Zero Fate

by GreyNimbus


7 — New Human In Town

Starlight and I passed through the entrance to the Town Hall, with me still mounting her (not what you're thinking). Once inside, I find myself in a pretty fancy place. The place looks more like an audience hall than an office. There was a red carpet that stretched out from the entrance to the other end of the building. To my left and right were 2 wide wooden desks with a pony behind each of them. There was also a balcony above them that circled the entire room.

Starlight grabs me with her magic and gently places me on a waiting chair next to the entrance.

"You wait right here while I sort out the paperwork, okay?" She said.

I guess all I need to do is be present. I'll just sit here until she needs me for a signature or something. I gave her a nod.

With that, she trots to the left desk. There was a sign in front of it that said 'Ward Office'. I'm not exactly sure what a ward is. It's not a common word where I come from. I'm so glad I'm not in front of that desk right now.


20 minutes have passed since I began the waiting game. Fortunately, I was born with an exceptional trait of patience. She could take a whole hour and I still wouldn't mind the wait. During that time, I passed the time mostly with my arms folded while rocking my legs back and forth. I suddenly realized that I took my phone with me before we left the castle. I fished through my pockets and pulled it out. This one is the original that Twilight used to make a copy. Still can't believe she pulled it off.

I decided to liven up the atmosphere in the room by playing a song at a low enough volume so as not to disturb anyone.

Press 'Play'.

Sure wish I had my headset with me. I wonder what happened to it. I know I had it with me when I went on that night walk a few days ago.

As the song played, I placed the phone back in my pocket. I then slowly began to fall asleep from this peaceful tune. Before sleep took me (once again), I hear hoofsteps approaching me. I jolt my eyes open to see who it was.

Standing near me was an Earth Pony mare. She had a light grey coat, dark grey mane and tail, and purple eyes. She was also wearing a pink bow-tie with a white collar. We share a look of curiosity at each other. Before I could say anything, she spoke up first.

"Hello there. Are you all alone here?" She said in a sophisticated British accent.

I was a little surprised by her first words to me. I was expecting her to immediately question who or what I am. Instead, she respectfully greets me. Maybe I'm underestimating these pony's acceptance of other creatures.

"Uhh, no, ma'am. I'm here with my friend over there." I answer, pointing towards Starlight who was talking with the receptionist.

The mare looks to where I was pointing and perks her head up with glee.

"Ohh! I know her. That's Starlight Glimmer; Princess Twilight's student. What are you doing here with her?"

That question made me return the favor with a look of suspicion and distrust. The mare noticed and tried to rephrase.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I know it's not my place to stick my nose in your business. I was just curious." She panicked.

"Curious about what?"

"Well... that music. It's coming from that little device, I'm assuming?" She asked, pointing to my phone.

"Oh."

So that's what she was curious about? I was expecting her to ask me about my species.

I pick up the phone and show her what's on the screen. "Yeah, this is a pretty unique item. It's made from advanced technology. It's called a phone. I can use it to communicate with other phones around the world, at least that was its primary use."

She brings her face closer to the screen, admiring the brightness.

"There are many things you can do with this; play music, read, collect information, write down notes, a calendar, an alarm clock, an emergency source of light..."

"I'm amazed by its genius! I haven't seen anything so useful in my life!" she exclaims.

Realizing she has yet to introduce herself, she takes a step back and clears her throat.

"My name is Octavia. Octavia Melody. I'm a musician."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Octavia. I'm Zero Fate. But you can just call me 'Zero'."

She smiled at my attempt at a first impression. I'm not really big on formal greetings.

She moves to a seat next to mine and puts a hoof on it.

"I hope you don't mind?" she asks.

"Not at all." I gestured.

With that, she sets her haunches down on the seat, sitting with the same posture of any other four-legged creature.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you, Zero?" she asks yet again.

"I thought you'd never ask. I'm a human.", I answered. "You've probably never seen any of my kind before."

She shakes her head in response.

"Well, there's a reason for that; I'm not from this world."

She gasps.

"I guess that would explain a lot. Especially when you have a device so small yet functional. How did you get here?"

