//------------------------------// // New Lodgings // Story: A Pony Out of Place // by Robobrony //------------------------------// A Pony Out of Place Chapter 4: New Lodgings Twilight had just finished telling Shadow that their princess, Celestia, would be able to help send him home. “You’re sure this Celestia can help me get back home?” Twilight gave a confident smile as she answered. “Of course, she is very wise and powerful. I should also mention that she rules next to her younger sister, princess Luna.” Shadow put on a wide smile at this news. “This is great, I’ll be able to go back home and see Emily again!” Shadow then dropped his happy face for a straight one. “I just gotta ask though, I am very grateful for what you are doing for me by contacting your princess on my behalf, but why are you helping me, it can’t be just because I saved you from that falling cross beam, as I recall, you were offering to help me before that.” Applejack came forward to answer. “Well, while we don’t know what it’s like ta be separated from the ones you love, we can only imagine what it must feel like.” Rarity then interjected. “Quit right dear, we do have families of our own, I for one would certainly hate for anything to happen to my little sister Sweetie Belle.” Fluttershy then came in. “We wouldn’t wish anything like that on any pony. So it only seems right to try and help some pony who finds themselves in such a situation like what you’re in.” Shadow’s smile returned to his face. “Thank you all for your help. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.” Twilight then began. “Spike, take a letter please, to the princess.” “You got it.” Spike gave a little salute and produced another quill and parchment, ready to write down what Twilight was about to say. Twilight began to dictate. “Dear princess Celestia, you may find this hard to believe, but there is a pony here from another world. By some mysterious force, he was whisked away from his home and loved ones and brought into our world, I am sure that you will be able to help him find his way back to where he came from, I ask this of you because he recently saved me from harm, it will take a while to explain, so I will be more than happy to tell you in pony. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” “Twilight Sparkle, got it. Ok, ready to go.” Said spike as he finished up the letter, he rolled it up and placed a seal on it. Then, to Shadow’s surprise, Spike set the letter ablaze, it turned to smoke and disappeared. “What the hay did you do that for? I thought you were going to send that to this princess of yours.” Twilight began to explain. “Relax Shadow, Spike’s fire is magic, any letter he breaths on with his fire is sent directly to the princess, and any letter that she sends comes through spike. He’s like our direct line to the princess.” Shadow looked on in wonder at this bit of news. “Oh, I see, there was never anything like that in any of the stories Emily read to me.” Pinkie spoke up out of curiosity. “So what kind of stories did Emily read to you?” “All kinds of stories, some of my favorites were stories about how these brave knights would go on quests to save a princess in danger, in one of them, a brave knight must fight an evil……” He stopped, he was about to say dragon but he was worried at how the little dragon before him would take the news of a fairy tale where dragons were monstrous evil beasts. “Um, evil beasts that were truly ferocious.” Fluttershy recoiled a bit at the mention of a ferocious beast. Pinkie was still curious. “What kind of beasts. Don’t leave us hanging, this sounds good.” Shadow didn’t know how to proceed with this. He figured that if he just described it, they wouldn’t know he was talking about a dragon. “Well, huge beasts with long necks, sharp teeth, massive claws, and large wings.” Twilight, being smart as she was, could almost already tell what he was talking about. “Shadow, were these beasts in the story dragons?” Shadow stumbled over his next words. “Well, um, you see….I didn’t…um..the thing is I didn’t know how you would react if I told you that we have stories in our world where dragons are evil.” Spike didn’t show any real disgust at this news. Twilight smiled as she spoke next. “It’s ok Shadow, you said so yourself that they’re just stories.” To try and amend the situation further he brought up something else. “Well, not all the stories involving dragons portray them as monsters, in some of them, the dragons are actually good and help the heroes of the story. I think those are my favorite.” Rainbow Dash then spoke up. “Wow, I sure would like to hear one of these stories about knights and quests and stuff, it sounds awesome.” Soon, Spike began to look like he was about to