Chapter 9
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Darkness surrounded Isaac's' now human body, just like it had the past nights he was here. And at the end was the all too familiar white spot, an exit to a dark tunnel. He felt his body compelled to follow, but he couldn't shrug away the fear and doubt of going any closer. He suddenly heard muffled voices, calling out to him, but too distorted to make any sense. Isaac's fears were put to the test as the shimmering light made its way towards him, growing in size and filling the area around him with light. As the voices became clearer, the light stopped advancing. Standing between the light and dark of his dream, Isaac found the white light covering the left side of his body, darkness the right. The voices made out into multiple different tones, changing on which direction he looked. When Isaac looked into the shining white light, he heard the familiar voices of his new friends.
"Hey Irrie! Welcome to the group!"
"Great to see you Irrie!"
"Join the party!"
"You're looking simply marvelous today Iridescent."
"Y'all are welcome here in Ponyville."
The voices faded away as Isaac turned his head to the other side. As he looked into the darkness, he felt nothing but pain. He closed his eyes to concentrate on the sounds of his deceased friends, blurring out the gunshots and screams.
"You left us!"
"How could you just abandon us!"
"You had the chance to save us!"
"Murderer!"
Isaac felt his body grow cold, he closed his eyes and held his hands on his skull, desperately trying to get rid of the sounds of his friends accusing him and screaming at him. He turned back to the white light, relaxing himself as he moved towards the sounds of his new friends calling his name. He let out a heavy sigh of relief as he heard the one voice he needed to make him feel calm, her first words to him echoing through his mind.
"Shhhh...It will be alright."
Isaac's worries disappeared almost completely as he heard Fluttershy call out to him, he looked back for a second at the darkness, before turning so that he could hear the yellow mare calling his name again. He felt his body revert back to a pony, his hands became hoofs as he charged towards her voice, the world became brighter as he fell back into reality.
Isaac awoke in a daze, and in complete blackness. He switched on the single lamp on his beside table to find himself exactly where he left off, the guitar hung up on the wall, the room still filled with equipment and other things. He quickly got up and made his way to the ground floor of the library, to his surprise, he was up before anypony else. The sun had barely come over the horizon, and he could hear Spike's loud snores. Considering himself lucky he couldn't hear Spike from his room, he wondered how Twilight got any sleep at all. After a quick shower, he moved back downstairs and grabbed his guitar before making his way out of the library, eager to get as much practice in as possible.
Isaac adjusted the leather strap on the guitar, hoisting it to his side. He looked around the town to find it completely deserted, not surprising due to the time of day. The sun rose behind him as he felt the rays warming his back from the cold air. They day brought only a few clouds to the sky, and a slight breeze in the air. Isaac looked around the town, hoping for a place to practice without waking anypony up. He spied a small clearing near Sweet Apple Acres, and hastily made his way towards it. He plucked a few strings to see if anypony could hear him from the tree lining, after no response was heard, Isaac set about his morning practice.
"Hmmm, should probably get something to eat first."
Isaac reminded himself that even with a new body, food is something he still needed. Having skipped breakfast as to not wake his two roommates, he decided to nab a couple of apples off of the nearby trees of the orchard. He made his way towards one of the more fruitful trees, but before he could grab one of the juicy, red treats, he heard a couple of familiar voices coming closer to his position. Remembering his training, he took cover behind one of the larger trees and hid his grey body in the cast shadow.
"Oh come on now Applejack, he wasn't even hurt."
"Ya know that aint the point, Macintosh. He didn't even deserve it."
Ah know, i'm sorry AJ, but it's all in the past now, no point cryin' over it."
"Ah suppose, still, consider yerself lucky he didn't get hurt." Applejack had a distinct serious tone in her voice that caught Big Mac off guard. But even he could tell that badmouthing Applejack's new favorite plaything or teasing her would be the wrong move to make.
