My Heart's Content

by Doctor Disco

6 - Ode To Sleep

“Melody.”

I look up from my cup of apple cider, nonalcoholic if you want to know, and I raise my eyebrow at the grey pegasus addressing me. She gestures to her other friends who are playing a pony version of ‘Apples to Apples’, while I sit quietly sipping some of my drink. Though the sleepover had started off nicely, I couldn’t help but feel some loss at seeing a group of developed friends having fun while I… while there is a lack of two very important people in my life. Who would be here right now if…

I close my eyes for a bit before opening them again.

Derpy looks at me worriedly, landing on the ground as she was hovering, before taking a seat beside me. “Melody, please.”

I take another drink and set it down before fixing my stare on it. I can feel Derpy’s gaze boring into me, trying to read me, but I do my best to keep a straight face. If she couldn’t read my current state before, I’m sure she can now. It really isn’t that hard to read someone, you know. It’s just prior knowledge of how emotions can affect your mood. Though I can’t say for sure, since I’m not a certified psychologist. Maybe another life. But not this one.

“It’s just a game. It’ll help you bond with new ponies. I know it’s just been me and Octavia for the past few weeks, but I know you can make more friends than just us.”

I smile and give a small chuckle, before crushing my empty cup with my hoof. I then slowly lift my hoof from the cup with surprise, looking at my hoof with a twinge of fear and wonder. The cup had been made out of wood. And I crushed it. I gingerly put the flattened cup in between my hooves again, before dropping my head in thought.

“What if I don’t want to bond with ‘new ponies’?” I whisper, my voice cracking ever so slightly though I barely notice. Why is that? “It’s not as simple as that, Derpy.”

“It can be, if you make it,” Derpy murmured, putting a hoof on my shoulder. I look up at her and finally make eye contact with her. “You already talked to them. They introduced themselves to you. You know they're not bad ponies, so what’s wrong?”

I shake my head and smile sadly, looking away. “Nothing’s wrong. It just… It just doesn’t feel right.”

“Just give it a shot,” Derpy pleaded. “For me?”

I look her in the eye before laughing a little. “God, I get philosophical when I’m in a bad mood,” I say, and Derpy tilts her head in confusion, not getting it. How would I expect her to? She doesn’t know what goes on inside my head. “Alright, get me some cards. I know how to play.”

Brightening up considerably, Derpy smiles delightfully and whizzes to the group huddled around a table that they’re using for the cards. I hear them laugh at a particularly funny choice for a card before they hear Derpy tell them I’m comin and they reshuffle everything around. As I near the table, Doctor Whooves begins dealing the cards once more to each pony playing, and I take my hoof. Cause you know, instead of a hand, I have a hoof, so instead of ‘I take my hand’ I ‘take my hoof’. Get it? Yeah? No? Maybe?

I’ll stop.

“You didn’t have to restart the game for me, you guys,” I say with a smile, and the pony I know as Vinyl Scratch shakes her head.

“That just wouldn’t be proper, yo,” she states and everyone laughs.

“Yeah,” Minuette agrees. “And besides, Bon Bon was winning by a long shot so it wouldn’t have been fair for you to join in the middle of her card game domination.”

“Was not!” Bon Bon decries before a few cards fall out of her hair. One of them says ‘Whipcrack’, and Bon Bon immediately blushes before kicking the cards under the table and whistling, looking elsewhere.

“Seriously, Bon Bon? Cheating in Apples to flipping Apples?” Derpy accuses, grabbing the cards from under the table.

“Nooo, what are you talking about?” Bon Bon muttered before a few more cards fall out… fall out of her fur. How did she do that?

“That’s it, we’re probing you!” Minuette exclaims before realizing she had just said and all heads turned to look at her. “Not like that! Ack!” She ducks her head behind a pillow and everyone laughs again.

“No, but seriously, no cheating,” Vinyl stated before levitating Bon Bon and shaking her. To my complete and utter shock, a pile of cards and chips and various other things begins to appear from Bon Bon’s mane, tail and other places. Meanwhile, she’s just kicking in place and writhing in protest before Vinyl let’s go of her hold on Bon Bon.

