> A New Beginning
>  by BurningProse1929
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Ch.1: New Adventures await
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


New adventures




‘Ahh, beautiful!’ Prose thought as he stepped off the train. The wind was blowing enough to slightly ruffle the bit of his mane that stuck out from under the front of his green hat, and Celestia’s sun shone bright, as he breathed in the fresh air he thought, ‘Maybe now I can just relax and…’ His thought was interrupted as he collided with a bright vibrant pink pony.  



“HOLY CRAP!” Prose yelled as he fell over the bouncy mare in his way, she seemed to not even notice his presence until he sat up, his eyes spinning. 



“OH MY GOSH! ARE YOU OK!?” asked the pink mare, as Prose got up on his hooves shaking his head to make the spinning go away.


“Yes I’m fine Ms…..” began a very dizzy Prose.


“You can call me Pinkie Pie!” interrupted the clearly excited mare. 


Prose extended his hoof, after getting his bearings, “Pleasure to meet you Ms. Pie, I happen to be new here…” 


As he said this he clearly could tell he might have just said the wrong thing. As he tried back pedaling from the look in Pinkie’s eyes, it only got more intense and the smile on her muzzle grew even wider. Prose was swept up into a spine destroying hug as pinkie started to ramble. 


“OH MY GOSH THIS IS SO AWESOME! A NEW PONY! I HAVE TO START MAKING PREPARATIONS AND GETTING MY PARTY CANNONS OUT AGAIN, AND OH MY GOSH I HAVE TO GET INVITATIONS MADE AND PASSED OUT AND WELL YOU CAN’T HAVE A PARTY WITHOUT CAKE AND OTHER SNACKS AND GOODIES LIKE THAT! AND ALSO…”  



Prose merely stood there with this bright pink and downright sugary sweet mare hugging him and not letting him get a hoof in edgewise, he finally managed to stop the pink ball of energy by putting a hoof over her mouth and then immediately felt a pang of embarrassment hit him, as he drew his hoof back he said,



“Ms. Pie that’s awfully kind of you to want to throw me a party but I just stepped off the train and was wondering if somepony could help me find my way around ponyville first?” 




Prose paused as he saw what he thought was Pinkie’s smile falter at the mention of no party right now, but as soon as he looked her smile had returned in full force. 



“Why not? I wouldn’t mind being that somepony to show you around but..” she looked at the cart of ingredients she had momentarily forgot about when she was bumped into, “I have to get these ingredients back to Sugarcube Corner..” She trailed off and Prose saw this kind of shimmer shine in her eyes. 




“Hey! I know, how about I show you around town and then maybe we can get a snack at the store when we get there!?” said Pinkie without even taking a breath.



Prose just about protested, but the grumble in his stomach silenced that notion.“I think that would be lovely.” Prose sheepishly said while rubbing the back of his neck, his stomach continued to grumble, as he thought, ‘How long has it been since I ate? One, maybe two days? Time sure has a way of sneaking up on you.’ 



“It can sneak up without any forethought or notion that somepony exists within its limits.” said Prose out loud. 



Pinkie stared at him in confusion, “What can sneak up on you? Like a surprise. CAUSE I LOVE SURPRISES!!! LIKE THIS ONE TI…” 



Prose had put his hoof over her mouth again to stop the torrent of words the he knew would be coming from her. Then after realizing what he did he took his hoof away quickly and just as quickly started apologizing, 




“I’m so sorry Ms. Pie, I-I didn’t mean to seem so rude, I was just thinking out loud” Prose stood there with a blush on his face, but what she did next shook him out of his embarrassment, she started giggling. 




“It’s ok mister, sometimes I start talking and thinking out loud and never seem to stop, like the other day my friend rainbow dash had asked me to get her some muffins and as I was talking about what Gummy had done the other day then I thought out loud about the different cupcakes we sell and getting her snack, that’s when I noticed a rainbow streak heading out the door and me without a muffin in my hand, I figured she was just late for something you know? Like when your late for a party, but nopony is ever late for a party, the party just doesn’t completely start until EVERYPONY is there. You know what I mean?” 



Prose just stood there trying to take in the stream of consciousness that was her sentence. But all he could think was ‘This has to be normal….right?’



Pinkie brought him out of his thoughts with a question of her own. “So what’s your name? I have to make sure the Welcome to Ponyville party invitations are correct.” 



Prose smiled, “Well Ms. Pie my name would be Burning Prose, but you can just call me Prose.” He stuck out his hoof for a proper introduction and was once again swept into a hug. 



Gripping Prose in her bear like grip Pinkie started enthusiastically saying, “That’s such a nice name! I wish my name was like that, but Pinkie Pie is great too in fact its better than great, I mean your name is great also…” She was interrupted by a hoof hurriedly tapping her on the shoulder, 



“Ms….Pie…..AIR!” is all Prose could get out as his face started turning from green to blue. 



Pinkie released him from her vice like hug and apologized. “Sorry about that I get a little over excited! Also stop calling me Ms. Pie makes me sound like a school teacher….UNLESS THAT MEANS I’M LIKE YOUR TEACHER ON ALL THINGS PONYVILLE! OH MY GOSH THAT WOULD BE SO GREAT!” 



Before she could continue Prose interrupted with a, albeit winded, cough. “*ahem* Ms. Pie….I-I mean nothing by how I address you it’s just how I was raised. Would you rather I call you something else instead?”  



“Just call me Pinkie, just like everyone else silly billy!” Pinkie said with a smile. 



“Ok, then Ms. Pinkie, I..” Prose stopped talking as inspiration hit him, walking around Pinkie Pie, he started saying what first came to his mind, what came forth only made the pink mare confused.



Prose started to, almost as if in a trance, speaking every word that came to him.


“Vibrant, colorful, and cheerful ball of sun like energy
Partying like no tomorrow exists, and yet plans ahead for more of the same
Cannons and streamers everywhere as everypony dances like no one is watching
Happiness abounds as she bakes and creates delectable treats for young and old
Of sugar and spice and everything nice I see no end to this pretty in pink ponies party life”




Prose's poem about the pink mare finished, he sat there blushing, ‘Oh man, not again, every time!’ was his only thought as he sat hiding his eyes behind his hooves hoping Pinkie wouldn’t be mad, he chanced a look and saw something else, something that he didn't expect, what he saw was probably the biggest smile someone has ever given him. Confused, Prose looks at Pinkie, “Ms. Pinkie…..umm…you ok? I didn’t say something bad did I?” 



Pinkie burst into laughter, “OH MY GOSH! THAT WAS GREAT! HOW DO YOU DO THAT? IT SOUNDED SO COOL WHO WAS IT FOR?” 



Prose could only sit on his haunches confused before saying, “Umm that was for..about you Ms. Pinkie, it’s kind of a problem for me. I-I..well everytime I meet somepony I end up having inspiration strike and…well that happens. If you don’t like it I can..” 



Pinkie interrupted him, “No, no I liked it! In fact I loved it! It sounded so, well like what a waterfall would sound like if it could talk like regular ponies OR a better analogy would be a party cannon laughing!” Prose simply sat there for a minute pondering what Pinkie said. 



‘Well that’s not the worst response I’ve gotten….it was way better than that time in..no, no thinking about the past, it’s time to go towards the future.’ Prose thought to himself.



Pinkie waved a hoof in front of Prose face, “HELLO? EQUESTRIA TO GREEN AND PURPLE PONY!” 



Prose snapped out of his thoughts, “Oh yes sorry,” rubbing a hoof the back of his neck, “so you said you’d give me a tour of ponyville correct?” 



Pinkie smiled and nodded her head in excitement, “Follow me TOWARDS ADVENTURE!” shouted Pinkie. With that her and Prose trotted away from the train station, and if anything could be more prophetic, it would be Pinkies declaration.

> Ch. 2: THIS....IS...Ponyville?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ch. 2 THIS… IS… Ponyville?



After a long trek, with some sudden stops due to Pinkie related things, they finally reach Ponyville. After wiping some sweat that had formed from the heat of the springtime sun from his brow and breathing a sigh of relief, Prose sits back on his haunches and grabs a bottle of water from his bag taking a big drink.

“Man that was some walk! I haven’t walked like that in a long while.” Prose gasped out after removing the bottle from his lips.


“That’s NOTHING! This one time me and my friends had to walk all over the Everfree forest after we got lost from the main trail and then out of nowhere this HUGE Manticore jumps out and is all ‘GRR IMMA EAT YOU PONIES FOR BREAKFAST!’ and all we could do was scream and……” Pinkie stopped talking, looking deep in thought, or at least deeper in thought than Prose has seen her.

“Umm Ms. Pinkie? Is something wrong, you seem to have…” Before Prose could finish his sentence, Pinkie popped out of her train of thought.

“Why would you want to eat ponies for breakfast? I mean there doesn’t seem to be any form of nutrition that you could get from ponies, maybe he mistook us for some yummy cupcakes, or even some delicious cake or even…” It was Prose’s turn to interrupt.

“HEY! What’s that building over there?” Prose quickly said, pointing in no particular direction.

“OH THAT! That would be Carousel Boutique where Rarity lives and works. She makes some of the most prettiest dresses and clothing in all of Equestria!” Pinkie said with her ever present smile on her muzzle.

Thankful for actually pointing out a building, Prose asked, “So, that’s the Carousel Boutique?”

“You mean you’ve heard of it before?” Pinkie inquired.

“Why wouldn’t I have? You did say the owner made the *ahem* most prettiest dresses and clothing in all of Equestria, did you not?” inquired Prose. ‘How could nopony not heard of this place, even with me being on the streets like I was, I saw and heard everypony talking about the different clothing that came from here. Heck even my hat was made there.’ Prose said to himself inwardly.

