//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - It goes without saying... // Story: On The Wings of Wind // by Chazonic //------------------------------// "What are you doing here?" Never expected my high-school homeroom and science teacher to be here of all places... Nesium Hoofington simply shrugged. "I was originally here to visit my niece to see how she was doing, and the both of us get a party invitation from Pinkie Pie for welcoming a new pony into town. Never would've thought it was you being the guest of honor." I gave him a confused look. "Wait if she throws a party for every new arrival in Ponyville, how come I'm the ONLY guest of honor?" "You might of still been the only pony to have come to Ponyville for the first time?" He shrugs again. It seems to be his thing when he is in conversation. "...Wow I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty sure the odds are a million to one. And THAT'S with some generous rounding," I stated, waving my fore-hooves a bit for emphasis. He grins, "aren't you lucky? Most first-time arrivals get clumped together in one party." Que my eyes to roll with me sarcastically saying, "yeeeeah.. lucky me..." Looking around to make sure nopony would eavesdrop on us, I whisper, "Methinks that it seems a bit... unnecessary to throw a party for somepony who is only going to be here until tomorrow morning..." Nesium glares at me. "Don't tell me you're going to skip town just because they threw a welcoming party for you." Waving a hoof in the direction of the mares I talked to, he added, "didn't you make friends with those girls over there?" "First of all I was going to leave regardless if they threw a welcoming party for me or not. Besides that, what friends? Acquaintances, sure. Co-workers, that's just fine. Friends?" I shake my head. "They are a bad idea and a horrible concept meshed together. Needless to say that if anypony thinks that they can befriend me at this party, they are going to be sorely disappointed." He sighs, "Zephyr, you need to let go of your bad experiences with 'friends' and try again. Being alone for the rest of your life will only make you bitter and depressed. Plus, you need to give this town more of a chance; all of it's charms won't be revealed to you if you only stay for one measly day." With those words he turns and walks towards a fuchsia-colored mare with 3 smiling flowers for a cutie mark. I glare at his retreating figure. He never went through all the bullying I did. He never had so-called 'friends' who claimed they were, but simply stood to the side as I was tortured. HE never had anypony betray him just because of who he was and what he was. Looking at the snack and drink table, confirming that parties don't need alcohol to be a party, I shake my head and walk away. That conversation's souring turn completely whetted my appetite. Looking around I see-- "HI AGAIN" I swear there's a pattern here. Only this time, I dashed under the table instead of plastering myself against the ceiling. "Heeeey, you keep disappearing on me! Oh oh oh, I know you must be a NINJA! That's how you always manage to vanish like that. You must be a master of hide and seek!" For the love of Princess Luna's non-existent moon walkers, Pinkie Pie is going to be the end of me. Also, I don't think I move THAT fast, unless that's the apples in my system speaking again. Shifting around in the darkness of the table-cloth, I bump into something warm, followed by a small 'eep' of surprise. Is there somepony here with me? Turning my head cautiously, my muzzle bumps into what feels like another muzzle. In that instant, I fly out from under the table cloth, only to plant myself into a wall. "Oh there you are Zephy" Dear Celestia, what did I do to deserve this? A voice that belongs to Rainbow Dash quips, "there you are Fluttershy. We've been looking everywhere for you." There's that annoying buzzing in the back of my head. It has to mean something, right? "O-oh I'm sorry, i-it's just that... I'm still not good with c-crowds of ponies. I think I'm going to go hide again, um, if that's alright with you..." Prying myself from the wall, I look at the source of the soft-spoken voice, only to get a headache when I see a butter-yellow mare with a pink mane that could make a cherry blossom jealous. Actually, cherry blossoms are a slightly darker pink, my bad. Rainbow Dash groans. "Come on Fluttershy, at least meet the stallion this party was thrown for!" "O-okay..." When she turned around to look at me, I could of sworn she flinched in pain. Must be my own headache making me see things. "I-I'm Fluttershy. P-pleased to meet y-you." "Zephyr Earthwing," I replied, tilting my head forward in respect. I'm not out to make friends, but I still show respect to others. "Ah HAH, I just remembered why your second name sounded so familiar!" Looking over at Rarity, who looked like she had little stars in her eyes. "You must be the son of Harpsong; famous singer and harp player from Manehatten!" Great, now the entire party is looking at me again... Well, save a few fillies in the back who are too distracted by their discussion. "Er yes, what of it?" Better not tell them I'm adopted. "What of it? She is only the most famous mare singer in the industry. The fact her son is here is a blessing on it's own!" She starts swooning, much to my chagrin. Applejack shook her head. "Don' mind her, Sugarcube. She always gets like that when she meets somepony important." "And I can honestly say I'm not that special." A total lie considering my... Condition, but hopefully it would be passed off as being modest, as I get a really distinct feeling that Applejack is good at telling truth from lies. Judging by her mixed reaction, I partially succeeded. "Perhaps