//------------------------------// // Welcome to Ponyville // Story: A Doorway to Another Place // by Java Joe //------------------------------// Note: Yes, I went with shortskirtsandexplosions version of Lyra from Background Pony. It's a great story and if you haven't read it, you really ought to do yourself a favour and do so. ********* "Oh here they are! Welcome!" Pinkie Pie yelled as the guests of honour showed up at her impromptu party. The whole gang was here as well as many of the townspeople. Whether they were there because they liked the idea of a human in their midst, they just liked being part of a Pinkie Party or they had been coerced into coming remained to be seen. Twilight and Rick decided to take it all in stride after all there was not much they could do otherwise. "Thank you Pinkie. It's really nice of you to do this for us, " Twilight said. "Yes. Definitely. This is so unexpected. Thank you, " Rick repeated at a little loss for words. He liked Pinkie Pie, it was almost impossible to hate her and her cheerful personality but he always felt there was something slightly wrong with her, like she was bipolar and permanently stuck in the manic phase. Either that or she was on a perpetual sugar high which considering where she lived and worked might explain a lot. However, she was one of Twi's closest friends, she was friends with just about everybody in town and she threw some fun parties. So it was with good cheer that he accepted her and her enthusiasm while keeping a close eye on her at the same time just in case she snapped and went completely nuts. While Rick was keeping an eye on Pinkie, somepony was keeping an eye on him. It wasn't a malicious or dangerous look but it was a look that said the pony in question didn't trust his motives and like Rick felt about Pinkie, this pony didn't want to be around if and when the human let his "true face" be shown. "Darlings! So glad you could have made it to this soiree, " Rarity said as she walked over with as much class as she could muster. "Richard, you *must* come to my shop one of these days and let me make you an outfit. Those clothes you have on are useful I suppose but are lacking in any kind of style or flair. I'd also like to pick your brain on the fashions of your world unless what you're wearing is considered fashionable in which case I might have to come with you one of these days and show your people what true fashion is." Dressed in his usual shorts, t-shirt and sandals Rick knew he wasn't anywhere near stylish but he typically dressed for comfort unless there was a reason for him to dress otherwise. "You'll be happy to know that this isn't fashionable but it is comfortable and I get to show off my legs at the same time." Rarity stared at his legs for a moment as he stuck one of them out and posed dramatically. She however for the life of her could not figure out what was so attractive about them or why he'd want to show them off. She shrugged mentally and figured it was simply a human thing. Rick chuckled internally at seeing her do this and Twilight stiffled a giggle knowing that Rick was just playing around. In any case he decided it would be rude to ignore such an offer and since she was one of Twilight's friends he might as well get to know her better as well. "Sure, one of these days I can do that. And I'll see if maybe I can bring along a couple copies of Vogue. That's a fashion magazine from back home with lots of pretty pictures in it." "I look forward to it. And Twilight dear, you really are a lucky mare to get such a handsome and eligible stallion all to yourself. Why, you're the talk of the town and there are a few mares that are absolutely green with envy over your choice. Oh excuse me darlings, but there's a pony over there I simply must speak to. Taa!" Rick and Twilight stared blankly at the spot where Rarity had been. "Did she just say that there were some mares jealous of our relationship?" Rick asked Twilight. "Yes she did, " Twilight responded. "Okay. But this begs the question why? Most residents of Ponyville were unaware of me up until today. So why would a mare be jealous of you if they just saw me for the first time today?" "I'm not sure. Maybe it's the novelty, or maybe they think something is going on, or maybe..." Twilight trailed off at that point and looked around the room. "Listen Big Guy, I need to follow a hunch so I'm hoping I can let you mingle without getting into too much trouble?" Rick nodded and Twilight disappeared into the crowd. He stood there a moment longer, not really sure what to do next do he wandered over to get some punch. On his way there, several ponies personally welcomed him to Ponyville, more than one wanted a hoofbump. Maybe it was the novelty of it or maybe they were genuine and wanted to show him, it didn't matter and he gave it gladly. As he was getting his punch and trying to decide which of the baked goods to eat first, he became aware of some furious whispering behind him. "No! You go first!", "I don't wanna go first, you ask him!", "It was your idea so you ask!", "Will one of you ask him? I wanna know too!", "Then why don't you ask?" He turned around and found three fillies seemingly arguing about which one was going to ask him. Caught up as they were in this, not one noticed when Rick turned around, knelt down and asked, "ask me what?" The three fillies froze on being discovered and nopony was willing to speak up first so two of them took it upon themselves to push the third one forward. She was a cute little thing, all yellow with a red bow in her hair. "Uhm, howdy!" she said in a slight southern accent. "Are you by any chance related to Applejack? You sound just like her." "Yeah, she's my sister. My name is Apple Bloom and this here is Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, " pointing