Is Your Friendship Mistaken?

Kyle woke with the drums of war in his head and anvils tied to his eyelids.  Still, he forced himself to rise from the guest bed in Twilight’s room.  As he sat on the edge of the too-small-for-his-species bed, he noticed both of the other beds in the room were empty, the dragon’s was unkempt, while Twilight’s was neat as could be.

He heard muffled voices downstairs, and figured it to be the two actual residents of the house-library.  He wasn’t able to hear any of it, as it seemed to quiet as he neared.  As he came down the carved steps, the suspected culprits came into view.  They were working on some sort of document.  Just as he opened his mouth to make himself known, they noticed him, looked at each other, then closed the scroll and put it in one of the saddlebags lying by the door.

They obviously didn’t want him to know what they were doing, so he let them be and looked for anything edible.  He found a hefty-looking box of something labeled Apple Jack’s.  Without thinking, he pulled out a bowl and poured some of it in.  To Kyle’s chagrin, he found it was not the name-brand cereal he knew, but a simple box of grain, which Twilight explained to him, was a special kind of oat reserved for her friend Apple Jack, who had a sensitive digestive system.

So he did what any other desperate teenager would do: He ate an entirely inappropriate food for the time.  Today it was apple pie.  Twilight gave him an odd look saying, “You know you’re not supposed to eat that for breakfast right?”

He responded with hiss, covered his pie in a protective stance, and continued digging in.  This wouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone he knew personally, as he was always a bear until he woke up.

After a warm pie, Kyle asked if there was any way he could clean himself.  Twilight suggested he just take a shower.  He nearly had a heart attack after finding something vaguely familiar.

After a nice warm shower, Twilight and Kyle ventured into Ponyville to find some new clothing for him.  He was taken to the home of none other than Ponyville’s only fashion designer, Rarity.

Kyle had to draw a line, lest he end up being the town doormat.  “Oh hell no!  I am NOT going to a designer.”  He objected halfway to the fashion boutique, “All I need is something simple; I do NOT need some sort of makeover.  Next I suppose you’ll take me an examination.”

Twilight got a nervous look on her face, but simply walked towards the boutique.  Left with few options, Kyle followed her inside.

The experience was exactly what he expected.  Although the building itself looked rather upturned with all of the models with various unfinished articles of clothing on them.

Twilight began working on her schedule while the magical white fashion diva looked him over.  All the while Rarity fussed over his attire and chatted away with him about pony society.  He was curious to see if ponies were anything like humans… or ponies as he knew them for that matter.

Kyle was a very practical person, only asking for a simple gray T-shirt and jeans, exactly like the ones he wore, but he was refused, and the unicorn insisted that she make him ‘more suitable’ clothing.  Kyle played his new role as the doormat and acquiesced.

The two of them left while Rarity waved and told them to return tomorrow.  Twilight then dragged him to the park, where he was formally introduced to the rest of her friends.

The first was Apple Jack, an orange pony with apples on her side.  Kyle recalled she was the one with the stomach problem.  She worked at a nearby farm kicking apples down from their trees.

Next on the list was Fluttershy, whom he explained he’d met informally a day ago.  A reclusive butter-yellow pony who lived in a cottage caring for animals.

He was then introduced to Rainbow Dash, an athletic and aggressive pony with a taste for speed and a weakness for competition.  She’d greeted Kyle with no fear in her eyes and a grin on her face, the complete opposite of what had happened only minutes ago with Fluttershy.

Finally there was Pinkie Pie, an obsessive pony who loved parties, and wasn’t a social butterfly, but more of a social tank, making friends with EVERY sentient being she came across.  She greeted him in a similar fashion to Rainbow, although Rainbow Dash didn’t have a bitching party cannon.

With the cast complete, Kyle asked if they knew of a good place where he could find a job.  Apple Jack piped up with the idea of having him work a Sweet Apple Acres, her family’s business.  While it was tradition the family worked the farm, the orchard grew each year, and Apple Jack and her brother were reaching their limits.  Kyle agreed to come by the next day at around ten AM to have an evaluation.

Then the six of them grabbed both of Kyle’s arms and literally dragged him to the bakery.  As he entered the doors, confetti cannons blasted their charges into the air, filling the place with small paper strips.  And several ponies popped up.  There was a banner labeled, “Welcome to Ponyville Kyle!” in large, flowing, pink letters on a manila background.

