Fortunate Misfortune

~Chapter 9 - A Dizzying Party~

“Gah!” groaning loudly I flopped backwards onto the grass. ‘That’s just great, now I need to learn Equestrian…’

I remained there, absently looking over the invitation and the written words that I couldn’t understand. I stayed like that for about a minute at most, and then I was shaken back to reality by Rainbow’s sudden return.

“Alright, so what do you want to…” she trailed off, noticing the card in my hand. “What’s that?”

“An invitation to my party, Pinkie popped over to deliver it,” I said handing it over to her. “But I can’t understand a word of it.”

Rainbow gave a light laugh as she took it, “Yeah, Pinkie can be a bit hard to understand sometimes.”

“I mean I can’t read it. I can’t read Equestrian,” I sighed.

“What? But we’re speaking Equestrian right now,” Rainbow tilted her head in confusion.

“In my world it’s called English, but yeah… I guess we write it differently though,” I said as I pulled the front of my sweater together. “Like this here says ‘Dalhousie’, it’s the name of the University I go to. Actually, I’m surprised no one noticed it before.”

“Oh, that’s a word?” Rainbow responded, “I thought that it was some sort of weird design.”

I shrugged, “I guess I’ll ask Twilight for some help later. For now we need to find something to do though, Pinkie said that the party won’t be starting for another hour.”

Rainbow hut her hoof to her chin in thought, “Well… an hour doesn’t give us much time to do anything. I guess I could give you a quick tour of Ponyville, show you where the others live. Unless you already know where everything is from that show thing.”

I shook my head, “The show left direction and location pretty vague. All I really know for certain is that Fluttershy’s cottage is somewhere next to the Everfree Forest.”

She clapped her hooves together, “Then it’s settled, let’s get to it!”

Before I knew it, Rainbow Dash had grabbed me under the arms and was lifting me off the ground, and I found myself speeding back in the direction we came. This time though, Rainbow kept the pace down to a reasonable level so I could actually take in my surroundings and not be deafened by the rushing air.

“We’ll finish with Sugarcube Corner, since we’re headed there afterwards anyway,” she said after we were under way.

Even as my head swiveled back and forth I nodded in acceptance with the plan, not that Rainbow noticed.

I didn’t pay any mind to the glances and stares of the ponies lining the streets as my attention was focused on where we were going and the surrounding houses and buildings, the majority of which were built in the same style. Almost all the houses I saw reminded me of wooden English cottages with straw thatched roofs, though a few had clay tile or wood shake shingles instead of the regular straw. Flower boxes hung from many front windows, but despite the seeming similarities between homes they all had their own unique look to them.

The first stop on the tour was the Town Hall. I shouldn’t really call it a stop though, since Rainbow slowed down only enough to allow me to become oriented and quickly examine the circular wooden building. It had a balcony circling the entire structure and a pointed red roof.

From there I was carried off towards Sweet Apple Acres. Once there, I saw the familiar red farmhouse with a purple roof, on top of which was an apple shaped weather vane. Around the farmhouse were a few small fields of corn and cabbages, and on a hill a distance behind the barn was a smaller orange house surrounded by a patch of what looked like carrots. All around this however, was the massive, sprawling, apple orchard, extending as far as I could see over the nearby hills. Again not staying for very long, the two of us were speeding back towards town. I thought I saw Big Macintosh working down below but I couldn’t get a clear enough glimpse to know for certain.

Barreling past the Town Hall once again, Rainbow flew me around the lavishly designed Carousel Boutique. The sun reflected painfully into my eyes off the large circular windows on either side of the front door, and the last thing I saw before I had to rub my watering eyes was the pennant atop the boutique’s pink roof swaying gently in the breeze.

Aside from Rainbow Dash’s cloud home, the Ponyville library had to be my favourite structure. It was carved into a large, still living tree; the front door was red with a lit candle painted onto it. A couple windows and balconies could be seen poking out through the tree’s foliage. Pinkie was hopping towards the library; she knocked on the door and turned to wave at us with a giggle. The door opened revealing the library’s resident and librarian, Twilight. As Rainbow sped away I saw Pinkie hand Twilight an invitation and bounce happily away.

