how about you get some gear and we’ll battle some other time.” I was pretty annoyed that she was dodging our battle but stuck out my hoof. “2 months, right here.” She shook my hoof and smiled. “You on, try not to lose again Shine, you don’t want to disappoint the fans, do you?” She turned to the fans. “It’s that right, ponies?” The ponies started whooping and cheering as I nod. ************ I was walking away from the stage when Twilight ran up in front of me. “Why didn’t you tell us this?” “It’s none of you business, piss off.” Twilight binked in surprise. “ Excuse me?” “I said piss off, or I’ll knock you down. I have some work to do.” Twilight was completely shocked at his new behavior. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you so rude?” I pushed her aside and kept moving. “I have work to do, ether help me or go to hell.” Twilight started to get angry; she used her magic to hold Riddle in place. “What’s going on? You were so nice when you came to the library.” I lost all of my patience from seeing Scratch, I used my magic to toss her against a tree. She smashed against it hard; I think a heard a crack but I was already walking away. I made sure not to kill her; I only put enough force to paralyze her for a few minutes. I immediately regretted it; after all, she was only trying to understand. I picked her up with my magic and brought her to the library. *********** Twilight woke up in her bed with an ice pack on her head and a throbbing pain in her side. “Ow…” “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you too much.” Twilight turned and saw Riddle by her bed, he readjusts her ice pack, Twilight moves away. “Stay away from me. Where’s Spike?” “It’s not that bad, you should be fine in a few hours. Spike is fine; he went to Rarity’s for the night.” Twilight gives Riddle an evil stare. “You hurt me, who the hell are you.” I frown. “Riddle, duh. You need to relax.” Twilight stands up shakily, trying to keep standing. “No, Riddle was a kind and caring pony, even when I only met him once, I could tell he would be important someday. You are a fake.” This was getting out of hand; I didn’t want this coming out yet. I stared at her, hoping she would make this easier. “Twilight, you need to listen to me.” She didn’t look at me. “Twilight, I can explain, just look at me.” Twilight slowly looks at Riddle, before things around her started to get hazy. The walls seemed to break away but Riddle just stands by her, never breaking his gaze. Riddle’s eyes seem to be endless but they seemed to change from their normal green to violet. Riddle spoke but the voice wasn’t his, it was feminine with a dark tone to it. “You know too much Sparkle; I can’t let you say anything. I am very sorry, you weren’t supposed to find out.” Twilight felt powerless, her body felt miles away and her magic wasn’t responding. “Y-you are an f-fake, aren’t y-you? W-who are y-you?” Riddle’s wings swung out as the spell wore off; in his place was a black and grey alicorn with violet eyes, and a cut streaked across her face. “I am Nightshade, and you, dear mare, aren’t going remember a thing.” Twilight collapsed on the bed, unable to move, think or breathe. Then she coughed on the air of life and fell into a deep and dreamless nightmare, limp in her bed. Nightshade closed her wings and redid the spell; Riddle returned and tucked her into the bed. “Sweet dreams little one, may the night ever embrace you heart.” Riddle kissed her forehead and slept in the other bed. Sweet Apple Acres, at Dawn Applejack was working on Riddle’s hut in the morning when Riddle appeared from Ponyvile. Applejack looked up from her work and saw Riddle walking towards the frame. “Howdy Riddle, how was the sleepover?” I cracked my neck. “It was good; Twilight showed me an amazing spell. She must’ve over done it since she knocked herself out though.” Applejack chuckles. “That pony, one of these days she’s gonna wear herself clean out. Ya mind helping on this?” “Not at all, it is my soon to be hut.” I used my magic to help put bricks in place. “Riddle, I thought I said no magic, stop it.” I stopped but gave her a curious look. “Why? What do you have against magic?” “Well… since the wedding of Shining Armor and Cadence when the changelings attacked. I’ve been mighty freaked out about magic, I mean; those changelings could change into anypony. That scares me.” I was a bit annoyed but gave a fake smiled. “I understand, sometimes magic can be scary.” Suddenly a voice behind me spoke up. “Hey guys!” I jumped in surprise and landed on my face. “Ouch.” I looked and found Pinky Pie laughing behind me. “That’s not funny.” “Sure it is! I mean, what pony doesn’t like a good scare once in a while? Someponies just love a good prank!” Applejack groans. “Pinks, I wish ya didn’t discover ‘em pranks. There’s so much ya could do with ‘ur energy if ya just quit ‘em stupid pranks.” Pinky Pie just giggled. “Why? Their so fun! Anyways, Celestia’s coming down here to Ponyvile today!” I felt my jaw drop. “Celestia… here?” I grinned and thought “This is perfect, she’s gonna come down here for her son, what she won’t expect is me!” I noticed that the girls were blabbing about Celestia so I tried to listen in. “… She’s just so amazing! I can’t wait to see what she’ll do here today.” Pinky Pie said as she bounced happily around Applejack. Applejack however pulled Pinky Pie back to the ground. “Hang on their Pinks, why now? She only visits on important reasons, so what makes ya think she’s coming today?” “Because silly! My Pinky-sense told me.” Pinky Pie smiled. I was pretty confused when Applejack nodded like it made sense. “What’s Pinky-sense?” Applejack looks at me like I was wearing pants on my head. “It’s a feeling Pinks gets when something’s about to happen. You’ve never heard of that before?” I shook my head, sure I met some strange creatures that did things that would make fillies wet their beds but I never heard of a prediction that always came true. “Well know you do! Let’s go wait for her at Town Hall, she’s gonna talk there!” Pinky Pie started bouncing into town. Applejack and I followed behind; I was close to my goal. It was working. What could possibly go wrong? ********************* The Everfree Forest, at dawn A orange pony groaned as he got up from a hard stone surface. He wiped his face back into feeling while trying to remember how he got there. That’s when reality hit him like a ton of bricks when he touched the top of his head. “Where the hell‘s my favorite hat?!” The pony screamed as he checked around for his fateful hat only to find more bad news. “Damn it! My freaking armor’s gone too! Along with my map and food, I’ve been robbed!” He kicked a rock across the floor in anger. Suddenly as the rock slid into a wall, the wall opened up revealing a way out of his prison. “Well… open fucking sesame.” The pony walked out of the cave to face the forest. “At least I have a clue where I am… a freaking forest… yeah this is gonna work just fine.” He chuckled at his own bad luck. “It was bad enough getting robbed by the forest entrance, now I’m stuck in the fucking forest with no food, water, protection and my freaking hat.” He sighed started walking, for once he was wishing he took that old stallion at the entrance seriously. “Don’t go in there young one, this forest is known to make you lose your way.” He mimicked the stallion’s voice perfectly. That was another one of his talents that had no real value other than his amusement. “You know, the only reason I even went this stupid way to Ponyvile was because I was too cheap to buy a chariot ride over here. Serves me right for not paying the 10 bits for transit and taking the forest path instead.” He mused in his mind as he found an opening in the branches. He moved past the last branch to find a small town, Ponyvile to be precise. He grinned at the sight of it, now he could FINALLY try one of those Sweet Apple Acre apple pies that he took the whole trip out on from his temporary home in the Dusty Sands just