"Alright AJ, ahm sorry, come on, let's get back t' work. Ah wanna finish up this half o' the orchard before Friday night." Applejack's ears perked up at the mention of the music night, wondering what made her brother so interseted.
"Why so eager Big Mac? Ah thought everypony was gettin' tired of Vinyl's music."
"Yeah, but now they're bringin' in some new pony for a run, as well as a new band." Bic Mac said with a fresh smile on his face, but Isaac couldn't help but overhear from behind the tree as the two ponies walked past.
"New band? Well, at least I won't be completely on my own..." The unicorn thought to himself for a moment, before hearing the two ponies part ways, Bic Mac headed in the opposite direction to him, with Applejack turned slightly left of his direction. Breathing out a heavy sigh of relief as the two farmers stayed away from his position, he slid down the tree trunk to enjoy a much needed meal.
"Enjoying yerself? Yah know, it's rude t' sneak onto other ponies' property, and listen in on conversations." The familiar voice made Isaac jump from his seat, and fall over in a panic.
"Oh crap...."
"Hey, hey I can explain....Wait, how did you know I was here?"
"Well, trees don't normally have green hair pokin' outta the sides of 'em." Applejack let out a chuckle before she continued.
"And yer lucky Big Mac don't have as keen an eye as ah do."
Isaac wasn't sure whether to respond with humor or seriousness, but the quick hug from the orange mare quickly changed the subject.
"What're ya'll doin' out here anyway?"
"Well, it's kind of a surprise. But come back after work and i'll tell you all about it."
Applejack couldn't help but feel left out as the grey pony turned to walk away, heading back to his practice spot with his breakfast held up by his magic. Applejack spoke up to the colt, now walking away with a cheerful smile plastered on his face.
"Promise you'll be here in 8 hours?"
"8 hours? I've never worked that long in my life!"
"I promise, don't worry i'll be here."
As Isaac walked back to his practice spot near the other end of the farm, Applejack caught a glimpse of his flank. A huge blush rose to her cheeks as she felt completely unable to look away, shaking her head, she felt relieved that the stallion was now too far to see her rosy cheeks should he turn around.
"He might not be the toughest stallion in town, but there's something 'bout him that is drivin' me nuts...."
Applejack shook away her thoughts of Iridescent, and regretfully returned to work. After a few minutes she swore she could hear a tune in the background, but quickly dismissed the thought and got back to bucking the ripe apples off the trees to be harvested. But her mind couldn't help but wonder what Irrie was going to tell her when she finished work, the excitement making the day feel like it was moving even slower than it already was.
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Celestia was up before down, ready to take the day into her own hoofs, she passed her sister who was retiring for the day to rest. She looked over the still dark horizon and lifted the sun over the hilltops with ease, her horn glowing with a yellow aura, almost like a beacon in the night sky at the top of the large castle on the edge of Canterlot. The princess had finally raised the sun over Equestria, and upon sensing her work was done, went about her daily duties around the castle. However, when she passed her royal bedroom, she noticed a letter placed on the table next to a large mirror. Celestia slowly made her way towards the familiar parchment, instantly recognizing the paper Twilight uses to send her reports every now and again. But having just sent a report to Celestia a few days ago, the princess was confused as to why another had been sent so soon. Upon opening the parchment, she smiled as she noticed who the letter was from, and she continued to read the letter with a smirk.
To Princess Celestia,
I just felt the need to let you know I have arrived in Ponyville safely after a slight setback. Twilight has been a wonderful host for me and I have already become acquainted with most of the townsponies and Twilight's friends. My first night here didn't end in a pleasant fashion, but everything has been more or less fixed now, if not for one small problem. I don't particularly enjoy your sense of humor, everywhere I go I see mares glancing at me. Some even winking and/or whistling at me. Some of them didn't even notice my blank flank, so I know it's not because of my lack of a cutie mark. Did you do something to me? Or are these mares just naturally attracted to skinny unicorns? I await your reply, and for the record. Thank you, for everything you have done for me.