He nearly had a heart attack.  A party was the last thing he expected, being a stranger to everybody there.  The party lasted about three and a half hours.  By the end, Kyle knew everypony by name and could recognize them.

Everypony quickly filed out, Kyle remained in the building alone.  As the last pony left, Kyle fell back and slumped against a wall.  The day was tiring, and he needed to just let himself lose focus in order to enter his little world of thought.  Then he thought it would be better to talk to Princess Luna that night rather than become a zombie for most of the day.

The party didn’t make Kyle happy.  Yes it was great he’d gotten to meet so many people, but he preferred solitude.  One of the things he used to do was sit down and listen to music for hours on end.  He’d never had many friends, so he’d become reclusive.

He rose just as Twilight poked her head in.  She asked with a worried tone in her voice, “Kyle?  You okay over there?”

“Hmm?  Yeah, I’m fine.  Just letting myself rest a bit.”  He responded, his tone suggesting depression rather than exhaustion.

“Well, I don’t know much about humans, but I’d like to, so I was wondering if you’d let me ask you some questions about where you come from.”

He smiled, unable to keep grim in the face of oblivious happiness.  He followed her outside to her tree-house home.  Inside Twilight asked him simple questions, like where he was from, and what Earth was like.

Within six hours, Twilight had only covered basic human society and history up to the Age of Exploration, which was all Kyle could remember from classes.  She soaked up info like a sponge.  However, the sun was dropping quickly, in sync with Kyle’s eyelids.

After an obvious Freudian slip, Kyle gave up.  “I can’t go on like this, I need to sleep Twilight” Kyle grumbled to the still-energetic young pony.

A frown grew on her face and she whined, “Come on Kyle, we’ve got so much left to talk about and it’s only 11:30!”  The pleading look on her face was hard to resist, but he had to sleep, otherwise he wouldn't be able to do a thing in a few hours.

Wordlessly, he rose and walked upstairs.  He heard Twilight groan from downstairs.  He had a big day ahead of him, and he knew he’d need all the strength he could muster.  As he lay down, he realized he wanted to ask Luna about… Kyle slapped his forehead, realizing he’d forgotten to remember what he’d want to talk about.  But he’d wanted to talk about SOMETHING, so he decided he’d remember if he talked anyways.

He rose and walked to the window.  He didn’t have the strength to climb the tree, so he hoped Twilight would just study or something while he talked.  He looked at the moon and spoke the rhyme Luna told him would contact her.

“Princess of the Night, I shall not flee in fright.  I wish to speak to thee, please converse with me.”  He spoke in a soft voice, the tones changing just often enough for it to be called a song.

He waited a moment, and then the miasma came through the window and formed the Princess.  She cocked her head to the side and stared inquisitively, unsure of what she was needed for.

“Luna, I want to know how you dealt with solitude on the moon.  No, I want to know if it affected you.  I mean, I enjoy such peace in a quiet place, but you say you felt so lonely on the moon.  Why?”

She looked at him, and thought a moment before replying in a soft tone, “I… thought that one day I’d find somepony who could make everything seem right.  I thought and dreamed about him until the day Nightmare Moon escaped.  It’s complicated.  Like everything else that seems to happen to me.”

Kyle stared off at the moon for a moment.  “You were very precise with the stars tonight.  I like it, it… stirs something within me.  I’m not sure what it is.”  He stared for a few moments longer and then turned to face the lunar pariah next to him.

He cleared his throat.  “It’s… getting late… I should get to sleep.”  Luna nodded in agreement and began to walk out of the room.  As she did so, Kyle remembered something important.  “Hey Luna?”  He asked, his voice unsure and shaky.  “Would… you like to… go… um… somewhere… when you’ve got some free time.  I’d ummmm… like to… if that’s not a problem.”  He quickly spurted out as a closing comment, “But if you don’t want to that’s okay too.”

Luna rolled her eyes up in thought and then looked back at him, “uhhh… yeah I’d like to… Did you have anywhere in mind?”

“uhhh… No…I kinda hoped you did…”  He managed an impish smile despite his current heart-attack.

“I… don’t…”  She responded, a frown growing on her face, she feared this would end in disaster as well.

Then they both got an idea.  “I’ll ask around.”  The two of them said at the exact same moment.  They looked at each other accusingly, moreover, the look said, 'Who are you?  Stealing my words.."

Then Luna walked out of the library, while Twilight Sparkle had fallen asleep analyzing her notes on humans.