to taste. Humming a song he was working on, he made his way to what looked like a farm in the distance. Zecora however was looking out her window as the pony walked by, and saw the familiar figure but now she saw a pair of wings on his sides instead of the armor she saw before. “Riddle? That one passed by, but another takes his place like a fly.” Zecora then walked out and stood in front of Riddle. “Excuse me my friend, what brings you back to my den?” The pony gave Zecora a weird look. “How do you know my name? We never met before.” He gave her another look but shrugged. “Haven’t met you, but it’s nice to see you anyway I guess.” Zecora gave Riddle a weird look as he walked away. “He claims to not know, but surely this is but a show?” She wondered as the pony walked out of sight. She shrugged and went back inside her hut to make a new brew with Poison Joke. After some walking… Riddle knocked impatiently on the wooden door, slightly confused that a zebra knew who he was before he even told her his name. His stomach was easily disturbing these thoughts as it felt like he hadn’t eaten in two days. Finally the door opened and Granny Smith walked out. She looked at Riddle and remembered the unicorn that was at her family dinner a few nights back, but didn’t expect to see wings on him like an alicorn. “Well howdy there, didn’t expected to see you by here again so soon.” At that second Riddle snapped back into reality instead of his daydream about the pies. “What are you talking about? I have never been here before. I-… um… could I perhaps buy a hot apple pie from you, please?” he added as his stomach rumbled loudly, cutting him off. Granny Smith chuckles as she invites Riddle inside. “Hungry, are we? Your belly sounded like that before you stuffed your mouth full of my treats at dinner.” Riddle’s mouth started to water as he smelled the air in the house. It smelled like cooking was a very common thing here as he eyed the pile of food on the table in the kitchen. Then he realized that his money was gone when he was robbed, he cursed himself for not hiding the money better. Granny Smith however didn’t expect Riddle to pay for the food, after all he was a guest and he seemed to make Applejack a bit happier the last few days so she felt it was good to reward him. They both sat down and started eating; Granny Smith looked at Riddle who was stuffing his food down his throat at break neck speed while she ate as fast as she wanted. Riddle slowed down after he felt much better and more aware of his surroundings. “So… you said I was here before?” “Yep, you had dinner with ma family a few nights ago. What’s the matter? Gone ‘nd bumped your head?” Riddle had a theory of what was happening but needed to check anyway. “No, I was robbed of my stuff outside the Everfree forest. I think my thief could’ve went in this direction” He noticed she seemed scared from the name and mentally made a not to walk near it again. “So describe what I was wearing when you saw me.” Granny Smith put a hoof to her chin. “Well… you ‘ere wearing some clunky junky armor…” Riddle bit his lip. “So… it appears my thief went here, I’ll ignore her comment of my Dusty Sands Armor.” He thought as he bit down on another slice of pie. “You ‘ere also wearing some kind black hat too, looked mighty nice in it too.” Riddle nearly choked on the pie. “He’s wearing… MY HAT?!! MY FREAKING HAT?!! That crosses the line! You can rob me, steal my clothes and all of my stuff, but when you take and WEAR my hat… Grrr… that thief is gonna need surgery after I’m done with him!” Granny Smith was pretty confused on what was happening. One side of her mind said she shoud take this bemused alicorn to a mental ward while the other part said to believe him. It wasn’t hard to pick which side. “I’ll help you.” Granny Smith said as she got up. “This sounds pretty confusing but you seem to be a truthful pony. Besides,” she added with a small smile. “Ponies think I’m crazy too, so I can’t judge you the same.” Riddle hugged Granny Smith. “Thanks, now let’s find this punk.” Then Riddle remembered something. “Uh… I forgot to mention that I was robbed of my money, I can’t pay you for the food you gave me.” He added sheepishly. Granny Smith smiled. “I didn’t ask for money, so you don’t need to give me anything. The name’s Granny Smith by the by.” Riddle just stared at Granny Smith, jaw on the floor. “Granny …” “Yes?” Riddle smiled. “Your freaking awesome.”
The start of a long taleBeware of the Everfree Forest! Turn back Now! I rolled my eyes, I knew where I was going despite the many signs telling me to turn around. I was a bit annoyed that nopony manged to care for this dirt path I was walking along, at least they could've done was trim the plants near the path, but sadly nopony had the gut to walk even close to the forest. Even the elderly stallion I had met before entering the forest told me that it was a stupid thing to do, which was pretty surprising to me that they treated this forest so badly. Thankfully, I spotted a hut nearby hoping to Ceslestia that the pony there had some respect for nature. I walked into the clearing and admired the hut since I never saw a hut like it. "Hello there my friend, what brings you to my den?" a rich exotic voice ringed out from the window. I looked and was surprised, in the window was a very friendly looking zebra. "Sorry to intrude my dear zebra but I was wondering if you knew where Ponyvile is?" I spoke after walking closer to the window. "Ah! Ponyvile is that way" She points toward another path that was, thankfully, clear of branches. "May I ask from where have you came, and your name? She said with a bit poetic passion and a nice smile. "I'm from Canterlot" I said with a bit of pride "My name is Riddle, thank you miss." I went over to the path and went down it thankful for the nice zebra and realizing that I didn't ask for her name. Welcome to Ponyvile! I read the first sign that didn't tell me to turn around and go away which was nice for a change. Slowly, I walked around Ponyvile and looked around at everything. I had to admit, it was nice, really nice and homey. I was walking past "Sugarcube Corner" when a bouncing pink mare ran right in front of me and we both fell over. Naturally, I got up first and helped her back up. "Are you alright?" I was pretty worried since she looked a bit dizzy. But my fears were for nothing as she started laughing and giggling like a filly. "Well of course I'm fine, what pony wouldn't be happy to meet a new friend?" I was shocked, I knocked her to the ground and she was fine with it? I just never heard of something like that. "Um.... I meant if you were hurt." The pony giggled up again. "I know that, I mean of course I am fine but I was wondering what a new unicorn was here by Sugarcube Corner?!" She gasps loudly. "You must try their cupcakes!" Suddenly I was being pull by my collar into Sugarcube corner by the energetic pink mare before I could say a word. Well.... I was a bit hungry. Sugarcube Corner I read the sign as the crazed pink pony pulled me inside with strength I couldn't figure out where she got it from. Finally she plopped me in front of two elderly pony which I assumed were a couple. "I brought you another customer!" The pink mare bounced around the store. "Oh dear, I'm sorry about that sir, Pinky Pie can be an bit..... energetic." The wife pony said watching Pinky Pie bounce. "A bit?!" I was silently thinking. "It's fine" I said getting up again. "Truthfully, I was kind of hungry. Could I get a batch strawberry cupcakes?" The couple looked a bit surprised but thankfully smiled. "Yes sir" They went to work as I watched Pinky bounce off walls. ("How does she do that and still have energy?!")After a bit, a plate full of steaming hot cupcakes was put on the table in front of me, I had to admit, they smelled good! I picked up the plate carefully with my magic and brought it to a table so I could start eating, Pinky decided to stop bouncing long enough to come over and start eating with