to her friends in turn. "Pleased to make your acquaintance or would that be acquaintances? It doesn't matter, I'm pleased to meet you all. Now, what was it you wanted to ask the 'big, scary guy'?" Rick said with as much lightness as he could and making air quotes. "You're not scary!" Apple Bloom said with a giggle. "Some ponies think you are, but I seen you with Twilight and she ain't scared a' you so you must be nice! But we was wondering, " she said looking back at her friends "if'n you was..." she didn't get to finish her question as somepony yelled out "Apple Bloom!" and said pony by the name of Applejack rushed towards her little sister. She pulled Apple Bloom away saying, " ah was supposed to keep an eye on the young'uns. Sorry if they was botherin' you. I'll take 'em off your hooves... or hands," AJ said with a bit of a shudder as she started to herd the three youngsters away. "But Applejack, we was just talkin' and he was nice and friendly like, " Apple Bloom complained as her big sister practically pushed her and her friends in her rush to get away from the human. "None of that now ya' hear? I told you three to stay away from him, you don't know..., " AJ continued her recriminations until they were out of earshot. Rick didn't quite know what to make of this but he figured the earth pony just didn't like him for whatever reason. Maybe he was too alien for her liking or maybe it was just one of those things. He was about to get back on his feet when two hooves covered his eyes and a too happy voice called out, "guess who?" "Would it be Pinkie Pie by any chance?" "Oh! You got me! How did you figure it out?" the pink pony said with some disappointment. He turned around and whispered in her ear, "it's because you smell like cupcakes and cotton candy. And I don't know any other pony that smells as sweet as you, " he said with a smile. "Oooh! I never thought of that! Hee hee! Thanks for the tip!" she gave him a big hug and bounced off to who knows where. Rick shook his head a little. She was almost unbearably sweet and difficult to understand but that's not to say he disliked her. Quite the opposite, he just didn't know how to handle her in large doses. Nibbling on a cupcake Rick wandered around the room, a little aimlessly. He was never much one for parties, especially when he didn't know many of the people there but he was determined to put on a happy face for the sake of Pinkie Pie and Twilight, wherever she had gotten off to. As he wandered, he heard a sound coming from one of the rooms to the side. The door was closed but there was definitely music coming from the other side of it. He poked his head into what appeared to be a storeroom and saw an aquamarine unicorn in a threadbare hoodie with her back turned towards him playing a lyre. The song spoke of loneliness & aching desire but there was a thread of hope in it. He stood there mesmerised by her song, practically daring not to breathe lest the spell be broken. The song was so pure, so... true that it brought up emotions in him that he would never have thought a mere melody could. With a lump in his throat and the beginning of tears in his eyes he slowly started to move out of the room. He wanted to hear more of it but he didn't want to intrude on what was possibly a very private moment. "You don't have to go, " she called out softly, so much so that he wasn't sure she had said anything. That was it, he walked in the room and shut the door. "I'm sorry, but I heard your music and had to see what was happening. That was absolutely lovely. I don't think I've ever heard something that moved me like that." She looked down, a little embarrassed but smiled prettily and thanked him. "What are you doing in here? There's a party going on in the other room. My party I guess it is but with Pinkie you can never really tell. Why don't you join us? By the way, my name is Rick." "I know who you are Rick. My name is Lyra, but that doesn't matter at this point. I was there earlier, I wanted to come and see the human. I had heard you existed but wanted to make sure. Once I saw you and knew you were real, I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts and my music." "I'm sorry, you seem like a nice pony and all that but I feel there's something you're not telling me?" Rick pushed the point. There was something a little off about her. He was sure that he would have noticed a pony wearing a hoodie at the party but for the life of him he just couldn't remember seeing her at all." Ignoring his question she merely said, "thank you I'll join you shortly, I just wanted to finish this and I'll be in soon. It was nice meeting you and I'm glad to see that you make Twilight Sparkle so happy. We're old friends her and I." "Okay. Well, I'll leave you alone and see if we can save you a cupcake or something, " he responded as he turned to walk out of the room a little lost on what just happened and why it was he was he was here in the first place. Looking about, he saw nothing out of the ordinary, he felt a little cold but maybe that was just the storeroom. Shaking his head he walked out right into Twilight who was looking for him. "Hey you, " she said while she got on her hind legs and gave him a hug. "Hey yourself, " he said hugging her back. "Take care of what you needed to do?" "Yeah, I had an interesting talk with some ponies. But it was just mare stuff, you wouldn't be interested. So what were you doing the storeroom just now?" "You know for the life of me, I don't remember. I walked in for some reason, looked about and then came out. Oh well, it couldn't have been important, " as they walked away from the door, they didn't hear the small sigh that came from the other side or of a lyre being softly played. The party went on for a while longer, but ponies had been trickling out for a