My heart felt like it was about to erupt. Balloons and streamers were flying all around me. I had no clue what was going on, in fact, I felt like I was being attacked. Suddenly, a mare with a brilliant raspberry mane, a paler raspberry coat and light cerulean coloured eyes appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by some sort of wagon.

"Welcome welcome welcome, a fine welcome to you! Welcome welcome welcome, I say how do you do? Welcome welcome welcome, I say hip hip hurray! Welcome welcome welcome, to Ponyville today!" She danced and sang with great vigor. She ended her dance posing in front of her wagon. "Wait for it!" she told me.

Wait for what?

Her wagon contraption shot something straight into the air, which landed on both of us. Some of it landed in my open jaw, and it tasted like cake batter. Then the wagon shot confetti straight at us. "Whoops, I must have put the cake batter in the confetti cannon and the confetti on the oven! Again!" She was now giggling and bouncing around me. I stood there, covered with cake batter and confetti with a shocked look on my face. "Aw what's wrong? Didn't you like it?" She stopped bouncing and giggling and started frowning.

"No... I liked it. It's just I've never been greeted so... energetically." My mind was still trying to comprehend what had just happened. Questions were racing through my brain. She smiled and somehow stepped out of the cake batter, leaving a perfect cast of her body, and then ate it in one bite.

That only raises further questions! I felt like my head was about to explode. I shook off what I could of the cake batter and confetti that covered every inch of my body. "Who are you?"

"I'm Pinkie Pie!" She was incredibly full of energy. "Ooo what's that?" Before I could figure out what she was asking about, she bounced over and took my sword. "Pretty!" I yanked my sword out of her grasp.

"That’s not a toy," I scolded.

"Sorry," she apologized, "I've never seen you in Ponyville, and I know everyone here."

I have a feeling that's probably true.

"My name is Handsome Bowtie."

"That's a handsome name." She fell over onto her back, laughing uncontrollably with the occasional snort at her lame pun.

I sighed deeply. Why is it that almost everyone felt the need to make that joke? Finding nothing left to do in the outskirts of town, I decided start walking towards more civilization. Pinkie Pie got up and bounced after me, asking me a series of questions.

"What are you here for? Oh! I know, you're here to party! Is that it?"

"No, I'm here to hitch a train ride."

"The train is under maintenance, so it won't be done for a few weeks."

Shit, just what I don't need. Guess I'm walking. Since this Pinkie Pie pony says she knows everypony here, maybe she knows somepony who could teach me a few spells.

"Do you know anypony that is good with magic?"

"Yup! My friend Twilight is super duper good at magic! She lives over in that tree."

"Thanks." I stopped walking. Pinkie Pie landed on top of my back. She was oddly light, almost as light as Ember. "Why are you following me?" She didn't get off.

"You're new here so-"

"I actually lived here years ago. Not for long, but long enough to know my way around."

"Oh. Well, I can at least introduce you to the other ponies."

"I'm not staying long, and I'm kinda in a hurry. Don't you have something better to do anyways?"

"You're right!" She hopped off my back and vanished.

I sighed. "I'll never understand that mare."

I made my way into the marketplace. Ponies gave me strange looks for a reason I couldn’t think of, until I remembered the cake batter and streamers covering me from head to tail. I just tried my best to ignore them and made my way to the tree Pinkie Pie told me about. I reached the house and knocked on the door, but there wasn't a response. Something felt off, so I opened the door. It was pitch black. I cautiously walked in to investigate.

"Hello?"

Suddenly all the drapes opened and numerous ponies yelled, “SURPRISE!” My heart was beating in my throat. I've had enough surprises today. There was a banner that had the words Welcome Handsome Bowtie printed on it. How in the hay did they know I was coming here? And how did they know who I was?

"Hello again!" Pinkie Pie announced.
Figures.

"Uhh... Hello Pinkie Pie." How did she get here? "I thought you had something important to do."

"Yeah, I had to get your party ready!"

"But... how did you... I just don't understand. Why give me a party?"

"I always throw parties for my friends!"

"We only met a few moments ago. How could we already be friends?"

"All my friends call me Pinkie Pie!"

I didn't get it, but I didn't want to continue the conversation.

All the ponies there greeted me warmly. I don't have time for this. I couldn't figure out who Twilight was or even if she was here. I decided I should just wait out the party before trying to find her. In the meantime, I got to meet a lot of the townsfolk, none of which seemed to notice that I didn't have a cutie-mark.