Our last stop before the party was Fluttershy’s cottage. On the way to her front door a bridge spanned a small gently flowing stream. Birds were chirping and flitting around as small animals scurried all about, several occupied bird houses hung from trees nearby. Just the outside of the cottage seemed cozy and pleasant, and if the show was any indication then the inside was even more so. Rainbow Dash lowered me to the ground and touched down herself. Looking beyond the cottage and across what little of the back yard that was visible from where I stood I could see the edge of the Everfree Forest.

Rotating my stiff arms to get the blood circulating once again, I asked, “So why does Fluttershy live so close to the forest if it’s such a dangerous place?”

Rainbow shrugged, “Beats me. All she said was that some of the animals she takes care of like eagles are predators, so they have to hunt for their food. She said they hunt at the edge of the forest.” She turned to me, “You don’t sound like you’re scared of the place,” and quickly added, “Not that I am or anything!”

I laughed, “I’m not really. Clouds moving on their own and animals caring for themselves? That is my world; no one can control the weather, and why try to take care of animals when they already do such a good job of it?”

Rainbow cast me a very shocked look.

I continued, “Although, the most dangerous creatures we have back home are things like wolves, bears, and poisonous snakes… depending on where you live in the world. We don’t have any hydras, Ursas, manticores, cockatrices, or anything of the sort.”

“Well no wonder you’re world isn’t as dangerous as the Everfree Forest,” Rainbow boldly stated. She then looked at the sky, “Well, if we want to be on time for you party we should probably start walking to Sugarcube Corner now.”

“Wait, how can you tell how long it’s been? You don’t have a watch,” I inquired.

She shrugged again, “You get used to it after a while. I usually just look at where the sun is in the sky.”

“Well I can’t stand not having a watch,” I groaned. “It ran out of power even before I got to Equestria.”

Rainbow gave a small shrug, “Anyway, we should probably get a move on.”

Nodding my agreement, we set off towards Sugarcube Corner with Rainbow Dash leading the way.

Rainbow took the time during our walk to ask me about the kinds of things I did back home for fun. Indulging her curiosity, I listed what I could think of. There were video games, playing the piano and the fiddle, reading and how I recently got into writing. Camping, biking, hiking, diving, tennis, water skiing and downhill skiing, and finally finishing off with martial arts, Tae Kwon Do specifically.

I had to pause to answer a few questions about water skiing and video games, the rest of the time she listened with an eager gleam in her eyes.

“It definitely sounds like you know how to have a good time, so I guess I can ignore egghead-ish reading,” Rainbow remarked once I finished. “Hey, since you’re a martial artist too we totally need to spar each other sometime.”

“We’ll see about that,” I said silently chuckling to myself. ‘The Last Roundup’ was the last episode I saw before coming to Equestria, but I could still recall the episode synopsis of an upcoming episode called ‘Read it and Weep’. “…Wait, what’s that about sparring?”

“You know. Me and you, two martial artists sparring each other.” Rainbow replied. “That reminds me, what belt do you have? I’m a black belt in Karate,” she finished while puffing out her chest proudly.

‘Really?… oh yeah! She had a black belt on when Applebloom was trying Karate in ‘Call of the Cutie’…’ “I tried Karate once. I managed to get an orange belt, but that fighting style just felt weird to me. I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do though.”

“Seriously? Finally somepony I can go all out against, this is going to be so awesome!” Rainbow said excitedly.

“Hold on a second,” I said raising my hands. “That sparring match is going to have to wait then, I haven’t really been training for over a year now.”

“Oh,” she replied somewhat disheartened. Though she immediately cheered up, “Well then I guess it’s up to me to get you back into shape. We’ll start tomorrow morning!”

“Sounds good to me,” I replied with an easy laugh.

The rest of the walk went by in silence, the duration of which I spent looking around at the few ponies still wandering around. ‘Strange, I could have sworn that there were more here earlier,’ I thought to myself while ignoring the scattered looks of curiosity.

Sugarcube Corner was just coming into view now, and Rainbow took this moment to ask one last question before our arrival.