burp, he held his claws to his stomach with his cheeks all puffed out, then he let out a belch with a green flame that then turned into smoke. The smoke swirled and finally turned into a rolled up scroll with a seal on it. Spike picked it up and opened it to read it out loud for every pony to hear. “My dearest student Twilight Sparkle, I am intrigued by this bit of news, I believe that I may have the answer as to how such a thing has occurred. Such information would be best explained in pony as well, when I have some free time in three days, I will come by Ponyville myself to see you and this pony. Your loving princess, Celestia.” Shadow became a little confused at the letter. “Wait a minute, she knows how I got here, well then why can’t she send me back now, why doesn’t she just come here and send me home, why do I have to wait three days to go home?” Shadow was becoming very agitated at this. Twilight tried to console Shadow. “Shadow, calm down, it’ll be ok, I’m sure the princess is just busy with her royal duties to come see you now and help you, I promise she will do what she can when she’s available.” This didn’t seem to work. “AVAILABLE, don’t you think that a pony who was taken away from his home is important, apparently this princess doesn’t seem to think so! I thought you said she was a kind ruler, if she’s so kind, then why doesn’t she do something to help me now?!” Applejack came forward to try and calm Shadow down. “Now looky here sugar cube, bein a princess isn’t easy, she does have a lot of responsibilities to take care of. I realize yer desperate ta get home, but yer just gonna have ta be patient. I promise that when she comes, she’ll look inta tryin ta send ya home.” After some thought, Shadow figured she was right, he was just going to have to be patient. “All right, I guess I can wait, I just want to get home so bad, I just know Emily must be frantic over my disappearance.” Suddenly, the room was filled with a loud rumbling, the girls and Spike followed the source, it was Shadow’s stomach. He gave a sheepish grin as he spoke. “He he, guess with all this excitement, I forgot that I hadn’t had anything to eat for breakfast yet. I would ask where I can get some oats or hay, but since you ponies are the dominant species here, I’m guessing you have other things to eat.” Pinkie immediately took charge of the situation. “OF COURSE WE DO, we can go to Sugarcube Corner and throw you a welcome to Ponyville party and you can get something to eat then. I’ll have the party all set up by the time you all get there. BYE!” Pinkie then zipped out of the library before Shadow could say anything else. Shadow just had to ask something about what Pinkie said though. “What does she mean by a ‘welcome to Ponyville party’?” Rainbow Dash answered. “Pinkie always throws a party for when a new pony comes to town, or for just about anything else that she feels needs to be celebrated. She’s really good at throwing parties.” “But why is she throwing me a party to welcome me here, I don’t intend on staying in case you all forgot.” Applejack then came forward. “There ain’t no fightin it, one way or another, she is throwin you a party and she will get ya to it, so you might as well just come with us and try ta have fun, a good party will help take yer mind of a yer troubles.” Rarity then came in. “Pinkie really is good at helping others forget their troubles and smile, trust me, you won’t regret it.” Shadow was a little hesitant but after hearing this, he figured he might as well try. “Well, all right, if you think it’ll help me feel better.” So the six ponies and dragon left the library to go to Sugarcube Corner to the party. But then, another question came to Shadow’s mind. “Wait, how is she able to set up a party so quick, how long does it take to get to this place?” Twilight began to answer. “Pinkie is always ready to throw a party at a moments notice, it’s just one of those things that makes Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie. Also, it isn’t far, just a five minute walk.” Shadow was still amazed at the answer he got, but there wasn’t much he could do, so he just let it go and they went on their way to Sugarcube Corner. Upon arrival, the building that greeted them made Shadow stop in his tracks. Sugarcube Corner looked like it was made out of a ginger bread house with giant candy canes on the corners, what looked like frosting on the roof and large peppermints along the building. “No way, you have got to be kidding me.” The group stopped and Fluttershy was the one to see what was wrong. “What is it Shadow, what’s wrong?” “This place looks like something out of one of those fairy tales Emily read to me.” Rainbow Dash then spoke up. “Is it one of those stories with