//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: The Crossover Chronicles: Adventures in Equestria // by Cool_Quick //------------------------------// By the way, Part 2 will be in various first person viewpoints. Part 2 Misadventures in Equestria Chapter 1 Memories Jack Nighttime was blooming through Ponyville. A large, peaceful moon was hovering in the sky, shining over the quiet, picturesque town. Crickets chirped. Fireflies blinked at each other like traffic lights. Cicadas made their song. In Applejack’s home, there was loud snoring. A party had been raging all afternoon, and into the evening. It was finally over, but the noise wasn’t. Most of the snoring came from Wario, a fat man with a mustache in the shape of a “w,” and a bad temperament. He also loved gas, and farted at least once every minute and a half, even in his sleep sometimes. More snoring came from Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who were both whinnying like, well, horses. Rainbow Dash was a blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, while Applejack was a pony with a blonde mane and a cowboy hat (currently off). The three seemed to be having a snoring competition, which was not helping Luigi get to sleep. Luigi was a tall, slender man, with a well groomed handlebar mustache and a shy disposition. This was probably the reason why he got along so well with Fluttershy, a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane. Her gentle breathing next to him was drowned out by the snore symphony, or should I say, sympony. Luigi was tempted to give their song a name, like “Wake Me Up When the Snoring Ends.” He glanced over at Fluttershy curled up next to him, and then looked over at Jack, who was on the other side. He kept thinking that Jack looked familiar. His suit, with a bow tie, and his straggly black hair combined with the bags under his eyes, and his depressed look looked like someone who was barely keeping it together. If something went horribly wrong for him... He shuddered and pulled himself together. Jack seemed nice. It wasn’t fair to have those kinds of thoughts. Still, he hoped that they weren’t housing someone that would turn out to be a psychopath. Luigi sighed. He couldn’t be mad at Applejack. She had insisted that they all spend the night, even Jack. She had a large room all set up in the blink of an eye, and all of them were crashed for the night. And probably most of the morning. Luigi wasn’t the only one struggling to get to sleep. Rarity was lying next to Toon Link on her right, and Spike on her left. The two guys weren’t snoring, rather breathing peacefully. Rarity was a white unicorn with an ocean blue mane. Toon Link was a kid with blonde hair, large dark eyes, and a sunny personality that matched his hair. Spike was a purple baby dragon with green spines, and large green, reptilian eyes, which were currently closed. Occasionally, Spike would laugh or twitch in his sleep, which was slightly unnerving. Rarity gave a small sigh, and glanced over at Spike. He looked so adorable in his sleep. She smiled to herself, glad that her Spikey Wikey was having a good dream. Then, she looked at Toon Link. Even though she had known him for less than 24 hours, she trusted him. Sure, he was young, but she sensed a lot of bravery in him. She was glad he and Spike seemed to be getting along. The final person that wasn’t asleep was Jack. Luigi thought he was asleep, but no. He was pretending to be; waiting for Luigi to get to sleep. When he opened his eyes and saw Luigi with his eyes closed, breathing steadily, Jack decided to go for a walk. (First person begins here) I slowly got to my feet, the floor giving a mild protest against me. I listened for a moment, making sure no one would question me. When no one did, I steadily crept out of the room. I needed some alone time. As I walked down the hall, I looked around the farmhouse. It reminded me of my grandfather’s old house when he was still alive. I’d come by to see him in the summertime when I was a kid. He’d take me around on his John Deere, giving me funny jokes about farm life, and telling me about some of the things he did there. I loved him, and I missed him. On the walls were family photographs, showing various generations of the Apple family. One picture showed a huge crowd of ponies, including Applejack, standing with smiles on their faces in front of the very barn we were in after its completion. Another picture showed Applejack, with an elderly looking green pony and a big strong red stallion holding a little yellow filly. Looking at these photographs, I remembered my family before it went downhill. Memories of a life that couldn’t return. I continued down the hall, and finally walked out the door into the night air. My shoes crunched the grass under my feet as I went to the edge of the hill. Taking a deep breath, I let it out again. The air here in Equestria was