Lost in Conflict

by YoshiBrony

The party

Chapter 5

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"Oh god it isn't cotton candy at all!"

"Hi! sorry my mane isn't cotton candy, i'm Pinkie Pie, what's your......"

The pink mare instantly bounced off Isaac's winded torso and held her face an inch from his. But he couldn't help but chuckle at the wide smile Pinkie held as she stared at him. Her eyes wide and her cheerful nature almost contagious. But Isaac's smile was short lived when Twilight held her hoof over her ears and signaled him to do the same. A second later, Pinkie jumped up in the air with an astonished expression. Her eyes would surely be wider if they had not already reached their limit, the bubbly pink mare let out a huge gasp before shouting out so loud all of Ponyville surely heard her.

"Oh my gosh you're new!!! I know everypony in Ponyville its so nice to meet you you're new in town right we need to have a party!!"

Isaac barely caught the last word as Pinkie stopped suddenly, she scratched her head with her hoof and continued. "Meet at Sugarcube Corner at 7:30 and don't be late!" The pink mare squealed before running off to tell everypony else. Isaac simply stood there for many moments, until Twilight used her magic to carry the stunned colt inside and set him down on the floor inside.

"Not what I expected when I was told to go to a library."

"I admit it's not the usual kind of structure, but its a good home all the same."

"You got that right, this place is amazing."

Isaac took his time scanning the various book on the wall, he always loved reading as a child, his brother always used to take him to the library. His eyes began to water as the memories came flooding back to him, but he wiped the tears away as a voice came from upstairs, followed by footsteps making their way down the curved staircase.

"Hey Twilight, you found him! I told you there was nothing to worry about."

Isaac stood shocked at the small purple lizard made its way towards him.
"Are you....A dragon?"

Spike looked over himself, as if to confirm his own identity before turning back to Isaac.
"Sure am, the names Spike."

Isaac's stern expression changed to a sly smile as he looked at Twilight, then raised his hoof towards the baby dragon.

"Well, i'd be lying if I said this is the strangest thing I've seen all day, it's good to meet you Spike, my names...Oakleaf."

Spike returned the smile as he shook his hoof, and began to exit the library.

"I'm going to help Rarity with some dresses, but i'll see you guys at the party ok?"

Isaac gave Spike a confused look as he spoke. "How did you....?"

"It's Pinkie Pie, what do you expect?"

Isaac turned to Twilight, who simply closed her eyes and nodded, Isaac took the hint and ignored the strangeness of Pinkie's abilities. He looked over at Twilight, who had already started to walk down towards the basement, signaling him to follow. After a small journey down a rather large flight of stairs, they came across the underground section of Twilight's library. The floor was littered with old equipment and writing utensils. And in the corner of the room lay a decent-sized bed and a drawer.

"I know it isn't much, but I didn't have much to spare when I received the Princess' letter. But luckily you packed light." Twilight giggled as Isaac looked at his sides, realizing he had no possessions. He quickly looked back over at Twilight, who was still smiling at him.

"Nah, it's fine. Besides it's not like I had much to pack anyway."

"What do you mean by that?"

Isaac looked over at Twilight once more, the irritated look in his eyes answering her question. "Oh right, later."
Twilight immediately tried to change the mood when she noticed the dark patches under Isaac's eyes.
"There's still a few hours before the party so you can get a few hours of sleep before then, if you like."

"Yeah, i guess you're right, thanks Twilight." Isaac let out a grateful smile before turning to the bed, as he fell onto the bed he heard Twilight's voice behind him. Causing his ears to perk up.

"Hey, did your coat just get lighter?"

"Probably, see ya later Twilight." He scoffed before instantly falling asleep on the bed, and with the recent memories of his coat changing in multiple situations. He finally decided on a new first name.

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"Isaac it's me! Isaac come on! We have to go!" Isaac felt himself sucked into a burning flame, the echoing voice of his brother in the distance as everything burned around him. The screams of the deceased filling his mind. He felt his body become human once more, the flames that engulfed his vision cleared to reveal images of people, tied up with chains and led out of an ash filled city. Some were on their knees to the side of the area, Isaac wanted to scream as he saw a shadow pull a weapon, and shoot each of them individually. Isaac stared until his mind couldn't take it any more, he felt his eyes open as he finally let his voice scream out into nothing.