me. As we started to eat, I noticed that Pinky had no table manners as she chopped down each cupcake licking the frosting on her nose while I took small bites savoring the incredible taste. While we were eating an orange mare walked in with an apple basket and put it on the counter. "Here ya go, this weeks apples." The husband nodded and put them away. "Thank you Applejack." Applejack turned to leave when she saw Pinky Pie and then saw me, our eyes met for a second and then she walked over to us. "Howdy there, I see ya'll met Pinky." She said as she stood in front of us. "Uh huh! He's new or I would've seen him before!" Pinky Pie said through her 7th cupcake as she got up for more. I had to say it."Is she always-?" I started to ask Applejack. "Yes." Applejack answered with a sigh. "But that's why she's interesting to be around." I simple nodded, I knew that she was asked this a lot from her sigh. "So..... what's your name?" Applejack said trying to change the subject. "Riddle." I answered back biting into another cupcake I hide from Pinky Pie. "Applejack, nice to meet ya." She said watching Pinky devour countless cupcakes and slices of cake. After a little bit more me and Applejack left Pinky to eat in peace. *** After a walk with Applejack Applejack was teaching me about Apple-bucking. "So you see, you simply kick the apples lose and they will fall into the baskets" She does a quick buck on an apple tree to prove the point, each apple falls in with precision. "Wow, that's pretty cool." I said impressed. "Could I try?" Applejack looked unsure but smiled. "Sure, just be careful." I saw a pretty good tree and followed Applejack's example only to find the apples falling in multiple directions while Applejack started to giggle. "You had a pretty good start but work on where you hit. do it a few times while I get the apples put in the baskets." I shook my head. "No need, here." I used my magic to lift the apples into the baskets, which Applejack shook her head. "We don't use magic here on the farm to do work Riddle. We do things the old fashion way here." I was a bit confused why, but I stopped using magic since it was her farm and stop pressing the matter since she didn't want to talk about. "Ok, sorry, I didn't know." I was honestly sorry, but she seemed to get even more mad. She muttered something about "Unicorns who can't keep their magic under control" and started Apple-bucking again. I joined her and we continued to Apple-buck until the job was done. *** After we finished Apple-Bucking, I was having dinner with the whole Apple family. I had to say it was one of the best meals I ever had, I ate whatever they put in front of me and they didn't seem to run out of food. Big Macintosh was sitting next to me on my right while Applejack was on my left, both watching me in amusement as I packed my cheeks with sweet treats. It was a bit embarrassing since I bet I looked a lot like Pinky Pie when she was shoving food down her throat but the Apple-Bucking made me really hungry so I really didn't care. "Better?" Applejack asked me after I slowed down my eating. I couldn't help but grin and lick my lips. "Much." Suddenly I felt really tired as my eyes started to droop. "First time Apple-buckers are always are tired afterwords, do you have anywhere to stay?" Applejack looked a bit worried for some reason. I knew that I had no place to stay, except maybe a hotel, so I just shrugged. "You could stay here if you want." Applejack said. The caused Big Mac to give his sister a quizzical look. I felt that it was a bit weird to stay the night at their house when I didn't know them that well but they seemed nice so I thought it would be fine. "Ok, sure. Where would I sleep?" *** At Dawn the next morning Applejack woke up in her bed as usual, her head telling her to stay in bed a bit longer instead of getting up to help around the farm. Slowly, she wiggled out of her bed and headed towards the bathroom when she saw the unicorn sleeping on the floor in front of her bed. Then she remembered the unicorn was her guest and was confused why he was sleeping on the floor instead of the spare mat in the room, so she nudged him until he woke up. "Unh?" I groaned as I woke up. "Hey, why aren't you on the sleeping mat I gave you?" Riddle looked around before returning his gaze to Applejack. "I thought I was." He got up and shook his mane, stretching his muscles. "It's fine Applejack, I've been worse. So is it okay if I help out some more today?" Applejack shook her head. "I thank ya for helping yesterday, but really, I don't want to impose." I just smiled. "Nonsense, I would be glad to help. After all, you did give me a place to stay for the night." He looked around for a bit. "Have you seen my hat? I could've sworn it was next to me." Applejack looked around and saw it by the bed. "There it is." Riddle walked over to the bed,picked up the stylist black hat with his magic and put it on. "Thanks, I'll leave you to get ready." He leaves the room as Applejack gets ready to take her shower. Applejack stepped out of the house after getting dressed to see Riddle helping Big Mac apple bucking the other side of the farm's trees. She smiled and walked over to them but stopped and listened to them the second she heard her name. ".... So she knows other ponies in town well?" Riddle asked as Applejack tried to decide whether to stop eavesdropping or keep listening. "Eeyup, she knows every pony in Ponyvile" Riddle stopped to give Big Macintosh another basket. "So who are her friends? I know Pinky Pie, but I'm wondering if their all like her." Big Mac had a good laugh. "Naw, their more relaxed... most of the time. Theirs Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, uh Rarity and um Twilight." Riddle kept working and moving the baskets in and out of the way when they got filled with apples. "They definitely sound interesting, maybe after we finish, me and Applejack can go talk to them." He clears his throat and states loudly."That is if you want to go and see them Applejack, instead of hiding behind that apple tree" Applejack could feel herself blushing as she stepped closer. "How long did you know?" Riddle looks unsurprised but smiles. "Since you walked up, so what do you think?" Applejack was confused. "About what?" Big Mac chuckles. "About showing him to your friends little sis." Applejack looked relieved. "Sure, they should be around town somewhere. So let's finish up here and go and look." The trio continue the work until every tree was bare of apples. *** Applejack and I walked around Ponyvile looking for a unicorn named "Rarity". I had to say, I heard about this pony from one of my old friends and he was going gaga over her designs. I wondered what she looked like and told Applejack my thoughts. "Well, she's a unicorn with a white mane and purple hair." I nodded and kept walking, I was after all going to see her. We walked up to the door of her shop, I was going to knock but Applejack already opened the door and waited for me in the doorway. "Come on then! You don't need to be formal." "OK." I walked in and was amazed at the outfits in her shop. There must have been at least half a hundred of the most stunning, amazing styles I saw since Canterlot. "Rarity, y'all have guests" Applejack said as we walked into a room where a stunning mare was creating dresses. "Ah, Applejack dear, could you give me a moment." The mare said keeping focused on the dress she was working on. After putting the finishing touches, she turned and faced us. "Oh, you brought a friend." She walked up to me with a bit of grace. "I'm Rarity, I run the store here in Ponyvile, keeping every pony fabulous!" She looked at my dirty clothes with delight. "You came in for a change! Oh how simply marvelous!" "Um, I rather you didn't." I didn't want to dash her hopes but my clothes were just fine, old, but reliable. Besides, I didn't want to reveal my wings just yet. "Oh....... are you sure? You might like the new you." Rarity said with the cutest look trying to make me break,I very nearly did but I held strong. "I'm sure, maybe some other time." Applejack coughed and got our attention. "I hate to be rude but I still need to show him around Rarity." Rarity smiled. "I understand, see you two some other time." We walked out of Rarity's store and continued to walk around. Applejack nudged me. "A bit for your thoughts?" I shook my head "Nope, it's nothing." Applejack couldn't help but grin. "Thinking about Rarity?" I felt a ping of sadness as I told her. "No..., about my home." She stopped grinning and we walked together in silence.