“So why do you have my cutie mark on your shirt?”

“Because you were my favourite character in the show,” I simply stated.

She held her head high with a smile. But her expression turned serious again as she voiced another question, “Were?”

“Well I can’t have a favourite with me actually being here now can I?”

Rainbow laughed, “I guess not. So why was I your favourite?”

“Because you remind me of my favourite type of person,” I replied. “Someone who isn’t afraid to give their all for what they love to do in life, someone who takes their skills to the edge, all so they can be the best they can be.”

Rainbow jabbed a hoof playfully at my shoulder and said with a smile, and a faint blush, “Thanks for the compliment.”

“No problem,” I replied with my own smile.

Not long after we were standing at the front door of Sugarcube Corner. The building was silent and I could only see an inky black through the windows. ‘I wonder what this is all about…’ I thought sarcastically to myself as I reached for the doorknob. I opened the door and stepped into the dark entranceway, Rainbow two steps behind me.

“I’m here!” I called out into the dark. “Anypony here?”

Suddenly light flooded the sweetshop and a collective shout of “Surprise!” sounded throughout the building.

I yelped in shock as I jumped backwards, almost tripping over Rainbow Dash. Expecting it made the surprise no less startling. I stood there trying to steady my heart rate even as Pinkie bounced over.

“Hi Matt, I’m so glad you were able to make it to your Welcome to Equestria party. Were you surprised? Were you?” not once did she end her tireless bouncing.

Pinkie was the only pony moving, everyone else was staring at me with varying degrees of curiosity. I thankfully noted that there were no frightened or cautious expressions anywhere.

“You surprised me all right,” I replied after finally regaining my composure.

Pinkie pumped a fore hoof as she exclaimed, “Yes, Pinkie Pie’s still got it!” Turning back to face the motionless crowd she announced, “This is Matthew, or Matt. He’s new to Equestria so everypony give him a warm welcome!” and with that she sprang off to liven up the party.

I gave a quick bow as I said, “It’s nice to meet you all, I wasn’t expecting so many to show up with such short notice.”

I heard an amused Applejack call out from somewhere in the crowd, “Again with the fancy bowin’?”

I grinned, “Like I said before, it’s a habit.”

With the semi awkward silence now broken, ponies slowly began to take Pinkie’s lead and have some fun, some began approaching me with warm welcomes and introductions.

Now that the party was officially underway, Rainbow had disappeared into the crowd to join in on the fun leaving me standing in the doorway. My eyes scanned back and forth across what looked like everyone in Ponyville in an attempt to find the familiar lavender coat of Twilight. My search gradually became easier as the party guests began to spill out onto the street, the interior of Sugarcube Corner just wasn’t large enough to host a party this size. As exiting ponies passed me some of them offered their hooves in greeting while most continued giving simple yet warm welcomes to Ponyville and Equestria. One mare in particular, a certain mint green unicorn with a light blue and white striped mane and tail and a lyre for a cutie mark, gave me a very enthusiastic hug in passing.

Eventually I spotted Twilight standing beside a punch bowl talking to an earth pony I recognized as Cheerilee, so I made my way towards the two of them.

Twilight greeted me when she noticed me approaching, “Oh, hi Matt. I’d like you to meet Cheerilee.”

I extended my hand, “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. You’re the teacher at the Ponyville schoolhouse right?”

Cheerilee lifted her hoof and shook my outstretched hand, “It’s nice to meet you too Matthew. How did you know that I’m a teacher?”

“Twilight mentioned you during our carriage ride here,” I quickly replied, receiving a quizzical look from the unicorn before her expression changed to one of understanding.

“I see,” Cheerilee said, seemingly satisfied with my improvised answer. “So how are you enjoying Ponyville so far?”

“Well… other than almost falling to my death after trying to stand on a cloud and discovering that I can’t read Equestrian, I’d say that this place is truly amazing.”

“You almost fell to your death?” Twilight repeated while shooting me an alarmed look.

“The key word is ‘almost’. I’m fine now so no worries,” I gave a slight shrug.

Twilight sighed, “So was there anything you—wait, you can’t read Equestrian?”