“That’s super spectacular! Normally when I mention it to new Ponyville residents they act like they’ve never even HEARD of it! I mean come on everypony has to have AT LEAST heard of Rarity’s clothing line, it’s like everypony has kept their head in the sand or maybe in a hole in a tree.” Pinkie said in one breathe, as always.


Prose looked at the Boutique then back to Pinkie when an idea struck him. “Hey Ms. Pinkie, think you could introduce me to this Ms. Rarity? She certainly sounds like an interesting pony, heck maybe she could fix up my hat?” As Prose said this he took his hat off to show Pinkie the hole in it.

“Okie dokie lokie!”

That was all Prose heard from the pink mare as he heard the cart she had been pulling start to move. Prose looked up and noticed Pinkie was further ahead of him then he thought she would be. Prose quickly caught up and settled into a slow trot over to the Boutique.

‘I hope this doesn’t get too awkward, I mean come on it’s not like she’ll remember this hat or anything……right?’

That was the main thought in Prose’s head as they neared the Carousel Boutique. After getting a closer look all Prose could think after that was…

“Wow!” was all that came out of Prose.

“Right!? It’s so beautiful and glamorous and and DELICIOUS LOOKING! Like a big birthday cake or any cake for that matter, it doesn’t even have to be someponies birthday….” Prose couldn’t pay attention to Pinkie all he could focus on was the Boutique.

‘Oh man, I hope this doesn’t turn out bad.’ Prose nervously thought. In fact the closer they got, the more nervous he got. Maybe he should have pointed somewhere else. ‘Why couldn’t I point out some other building, like a café or something.’ Prose thought, inwardly facehoofing.


As they neared the door to the shop Prose stopped, “Wait Ms. Pinkie, maybe we shouldn’t go in, I mean what if she’s with a customer or even in the middle of something else, hehe.” Prose nervously said.

“Well we could wait, but we are already here and I wouldn’t mind seeing her and saying, ‘HEY RARITY LOOK WHO I MET AT THE TRAIN STATION’ and then introduce you to her. She’ll probably take a liking to you really quickly too!” Pinkie said with a smile.

‘That’s what I’m afraid of..’ thought Prose. ‘Well might as well get this over with then, I mean Pinkie said she was nice so maybe this won’t turn out so bad….I-I hope.’

Prose gulped and smiled, “You’re right, and hay maybe I’ll take a liking to her just as quickly as she would me. So let’s go on in.” he said cautiously.


“That’s the friend making spirit Prose! And just think maybe you could buy even MORE hats from Rarity! DOESN’T THAT JUST SOUND SUPER DUPER CHOCOLATE FROSTED AWESOME!” Pinkie said excitedly.


“Yea…whatever you say Ms. Pinkie.” said Prose. ‘Yea, ‘buy’ more hats….’ he thought to himself.

As they entered the shop a ring was heard and then an angelic voice followed, “Coming!” sing songed Rarity. “Welcome to the Carousel Bouti…” Rarity paused as she saw Pinkie standing there, “Ahh Pinkie darling, how wonderful it is to see you, what brings you here today?” Rarity inquired as she walked, well more like pranced, towards the pair. “And who is this handsome stallion?” she asked eyeing Prose up and down.


“Hiya Rarity this is Burning Prose, he’s new here to ponyville, me and him met at the train station after he tripped over me cause I happen to be standing there with my supplies for the Cakes and…LE GASP! I FORGOT ALL ABOUT THAT, I’LL BE BACK!” Pinkie was gone the moment the last word came out of her mouth, which left two slightly confused ponies standing there staring after her.

“U-umm….” stammered Prose.

“Oh don’t worry about her darling she’s always like that,” explained Rarity, “anyway, she said your name was…”

“Burning Prose, at your service” said Prose bowing his head courteously, “but if it isn’t too informal you can just call me Prose.” Prose brought his head back up sporting a nervous smile.

“Oh, handsome and a gentlepony, well Mr. Prose my name is Rarity, and this,” she said sweeping her hoof around, “if you couldn’t tell is the fabulous Carousel Boutique, home to the most beautiful clothing and dresses in all of Equestria.” beamed Rarity.

“Well Ms. Rarity, I have to say I never imagined this is what it would look like from all the descriptions I’ve heard.” stated Prose, “And please you can just call me Prose, Mr. Prose was my…father….” He said with a hint, but only a hint, of sadness, before smiling again.


Rarity eyed Prose curiously before asking, “Well what, pray tell, have you heard about my place of business dear?”


Prose quickly realized how he may have sounded and stuttered, “W-well I-I’ve hea-heard that it was much larger than it is, hehe.” All Prose could do was sit there nervously while he awaited her response.


Rarity chuckled, “It’s ok darling, no need to be nervous. I was simply curious to any gossip about my place of business, and honestly if that’s the worst someone says, well, I wish it was a bit bigger. But this is my home as well as my shop and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”


Prose opened his mouth to say something but snapped it shut as inspiration struck him. He started circling Rarity as he spoke,


“Beauty, cleanliness and properness seems to define
But a deeper look and one will see that behind the bodily and the polity
Lies a much grander and dandier trait 
Generosity”


Prose, finished speaking, shook his head to stop the spinning and looked at Rarity with a slight frown. “I-I’m sorry Ms. Rarity, I shouldn’t have done that d-don’t be upset.” Prose hid his face behind his hooves as he said this, “Oh hay, I shouldn’t have done that! Why, why, why?” was all he could say.


Rarity blinked a few times and then burst into a fit of controlled laughter at the sudden outburst from Prose. She slowed her laughter once she noticed Prose hiding his face, she brought him out of his self pity by grabbing his hooves into hers.


“Darling, no need to feel so shameful, honestly it was out of nowhere, but still it sounded so passionate and heartfelt.” Rarity said with a kind smile.


“S-so y-you’re not mad?” asked Prose


“Mad? Why, if anything it made me happier than I’ve been all day. Now, why don’t I make us some tea and you can explain as to why you thought anyone would be upset over something like that, does that sound good?” replied Rarity



“Y-yes, that sounds lovely Ms. Rarity.” He said shakily, as he was lead to a soft looking pillow on the floor. Sitting down he calmed slightly and watched as Rarity made her way towards the kitchen.


“I have Dandelion and Chamomile tea, which would you prefer dear?” she called back.



“C-chamomile is fine with me Ms. Rarity.” Called back Prose.


‘Oh hay, I was hoping to not be an awkward mess and here I am, stuttering and…’ Prose thought pensively as he sighed to himself, ‘Well at least she wasn’t mad, or she’s just being nice to me since I’m new here, today feels like it’s going to be one of those days.’


Rarity came back carrying with her magic, an admittedly beautiful, tea pot and two cups and set them on the table in between her and Prose. Rarity set a cup in front of Prose and the other on her side and poured him and her a cup. Prose shakily picked up his cup and took a sip. Although he wasn’t completely calmed down he could feel his nerves starting to subside.


“So, now that you’ve seem to have gotten slightly a hold of yourself dear, talk to me. Tell Rarity what has you so upset about that gracious little poem you gifted to me.” Said Rarity taking a sip of her tea.


“Well you see…” Prose flattened his ears back as he told her what he told pinkie back at the train station and how, so far, he seems to make more ponies upset than happy with his poetry. 


“T-that is until today, you and Ms. Pinkie are a select few that seem to not be angry with what I like to call my ‘personal performances’. I try to prevent it every time, but every time it seems I can’t control myself enough to not speak every word that comes to me during my bouts of ‘inspiration’.” He sighs heavily as he finishes, and looks over to Rarity.


“Darling, that sounds like your life hasn’t been too easy up to now has it?” she asked worriedly.


“Ms. Rarity you have no idea.” He said sadly. “All I’ve ever wanted was to make everypony happy, but it seems no matter where I go I end up with more ponies upset than happy.”


“Well you have my full attention dear, if  you’d like why don’t you tell me about it, maybe you’ll feel better after you’ve gotten it off your chest. I’ll even make us a full kettle of tea hmm?” asked Rarity, partially out of curiosity, but mostly out of concern for the pony in front of her.


“Honestly, that sounds like a lovely idea Ms. Rarity.” Replied Prose. 


‘Well, now’s a better time than later I guess.’ Prose thought to himself while Rarity went to make more tea. ‘I just hope she doesn’t feel sorry for me or anything like that after this, but she does seem genuine about lending me an ear to tell.’

> Ch. 3 Story time Part one or How is it that Old Wounds Hurt the Most?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Prose was still deep in thought when Rarity came back with the fresh kettle of tea and placed it on the table between their cups. Noticing the look of sadness and indecisiveness on the green and purple pony in front of her, Rarity cleared her throat gently.



“Oh!” Prose said with a slight start, “Terribly sorry Ms. Rarity, just kind of got lost in thought….” Prose took a sip of the freshly made tea and drew back from his cup at first wondering when it had been filled again, then resumed his sip.



“It’s quite alright dear, whenever you’re ready to talk about it just go ahead.” She said trying to hide the concern in her voice.



“Before I begin my tale, I just want to warn you that it may be a bit graphic, and while I apologize for that now, I want you to know that the past is the past and I am not the same pony.” Prose stated.



“Well darling, none of us are the same as we were in the past, in fact I’ll let you in on a tiny secret, years ago I was not the same mare you see before you, I used to be an utter gossip queen.” Noticing a hint of reservation in his eyes she pulled his hoof into hers as she said, “Everyone has to change, whether it be for good or bad. I am no longer a gossip queen because I found out that it doesn’t matter who’s doing what with what or who. All that matters is that everypony learns from their past.” She released his hoof and smiled gently towards him.