you can sing us a song! that would be super-duper ultra-mega awesome if you could! And I know just the pony to help you out!" As Pinkie bounced off to look for a pony named 'Vinyl Scratch,' I give a small glare before looking back to Applejack. "I'm in deep, aren't I?" "Eeyup. you should probably do it, as she an' Rarity will keep asking you to sing. Ah' Think you should get a' choice, but it's outta' mah' hooves." "Of course silly!" Pinkie pops up to my left, even though she was last seen on my right, and beams at me. "After all, his cutie mark shows that he has singing talent by default!" If this was any other mare, I would of been a little flattered that she was looking at my... never mind. "Ugh, fine. I'll sing if you all want me to so badly..." Pinkie Gives me an unnaturally large grin, Rarity made a small, unladylike squee, Twilight and Rainbow, who were both with a still nervous Fluttershy, gave an appreciative grin and smirk respectively, and Applejack simply shrugged. I'm going to need some major therapy after this... "Alright where is this 'Vinyl Scratch' pony? I need to listen to a few instrumentals before I decide to actually sing or not." Getting pointed to a corner, I see a white unicorn with an electric-blue mane and a rather sweet-looking pair of shades working with what looks like a DJ stand that has a microphone attached to it on the side. Ugh... I'm glad I took singing lessons as a colt. Being in front of a crowd is still gonna kill me though. Guess this is how mom feels doing a concert. The unicorn looks up to see me approaching and grins. "Hey dude, going to be singing blind towards an instrumental eh? Take your pick, got plenty to choose from." She hands me her headphones and I put it on my head while cycling through different songs. Most of them seem to be trotstep, as expected for a party DJ, but one song catches my interest. It was a familiar song that two bands tried collaborating on but left it at an instrumental stage; fair mix between rock and trotstep. "Lets go with this one. I heard it in developmental stages a while back and I know just what to sing for it." Vinyl gives me a surprised look behind her shades before grinning again. "Sounds like you know what you're doing. Hope you listened to it enough to know the beats by memory." With that, she preps the song while I stand by the mic. I just realized, it has been awhile since I actually sang! I'm probably going to tarnish mom's name by screwing up, so I can't fail! As the song starts, I mentally brace for failure. But as the first few beats started playing, I start to feel calm... And I began to sing: Don't wanna be sly and defile you Desecrate my mind and rely on you I just wanna break this crown But it's hard when I'm so run down And you're so cynical, Narcissistic Cannibal! Got to bring myself back from the grave! Sometimes, I hate, the life, I made Everything's wrong every time Pushing on I can't escape Everything that comes my way Is haunting me taking its sweet time Holding on I'm lost in a haze Fighting life to the end of my days Don't wanna be rude but I have to Nothing's good about the hell you put me through I just need to look around See that life that has come unbound And you're so cynical, Narcissistic Cannibal Got to bring myself back from the dead Sometimes, I hate, the life I made Everything's wrong every time Pushing on I can't escape Everything that comes my way Is haunting me taking its sweet time Sometimes, I hate, the life I made Everything's wrong every time Pushing on I can't escape Everything that comes my way Is haunting me taking its sweet time Holding on I'm lost in a haze Fighting life to the end of my days Holding on I'm lost in a haze Fighting life to the end of my days When the song ends, I open my eyes and look at my audience. They looked like they had seen the most amazing thing, for whatever reason. Then all at once they started applauding me, which made me blush if the heat on my face was saying anything. I quickly got off the platform and made my way back to where I was standing originally, with the six mares from before still there. "That. Was. AWESOME!" Both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie burst at the same time. Fluttershy gave me a small smile, while the other three gave me an appreciative look. It was clear that genre of music wasn't their thing, but they understood what I did. "T-thanks. That took everything out of me, so I'm going to have to retire for tonight. Thanks for the party... and all." "Okie-dokey-lokey, be seeing you around!" and with that, Pinkie Pie went over to the mic to announce that the party was coming to a close. Fluttershy excused herself as well, while the other four decided to stay behind and help clean up. Not for much longer past tomorrow morning, you won't. With the clock reading 11pm, I exited Sugar Cube Corner and started heading towards the hotel. The wind had picked up a fair amount, but nothing too concerning. "Umm, excuse me?" Turning around, I see Fluttershy standing there with a puzzled, yet somewhat pained face. "I-I was wondering, have w-we met somewhere before?" "Have you ever been in Manehatten?" She shakes her head. "Then I don't think so, unless I look like somepony you met before." Frowning, she says, "I-I'm sorry for troubling you with t-that. Umm, goodnight then..." With that, she trots off in a different direction. Was the reason why she had a pained face was because I reminded her of somepony else? I wonder if that's similar to my predicament... As I get into my hotel room, turn out the lights, and flop onto the bed, one last thought crossed my mind before drifting to sleep. Wait a bit before this town's charms are revealed? The ponies in this town are CRAZY!