//------------------------------// // Square One // Story: Replay // by Scootaloose //------------------------------// Square One "Welcome to Ponyville, Johnny!" said Rainbow Dash. We walked under the wooden archway that read "Welcome to Ponyville", followed by a small wooden bridge over a river. It looked nothing like the cities back where I grew up and lived. There were barely any vehicles in the streets and no sidewalks. It looked like I was back into the 1800s, except it was full of ponies instead of humans. Ponyville seemed like a laid back kind of town; almost nobody was in any sort rush whatsoever. In fact, all the ponies I saw at a first glance had a smile on their faces. A small grin at the very least. "Is everyone here always this joyful?", I asked. "It's everypony, Johnny." Rainbow replied, with a smirk on her face. "Huh?" "Looks like you need to learn some new words, seeing you're not even from this world," she chuckled a bit and cleared her throat, "But I'll leave that kind of stuff to Twilight teach you. I'm not as good as her with words or with any kind of teaching, really. I'll explain this one for now to get you started: We say anypony, everypony and stuff when we're talking about ponies. We use everyone and anyone, or anybody or everybo- ugh, too much grammar. Not cool...", she paused and frowned for a moment. "My point is that you use pony when you're talking about somepony else. You know what I mean?" "Oh I get it now!" I said, "But I think it's kinda silly. Why can't we just say anyone when we are referring to a pony? Just like any other creature in this world? If there are any I mean." "It's up to you if you want to sound silly when talking to ponies." She replied, "If that's what you want, then I'm not gonna stop you from doing that." She joked, "And yes, there are tons of other creatures around here. Many types of birds, squirrels, bunnies, buffalos, cows, a whole bunch of weird creatures in the Everfree forest, and that's just near Ponyville", she added,"I can't even imagine how many more creatures are out there!" "Wait, these animals also exist in my world! Talk about coincidence!" I said with a smile, "I never saw many animals in my life besides squirrels and pigeons, and most of them I've seen them in a zoo when I was little." "What happened to the animals? Did they vanish or something?" She asked, slightly concerned. "Just humanity taking down forests and making tall buildings to live in. The animals just took off deeper in the remaining parts of their forest. The only ones that stayed were squirrels, racoons, pigeons and small mice. I find it really annoying how people think they can just claim an area like that and do whatever they want with it." "Look, I may not be an animal lover like Fluttershy but that is just horrible and uncool. At least you are not like them." She said in a serious tone. "Just don't let Fluttershy know about this or she will start crying because she doesn't have any way of helping them." "And Fluttershy is...?" "Ponyville's animal caretaker." she said, "She houses little animals and takes care of them when they're sick. Some ponies go to her cottage to find a pet." Rainbow Dash smirked and continued, "I remember when I went there to find my own pet. Who would've thought I'd have a turtle as a pet?", she chuckled a bit, just before a speeding blob of pink crashed into her. "Ohmygosh Dashie are you okay? I was going to buy some cherries for a new cake recipe I made, but then I realized that orange- flavoured cakes don't have cherries in them, so I ran back to buy oranges and I forgot to buy baking soda that was near the cherry stand, then I ran back to buy the baking soda and then I ran into you, and who is th-", said a bright pink pony, speaking so fast it would leave the world’s fastest speaker with their jaw on the floor. Oh, I think I already know who this pony is... The pink pony let out a massive gasp when she turned to me "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She sped away faster than a fighter jet. All I saw was a pink blur and a trail of dust that made all ponies around us rubbing their faces to get the dirt off their eyes. "Let me guess... Pinkie Pie?" I asked, finally breaking the silence. Pretty much everypony around us nodded and went back to their businesses. "And you'll see her again in about 5 minutes, trust me." Rainbow Dash said while getting up. From the first ten seconds I had spent with Pinkie Pie, it seemed like she had a mix of Red Bull, coffee, and anything else that has sugar in it. That was the craziest thing I've seen all my life. Not even a heavy duty crack addict could keep up with Pinkie Pie! Her mane looked like she put her head in a cotton candy machine and turned it on; in fact, it actually looked like her mane and tail were actually made of cotton candy - it smelled the part, too. At least that's what I thought it was when she crashed into Rainbow Dash. "Johnny? Hello!", I saw a blue hoof waving in front of me. I was completely lost trying to figure out what the hay just happened. "What? Oh, sorry. Kinda got lost in my thoughts a bit." I shook my head, "Was that cotton candy I