“O-ok Ms. Rarity,” Prose said noticing he was sporting a slight smile of his own. “Well, to start off, I want you to know I didn’t have a bad foalhood growing up, I had two loving parents and grew up in a relatively decent neighborhood not too far from Baltimare.” His smile got a little wider at the memories, “In fact I was actually a pretty well behaved colt, and had a nice small group of friends. I didn’t play a lot of sports but that didn’t mean anything to them, my friends were happy to hang out with me regardless of whether I wanted to play hoofball or not.”



Prose paused to take a sip of his tea before continuing. “I was picked on, but that was just colts and filly’s being just that. I mostly got made fun of for my more…” he took his feminine style hat off and looked at it, “well let’s just call them ‘mare like’ qualities. I always liked playing with dolls, as well as action figures.” He put his hat on the table and took off his green bedazzled glasses and set them next to his hat and looked back up.



“Heck, I even had a small little tea set,” Prose chuckled at this. 


“What did your parents say about all of this?” asked Rarity with a raised eyebrow genuinely curious.




Prose waved his hoof in the air as he said, “My mother and father were a very liberal couple, they knew that you couldn’t stifle a foals growing process and only saw all of this as me just being me, and no matter what they would always love me.” He looked up towards the ceiling as a tear fell from his eyes at the thought of his parents.



Rarity noticed the tear and handed Prose a tissue stating, “You love them dearly don’t you?”



Prose nodded, attempting to regain his composure before resuming. “They were the best anypony could ask for and they never stifled my creativity, well, there was that time when I tried to get my cutie mark for spying.” He brought his hoof to his mouth stifling a giggle, “Man dad sure was one mad stallion after he found me in the neighbor’s house with a camera around my neck and me hiding in a closet underneath a bunch of towels, all in the hopes of getting a good shot.”



Rarity giggled lightly at the thought of the purple and green stallion, then just a colt, under a huge ball of towels.



Prose had to stop himself from laughing loudly as he said with nostalgia in his eyes, “Even funnier was the towels weren’t even green! They were bright white and the only reason I was found was because my dad came over to see if I had been there and they all heard a small sneeze as I tried to rearrange myself to get a better look. Man I ended up grounded for a while for that one.”



Prose nostalgia was quickly replaced with sadness as his thoughts started going back to his school days. “Anyway I didn’t have too much trouble dealing with all the other foals teasing until middle school and high school,” Prose practically spat the words out like it tasted of spoiled food, “that was when the trouble started.”


Rarity was slightly taken aback at the sudden change in attitude, ‘It couldn’t have been that bad,’ she thought.



Prose’s ears flattened back as he talked, “It began in middle school, I started going through that ‘magical’, he made sarcastic air quotes as he said this, “time in every foals life. I started to look at the fillies the way every colt does at that time in their life, but….” Prose sighed, “I also started to look at the other colts the same way, and I was confused, not to mention mortified, because I always thought that you could only feel that way about fillies if you were a colt.”



Prose paused as the horrible memories started flooding back, and a few stray tears started their way down his cheeks. Rarity placed her hoof on his trying to comfort him somewhat. He looked up at her and smiled weakly.



With a few tears still in his eyes he continued, “I tried to bring it up to mom and dad, but the only thought that consumed me was ‘What if they didn’t love me anymore?’ I was different and I knew it, but I just kept it to myself until the day I decided to talk to my best friend Blue Thrill, about it. I didn’t expect acceptance of me and my being different, but I told him, with tears streaking my face, and do you know what he did?”



He looked in Rarity’s eyes as he asked her and all she did was shake her head.



“H-he put his hoofs on my shoulders, I was expecting some kind of horrible punishment for what I told him, like he would maybe shove me away from me, or say, ‘Well what do you expect of a blank flank?’ I still hadn’t gotten my cutie mark then, but all he did was pull me into the tightest hug he had ever given me. He pulled back when he noticed I had stopped crying, I was stunned silent and just stared at him confused with tears still in my eyes. What he said next has stuck with me since that day. 



His exact words were, ‘Prose, it doesn’t matter who you fall in love with, gender isn’t a factor when it comes to what your heart wants and desires. No matter who you choose to love, I will always be there to back you up 110%’”




Prose grinned slightly, “Then he said that if I fell in love with him he wouldn’t blame me, ‘I certainly am the most handsomest colt here after all!’” Prose imitated a cocky attitude as he repeated what was said to him that day. “That got me to smile and he laughed, he told me that no matter what he always wants to see me with a smile, through thick and thin, always smile. From that day forward if I had a problem he would be the first one I went to, and he always made sure to help me through my problems.”



Rarity had her own smile, as well as a tear or two, as he said that. “He sounds like a lovely friend darling.” She carefully wiped away her own tears thinking about her group of friends.



Prose wiped his eyes, “Yea he was the, as the kids would say, ‘bestest’ friend I had.” His smile faltered a bit, “After that day I thought it would be smooth sailing ahead, I still got picked on, but knowing I had Thrill on my side I knew nothing could get to me.” His smile disappeared, “Until we got to high school that is.”



Prose paused again wincing at the mere mention of that time in his life. Shakily picking up his tea cup and taking a sip hoping to calm his mind, he sighed and began to resume his tale but was stopped by the sudden embrace. Rarity hugged him harder than he thought possible. After she let go she returned to her seat making sure she didn’t look disheveled.



“Sorry about that dear, I just felt it was the ideal thing to do, but I have to ask what about your parents? What did they have to say about all of this?” She asked.



Prose sat there for a second regarding the question, hoof placed firmly under his chin in thought. “Well, when I became a high school freshman my mom accidentally found some,” Prose blushed brightly, “less than ideal magazines in my room one day and confronted me about them. I explained to her what had happened that day in middle school and apologized profusely for not being ‘normal’ but all she could do was laugh.”



Rarity gasped, “She laughed? Why that’s horrible!”


Prose quickly looked at her and wildly waved his hooves in front of him, “OH No, no, Ms. Rarity please don’t misunderstand, she wasn’t laughing at me about that, she was laughing because I was scared to talk to her about it, with me thinking her and dad wouldn’t love me anymore.”


Rarity lessened the disdain on her face and asked, “Well what did she say when you told her?”


Prose smiled warmly placing his hooves on the table in front of him, “Well first she smacked me upside the head,” this elicited another gasp from Rarity, which made Prose chuckle some, “Then, with the love and kindness only a mother could have she hugged me and told me that no matter what I did, either in love or life, her and dad would love me unconditionally. It was then I figured out why her cutie mark had three hearts instead of only one. She had so much love for everypony that one heart just wasn’t enough.”


Rarity smiled at this comment. But then curiosity overtook her and she asked, “I was wondering something, if it isn’t too intrusive darling, when did you get your cutie mark?”


Prose looked at his fiery quill cutie mark thoughtfully then back at Rarity. “Well I actually got it about two weeks after that conversation with my mom, which by the way having the same conversation with my father was SO awkward.” Prose put the back of his hoof against his forehead and widened his eyes, “It felt like I was gonna die!”


Rarity chuckled, Prose continuing after his little theatrics, “I was in the courtyard of the school writing, just minding my own business, when this disheveled looking mare went running by me tears flowing from her eyes, it was all I could do to not go after her, I figured it wasn’t any of my business, but something in my head told me I needed to try and help. So I put my things down and went after her.”


“I finally found her after looking around for like twenty minutes and there she was underneath a stairwell still crying. I asked what was wrong and all she could get out, or at least all I could understand in between her sobs, was that she had just got dumped by the quarterback of the hoofball team. The only thing that I could think to do was give her a hug, but I didn’t want to invade her personal space like that,” Prose put his hoof to his chest and switched to a more posh accent, “being the gentlepony I am after all.” 



Prose put his hoof back down and spoke normally, “It was then that my first big inspiration hit me, mind you I didn’t call it that then, and I just spouted out the first thing that came to my mind. When my eyes focused back on to her she stood there silently, I thought that I had maybe said something wrong, but then grabbed me into the second tightest hug I had ever been in, which of course made me blush the reddest I had ever been.”



Prose looked down into his tea thoughtfully, “She was the first mare I had a major crush on and I always thought it would never work out between us, while I was right, it was still nice to be able to make her happy like that, then she noticed my cutie mark had appeared and well that’s it. I was as excited as a foal to finally get it and I thanked her even though I didn’t need to.”



Rarity asked, “What did you say to her that day, if that was what caused you to get your cutie mark it had to be something big, right?”



Prose chuckled, “Honestly Ms. Rarity? I couldn’t tell you to this day what I said to her, all I know is afterwards I never saw her without a smile on her face. Really though I don’t care what I said to her, all I care about is that I made somepony happy.”



Rarity sighed thoughtfully, “Well whatever you said to her had to be just marvelous,” she then said, “but you said sometimes your ‘inspiration’ as you call it, got you into trouble. How so?”



Prose shifted uncomfortably in his seat, “Well let’s just say that I got beat up a few times because of it, I couldn’t really control what I said at the time, I would just look at somepony and bam, I did what I do, and then most of the time, BAM!” At this Prose hit one hoof with the other, “I hit the floor in pain. I’ve gotten over it now, but something like that does something to you. It got to the point that I would curse my cutie mark any time it happened.”



Rarity poured him another cup of tea and asked, “So how did you end up dealing with all of that, it had to take a lot out of you, did it not?” 



Prose looked back down into his, now full, cup of tea and shuddered, “Ms. Rarity what I did to ease that pain is something I’m not too proud of, I did it the wrongest way possible.” Prose took a sip of his tea, “I ended up getting into drugs.”