"No idea." I shrugged. "All I know is that I fell out of the sky at night. But I'm not really interested in all the details. I've decided to stay here."

The song finally ends and I place the phone back into my pocket.

After a pregnant silence, we both asked in unison...

"You know, you remind me of someone."
"You know, you remind me of somepony."

Jynx!

Our simultaneous question earned us a chuckle throughout the great hall. That also earned us some looks from all around us. Their attention was shortly taken elsewhere.

Once the chuckling died down, we both realized that we basically asked the same question.

"Umm..." I said hesitantly, "Ladies first."

Octavia let out another chuckle before being the first to speak. Her expression when she laughed was so cute that the blood started to rush to my face, making my head feel hotter.

"Alright, but only if you're interested." she said, still wearing that cute expression.

"I'm all ears."

"Well, you remind me of my roommate. She's a complete wiz when it comes to modern music. Even though I live with her and we both practice entirely unresponsive genres of music, we still respect each other's ambitions. She's mostly interested in Dubstep. I prefer Classical."

They have Dubstep here? I wanna meet this chick. She sounds promising.

"What's her name?" I ask.

"Vinyl Scratch. DJ-PON3 is her stage name." she answered.

"How original. I never really took up playing any instruments. My mother made me take up piano lessons once, but that only lasted for about 2 weeks."

"Oh? How come?"

"It was her idea to get me out of the house. But she didn't learn until years later that I required the right motivation to do anything. Otherwise, she's just wasting everyone's time."

She responded by tilting her head in curiosity. "I see..."

"Don't get me wrong, I love her to bits. She's just one of those parents who sees a lot of potential in me."

"You know, you're very smart for somepony so young."

"Believe me, I'm older than I look. Anyway, it's my turn. You remind me of another pony I met here a few days ago. She's a white Unicorn with a beautifully curled purple mane and tail. She actually made these clothes for me after my old ones were ruined. You actually share her posh accent. That's what reminded me of her."

Octavia's ears perked up as if she knew who I was talking about.

"This mare... her name wouldn't happen to be 'Rarity', would it?"

"Yeah, that's it. Do you know her?"

"Not personally, only by reputation. She's the most gifted fashion designer in Ponyville. Everypony goes to her boutique for occasional dresses and suits. I actually didn't realize that she made the clothes that you're wearing until you told me. Most impressive."

So Rarity's famous? I guess I should've known since she's friends with a princess.

"Well, as much as I'd like to continue our conversation, I'm afraid I must attend to some errands. I was actually about to leave until I spotted you." She said as she got down from her seat and slowly trotted towards the exit.

"Oh, no problem. I won't hold you up anymore. It was nice speaking to you, Miss Octavia."

"Likewise, Zero, likewise. But please, just 'Octavia' is fine."

"Okay. I hope to see you again soon." I said, waving to her.

She waves back before finally disappearing out of sight through the doors.

"Hmm..." I whispered "What a nice young lady."

Meeting Octavia has raised my hopes of these ponies. They're a lot nicer than I give them credit for. But that's still not enough to lower my guard around those I'm not familiar with. Even while I'm in this younger body, I look like a charity case filled with innocence to the naked eye. But inside beats the heart of Pandora's Box. Hopefully, nobody here will try to push my buttons as soon as they meet me.

I must've been deeper in thought than I realize because I later see Starlight standing in front of me, barely a meter away.

"I've got all the paperwork we need, kiddo. They just need your official signature. Think you can do that for me?" She said, levitating a few sheets of paper.

"Sure thing."

I got down from my seat and followed her to one of the self-service desks.


After 15 minutes of practicing my new signature, Starlight and I were finally done with the paperwork. She was told by the Ward Office that we have to come by again tomorrow to collect my new ID.

The journey back through town seems to go by faster than when we left the castle because sooner I didn't realize that we're already standing in front of our next destination; the school.

I still hate the idea of going back to school, but as an 8-year-old with the knowledge of a 23-year-old, I'm at least 95% sure that I'm gonna ace every subject. The other 5% being history.