I shook my head, “Not a word, I was hoping you’d be able to help me out. At first I was thinking about asking you Cheerilee, but then I remembered that you’re already busy enough with school.”

Cheerilee just laughed, “Don’t be silly, I’d love to teach you. Besides,” she directed an amused smile at Twilight who lowered her head with a sheepish grin. “After what happened last time, I don’t think Twilight here would be the best choice for a teacher.”

“Why, what happened?”

“A couple months ago I filled in for Cheerilee at the schoolhouse while she was out sick. Only five minutes into my lecture I turned away from the chalkboard to see that everypony was asleep.” Cheerilee’s attempt at stifling her laughter made Twilight pause in her explanation. “After that, everypony kind of decided that I shouldn’t be teaching.”

“Ah, I see,” I said while trying to stifle my own laughter and receiving a flat glare from Twilight, who was somewhat amused nevertheless. Forcing myself to calm down I asked Cheerilee, “So when can I start my lessons?”

“Well today is Saturday, so you can have tomorrow to get to know Ponyville better. Why don’t you come to the schoolhouse on Monday? I’m sure the children would like to meet you too.”

“Sounds good to me,” I replied. “What time should I show up?”

“School starts at nine o’clock on the dot. Don’t be late,” she replied.

“I’ll be there fifteen minutes early,” I replied. Turning back to Twilight I said, “I’ll see you in a bit then, I’m going to go enjoy the party now.”

“Alright, just keep an eye out for Pinkie and Rainbow. They’re known to pull lots of pranks during these parties,” Twilight said in warning.

I laughed and started to turn, however I stopped in midstride and brought my hands to my face. The room began to spin rapidly as a strong dizziness set in and my body began to feel incredibly weak. Pulling a hand away from my face I noted that it was shaking violently.

Through the loud ringing in my ears I could faintly hear Twilight’s concerned voice, “Matthew, What’s wrong? You don’t look well at all.”

I didn’t respond, I couldn’t even manage to force any words out of my mouth. I reached my hand towards the table to steady myself, but I found myself falling forwards instead. I collapsed against the table knocking it over onto the floor beside me, the punch bowl shattering on the hardwood a few feet away.

Everything that moment became a jumbled blur, I was incapable of forming a single thought. The only thing I was aware of was an unidentifiable and very irritating beeping sound.

Eventually the room stopped spinning and my body stopped shaking. I pushed myself weakly into a sitting position, and now that I could clearly see again I noticed that I was surrounded by what looked like almost everypony at the party. Not a smile could be seen on any face as they stared at me in concern.

Noticing a hoof on my shoulder I turned to look into the worried face of Fluttershy.

“I think I’m alright now,” I gave her a smile, though it didn’t look like she believed me. “Although,” I said aloud so everyone could hear. “Did anypony happen to hear an annoying beeping sound just now?”

Some of the gathered ponies began muttering to each other, but all I got as a response was a no.

“I was with you nearly the whole time, but I didn’t hear anything.” Fluttershy said.

“That’s strange,” I replied. ‘I could have sworn that I heard something beeping. That sound seemed familiar for some reason.’ Coming out of my thoughts I asked, “So how long was I out for?”

“Only for a few minutes,” Fluttershy answered. “I heard a crashing sound and when I came over I saw you lying on the floor and shaking, and you wouldn’t respond to anything anypony said to you.”

“Well I’m all better now, so no worries,” I said while standing up, already feeling my strength coming back.

“Are you sure? I mean, don’t you think you should rest for a little while?” Fluttershy urged giving me quite the concerned look.

Her face was so incredibly cute I found it hard to disagree with her, nevertheless I announced, “No rest needed, I’m fine now. That’s never happened before and probably won’t happen again, so let’s get this party rolling!”

Suddenly Pinkie jumped out of the crowd and shouted, “You heard the man, it’s time to get dancing!”

The circle of ponies around me dispersed and everyone went back to enjoying themselves, though Fluttershy remained by my side.

“Aren’t you going to join in?” I asked.

“Um, actually I was planning on staying with you. You know… just to make sure that you are all better,” she replied quietly.

