Chapter 2: Fitting in

Hector woke up from his sleep, feeling well rested. “Wow, what a great dream,” said Hector. He then looked at his hands (or hooves) and realized that he wasn’t dreaming. “Oh, well on the bright side, I’m in the castle of a Princess.”

He then got on fours and trotted off to look for the kitchen. “Hello! Twilight! Where’s the kitchen?!” asked Hector, only for Twilight to teleport right in front of him. “Ay caramba! You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Relax, I was just going to show you where the kitchen is. Hold on tight,” said Twilight, who then grabbed Hector’s hoof, followed by them teleporting to the kitchen. “Something tells me this is your first time using a teleportation spell.”

“What was your first clue?” asked Hector, sarcastically. He then sat down at the dining table, waiting for breakfast. “So what’s for breakfast? Please let it be pancakes.”

“You’re in luck, it is pancakes. Eat up, little ponies need their strength,” said Twilight, as she placed a plate with three neatly cut pancakes, which Hector happily ate. “Hector, I’ve been meaning to ask, what was it like staying in an orphanage?”

“It was tough. I thought it would be a nice place to stay until I got adopted, but when I found out that the caretaker was going to leave me on the streets I realized that there was no hope in a place like that,” said Hector, who was putting his acting skills to good use. “I decided to leave the orphanage, and I’ve been staying with friends all across the country just to stay alive. Eventually, I found Stan, Cartman, Kyle, and Kenny, and that’s when I found out that I wasn’t alone in this world.” He then started to tear up.

“Oh, you poor thing,” said Twilight, as she gave Hector a hug. “I promise you that I will find you a home, even if I have to search all over Equestria.” Just then, a little purple dragon walked into the room. “Oh, Spike, you're awake.”

“Yep, and I filled out those forms for you, just so you wouldn’t have to worry about it,” said Spike. He then noticed the blue colt next to Twilight. “Hey, isn’t that the colt from the party last night.”

“Yep, my name is Hector Parker. And I assume your name is Spike since that’s what Twilight just called you,” said Hector. He then faced Twilight. “So, is he your adopted little brother?”

“Not exactly. I may see Spike as a little brother, but my parents never ‘officially’ adopted him,” said Twilight. “Anyways, I’m going to be busy with my royal duties today, so I guess you can see how your friends are doing and maybe explore ponyville. Just don’t go beyond ponyville, or get injured.”

“Okay, thanks,” said Hector, as he trotted outside. He looked around town to see what he should do first, until he saw Apple Bloom talking to her friends. “Hey, Apple Bloom! How are you doing today?”

“Oh, I’m doing alright. I hope you’re having a good day too,” said Apple Bloom, who was clearly nervous, which her friends noticed. “Oh, I’d like to introduce ya to my friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.”

“Hi,” said Scootaloo.

“Hey, Apple Bloom has told us so much about you,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Hey. You do know we hardly know each other right?” asked Hector.

“I know, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about you,” said Apple Bloom, who was blushing bright red. “Not in a creepy way, I meant in a friendly way. So, do you want to see how your friends are doing?”

“Sure, let’s check on Stan first. Does any… pony know where this Fluttershy lives?” asked Hector. The three fillies then walked with Hector to Fluttershy’s cottage, where the yellow, pink maned Pegasus answered the door.

“Oh, hello young foals. What brings you here?” asked Fluttershy, in her usual shy voice tone.

“We’re here to see how Stan is doing, and also wondering if wanted to hang out with us,” said Hector. Just then, Stan walked towards the four foals, but for some reason he had soap suds in his mouth. “Good morning, Stan. What’s with the soap suds in your mouth?”

Stan then spat out the soap suds. “I said a ‘bad word’ in front of Fluttershy and she stuffed soap in my mouth for no reason,” said Stan.

“Well, I’m sorry Stan, but I had to teach you a lesson about bad language. Didn’t you ever learn that saying swear words in front of innocent souls is wrong,” said Fluttershy, trying to sound tough. “Now run along and play with your friends, and be back before dark or else you’re grounded.”

“You’re not my mom, so you don’t have the authority to ground me,” said Stan.

