Nocturne of Shadows

Note to self, don’t touch anything shiny. It’s most likely a trap that’ll bring down the hammer of justice and pain upon my head. I rubbed the top of my head and moaned in pain, glancing at Sparkle from the corner of my eye. “Did you have to hit me cause I picked up a coin?”

        “Yes.” She flipped to the next page of her book, and cast me a sidelong glance. “Now I have to ask you, but would you like to come and see the Harvest Parade tomorrow?” She shrugged halfheartedly. “You don’t have to, but it would be best if you wish to let the town know you’re not a monster.”

        Placing a hand over my heart I mock gasped. “Why I never~” I smiled a little and did a hand flourish. “What is a monster? A miserable pile of evil, but enough talk!” I stood up, and pointed at her. “Have at you!~”

        She looked at me with slight annoyance. “Profion. Please be serious about this. We need to convince the others that you’re a good guy.” Placing the book down she stood up. “I suggest getting out of the house for today, and tomorrow we’ll go to the parade.”

        I blinked. “You didn’t really give me much of a choice there, so no. I’m gonna stay here.”

        “Profion you need to meet others. Go make some friends.”

        “Look. Sparkle. I do not want to go out.” I looked around nervously. Don’t think about it it’ll get worse.

        “Profion.” She didn’t sound as lenient. “You are going to go out, and you are going to meet some ponies. Then tomorrow we’re going to the parade.”

        “I am not going out Twilight, and that’s final.” Please just give up.

        Her response was to give me an unamused glare, and light up her horn.

        The ponies of Ponyville watched as a black and purple speck flew through the air toward a lake. The speck seemed to scream as a careened towards it’s location. Those watching simply shrugged, and went on their way.

[Muffled rap music playing in the distance]

        Oh god my everything.

        I groaned, and pried myself out of a wall as smoke rose off my chest. I groaned in pain as my legs hit the grass. How far did Sparkle blast me? I looked around noticed that I was apparently blasted into a windmill. Near a lake. Oh god...

        Allow me to take a moment as to explain why I reacted the way I did. I... I’m not a social person. This of course led to some conflicts between my friend when I chose not to go out with them just to hang out. But the reason I would keep saying no I because I happen to suffer from Agoraphobia, the fear of crowds and open spaces.

        Have you ever suffered a panic attack in a Target? I have. It’s not fun.

        I fell to my knees and winced as the pain reached my mind. "Oh lord how hard did she hit me?"

        "Are you alright there lad?" I looked up at a white stallion wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Ponies have Hawaiian shirts? "You look like you had a hard landing there." He reached under my arm. "Let's help you up...."

        I stood up, and nodded weakly. "Thank you sir."

        He shook his head. "Please, call me Magnum. Sir just makes me feel old you know?"

        I nodded. “Yeah... Ow.” I grabbed my head and pulled away as it hit something...wet. Oh god I’m bleeding. I pulled my hand away. “Do you have any bandages?”

        He looked at the blood and nodded. “Of course! Follow me.” He walked off towards a small house, and I followed. Applying pressure to the wound. He opened the front door, and motioned for me to enter. Nodding I ducked a little entering the house. He walked towards what I think is a bathroom, and called out. “Honey, where are the bandages!?”

        A females voice called out from above. “Third drawer from the bottom on the left!”

        After a few seconds he came back out with some gauze. “Here... You want me to apply it?”

        I shook my head wincing at the stinging. “Nah. I’ll be fine.” I grabbed it from him, and gave a nod of thanks. Unwrapping the roll I pressed it against the wound, wincing at the touch, and began wrapping it around my head. I pulled my hands away, and pouted as the bandages fell off. “Oh for the love of....”

        They became enveloped in a light blue glow, and began wrapping around my head. “Here. I got it.” He wrapped it around my head with almost expert precision. “And... There.” He stepped back a bit. “You should be good.”

        I lifted my hand up and brushed across the bandage. “Thank you... How did you..?”

        “I’m a football coach.” He waved to his flank, and showed me three footballs. “I’ve seen a lot of head injuries over the years, and many were worse than that.”

         “Oh... Well... Thank you.” I held out a hand. “I’m Aleister by the way...”

        He shook it with his hoof. “Nice to meet you.” He peered over my shoulder. “What’s that on your back?”

        I reached my hand over my shoulder, and felt something comforting. “My backpack!” I took it off, and began digging through it. “Let’s see... History, and math textbooks; a few pencils; my binder full of papers; my electronic fundamentals 1 notebook, and two Java Monsters.”

“That’s... Interesting.” A crash echoed through the house, and he shook his head while I put the backpack on. “Sweetie! What did I say about running in the house!?

        A faint ‘Sorry dad!’ was heard before three ponies came down the stairs. A small white unicorn, an orange pegasus, and a yellowish normal one. The white one spoke. “Sorry dad, we were just on our way to do something.” So this is Sweetie....

        The orange one nodded. “It’s for the Harvest Parade!”

        The yellowish one nodded in agreement. “Yeah. An’ Scootaloo here had a genius idea for it.”

        Scootaloo shrugged. “It’s nothing big Applebloom.”

        Magnum shook his head. “Well then don’t get yourselves into trouble, and try not to get covered in tree sap again.”

        Sweetie blushed. “That was one time!”

        “Well that “One time” nearly gave your sister a heart attack.” He looked at me, and motioned to the three. “Meet my daughter and her friends Al. Sweetie, this is Al. He somehow hit the windmill outside.”

        “I got blasted by Sparkle.” I nodded at the three, now dumbstruck, ponies. Silently wondering why he called me 'Al.' “And hello to all of you.”

        Sweetie walked over slowly, and poked me in the leg. “Coooool.”

        Magnum shook his head yet again. “He’s injured, so don’t poke him too hard.” He looked at me. “Do you think you could watch them, and make sure they don’t hurt themselves?”

        I blinked a little. “As long as they,” I waved my hand over the three, who were poking my legs. “don’t have a problem with it.”

        Scootaloo looked up at me. “Can you build a float?” I nodded. “Then we have no problem.” They grabbed my pant legs and began pulling me along. “We have a mission to complete!”

        I waved feebly back at Magnum. “See you later...”

        We headed towards the town, and I could see a large crowd of ponies standing near the town center. I felt myself grow afraid as we got closer.

The day is going to be hell.