while now until there were very few left. The food was gone, the punchbowl had been empty for a while and those that were left were feeling a definite sugar crash. Twilight was leaning into Rick, her eyelids fluttering slightly as she came down from the events of the day. He asked her if she wanted to leave, she nodded sleepily and they made their goodbyes. Once again thanking Pinkie Pie for her hospitality, she scoffed a bit and said it was nothing. They thanked her anyway and Rick led Twilight back to the library. "If you're tired, you can take a nap. I need to get dinner prepped so I'll have a coffee unless you want one as well?" Twilight frowned a bit as if weighing the options and said, "wake me up in an hour. Preferably with a kiss" as she made her way upstairs to her bedroom. "Okay, you go rest. I'll see you in an hour". He checked his watch, it was 4pm. They normally had dinner around 6ish which was plenty of time to get things ready. He had gotten this beautiful wild salmon filet at the market today but didn't know what to do with it. Oh there were loads of options, but now that today had turned out so nicely he decided that he should do something a little special with it. After all it wasn't every day you meet the resident monarch of another country who gives you her blessing not only to stay there but get permission to be with the girl... or pony of your dreams. Half an hour later, the prep work was done and he found himself yawning a bit as well. He pondered whether or not to have another coffee but didn't want to risk being up longer than he had to tonight. But it was either that, or take a nap himself. He yawned once more and decided that a power nap didn't sound like a bad idea. So went to his room, set his alarm for 30 minutes, turned off the lights and lay down. As he drifted between being asleep and awake he heard the door open to his room and a shadowy unicorn got into bed with him. He smiled, rolled over and took her in his arms. "Was somebody lonely all by themselves?" he mumbled. A soft "Mmm-hmmm" responded. "That's okay babe, I missed you too." In the darkness of the room, he felt for her lips and kissed her gently but something was different. She didn't respond like she normally did but he chalked that up to them both being tired. Within moments he was asleep and the pony just snuggled in next to him relishing in the unfamiliar feeling of warmth. The alarm came on and with it the strains of "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5. Rick practically slammed his fist down on the radio mumbling how much he hated that song. The movement started the unicorn who then sprang out of bed and ran out of the library her hooves clattering on the floor as fast as she could and slamming the door behind her. He stumbled from bed, ready to run after her when he heard Twilight calling from her room asking whether everything was alright. "How'd you do that?" Rick, still half-asleep asked her. "Do what?" she responded equally sleepy. "And why did you slam the door instead of waking me up with a kiss like I asked?" "I didn't slam the door. Babe, I don't know what's going on right now. All I know is you were in bed with me while I took a nap, the alarm went off, I turned it off and you ran out like the hounds of hell were on your tail. I came out to try to see what's up and I find you in your bed instead." She looked at him from up the stairs and said, "Uhmm... I wasn't napping with you. I've been up here this whole time. You sure it wasn't a dream?" "No, at least I don't think so, " he smelled his shirt and there was something there other than him but it didn't smell like Twilight did. Then he looked at the door which had been locked when Twilight went up to bed but now was unlocked after whomever it was had come in. "It couldn't have been a dream, the door wasn't open when you went upstairs. So then who was in bed with me? No word of a lie. I'm lying there, a unicorn that I thought was you walks in and gets in bed with me. I was half-asleep and you know how dark my room is all I could see was a shadow. Besides you who else would do such a thing? Anyway, we didn't do anything although I did kiss her and while I thought something was off in how she felt, I thought you.. I mean she.. I mean I thought she was you but you were too tired to kiss back properly, " Rick shuddered involuntarily at the thought. It's not every day that you wind up kissing somepony thinking it's your fillyfriend then find out it was a complete stranger. But not only that, whomever it was knew what was going on at that time which meant they were watching and waiting for such a moment. This pony knew that Twilight was sleeping and that Rick had also gone to take a nap. What else did this pony possibly know? Twilight also looked a little disturbed by this, not only because her coltfriend had unwittingly kissed another pony but that somehow, in some way that was a violation for both of them as well. She was the only one that he should be kissing like that. But that was nothing compared to how disturbed Rick looked with the entire matter. Usually he was easygoing and didn't take things too seriously, now it was like he had swung completely the other way and was an entirely different person. She hopped down to where he was standing and was surprised to see tears in his eyes. She reared up and placed her hooves on his shoulders and hugged him. He hugged her back tightly and it almost broke her heart to hear him sniffle a bit. He was usually so strong yet here he was feeling hurt and there was nothing she could do other than comfort him. After a few moments he sighed deeply and mumbled, "I'm okay now." She looked back at him, wanted to argue the point but felt it was best to let him work this out himself. "Okay, if you insist tough guy. But I'll