//------------------------------// // 1 - Just An Average Day? // Story: The Shameful First Person Sequel // by sbloom85 //------------------------------// It had been about eight months since Rose Petal and I got married. We had our wedding in Canterlot and our honeymoon in the Crystal Empire. Four months after that, we moved to Ponyville. Most of the time between the honeymoon and moving was spent looking for a place in Ponyville, cutting through the red tape and gathering enough bits to hire ponies to help us move. The house we picked was nice. It was a three bedroom ranch style house with a full basement; sat on a fifty foot by fifty foot lot which meant lots of running space for animals or children; the lot was mostly flat, which was good for a potential half-pipe and the place was across from the park. It felt like a dream come true for me. Not because I was in a cartoon world with talking horses, dragons, griffons, minotaurs, etc... but for more substantive reasons: no one treated me like a child here; work was plentiful and employers didn’t discriminate against me about lack of experience or whatever, Thunderlane was teaching me how to control the weather and I did the occasional window cleaning at the town hall and Twilight Sparkle’s castle; I certainly was a lot healthier being here and since I was turned into a pegasus, my epilepsy was nonexistent and flying became the easiest thing in the world for me to do which meant no more acrophobia. What really got me emotional whenever I thought about it, was the fact that Rose was pregnant... three months pregnant to be accurate. Not with just one foal, but with two. She was carrying twins. We didn’t know exactly what was going in there yet, but I hoped for fraternal twins like the Cake twins. If I were human, that would mean my mother’s genes were dominant. Maybe some genetic aspects remained? Regardless, I never expected to be a father, but Discord’s “gift” proved to be a gift worth having. What would they be? A unicorn colt and pegasus filly, or the other way around? Maybe both would be pegasi or unicorns? Not knowing had been getting me more and more anxious. I could probably ask Twilight to spoil it for Rose and I, but Rose adamantly told me that she wanted the surprise. I shook my head and tried to clear the questions out of my mind as I circled our home for a landing. Some pegasi wondered why I did that instead of just land. To be honest, I didn’t know why I did it either, it just felt like a natural thing to do for me. As I landed, I already heard the dogs barking. I saw my wife’s magical aura surround the door and it opened, letting our chocolate labs out, followed by Rose herself. “I’m home. And I’ve got mail.” She smiled as she cantered up to me. “Welcome home.” She said as she hugged me. “I trust the pegasi didn’t bother you much.” She let me go and used her magic to lift the mail bag off of me. I shook my head. “Nah. They were all too busy with their own sections to bother me. There was one thing though.” Rose gave me a curious look. “When I was at the post office, I was asked if I’d be interested in doing mail runs across Equestria.” Rose raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “What about the weather?” I grunted. “I can still do it, just not every day. If I take this, I’d do the deliveries once a week. The money’s good and I figured we could use the extra bits.” I did not get paid by Celestia after we left Canterlot. The money I got from maintaining the weather in Ponyville and her job at the flower shop was good enough to keep us afloat with some extra on the side. Rose thoughtfully nodded. “I suppose. I just don’t want you to overwork yourself. You’ll be a father in eight months, remember? I don’t want you to be too tired to play with your foals.” I chuckled as I rubbed the back of my neck. That was a harsh reminder of my own childhood as my own father was always exhausted from work to do anything with my brother and I. “Yeah. I still can’t get over that. Reality just keeps slapping me in the face with a fish.” She gave me a peck on the lips, turned around and opened the door. “Come on. Lunch is almost ready.” The rest of the day was uneventful and we spent hour and a half stargazing that night. Rose and I went to bed afterward. Since being married to her, I felt more relaxed. I had never been in a relationship before meeting her, and our relationship was a privilege that I did not want to abuse, especially with foals on the way. Rose snuggled closer to me and quietly moaned as she read a book that Cadence gave her One Thousand Spells to… something or other. “Don’t forget we’re going to town hall tomorrow afternoon. Twilight has a speech.” I actually