We stood outside the gate that leads to the schoolhouse. I look around to see what I'll be spending a lot of my time around. There was a simple square-shaped sandpit that was held up by planks of wood, a pair of swings, and a monkey cage.

...Not impressed.

However, there were a lot of trees surrounding the playground that provide adequate shade.

The main building seemed to be a red barn, but a little smaller than average. Is there only one classroom in this entire school? How long do the kids here even have to attend school? 'Till they're 14? I realize these are questions that I couldn't possibly answer until I ask from the right source.

"This here is the school where you'll be educated. It's almost recess, so we'll have time to talk to Ms. Cheerilee about getting you enrolled."

'Ms. Cheerilee'? It sounds more like the name of a cheerleader rather than a teacher. I wonder...

I looked towards the windows of the schoolhouse, hoping to see what it's like in there from out here. I can see some other foals there. By my count, I'd say there's about a dozen. I can't see any more clearly than that.

After a moment, the school bell finally sounded, signaling the beginning of recess. I decided to dismount Starlight. I wouldn't want the other kids to think that I'm too weak to walk on my own. Afterward, the front door to the schoolhouse opened, with all the little colts and fillies running outside and headed towards the playground.

"That's our cue." Starlight said "C'mon, let's go meet your new teacher."

I gulped nervously, clinging to Starlight's fur. "Okay."

We walked along the little cobblestone pathway between the schoolhouse and the gate. I could already feel the eyes of some of my soon-to-be classmates, some unpleasant and some just plain rude. I don't need to make eye contact with them to know that.

We stopped at the door frame. Starlight knocked on the door frame to gain the attention of the pony behind the teacher's desk.

The mare standing behind it was an Earth Pony. Her coat was sort of mulberry color with a mane and tail like cotton candy and pig pink. Her Cutie Mark appeared to be three smiling daisies.

"Sorry for interrupting you during recess, Cheerilee, but could I trouble you for a moment?" Starlight said considerately.

"Why, of course, Starlight Glimmer. What can I..." She stopped when she saw me.

She lets out a long gasp. She may as well be inhaling.

"Who, umm... who is this you have with you?" Cheerilee asked.

I see what you're doing there, lady. I know what you're thinking. I've been pondering it all day.

"This is Zero Fate. I would like to enroll him at your school." Starlight introduced me.

"Well... I-I guess we have a vacancy for a... new student." Cheerilee hesitated. "I would first need to interview him before I can enroll him, though. Recess just started, so we have 15 minutes to spare."

Cheerilee reached into one of the drawers of her desk and pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil.

"If you'd like to fill out this form, I can submit it to the School Board of Directors." She said.

"Perfect!" Starlight beamed.

Starlight then levitated 2 of the student's chairs for both of us to sit on and placed them in front of Cheerilee's desk. After taking our seats, we looked over the details of the form. Before getting to the first question, she levitated the pencil over the first dotted line.


After 10 minutes of going through the form, we finally finished filling out all the necessary dotted lines. Cheerilee agreed to take the form to the Board of Directors once school was finished for the day. Before the bell marking the end of recess rang, Starlight and I thanked Cheerilee, or Ms. Cheerilee as I should probably start calling her now, then walked out the front door. We managed to book it before the other kids could notice us. I wanna see the looks on their faces when they see that their new classmate is a completely new species.

I was actually quite surprised by that teacher. As soon as I walked in, I could sense that she was giving off the aura of fear, but she overcame that fear in an instant and agreed to let me enroll at her school. To repeat myself; what a nice young lady. I now feel more at ease to go back to school again.

It won't be like that one time when my deadbeat dad just left me in front of a crappy new school on my first day. Lazy old douche didn't even bother escorting me onto school grounds. What did I expect? All my life, he was never there for me.

But I don't have to worry about that anymore. It's been 10 years since I last saw, or even spoke to, him. I'm gonna live for a change!

Anyway, after our engagement at the schoolhouse, Starlight and I made our way towards our third destination. I asked Starlight where we're going next. She decided to be vague with me and answered...

"We're going to a bakery!"