//------------------------------// // The Pinkie Party // Story: The Equestrian Honor Guard // by Honored Service //------------------------------// The Equestrian Honor Guard Chapter 13 By Honored Service I marched up the zebra’s hut and knocked on the old wooden door. “Zecora, it’s me again.” I waited for the all clear that I could enter. Still had some type of manners. “We have been over this again and again; you are quite welcome in this domain.” Zecora spoke as the door open inward into her familiar home. Although there was a lot of black residue that seemed to cover almost every surface of her home something that certainly hadn’t been here yesterday when I left. “What happened here?” I stared in shock at the mess that had once been an organized home. Seriously it was bad. “Applebloom tried to make her first healing potion, but it seemed to have a different notion.” The zebra hung her head and mumbled, “It is not an easy fix, as the solution has a trick. It is hard to clean, something so sinister and mean.” Ah Applebloom had created a paint bomb by accident. “Well Zecora you wouldn’t be too busy to attend a party with me? I woke up this morning to find a bright pink cupcake with a note attached to it.” I pulled out the note from my breast pocket and handed it to her. “How am I not surprised, that she wrote this Pinkie Pie.” She smiled and nodded turning away from the mess behind her. “I believe I have earned a break, something from this to escape.” Zecora moved over to a sink in the other room and began to scrub off the black mess that was all over her hooves. I looked at the invention again. How had Pinkie Pie known where I was staying? Zecora wouldn’t have told her; I don’t think. Maybe Pinkie Pie really is like the show. Super crazy and spontaneous, I’m ok with this. I waited patiently for Zecora to finish. I didn’t want to make her walk through the forest alone. But having some company wouldn’t hurt. I heard the sink turn off and the Zecora came back out looking all cleaned up and ready to go. “All set?” I moved towards the door ready to embark on what would certainly be a night to remember. At least for good things I hope. Not getting chased out of town by an angry mob of ponies. That would kind of be the opposite of what im trying to establish here. “Yes I am ready to depart, let’s go see this party of art!” Zecora followed behind me out of the hut. I realized I had no idea how to get to Ponyville from her hut. I could from by camp, but I was unsure here. But I mean it was a straight path cut through the forest; it couldn’t be that hard to navigate; could it? Somehow we managed to reach the edge of the forest without getting lost. And I didn’t trip once. Perhaps me saving the ponies had given me so much good karma that it had affected my luck and would make me not trip or fall every few minutes. “Which way to Sugar Cube Corner, Zecora?” No, I wasn’t playing stupid; the TV show never gave street by street instruction on how to reach the many different buildings that were all over Ponyville. I would like to think I had a general ide on how to navigate this town, but that would be a lie. “We turn here and continue straight, and we won’t be late.” We turned down the main road in Ponyville and dead ahead was the house made of candy. It looked quite delicious. I wonder if it was really made of candy… I’ll find out soon enough. I looked at my watch 5:50 pm. “Is it always this deserted at this early at night?” I was trying to hang on to the idea that I would be accepted with open arms…hooves. “No, usually it is quite busy, but we might have sent them into a tizzy.” Good point. Zecora had been feared for a while and I was a 6 foot tall creature that was different from anything the ponies had seen. We may have cleared the town out without intention. “Here we are guest, let’s hope this works out for the best.” And with that she stepped aside leaving me to open the door. Gulp. “Yup, lets get this over with.” I pulled on the door. Nothing happened. I pulled again. It refused to budge. “What the…?” “I do believe you push in, I won’t speak of this again.” Zecora snickered as I pushed the door open. It swung open allowing us entry into the dark room. “Um, Hello? Anyone here?” “SURPRISE!!!” A pink pony shouted from right next to me. I jumped at least 3 feet into the air where I then had a heart attack. I know I should have been expecting it, but come on, it didn’t say anything about a surprise party on the damn invitation. “Oh im sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, just surprise you. So you must be the creature, what did Twilight say; Hu-mon, that saved Applebloom, Scootalo, Sweetie Bell, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Chowder, Twist, Feather Weight, Snips, Snails, -mhmphmphmmhmmhmmh. The pink ball of energy was silenced as an orange hoof planted itself in her mouth. “Sorry ‘bout that pardner. Pinkie Pie here just gets so excited when meeting new ponies…I mean things… I mean humans; she kinda’ just forgets when to breath.” I almost died right there. My favorite pony in the show was talking to me. Applejack. So much cuteness was in this room. With the lights on I could see the party in all its