> Ch. 4: Story time part 2 or WHAT TIME IS IT? Well about 2:30 why? ….nevermind.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	With that last comment Rarity’s eyes widened as she gasped louder than last time. “Prose why in the name of Celestia would you do such a thing to yourself!?” she asked concernedly.



Prose lowered his head as he said, “Well like I said I’m not proud of it, I mean in high school it was small time at first, a little inhale of this, a little snort of that, but it wasn’t too bad, I wasn’t hooked or anything, I was being as safe as one can be with stuff of that nature, until one unfortunate day in my junior year.” 



Prose’s ears flattened back as he remembered, “I had just confessed to one of my male classmates that I had a crush on him, when he didn’t reciprocate my feelings that was fine, when he called me a fag,” Prose and Rarity both cringed at that word, “and then word got around the school, that was when it got worse, the bullying I mean.” 



Prose brushed a stray tear from his eye, “It didn’t help that my friend Thrill didn’t go to the same school anymore, his family had moved away, so I didn’t have him there to back me up, or give me any words of encouragement, I didn’t get to see him again until after we both had graduated.” 



Prose sank a little deeper into the pillow he sat on, “But it was already too late, I had gotten deeper into the drug scene and well it spiraled down from there. I mean I wasn’t some junkie or anything, but when the only friends you were able to make were the ones that were right alongside of you doing it with too,” Another stray tear fell, “well it doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out.”



Prose sobbed lightly at the horrid memories struggling to find his voice again, when Rarity placed her hoof on his shoulder, “Darling, it’s ok, that’s the past now, and honestly, whatever you did then won’t make me think any different of  you.”



Prose managed to look up at Rarity, but all he could do was cry. Prose looked down again, putting his head into his hooves, not wanting this kind and generous mare to see him like this, he wiped away the tears somewhat and managed to shakily say, “M-ms. Rarity the things I did, the things I said to some of the ponies I met along the way, I’m ashamed and frightened of.”



Rarity, slightly confused, asked, “Why are you frightened dear?”



Prose meekly stated, “Because I’m afraid that it could happen all over again, I’m not the strongest willed pony, and it takes a lot of self control to not slip back into those ways again.” He started sounding a little more manic, “I-I don’t think I could help myself if something comes up, I haven’t even t-touched hard cider since then! What if I..”



Rarity interrupted him, “Darling, there’s no use in thinking about the ‘What ifs’ all that does is lead you back into trouble and I don’t think you want that, do you?” she asked concerned.



Prose shook his head, ‘She’s right,’ he thought, ‘That’s what caused me trouble when I lived in Baltimare, and I certainly don’t want anything like that to happen again.’



“Ms. Rarity, do you know where I’ve lived the last few years?” he questioned.



“Why Prose I would hope somewhere safe at the very least, why?” she asked.



Prose felt a small sting at the word safe, because he certainly was nowhere near that for a long time now, if anything it was like he’s lived in a gritty crime drama for the first part of the last five years, or at least on the side of crime as it were. Prose breathed in heavily, and steadied himself.



“It all s-started after I had graduated, I was still messing with that awful stuff, and I just couldn’t hold down a job. It certainly was depressing in its own right,” Prose paused to breathe in again keeping himself steady, “but the only times I felt any twinge of happiness was either at open mic nights at some of the coffee houses, or when I was getting too messed up to think about anything. My mom was the first to notice something was up, but I just kept telling her not to worry about it, that I was fine.” 



Prose cringed slightly as he said, “But I was anything but fine, and lying to her made me feel guilty, which made me more depressed, which made me use more,” he circled his hoof in the air, “you know, vicious cycle and all that. And I did my best not to ever let her or my dad see me messed up, I didn’t want to break their hearts, well that lasted until Hearths Warming eve six years ago.”



His eyes seemed to sadden more so then they have been, “I had been living on my own for a few years at that point, when my dad was the first to find out.” Prose sank just a little more into the cushion, “He had been out shopping for presents, last minute just like always,” Prose sadly chuckled at the memory of his father, “And I just so happened to be in the same part of Baltimare as him, I was supposed to be visiting them for the holiday, except I was down an alley so strung out on something I could barely keep my eyes open.”



Prose paused for another second, “Well when he found me he didn’t recognize me at first, he thought I was just some down on my luck pony, when he got closer and realized who it was, he started to freak, I mean I would too, he at first thought I had gotten mugged or something.” A few more tears fell and his voice started getting a bit shaky, “He managed to get me home, to this day I still don’t know how he did that, I’m not exactly light as you can probably tell.”



Prose laughed weakly, “He always was such a strong stallion, of course that came with his job, doing construction and all, But once he got me home he told my mother and she just burst into tears at the sight of me. I looked like I hadn’t eaten in a long while, and honestly I hadn’t. I had been homeless for a while then, living off of the kindness of friends in the area and anypony that dealt to me.”



Prose sipped his tea calming down a bit, “I know you probably have no idea how hard it is to live like that, I have no idea what your life has been like Ms. Rarity, but what nopony seems to understand is..well…” Prose put his hoof to his chin pondering a good way to say it, “A good amount of the homeless in the cities and such aren’t homeless because of drugs like I was, I met a lot of down on their luck ponies who were just trying to get by, taking odd jobs and such, just to be able to eat or find a place to sleep.”



“Really? I would never had guessed that,” Rarity stated surprised, “I guess I always had the thought that they were just users and alcoholics or something of that nature.”



Prose shook his head wearily, “No in fact I had befriended a few who were just out of school themselves, they just had nowhere else to go or anypony to care for them. In fact one that I had befriended went by the name Mint Crystal, he was such a sweet stallion, he was kicked out by his parents for not wanting to continue the family jewelry business.” Prose had practically hissed out the previous sentence, “When I found him he had been living on the roof of the apartment building I had just got kicked out of, funnily enough I was going to the roof to sleep there myself figuring ‘Hey it ain’t the street where you could get hurt, so why not.’ Prose said sarcastically.




“Darling that is not the way you should have thought, why didn’t you go back to your parents and talk to them about all of this? Were they not worried?” Rarity asked.




“Well I just didn’t WANT them to worry about me and I just felt so ashamed of myself, and how I wasn’t living up to what I felt were their standards. I know my father would have bucked me into next week if I had told him what I spent most, if not all, of my money on and I didn’t want them to be disappointed in me.” He lowered his head, “I was scared to be honest, and when I got scared before I would just turn to the one thing I knew I could control.”



Prose continued gaining a slight bit of happiness in his voice, “You know the day me and Minty met each other on that roof top was almost like a fairy tale….well if fairy tales had what my life had consisted of up to that day.” 



Prose chuckled sadly, “It’s funny looking back now, when we first met we didn’t trust a single thing the other did, we ended up staying on that roof all night just kind of glancing at each other terrified that one of us would snap and do something horrible, that is until day finally came.” 



Prose looked wistful, “Ms. Rarity that morning was the most tense and the most beautiful, tense because of the night before, but beautiful because I had never seen a sunrise before. It was so..so awesome, it didn’t help that I also awoke thinking that an angel had come to me,’ Prose grimaced slightly as he remembered, “when in fact it was Minty himself checking to see if I had maybe died during the night, I scared him to death when I grabbed him into a bear hug still thinking an angel had come to save me.”



Prose’s grimace was replaced with a slight warm smile, “Instead it was the strange pony I had met the night before and thought was gonna kill me in my sleep or worse.” Prose chuckled, “He had the reddest face I’ve ever seen, which was a feat in and of itself because he was a mint green colored stallion, but once I realized what was up I released my hug on him and watched him quickly hide behind an a/c unit.”



Prose paused thinking about that day, Rarity interrupted his thoughts, “Well what happened after that darling, I just have to know!”



Prose chuckled again, “Well I went over to investigate who I had just hugged and wanted to make sure they were ok. When I managed to coax him from behind the a/c unit he was behind, what I saw was not angel as anypony believes, but to me he looked like one and inspiration hit me. I’ll always remember what I said to him,



Prose raised his right hoof while reciting, “Coat as green as brightest emeralds, face as red as the shiniest of rubies, but this pony in front of me, afraid nor embarrassed should he be, as I come to see, he has come to save me.”



Prose put his hoof down and noticed Rarity clapping lightly, “That was simply gorgeous Prose, I bet he wasn’t so afraid after that was he? In fact he must of practically attached himself to you.”



Prose rubbed the back of his neck, “Well he did eventually warm up to me, but…oh who am I kidding, he knocked me to the ground in the tightest embrace, he had been terrified to the point of not sleeping the night before.” 



Prose poured another cup of tea, “When I had recited my poem to him it was like all of his fear had faded and all that was left was relief, relief that I wasn’t going to harm him. I was relieved as well for almost the same reason. By the way he explained all of this while sobbing into my shoulder, and all I could do was pat his head lovingly and let him get it all out. He had been on his own for a bit before I met him, and to find another pony in the same situation made his and my tension just melt away,” 



“Well I bet it did, I mean it’s not everyday somepony thinks he might get attacked physically, but instead gets serenaded by somepony as handsome as you Prose.” 



Prose blushed a little at the compliment, but then his blush deepened at the rest of the memory.


“Prose?” she asked.



Rubbing his neck, “Well, something else happened that day too…”


Rarity raised an eyebrow.



“Umm after all the hoopla and he had calmed down, we exchanged pleasantries, as it were, and I explained my situation. While it angered him I didn’t at least try and get help, he understood my dilemma.”