“Hey, what gives?!” Bon Bon shouts as she begins to stuff some of the items back into her various hiding places. I swear I saw a katana in that pile, but I can’t say for sure as she had already put it back into her mane when I had noticed it. Soon, all that was left was a pile of assorted cards, and that also was put away, a pile of neat Apples to Apples cards now assembled on the table.

“I think my mind just broke...” I mutter under my breath. “...again.”

Another chuckle is elicited from the group and I can’t help but laugh myself. Finally, we kick things into gear and begin a game of Apples to Apples.

It looks like it won’t be so bad after all.

I sweat as I look at all the cards in my hooves, all the ones that the ponies around me had chosen for the term ‘Ridiculous’.

My Job, My Love Life, My Friends, My Future, and My Bank Account were the cards I had been given, and I cannot decide which one to choose! The other ones were really easy as there was always just one card that I had found to be perfect for each word I had chosen, but this is too much. Too much I say! My eyes dart across the five cards randomly as I try and choose the best one. We had had a good laugh when I read the cards to the ponies around me, but now here I was, having trouble.

I lift my hoof to select My Future, before hovering it over to My Love Life. I then touch My Job, skimming over to My Friends, and finally to My Bank Account before grunting in frustration.

“I can’t!” I shout. “These cards are all too good!”

“You still have to choose one,” Doctor Whooves says and I stick my tongue out at him. With a huff, I close my eyes and take the card I think is best and lay it on the table face up.

My Friends.

“Aha!” somepony shouts before I open my eyes and see Derpy collect the green card happily.

Minuette, Bon Bon, Doctor Whooves, and Vinyl collectively sigh as I can tell each had hoped their card would’ve been chosen. This round was a tough one to settle. I’m still having second thoughts. I had a card for this one too, My Family, but since I was choosing I couldn’t pitch in. Oh well. Maybe another turn.

I’m sure if anyone, or I guess, anypony had done this card and seen mine, they would’ve chosen it. Family can be downright weird sometimes. But friends is a good choice too. Friends can be ridiculous. Most of the time, if not all the time. I know I can get ridiculous. In… in more ways than one.

We’re playing Apples to Apples. Stop getting side-tracked, Melody! I said stop it!

I look at my hand- hoof, and ponder as I see the next card on the table. How did everypony get cards that related almost directly to the person seeing the card? Starting with the pronoun My? It was odd to me then, and it’s still bothering me now. Weird. Hm, I don’t think I phrased that right, but it makes sense in my mind. That’s usually how things work, right?

I think I’ve gotten to know these ponies a bit better. Even Derpy, and just with this one game. Doctor Whooves likes to choose complicated yet fitting words. Bon Bon makes odd yet hilarious match ups. Minuette improvises the best out of a bad hoof. Derpy is simple yet effective, and Vinyl likes to be mysterious but snazzy. A lot can be told just by what people choose and what people do and how they react. We all laugh at each other, make self deprecating jokes, and have a generally good time. Yet... as for me… I don’t have a clue whether or not these ponies have learned anything about me. It’s easy enough as an analytical person to infer some things about people just by how they behave in a game, but one cannot determine how much other people learn from you. You would have to ask them.

Where was I again?

“I choose-” Derpy was about to say when she had picked up a green card, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Oh,” Derpy mutters happily as she sets her cards down. “That must be Lyra and Octavia!”

Oh yes. It was Derpy’s turn. I guess not anymore.

She races to the door and swings it wide open, and standing in the doorway is Octavia and another unicorn. Since we were expecting two ponies, I can only infer that this mint green mare is Lyra. As they walk in, I notice the mark on Lyra’s flanks.

And would you look at that, it’s a lyre! Who would’ve guessed?

Well, I’m assuming it’s a lyre. It matches with Lyra’s name after all, but it could be a harp. Either way, I’m getting suspicious about ponies and their naming system. It’s just too much of a coincidence. Will this ever end? The amount of oddities I’m finding now that I’m paying closer attention and my mind is clearer is… well, to say the very least, a lot.

“Thank you, Derpy. Hi girls!” Octavia greets as she walks into the house.

