//------------------------------// // Part III - Chapter 9: Welcome to Ponyville // Story: Return of the Mare // by Victoria //------------------------------// Chapter 9 – Welcome to Ponyville The train was moving fast on the railroad. The peaceful countryside flashed past the window. If I didn’t know any better, I would say we were still on Earth. I was sitting between Marcus and Ruby – my two best friends – and listening to Twilight, sometimes glancing out of the window. Twilight was telling us interesting facts about the railroad between Ponyville and Canterlot. It hadn’t been built specifically to connect the two cities; the railroad had been there before and Ponyville had just been founded on it. “Ponyville is not like Canterlot, but I hope you’ll like it too,” Twilight said to us, smiling pleasantly. “It has its charm,” nodded Starlight. Based on what I had already heard, Ponyville sounded delightful. It had become important just recently, after Princess Twilight had set up her residence there, but it was still a small provincial town, just the type I liked. I wasn’t a fan of large cities and while Canterlot wasn’t very big by Earth standards, it still didn’t feel comfortable enough for me. We had been travelling for a few hours already and Twilight announced that we were about to arrive at our destination. I looked out of the window again – a nice town finally appeared in my view. I was excited to finally see it for myself, having heard so much good about it from Twilight. We waited until the train slowed down and went to the exit, preparing to leave. Twilight levitated a big, wrapped box along with her – the magical mirror that Green Fields had let her borrow for a more intimate study. A few ponies got out of the train along with us as soon as it stopped, but not nearly as many as in Canterlot. They quickly disappeared behind the station building and the platform became empty. Not empty, I corrected myself, noticing a strange reptile creature that was waiting for us, leaning onto the wall. Twilight also had noticed the creature and trotted towards him. A smile appeared on the lizard’s face after seeing her approach. “Hello, Spike!” Twilight exclaimed and hugged him tightly. My eyebrows went up. Twilight had mentioned Spike before, of course, but the way she’d talked about him had made me think he was another pony. Instead, he was a purple lizard, standing on two legs with a green mohawk on his head. He looked at our small group out of Twilight’s embrace. “Who are they?” the creature asked, pointing a claw at us. Before Twilight could answer however, Ruby stepped forward with a wide smile and waved a greeting hoof at him. “My name is Ruby and my friends’ names are Marcus and Sundae,” she told him, nodding at each of us respectively. “Are you a dragon? I’ve always wanted to meet one.” “I am. Nice to meet you all,” he greeted us, though he was looking mostly at Marcus. “I’m Spike.” He approached Marcus and looked up at him. We ponies reached up to his belly in height, but Spike was even shorter, so he stood a little higher than Marcus’ knee, like a baby. The guy had to bend down to shake hands with him. It was curious to see that such a tradition existed here, where most of the population didn’t have hands to begin with. I stored that thought in my box of irrelevant facts and forgot about it. After we were done with introductions, Twilight led us directly to her own castle. I could see it even from the station – a large crystal structure that dwarfed the small houses of Ponyville. It looked magnificent, but to be honest, I was more interested in the town itself. If not for the ponies around me, I would think we were in some rural German village. Their houses were simple, with thatched roofs on the top, but very pretty. I wouldn’t mind living in one myself. Once again, the style reminded me of medieval Earth. There was probably a connection hidden somewhere, but it was a question for later. The town appeared quiet, especially in contrast to Canterlot. Maybe even too quiet… I noticed that a few ponies who were walking towards us quickly turned around and ran away. I had an itching suspicion that Marcus was the unintentional reason for such a negative reaction. Marcus apparently thought so too, sharing his concern with the princess. “Ponyville has had too many monster attacks in the past,” she sighed, lowering her ears slightly. “But these ponies are obviously overreacting,” argued Starlight. “Can’t they see us getting along with him just fine?” Twilight just sighed again, having nothing to say in return, and we continued on our path in an uneasy silence. The princess looked upset by the townsponies’ behavior. Her tail was twitching nervously and her ears haven’t been fully her ears were drooping. Spike gently touched her foreleg and said: “Relax, Twilight. They’ll get used to him after a while.” His words proved to be prophetic – a pink pony was running toward us with a happy expression on her face, showing no sign of fear. I noted her weird mane was unlike anything I had seen – it reminded me of a big cotton candy and it was bouncing along with her galloping. In fact, she was so fast that I was starting to fear she was going to crash into us, but the pony stopped sharply a few meters short. “Welcome to Ponyville!” she exclaimed, throwing a bunch of confetti into our faces. Some of them got in my nose and I coughed a little. “I’ve made ribbons for you.” She gave me and my friend each a pink ribbon with the words Welcome to Ponyville written on it. I clumsily grabbed one of them by reflex, but the wind blew it off my hoof. I watched it fly away in sadness. “Don’t worry, I have another one for you,” the pink pony consoled me and quickly put a ribbon in my mane. I slowly stepped back. “Hi, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight, Starlight and Spike said in unison. I had to say, it was quite an appropriate name