so fresh. The air back on Earth felt so filthy in comparison. As I looked into the night sky, finding constellations I had never seen before, I heard clopping hooves behind me. I looked around and found Rarity standing about ten feet away from me. She was admittedly quite a beautiful unicorn, and I was sure she’d have no problem finding a stallion. I smiled, and gestured to the heavens. “I’m glad you wished to see the stars too. They look absolutely gorgeous tonight.” And I meant that. I had never been in such a clear evening. The stars were so bright in the sky that it looked like they had light of their own. Rarity clopped up to me. Her ocean blue eyes shone in the moonlight. “I suppose I was suspicious as to why you were walking outside in the middle of the night.” I looked at my watch. “Actually, it’s three in the morning.” “You get my point,” Rarity sighed, putting her hooves next to my hands on the fence. The two of us looked out over Sweet Apple Acres; the trees blowing in the breeze, the farm peaceful and quiet in the throes of early morning. I took a deep breath and let it out, content. “Ah, I haven’t been this relaxed and peaceful for a while.” It was true. All of my worries about my job, Jeannie, and various other things had kept me on the edge. Jeannie… I was nervous about her. She was probably worried sick about me. “What are you doing out here?” Rarity asked finally after another peaceful silence broken only by the sound of the cicadas chirping nearby. I had been staring into the mountains in the distance, and her voice startled me back to reality. “Reflecting,” I replied shortly. “On what?” She wasn’t going to let up. “My past,” I finally admitted. The past I found to be a worrisome place. People always told you to stop worrying about the past. But how can I when everything I did in the past will affect the future? “I’m sure that Jeannie… is that her name? Anyway, I’m sure she’s fine,” Rarity assured me. “I hope so,” I said. “Still, I have worries.” “I’m sure you’d love to tell me,” Rarity said sweetly, batting her eyelashes at me. She was really pretty when she did that. I actually had a suspicion that Spike had a crush on her. The looks he’d give her, his dreamy mutterings when she did something. It added up. She definitely was attractive enough, in more ways than one. Underneath, she was quite beautiful too. She had been really kind to us all so far; just like the 5 other ponies, other than maybe the so-called Rainbow Dash. She might deserve the name Rainbow Brash. Even so, I had been shocked when I had found myself in a land of talking ponies and dragons. With some strange looking dudes too. It was a strange day, but not a bad one. I hadn’t had such a good day in years. I looked down at a puddle of water. Since Rarity had been nice to me, I owed her the truth. “My life has been a series of ups and downs. Mostly downs. But I’ve tried my whole life. I grew up with a loving mother, but she died when I was ten. My father fell into drinking, and started abusing me daily. First, with verbal abuse, then physical as well. Finally, I graduated from high school, and was able to get a job at a chemical company. My father couldn’t have been happier to see me leave. Shortly after getting my job, I met Lucy, my first wife. I married a couple of years later, and for a while, things were good. I had a son, and a daughter.” I knew I was rambling now, but I couldn’t stop. My father… It was painful to talk about him. He had served in the Vietnam War for several years, and even after ten years, when I was born, he still remembered all of the hell he had been through, and would sometimes just space out, as if he was relieving his experiences. Other times, he would grow violent, even before my mom died. After her death, he drank. He became a monster, and I never loved him after that. I remembered when I had talked to those two guys at the bar, and told them I had quit my job to be a comedian. That had been a lie, because the memories were too fresh. It was like a scab. Talking about my past was like taking a knife and opening it again. Rarity, however, wasn’t like them. I knew I could trust her. “But then, there was a fire that killed them, and my job. I was heartbroken, and fell into depression. A few months after the accident, I met Jeannie, and remarried. I had tried to get a job at various places, but I got fired from them all. Shortly after marrying Jeannie, I tried comedy. Another failure. I can still remember coming home that night…” As soon as Jeannie heard the door slam, she knew something had gone wrong. Jack had only started this new comedy job yesterday, saying he couldn't afford another failure. Besides, he was sure this would work. It didn't. Jack knew Jeannie would be asking how he was, and he had to keep himself together. He took off his coat and hung it in the small closet. At the same time, he knew that the landlady was