those knight guys you were talking about?” She asked with excitement. Shadow looked to her as he responded. “Sorry but no, it’s a story about these two kids, a brother and a sister, who get lost in a forest and find their way to a house made entirely out of candy and gingerbread. They’re greeted by an old lady who is actually an evil which who tricks the kids into coming into her house so she can eat them. Luckily the kids come up with a plan to escape.” “OOOh, that sounds like a good one, I’d like to hear more of it.” “GAH! Pinkie, where did you come from?!” “From inside the building silly, I was just in there finishing up getting your party ready. Come on, every pony is waiting for you.” Shadow got confused at her last statement. “Wait, you already have others in there for the party?” “Of course I do, it wouldn’t be a party without friends to party with. Haven’t you ever been to a party before?” “Well, I’ve only heard about parties, I’ve never been to one, ponies don’t get parties, were treated as pets or workers on a farm, but I’ve never heard of a pony getting a party thrown for them.” Pinkie let out a long gasp at Shadow’s statement. “GAAAAAAASP! NEVER, oh my gosh, then we need to make this party extra super-duper special! Come on, let’s get in there and boogie.” Before anything more could be said, Pinkie grabbed Shadow by the hoof and dragged him inside the building. Shadow couldn’t believe all the ponies in the shop, and the fact that the party was set up so fast. He did feel a little unnerved at all the pegasai and unicorns, it just wasn’t natural to him for ponies to have wings or a horn, he did feel a little uncomfortable around the six ponies he first met, despite the fact they were trying to help him, but there was just so few of them, here they were everywhere. Pinkie then announced to all the ponies that the guest of honor had arrived. “Can I have everyponies attention! Every pony, this is Shadow, he’s new to Ponyville and this is his first party ever, so let’s all give him a warm Ponyville welcome!” The ponies all cheered for Shadow, the situation was just making him feel more uneasy, he wasn’t used to being around so many ponies. Pinkie then dragged him over to the dessert table where all the treats for the party were laid out while the other girls mingled with the rest of the party. “Here Shadow, have a cupcake, it’s really good.” Shadow didn’t know what to make of the cupcake, he had seen them before, but because he was a pony from earth, he only ever ate hay, oats, and a few different fruits and vegetables. “You ponies eat cupcakes? I don’t know, I’ve never had a cupcake before.” This made Pinkie gasp again. “You’ve never had a cupcake either, man, life for a pony on earth must be so sad if you don’t get parties or cupcakes. You’ve just gotta try it!” Pinkie picked up his hoof and put the cupcake in it. Shadow eyed it for a moment, then he moved it closer to his mouth, opened it up, and took his first bite of a baked good. It was delicious, Shadow had a big smile on his face as he chewed on the cupcake and ate it. But then he realized something. He stopped chewing, looked down at his hoof holding the cupcake, and freaked out. “YAH!” His hoof rotated back to where the bottom of it was facing the floor, causing the cupcake to drop. “What the hay, how did I do that!? My hoof was never that flexible before. Pinkie looked at him curiously. “What do you mean Shadow?” Shadow just stared at his hoof as he kept rotating it between where the bottom of it faced the floor and the ceiling. “I’m talking about this! How is my hoof able to rotate like that?! I was never able to move it like this before!” Pinkie got worried for her new friend. “All us ponies can do that, maybe it’s just another thing you were given when you came here, like your ability to talk like us.” “Maybe.” He just kept rotating his hoof as he looked at it. Pinkie then had an idea to try and get him to cheer up. “I know, why don’t you try some punch, it’s really good, it’s my own special recipe.” She then showed Shadow over to the punch bowl and got him to stop obsessing over his hoof. She poured him a cup and hoofed it to him. “Here you go, you’ll really like this if you thought the cupcake was good.” Shadow then took the cup the same way he took the cupcake, still a little unnerved at his newfound flexibility. “Um…thanks Pinkie.” As soon as he took a drink, his worries seemed to melt away as the drink was just too good for him to be upset about anything. “WOW, this punch IS good. Thank you Pinkie Pie.” Pinkie smiled at Shadow, glad she was able to help him feel somewhat better. “You’re welcome Shadow, now why don’t you go and mingle with the rest of the party and get to know every pony, I’m sure you’ll