Prose crossed his hooves in front of him on the table as he spoke. “We talked all day, just lying there on that rooftop not caring about a thing, I didn’t want to be anywhere else but there with Minty. We talked about how we had got to this point and how we wanted to make something better of ourselves when….well it kind of just happened.”



Prose’s blush deepened even more than he thought possible, “He had just told this stupid joke and after I laughed we both happened to look up at each other and I saw them, like really saw them, those deep violet colored eyes of his.” His hoof went back to rubbing his neck, “And well, one thing lead to another and we…made love right there on the rooftop.”



Prose looked up when he heard a stifled girlish giggle and saw Rarity with her hoof over mouth. “M-ms. Rarity it is not funny, he was still someone I had just met! I am not a, ‘love them and leave them’, kind of stallion. Plus all I knew he could have been….” 



Rarity waved her free hoof, “Oh come now Prose, I never said you were, it’s just you get so flustered at the mere mention of lovemaking that I find it kind of cute.”



She giggled again when Prose turned to look away from her, his hooves crossed to his chest. “Now, now, darling, if it makes you feel better I used to be the same way, now go ahead and continue.”



Prose looked back at her with his eyebrow slightly raised, but continued on.



“Well after we had… ‘done that’,” Prose made air quotes, “I awoke the next morning. I was confused as to where I was at, until I heard a dainty snore from next to me. That was when it hit me like a horseshoe to the noggin, and needless to say I freaked out a bit, well ok I screamed like a little filly, which woke up Minty.”



“All I did was scream until he placed his hoof gently over my mouth to quiet me. I just stared at him in horror. But when he called out my name to get my attention it was like my mind had been filled with warm cider, and I softened my eyes. He asked why I had screamed and I explained that this wasn’t the first time I’ve awoke to a stranger asleep next to me, he frowned when I said this.”




Prose sipped his tea, “I back pedaled as fast as I could and explained some of the…well worse things I had done to get my fix, and how I thought he would hurt me because I didn’t know if he was into stallions or not. He removed his hoof from my muzzle and embraced me telling me that, yes he was very into stallions, and that from that day forward I would never have to do something like that ever again.”


Prose looked into his tea, “It was all I could do to not cry until my eyes fell out of my head, we sat like that for what felt like forever, and all I said to him was thank you, over and over again, I said thank you.”



Prose looked up at Rarity, “Well after that day we were inseparable, love at first sight as it were, at first I tried not to let him follow me,” Prose chuckled, “but he would have none of that.” Prose’s ears flattened a little, “I just didn’t want him to get involved, in any way, in the world I had gotten myself into at that point. But for the life of me he would not stay away, I finally relented and allowed him to be my…’street partner’.”



“Did he get involved into any of the stuff you had done?” asked Rarity.



“Oh no, I told him no matter what he was to never touch any of that stuff,” Prose looked up, “and to my drug addled dismayed mind, he did his best to keep me from getting my fix, he told me that he wanted me to clean up,” Prose smiled, “and no matter what I did he always managed to find me, either in a dumpster, or behind some random building.”



Prose frowned some, “The one time he managed to not find me till after I was summarily messed up, he actually braved the horrid house I had managed to get into...” 



Prose paused as a single tear fell, but not of sadness it was more of a tear of happiness. “I was so far gone I couldn’t even stand, he managed to get me, and my quite larger frame, onto his back and he carefully walked me out of that horrid hole of a house and he checked us into some small hotel, he used the little bit of money we had both scraped up from begging.”



Prose smiled warmly this time, “The next day I awoke to find myself in some strange bed, which honestly wasn’t new to me, but when I realized this, I got scared and thought about what Minty would think if he found me like this.”



“I looked over after hearing a very familiar dainty snore come from next to me. What I saw will stick to me this day, Minty was sitting in a chair next to the bed sleeping. Around him I saw a bunch of bits of paper and what looked like a bowl with a wet cloth and water in it. I tried to wake him up but when I attempted to move, it was like my body didn’t want to respond. All I could do was lay back and fall back asleep.”



Prose sighed, “When I awoke again, Minty was nowhere to be found and I got worried, then I heard the door open and looked over to see a mint green, triple ruby cutie marked, flank pushing the door open.” Prose trailed off slightly with a dazed look.


Rarity waved her hoof in front of Prose’s face bringing him out of his daze. 


Prose blushed, “Sorry about that Ms. Rarity, a bit of a daydream.”


Rarity giggled, “It’s ok, I know that look very well dear.”



Prose, blushing still, went on, “Anyway, he hadn’t noticed I was awake yet, he went about making a pot of coffee and microwaving something. I looked over at him and said, ‘Hey what’s cooking good looking?’ Which made him jump almost through the roof, and me chuckle weakly.” 



“He ran over to my bedside asking how I felt and I told him it felt like Discord himself had been beating me about the head. He looked relieve until I asked him how I got here and that was when the look of relief on his face disappeared.”

Prose’s blush had dissipated slightly, “Then for the next fifteen minutes he told me what happened and how worried he had been and how I could even think to go to the awful place he found me at, and how I could have died.” 


Prose’s blushed more, and smiled slyly, “I didn’t let him finish his little tirade before I wrapped him into a deep kiss, he tried to break it but found it was no use. After I felt him calm down I broke the kiss and looked at him, he had a deep blush on his face but was still practically staring daggers into me. I looked into his caring, beautiful violet eyes and said, ‘Even with all that, am I dead?’”

Prose’s smile turned warmer, “He looked at me and told me that no I wasn’t dead, but that was because he had been fretting over me for the last three days.” His smile faltered a bit, “That was when it hit me, I had been out for three days and all I could remember was that I had managed to get a hold of some stuff.”

His smile almost completely faded, “I had made my wonderfully green coated, violet angel eyed beauty worry his hoofs to the bone about me, and for what? Some stupid substance that gave me a short time of happiness?” He practically spat the words out, “I vowed from that day forwards to never let that happen again.”

> Ch. 5 Story time pt.3 or Hey he’s finally done with the depressing st…wait no there’s a bit more.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Prose, I think you’re being passionate again.” Rarity pointed out.



Prose looked down and noticed he was standing up, sheepishly he sat back down and apologized.



“It’s fine darling, I understand the passion, I have to ask though, if you decided to clean yourself up, how come your father managed to find you like he did?” She asked.



Prose smiled a bit, “Well, like I said I vowed to get clean and I did, with Minty’s help I might add. Remember when I said I thought an angel had visited me? Well technically one did. My angels name was Minty Crystal, and he had the most gorgeous violet eyes in the world”



His smile faded again, “The day my father had found, remember I was supposed to be visiting them, and I wasn’t going to be alone, it had been a year or two since I had seen my parents and I figured why not give them a present like Minty. Me and him had planned to surprise them with us.”




Prose frowned, “But a week or so before that, me and Minty had a horrendous fight, because he thought I was using again. He had found some of my old paraphernalia that I meant to throw away and just kept putting off, and he just went off. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise, it was like being back in school when the principal would admonish you for throwing cherry bombs in the toilet.”



Rarity nearly choked on her tea and giggled at his principal comment.



Prose handed Rarity a napkin. “Sorry, I guess I am the only one who did that. Anyway, when he wouldn’t let me explain myself I did the one thing I never thought I would, I looked him dead in the eyes and told him if he didn’t trust me then we were through.”



Prose lowered his head, “Once I had said it, we both just looked at each other. He finally broke the silence telling me fine. He left before I could apologize, that was when I collapsed and realized I had just pushed away the one pony that was willing to help me in my darkest hour. After that it’s not hard to figure out what I went and did.”



Rarity placed her hoof on Prose shoulder.



Sniffling, “I didn’t think I could feel any lower than I did that day, but by Luna’s moon I managed to disprove that. Three days later my father found me and brought me home.” He hissed out “How’s that for a Hearths Warming gift, your strung out son, passed out from a three or four day bender, half dead and barely breathing.” 



Sorrow more so than anger filled his voice, “It took two weeks in a hospital for me to recover from, what the doctors told my parents, a serious suicide attempt.” His ears flattened, “They said I had done three times the lethal dose and that if I hadn’t been brought in when I was, I would have been found the next day dead…” he trailed off.



He regained some composure, “After I got out of the hospital my parents let me stay with them. They told me the only way I would be able to do that is if I told them exactly what happened.” 



Prose frowned, “I told them everything that had happened to me up to that point, and it honestly hurt me to see the looks on their faces. But it honestly felt like a weight had been lifted off of my chest. They both hugged me and told me that I would never have to go through that ever again.”



Rarity smiled warmly, “They didn’t lie did they?”



Prose returned the smile and laughed, “No, no they didn’t, I ended up never messing with drugs ever again. Hay, I haven’t even had any kind of hard cider or alcoholic drink since then. I live with the temptation everyday though, it’s something that never goes away, but I just keep telling myself that I can’t let it control me.”



Rarity then thought about something, “Prose, you said Minty and you broke it off, what happened to him?”



His smile faltered a bit, “Honestly, I don’t know, although my mother told me of a green coated stallion secretly visiting me while I was in the hospital. When she first told me I had been living with them for a year then. My mom had pulled some strings at this club she knew the owner of and I would perform spoken word every Friday night, as well as working the floor as a server.”




“Well that doesn’t sound too bad, but what happened when she told you about the hospital visits though?” she inquired.




Prose put his hoof to his chin, “Well I had just finished a spoken word set, except I actually managed to get somepony to play some music to go along with it, I don’t remember her name, but she was white coated, wearing purple shades, and had a shocking blue mane. I think her stage name was DJ Pon three?”



“That would be Vinyl Scratch dear.” Rarity plainly stated, “She does some of the parties in the area.”