"Isaac! Isaac wake up!" Twilight shook Isaac's hoof as he screamed into the air, shaking. He looked around the room, finding that he was again safe and secure. His dark grey coat fading back to a lighter shade, his eyes darted at the space around him, sweating profusely and his coat matted with fresh tears.

"I'm alright...I just, had a rough night is all." Isaac said in between large, slow breaths. Twilight held him close to her for a few seconds, she waited for his shivering to stop before letting him go. Her kind, purple eyes easing his tension as he stared into them.

"I came down to tell you it's time to go. But when I found you, you looked like you were in some....Serious pain. We don't have to go to the party if you don't want to."

"No, i'll go. It'll be good to meet some of the new ponies in this town. And it'll take my mind off what I saw just then..." He managed a weak smile as he hopped out of the bed, rubbing his eyes. "So, how long until the party?"

"Actually, we should get going now. It took me about 5 minutes to wake you up, that must have been one heck of a nightmare."

"Yes. Yes it was."

"Alright come on, we should get going."

As they exited the library, Isaac found the streets to be seemingly deserted. Only a couple of lights on in every other house, he was so distracted by the sudden change in the atmosphere he forgot to tell Twilight about his new name. "Hey, Twilight, before I fell asleep I think I found myself a new name."

"Oh, really? Great! What did you have in mind?"

"Ummm....Iridescent..."

"Iridescent? Doesn't that mean a change in color or shading, or something like that?"

"Umm...Yeah, I kind of thought of it after you mentioned a change in the color of my coat. And after what happened when I woke up, i think it's rather fitting."

Twilight seemed happy after Isaac's explanation, and nodded her head in agreement. "Well, I think it's wonderful. Come on, Sugarcube corner is right around here."

As he two rounded another house, Isaac saw the large, gingerbread look-alike house. He would have tried some of the walls if not for the fact that they were real, and somepony was living there. As he got closer, he realized all of the lights were off. But after a small pause, he knew what was coming, and so he went along with it. Twilight was the first to reach the door, opening it with a hoof and beckoning for Isaac to follow her inside. Everything was black as night as they clumsily wandered into into the seemingly empty house, this made Isaac a little suspicious. What happened next surprised him in such a way he was sure to remember the night forever.

"SURPRISE!!!!!!"

Suddenly every light in the room flicked on, along with the balloons, confetti, streamers, food and drinks that came into view. Isaac jumped up into the air and threw his head around the room, glancing at the smiling ponies and all the new, bright colors that filled the room. A smile appeared on his face that rivaled Pinkie Pie, and his coat brightened significantly. He felt happier than he had in a long time. As Pinkie made her way towards him, about to ask him what he thinks of the party, Isaac threw himself at her and took her into a tight hug.

"Wow, I didn't know ponies liked my parties THAT much!"

"Pinkie this is amazing! I've never had anypony do something like this for me!"
"Body, any. body.....oh forget it..."

After introducing himself to Pinkie and a few other ponies (now as Iridescent Oakleaf), he made his way over to Twilight. She was now standing next to two other ponies. One was a freckled orange mare with a long blonde mane, she wore a large stetson hat on her head, and spoke with a thick southern accent. The other was a beautiful white mare with a styled purple mane, and spoke with a strong posh accent. Twilight smiled at Isaac as he approached and then looked back at the other two mares.

"Oakleaf, i'd like you to meet Rarity"

"A pleasure" Isaac bowed low in a successful attempt to make a good impression.

"And Applejack."

"Howdy." He lifted his head upwards to wink at the now lightly blushing mare.

"Easy there partner, yer gonna' have t' do more than that t' get mah attention." Applejack said with a smirk on her face.