for a pony of such color. In fact, a lot of ponies I had met personally had an appropriate name, somehow connected to their appearance or occupation. I briefly wondered why I was named Sundae and not Sunglow, for example. It would make much more sense, considering my bright coat. “So you are Pinkie,” I said, relaxing. Starlight had warned me about her…eccentricity, that was the word she used. “I’ve heard a lot about you.” “What a coincidence, I’ve heard about you too!” Pinkie smiled, hopping in place. “You are the pony who’s lived in another world.” That phrase got her a curious glance from Twilight herself, who was just standing there, thinking something to herself. “How do you know?” she asked thoughtfully. “I hadn’t told my friends about her yet.” A mysterious smile grew on Pinkie’s muzzle and she winked at Twilight teasingly. “Pinkie sense,” was her answer, but Twilight obviously didn’t buy it. She continued to watch her with narrowed eyes. “You’ve read Field’s letter to me, haven’t you?” Twilight pointed an accusing hoof at her. Pinkie’s ears drooped and even her mane had become less puffy. The pony reached out to her side and took out an open envelope. She showed it to Twilight. “I’m really sorry, but you just left so suddenly…” Pinkie rambled fast. “You never leave without an explanation and I was worried about you, so I decided–” “To steal a private letter,” Starlight finished for her. Twilight sent an annoying glare in her direction, which Starlight easily ignored. Instead, she looked at Pinkie with a frown of disapproval. “No, I just wanted to read it, silly,” Pinkie booped Starlight’s muzzle. “I would never steal from my friends.” Starlight nervously shifted her weight from one foreleg to another, blushing slightly. “Eh, sorry. It was a bad choice of words,” she said, looking at her hooves. “I didn’t mean to imply…” Pinkie nodded seriously, but her expression changed the next second when she turned her attention to us. I was a little nervous when she suddenly jumped towards me and embraced me in a tight hug that squeezed the air out of me. “You poor thing,” I heard her murmur into my ear. “It must have been terrible to live as a human for so long. But I know just the thing to cheer you up, don’t you worry.” I froze in place and almost fell when Pinkie finally let go of me and went to Ruby instead. It was her turn to receive a hug, but unlike me, she returned it with an enthusiasm rivaled by Pinkie herself. Their good mood was contagious and I found myself smiling when she tried to hug Marcus, but could only hug his knees. He awkwardly patted her on her bouncy mane regardless. Being done with hugs, Pinkie quickly said her goodbyes and ran off. She claimed to be expecting an important delivery, so she had to be there exactly on time. I was still trying to process everything that had happened just now, when Ruby chuckled amusingly. “And I thought I was weird,” she said half-jokingly. “That’s Pinkie for you,” Twilight shrugged casually. “Let’s continue to the castle.” News in Ponyville apparently traveled pretty fast, because after our short meeting with Pinkie many more ponies had gathered on the streets. At least no one tried to run away in panic – they were just going about their own business, though suspicious stares still glared at Marcus’ back when he walked nearby. It was at moments like these that I was glad to be a pony among ponies. Twilight’s castle looked bigger from up close, though it was still far from Canterlot Royal Castle. It was like a cat compared to an elephant in size. It reminded me of a tree in its shape. Starlight had told me that it had grown out of the ground, just like a tree, but the very idea of it sounded preposterous to me, even in this land of magical wonders. A big balcony hung on the wall high above the entrance gates. We walked inside and Spike revealed that he had made some food for us in advance, so he invited everypony to dinner. I was interested in comparing his cooking skills with the ponies in Canterlot’s castle. Twilight led us into a fancy dining room, while Spike went into the other door. The dining room was of a royal size, most likely built – or grown – to handle large meetings, though honestly Twilight didn't strike me as a very social kind of pony. Still, the room was lovely furnished with a large table and chairs that looked very comfortable from the distance. We settled down close together and waited, while Spike went out to bring us the food he’d promised. My chair really was comfortable and it even had a hole to put my tail through, so it wouldn’t get all messed up. Just to think that I had wanted to cut it off a few days ago…ugh. Spike appeared a few minutes later with a bunch of trays full of plates. I looked in amazement at this feat of dexterity – he was balancing half a dozen of them in his small claws and even on his head. I offered to help him, but he rejected it and served the table on his own, almost stumbling a couple of times. I clapped my hooves together in admiration with Ruby and Marcus joining in a few seconds late. Twilight and Starlight exchanged a pleased look with each other. “I want you to take care of our new friends when you're done showing off,” she said, chuckling. “I've got the lab to prepare. Starlight, would you help me?” “What? And miss the dinner?” Spike was downcast by Twilight’s suggestion and he wasn’t trying to hide it. They argued a little, but in the end Twilight excused herself out of dinner and, having grabbed some food to indulge Spike, rushed out of the room. Starlight followed her, after devouring an entire hayburger in one bite. Spike wasn't bothered in the slightest by the responsibility that had suddenly been dropped on his head. He just sat on his chair casually and was fully absorbed in his task. I looked more closely at what he was crunching on with such vigor and opened my mouth in surprise. Spike was eating a gemstone! I