“OH! Yea, that’s right, now I remember.” Exclaimed Prose, “Anyway, I had just gotten home and was telling my mom about the crowd reaction and how this cute, shy stallion approached me afterwards asking if I wanted to go out the next day. Then she told me about how she remembered this green colored stallion visiting me in the hospital.”



Prose did his best exasperated look, “I looked at her like she had grown a second head, and startled her when I grabbed her shoulders asking what the stallions name was.” Returning his face to normal he continued, “She took my hooves off her shoulders and said she was never able to learn it, every time her or dad showed up to check up on me he would leave.”




“So, you think it was him? I mean it had to be, he was the only green stallion that would visit you. I mean why wouldn’t he even say something?” Rarity started getting exasperated herself.



Prose put his hooves up, “Ms. Rarity it’s ok, in fact that’s why I came to Ponyville, well that and to have a change of scenery, I had learned through some snooping of my own that a earth pony stallion of the same description had moved here not too long ago.” Prose chuckled, “I guess the little spy in me never went away fully.” 



Rarity calmed down and put her hoof to her chin daintily and thoughtfully, “Well now that you mention it, I do remember somepony of that description coming into the boutique not too long ago, he had this faraway look in his eyes as he saw the hats I sold,” Rarity thought harder, “In fact the hat you have now is the one he was looking at, well the ones like it at least.”



Prose nervously darted his eyes back and forth trying not to look at Rarity, “You don’t say? Umm well that could be just a..”



Rarity interrupted him, “Where did you procure that hat any if I may ask?”



Prose tried dodging the question, “Why this is such a lovely tea set Ms. Rarity, why if I could afford it I would definitely…..”



Rarity glared at him, “Prose, darling, I know how nice my tea set is I bought it, now where did you get that hat?”



Prose finally looked at Rarity and sighed heavily, “Well you know how I said I did things I wasn’t too proud of? Well I used to also steal to feed me and my habit, and well I had seen you in Baltimare during one of your fashion shows you had done there.”



Rarity still glared at Prose but not as intently as before.



“After the show I had managed to get into the back stage area where all the outfits were, and I….took….a..few things?” He chuckled nervously waiting for her reply.



Rarity merely sighed, “Prose, why in Equestria would you do such a thing, although now that I think about it a few of the accessories did disappear on me, but I just blamed it on them being lost in the madness of the show.”



Prose nervously looked at Rarity, “Umm…if you’d like M-ms. Rarity, I could pay for it now, I am truly sorry for stealing from you, and honestly this was the only thing I kept for myself, but if you’d like I could….”



Rarity stopped him mid way, “Prose, like I said, the past is that past, you did what you had to do to survive, and while that is very sweet of you to want to rectify and apologize for yourself,” Rarity smiled, “don’t worry about it. I have hundreds if not thousands of more accessories now, so it’s not a big deal.”



Prose breathed out, not realizing he had been holding his breath, “Oh thank the princesses. Thank you for forgiving me, honestly I’m low on bits and to pay….” Prose stopped talking when the grip on his shoulder tightened.



“Oh I do forgive you darling, but as payment for the hat, I’m going to need you to do something for me.” Rarity was smiling, but at these words Prose could only think dark thoughts and frown.



“How long are you in Ponyville?” Rarity asked mischievously.



Prose gulped, “Uh…Umm, actually I’m here to stay….I found this adorable little place near the towns library and….” Prose closed his mouth quickly as Rarity’s smile only got wider.



“M-ms. Rarity, you’re hurting my shoulder…. And scaring me?” Prose managed to say.



Rarity released her grip on his shoulder, “Sorry, about that darling, but since you’re here to stay, I’ll wait to tell you how you can repay me, until then I want to give you a nice welcoming gift.” Prose gulped again, but Rarity merely giggled “Oh it’s nothing bad dear, I saw the abysmal state your hat is in and decided that as my gift to you, choose any hat you’d like from my selection.”



His jaw nearly unhinged itself, “wait I can choose from any of your hats? This isn’t…I can’t…” With nothing else to say Prose leaped up and embraced Rarity in a tight hug, finally finding his voice, “OH THNK YOU MS. RARITY!”




Rarity stroked Prose’s mane, “Think nothing of it dear, now if you would be so kind, I kind of need my ribs to stay unbroken.”



Prose let go as suddenly as he had hugged her and blushed, “Sorry about that, now umm, not to sound too much like a giddy school filly, can I see your hate selection?” Prose said this while lightly clapping his hooves together.



“Of course! Now I only have some of my lines here, most are in Manehattan for one of my shows I’ll be doing in a month, but you can choose from what’s left.” Rarity got up and motioned for Prose to follow, Prose tried to contain his giddiness and followed.



Prose’s mouth hung slightly agape, and his eyes wide, “Ms. Rarity, these are all so adorable and pretty, and cute, and SQUEEE!” Prose put his hoof over his mouth, blushing.



Rarity giggled at his school filly like excitement, “It’s ok dear, a lot of ponies reaction are exactly that, although I don’t think I’ve ever heard a stallion make that noise, it’s mostly mares.”



Prose removed his hoof, “Uh yea, I get that a lot, it’s just, oh my gosh, there’s so many to choose from!” Prose looked up and down the shelves finally settling his eyes on a mint green mares style schoolboy hat. “This is the one! It goes so well with my coat and eyes and OH! I JUST LOVE IT!” gushed Prose.



Rarity smiled, “Excellent choice,” Rarity happened to look at the clock and noticed what time it was, “Oh dear is it that late!?”



Prose looked away from the mirror he was using to see how he looked in his new gift and looked at the clock as well, it had been three hours since he had been there, “OH MY GOSH! I didn’t realize I had been here that long! I am so sorry for taking up this much of your time Ms. Rarity.”



Rarity waved him off, “Darling I got to hear a lovely story from you and meeting you has certainly been an eye opener of sorts, now if you need me any time for anything don’t hesitate to stop by. I’m always open for friends.”



Prose went to bow his head but thought better of it and hugged Rarity, “Ms. Rarity, you have no idea how good I feel right now, I feel like an immense weight has been removed, and you giving me this hat is just…just..” Prose felt a tear try and slip down as he broke the hug.
Rarity wiped it away. “Prose, you are a very special pony, and don’t let anyone take that away from you. Now if you go out to the town square and ask around you might be able to find your green coated, violet eyed angel.”



And with one last thank you and a quick wave, Prose set off out the doors of the boutique, hoping upon everything that he could find Minty and maybe just maybe try and fix what was broken. Rarity watched after Prose waving, thinking to herself, ‘I hope one day I find myself head over hooves in love like him.’ And with this last though she started humming a cheerful tune to herself and went back inside.

> Ch. 6: Old Friends and New Faces or HEY I REMEMBER YOU!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ch. 6: Old Friends and New Faces or HEY I REMEMBER YOU!




Prose, strode along happily into the town square hoping upon hope that somepony here had either met or knew of Mint Crystal. His mind was also on the new hat Ms. Rarity had given him as a welcoming gift of sorts, and then his mind started going to dark places as he remembered that she said she had another way for him to repay her for the stolen clothing articles. 



‘I can only imagine what she has thought up for me, I mean it can’t be all bad right?’ Prose shuddered actively at some of the ideas he came up with, but he decided he’d worry about it when it happened. He started humming a jaunty little tune to himself with eyes closed and not a care in the world now, that is until something slammed into him and knocked him ten feet backwards rolling the whole way. When he tried to get up and assess the damage he noticed he couldn’t move. He opened his eyes to a, not unpleasant looking he had to admit, grey bubble covered flank sitting on his chest.



“Umm…excuse me,” he said as he poked the offending flank.



A startled squeak was the response he got and then the sight he beheld was strange indeed. He looked up and saw a set of golden eyes, mind you the one looked like it wasn’t even looking at him, but once they focused on him the body they were attached to leapt off him and helped him up.




An exasperated response came, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t see you there and I just…”



Prose held his hoof up after dusting himself off, “It’s fine, no need to worry nothing is br..o..ken?”



When prose finally focused on who he was talking to it clicked, the lazy eye, the bubble cutie mark, the grey coat, ‘No way! It couldn’t be her!’ he thought rapidly.



Ditzy sat darting her head between him and the ground, “Umm, are you ok sir? I didn’t mean to run into you, I just can’t see straight because of my eyes and…” She trailed off as she finally got a good look at who she ran into, “Prose?” was the only question she could ask.



“DITZY DOO!” Prose shouted his hooves in the air, “I can’t believe it! It is you!” Prose pulled Ditzy into a hug.



Ditzy returned the hug, “OH MY GOSH PROSE! It’s been so long! Too long honestly, how have you been, I haven’t seen you since high school.”



Prose broke the hug, and just looked Ditzy up and down, “My gosh, Ditzy, you certainly have grown into a quite beautiful mare, if I do say so myself, and I do!” This caused a blush to creep into Ditzy’s cheeks, Prose chuckled, “I’ve been doing better in the last few years, but what about you, after we graduated I haven’t heard hide nor hoof of you. Have you been taking care of yourself?”



“Oh you know,” Ditzy said rubbing her neck chuckling, “I’ve been doing good for myself, I mean it’s nothing you have to worry about. I’ve been living here in Ponyville with….”



“MOMMA WHERE’D YOU GO!” A little filly interrupted her catching up.



“MUFFIN! I’M OVER HERE!” Ditzy shouted waving her hoof.



“Momma?” Prose asked an eyebrow raised.



“There you are momma! Don’t do that to me, I was scared to death when I couldn’t find you, I knew you were a good hide and seeker, but…” Dinky trailed off as she saw her momma with a green and purple stallion. She walked to Ditzy, being extra careful to stay next to her.