watching him coldly, as if waiting for him to do something wrong in front of her. He ignored her, and instead walked upstairs, trying to fight his cauldron of emotions like anger, sadness, and, for some reason, humor. As he opened the door, he thought he was under control. "How'd it go?" Jeannie asked. "Did they like your act?" "Well," Jack said, trying to say what he had to say in the best way possible. "They, uh... said they might call me... I... got nervous and messed up a punchline." He sat down at the chair opposite Jeannie, and put his elbows on the table, hoping Jeannie might have some words of reassurance. Instead, all he got was "Oh." For some reason, that made him angry. "What do you mean "oh?" he asked with a scowl. "I didn't mean anything," Jeannie tried to say, but Jack wasn't hearing it. "Yes you did," he replied. "The way you said it definitely had meaning." "Jesus," Jeannie scoffed. "All I said was..." Jack stood up quickly, which caused his chair to crash to the ground, making Jeannie jump. "You said "oh," as in "oh you didn't get the job?" As in "oh, I should have known." As in "oh, so how are we going to feed our baby?" Jeannie flinched, but Jack wasn't done. "You think I don't care?! That's all just a big joke?! I stand on stage for three hours, without anyone laughing, and you think I don't..." he started crying uncontrollably. Jeannie hugged him as Jack sobbed. "I'm sorry!" he moaned. "You're already suffering enough, being married to a loser like me." "Honey, you're not a loser. And things will be fine. Mrs. Berkiss will let us slide on the rent a little longer. She feels sorry for me." Jack got to his feet, and paced the room. "She hates me," he stated matter-of-factly. "I see her scowling at me every time I take the stairs." He looked out the window at Gotham, thinking about how once he had thought this city was beautiful. Now, he thought it was ugly. And it always smelled like piss. "All I need is just money to move to a new neighborhood," he said, turning around. "I mean come on, I see girls on the street earning that kind of money in a weekend without having to tell a single joke. Or blow a punch line." The two chuckled, and Jeannie smiled at him. "Honey," she said. "It'll be okay. You're a good man, and you'll find a way to get us through." My voice faltered and I stared at the ground. As I had told my story, the rest of the crew had come outside. Apparently, Luigi had awakened to find Rarity and me gone. Everyone had come outside to find us talking. Upon hearing my story, they had stopped nearby to listen. Now, when I stopped, Spike said, “So, what happened?” I said nothing, but continued to stare at the ground. Tears were in my eyes, as the memories were still fresh. Finally, almost in a whisper, I managed to say, “I went to a pub later… talked to these two guys. They were willing to let me help them get some money." I hesitated to say the next part. "It was a robbery." I described the robbery to them, and the conversation, ending with, “As I was walking home through the park…” I stopped and shook my head. Even after thinking all day about the events, it was still unbelievable that I had ended up in a world of talking ponies. “I ended up here. I still don’t know how.” Rarity put a reassuring hoof on my hand. “Don’t worry about a thing. I’m sure your wife and soon-to-be child is fine. As of right now, we’ll take good care of you, right?” She looked over at everyone else, who instantly broke out into statements like, “Oh, sure!” and “Of course!” and “You betcha!” I gave a sad smile. “Thanks everyone. This means a lot to me.” “So, you were planning on committing a robbery?” Rainbow Dash said suspiciously. “I liked doing it about as much as you, if not less.” I tried not to tear up. “I was only doing it because I needed money, but now that I’m here…” I gestured around me. “No reason now.” Then I remembered something. “Also, I didn’t quit being a comedian. I lied with that. Truth is I got fired by my boss at the new chemical plant Ace Chemicals. Turns out, the story of my accident at the lab years before that killed my family got to him, and my boss felt I was irresponsible. He replaced me with someone else. Cut me off. Comedy was my last resort.” Everyone was wincing. I turned away and said quietly, “Guess I’m crappy at everything.” “You’re not,” Rarity said. “I bet you’re a great person. You’ve been so kind already.” “That’s kinda the same as my backstory.” Ed stepped up from the back, and looked over at them. For some reason, I had the feeling that I knew him. Something about him seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Wait, maybe… “You never said how you got here,” Rarity stated, looking at Ed. The thought that I had had flew away. Crap. I guess I’ll never know. Everyone was looking expectantly at Ed, who I think was sweating. At that moment, Fluttershy spoke up. Actually, being Fluttershy, she didn’t really speak up. She just spoke. “Um…” she confidently began. “Yes, Fluttershy?” Rarity sighed. “Um… you do know that the Grand Galloping Gala is today, right Rarity?” “Oh my stars!” Rarity exclaimed. “I completely forgot.” She put a hoof over her head in a show of drama. “How on earth will I be able to make suits and dresses for all of you?” Grand Galloping what now? I was thinking to myself. These pony puns were going to drive me crazy. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Luigi said, making a time out signal. “Did you say, ‘all of us,’ as in all of us standing here?” “But of course!” Rarity looked over at him as if he was a complete doofus. Which he probably was, from what I knew so far. “I have to make sure all of you are properly dressed.” Wario suddenly released a fart that sounded like a question. “Yes, Wario?” Luigi asked. “Just want to say this,” Wario declared. “I don’t do suits.” “And why not?” Rarity asked in a warning tone. Wario didn’t catch it. “Because they’re too nice. I just itch the whole time.” “You always itch,” Ness remarked, earning a few chuckles. Rarity walked right up to Wario with a severe look. “You are going to wear a suit, whether you like it or not.” Wario farted. I think that’s his opinion on everything. “Anyway,” Mario interrupted, trying to lighten the mood. “Suits. That sounds great.” Rarity instantly forgot Wario, and gave Mario a smile. I inwardly was blessing Mario for saving us from a fashion tirade. “Thank you, darling. I appreciate that somepony likes my work.” She glared at Wario, who gave her a charming fart. Toon Link made a face and walked around Wario, who looked completely unfazed. If I had one word to describe Wario from what I knew of him so far, it would be “disgusting.” “Alright, then,” Applejack said. “Ah’m sure we could all help ya with your work.” “Sure,” Spike said, a little too loudly. When everyone looked at him, he blushed. Now I was almost completely sure that he liked Rarity. I wondered if Rarity liked him back. Oh, the wonderings… “Sounds boring,” Wario muttered, earning a glare from both Applejack and Fluttershy, who were still not happy with him. “Sounds great,” Luigi said quickly. “I’d be glad to help.” Everyone except Wario agreed. “Excellent!” Rarity said. “Well, let’s head to the shop.” “Uh, you mean right now?” Toon Link said in dismay. “There’s no light!” “Early to bed, early to rise,” Rarity called, already heading towards the fence. “Ah guess there’s no stopping that pony,” Applejack remarked with a smirk. “Ah suppose we’d better follow ‘er.” “But we didn’t get to bed until midnight,” Wario complained. He was ignored.By the time 8:30 rolled around, thanks to everyone, even Wario (because Rarity got persuasive with him) helping out, she got all of the dresses and suits completed in record time. She was practically giddy with happiness. “Thank you all so much,” she beamed, giving all of us her billion dollar smile. “I can’t believe we all were able to do all of this so fast!” “It wasn’t a problem,” I said, unwrinkling one of the fine suits she had made. “I’m always glad to help out someone as nice as you.” “You’re too kind,” Rarity exclaimed, blushing. I noticed her giving me one of those looks. It was a look that said “I think you’re pretty handsome.” Great, now I probably had a pony crushing on me. What is the world coming to? “When does the Gala start?” Ness asked, trying to not get his eye poked out by Rarity’s cat, Opalescence. Apparently, he had thrown a ball of yarn to the floor, startling her, and she was now trying to claw at him. He had drawn his baseball bat, and was using it to keep her at bay. Rarity looked at the clock. “Around one o’ clock.” Looking back at them, she said, “I need to find Sweetie Belle right away.” “She’s probably out crusadin’ with Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo,” Applejack stated. “Okay, then,” I said. “I guess Luigi, Rainbow Dash and I will go find them. We’ll be back in a jiffy.” “Sounds good,” Luigi and Rainbow Dash said at the same time. They both wanted to go for two different reasons. Luigi was intrigued to meet the new ponies, while Rainbow Dash wanted to stretch her wings. At least, that’s what I figured. “Good luck,” Rarity called as I went outside with Luigi and Rainbow Dash and closed the door. For a minute, things were kind of awkward. It was very quiet, mainly because since it was so early, nobo… I mean… nopony was up yet. I still had to get used to the Equestrian words. I finally decided to break the awkward silence. Looking at Rainbow Dash, I cleared my throat. “Since you know this place better than either me, or Luigi, where do you think the fillies are?” Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her chin in thought. “They’re probably in the park, inside that clubhouse they built.” “Lead the way,” I declared, and we followed Rainbow towards the Ponyville Park.