“Sorry we’re late, it stretched out far longer than we had anticipated,” Lyra says to Derpy as she walked in as well.

“I hope it’s not because of that rivalry between you two,” Bon Bon mutters and Octavia lightly laughs.

“No, it wasn’t that, though I do say your performance was exceptionally exquisite this time around, Lyra,” Octavia complimented. Lyra smiles in acceptance and grins even wider.

“Well, that cello of yours certainly makes for great entertainment, Octavia,” Lyra commends her, patting Octavia on the back.

“Now hey, you two,” Bon Bon eyes carefully and everyone giggles. As for me… well, I’m sure there’s something going on between the two so I give a few laughs myself.

“Relax, Bon Bon, it’s purely professional,” Lyra assured her before the two musicians neared the table.

“So, what have we been up to?” Octavia asks, seeing the Apples to Apples cards laid out on the table. I’m sure they’ve now noticed that Derpy is winning, with Bon Bon not far behind.

“Just a card game to pass the time,” Minuette said, looking between her cards and the green one on the table.

“Fashionably late. Figures,” Vinyl snarked, and Octavia smacked her in the back of her head. “Ow!” Vinyl shouts as she rubs her head, her glasses slightly askew. She fixes them with a push of her hoof.

“Serves you right,” Octavia humphs, prompting another laugh from the group.

“Well, come on then, let’s get you mares in the game before Luna finally tells us to go to sleep!” Doctor Whooves shouts before gathering all the cards (again) and dealing them to everypony.

“Derpy was winner of last round, let’s see how this one goes,” I announce, and everyone nods, now smirking at each of the cards they had been dealt.

“You’re on, Melody!” Derpy cries and everyone chuckles lightly.

“Whatever you say, Derpy,” I mutter with a smile and Derpy picks up another green card. Oh well. Let’s make the best out of this situation, eh? Though I must say, it must be annoying for the other ponies in the group for us to have reset the game n amount of times. The patience people have for- I mean ponies have for friends.

Dang it, pony-isms! Why’d I have to be turned into a pony in a pony dimension?!

Finally, the game was won by an over competent Lyra Heartstrings. Everyone, er, everypony had gotten at least one card but Lyra’s were by far the most ridiculous and hilarious answers yet! Some didn’t even make sense, and they still worked. How… how does that even work?

At least I came in second. I had a lot of green apples as well. My prized one being Hands paired with Odd. Lyra had looked at me suspiciously when I had gotten that card. Everyone agreed that fingers were odd, but I just thought it because everybody had hooves, and I used to have fingers, and so that made it odd. Though I still don’t know why Lyra looked at me like that.

Is it because of the Hands card? Hm…

Dang, I think weird when I’m tired. A feat for me to have ignored that fact up until now.

“I told you it would be fine,” Derpy had said to me just after the game. I had smiled at her and shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess,” I said. Derpy made that face that just said ‘Well then’.

“So, do you think they’re good friends?” Derpy had asked, having glanced over at the ponies who were now setting up sleeping bags and blankets.

I silently looked at them for a moment before I turned to Derpy and said, “Yes. Definitely.”

With that, Derpy had smiled and hugged me before setting up her own blankets for the couch. I looked at all these new people, these new ponies that I had made friends with for a few seconds longer, before preparing a sleeping bag that Derpy had provided for me.

And now, I lie her in my sleeping bag, thinking. Nice, peace, and quiet-

“Psst.”

Or not.

“Psssst!” the voice sounded again, and I sighed. When will Murphy’s Law leave me alone? I turn my head to look at the source of the noise and find Lyra staring at me wide-eyed with a smile… Right beside me.

I flinch back instinctively and close my eyes before holding a hoof to my now beating heart. After a moment of lowering my BPM, I sigh heavily and whisper quietly with my eyes closed. “Please don’t do that again.”

“Sorry!” Lyra whispers loudly and I groan quietly. “But I couldn’t help but ask why you chose that card for Odd. Why Hands? Is it because you know what humans are too?”

At this, my eyes shoot open and I turn my head once again to look over the smiling mare. She seems to be energized by the mere topic. I furrow my brows and try to read the mint green unicorn in the dark.