“Technically, she can do that since she’s your legal guardian and essentially your honorary mother,” said Hector, causing Stan to glare at him. “I know, I know, I’m not helping. Let’s just go get Kenny.”

The three fillies walked with the two colts to Rarity’s boutique, where they were greeted by Rarity (Sweetie Belle’s older sister) putting the final touches on a tuxedo that Kenny was modeling. “(Oh, hey guys. Check out this tuxedo I’m modeling),” said Kenny, in his muffled voice.

“Hey Kenny,” said Hector. He then faced Rarity. “Why is he modeling the tuxedo?”

“Well, Kenny thought it would be ‘fun’ to peep on me while I was in the shower. So in order to make it up to me, he agreed to model this tuxedo for me while I put on the finishing touches,” said Rarity. “Honestly, you can’t really blame him, he’s not the only colt who simps over me.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense,” said Stan. He then faced Kenny. “We’ll wait until you’re done with this, then we’ll meet up with Cartman.” Kenny nodded.

A few minutes later…

Once Kenny was finished modeling the tuxedo, he joined his friends and the three fillies as they all made their way to Cloudsdale… until they realized that Cloudsdale was located in the clouds (which actually made sense in hindsight).

“(How the hell are we supposed to get up there? I mean, me and Scootaloo have wings so we can get up there but the rest of you don’t,” said Kenny.

“Actually, I have a wing disorder that prevents me from flying, but I can still stand on clouds like my fellow pegasi,” said Scootaloo.

“I think I know a way to get us non flying ponies to Cloudsdale. I read a book of spells that just so happen to have two spells just for this occasion: one to levitate ponies, and one that lets non pegasi stand on clouds,” said Hector, as the others gave him weird looks. “What? Twilight Sparkle has like a billion books in her library alone, and I’m a sucker for books with magic spells.”

“Just do the fucking spell!” said Stan, to which Hector cast the spell, causing the non flying foals to levitate towards Cloudsdale. “Are you casting the other spell?”

“One step ahead of you,” said Hector, as he cast the second spell. “So where does Rainbow Dash live?”

“We’re right in front of her house,” said Scootaloo, followed by her knocking on the front door. The door was answered by Cartman, who looked like he had a big breakfast. “Hey, you must be Cartman. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, not that it really matters, but it’s nice to meet new friends,” said Cartman. “I honestly thought staying with someone with an ego as big as my own would be hell on earth, but Rainbow Dash and I actually had fun all night.”

“It’s true. He may be a bit of a handful, but he was fun to hang out with nonetheless,” said Rainbow Dash. She then faced Cartman. “Maybe you should hang out with them, they are your friends after all.”

“Okay, I’ll be home before it gets dark,” said Cartman. He and the other foals were then safely transported back to the ground with a teleportation spell that Sweetie Belle used. “Okay, that was pretty cool, but next time give me a warning before you teleport me off of a cloud.”

“Duly noted. Now let’s get Kyle, he should be at Sugarcube Corner,” said Hector, as he and the other foals walked to Sugarcube Corner. Once they were there, they were greeted by an exhausted looking Kyle. “Woah dude, looks like you didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“That’s because Pinkie Pie was keeping up all night with her party planning ideas. I could barely go five seconds without her waking me up,” said Kyle, who was drinking coffee to get his energy back. The five colts and three fillies eventually made their way to a treehouse near Sweet Apple Acres. “What’s this?”

“It’s a treehouse, shit for brains,” said Cartman.

“I know that, jackass. I meant who does this belong to,” said Kyle.

“It’s ours, we call ourselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” said Apple Bloom. “We noticed that you boys don’t have any cutie marks, so we decided to let you join us until you get your cutie marks.”

“Could you explain to us what the fuck a cutie mark is,” said Cartman, causing the Cutie Mark Crusaders to gasp. “Are you gasping because I said a swear word, or because we don’t know what cutie marks are?”

“The second one. And to answer your question, a cutie mark is a mark you get on your flank when you discover what your special talent is,” explained Sweetie Belle. “Do you guys know what you’re good at?”

“Well, Cartman’s good at being stupid,” said Kyle.