SecretsWe continued to walk along the path in town to find another one of Applejack's friends, this time to find a "Twilight" which sounded kind of different compared to the other ponies here. We walked up to a library and went in, from what Applejack has told me she was sort of an "egghead with magic" in a way. We both went in and were met with a purple unicorn pacing in a well made rut in the ground, I kept my distance since I knew that she was clearly stressing on something to the point where her magic would be dangerous. "Howdy Twilight" Applejack said as she tripped over a pile of crumbled papers. "Oh no, tell me your not worrying about those those stupid letters again, are you?" "I need to send Princess Ceslestia a letter every week! Or I'm nothing but a bad student! Twilight seemed to add more to the word "overworked"; she looked exhausted,hungry, and frantic. "Easy there sugarcube, why dont'cha ya sit down and rest? You’re stressing too much over nothing." Applejack nudged Twilight towards the bed, hoping she could take the hint. Twilight however was way too stressed to stop and instead moved back to her attempts to make a decent letter. "Um, maybe we should go. She doesn't look like she's budging." I tried to reason with Applejack but by Ceslestia she pushed past me and shook Twilight hard. "Listen sugarcube, I know that your stressed by I don't you flippin' out on us again! Please just rest." I was a bit confused on just when Twilight flipped out but I knew better to pry on personal matters, especially when it came to mares when they were upset. Twilight started to calm down when a small dragon walked into the room, surprising me since I was right next to door and didn't expect to see a dragon up close, naturally, I was scared. "Hey Twilight, how's the letter going?" the small dragon said as he walked up. "Applejack? What are you doing here? I thought you were working today." "I was, but I had some extra help so I get it done faster." Applejack looked around to find me on top of the bookshelf. "What the hay are ya doing up there? Get down before you hurt som'thing." I shook my head; there was no way I was coming down while a fire breathing dragon was standing in the same room as me. "Don't tell me your scared of a puny- eeny weeny, cute little baby dragon, are you?" Applejack said with a smirk, even Twilight seemed to relax and snicker a bit. "Come on!" the small dragon groaned. "Stop treating me like a baby." Twilight moved to the dragon's side and pinched his cheek. "But you still are a baby dragon Spike." Spike moved away and rubbed his cheek. "Doesn't mean I can't have a bit of respect once in a while." he looked over at me, still clinging on the top of the bookshelf. "Relax; I don't even have full control of my flames yet. You can come down now." I slowly eased down from the top, careful not to knock anything down as I made it down, trying to hold on to whatever bit of dignity I had left after that performance. "So, this is Riddle. He's new to town, he spent most of yesterday and this morning helping me and Big Mac." Applejack introduced me to her dragon Spike and Twilight. "Pleasure, say... you seem pretty familiar. Have we met before?" Twilight said as we shook hoofs. "No... um... I just have one of those faces ponies seem to remember." I said as I moved away out the door. Applejack was confused but followed him out. "Um Twilight... where did you remember Riddle from?" Spike asked as he closed the door. Twilight looked thoughtful as she started to clean up her mess of letter fragments. "Well, I remember it was in a book. I was reading a few weeks ago." Suddenly she looked up from her letters and rushed to one of her bookshelves. "Twilight? What is it?" Spike followed and dodged a few books as she flung them down from the bookshelf. Twilight pulled a old worn book from the top shelf, laid it on the table nearby and flipped to the index . "O... P... Q... R!" She flipped through a few pages and found a story labeled "The Rejected Son" by Clover Clever. Spike looks at the picture in the front of the story, it showed an alicorn, tied tightly, being pushed off of Canterlot's edge by Ceslestia herself. In the background were dragons watching over the scene, seemly ready to attack. "He looks just like Riddle!" Twilight quickly moved Spike away as she noticed bleeding cuts on the alicorn, hoping Spike wouldn't get nightmares. " You don't want to read this Spike. Trust me, it's not pretty, but basically it's about a alicorn born from a peasant earth pony and Ceslestia herself." Spike was confused and tried to look at the book again. "So? Why does that matter so much?" Twilight shook her head, closed the book, and put it away. "It matters because at that time royalty couldn't... um... well you know. Anyway, if royalty was found to have been with a peasant, there were only two things that could happen." Spike didn't like where this was going but he did it anyway because of his curiosity. "What could happen?" Twilight pushed Spike away from the bookshelf. "I shouldn't say, I wouldn't feel right to tell you. Something’s are just too cruel to say." Spike held his ground and kept her from moving him away. "What would happen?" Twilight sighed and moved towards the window and saw Riddle and Applejack talking. "The child would be banished and stripped of their heritage," Twilight sighed and looked away. "Or... the child would be killed and the father would be imprisoned and... tortured until death." Spike could only gasp in horror. ********** Applejack was curious about Riddle’s sudden fear, since he seemed pretty calm before. “Why are ya afraid of Spike?” I shook my head, still shaken up about seeing a dragon again. “I rather not say, sorry.” I walked away before it got to my past but I was a little too slow. “Did something happen to you?” I froze; this was something I didn’t want to talk about, not even a little bit. “No…” Applejack got up from her seat and stood in front of Riddle, stopping him from leaving. “You’re lying, what’s wrong?” “It’s nothing, Applejack, could you please drop it?” “No, ether ya tell me, or I bug ya until I find out myself.” “Applejack, please drop it.” “No.” “Applejack-“ “No, tell me Riddle” “Applejack, stop it, I don’t want to talk about it” “Well I’m not going stop until ya tell me.” “By Ceslestia! Are all of you ponies so damn stubborn?!” I snarled angrily. Applejack jumped back in surprise, she thought this normal unicorn was so calm but now he was snarling at her. I quickly realized what I just did and stopped. “Applejack… I’m… I’m sorry. Please forgive me, but it’s something I don’t want to talk about. It hurts too much.” Applejack tried to give him a hug to try and forgive him. “It’s okay; I was just worried is all. I didn’t want to see you upset.” We remained in the hug for a few seconds; I felt tears run down my cheeks as we broke out of the hug. It felt like years since I had an honest hug, and somepony who cared for me. I felt… happier. “Um… Riddle? Could I talk to you for a second? It won’t take long, just a few minutes.” I turned to see Twilight standing nearby; I quickly wipe away my tears. “Sure, just give me a second.” I gave Applejack a quick smile and followed Twilight back into the library. I stepped into the library and Twilight closed the door with a click. “So Twilight… what did you want to talk to me about?” “Oh, it’s nothing really. It’s just I didn’t get to know you so well since, you know, you ran up the bookshelf.” I frowned. “You’re not going to tell anypony about that are you?” Twilight gave me a sly smile but before I could be serious she started to giggle. “Nah, but it’s kinda funny. Big tough unicorn is scary of a baby dragon.” I continued to frown. “Not a baby dragon, BIG, Scary Dragons.” Twilight tilted her head to one side. “Do you know somepony named Fluttershy?” “No, should I know her?” “I guess not, but she shares your fears.” This was interesting. “Really? Maybe I should visit her at some point, say hi.” I still held my frown though. “You still need to promise me that you won’t tell anypony.