The party was in full swing after about half an hour, Twilight had introduced Isaac to everypony who was there under his new identity. He still ended up with a few funny looks about his blank flank, but these were quickly put to rest as a mare with huge purple shades turned on the dance music at the turntables. A few more minutes into the party and there was a knock at the door, Pinkie zoomed across the floor like lightning before coming to a screeching halt at the entrance.

"Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy! Come on in guys! The party's just getting started!"

Isaac recalled those two names, and quickly tried to hide himself inconspicuously within the crowd. But Pinkie quickly spotted him and dragged him by the tail over to the two mares. For some reason, Isaac was expecting another smack to the face, but instead was greeted by a gentle hoof on his shoulder.

"I'm...Sorry for running away earlier...I was just so nervous and I...." Fluttershy stammered, looking away from Isaac's sky blue eyes.

"It's alright, really. I understand if you freaked out a little bit. I don't know exactly how I got to your house, but i'm sure nothing....Odd, happened." Isaac managed a weak smile before being placed in a warm embrace by the glassy eyed Pegasus.

"And i'm sorry too, I guess I was just being a little overprotective of my friend." Rainbow called out from behind in a quiet tone unlike her usual self.

"Hey, if I was put in your position I would have done the same damn thing." Isaac replied, he soon found himself crowded by five mares. Twilight, Rarity and Applejack, and of course the two pegasi. Applejack was the first to speak up, startling Isaac with the sudden question.

"So Oakleaf, where ya from anyway?" Applejack said in a suspicious but curious tone. Twilight nudged the orange mare in the shoulder and shook her head, hinting at Applejack to stop.

"I don't want to talk about it..."

"If ya don't even tell us where yer' from, how can we trust ya?" Applejack said, sternly. Eager to pull an answer from the now depressed colt. Isaac let out a deep sigh before regretfully answering.

"Applejack, I really don't want to...." He was cut off when the orange mare narrowed her expression, a serious, accusing look in her eyes. There was no way this mare was going to let up. So Isaac said something that caught her completely off guard.

"Applejack? Have you ever experienced loss? Answer me that, and i'll answer your questions." Isaac said with a slightly angry tone, his coat already darkening slightly from the harsh response.

"Fine, since yer bein' reasonable about it. I lost mah parents. A long time ago. Why in the hay do ya need to know that?"

"Lets just say after what I've been through, losing that would be a kindness."

The response to Applejacks' answer hit her hard. And something clicked inside that sent all of her fury into her hoofs, she knocked Isaac to the ground before lifting him up and bucking him into a wall. Isaac saw the rage in her eyes, but he had seen it many times before in himself. The club instantly went silent as Twilight ran to Isaac's side, with the other five mares keeping Applejack from crushing the weak unicorn. Everypony in the room now hard their eyes fixed on the scene unfolding.

"How dare ya say that about mah parents!!! How dare you!!!!" Applejack screamed, fresh tears running down her face.

"You asked me about my past, and i'm giving you your answer.,.." Isaac said between gasps, the mares buck knocking the wind right out of him. The orange pony calmed down slightly, allowing Isaac to finish his answer.

"You think that losing your parents was horrible? It was nothing next to the years of pain I felt! Nothing compared to what I lost!" Isaac yelled back at the temporarily stunned mare. Tears now flowing down his cheeks as well.

"Oh yeah?" Applejack screeched, "What in tarnation did you lose that was so special to ya?!"

There was a temporary silence in the air as Applejack waited for Isaac's response. "Well!? What did ya lose!?"

"EVERYTHING!"

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Authors note:

There you go guys, a longer chapter. If you think I should change Isaac's pony name, keep it, or mention it more. Don't hesitate to send ideas my way.

Comments

[YoshiBrony]

Alright guys, the next chapter is out! Enjoy!

[Fountain Pen]

This is one of the better fics i have read, among my most favourite too, i can tell because i get really happy whenever i see an update for this.

The new chapter is awesome and I think the name works very well for Isaac.

Also, Applejack bucking him into a wall was hilarious!

As always, i look forward to moar!

[Linkonpark100]

Damn it! Another cliffhanger! Why???

[kragor]

sweet.