make a new friend in no time.” Shadow wasn’t too sure about that. But he gave Pinkie a smile as he spoke. “All right, I’ll try.” Pinkie then bounded away to mingle with the other party goers. Shadow felt very uneasy now that he was left to his own devices, he didn’t know what to do. Shadow just quietly slunk through the party and found a corner to hide in until the party was over with. He just wasn’t too sure about talking with the other ponies, especially the other unicorns and pegasai that were present. Alas, he wouldn’t get the solitude he wanted as he saw two ponies making their way over to him, it was the two ponies he saw earlier on a bench, he remembered the unicorn was named Lyra. The earth pony spoke first. “Hi there, my names Bon Bon and this is Lyra, your Shadow right?” Shadow just quietly eyed them both before answering. “Yes, my name is Shadow.” Lyra then spoke up. “It’s nice to meet you, Pinkie tells us that your from another world, is that really true?” Lyra asked with such enthusiasm. Bon Bon spoke up before Shadow could answer. “Lyra, don’t be ridiculous, of course he’s not from another world. That’s probably some misunderstanding Pinkie made.” Shadow then spoke up. “Actually, it’s true, I am from another world, and I am very anxious to get back home.” Lyra’s eyes lit up. “I KNEW IT, I told you Bon Bon, Pinkie isn’t one to lie! So shadow, are there humans in the world where you’re from.” Bon Bon shook her head in disbelief and facehoofed. “Lyra, not this again, how many times do I have to tell you, humans are just a myth.” Shadow was a little unnerved that this unicorn seemed to know about humans. “Wait, how do you know about humans? I thought they didn’t exist here, at least, that’s what Twilight told me.” Lyra got more excited. “So humans do exist where you’re from?!” Lyra was nose to nose with Shadow at this point and he was feeling very uncomfortable. He answered carefully as to try and not rile this mythical creature before him. “Um…..yes.” Lyra squealed in delight. “EEEEEEEHHHHH, I KNEW HUMANS WERE REAL! Every pony always told me I was crazy for believing in them but I was right, I knew it, I just knew it!” Shadow was really scared of the unicorn now. Bon Bon saw the fear in his face and decided to try and amend the situation. “LYRA, THAT’S ENOUGH! You’re scaring the poor stallion!” Lyra finally calmed down and spoke. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you, It’s just that I always believed in humans and now there’s a pony here who is from the same world as humans. You just have to tell me all about them.” Shadow wasn’t in much of a talking mood. “I’m sorry but I just don’t feel like talking right now. I’m still a little broken up about being taken away from my home.” Bon Bon then spoke up. “I understand, we’ll just leave you alone then, sorry about my friend here.” Shadow gave a weak smile. “It’s ok, it was nice meeting you.” The two then walked away to leave Shadow alone. He just couldn’t keep himself from thinking about home, about the farm, about his animal friends, but most of all….about Emily. “Oh Emily, I miss you so much.” A small tear ran down his cheek at the thought. Applejack noticed Shadow just sitting in a corner, keeping to himself. She went over to see if he was OK. “Ya all right there sugar cube, you look a little down, how come ya aint minglin with the others?” Shadow looked up at Applejack as he spoke. “I’m sorry Applejack, no offense to your friends, but the wings and horns on the ponies is a little disturbing to me, it just isn’t natural, at least where I come from. I’m sure your friends are great but I just don’t think I can feel comfortable around pegasai or unicorns. It just seems to make me feel more out of place and remind me that I’m not home.” Applejack put a comforting hoof on Shadow’s shoulder. “It’s all right Shadow, I can understand.” Shadow then gave her a curious look. “How do you know what it’s like to feel out of place?” Applejack gave Shadow a smile as she began to explain. “Ya see surgar cube. When I was a little filly, I thought I didn’t want ta be a farmer like the rest of my family, so I set out for Manehatten to stay with my uncle and aunt Orange, they were rich ponies. Manehatten was such a big city and I was really blown away by the size of it. At first, I thought it was great ta be with my aunt and uncle, but they kept tryin ta make me how they were, all prim and proper, and don’t even get me started on the portion sizes of the food they ate. Anyway, one day I felt so homesick, I swear I felt out of place there in the big city. Then one day, as I was lookin out the window, I saw a big beautiful rainbow pointin home, at that moment I knew what I was meant ta do. So I high tailed it back home