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Fine, I swear I won’t say anything. So get rid of that stupid frown, you’ll get wrinkles.” “I’m not that old.” “Could’ve fooled me, you look like you’ve seen a lot.” I gave her a curious look. “And what pray tell shows it off?” “Well the cuts are a good start, where did you get those?” I frowned. “Walking through the Everfree Forest, there are a lot of sharp branches” Twilight walked closer to me. “They seem pretty deep for simply branch cuts. What about the heavy clothes you wear, during the summer heat wave?” I was pretty annoyed at her constant questions. “I like them, they fit well.” “Uh huh, or are you hiding something you don’t want others to see?” This time I walked closer to her until we were face to face, staring angrily. “And what do you think I’m hiding, little pony? Twilight looked into my eyes with a stern look as a yellow pegasus walked into the library with another pegasus in a blue color. “Um… “ The other pegasus jumped between me and Twilight; she shifted into a fight stance. “What the hell were you about to do?” I stood my ground; she didn’t scare me in the slightest. “Look mare, I was only-“ She got in my face, trying to scare me. “Back off her now, or this gets ugly.” Twilight tried to stop the pegasus. “Rainbow, relax, I’m-“ I didn’t even let her finish, so I moved Twilight out of the way and got in Rainbow’s face.” I’m not scared of you, mare. Stop trying to act tough. Dash started to freak out, clearly annoyed by me. “That’s it! You crossed the line! I challenge you to a fight! Twilight’s eyes sprang open in surprise. “A fight?! Rainbow Dash! You must be kidding!” I made sure to show my angry side, Dash seemed to flinch but shook it off. “You’re on, where?” “Sweet Apple Acres, lunch time, don’t be late.” Dash stormed out, pulling the yellow pegasus out with her. Twilight stopped me before I could leave. “Please tell me you’re not going.” “I am.” “No, I’m not letting you hurt my friend.” “That’s your friend? She’s pretty hotheaded; even so, I can’t back out of a fight. She needs to learn control and I’ll be the one to teach her.” “If you hurt her, I swear, you’ll face me and you’ll lose.” “Relax; I’m not going hurt her bad. Just enough so she’ll learn to back off once in a while, I swear.” I was about to leave when I realized something. “Um… Twilight?” “Yes?” “Um… where’s Sweet Apple Acres?” Twilight face hoofs and sighs. “Applejack’s farm.” “Right… thanks.” ****** I was standing by the barn when Rainbow Dash landed right in front of me, looking ready to take on all of Equestria. “Are you ready to lose?” I shrugged. “Are you?” She was going insane from my taunts, she looked pretty angry. “You’re going down!” She swung at me, trying to clock me in the jaw. I dodged it by a hair length and spun around before bucking her straight in the head causing her to fall to the ground in a daze. “Ow…” She groaned as she got up before she snapped her wings into place and soared straight at me. I didn’t have time to move out of the way. Next thing I know, I’m being held very high in the air by my collar. “What the hell are you doing?!” Rainbow Dash grinned “Seeing how tough you really are.” That’s when she let go. Now, I know that some ponies love to fly, personally I don’t mind a bit of air through my mane. However, when a pegasus drops me from the sky with no change to survive, it can be pretty understandable to scream like a little filly on the way down. I was about to hit the ground when Rainbow Dash swooped in and grabbed me by my clothes and tossed me into a pile of hay. Rainbow Dash landed next to the pile and started to laugh really hard. “You looked like such an idiot! Not so tough now, huh? After I showed you who the true pony around here is?” I couldn’t help but grin as I tackled her and pinned her wings and fore hooves down. “Nah, your still 2nd best on the ground. But still not bad, you got me by surprise this time.” Rainbow Dash struggled to break free but couldn’t get through my grip. “It’s 3rd best down on the ground, Applejack holds the title.” She sighs and stops struggling. “Can you let go now?” “Sure.” I ease up and got off her, only to get pinned myself. She was grinning as she held me down. “One question, who are you?” “Riddle, your Rainbow Dash right?” “Oh, so you do know my name. Good, “mare” was getting pretty old.” She got up and shook off some dust. I did the same. “Introductions never came up, what was I supposed to call you?” Rainbow Dash gave me a look. “Anything but mare, so, why are you here in Ponyvile?” “I’m just passing through. Plan to stay here for a few nights before I head out again.” “Huh, where are you from?” “Canterlot.” Rainbow Dash gave me another look. “For a pony from Canterlot you seem less snotty than the other ponies.” I chuckled. “Traveling does that to you, you lose the attitude that you own the place after enough ponies beat you up.” Rainbow Dash started to smile. “You’re not bad, see you around.” She snapped her wings out and soared out into the sky. I couldn’t help but smile as I walked back to Twilight’s; already I had made a few good friends.” ******* I walked in with good spirits when I saw Twilight, then my feelings disappeared. Twilight stood in front of me with a sad look. “I know.” “Know what?” “Guess.” I was a bit confused but went along with it. “Um… I dunno. What is it?” “Your past.” I blinked in surprise and lowered my head. “… I see. When did you find out?” “A few weeks ago, but I only connected the dots when you showed up today at the library.” I kept my head pointed at the floor and closed my eyes. “What gave me away?” “There was a book written about you, by Clover the Clever.” I blushed and face hoofed. “Damn it, after I told her not to say anything, she goes and writes a book.” Twilight tried to pat Riddle's back but her pushed her away. “Don’t touch me; I don’t need your pity.” Twilight was surprised at his sudden threatening voice and cowered. “Riddle, please, I just want to understand.” I gave her a withering stare and got in her face. “You could never understand what I went through, don’t you dare tell me otherwise!” Twilight started to wimper and back away after Riddle’s wings tore free of his clothes. “I… just… wanted… to… help.” I took a breath and calmed down. “I’m… sorry, it… it hurt so much.” I lowered my head in shame. “I should’ve taken it out on you.” Twilight hesitantly gave Riddle a hug to calm him down, he started to cry. “It’s ok Riddle, it’s ok.” “I’ve… I’ve just been so lonely; no pony ever seemed to care about me. It took hundreds of years for me to come out again and try to do this.” “So you’re really hundreds of years old? “ “Yep. A thousand and one to be precise.” “Seriously?” “Yeah, is that so hard to believe?” “To be honest… yeah it is.” Suddenly she smiles. “So you and Clover had a thing?” I couldn’t hold back my blushing. “Yeah, did she write about…?” “Nah, your clear there.” Then she grinned after I sighed in relief “She didn’t mention it in too much detail” I felt like dying right there. “How popular was it? How many books were made?” “Pretty popular, it sold over 2 million in the first year.” I felt my knees give out in shock; I could barely gasp in the pure shock and embarrassment. “Does any pony else know now?” Twilight’s smile vanished as she stopped hugging me. “Nope, Celestia banned them a few years later after Clover promised a sequel with an interview with Celestia herself. I’ve got the only one left.” “Good.” I got up, shaking off the shock. “I don’t want anypony else to know. Please don’t tell anypony about me.” Twilight’s smile returned. “What will I get in return?” “Uh… what do you want?” “Everything you know about Clover, everything.” “I don’t know, I'm not sure she would like it if I blab about her." "It's her or I'm talking about you, your choice." I hung my head. "Fine, but this might take a while and I think I left Applejack for way too long. Some other time." "Tomorrow night. If Applejack asks, it's a sleepover." "Fine, bring paper and something to write with." I left before she could say anything else.