“At least my mom wasn’t a stupid bitch every time she saw tv!” said Cartman.

“We can argue about who has a worse mom later. But as for talents, I have a pretty gross talent,” said Hector.

“What is it?” asked Stan.

“I can play a flugelhorn… with my butt,” answered Hector, causing the others to gag. “I could demonstrate if you want?”

“No thanks, that won’t be necessary, we’ll just take your word for it,” said Sweetie Belle. “Do you have any other talents?”

“(We’re all pretty good at singing),” said Kenny. The boys then sang a sample of the song ‘Fingerbang’ (which I can’t show the lyrics for because it’s not an MLP song), and the girls thought it was really good.

“Wow, you boys are naturals. It’s like you’ve had practice before you ran away from your homes,” said Apple Bloom. She then realized what she said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

“It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean to bring it up, but it’s okay if you want to ask us about it,” said Hector, followed by a wink to his friends, letting them know that he knew what he was doing. “If you want, I could tell you about my life before I came to town.”

“That would be nice. Which reminds me, how did you survive on the run?” asked Apple Bloom.

“I did something I’m not proud of… I stole from ponies so that I could provide for myself,” said Hector, causing the foals around him to gasp.

“Why did you do that?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“It was because I was under the influence of my now ex-girlfriend, Emily,” said Hector. “One day in the big city, I was alone in the streets. But when I met Emily, she helped me search for food and shelter whenever I needed it. I don’t remember when it started, but she and I eventually started stealing food from stores and restaurants, and we even stole jewelry just to sell it on the black market for cash.”

Hector was starting to tear up. He was actually telling the truth about his life, the only thing he changed was the mention of humans.

“It doesn’t stop there,” continued Hector. “One day, me and Emily saw a shiny crown in a jewelry store, and she immediately knew she wanted to steal it. When I saw my reflection in the window the night of the heist, I saw what I had become… a common criminal. Once I heard the cops coming, I ran away with the crown and left Emily. And when she got arrested, I never got to see her again.”

“What did you do with the crown?” asked Scootaloo.

“I sold it on the black market, and I’ve been trying to never look back ever since,” said Hector, as he wiped away his tears. “Okay, now that you all know how I was doing before I came to Ponyville, why don’t we try some activities to earn these cutie marks.”

“Oh, okay. How about we try ziplining?” suggested Apple Bloom.

“NO!!” yelled four of the five colts, with Hector being the exception.

“Last time we went ziplining we almost died, and it almost cost us our friendship,” said Cartman, who was still traumatized by the last time he and his friends went ziplining. “Is there anything else we can start with?”

“How about we start with cooking,” said Apple Bloom, to which the five colts agreed. “Okay, let’s head to Sugarcube Corner.”

On the way to Sugarcube Corner, Hector had a few things to ask Apple Bloom. “Hey, Apple Bloom, I’ve been meaning to ask, what’s it like having a family?” asked Hector. Apple Bloom just looked down, making Hector assume that he shouldn’t have asked that question.

“It’s nice, but you have to appreciate what you have until it’s gone,” said Apple Bloom. “I may have a family, but I hardly knew my parents. They died when I was too young to remember. I may not have known them for long, but it still feels like they’re still around.”

Hector was feeling sorry for asking the question, prompting him to give Apple Bloom a hug in order to cheer her up. “It’s okay, I know what it’s like to not know much about my parents. But I always tell myself to keep moving forward, and it always makes me feel better,” said Hector. “They may be gone, but they are not forgotten. If you think about them a lot, it’ll make you smile and make you feel like they’re still here for you.”

Hector was close to tearing up, but Apple Bloom wiped away his tears. “Don’t cry, you’ll find a family someday,” said Apple Bloom.

“Hey, lovebirds, are you coming to Sugarcube Corner or are you going to stay and make out?” said Kyle, running the touching moment.

“Alright, save your breath kosher boy!” said Hector, as he and Apple Bloom walked to Sugarcube Corner.

Author's Note

I'm going to end it here for now. Sorry I took a while to upload this chapter, I've been running two accounts nonstop, hopefully you enjoy this chapter and the one that follows.