be here in case you want to talk about it." Rick held on for another moment then said that he needed to get dinner started. Twilight looked like she wanted to say something but decided instead that she would feel best if they both went back to his apartment while he cooked. Twilight closed the library early and they left Equestria. Had they stayed a little while longer, maybe they would have heard coming from just outside the library door a sad song being played on the lyre and the soft sobs of a pony that nobody could remember. Rick fumbled his way through the kitchen, seemingly out of sorts while Twilight relaxed on the couch in front of the TV not really paying attention to what was happening on the screen and instead listening to Rick with some concern. After a few moments the sounds stopped and Rick walked out to the living area, a roll of aluminum foil in his hands and asked, "Twi, why did we come back here?" Twilight, for the life of her couldn't remember and said so. They looked at each other for a moment, Rick shrugged and went back to the kitchen. Soon some delicious smells starting wafting through the apartment, was that lemon he was frying? Twilight smelled again and her curiosity piqued, she wandered over to the kitchen to see what he was doing. Yes, he was frying up some lemon slices in a pan until they were all nice and brown on each side then placed them carefully all over a beautiful salmon fillet which was sitting on a bed of fresh herbs. "Is that what we're having?" she asked eagerly. "Hey, nobody allowed in the kitchen when the chef is working. All this is supposed to be a surprise, " Rick said with mock severity. "Fine, I'll sit over here and watch 'the master' at work, " as she walked around and sat on one of the stools in front of the open concept kitchen. "Is that better?" she asked. "Much. And your sarcasm is improving, " he said as he blew her a kiss. The salmon was wrapped in several sheets of aluminum foil then placed in the oven. He then pulled out two eggs, separated them and beat the yolks quickly over an open flame. Occasionally removing the bowl from the heat while whisking continuously. Twilight could only smile on seeing her man doing something that he was not only good at but enjoyed doing. A quick squeeze of lemon and some clarified butter and it was back to the whisking over the flame until the mixture was smooth and thickened enough that it drizzled slowly from the whisk when he pulled it away. He threw some freshly chopped dill into this, whisked it around a little more and was done. Putting that aside he turned to the vegetables that were steaming and with a quick check gave them a few minutes more. The timer dinged and he carefully pulled out the salmon from the oven. Opening the package, a delicious odor of fresh herbs filled the room. Twilight inhaled deeply and while she might not have been hungry a few minutes ago, just smelling this gave her an appetite. Rick busied himself plating the food and pouring a generous portion of the Hollandaise sauce over the fish. He motioned to Twilight to get to the table while he served with a certain flourish. A quick twist and pull of the cork and he poured some wine into their glasses. While he had no pony glasses or cutlery, Twilight's magic was more than capable of getting the job done. They clinked their glasses together and dug in. "Rick! This is fantastic!" Twilight said as she swallowed her mouthful. "How come you never made this before?" "Well, I figured a special occasion calls for a special meal and what could be more special than today? Ponyville loves me, Celestia says I'm welcome in Equestria and I have the love of a good filly. What's not to celebrate? Besides, good news always makes the food taste better." Rick said with a grin. Twilight couldn't help but grin back. Then went back to her food and ate with gusto. He was right, the meal did taste really, really good but that might have simply been his skill in the kitchen. Very few words were spoken during the rest of the meal and they weren't missed. "Now that was an excellent meal, " Twilight said sitting back in her chair. "You've got a gift in the kitchen. I'm surprised you're not a chef." "Yeah, you'd think that but I honestly don't like cooking. At least I don't like cooking for strangers or spending hours in a sweltering kitchen making food for people who don't appreciate it. No, I'd rather stay here and cook for the ones I love. Seriously, that's one of the ways that you know that I love you is if I not only cook for you willingly but I actually offer to do so. It's when I start suggesting we get take out on a regular basis or demanding that you cook more that you know something is up." They moved to the couch, Rick brought the bottle and Twilight brought the glasses which he promptly filled again. "You know, there's one thing left that would make this night perfect, " Rick said. "What's that?" Twilight said, readying herself for a kiss. "Just one of the greatest movies of all time." He got up and went straight to his DVD shelf with all its assorted movies and pulled one out. "It's got romance, action, comedy you name it." He popped the movie into the DVD player and after a moment of shuffling through the previews and warnings the MGM lion showed up followed by the title, "The Princess Bride". 1 hour and 33 minutes later.... Twilight had been transfixed throughout all this. "Thank you, that was a beautiful movie but it's not the perfect ending to a perfect day." "Oh no? What else is there?" "Why don't you come to the bedroom and find out?" Twilight said with a wicked leer. "Oooh, a pony after my own heart!" "It's not your heart that I want right now." "As you wish, " he said with a smile followed her into the bedroom. "I love you too, " she said and closed the door behind them.