glory. The mane 6 were all present and standing closest to me while a lot of the commonly known background ponies stood father back. They all were eying me with curiosity and interest. Maybe a few looks of fear here and there. “Hello everyone, I mean Everypony. My name is Johnson and I am a Human.” Okay so now that the ice is broken, what do? Immediately the questions came. It was like an avalanche of questions landing all over me. It was very overwhelming. “Where are you from.” “Are you a Human from legend?” “Did you really stop 4 Timber Wolves?” “What are you wearing?” “What did y’all do with that boom thing from earlier?” Ok I could answer everything like this. I was slowly backing up towards the door. I thought the ponies would have been more startled by me; not showering me with questions. I was about to make a break for it when a calm voice spoke up over the crowd. “Okay everypony, let Johnson have his space. I’m sure it would be better to give him the spotlight and he can tell us what he wants.” I followed the voice to her. The tall, regal leader of the land I now inhabited. Princess Celestia herself moved through the crowd of ponies; still she stood in front of me. She stood at 7 feet tall, dwarfing me. She was intimidating, yet at the same time she carried this motherly grace that made you feel safe. She smiled and nodded towards a spot in the back of the room that had stool already prepared. This was more like it. I liked being at the center of attention, but only when I had everyone’s focus. I majored in theater for 7 years. (The middle and high school I went to required you to have a major. Mine was theater- that is why Rarity is my tied favorite pony, but I digress) I walked over to the stool and sat down. I took a breath and looked at all the faces of the ponies that were eager to hear of my tale up until now. Well better not keep them waiting; hopefully I can answer a lot of their question this way. Sure is better than being stormed with questions. “My name is Johnson as most of you know, and everything started a week ago back on my home planet Earth…” ********************************************************************************************************************************************* “And once the last Timber Wolf fell, I left so I wouldn’t scare the foals any more than they already were.” It was silent for a moment after I finished the story explaining everything from the very beginning of time in Equestria. I hoped I had answered everything well enough to satisfy everypony. A purple coated unicorn raised a hoof into the air. Twilight Sparkle, how did I know she would have question that I would have to answer. “Yes, purple unicorn?” “Hi, my name is Twilight Sparkle and my question is, how did you know what posion joke was if you have never been here before?” Oh shit. Error 404. Brain doesn’t know how to answer. This is the worst case scenario right now. I can’t answer this without ruining some possible friendships. “I…um…well” “Johnson, if is alright with you, I believe I can answer this one.” Celestia rose from the pillow she had been seated on since the beginning of my story and made her way next to me in front of the room. “Sure Princess,” I leaned in and whispered into her ear, “What are you talking about?” She just gave a light chuckle and patted my back with a large wing. I took that as my cue to exit the stage. I sat down in between Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. Both of whom stared at me and then back the Princes. Princes Celestia coughed and cleared her throat. “Some of us here have heard of the ancient legends of Humans that used to live south of us.” A few ponies mumbled agreement around me. “These legends are very true. The Human race used to live here on this Earth. But something terrible occurred. The entire race was destroyed in a war against a plague that we know as the Nightmare.” The Nightmare, of course. The journal from StrongSheild had said that it took over emotions, mainly anger and jealously. How could I have not made the connection? But Nightmare Moon had happened. The Humans before me had failed. “The early Humans did everything they could to protect the world from this plague that called itself the Nightmare. The same one that affected my dear sister Luna. For this sacrifice the Humans made I felt that I had to repay them somehow. So I thought of spreading the ideas that we have here on this Earth to the other Earth were the new Humans live.” Many ponies were quietly talking to one another. Right now, my brain felt like it was about to explode. Princess Celestia had sent My Little Pony to Earth to try and teach about love and friendship? And if Luna had be affected by the Nightmare, than the original Humans had failed. “Now Johnson here knows a lot more about us then he is letting on. He knows all about the Elements of Harmony, Nightmare Moon, Discord and some aspects of everyday life in Equestria. Isn’t that correct Human?” She gave me a comforting smile and stepped to the side, giving me room to stand back up in the front of the crowd of pastel ponies. I looked at the sea of eyes that followed my every movement. “That is right Princess Celestia. I know all