smelled from Pinkie's mane or something?" "Yep", Rainbow Dash still had a dazed look in her face from the crash. "Did she put her head in a cotton candy machine or something?" I asked. "Ha! I knew you'd say that!" She chuckled and continued, "Literally every new pony around here asks that same question when they meet her!" She laughed a bit more and recomposed herself, "She says she uses some kind of shampoo. Kinda fits her personality, though." "It sure does..." I commented. "What do you think I smell like, Johnny?" She looked at me with a smile. "What is that supposed to mean?" Where did THAT come from!?. I felt a sweat starting to form on my forehead. "Uhh.... forget I said anything" She turned her head away from me and looked at the market, I caught a glimpse of a blush on her cheeks. Well that was awkward..., "Let's get something to eat. I think I see Pinkie and Twilight in The Daisy and Rose, they make some pretty good sandwiches there." She took flight and went ahead of me. I trotted towards the three ponies sitting outside on a table. Rainbow Dash was whispering something to the purple unicorn, (presumably the Twilight she mentioned before my emotional breakdown). She had a dark purple mane, with a hot pink line in the middle, same for her tail. Her horn poked out from behind her mane that covered her forehead. She had bright purple eyes that seems like they would glow at night. As I approached them, Pinkie Pie blurted out: "WAIT! WAIT! BE RIGHT BACK!" She sped off towards a gingerbread-looking house. "What's up with her?" I asked the remaining two mares. "Just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie." answered the purple unicorn. "She'll be back in a few moments, you'll see." Added Rainbow Dash. "Right, I assume you're Twilight, correct?" I asked the unicorn. "Oh right! I totally forgot to introduce myself! Yes, my name is Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you!" She said with an embarrassed look. "What a way to mess up a first meeting with a new pony..." "It's all good! I do that sometimes as well. My name's Johnathan, but you can call me Johnny for short.", I said to Twilight. Suddenly, I got blown by a huge wall of confetti and strings. "Told ya she'd back." Rainbow said to me with a smirk on her face. Pinkie Pie proceeded to sing her little "welcome" song. I watched as Pinkie performed her song and dance next to a cart that looked like a mix of popcorn machine, microwave and a food trolley or something. ♪♪♪ Welcome welcome welcome A fine welcome to you! Welcome welcome welcome I say how do you do? Welcome welcome welcome I say hip hip hurray! Welcome welcome welcome to Ponyville todaaaaay! ♪♪♪ "Wait for it....", Pinkie said. "Wait for wha-" A small door opened on the side of the cart and my face got stuffed with even more confetti and string. "Catchy..." I commented, and spat out some confetti. "It's a work in progress..." cheered Pinkie Pie with a confident smile. "So how about that party you are going to throw for me?" I smirked. "OH RIGHT! I'll get started with the invitations right away!", she blurted out before running out again. The waiter came to our table to greet me and ask for my order. He had a white coat and a dark brown mane and a moustache, wearing a black bow-tie. "Welcome, ladies!" he greeted Rainbow and Twilight, until he noticed the new pony before him. "And who might be you? I've never seen you around before." he said to me with a slight British accent. "I just arrived in Ponyville. Thank you." I nodded to him, "I heard this place makes great sandwiches." I replied. "That indeed is true, sir. What would you like to order in this fine afternoon?" He asked us. "I'll have today's Special" said Twilight. "Same for Rainbow over here." "I guess I'll try out the Special, too" I said. "Good choice. I shall be back with your orders in a few minutes" said the stallion before walking back inside. Until then, I hadn’t noticed he was a unicorn and was taking notes on a floating notepad. I shook my head a bit from the strange occurrence. Well, this is not exactly as strange as my arrival here, now that I look at it. "So Johnny, Rainbow Dash said that your arrival here was quite... shocking, I might say..." Twilight finally broke the silence. "Literally, I guess", I replied. Here comes the scolding... "We all make mistakes, don't worry. Enjoy your second chance at life and try not to think about it too much" she smiled at me. I turned my head to Rainbow Dash and asked: "So where's the scolding?" "I explained how you were upset about it and asked her not to bring it up too much.” She replied. "The last thing I want to do is to make somepony upset over any mistake they make. Rainbow Dash already talked to you about it, so I won't bring up the same topic just to say the same thing she said." Twilight added. Gee, thanks... so she would have scolded me if Rainbow hadn't flew ahead of me... I smiled and nodded at Rainbow Dash, as a way of saying "thank you". She nodded back, and we waited until our food arrived. "Here you go, friends!" said the unicorn waiter, now floating three plates with a sandwich on each and approaching our table. Rainbow's