Background Currents

by Artrageous

Arriving at Ponyville

It was three more days before Artrageous arrived at Ponyville. Two of them were spent flying, the one in the middle was resting up at the Burst’s farm. They were a pair of earth pony floriculturists that also made honey on the side. Bee Burst, Versifier Burst, and their little colt Rhyming were pleasant, generous ponies and Art was grateful for a day to rest his wings and look at fields of flowers. He helped out a little, weeding and planting. Bee dressed up in her keeper-cloak and showed him how she smoked her bees. At one point they may have all broken into song and as he spread his wings and led a swarm in flight across a field. It was that sort of rare, magical afternoon.

It was an average, uneventful afternoon when Artrageous arrived at the little town. He spotted the large farms when he was approaching Canterlot, and swung in their direction. As he grew closer he saw the streams and candy coloured buildings. There were a few clouds in the sky, but he searched for the strange ones. He saw a large cumulus with rainbows pouring out of it.

All right, they don’t get much stranger than that, he thought, this must be where the pegasoi park their houses. There were a few others of unusual shape, including one cloud-house that was painful to look at. It seemed strangely out of focus, crossing his eyes, it resolved into a manedelbrot-like spiral sculpture which was still painful to look at, but obviously was the original intention. On the ground beneath it was a house shaped like a giant mailbox.

Art sighed, he’d make something impressive later. Right now he wanted a place to park his stuff and to take the harness off. He left the cart parked on one cloud, grabbed a second and teased and fluffed it with his wings till it had become a structure. He also painted it purple, like a cloud catching the last rays of a sunset.

“On a clear day you can seek forever.” A cheerful voice said behind him.

Arty flipped over. Hovering behind him was a grey mare with a blond mane. His impulse was to look for her cutie-mark, but he tried holding her gaze instead. That turned out to be hard. She watched him with one eye, then her other swung to stare at him while the first darted off to one side. As the two of them approached focusing on just him, she started to rotate until she was hovering upside-down. This was a rather adept piece of flying, and Arty was compelled to duplicate it. Since he hadn’t done anything like it in a while.

“Hello, I’m...”

“National Disaster!” Her eyes went wide, “Tragedy!”

“What!”

“A nation mourns her lost heroes! Moral drops with fallen idols. Rest of season cancelled. Witnesses scared for life. How to explain to your foals.”

The world was spinning for Artrageous, and not just because he’d forgotten to flap while upside down.

She caught him before he hit the ground, hooking his hooves and flipping him so he landed on them, slowing Arty enough it was merely a painful strain in his legs. It knocked the wind out of him, but the feeling he had been double-bucked in the gut was from before. He struggled to breathe, to say anything, choking and knotted inside.

“The sky is the sky,” she hugged him, “Princess raises the sun every day. Rivers run out to the sea. Ponies still love you. Nothing is forgotten, everything is forgiven, in time.”

“I’m...” he said, managing to force it out, his eyes stinging.

“The mail pony,” she answered, slapping a saddlebag with her wing and giving Artrageous another squeeze around the neck with her forelegs. “You don’t have any.”

Then she turned and quickly flew out of the worst introduction of his life.

* * * * * *

Artrageous was walking through Ponyville for the first time. He’d unpacked his cart by himself. It was one of those things, he would have appreciated help, but didn’t want to ask, and no pony noticed on their own. He was going to be upset either way, and wasn’t sure which option he would have preferred. It probably would have gone faster with help, he thought, and my wings wouldn’t hurt so much.

It seemed pleasant enough, widely spaced, colourful buildings, lots of flowers and decorations, ponies occupied with various tasks. Arty was keeping to himself when a shout behind him made his mane and tail frizz.

“I don’t know you!”

He turned, there was a pink... blurr, with blue eyes. “I don’t know you, and I need to know you. I know every pony here. Every pony! You must be one of the new ponies. There’s a lot of new ponies in Ponyville, so I’m throwing a Pinkie Pie Ponyville pony party for new ponies! All the new ponies will be there, and the ponyville ponies. Are you a party pony? You have to be there, so you can meet every pony. We’ll have punch and games and my name is Pinkie Pie!”

“I’m... Artrageous,” he gasped.

“Great! I’ll see you therrrree.” She threw her arm over his shoulder, held up a hoof in front of him, “Pinkie swear.” He blinked. She repeated, shaking her hoof, “Pinkie swear! Double dare! Break a promise if you don’t care. You’ll be sorrrrry”

She eyeballed him, very closerly.

“I’ll, be there. Sure. I pinkie-swear. Thank you for the invite Pinkie Pie.”

“Okaaaay. Oh lookie! There’s another new pony.” She bounded away, a distant scream of “I don’t know you!” startling another pony.

Artrageous watched, this must have been what the nurse was talking about. He didn’t want to go to the party, and he didn’t want to not-go. He fondly remembered enjoying parties and crowds, before... his retirement. He wasn’t sure he could enjoy himself at one now. He looked at the ground, his hoof. He had pinkie-sworn. He had a hunch it wasn’t a good idea to disappoint the pink one. Some ponies ride with the wind, other ponies make it, and that pony, well she was a force of nature and all his instincts said it was best just to be swept along.

Comments

[DreadedCandiru2]

I think I can guess as to who lives in the mind-scarringly out-of-focus cloud house. That being said, aphasia and amblyopia will be easier to deal with than an adult child on a permanent sugar rush.

[Meta Knight]

that was excellent