“It’s ok my little muffin,” Ditzy sweetly said, patting Dinky lightly on her head, “This is just one of momma’s old friends from back when she went to school. Say hi Dinky.”


Dinky shyly waved at Prose and went back to hiding next to Ditzy.


Prose bent down to be face to face with the little filly, smiling he said “Hey there sweetheart, My names Burning Prose, but you can just call me Prose, me and your momma have known each other for a long time now, even longer than you’ve known her.”



Dinky’s eyes lit up slightly, “Really!? You’ve known momma longer than I have?” she excitedly asked.



Prose nodded still smiling, “That's right Dinky! We’ve been friends since we were your age. In fact your mom was the first filly to be my friend. We used to have all kinds of adventures back then.”



“WOW!” Dinky said, eyes wide, “Mr. Prose, you must be really old then!”


While Dinky didn’t mean anything by her comment, Prose’s smile still faltered slightly, “Yea….old.”



Ditzy giggled still patting Dinky’s head lightly, “Now muffin it’s not nice to say that, why don’t you go along and play while I talk to Mr. Prose here and catch up huh?”



“Ok momma! I’m going over to the playground to swing.” She looked at Ditzy and hugged her foreleg, “I love you momma!”



Ditzy lightly hugged her back, “I love you too my little muffin.”



Dinky turned around to run back to the playground when she stopped and turned back to Prose and surprised him with a hug, “Bye Mr. Prose, it was nice meeting you!”



Prose returned the hug then let go and said, “It was nice meeting you too sweety.”



With that Dinky smiled and ran off, Prose looked on and smiled warmly thinking, ‘Is this what it’s like to have one of your own? Because if it is, I wouldn’t really mind it at all.’ Prose broke his thoughts and looked back at Ditzy.


“So, ‘momma’ huh?” He asked with a slight mischievous grin.


Ditzy blushed, “Yes, I had her after we graduated. She’s my little muffin and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”



Prose’s grin didn’t leave and he raised his eyebrow in question, “So? Who’s the lucky stallion huh?” Prose lost his grin when he saw the smile fade from Ditzy’s muzzle. “Ditzy are you ok? I didn’t mean to hit a nerve or anything.” He asked looking concerned.



Ditzy waved her hoof, “No, no, it’s just, how about we go sit down on one of the benches that way I can at least keep an eye on her.”



Prose nodded, “That’s fine, I mean you don’t want her getting lost or anything.” Prose and Ditzy walked over to the nearest bench sitting down.



They both sat there for a bit watching Dinky playing on the swings, steadily laughing and yelling as she went a little higher. Prose finally broke the silence by placing his hoof on hers.



He looked at her at the same time she looked over, “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to you know, we can just sit here and keep an eye on Dinky. Maybe even talk about some of the good times we’ve had. Is that ok, golden swirls?”



Ditzy smiled at the use of their childhood nickname, and focused both of her eyes to look at Prose as she said, “That would be lovely Prose.”



Prose smiled himself, “There’s that smile I love seeing.” he said still looking at her.



“But, I need to tell somepony and why not let it be you.” Ditzy said, her smile fading a little. She breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly, glancing back over towards Dinky.



Prose noticed the slight pause and said, “It’s ok sweetheart, whatever happened I won’t judge or look at you any differently, believe me I have some problems of my own.”



Ditzy looked back towards Prose and began telling him about the Unicorn stallion she had met after graduating, while Prose listened intently. She told him of how she had met him at this party she had been invited to and how sweet he had been the whole night. She even mentioned, while blushing, how she had gotten a little more drunk then she meant to and one thing lead to another and her and him had made out.



Prose raised his eyebrow remembering some of his, uh, let’s just call them rendezvous, and asked, “Is that all that happened that night?”



Ditzy’s blush deepened a bit more, “Oh yes, I may have been tipsy but not that tipsy!” She giggled, “If anything he was too much of a gentlypony to do anything more, in fact he ended up being the one to give me a ride home that night, and when we got to my door I kissed him while giving him my number telling him to call me sometime. After that he drove off, with me waving after him.”



Prose smiled then laughed, “Well that certainly sounds better than some of my hookups.”



Ditzy giggled again, “Yes, well we had started dating for a bit and well one day we both decided to go a little further and…” She rubbed the back of her neck, “You know how it is, and then a month later I found out I was pregnant with Dinky.” She smiled at the memory.



Prose asked, “Well what happened to him? Did run off on you when he found out you were with foal?” Prose’s blood started boiling a bit at the thought of some stallion knocking up Ditzy and then running off.


Ditzy waved her hooves lightly in front of her, “OH NO! Nothing like that, he was actually very gung ho about being a father, he wouldn’t stop talking about all the things he wanted to do when I finally had it.” She smiled warmly, “We didn’t know if it was going to be a filly or a colt at that time so he was planning for either eventuality.”



Prose lightened his face, “Well that’s good, at least he was willing to stick with you. But I noticed he’s not here now….did something happen?” he asked.




Ditzy frowned, “Well about a year after having her, he had gotten real sick.” 



Prose noticed a tear at the corner of Ditzy’s eye and wiped it away, he lifted her face to meet his, “Hey now, I did enough crying earlier to count for the both of us. Always remember the good times you had, not the bad ones ok?”



Ditzy nodded and sniffed, “Well he was only given 6 months to live when we found out, but he managed to last a whole year, before his illness finally took him from us.” She sniffed again but managed to smile, “He may be gone now, but he left me my little muffin.” She said looking over towards Dinky. “And he left me some great memories.” 



She sniffled once more and wiped her face looking back to Prose. “Enough of me and my crying self, what made you cry so much earlier to count for the both of us huh?” she asked.



Prose looked down, but then looked back up into Ditzy’s eyes. ‘Well I’ve told Rarity it wouldn’t hurt to at least tell an old friend what happened.’ He thought to himself.



Steeling himself, Prose told the bullet points version of what he told Rarity, the whole time looking at Ditzy. When he finished he sighed heavily and looked down, when a hoof was placed on his shoulder. Prose looked up to his old friend and saw a warm smile on her face.



“Prose I have no idea the kind of torture that was, but in all honesty, the fact that you’re here alive and well proves that just because bad things happen doesn’t mean you need to let them get you down so far.” Ditzy said as she hugged Prose.



They broke the hug, “Thank you sweetheart, that means an awful lot to me.” Prose said reassuringly. “I do have a quick question though seeing as I have your attention, have you seen a stallion that matches the description of the one I told you about?” he asked hopeful.



Ditzy thought it over before saying, “I think I have seen somepony like that once or twice on my mail route.” She looked to Prose, “I’ll tell you what, I’ll keep my eyes open for him, if I see him I’ll let you know as quickly as I can ok?” she asked.



Prose sighed, “I guess that’s all I can ask for isn’t it?” Prose stood up and looked at Ditzy smiling, “It was great seeing you again Ditzy,” Prose hugged her as he said, “Make sure to take care of that little muffin of yours, I might have to come visit you guys sometime if you’d like?”



Ditzy hugged Prose back, “That would be great Prose,” she broke the hug and looked Prose in the eyes, “You take care of yourself ok? I don’t want to hear of anything else bad happening to my favorite ruby eyed pony, and I hope you find this Mint Crystal, he sounds like a nice stallion.”



“He certainly is,” Prose smiled, “tell Dinky I said to behave for her momma.” Prose said as he walked away.



Ditzy called out giggling, “Oh don’t worry I’ll tell her.”




Prose continued his way to the town square, his mood lightened a bit more, he smiled. Then he frowned slightly as his stomach grumbled loudly, making him blush at the same time. It had been a while since he ate, Prose started looking for a nice place to eat and came upon Sugarcube Corner.



“Hmm?” Prose thought out loud, and then to himself, ‘Isn’t this where Ms. Pinkie said she had to go?’ Prose’s stomach growled angrily and he just shrugged, “Seems as good a place as any, I wonder what kind of good eats they have here?” He said out loud and walked in.




“HI WELCOME TO…” Pinkie began until she noticed who had just walked in. She immediately abandoned the counter and rushed over to Prose, “OH MY GOSH! It’s you, the poety pony I met earlier today! How was Rarity’s place? HUH? HUH?” she asked giddily and without taking a single breath.



Prose backed up from the blur of pink that had invaded his main line of sight, “Hi Ms. Pinkie, I had a great time talking to Ms. Rarity, and look!” Prose pointed to his stylish new hat, “Ms. Rarity gave me a welcome gift, doesn’t it look so pretty!?” he asked with a wide smile.



Pinkie kind of cocked her head to the side looking at the hat. “Isn’t that a girls hat though? I mean if you want to wear it that’s fine and all, but seriously, why not wear a ball cap, LE GASP!” Pinkie got an excited smile, “I should wear a ball cap! That would be so awesome, it could be pink and….”




Prose had put his hoof to her mouth to stop her from continuing, after making sure she wouldn’t speak anymore, “Sorry about that, but yes it is a girls hat but I happen to find it very fashionable, and so does Ms. Rarity. Now before we continue this..” Prose swirled his hoof around, “fast paced conversation I…” His stomach interrupted with an angry growl and caused Prose to blush.



“OH I get it, well what would you like, we have…” Pinkie began listing off, with more speed than thought possible, a lot of the different sweet confectionaries that the shop had.



Prose stopped his head spinning from the rapid fire list, and said “Ms. Pinkie I think I will take a strawberry rhubarb muffin and a half dozen Prench Toast bagels.” 