to ma family. That was also how I earned ma cutie mark.” Shadow then perked up a little at that, this was his chance to find out what that mark meant. “So, what exactly is a cutie mark, is it those marks on your flanks, what do they mean?” Applejack smiled as Shadow seemed less glum since he had something to talk about. Applejack began to explain. “Ya see, a cutie mark is somthin all young fillies or foals get when they discover their special talent, something their good at that separates them from others, once they discover that talent, a cutie mark representing that talent appears on their flanks.” “Wow, that’s interesting, I guess it goes without saying that there’s nothing like that on earth.” Applejack chuckled a little. “Say, would ya like it if’n I stuck with ya fer the rest of the party and showed ya around to the others? I wouldn’t mind helpin ya make some more friends.” “I guess that would be ok, thanks Applejack.” “not a problem Shadow.” So Shadow and Applejack spent the rest of the party together, Applejack helped shadow get to know some of the other party goers at the party, Shadow did seem to lighten up a little with a friend to help him around, he even started to have some fun as he joined in on the games at the party. It was rough at first since it was strange to play games like pin the tail on the pony and bobbing for apples, but he did have fun. Soon the party started to wind down and it was time for the party to end, Pinkie Pie hopped over to shadow who was still with Applejack and the others now. “Hey Shadow, did you have fun at the party?” Shadow looked to Pinkie to answer. “Yeah, I had no idea how much fun a party could be. Thanks for the fun Pinkie.” Pinkie smiled a big smile at Shadow. “Glad to hear it.” Rarity then spoke up. “Well this was certainly fun, but I really should get back to my shop, I do have a business to run, I’ll see you around Shadow.” Rainbow Dash then spoke up. “Yeah, after this party, I’m kinda tired, I’m gonna head home and take a nap, see ya later Shadow.” Fluttershy then came in. “I should get back to my animals too. Take care Shadow.” The three then left Sugarcube Corner. Shadow waved his goodbye. “Bye girls thanks for a fun time.” Shadow then turned to the three other ponies still present. “I am kind of tired myself, would one of you mind showing me back to my barn, I’m still not sure how to get around.” Pinkie spoke up first. “Sorry Shadow, but I need to get back to work here, I’m an assistant baker here. But don’t worry, Twilight and Applejack can show you back.” Twilight then spoke up. “Come on shadow, I’ll help you back to your barn.” Applejack then came in. “I’ll walk ya back too. Come on pardner.” Shadow looked back to Pinkie Pie. “Thanks again for the party.” Shadow then followed Twilight and Applejack out the door, through the town and back to the barn. Once there, Applejack just had to say something about it. “I gotta say Shadow, that there barn sure is sturdy, able to still stand after gettin tossed around by a tornado like that.” Shadow just smiled at her statement. “Bill sure knows how to build them.” Twilight then came in. “Bill is….your friend, right?” “Yes and no, he is a friend, but he is also kind of my boss, it is his farm that I came from, and as I said, Emily is his daughter.” “And, what about her mother, I’m sure she’s real nice too.” Shadow took on a somber look. “I….don’t know. She wasn’t around when I came to the farm. Emily never really talked about her much. All I know is that when she was around, she was very nice and loving.” Twilight and Applejack began to feel bad for bringing it up. Twilight began to apologize. “I’m sorry, I was just curious.” “It’s all right, I never knew her, so it’s not a big loss for me.” Applejack then decided to change the subject. “So, this here Bill fella made this barn himself?” Shadow smiled again. “Well, not all by himself, he did have help. But he sure does know how to make them sturdy.” As if to demonstrate this, Shadow then walked up to a wall on the front of the barn next to the door and gave it a little buck with one of his hind legs. “See, solid as a rock.” But then, as if to disagree, a loud creaking started up from the barn. Shadow looked back and up at the barn with fear on his face. “Oh no, GET BACK!” He called out as he trotted away from the barn. Twilight and Applejack did as told with worry on their faces. The barn then collapsed into a heap of broken wood and splinters. Shadow looked at his once wonderful barn as he slowly approached it. He spoke quietly. “My barn……it’s gone. What else can go wrong for me?” He didn’t cry, he just starred at it with sorrow on his face. “Now where am I supposed to sleep?” Applejack came forward. “Hey now, don’t fret, ya’ll can