Once the party ended and everypony left, I was all alone in Twilight's home. I felt weird because I felt like I was intruding. The door opened and a pony with a pale purple coat and a dark blue mane with brilliant violet and rose streaks trotted into the vicinity.

"Hello. Are you Twilight?" I'm pretty sure I startled her, because she visibly jumped at the sound of my voice.

"Who are you, and why are you in my house?!"

"I’m Handsome Bowtie. Your friend Pinkie Pie said I could find you here. I knocked on the door, but nopony answered, so I walked in and somehow Pinkie planned a surprise party for me. Oh, and before you get the chance, please don't say I have a handsome name. I hear that joke a lot and it gets old."

"Well, if you're a friend of Pinkie then you're a friend of mine."

Just what I need, more friends.

"I was wondering if you could teach me some spells, preferably any that could protect me from a dragon."

"Good heavens, why would you need a spell like that?" I couldn't tell her the truth.

"One of Fancy Pants’ clients is having trouble with a dragon, and I told him I'd go take care of it." That was as close to the truth as I was willing to tell.

"I don’t approve." She turned and walked towards a bookshelf, seemingly writing off my existence.

"Well, what else am I supposed to do? He's holding my family hostage!" Fuck! I need to be more careful about what I say.

"What?" A book she was levitating suddenly dropped to the floor.

"Forget it. So can you help me?" I hoped she would just drop the subject.

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

I weighed out my options. Either I tell her and get a spell or two to help in the fight against Xorthaul, or walk out and hope for the best. It couldn't hurt to tell one other pony.

I decided to tell her everything, beginning with my parents’ death and ending when Keita knocked me out. She just sat there silently listening. Once I finished, I was kind of nervous. She hadn't said anything. Maybe she was just letting it settle in her mind.

"My goodness, that's terrible! Of course I'll help you! But one question: why didn't you tell Princess Celestia or Princess Luna about what Fancy Pants was doing?"

"I had assumed that if I returned to Canterlot he would harm my family or kill me, maybe both! Also, I would suggest not trying to tell either of them, just in case he has spies following me.” She nodded.

"Don't worry about me. I still don’t approve of you not telling the princesses, but that’s your decision. Now then, let’s get to the lessons." Her horn glowed lavender, and moments later a large magical barrier formed around her.

"Will this be able to protect me from a dragon?"

"I wouldn't be teaching it to you if it couldn't."

"That makes sense." I blushed a little in embarrassment, but she didn’t seem to notice.

"It's fairly simple. Just focus your magic into a central point in your horn, then release it and try to expand it into a bubble around you. The more energy you put into it, the stronger it gets. If you can master it, you can even make different shapes."

It seemed easy enough. My horn glowed with a dark red aura. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead. A bolt of magic erupted out of my horn, producing a perfect dark red sphere around me. I generally could learn anything by either seeing it preformed or being told how to do it. It may not be perfect, but I can at least do it.

"Amazing. You actually were able to do it your first time." She sounded astonished. “I mean, I could too, but still.”

"I'm a quick learner." I responded.

"That's unfortunately the only spell I know that could help. If you want some more help, you could go talk to my other friends, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie."

I had no clue how Pinkie Pie was going to help. Maybe she'd come with and throw a party for the dragon. I snickered at the thought. She probably would, too.

She gave me instructions on where I could most likely find each of them. She also suggested that I take a bath before meeting Rarity. Before I left, I asked her if there was a hospital in town. I wanted to check my jaw before I left to go to the Badlands. Twilight said there was one near the east of town. I gave her a quick hug and thanked her for the help.
Considering how I didn't have a home here where I could bathe, I decided to quickly rinse myself off in the river. It passed by the town relatively close by, so it only took about a minute of walking and ponies staring at me to get over to it. I again unequipped my items and dove into the shallow water. After about ten minutes or so of soaking myself in the river, I hopped out and shook myself dry. I decided I should go see Rarity first since I was clean.
I found the boutique just where Twilight said it would be. I knocked on the door. I swear, if Pinkie Pie has another surprise party for me...

"Come in~" a majestic, classy voice said from inside. I opened the door, hearing a bell ring. I saw a unicorn with a light grayish coat. Her velvet mane and tail were beautifully curled. I assumed that this was Rarity.

"Um, are you Rarity?" She was working on a dress of some sort.