did forget about that. “What do you think it’s about? It won’t be another friendship lecture, will it?” She groaned and shrugged and rolled to face me. “She is the Princess of Friendship, after all. It just might be.” I quietly chuckled at the thought. “I wonder what valuable friendship lessons two married ponies can learn?” She put her book down and kissed me on the lips and smiled before straddling me. “Not as much as they could learn from Princess Cadence.” I raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what did you learn from the Princess of Love?” Rose’s horn lit up, the table lamp powered off and she rolled off me. “You are such a tease.” I groaned. She giggled. “Good night.” Morning came and I swear I heard the Sweet Apple Acres rooster. I patted the bed, hoping to find Rose, but she was already out of bed. I clambered out of bed myself and slowly walked out of the room. I entered the hallway and the sweet music of joints popping filled my ears as I started stretching. After my stretching exercises, I rolled my neck clockwise, then counter-clockwise. “That oughta do it for now.” I thought aloud as I continued toward the kitchen. The smell of breakfast filled the air. Hash browns, eggs and pancakes were some of the things being cooked up. I shook my head and sighed. “I wish you’d let me cook once in a while.” Rose looked back to me with a raised eyebrow. “The last time you tried cooking, you set my apartment on fire.” I chuckled nervously and groaned. “Yeah… thank you for reminding me.” If only I could turn into a human so I can cook. “I still need more practice with my wing dexterity.” I noticed the corners of her mouth moving upward. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” She laughed. “Of course I know, I just like seeing you get flustered.” I hung my head and sighed. “I guess ponies have more in common with humans than I thought.” I heard some knocking at the door and I looked back to Rose. “I’ll see who it is.” I said before fluttering to the door and opened it. It was Derpy. “Derpmeister. What’s goin’ on?” I approached her, gave her a quick hug and backed up. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the office right now?” Those eyes freaked me out at first, one was pointed right at me, and I think the other was pointed at the ceiling, but I got used to it… kinda. Derpy nodded. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Pen Pal wants you to deliver a package to Fluttershy’s cottage.” What? Me? “Why me?” Why not Derpy? Or maybe even Pen Pal herself? “It’s a fragile package,” she explained, “and Pen Pal said that she knows nopony else who is ‘as precise’ as you.” Pen Pal got me there. While still living in Canterlot, I moved a piano onto the third story of an office building. It was quite windy that day, but I managed to keep the piano steady and gently got it to where it needed to be with the help of a couple of unicorns. “Please tell me Fluttershy didn’t order a piano.” Derpy shrugged and fluttered off the ground. “Dunno what it is, but Pen Pal needs you to deliver it.” She reiterated as she took off. Pen Pal was my boss at the post office. A unicorn mare; light blue coat; two-tone blue mane and tail styled like Spitfire’s. Like most ponies in Ponyville, she was very nice, but when she’s provoked, she can be as mean as a snake. King Cobra mean. One time I witnessed her chew out Spoiled Rich, Filthy Rich’s wife, over her holier-than-thou attitude. It got so bad that I thought Pen Pal was going to literally bite her head off and I thought I was going to lose my boss. Spoiler alert: I didn’t. I hung my head and groaned. “I’ll be right back.” I said to Rose. “I don’t suppose I can take breakfast-” I stopped because Rose was ahead of me and floated a feeding bag across my neck. “What would I do without you?” I gave her a quick kiss, put on my delivery bag and fluttered off the ground to the post office. I made my way to the post office and Pen Pal herself was standing outside, waiting for me. I landed in front of her and smiled. “Good morning, boss. I hear you want me to make a special delivery.” She nodded and turned around. “I certainly do, Scotty.” She opened the door behind and trotted inside toward a small package, lifted it with her mouth and brought it to me. Anticipating what she was going to do, I opened up one of my delivery bag’s pouches. “This is going to Fluttershy’s cottage.” I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god it’s not a piano. Is there anything else?” She rolled her eyes back in thought for a moment. “Yes. I also have a letter for Princess Twilight Sparkle.” She said as she quickly went back inside the building and brought out an envelope. She