A talk with Dash“A sleepover?” Applejack couldn’t believe what she hearing. “Yea, what’s the problem?” I said as I picked up my hat from the ground outside the house. “It’s only for the night.” “Sugar, ya are twice her size and probably weight three times her weight. Forgive me if I seem a bit worried.” I turned around and gave her a strange look. “Are you suggesting that I might hurt her? Applejack, you insult me.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “I did just meet ya yesterday, something about you still are a bit shady.” I sighed. “Applejack, I won’t hurt her. In fact, she’s the one forcing me to come.” Applejack giggled and walked closer to Riddle before looking him in the eyes. “Forcing ya? That shy little bookworm mare? Ha! What could she have on ya that’d force you? I moved away before she could see my blush. “You don’t want to know, trust me. I’ll be back tomorrow, are we still gonna try and make my hut?” “Of course, ya are staying here for a while right?” I hated to lie but I put on my best fake smile, I didn’t want to leave quite yet. “Yeah, I’m not going anywhere for a while.” “Good.” Before I could go inside she put her hoof on my shoulder. “I didn’t want to ask but… what’s with those gashes? “ I winced; I was hoping not to lie to her so soon. “Just some cuts going through the forest, those branches really hurt.” “Also, I couldn’t help but notice ya’ll never wear anything that shows ya cutie marks, why is that?” I couldn’t help but smile “I didn’t know anypony was looking for it. Are you?” Applejack blushed but she got a grip. “Funny, you didn’t answer my question.” “I just have the habit of wearing clothes for cold weather, I did travel through most of Equestria, things can get pretty cold if you’re not prepared. But you didn’t answer my question ether, are you looking at where my cutiemarks are? Applejack was hoping somepony would interrupted them so she couldn’t answer. “Um… excuse me… if you don’t mind.” The voice came from behind us. “Ah… Fluttershy… you came at the right time.” Applejack walked over to the pegasus. I looked over to Appejack and saw the yellow pegasus from before. “Hey, Fluttershy.” She shyly looked away. “You know me?” “Not really, Twilight mentioned you before. Something about a dragon.” Fluttershy jumped in surprise and hid behind Applejack. “Dragon?! Where?!” Applejack gave me a sour look before comforting Fluttershy. “Easy there sugarcube, there’s no dragon around here.” Fluttershy slowly moved out from behind Applejack. “Really?” Applejack tries to hold back her annoyed sigh. “Yes, just relax now.” “Oh… ok, um, Rainbow Dash… wanted to see somepony named Riddle. She said he’d be here with you.” I raised a hoof. “Present, what did she want to see me about?” “Um… she something about a talk with you. I’m uh… supposed to walk you over.” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “She asked ya to bring him over for a talk? That seems a bit suspicious for Rainbow Dash; normally she just talks to ponies if she wants to talk to them.” “Um… I don’t know, I’m just supposed to bring him over.” Applejack gave Fluttershy an odd look “Where?” “Um… I’m not supposed to say.” Applejack looked pretty annoyed. “Then I’m coming with him.” Fluttershy shakes her head but still speaks softly. “You’re…um… not allowed, only Riddle.” I walked over to Applejack and patted her back. “Don’t worry, it’s just a talk. Besides, I can handle myself.” Applejack sighs but keeps her determined look. “Fine, but if anything happens, you will tell me right?” “Of course, see you soon.” I followed Fluttershy to find Rainbow Dash. ********** I followed Fluttershy to an air carriage after walking through the town. I raised an eyebrow to Fluttershy. “What is this?” Fluttershy was quiet. “It’s a quick way to Rainbow Dash… just get in… um… if you want.” I was a bit confused but stepped on with her as the stallions flew in a certain direction. “So where are we going?” Fluttershy was quiet but looked away. “I’m not supposed to say.” “Hey, Applejack isn’t here and I want an idea of what’s going on.” “Well… um… ok, but don’t tell Rainbow please.” I tapped my hoof impatiently. “Well?” “Well… um… we’re going to the… uh… one of the forests.” “Why are we going to the forest?” “Um… Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy blushed. “She wants to be alone with you” I was starting to get a bad feeling this was just a mistake, but I knew that I was too far from walking away. “Is this another fight?” “Um… not exactly.” ************* We landed in a clearing deep in the middle of a forest, Fluttershy pointed me in the right direction before the carriage flew off with her. I sighed and followed the direction she pointed until I hit another clearing; this one however had Rainbow Dash standing in the center. “I see you found you way alright.” Rainbow Dash said with a bit of pride. I however was completely suspicious. “Why did you bring me here?” She walked closer to me. “Just wanted to talk, is something wrong with that?” I frowned. “Only if things take too long, it’ll be dark soon and I need to keep an appointment with Twilight.” Rainbow Dash looked surprised. “You have an appointment with Twilight? For what?” I coughed nervously. “It’s none of your concern. What did you want to talk to me about?” Rainbow Dash walked until she was right in front of me. “About you, we have time, so talk on.” I was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. “Well um, I was born in Canterlot, lived there until I was 3 and left.” “Who were your mother and father?” Crap, more lies, I hated to lie. “My father was an earth pony, my mother… I never knew her but she must’ve been a unicorn or, you know, I would be a earth pony.” “Where did you go after you left Canterlot?” I could tell the truth this time, she wouldn’t go and check. “I went to the far off lands, where sand and heat are common things each day. I lived there for 6 years and moved on to other communities until I ended up here.” Rainbow Dash was extremely close to me that I could feel her breath. “Last question, are you seeing Applejack?” My eyes popped out in surprise. “Wha-what?!” “You heard me? Are you or not?” I was glad it wasn’t about my past but this was equally awkward. “No, I’m not. We’re just friends.