After Cup had finished retelling Joe and Colgate’s finest hour, she looked up at the clock and let out a relieved smile. Day and Spike followed her gaze to see that clock read almost seven o’clock. Day looked out the window to confirm that, indeed, it was starting to get dark and that if he wanted to get his things and avoid the mares that he had just seen g- never mind. He shut down that the line of though before it could start. He returned his attention to Cup and Carrot; the former was gently guiding her drunk husband out of the booth and toward the door behind the counter that presumably led to their living quarters.
Day tapped Spike wordlessly to signal his desire to leave the booth. As a group, the three males left the Corner and walked out into the fresh evening air. Day seemed to garner less stares than the previous night when he had walked through the town with Luna to the tree house library.
“Where are you staying tonight, with me and Twilight?” Spike asked. They had started walking in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres though their reluctant gait made sure that their progress would be minimal for a time.
“I need to get my things from Fluttershy’s first. Then I guess I’ll stay over. I don’t really need to though. Since I don’t sleep, I was thinking about exploring the Everfree. It’s different just knowing something is there in the forest and going to look at it firsthand… hoof… whatever…” Day replied, “I kind of want to check of that castle Twilight mentioned too, now that I think about it. What was it…? The Castle of Sun and Moon?”
“If yah mean the ruins on the Everfree path, then that’s it.” Big Mac spoke before Spike could answer. Instead, Spike shrugged and continued on without commenting.
“Yeah, that’s it. I don’t know why the forest hasn’t reclaimed the thing yet. It said there was some kind of agreement that meant it would leave it alone but there wasn’t much else it was willing to tell me. Or could tell me. Talking to the forest is kind of weird,” Day replied.
“I think being able to talk to the forest in the first place is weird. Just leave it alone,” Spike advised, “there are some weird stories Twilight researched about it when we’d just moved to Ponyville. I read some of her reports on the place and they read like ghost stories. They were just,” he paused and searched for a word that could adequately describe his disquiet at the time of reading her theories on the castle but gave up and waved vaguely.
“Ain’t nothin’ good come out of that forest in all the time Ponyville’s been standin’. Ah know yah have that connection, but you’re the only one that’s ever had it. Ah’d say you leave it alone for now; best not ta poke at somethin’ you don’t understand.” Big Mac offered.
Day was going to retort defensively that maybe the ponies were the problem and not the forest but thought the better of it. First, he wasn’t sure if their problem with the forest stemmed from historical fact or from innate disquiet with the forest itself. Secondly, he could tell that the indignant emotions he was feeling were actually coming from the forest and not his elfin body or his old human self. He absently sent the forest a calming memory-sensation of fingers carding through his hair. He was still getting the hang of mostly wordless communication. So far, asking questions had been easy but he had not tried replying in the wordless manner that the forest usually spoke to him.
Day’s unresponsive attitude encouraged the group to simply walk quietly toward the farm and take advantage of the last few minutes of calm that they had before re-entering the whirlwind of crazy that was the most famous mares in Ponyville on sugar highs from Apple family pastries. Day had not gotten the chance to truly appreciate the new world he had been in since he’d entered into it. He had always been doing something distracting or dealing with something overwhelming in the five or six short days since he’d arrived. When he took the time to contemplate it, he really had been lucky that he had been summoned or whatever it was to this world. It was almost unreal how idyllic Ponyville and the surrounding land really was. Back home, he would have needed to drive at least a hundred miles to find the kind of wide open and untouched land that was between Ponyville proper and the Apple family farm.
Along the path to the farm, the Everfree receded until it was a bare smudge of green against the sky and the brilliant backdrop of the setting sun. In places, knolls and hills obscured the forest and hid pieces entirely away from view. Where the knolls were absent, the forest cast long gray shadows onto the tall grass and occasional ponds that formed in the depressions between hills. He could feel animals come into and out of his sphere of knowledge as they made short forays out of the shelter of the trees to congregate at some watering hole or choice patch of grass.
On the other side of the path, a great grassland extended far far in the direction of the rising moon. Its glow was still suppressed by the light of the sun and so it was faint against the sky. Beneath it, the horizon was lit up in mixing blues and pinks where the dusk was starting to spread out across the plains. Day could see the approaching border of darkness just as it overtook the large peak of a distant mountain.
He had not realized that he had stopped to look around at the sights in awe until he felt a small claw touch his thigh. He looked down to see Spike looking at him in concern.
“It’s really something, huh…” Spike gestured to the approaching antipodean and the clashing colors in the sky where the moon was beginning to make real headway in coloring the sky black and lighting the world in moon and starlight.