"I prefer Miss Rarity or Lady Rarity." She continued to work on the dress.

"Sorry, Miss Rarity. I was sent here by Twilight. She said you might be able to help me."

"Help with what?" She stopped working on her dress and turned around to face me, "My my, aren't you a handsome stallion." I could feel my face getting hot, she laughed at my reaction, only making it worse.

"You're quite beautiful, too." Not as pretty as Sundance, though. "My name is Handsome Bowtie. Seeing as how you can make beautiful ensembles, I was wondering if you could make me something that would camouflage me to the area of the Badlands." She gasped. I hoped I didn't offend her.

"Good gracious, why would you be traveling to such a horrid place?" I hope I wouldn't have to get her or anypony else involved in my predicament.

"I have to kill a dragon for Fancy Pants." She squealed immediately as I said Fancy Pants' name.

"You mean THE Fancy Pants? The same pony that lives in Canterlot?! Isn't he just the greatest?"

"He's something, alright," I mumbled.

"What was that darling?"

"Oh nothing, so you’ll help me?"

"Of course! Anypony who knows Fancy Pants personally is of high value!"

"Only one problem, I don't have anything to pay you with."

"No worries my handsome friend, think of it as a gift."

"You are as generous as you are beautiful."

"Thank you, darling! Stop by in a few hours and I'll have something whipped up for you." She smiled.

"I can't thank you enough, Miss Rarity." Two down, four to go. I opened the door, hearing the bell ring again.

I decided to go meet Rainbow Dash next. It might be hard to contact her since she'd most likely be flying around. I looked up into the sky, but had the misfortune of looking straight into the sun. Celestia dammit that hurt. The sky was clear of everything except for one small cloud. I noticed a rainbow coloured tail hanging off of it. Maybe that was Rainbow Dash.

"Hey! Are you Rainbow Dash?" I think I woke her up, since she jolted up and rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm Rainbow Dash!" she yelled back. She jumped off of her cloud bed and landed on the ground with a thud. Dust rose up off the ground when she landed. She looked pretty awesome. Her mane was the colour of a rainbow and her coat was a bedraggled light cerulean. She was staring at me with sleepy eyes.

"What do you want?" I didn't know if she was pissed or not.

"Well I'm going to the Badlands to fight a dragon. I was wondering if you could help in any way."

"Yeah, sure."

Wait what? She's not going to ask what for?

"If you're going up against a dragon, you'll have to be strong, quick, and most importantly, agile. Now before we get started, let’s have a sparring match so I can see what I'm dealing with."

All right, seemed easy enough. I unequipped my sword and saddlebag. I was amazed how helpful everypony was being in this town. I slowly walked up to her, assessing her possible tactics.

"Ha! You're gonna have to be faster than that if you want to beat me!" I could see she was tensing up on her right, which meant that she was going to move left and try to get behind me. She was incredibly fast. As she moved, I quickly turned around and swept her legs out from under her. She slammed onto the ground. I pressed both my forelegs on her shoulders, pinning her to the ground.

"Don't underestimate your opponent," I said.

"But... how did you do that?" she responded, rather ticked off.

"Your body movements allowed me to guess what you were going to do." I helped her up.

"It doesn't seem like there's anything I could help you with," she said with a hint of anger.

"Oh, well thanks anyways." I started to gather my things, but I was lifted up and got my neck smashed into the ground. Di-did she just suplex me?

"Never let your guard down." she laughed.

"Guess you can teach me a thing or two." She helped me up. "You're quite strong for a mare. I don't know many who could lift a full grown stallion like that." I didn't know any that could do that, for that matter.

"I am pretty awesome aren't I?" Okay now, don't get arrogant.

"I agree, but I bet you can't beat me again." Before she could react, I swept her legs out again, pinning her to the ground. We kept pinning each other, neither one of us getting the upper hoof. The sparring matches helped me get into the swing of things. I let her pin me one last time, letting her win, but I didn't make it easy for her. I got the feeling she didn't like to lose.

"Thanks for the sparring matches."

"No problem. Good luck against that dragon. Wait, DRAGON!?" Her voice cracked a little. "You're fighting a dragon?" So close, I thought she wouldn't ask.

"That's what I said."

"But why?" I really didn’t want to get anypony else involved.

"I don't want to get you involved."

"You got me involved when you asked for help," she scoffed.

"No."