From, Isaac Oakleaf (A.K.A : Iridescent)
Celestia felt a great sense of relief as she saw that her subject had reached town safely, with Twilight and her friends watching over him, Celestia was sure that Isaac would complete his task, even if he didn't know of it yet. the white alicorn made her way to her sisters room, where she was laying in bed. Celestia tossed the letter onto Luna's bed and left the room. Luna promptly read over the letter, smiling to herself and feeling a similar sense of satisfaction. The night-princess placed the letter down on her bedside table and dozed off into a long sleep to fill the daytime.
Celestia sat herself on her throne, beginning to read through the mail, requests and issues she was to attend to piled up next the large chair in which she seated herself in. Until one of her guards made it into the throne room, requesting an audience immediately.
"My princess, It has begun." The guards panicked expression only deepened when Celestia stood from her seat with her eyes wide.
"Very well. Set an audience with Shining Armour and the rest of the royal guards."
"At once your highness."
Celestia made her way towards the window, a look of sadness crept up on her. She stared out of the large window across Equestria, her eyes narrowing at the tiny dark patch in the distance. However, the princess stayed confident that Isaac would realize his true potential before the time came. And she was also confident that Twilight and the rest of the elements of harmony would stay at his side through all of it.
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Isaac sat practicing his skills and tuning his guitar for the next few hours. He left promptly to go and get lunch back at the library, getting the usual looks and smiles from the mares in the town, Isaac shrugged off the feelings of aggravation and headed inside his new home. Inside he found Spike struggling to throw himself from under a pile of books from a shelf at the end of the room.
"Hey Irrie, a little help here?" Spike said, awkwardly. After a rather large laugh from the colt he pulled the books off the flailing dragon and placed them in neat piles next to him.
"Where's Twilight?"
"Twilight? She went to go and see Fluttershy, something about a thing going on at the tavern I think."
Isaac quietly cursed under his breath. "Of course she did..."
"What?"
"N..Nothing! Hey i'm just gonna go grab something to eat, then head back out. Are you gonna be alright with all these books?" Isaac motioned towards the large piles of books he had just pulled Spike from under, Spike's arms dropped as he sighed.
"Yeah, should be fine. I've handled WAY worse." Isaac couldn't help but chuckle at the dragons confidence, and after a quick meal, left the treehouse to continue his practice. The day continued quickly for Isaac as he recited numerous songs, preparing himself for Friday night. The notes and words just came along naturally to Isaac, only feeling the need to restart once or twice. A few more hours passed when he saw a beautiful yellow mare in the distance. Fluttershy was walking alongside Twilight back towards the library, and Isaac was sure he saw Twilight look over at him. And he even thought he saw her smiling at him, but the distance between the two made it impossible to tell. Isaac then felt reminded of something, and he jumped up with his guitar strapped to his side as he charged towards Sweet Apple Acres. When he reached Applejack's meeting place he saw the orange mare sat down with a saddened expression.
"I'm late aren't I?"
Applejack perked up at the sudden voice of the colt, now coming to sit down by her side. "Only about 10 minutes..."
"I'm sorry, I lost track of time."
"Nah, don't worry 'bout it none. Look at that, you even came to sing for me." Applejack replied, noticing the guitar strapped to the unicorns' side, a cheeky grin showing itself from the obvious joke.
"Sorry ma'am, but you'll have to wait until Friday night to hear it." Isaac couldn't help but laugh at the aggravated pony, but she soon realized what he meant.
"Wait, you're?...."
"Ummm...Surprise?" Isaac felt a blush creep up on him as he turned away to look at his guitar. Only to be brought into a hug from the equally flustered mare. Expecting a squeal of delight from a recent fan, Isaac found himself listening to a single sentence before holding Applejack for a few more moments.
"Ah'm glad yer alright, sugarcube."
"Sugarcube? meh, i've been called worse."