“You could never see something like this at home. The cities block out all the sky for miles and miles around them.” Day said in a hushed voice. He suddenly felt a strong yearning for the familiar empty sky he’d always known. It may have been dull. It may have been something he always complained about- that he wanted to be able to see the stars. It was home, though. Even if this world he’d found himself in was more beautiful and exotic than anything on Earth, even with his resolution to help Luna- all he wanted was to go home.
“You two can go on ahead. I just wanna stay here for a bit. Tell the others I’ll be along in an hour or two.” Day asked Spike and Big Mac. His somber expression and tone left no room for them to argue.
~^~
Day sat and watched the moon rise higher in the sky. Spike and Big Mac were probably nearing the farm and for the life of him, he could not decide if he wanted to join them. He was committed to helping Luna but the amount of intense happenings that he had to deal with just deemed much greater around the stressful atmosphere he’d dealt with since his arrival. He felt he was due a good long while to sulk but before he could really slide into a good brood he felt a warm pressure sort of curl and press against his back and side.
“You don’t have to be a Sulky Pants, you know,” Pinkie’s cheerful greeting began, “You know, I still haven’t thrown you a ‘Welcome to Ponyville Mr. Alien’ party yet. That would cheer you up.”
Her cheerfulness sharply declined as she spoke when she noticed that Day hadn't really reacted to her attempt at pulling him out of a mood.
“I’m not sure that’ll fix this, Pinkie,” Day finally spoke after a minute of silence. He started running his hand down her mane, “It’s been five days. Just five, and I’m already drowning. How the hell am I supposed to help Luna fix Celestia? Who’s going to take care of Spike and the Crusaders? What if someone gets hurt? Fucking… just why me? WHY ME DAMMIT!?!”
His last question ended in a wordless shout of anger and he agitatedly rolled away from Pinkie Pie and stood up. He stalked a few steps and glared toward the plains and the moon. He sagged a bit when he felt Pinkie press up to him again.
“I just want to be alone, Pinkie…” Day murmured.
“Nope.”
Day growled but didn't bother moving away, “What is it that you want then?”
Pinkie answered in what seemed like non sequitur and in a surprisingly serious tone, “Did anyone actually tell you what our Cutie Marks are for? Mine and the girls, I mean?”
Day sighed and didn't bother to reply. He didn't think it would really stop Pinkie from talking anyway, but it was worth a shot.
“Twilight’s is magic. She says her talent is magic, but the girls and I know better. Just being around her is magical, the most amazing things happen around her and we wouldn't have ever become friends without her. She holds us all together without even trying. Fluttershy’s talent is for animals, it’s her ability to speak with them and understand them and empathize with them. She just understands better than any pony I know, what they could be feeling and how to make it all better. Applejack’s is for her love of apples. It’s a simple talent, but it’s honest and she just wasn't able to lie to herself that apples weren't her life- her pride and joy. Rarity’s gems symbolize her talent for beautification; she is a reflection of her mark, beautiful inside and out. Of all the places she could be, with all she could accomplish with her talent, she chose to live in Ponyville as diamond in the rough. Rainbow’s mark is the reason we are the ponies that we are. She is lightning; her one-in-a-million-gazillion chance rainboom all touched us in the same exact moment and made us who we are. Without her, Twilight would be just another Canterlot unicorn, Fluttershy would have been a scared little slip of a mare in Cloudsdale, Applejack would have been the ice queen of Manehatten, Rarity would have left Ponyville for the fashion scene in Prance, and Rainbow would have just been another Flight School drop-out…”
As she trailed off, Day couldn’t help but want to ask about the obvious omission. He’d initially wanted to ignore her but something about the passion in her voice compelled him to listen. He’d heard her serious, giggly, somber, and threatening but this new expression of her personality was definitely more of interest to him than any of her previous outbursts of chatter. He wasn't above admitting that she had him enthralled.
“And. You?” Day asked. He sat down again and Pinkie followed.
Pinkie had to fight the urge to give him a great big smile and answered as dryly as she could, “I’m great at parties.”
Day let out an involuntary snort and his somber mood lifted.
“I’m Laughter. My talent is to light up a room and get everypony to smile. What would be the point of having such good friends if we couldn't have a great time together each and every time we’re together?” Pinkie finally gave in to the urge to smile hugely at Day now that he was smiling. She couldn't help it; it was her favorite thing to do.
Her mission complete, she laid her head in Day’s lap as a silent request for him to resume stroking her mane. He had fingers and she was going to take advantage of them before her friends came looking for them.