She kicked my leg out from under me, making me fall on my face. She pushed down on my neck just hard enough for me not to be able to get up.

"I won't let you up until you tell me."

"Fine," I agreed grumpily. I told her exactly what I had told Twilight, and exactly why I can't tell the Princesses.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. Thanks for the help, but I've got to go." I gathered my things and left. I felt like I put her into a shitty mood and now I was in a shitty mood. I might as well go to the hospital, those sparring matches didn't help my jaw at all. I think I reopened the wound and maybe caused the fracture to crack even more. Hopefully I could settle a compromise for money.

I was lost in thought and wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I bumped into somepony, sending me on my flank.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I looked up to see whom I bumped into. It was a mare with a pale light rose mane and a light maroon coat. She seemed familiar to me, but from where?

"Bowtie? Is that you?" she asked, helping me up.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, but I can't remember your name."

"It's me, Cheerilee!" Ah, now I remember! She was Sundance's employer at the school.

"Now I remember! How are you?" I gave her a friendly hug.

"I'm doing well, and you?" I couldn't decide whether or not to tell her what was really going on.

"I'm doing alright. Sundance and I had a little filly a few years ago." I guess I'm not telling her.

"Congrats! So are you and your family moving out of that dreadful forest?"

"Yeah, but there's some things I have to take care of first."

"I can't wait to catch up!"

"Me too." We turned our separate ways. I was glad I bumped into her. It's always good to see old friends.

I could see a large building far away. I assume that's the hospital. It took me a few minutes to reach the doors. There were a couple of ponies sitting in chairs, sneezing and sniffling in the main lobby.

"May I help you?" My observations were interrupted by a nasally voice.

"Uh, yes." I just stared at the attendant.

"Well? Do you have an appointment?" she responded.

"No, I don't." I hope I wouldn't have to wait for a long time.

"Write down your name and I'll notify you when a doctor can help you.”

"Thanks." I wrote my name and sat down in the waiting area. It felt like hours had passed, but when I looked at the clock it had been only a few minutes. I sighed. Another ten minutes passed before my name was called.

"Mr. Bowtie, the doctor will see you now." I saw a pony in white scrubs motioning for me to come over. I followed him into a small room.

"I am Dr. Hoofington. What seems to be the problem?"

"I think I have a fracture on the right side of my jaw." He touched my lower jaw. Pain coursed through my teeth, making me jerk away.

"Yup. That's one bad fracture. What did you do?"

"Would you believe that I bit down too hard on an apple?" Judging from his quizzical look, I assumed that was a no. "I got into a fight with a zebra." He simply nodded his head.

"I'm going to have to take a few X-rays to see what I'm dealing with." Dr. Hoofington escorted me to a larger room with a large camera-like machine.

"Stand right here and clench down on this." He placed something in my mouth between my teeth. I bit down, trying to ignore the pain. After he was done getting the pictures taken, I spat out the cloth thing that was in my mouth into a bin. Then he led me back to the first room and told me to wait while he got the X-rays. He returned moments later, looking grim.

"By the look on your face, I assume I'm perfectly fine," I said jokingly. He chuckled a bit, but returned to his grim stature. He showed me the pictures. It was worse than I thought. I had a total of five cracks in my jaw

"Well, that's a pretty serious fracture you got there."

"How much is this going to cost me? Cause I don't have any money."

"Maybe we can work out a deal. How about I fix you up for free in exchange for a favor later on, no questions asked?" I don't think I like this, but what else am I going to do?

"Agreed. So what about my jaw?"

"Well, I'll put you an some anesthetics, then remove any bone shrapnel. Then I'll fill the cracks with a synthetic bone filling that should slowly dissolve and recreate your jaw bone."

"Sounds fun," I said sarcastically. "When do we begin?"

"Right now, if it’s a good time."

"The sooner the better," I replied.

"Alright, follow me." We walked up to the third floor. Judging from the signs, this was where they do most of the surgery. He led me into a large white room. There was a numerous amount of machines, and I had no clue what most of them were used for. I almost felt like I was in a horror movie.

Dr. Hoofington told me to lie down on the table in the center of the room. He took a syringe and jabbed my shoulder. Things slowly got fuzzy. Multiple other ponies entered the room with white masks and scrubs on. A bright light turned on above me. I heard a ringing noise in my ears. It slowly got louder and louder until I passed out.

Author's Note

Edited by FlanChan