Prose’s mouth began to water at the thought of wolfing down the bagels when his thoughts were interrupted with another pink blur in his field of vision. When he finally looked down in front of him he had all of what he ordered in his hooves and had no idea as to how it had got there. He saw Pinkie sitting there in front of him with her trademarked smile plastered on her muzzle, and all he could think was ‘Oh well, that’s Pinkie.’



Prose went to grab his coin bag when Pinkie put her hoof up.



“Prose this first order is on me, think of it as part of your “WELCOME TO PONYVILLE” party I’m planning for tonight, which by the way is at seven, now go and explore the town. You still have about three hours until everything is ready and I haven’t even loaded the party cannon with the right load out, I mean even somepony like me needs to make sure nopony gets a full blast to the muzzle, have to make sure what happened at the last party doesn’t happen again! NOW GO ON SILLY FILLY YOU HAVE MORE ADVENTURING TO DO!”



Before Prose knew it he was shoved out the door to the street, Prose looked back and chuckled thinking about the party Pinkie was going on about and then his heart felt like it fell into his stomach, ‘A party….FOR ME!?’ was his main thought as he walked away.




Prose sat there on the bench he called his table, patting his content and full belly, which responded with a low growl as if to say thanks. He chuckled to himself, “Man who knew that old saying was true, a way to a stallions heart really is his stomach.” He said this to nopony in particular and stood up to throw away his trash.



After throwing away his trash, Prose stopped, his ears perked up to a strange sound. It sounded like a couple of screaming fillies but he couldn’t place where it was coming from. The park was near so Prose thought nothing of the sound as he started walking again until he heard it again this time a little closer, moving his ears every which way to determine where it was coming from. ‘Oh well,’ he thought shrugging.



Unbeknownst to Prose a little orange blur and her friends were, speedily, making their way towards him. Prose noticed the sound way closer and before he could react was crashed into and knocked to the ground.



“Did anypony get the cutie mark of the one who hit me.” He said groggily. 



When he looked up he noticed three things; one, he wasn’t run over by a pony, well not technically; two, what he was run over by was bright red and had wheels. Three, and most importantly, he noticed three fillies and a colt piled up on top of him and groaning as well.



“Umm…excuse me kids?” All of them turned suddenly to look at Prose, “Do you think you could get your wagon off me, it’s starting to dig into my left leg something fierce.”



All four of the kids jumped up quickly, blushing and muttering something about their crusading getting them in more trouble, and moved their wagon and what looked like a scooter off of him. Prose stood up and looked down at the four young ones standing in front of him and he couldn’t help but smile a bit.



“We’re awfully sorry sir, we couldn’t see where we were going and we managed to get more speed than I thought we would.” Said the little orange one, looking down.



Prose, smiling said, “Think nothing of it, just be glad nopony got seriously injured. Now, what in the name of Luna’s moon were you four doing?”




The red maned light golden colored one spoke up, “Well, ah was just trying to get Scootaloo here,” she pointed to the first one I talked to, “to get us to the park a little faster so we can go crusadin’ quicker.” she said apologetically.



“I told you it was a bad idea! But no you have to get to crusading as fast as ponily possible.” Squeaked out the little colt shooting a slight glare towards the other three.



“We didn’t think Scootaloo would try and kill us getting there Pip.” Shot back the purple and pink maned, white coated filly.



Prose put his hooves up before an argument could start, prompting all four of them to lower their heads again and go silent.



“Now, as I see it,” stated Prose, “You guys weren’t trying to intentionally hurt anypony so that’s good. Before we go any further with the ‘this one said that, and that one did this’ what is all of your names?”



The orange coated one said, “I’m Scootaloo, sir”

“I’m Sweety Belle, sir” said the white coated filly.

Ah’m Apple Bloom, sir.” Said the light gold colored one.

“And I’m Pipsqueek, sir.” Said the pinto colored little colt.


Prose smiled and lowered down to be face to face with the group, “That’s all well and good, but please you don’t need to say ‘sir’, my name is Burning Prose, but you guys can call me Prose.” He smiled and stuck out his hoof waiting for a reply.
All four of them looked at each other first and then back at Prose not wanting to move at first. Scootaloo was the first to hoofbump him and as soon as they saw Prose smile a little wider they all took turns hoofbumping him. With the introductions out of the way Prose asked them the question he had wanted to ask since he heard the word ‘crusading’.



“So, what’s this about crusading, and what are you guys crusading for?” he asked raising his eyebrow slightly.



The three fillies eyes seemed to brighten at the question, while the little colt sighed heavily, before they all said at once, “We’re crusading for cutie marks!”



This made Prose chuckle and Scootaloo shot him a small glare, “What’s so funny? Cutie marks are what make a pony a…well a pony!”



“Yea, we’ve been tryin’ to get ours for a while now, this ain’t no laughing matter mister.” Huffed Apple Bloom while puffing her cheeks out.



Prose chuckled again saying, “No, no don’t misunderstand me little ones, I was just remembering my crusading days. Trying my hardest to get whatever my cutie mark would be.” Prose smiled at his foalhood memories.



Scootaloo’s glare turned into a confused look, “You used to crusade to? But it’s had to have been years, I mean your old!” she exclaimed with her hooves in the air.



His smile faltered ever so slightly that they didn’t notice it. “Now, now, I may seem old to you, but it wasn’t all that long ago I was out spying on other ponies, or trying to get a cutie mark for being a ninja.” The little foals ears perked up. 



“Heh, I remember this one time I tried getting my urban explorer cutie mark and got lost only two blocks from my house!” Prose laughed at the memory.


“That’s all well and good Mr. Prose,” said Sweety Belle, her head lowering as she continued, “but we’ve tried all of that stuff.”


“Yea, ah’ve even tried catapult buildin’ and didn’t get my cutie mark.” Apple Bloom said sadly.



Scootaloo lowered her head as well, “I feel like we’re never gonna get our cutie marks.”


Pip squeaked up, “I’ve only just started crusading and I’ve failed as well.”



Prose stood up fully and looked down at the four in front of him when a thought came to him.



Lowering his head, “You guys want to know a secret about cutie marks?”



All four of them at the same time, “YES!”



Prose smiled, “Well the secret is…” He looked around for dramatic effect making the four foals lean in closer. He whispered, “There is no secret!”



He looked at all four faces of confusion before chuckling.



“That’s it?” Scootaloo asked.



“That’s it.” Prose said smiling.



All four of foals frowned at his answer. They were hoping for some big reveal on how to get their cutie marks and Prose told them there wasn’t anything big about.


Prose chuckled at them, “Let me explain,” He lowered his head so he was face to face with them,  “you see it doesn’t matter if you don’t have your cutie marks yet. Just have fun, go crusading, maybe you’ll get your cutie mark while doing it. But don’t try too hard, you do that and you won’t have as much fun.”



Sweety Belle spoke up first, “But what if we never get them? I don’t want to be called a blank flank for the rest of my life!” she raised her voice slightly saying this.



“Calm down,” Prose said reassuringly, “You guys want to know another secret? This time about me?” He asked them.



All four present lifted their heads.



“I was a blank flank till I was in high school.” He answered.



All four of them stared at him disbelievingly when Pip spoke up.



“There’s no way! How did you deal with all of the bullying and name calling then?” Pip inquired.



Prose thought for a second, ‘Well I’m not telling them my way of doing it, hmm?’ 



He answered, “By ignoring them and being safe in the knowledge that one day you’ll get your cutie mark.” He noticed the four of them looking at him with their head cocked to the side. 


”I know that doesn’t sound like much, but if you just keep thinking to yourself, ‘Man maybe today it will happen, but if it doesn’t then I haven’t failed.’ Then nopony can make fun of you, you’ve taken all of their ammunition from them.” He finished.



Scootaloo spoke first, “I think I get what you’re saying but what if we don’t ever get them?” she asked.



“Well you can’t think like that, I got mine after I made somepony happy after I noticed they had a bad day. It doesn’t always work out that way, but no matter what happens you just have to keep telling yourself that everything will work out.” He replied.



They all four still had quizzical looks on their faces, which made Prose sigh some.



“How about I tell you using my special talent?” he asked.



They all nodded in agreement and stood there waiting.



Prose took a deep breath and said,



“Though we try and try and nothing comes to fruition at first
We relish at the thought of trying again and again to quench that thirst
And though nothing happens still, we keep trying, with the knowledge that one day
Our trials and errors will get us to that edge, that cusp where victory lay.”



Prose lowered his hoof realizing he had raised it as he spoke, and looked down at the group.



Scootaloo closed her mouth after finding it open, then opened it again to say, “Wow, that was amazing! I think I see what you’re saying now!” She turned to the rest and yelled out, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS LET’S GET TO CRUSADING!”




All four of them excitedly got into their respective vehicles and as they started making their way away, Scootaloo turned her head to face Prose, “Mr. Prose, thank you for the words of encouragement.” She waved and turned her head forward as she started pushing with all her might.



Prose waved back, “It’s no problem at all kids, and remember let nopony tell you that you can’t do something, but at the same time please do be careful.” He called out.



As Prose watched the group make their way, quite speedily and somewhat dangerously, away he smiled and continued waving until he couldn’t see them.




He thought to himself while smiling, ‘Well that went good, I helped a group of little foals get their spirits up and I had some delicious bagels.’ 



He continued his way around the center of town taking in all of the simple buildings and shops. Finally looking at a clock he noticed he still had  two hours to kill before Pinkie Welcome to Ponyville party. He decided to go to the house he would call his own. ‘Thank Celestia it’s next to the town library….wait.’ Prose interrupted his own thoughts with a question mostly to himself, “Where is the town library?” he said out loud.