When I could finally see again it had appeared as though I was on a dirt road. There was a small cluster of buildings just beginning to appear over the horizon.
“What the hell was that?” I asked.
“What was what? Is there something wrong?” Fluttershy seemed to be unaware of any dramatic change in scenery.
“What?” I asked, “We were just in the middle of a forest. How long have we been walking?”
“What are you talking about? We’ve been walking for about an hour. You’ve been pretty quiet until now though, is something wrong?” she asked sounding worried.
“No travel time, eh? I could get used to that.” I thought and added, “No kid, nothing’s wrong.”
“Oh, that’s good.” She said, calm returning to her voice.
“Hey kid, this town we’re going to, it’s full of things like you right?” I asked.
“Well yes, why?”
“Well kid, after that warm welcome you gave me, don’t you think that it might not be the best idea just parading me around town?”
She stopped, “I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose it wouldn’t be very good to have all of Ponyville panicking.”
“So then kid, what do you plan to do about that?” I asked, honestly wondering what her next move would be.
“Well, I could always go get Twilight; she’d know what to do.”
“Alright then kid, go get your friend, I’ll wait here.”
Fluttershy ran off, and after about fifteen minutes she returned with what I assumed was this “Twilight” she had mentioned.
“Fluttershy, you aren’t making any sense. You found somepony new in the forest, but you can’t bring him into town? Why?” this newcomer asked.
“You’ll see Twilight. He’s just over here.”
“Alright Fluttershy, but this had better be worth it, honestly interrupting my work just so I can meet somepony? What makes this ‘Chunk’ so special? I can’t see why this couldn’t…” she froze; apparently she had just noticed me, “wait.”
Immediately she let out a high pitched scream grabbing Fluttershy and disappearing in a puff of pink smoke.
Another 10 minutes went by, and finally another flash of pink smoke signaled that they had both returned.
The new friend Fluttershy had told me of was another one of the little horse things, but this one was purple, and instead of wings it had a horn in the middle of its head. The picture on its ass was different too; it looked something like a firework right after it went off.
“Honestly Twilight, somepony looks different and you call him a monster, shame on you.” Fluttershy scolded.
“But he’s not pony,” she said looking back at me, “I’ve never even heard of a ghoul or Youessofay.”
“Twilight don’t be like that. He’s nice, just say hello.”
“Alright,” she sighed.
Approaching me she wore a look of fear mixed with the slightest hint of disgust. Not a look I’m not used to, but a rather offensive one none the less.
Sticking out a hoof in a sort of handshake like gesture she said “Hello Chunk, my name it Twilight Sparkle, I’m pleased to meet you.”
She seemed to force the word “pleased”, but I overlooked that and merely said “nice to meet you, kid.” I had tried reaching for her hoof, but she retracted it as soon as I moved my arm.
She continued, “Fluttershy has informed me that my initial reaction was rather harsh and that I should apologize. So please know, I am sorry for any misunderstandings and would be glad to get to know you better as a friend.”
Ignoring her clearly forced apology I looked back at Fluttershy and asked, “Hey kid, does she always talk like this, or is this just how she greets new people?”
“Don’t mind Twilight, she’s just nervous. Nopony here has ever seen or even heard of a ghoul, and meeting somepony new can be kind of frightening.”
“Alright then,” I said turning my focus back to Twilight, “You want to know me better kid? What do you want to know?”
“What a ghoul actually is would help.” She answered.
“Okay then, that should be easy enough. Ghouls are humans who took on a ton of radiation in a real short amount of time. Most humans that got stuck outside died when the bombs fell, but something in our genes turned us into these things.”
“So you were at one point a ‘human’, but after exposure to radiation you mutated into this? When exactly did this happen?” she asked, any hints of fear being replaced by curiosity.
“Oh, I don’t know, two-hundred years ago maybe? I lost count after a while.”
“Two-hundred years?” she said, bewildered.
“Yeah, ironic ain’t it? I look like a corpse, but I live a hell of a lot longer than a normal human.”
“I suppose, but are there any adverse affects? Is being a ghoul bad in any way?” she asked.
“You mean besides being judged by every human, and horse I come across?”
“Yes,” she said, quickly adding, “sorry about that.”
“Well some ghouls, like yours truly, are still human enough, but others,” I said remembering the ferals, “are basically just zombies.”
“Well you aren’t going to turn into one of the zombie ghouls are you?” worry returning to her voice.
“Twilight, I’m ashamed of you,” Fluttershy chimed in, “Chunk here wouldn’t hurt a fly. Would you?”
“I wouldn’t go that far kid, I’ve done a lot of things, and most of the time they don’t end with as many people as they start with.”
Fluttershy and Twilight both seemed more wary after that, their kindness turned more artificial and they seemed less likely to turn their backs on me.
Eventually Twilight broke the silence and asked, “So Chunk, seeing as you’re going to be here a while, is there anything you need?”
I thought about it for a while and finally said, “I could use some grub and some new duds if that’s not too much trouble.”
“Oh, that’ll be no trouble at all; I’m sure my friend Pinkie could get you something to eat.”
“And Rarity could make you some new clothes.” Fluttershy added.
“Alright then, lead the way.”
Again I was blinded by white as both of my new acquaintances’ voices faded into quite.