of you to some degree. Twilight Sparkle the Element of Magic, Rainbow Dash the Element of Loyalty, Applejack the Element of Honesty, Rarity the Element of Generosity, Pinkie Pie the Element of Laughter, Fluttershy the Element of kindness, You all saved the day multiple times. And I know a lot of things. Winter Wrap Up, Pegasus weather patrol. Rainbow Dash, you want to be in the Wonderbolts. Rarity you had a huge crush on Prince Blueblood that failed horribly. I could go on, but I think that this is sufficient to prove Princess Celestia point.” It was deathly quiet. You could hear a pin drop in the room. Applejack broke the silence. “Well he ain’t lyin’ that’s for sure. He really does know all about us.” Pinkie Pie jumped up and rushed up to me. “Don’t you guys get it? It’s like we have had a new friend all along! Now we have this Hu-mon as a friend! Oh this is going to be so exciting new hu-mon friend. We are going to make cupcakes, and play games, and sing lots of songs, and-mphmpmhphhmh” Rainbow Dash quieted the rambling party pony with a hoof and spoke, “What she is trying to say, is that if you stay cool, you are more than welcome to stay here with us. But I got my eye on you bub.” With that she hovered over towards the snack table. Everything began to calm down. Thanks to Princess Celestia’s small speech it seemed that I would be accepted in Equestria even though I knew a lot about everypony. I began making my way to the snack table when I felt a tug on my pant leg. I looked down to see the CMC all standing around me. I believe I may have contracted type two dibetus from the sweetness these 3 are. “Ah hung onto you metal thing for ya’ like you asked Johnson.” Applebloom held up the metal dog tag for me. I lifted it from her hoof and attached back onto the other one hanging from my neck. “What does it say mister?” Sweetie Bell asked in a polite quiet voice. She was very sweet, true to her name. “Well it has my full name on it. Johnson, Ta-“ I was interrupted as Pinkie Pie let lose a wild scream and began to play music from a speaker system. Everypony began to dance and jump around. I was alright at dancing, but I wanted to get some fresh air for now. I made my way outside where I sat down on the steps and looked up to the sky. Thousands of starts twinkled in the night. I did wonder where Luna was. I hope this wasn’t like season two where we only saw here for like 23 minutes. “Howdy there Johnson” I recognized that drawl anywhere. “I hope we are not interrupting anything.” I knew that refined voice anywhere too. Applejack and Rarity trotted up behind me and joined me on the steps in front of Sugar Cube Corner. “I would just like to extend my personal thanks for what you did yesterday out there near the Everfree forest. If you hadn’t been there…I just don’t know what would have happened to my little sister Sweetie Bell.” Rarity bowed her head. “Ah wanted to also say thanks. Me and Macintosh and Granny Smith owe ya’ a lot for what y’all did. Ya’ put yourself in danger to protect ponies that couldn’t defend themselves. Me and the family talked it over, and we figured if ya’ don’t have a home, y’all are welcome to stay in the guest room at Sweet Apple Acers.” Applejack removed her hat and held it in front of her. “And I would be happy to fix that sleeve and maybe make you a new ensemble to wear around.” Rarity perked up at the thought to design new clothing for another species. “Well gosh Applejack and Rarity. I don’t know what to say. Thank you. Applejack I would love to stay in your home. But it probably won’t be till tomorrow. I have some things I need to collect form my camp in the Everfree. And Miss Rarity I would be honored to wear something designed by you, just maybe not covered in sparkly things. Remember the poison joke.” They both agreed to my requests. Applejack would see me tomorrow afternoon and help me get moved into the new room, and Rarity would see me the day after to design a new outfit more suiting of Equestrian life. I already had an idea in mind. Can you say Combat Ranger? I wouldn’t have her make the helmet, but the brown duster was a must. And the extra layer would add some protection to my body. It would also cover my pistol and knife well. And it just looks freaking badass. And I was all about badass. I looked back into the night sky. Sure things hadn’t gone exactly to plan, but then again I was in a magical world of talking ponies that wasn’t supposed to be real, but it was. And My Little Pony had been plated on Earth by Princess Celestia as a way to repay the original humans that had lived on this Earth. I stood back up and headed back into the party, I was dying to score some more of those cupcakes. As I ate my 6th cupcake in a row, Princess Celestia handed me a rolled up scroll. “Read this when you are alone. And Think about it carefully Johnson. This is very important.” She smiled and walked out the door and onto a chariot being pulled by a team of Canterlot Guards. I put the scroll in my pocket. Still have one mystery to solve about the original humans, and now a mystery scroll given to me by the Princess herself. Awesome, I have some missions to complete. The current one; eating this 7th cupcake.