come stay with me at my farm, I’m sure you’ll feel right at home there.” Shadow looked to Applejack. “Really, you mean it?” “Course I do sugar cube. Come on, let’s head over there and get you settled in.” Shadow had a smile on his face again at the farm pony’s offer of a palace to stay. “Thanks Applejack.” Twilight then spoke up. “Sorry about your barn Shadow, maybe we could get some ponies to try and rebuild it.” “That’s OK Twilight, I may not know anything about magic, but I’m willing to bet that it would probably be too much trouble to get me and it back home. I’ll see you later, and thanks again for your help.” Shadow and Twilight waved goodbye to each other as Shadow followed Applejack to her farm. As they walked, Shadow grew curious as to Applejack’s profession. “So Applejack, what kind of farm do ponies around here run?” Applejack began to explain. “Well, me and my family run an apple orchard called Sweet Apple Acres. We’re Ponyville’s number one apple provider.” She said with pride. “An apple orchard huh, do you ever have trouble trying not to sample your own wares when you’re picking them?” He meant it as a joke, but that then raised another question in his head. “Wait, how DO you pick them?” Applejack chuckled at his confusion. “He heh, we don’t pick em silly, we buck em.” Shadow raised an eyebrow at this. “Buck em’, what do you mean buck em’?” “See, we buck the trees and cause all the apples to fall off.” “That does sound faster than how humans get them down. From what I recall, humans would climb up on ladders leaning against the trees and pick them off one at a time.” “You serious, dang, that does sound like harder work than how we do it.” It wasn’t long before they came to the farm Applejack called home. “Well, here we are, Sweet Apple Acres.” Shadow was impressed at the number of apple trees. “WOW, I’ve never seen so many apple trees in all my life, this is amazing. Isn’t it hard to keep up with all these trees?” Applejack smiled. “Sometimes, but it’s worth it, come on, you might as well meet the rest of the family, but I should probably warn ya about my sister, she and two of her friends are rather energetic at gettin their cutie marks and if’n they see you don’t have one yerself, they may be all over you like bees on honey. Just givin ya fair warnin. My little sister’s name is Apple Bloom, her other two friends ain’t here right now so it shouldn’t be too bad.” “Thanks for the warning.” The two made their way through the front gate to Sweet Apple Acres and up a hill that led to a large red house. The two stopped in front of the house and Applejack called out to her family. “COME ON OUT EVERY PONY, WE GOT A GUEST!” From the right side of the house, a large pony with a red coat, a short orange mane and tail and a wooden yolk around his neck came out. He had half a green apple for a cutie mark. The front door to the house flung open and two other ponies came out. A little filly with a yellow coat and a red mane and tail with a big pink bow on her head came jumping out. An elderly looking pony with a light green coat and a grey mane and tail dun up in a bun came walking out. She had a pie for a cutie mark. Shadow felt a little intimidated by the red stallion as he was much bigger and muscular looking. Applejack began introductions. “Shadow, this here is Big Macintosh,” She pointed to the red stallion, “Granny Smith,” The elderly pony, “And ma little sister, Apple Bloom. Every pony, this here is shadow, he’s gonna be stayin with us fer a while till we can figure out how ta get him back home, that tornado that came by last night struck somewhere else and picked him up with it and dragged him away from home.” Big Macintosh kept a straight face, Apple Bloom just looked up and began to speak. “Gosh, that’s horrible, well don’t you worry none Shadow, the apple family will make ya feel right at home till you can get back.” Shadow smiled down at the little filly. “Thank you, I am very grateful for your hospitality.” Granny Smith then came forward. “Where is it ya’ll are from anyway?” Applejack came in before Shadow could answer. “It aint exactly easy to explain that, let’s just say fer now that he’s from somewhere very far away.” Granny Smith spoke up again. “Well, all right then, if Applejack is willin ta let ya stay, I trust her judgment, welcome to our home pardner.” Shadow smiled at Granny smith as well. “Thank you again. I guess I should at least earn my keep while I’m here, so if you have any chores you would like me to help out with, I wouldn’t mind.” Applejack spoke up again. “That’s right nice o ya, we’ll be sure ta take ya up on that offer.” So, for the time being, Shadow had a place to stay while in this strange and magical world until he could get back home.