Light as a feather

-Chapter Three-

Amber hadn't always lived in a city. He had lived in a small town similar to this one when he was a foal, before things happened and he was no longer welcome. But those memories were far from his mind as he made his way toward the town center.

He stood aimless in the street, his hooves sore, his stomach aching. Three days of hoof hiking had gotten him nowhere but tired and hungry and his mood was worse for it. Slamming his hoof into the ground he created a small hoof shaped crater.

"Somepony’s grumpy today!"

Amber looked up at the bubbly pink pony bouncing in front of him, his head bobbed in time with her motion. He stepped back a little startled by her sudden appearance. He glanced around at the other ponies milling about the street to see if perhaps he was hallucinating. Surely this wasn't normal pony behavior?

"Excuse me?" He said quietly in case it was an illusion. He didn't want to be over heard, much less seen talking to himself.

"You heard me." The pink pony went on shoving her muzzle right into his, confirming she wasn't an illusion but an actual living breathing pony. "Do you know the cure for a grumpy pony? Well Do YOU?"

"I don't..." The colt began lamely, not in the mood for the odd pony’s antics.

"A PARTY!" The pink pony shouted. The rusty orange colt was showered with confetti from seemingly nowhere. He shook his head doing his best to dislodge the tiny strips of colored paper from his sloppy mane. He clenched his teeth tightly, restraining his emotion. "No thank you. I don't want..."

But the pink pony was already gone leaving the colt standing amid a pile of discarded confetti reaching to his knees. He screamed suddenly venting his frustrations to the sky garnering unsettling looks from the ponies on the street. Their whispered words of concern however, went unheard as the exhausted and half starved pony fell unconscious, all but buried beneath the vibrant party garnish.

--

"What's with that cutie mark? He hasn't got any wings..."

"Do you think he's a SPY?!"

"Oh dear, should we be talking so loud? What if we wake him?"

Several voices flooded into Amber's dreams as they slowly faded into reality. Realizing he was in the process of swallowing something bile he sputtered and gagged barely managing to keep from vomiting on the pony feeding him.

"Whoa there! Take it easy would ya?" The earth pony snapped as the semi liquid mixture dribbled from Amber's mouth. He flailed wildly, trying to escape his nightmares made real.

"Now ya’ve done it." The earth pony said as the sound of breaking glass roused Amber to full consciousness. "Granny Smith'd tan yer hide if'n you was family. That was some o' her best, uh, only China."

Amber rolled to his hooves bolting for the exit he had just managed to spot from his peripheral vision, hoping for a quick escape. He got only a few steps before wobbling unsteadily barely managing to keep himself upright. His head swam violently threatening to send him vomiting up what the earth pony had managed to shove down his throat before he woke.

"Where am I?" He mumbled his tongue thick and foreign in his mouth.

"Yer at Sweet Apple Acres sugarcube." The yellow pony answered. "Rainbow here found you passed out in a pile of confetti."

"Oh! Oh! I did that! That was me!" The bouncing pink pony from earlier shouted quite proud of herself. Merely watching her bounce made Amber's stomach flip and he put a hoof up to his mouth to suppress the sudden nausea.

"You've been unconscious for several hours." A voice the colt had yet to hear spoke up matter-of-factly. He tried to raise his head, to get a look at the pony who’d just spoken, but the thought alone made him sway precariously on his hooves.

"I...if it's ok would you tell us your n...name?" Fluttershy spoke up quietly stumbling over her words as was usual when she meet someone new. The other ponies looked at her surprised as she made to hide a blush beneath her frock of pink mane. "If...if you want to...that is...."

"Some pony has a crush on the new guy!" Rainbow Dash taunted playfully embarrassing Fluttershy even more. The yellow pegasus shivered noticeably as she attempted to disappear. The lavender unicorn frowned. "Rainbow that's not nice. I want to know his name as much as Fluttershy does."

The blue pegasus made to counter argue but was stopped as Amber spoke, unable to stand the ill treatment of the yellow pegasus by her so called friend. He tried to meet her eyes but she refused, staring instead at the floor between her hooves. "My name is Amber."
"It's a pleasure to meet ya Amber." The yellow earth pony said shaking the newcomers’s hoof excitedly. He balked and she stopped, stepping back out of the way. After the moment passed she introduced herself and the other ponies.

"My name is Applejack proud co-owner of this here establishment." The earth pony introduced herself a smile on her face, inviting him to glance at his surroundings. He didn’t.

"The rude pony behind you is Rainbow Dash." She said pointing to the rainbow maned blue pegasus that had taunted her friend only moments before. She seemed to have forgotten the incident as she fluttered near his backside scrutinizing his cutie mark as if she didn't believe he was an earth pony.

Amber groaned audibly as the apple pony introduced the bubbly pink pony he'd met earlier. "This here is uh... Pinkie what are ya doin'?"

The pink pony had placed a party hat on the colt's head while he was distracted and now hopped around him excitedly tossing confetti from a bag she hadn't had moments earlier. "It's not a party without party hats silly!"

Amber recoiled as she blew excitedly on a kazoo mere inches from his ear.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle.” A petite lavender unicorn introduced herself, momentarily distracting him from the ache in his temples. “I take care of the library here in Ponyville."

The unicorn gave a wry smile, pulling a party hat from her own head as she introduced herself. By that point Amber had managed to raise his head high enough to see the orange pony, Applejack, and the blue pegasus, Rainbow... something, dragging the pink pony away.

"Ponyville?" Amber repeated hearing the name of the town for the first time. He sat back on his haunches his legs suddenly unable to carry his weight. The name was familiar somehow but he couldn't place how he knew it or why.

"They can be exhausting, especially Pinkie Pie, but I assure you they mean well." The unicorn continued with a sincere smile assuming his question was rhetorical. After a moment, waiting for a reaction he supposed, she went on a bit sheepishly. "But I'm sure you could use some proper rest after all the excitement you've had, I know I would. There will be plenty of time for parties later."

With that she exited leaving Amber alone but for the yellow Pegasus in the corner. Judging by her reluctance to acknowledge him however he may as well have been alone. Slowly he stumbled back to the couch he had woken on and promptly fell into another nightmare laced sleep.