“What?” I whisper hesitantly, not knowing how exactly to proceed.

Lyra repeats herself in kind. “Do you like humans too?”

I look up and away from her, trying to collect a careful answer. Should I tell her it’s because I used to be human? Or should I just shrug her off as some sort of lunatic? Maybe I’ll just say that I study humans too. Would that work? Possibly, but the outcome of that might not exactly be the best… Nor would any of the other options. Call her insane, she probably won’t be my friend any longer. Tell her I was human, bad things might come to pass. Tell her I know what humans are too, and she’ll probably gush over me about how much she knows about humans herself.

I sigh and shake my head slightly. “Lyra, can we do this another time? It’s already time to sleep, and everyone-pony is asleep already. I don’t think they’d appreciate us having a conversation and wake them up.”

Lyra looks a little defeated but otherwise accepting of the compromise. “We’ll talk later. Promise.”

“Okay,” Lyra mumbles before shifting in her sleeping bag. “It was nice to meet you, Melody. Good night!” she says with a yawn before I hear the faint sound of snoring, now adding to the chorus of deep breathing and yawning of those already asleep.

With that, I look out a window which I can see through from my position and smile sadly. I look at the stars with misty eyes, seeing the expanse of an infinite universe, and an even bigger multiverse. As if by chance, a meteor shoots across the sky and my breath hitches ever so slightly. I make a wish.

Wherever you are, my friends, I wish you the best.

Closing my eyes, I yawn and rub the tears away before letting the peaceful bliss of sleep steal me away from the world.

Comments

[Chrome Masquerade]

“You didn’t have to restart the game for me, you guys,” I say with a smile, and the pony I know as Vinyl Scratch shakes her head.

“That just wouldn’t be proper, yo,” she states and everyone laughs.

“Yeah,” Minuette agrees. “And besides, Bon Bon was winning by a long shot so it wouldn’t have been fair for you to join in the middle of her card game domination.”

“Was not!” Bon Bon decries before a few cards fall out of her hair. One of them says ‘Whipcrack’, and Bon Bon immediately blushes before kicking the cards under the table and whistling, looking elsewhere.

“Seriously, Bon Bon? Cheating in Apples to flipping Apples?” Derpy accuses, grabbing the cards from under the table.

“Nooo, what are you talking about?” Bon Bon muttered before a few more cards fall out… fall out of her fur. How did she do that?

“That’s it, we’re probing you!” Minuette exclaims before realizing she had just said and all heads turned to look at her. “Not like that! Ack!” She ducks her head behind a pillow and everyone laughs again.

“No, but seriously, no cheating,” Vinyl stated before levitating Bon Bon and shaking her. To my complete and utter shock, a pile of cards and chips and various other things begins to appear from Bon Bon’s mane, tail and other places. Meanwhile, she’s just kicking in place and writhing in protest before Vinyl let’s go of her hold on Bon Bon.

“Hey, what gives?!” Bon Bon shouts as she begins to stuff some of the items back into her various hiding places. I swear I saw a katana in that pile, but I can’t say for sure as she had already put it back into her mane when I had noticed it. Soon, all that was left was a pile of assorted cards, and that also was put away, a pile of neat Apples to Apples cards now assembled on the table.

“I think my mind just broke...” I mutter under my breath. “...again.”

Okay, THAT was funny!
And just for the reference to my favourite family game, you get an extra point.

[Texus]

I know she cares for Melody, but I think they are sometimes overreacting if a character just doesn't want to do something, granted that she seems to have problems with herself, but it wasn't something really bad.

If you are planning to let Bon Bon do her Ninja/agent stuff, I hope Melod will soon enough have something that makes her special too, even if it should be just something like being the one that gives all the good advices, as long as the other characters notice it of course.

I admit that I don't exactly like the character to be that defensless sometimes, if other characters are way to special.

Well otherwise I really liked this chapter, not even my first comment was meant so serious this time. I knew what you wanted to do, I just can't stop and remember other storys, where it actually looks odd that the character can never do what they want or is forbidden to think like a Human or soemthing like that.