“Fine by me,” I said. “Let’s go get some cake.”

It was then I noticed that my shirt felt sort of wet, looking down I noticed that it was damp from the punch that I knocked over. The mess was already cleaned up and the table set upright, I assumed that someone cleaned up while I was out of it. Taking off my punch soaked sweater and shirt I discarded them along with my backpack and jacket in a corner and elected to go the rest of the party topless.

Fluttershy did exactly as she said she would and stuck by my side. We grabbed a few slices of cake and some punch from a second bowl, and once I was loaded up with all I could carry I decided to make my way back into the heart of the party where it looked as though everyone was having the time of their lives. Fluttershy however surprised me and demanded that we find some place a little quieter to sit for a little while, and not willing to refuse a request coming from such a normally timid pony, I immediately complied.

Fluttershy guided me to a table set up just outside where we sat down on a couple small wooden stools. The autumn air was a little chill against my bare skin, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.

Fluttershy, stumbling over her words at first, struck up a conversation. Back during our breakfast with the Princess, she had heard Celestia mention that I was studying to be a marine biologist, Fluttershy was eager to talk about this topic of common interest, and I was happy to indulge her interest.

Somewhere along the way we got to talking about our pets. Fluttershy said her pet bunny, Angel, was a sweet pet. He may seem rude and hard to deal with to other ponies, and sure he was at times, but most of the time he was just being protective. In turn I told her about my two dogs Sam, and the older of the two Abbie. They're both incredibly intelligent and sociable, though Sam is a bit on the energetic side and sometimes runs away when he gets board. Fluttershy especially liked the fact that Sam would sometimes 'sing' to my piano playing, howling out the tune to the song from underneath the bench.

At one point during our conversation, my attention was drawn completely away from Fluttershy when a white pegasus stallion walked by. With little angry looking red eyes, tiny wings, and what had to be the most muscular body I've ever seen on a pony, my mind pretty much went blank to match my stunned face. 'How have I never seen him before?!'

"Um... is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked, a hint of worry creeping into her voice. When I pointed out what drew my gaze Fluttershy giggled softly, "Oh, that's just Snowflake. Ponies seeing him for the first time tend to have the same reaction."

I slowly turned back to Fluttershy and gave her a quick 'are you serious' look. 'Snowflake, really? I think Roid Rage would suit him better!'

We spoke for a little while longer, resuming now that the interruption disappeared back inside Sugarcube Corner. Eventually our conversation finally ended and Fluttershy said I should be fine on my own now. Not that I didn't enjoy talking with her, it's just that I'm not really much of a conversationalist. We headed back inside where the majority of the guests were partying, and Fluttershy left to try and find Rarity.

Skirting the wall I looked around for the first thing to catch my interest. My concentration on my task however was broken and I released a startled yell, attracting looks of shock from the party guests, looks that quickly turned into expressions showing stifled laughter. A certain baby alligator had jumped out of the potted plant by the doorway and latched himself onto my arm. I struggled to remove the reptile to no avail, eventually giving up I decided to just go with it. Turning back to the party I jumped in to join the first activity I saw, 'hoof wrestling'... and lo and behold the two ponies going at it were Applejack and Rainbow Dash. 'My arm's going to be sore after this.'

Surprisingly, the party lasted for pretty much the entire day. Other than having Gummy clamped onto my arm for a full hour, the party went pretty normally afterwards… well, as normal as one of Pinkie’s parties could be, and ended without incident. Eventually the guests all began to disperse and head home for the evening, leaving Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy and I alone at Sugarcube Corner.

“That was amazing!” I exclaimed while still rubbing my aching shoulder, 'I called it.' “You really do throw the best parties Pinkie.”

“Thanks Mattie,” Pinkie giggled. “I am the premier party pony of Ponyville after all.”

“Point conceded,” I said with a grin.

Fluttershy spoke up, “It’s starting to get dark. We should probably start heading home soon.”

“Fluttershy’s right,” Twilight nodded. “Which brings up a question, where is Matt going to stay?”

“He can’t walk on clouds, so he can’t crash at my place…” Rainbow grumbled.