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “Good, then she won’t mind this.” Then she started to kiss me on the lips. I was completely off guard but pushed her away, wiping my lips. “What are you doing?!” Rainbow Dash looked at me weirdly “Kissing you, why? Is something wrong?” “Of course there’s a problem! Why were you kissing me?!” Rainbow Dash started to look hurt. “I like you; you seem like a good pony. Why are you so upset?” “Because you just kissed me without any warning!” Rainbow Dash looked annoyed. “I thought you said that you weren’t seeing Applejack.” “I’m not.” “You have feelings for her though.” “No, I don’t.” “Yes you do, I noticed that your right eye twitches every time you lie. You do.” Crap, found out. “Ok, fine, I do like her. What’s wrong with that?” “I like you, you like her, she probably likes you. You seem to get everypony to like you.” “Look Dash, I’m sorry but I like Applejack.” It started to get dark, it was time to go. “How do I go back to town?” Rainbow Dash looked like she wanted to stay quiet but sighed and pointed where I came from. “Go back where Fluttershy dropped you off, she should be waiting to pick you up and bring you back.” I gave Rainbow Dash a quick hug. “I’m sorry.” I headed back to Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash was pretty upset, her hopes dashed in seconds without a chance. She flew back to Ponyvile while Riddle was brought to Twilight’s library. I got off the air carriage and paid for the ride since apparently Rainbow Dash didn’t pay them and Futtershy was dead broke. I walked away with Fluttershy, hoping she would be somewhat less shy and embarrassed around me. In the distance by a plain I saw a stage with ponies going towards it. “Hey Fluttershy, what is that in the distance?” Futtershy continued to walk with me. “Oh…um… Vinyl Scratch is playing tonight.” I stopped in my tracks. “Vinyl? You mean Scratch? Vinyl Scratch?” “Um… yes?” I felt the old anger flare up in me. “When?” when she didn’t answer fast enough I snapped at her. “When?!” “I… um… don’t… know.” She looked pretty scared, she actually cowered in front of me but I didn’t pay her any attention. My hated rival was here, and she was doing a gig, this was too much to pass up but I still had to see Twi. “Go home Fluttershy.” “Wait, what… what are you gonna do?” I felt nothing but pure rage. “Nothing you need to worry about, run home.” Fluttershy walked back to her house quickly wondering why Riddle seemed so cold and angry. ****** I was walking towards the stage, hearing the heavy beats as I walked past the ponies blocking my way, after knocking enough ponies out of my way the ponies seemed to make way for me. Up on the Dj stand was… her. Vinyl Scratch is one of the few ponies that I truly hated and became my Dj rival. She was having a lot of fun, smiling as she always did while she played the beats. Just seeing her made my blood boil, she looked pretty damn happy. “VINYL SCRATCH!” I yelled her name after moving to the center of the crowd. Everything quieted down, ponies stopped dancing, everypony was staring at me including Vinyl. She crossed her forehooves and smiled as she saw me. “Well, well, well. It appears my loser rival decided to come and lose again. Hello there Shine, how have you been?” I scowled at her. “I want a rematch, no tricks this time.” Vinyl came down from her stand, even though she was small compared to me, she was very confident. “I don’t know; why should I do a rematch to such an even victory?” I stared coldly into her eyes. “Because if was cheating and also because you don’t want to disappoint your fans here by declining a contest. Which Dj is better, once and for all.” A pony in her crowd gave her a reassuring nudge. “Don’t worry Vinyl, I’m sure you’ll wipe the floor with him.” Vinyl ooked around to see the other ponies nod in agreement. “Alright Shine, one song, and if you can’t beat me, I want you to give up being a Dj and put this stupid thing to rest.” “Fine, but if you lose I want your goggles to prove that I beat you.” Vinyl looked surprised. “My goggles? I thought you would want me to quit as a Dj.” “No… I don’t want that anymore. Just give me the goggles and say that I beat you, fair and square.” Vinyl crossed her forehooves and smiled again. “Alright, but where’s your gear? You can’t fight me if you don’t have your gear.” It was my turn to smile. “You have it, after you cheated; you took my gear as your own. The question is, do you have anything to play?” Vinyl shook her head. “That’s not yours anymore, I won that. It’s mine, so how about you get some gear and we’ll battle some other time.” I was pretty annoyed that she was dodging our battle but stuck out my hoof. “2 months, right here.” She shook my hoof and smiled. “You on, try not to lose again Shine, you don’t want to disappoint the fans, do you?” She turned to the fans. “It’s that right, ponies?” The ponies started whooping and cheering as I nod. ************ I was walking away from the stage when Twilight ran up in front of me. “Why didn’t you tell us this?” “It’s none of you business, piss off.” Twilight binked in surprise. “ Excuse me?” “I said piss off, or I’ll knock you down. I have some work to do.” Twilight was completely shocked at his new behavior. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you so rude?” I pushed her aside and kept moving. “I have work to do, ether help me or go to hell.” Twilight started to get angry; she used her magic to hold Riddle in place. “What’s going on? You were so nice when you came to the library.” I lost all of my patience from seeing Scratch, I used my magic to toss her against a tree. She smashed against it hard; I think a heard a crack but I was already walking away. I made sure not to kill her; I only put enough force to paralyze her for a few minutes. I immediately regretted it; after all, she was only trying to understand. I picked her up with my magic and brought her to the library. *********** Twilight woke up in her bed with an ice pack on her head and a throbbing pain in her side. “Ow…” “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you too much.” Twilight turned and saw Riddle by her bed, he readjusts her ice pack, Twilight moves away. “Stay away from me. Where’s Spike?” “It’s not that bad, you should be fine in a few hours. Spike is fine; he went to Rarity’s for the night.” Twilight gives Riddle an evil stare. “You hurt me, who the hell are you.” I frown. “Riddle, duh. You need to relax.” Twilight stands up shakily, trying to keep standing. “No, Riddle was a kind and caring pony, even when I only met him once, I could tell he would be important someday. You are a fake.” This was getting out of hand; I didn’t want this coming out yet. I stared at her, hoping she would make this easier. “Twilight, you need to listen to me.” She didn’t look at me. “Twilight, I can explain, just look at me.” Twilight slowly looks at Riddle, before things around her started to get hazy. The walls seemed to break away but Riddle just stands by her, never breaking his gaze. Riddle’s eyes seem to be endless but they seemed to change from their normal green to violet. Riddle spoke but the voice wasn’t his, it was feminine with a dark tone to it. “You know too much Sparkle; I can’t let you say anything. I am very sorry, you weren’t supposed to find out.” Twilight felt powerless, her body felt miles away and her magic wasn’t responding. “Y-you are an f-fake, aren’t y-you? W-who are y-you?” Riddle’s wings swung out as the spell wore off; in his place was a black and grey alicorn with violet eyes, and a cut streaked across her face. “I am Nightshade, and you, dear mare, aren’t going remember a thing.” Twilight collapsed on the bed, unable to move, think or breathe. Then she coughed on the air of life and fell into a deep and dreamless nightmare, limp in her bed. Nightshade closed her wings and redid the spell; Riddle returned and tucked her into the bed. “Sweet dreams little one, may the night ever embrace you heart.” Riddle kissed her forehead and slept in the other bed. Sweet Apple Acres, at Dawn Applejack was working on Riddle’s hut in the morning when Riddle appeared from Ponyvile. Applejack looked up from her work and saw Riddle walking towards the frame. “Howdy Riddle, how was the sleepover?” I cracked my neck. “It was good; Twilight showed me an amazing spell. She must’ve over done it since she knocked herself out though.” Applejack chuckles. “That pony, one of these days she’s gonna wear herself clean out. Ya mind helping on this?” “Not at all, it is my soon to be hut.” I used my magic to help put bricks in place. “Riddle, I thought I said no magic, stop it.” I stopped but gave her a curious look. “Why? What do you have against magic?” “Well… since the wedding of Shining Armor and Cadence when the changelings attacked. I’ve been mighty freaked out about magic, I mean; those changelings could change into anypony. That scares me.” I was a bit annoyed but gave a fake smiled. “I understand, sometimes