put it in my bag and I fastened it. “That’s it for now.” I nodded and pondered my route. “I’ll deliver the letter first, then head to Fluttershy’s.” I told her before flying off the ground. “It shouldn’t take me long.” On the way to the castle, I came upon Thunderlane, who decided to flank me on the left. “What’s up, TL?” He looked to me with a small smirk. “Not much. I asked Flits out last night and she said yes.” I smiled and nodded. “Congrats, man. How’s Rumble doin’?” He chuckled. “Doing good. The little rascal’s at that age, you know?” Oh yeah. Puberty’s hitting him hard. “Who’s he got his eye on?” Thunderlane shook his head. “I don’t know yet. He doesn’t talk about her and I haven’t seen him looking for her when we’re out.” I smiled. “What makes you think it’s a her? It could be another colt.” Thunderlane let out a curious hum. “You could be right. I didn’t think about that. Anyway, I have some cloud busting to do, I’ll catch ya later.” I saluted him. “Later, TL.” He returned the salute and broke away. I made it to the castle and I gently landed at the door. I knocked a few times and stepped back a bit. “Coming!” A not-so-familiar voice said. A few moments pass before the door is enveloped in a turquoise aura. The door opened and a strange mare was on the other side. “Can I help you?” I cocked my head back and raised an eyebrow. “Are Spike or Princess Twilight Sparkle around?” She shook her head. “No. They’re out right now.” I slowly nodded. “Okay...” Should I give the letter to her? What if she was an uninvited guest? What if she was? Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, I suppose. I opened the pouch and pulled out the envelope with a wing. “I have a letter for the Princess.” The mare took the envelope with her magic. “I’ll make sure she gets it.” I nodded. “Have a nice day, ma’am.” I said. I turned around and flew off the ground. As I started toward Fluttershy’s, I took a glance back and saw the door slam shut. My gut was telling me that mare was up to no good. I hoped I was wrong. I made it to Fluttershy’s cottage and landed on the sidewalk a ways from it and cantered the rest of the way. I did a special knock to let her know that it was me. The door slowly opened and there she was. “Hey, Fluttershy. I have that package you asked for.” I opened the pouch and pulled out the package with a wing and passed it off to her. “May I ask what’s inside?” She giggled. “You can see for yourself.” She said as she gently set it on the ground. She then called for her mouse friends and they rushed over. One of the mice tore open the wrapping. I couldn’t believe what I saw. “Are you kidding me?” It was a mouse-sized piano. “Are you freakin’ kidding me?!” Fluttershy smiled. “I know. Isn’t it cute? It was quite difficult to find a piano small enough for mice.” I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. “Yeah… sure. I uh… I’ve got to report for weather management.” I lied as I took off like a rocket and left Fluttershy’s. Stupid pianos. I flew over near town hall and I heard a familiar whistle. I looked down and Rose was waving at me. I landed next to her and noticed more ponies were entering. “Oh yeah. Twilight’s speech. After you, babe.” We entered the lobby and the mayor greeted everyone and was ushering ponies to another room. One by one, we entered a small auditorium. I could see Twilight and Spike prepping the speech. Rose and I took our seats and I found myself sitting right next to her, the mare who was at Twilight’s castle. She looked at me and wiggled her eyebrows. I looked to Rose who was glaring at the strange mare, then at me. “Please don’t. Not right now.” I whispered to her. “Wait until we’re outside.” Rose nodded. “Yeah. After we’re outside…” Twilight stepped in front of the podium and tapped on the microphone. Here we go… About halfway through this boring friendship lecture, the mystery mare who I met at Twilight’s castle up and left. At least she had the option to, as Rose wouldn’t let me budge. Twilight concluded the lecture and everyone started filing out. Rose and I had taken our time heading back home. We stopped at Sugarcube Corner, picked up some cookies and continued. “So, who was that mare who eyeballed you?” She asked me, in a rather possessive tone. I shook my head. “No clue, but I do not trust her.” We were pretty close to the house, when reality started to have a seizure. I looked to Rose, who looked oblivious to the situation. “Rose?” She gave me an odd look. “-c-? Are y- alri-?” She was talking, but with the way things were, I couldn’t hear much of what she was saying. The world around me continued flickering as if there was interference in a cable feed. Then all of a sudden… Darkness.