“You’re welcome at the farm anytime,” Applejack said. “But the family’d want me to introduce ya to them first.”

“And I need to clean up this big mess, sorry Mattie,” Pinkie added apologetically.

“What about you Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.

“Oh I’d love to let Matthew stay the night, it would give me more time to make sure he’s alright and won't have another... whatever that was. But Angel doesn’t like me bringing strangers home after dark,” she replied meekly.

Rarity spoke up, “Matthew can stay at my place for tonight. As you can see,” she pointed to the sticky clothes hanging from my arm, “His clothes are in desperate need of washing.” She gasped as her eyes seemed to glimmer, “Oh, and this would be the perfect opportunity for me to get the measurements I need to make you some new clothing!”

“Is that alright with you?” Twilight asked me.

“Of course it is,” I replied honestly.

“Alright then, now that that’s settled I think I’ll head back to the library now. I am pretty tired, and I think I ate too much cake.”

And with that we all said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways.

As Rarity and I made our way back to her house, Rarity began giving voice to some of the ideas she had for my new clothes.

“You do realize that I have no way to pay for anything right?” I stated more than asked.

“Payment darling? Please, this is a gift. I require no such thing from you.”

I sighed knowing full well that this was something that she wouldn’t budge on, “Fine. But I will find a way to eventually pay you back regardless.”

“Now what did I just—“ Rarity began before I cut her off.

“Not just you. I’m going to find a way to pay everyone back. You all just met me and you’ve already done so much to help me out. My conscience would just kill me if I didn’t try to do something in return.”

“Well that’s quite the barbaric way to phrase things,” Rarity replied, smiling nevertheless. “Although, that is quite the disposition of a gentlecolt if I do say so myself.”

I dipped into a bow, receiving a chuckle from the white unicorn.

When we arrived at Carousel Boutique Rarity informed me that Sweetie Belle would probably be asleep by now. Sure enough, upon entering the boutique I saw Rarity’s little sister sleeping on a couch. Rarity gave a warm smile; her horn glowed with a soft blue light as she gently levitated Sweetie off the couch and onto her back and took her up to her room. A few minutes later she returned with a measuring tape.

Levitating my shirt and sweater out of my arms and into a laundry basket Rarity said, “Let us get started now shall we?”

It was a good half hour at least before Rarity finished, during which Rarity occupied herself by asking much of the same questions that Rainbow had earlier in the afternoon. While Rainbow was more interested in my physical or ‘extreme’ hobbies, Rarity took a greater liking to my instrument playing. Setting the measuring tape off to the side she guided me to a guest room. Inside there was a four poster bed with royal purple sheets and a white feather pillow opposite the doorway. A full body mirror stood off in a corner, and just like in my cell in the Canterlot dungeon I was granted the soft illumination of the moon in the now night sky.

Rarity left after saying something about catching up on some beauty sleep, leaving me once again to my thoughts in a silent moonlit room. Already shirtless I decided to go to bed as I was. Even though I was exhausted from the past two days events: showing up the Royal Guard at the barracks, a long carriage ride, a fast paced tour through Ponyville, and the greatest party I have ever experienced, my fatigue did not keep me from my nightly meditation.

I slid my backpack off my shoulder and dropped it and my jacket in a corner. Sitting on the edge of the bed and crossing my legs, I took a deep breath and tried once again to clear my head. Perhaps it was from how tired I was, but my mind seemed pretty quiet tonight. Thoughts about how I collapsed at the party popped into being now and again, but since I had no way to explain it I let those go. I don’t know how long I sat there for, lost in the steady rhythm of my breathing, but suddenly something clicked. Like once before I could feel the presence of everyone nearby. Sweetie Belle was sleeping somewhere near the end of the hall and Rarity was busy working on something down in the shop.

As suddenly as that state of mind set in, I was jarred back to my senses be the surprise of the sensation. I lay down on the bed with a content smile, now positive that what I experienced before wasn’t just a figment of my imagination.

One last thought went through my mind before I drifted off into a tranquil sleep, ‘I thought you said you were going to bed, Rarity.’