magic can be scary.” Suddenly a voice behind me spoke up. “Hey guys!” I jumped in surprise and landed on my face. “Ouch.” I looked and found Pinky Pie laughing behind me. “That’s not funny.” “Sure it is! I mean, what pony doesn’t like a good scare once in a while? Someponies just love a good prank!” Applejack groans. “Pinks, I wish ya didn’t discover ‘em pranks. There’s so much ya could do with ‘ur energy if ya just quit ‘em stupid pranks.” Pinky Pie just giggled. “Why? Their so fun! Anyways, Celestia’s coming down here to Ponyvile today!” I felt my jaw drop. “Celestia… here?” I grinned and thought “This is perfect, she’s gonna come down here for her son, what she won’t expect is me!” I noticed that the girls were blabbing about Celestia so I tried to listen in. “… She’s just so amazing! I can’t wait to see what she’ll do here today.” Pinky Pie said as she bounced happily around Applejack. Applejack however pulled Pinky Pie back to the ground. “Hang on their Pinks, why now? She only visits on important reasons, so what makes ya think she’s coming today?” “Because silly! My Pinky-sense told me.” Pinky Pie smiled. I was pretty confused when Applejack nodded like it made sense. “What’s Pinky-sense?” Applejack looks at me like I was wearing pants on my head. “It’s a feeling Pinks gets when something’s about to happen. You’ve never heard of that before?” I shook my head, sure I met some strange creatures that did things that would make fillies wet their beds but I never heard of a prediction that always came true. “Well know you do! Let’s go wait for her at Town Hall, she’s gonna talk there!” Pinky Pie started bouncing into town. Applejack and I followed behind; I was close to my goal. It was working. What could possibly go wrong? ********************* The Everfree Forest, at dawn A orange pony groaned as he got up from a hard stone surface. He wiped his face back into feeling while trying to remember how he got there. That’s when reality hit him like a ton of bricks when he touched the top of his head. “Where the hell‘s my favorite hat?!” The pony screamed as he checked around for his fateful hat only to find more bad news. “Damn it! My freaking armor’s gone too! Along with my map and food, I’ve been robbed!” He kicked a rock across the floor in anger. Suddenly as the rock slid into a wall, the wall opened up revealing a way out of his prison. “Well… open fucking sesame.” The pony walked out of the cave to face the forest. “At least I have a clue where I am… a freaking forest… yeah this is gonna work just fine.” He chuckled at his own bad luck. “It was bad enough getting robbed by the forest entrance, now I’m stuck in the fucking forest with no food, water, protection and my freaking hat.” He sighed started walking, for once he was wishing he took that old stallion at the entrance seriously. “Don’t go in there young one, this forest is known to make you lose your way.” He mimicked the stallion’s voice perfectly. That was another one of his talents that had no real value other than his amusement. “You know, the only reason I even went this stupid way to Ponyvile was because I was too cheap to buy a chariot ride over here. Serves me right for not paying the 10 bits for transit and taking the forest path instead.” He mused in his mind as he found an opening in the branches. He moved past the last branch to find a small town, Ponyvile to be precise. He grinned at the sight of it, now he could FINALLY try one of those Sweet Apple Acre apple pies that he took the whole trip out on from his temporary home in the Dusty Sands just to taste. Humming a song he was working on, he made his way to what looked like a farm in the distance. Zecora however was looking out her window as the pony walked by, and saw the familiar figure but now she saw a pair of wings on his sides instead of the armor she saw before. “Riddle? That one passed by, but another takes his place like a fly.” Zecora then walked out and stood in front of Riddle. “Excuse me my friend, what brings you back to my den?” The pony gave Zecora a weird look. “How do you know my name? We never met before.” He gave her another look but shrugged. “Haven’t met you, but it’s nice to see you anyway I guess.” Zecora gave Riddle a weird look as he walked away. “He claims to not know, but surely this is but a show?” She wondered as the pony walked out of sight. She shrugged and went back inside her hut to make a new brew with Poison Joke. After some walking… Riddle knocked impatiently on the wooden door, slightly confused that a zebra knew who he was before he even told her his name. His stomach was easily disturbing these thoughts as it felt like he hadn’t eaten in two days. Finally the door opened and Granny Smith walked out. She looked at Riddle and remembered the unicorn that was at her family dinner a few nights back, but didn’t expect to see wings on him like an alicorn. “Well howdy there, didn’t expected to see you by here again so soon.” At that second Riddle snapped back into reality instead of his daydream about the pies. “What are you talking about? I have never been here before. I-… um… could I perhaps buy a hot apple pie from you, please?” he added as his stomach rumbled loudly, cutting him off. Granny Smith chuckles as she invites Riddle inside. “Hungry, are we? Your belly sounded like that before you stuffed your mouth full of my treats at dinner.” Riddle’s mouth started to water as he smelled the air in the house. It smelled like cooking was a very common thing here as he eyed the pile of food on the table in the kitchen. Then he realized that his money was gone when he was robbed, he cursed himself for not hiding the money better. Granny Smith however didn’t expect Riddle to pay for the food, after all he was a guest and he seemed to make Applejack a bit happier the last few days so she felt it was good to reward him. They both sat down and started eating; Granny Smith looked at Riddle who was stuffing his food down his throat at break neck speed while she ate as fast as she wanted. Riddle slowed down after he felt much better and more aware of his surroundings. “So… you said I was here before?” “Yep, you had dinner with ma family a few nights ago. What’s the matter? Gone ‘nd bumped your head?” Riddle had a theory of what was happening but needed to check anyway. “No, I was robbed of my stuff outside the Everfree forest. I think my thief could’ve went in this direction” He noticed she seemed scared from the name and mentally made a not to walk near it again. “So describe what I was wearing when you saw me.” Granny Smith put a hoof to her chin. “Well… you ‘ere wearing some clunky junky armor…” Riddle bit his lip. “So… it appears my thief went here, I’ll ignore her comment of my Dusty Sands Armor.” He thought as he bit down on another slice of pie. “You ‘ere also wearing some kind black hat too, looked mighty nice in it too.” Riddle nearly choked on the pie. “He’s wearing… MY HAT?!! MY FREAKING HAT?!! That crosses the line! You can rob me, steal my clothes and all of my stuff, but when you take and WEAR my hat… Grrr… that thief is gonna need surgery after I’m done with him!” Granny Smith was pretty confused on what was happening. One side of her mind said she shoud take this bemused alicorn to a mental ward while the other part said to believe him. It wasn’t hard to pick which side. “I’ll help you.” Granny Smith said as she got up. “This sounds pretty confusing but you seem to be a truthful pony. Besides,” she added with a small smile. “Ponies think I’m crazy too, so I can’t judge you the same.” Riddle hugged Granny Smith. “Thanks, now let’s find this punk.” Then Riddle remembered something. “Uh… I forgot to mention that I was robbed of my money, I can’t pay you for the food you gave me.” He added sheepishly. Granny Smith smiled. “I didn’t ask for money, so you don’t need to give me anything. The name’s Granny Smith by the by.” Riddle just stared at Granny Smith, jaw on the floor. “Granny …” “Yes?” Riddle smiled. “Your freaking awesome.”