ears perked up and looked at the waiter. "Sweet! I'm starving!" "Me too!" I said right after. The plates floated down in front of us. My mouth was watering. I hadn't eaten since I left the plane 5 hours ago. And that was on a totally different world! The sandwich was made with whole wheat bread, and I could see apple slices poking out from between. There was some lettuce and a green olive on a toothpick stuck on the center of the sandwich. Something else caught my eye, it was a white thing inside the sandwich. It didn't look like mayonnaise or any kind of dressing - in fact, it kind of looked like a petal... "Is that a petal I see?", I asked the two mares, who were already half way through their sandwiches. "Yup. It'sh a dhaishy, the besht out therr!" said Rainbow Dash with a mouthful of her sandwich. "A flower???" "It's delicious, Johnny!" said Twilight, "You'll never find out if it's good by staring at it." she giggled. I then remembered that scene from Lion King, when Simba eats his first "grub" in the jungle: Hakuna Matata... I took a bite from my sandwich. The daisy's texture was a bit odd on my tongue, but it was quite tasty! "Hmm! Noth bhad!", I said with my mouth full of food. "Oh great, we have another "Rainbow Dash" chewer...", Twilight said with a sigh. Rainbow Dash and I chuckled and I almost choked on my sandwich. After we finished our sandwich and paid the bill (courtesy of Twilight Sparkle), I asked a bit about how life worked around Ponyville, and eventually the currency ("Bit" sounds like a silly name for currency, to be honest). I don't know why, but it took me a while to notice the markings on almost every pony's flank. "What's up with those tattoos on everypony?" I asked. "Oh you mean these?" Twilight said, looking at her own ‘tattoo’, "They're called "Cutie Marks", they represent a pony's special talent. My cutie mark represents my love for star gazing and being adept at magic." she said. "That reminds me, we never saw your cutie mark, Johnny. What is it?" She proceeded to look at my flank, and so did Rainbow Dash. Well THIS isn't awkward at all!, I thought. I was blushing so hard. Two mares staring at my ass in public!! "W-w-what are you two doing? Talk about maturity!", I blurted out, just causing an even bigger scene. I turned towards them and they stopped. "S-Sorry, got a bit carried away there!", Twilight blushed and lowered her ears a bit. "I was just curious! Nothing else, I-I swear!" said Rainbow Dash, blushing even harder. "Riiiight... you know I can check it out myself without you two staring at it like two perverts!" I frowned at them. They blushed, lowered their heads and they kicked the ground a few times. I could still see them giggling behind their manes that fell over their faces. "...Nah, it's ok. You can look at it all day long if you want..." I winked at them. "JOHNNY!!" They screamed at me at the same time. I stumbled back and almost fell over. "Sorry! Sorry!" I said, sweating heavily. We looked around us, realizing the sudden silence that fell on the whole area. Some ponies had stopped to look at our commotion, some were blushing, some had their jaws wide open in shock. We stared back at them with a sheepish smile on our faces, sweating our faces off. Pinkie Pie was bouncing around with a saddlebag far down the street, obviously delivering party invitations. "OKAY! It's getting dark! We should get going home now!" Said Twilight, breaking the silence, trying to shake off that extremely awkward moment. "Uh, Twilight..." I interrupted, "I don't have a place to sleep." "Oh right... You can sleep at my place until you find a place of your own. I have a guest bedroom." Twilight said. "Haha, lucky guy!" said a stallion that overheard us. Twilight picked up a rock from the ground with her magic and threw it at the pony's head, staring at the pony with a cold stare. "Aah! Okay okay I'm going now!" He yelled out after dodging the rock and ran away. "Well... now that this is taken care of..." I broke the silence, "What does my cutie mark represent? I'm pretty sure you two had a good look at it the way you were staring at my flank...", I rolled my eyes. "It looks like a vinyl disc, and a headset over it. You must be good with music!", said Twilight. "Makes sense - I was a DJ back on my other life." "Oooh! A DJ!! Vinyl Scratch is gonna love to have a new pony to play with her on her shows!" Beamed Twilight, "You should go see her tomorrow and say hi to her!" She added. Rainbow Dash interrupted, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm heading home for a good night sleep, see ya!" She took off to the clouds and waved at us while we waved back. "Okay, let's head to your house, Twilight." I said. "Yup." She nodded. Suddenly Rainbow Dash came back and hovered in front of me. "By the way, you should come over to the park tomorrow afternoon for some flying lessons; I'm helping Scootaloo with her flying so you can join her if you want." she said. "Great idea. I should at least know how to move them, thanks for the invite!", I smiled. She smiled back and flew away, disappearing into the clouds while me and Twilight continued our way to her home.