would make a fortune by selling one of those babies on Earth and he just ate them like cupcakes! He looked back at me after feeling my intense stare. I felt my cheeks blush after I’d realized that I had been staring quite rudely. “What?” he asked in concern. “Did I get something in my teeth?” “Yeah, dude, you're eating rocks,” Marcus told him sarcastically, before I could have come up with an appropriate answer. “Not just any rocks, but gems!” I exclaimed in alarm. We all gathered closer to him in curiosity. The fact that Spike was eating gems was incredible and I wanted to know more. Even Ruby, who was native to this land, appeared impressed. Though, technically, the dragons weren’t native to this country… “Can ponies eat gems too?” Marcus asked and threw a funny glance at me. I didn’t know the full extent of my pony abilities yet, but I was sure that eating gems wasn’t one of them. Spike’s chuckle proved my guess. He crunched down the last delicious gemstone before answering. “Of course not,” he said. “Only dragons can do that. Though Twilight doesn’t let me eat too much…” he let out a sigh. “Why not?” I asked automatically, but the answer dawned on me immediately after – it must have been expensive to eat gems. On the other hoof, this world could have gemstones lying around in every corner for all I knew. “She says it's like candy for a baby: you simply can't eat too much,” Spike explained, rolling his eyes. “I mostly eat the usual pony food. But she’s so distracted with your mirror now, she won’t even notice that I took some.” Marcus and Spike went into a lengthy conversation about pony cuisine, while I turned my attention to my friend Ruby. She hadn’t joined the conversation so far, since she was busy gulping down a delicious salad with hay fries that Spike had made. Turns out he was a pretty good cook. Or maybe it was just me – everything seemed tastier these days after turning into a pony. In fact, I realized that all of my senses were unusually sharp. But whatever the real reason was didn't matter. I enjoyed the meal very much and that was what was important. “So, are you going to stay in the castle now?” Spike asked. “That’s what Twilight said,” I nodded, making a gesture at the surroundings. “I have to admit, this castle is pretty awesome. There is nothing like that where we came from.” Spike glowed from my words like he was the one who had personally built it. He stood up from his chair and walked up to one of the pillars that decorated the walls. He knocked on it, producing a clacking sound. “The best crystal in all of Equestria,” he commented his action. “Not even the Crystal Empire has crystals this pure. And the best part is – it grew on its own.” “What?” Marcus raised his eyebrows unbelievingly. But Ruby and I weren’t surprised. I had heard the story from Starlight already and Ruby, being local and all, probably knew it too already. Marcus was the only one out of the loop. I had started to explain, but Spike raised his hand, stopping me. He smiled apologetically and said: “Sorry, but I’ve got to tell that story myself,” and he did. Starlight was a pretty good storyteller, but she was nothing compared to Spike; that boy had some talent. While Starlight just retold me the list of events with a little commentary of her own, which was pretty boring, if informative, Spike made it all sound like a real story. “Wow,” Marcus whistled out loud. “Sorry, but did the castle really grow like a tree after Twilight and her friends had defeated the rampaging monster? That’s just…wow.” The door to the room opened and Twilight herself trotted in with a concentrated look on her face. She stopped when she saw Spike standing in his story-telling pose on the table and frowned. “Get off the table, Spike,” she pointed a hoof at him and gestured down. “Relax, Twilight,” Spike jumped down easily and approached her. “I was just telling the guys that awesome story about you.” Even though I’d already known of her achievements before, I looked at Twilight with new eyes now. She probably noticed that, because she blushed slightly and gave us a humble smile. Her wings’ feathers twitched a little, showing her nervousness. “Don’t believe everything Spike says,” she chuckled, patting Spike on his head. “He just loves to exaggerate everything.” Despite what Twilight had said, I believed Spike. His facts were the same, if more colorful, as what I’d heard from Starlight. It was nice to see someone in a position of power to have a simple human – equine – modesty. “I just came here to say that Starlight and I are going be in the lab for a while,” Twilight explained to us. “We’re going to try something on the mirror.” She turned to Spike next. “Would you show our guests to their rooms, please?” “Sure thing, Twilight,” Spike waved his hand dismissively. “Then it’s settled,” Twilight nodded to herself and added, “You all can stay here for as long as you want. Even you, Ruby,” she looked at her just as the mare opened her mouth to say something. The castle looked pretty empty and I was sure it was no trouble for Twilight to spare a few rooms for us, but it was a nice gesture nonetheless. I gave her my thanks in the way of a grateful nod. Having finished business here, Twilight went back to her lab. Spike got to work immediately after, picking up the empty plates from the table. I would have helped, but I decided not to. It wasn’t that I was an unmannered brat – I just wasn’t used to my hooves yet, so trying to move fragile plates seemed like a bad idea. Ruby and Marcus didn’t have that problem, so they offered to help, though Spike rejected it nonetheless. He quickly gathered the rest on his own and carried them out through the side door. He must have left them for later, since he returned the next moment. “Can we see Ponyville first?” I suddenly asked, surprising myself. Ruby seconded my idea, while Marcus just gave a nonchalant shrug. I guess he was still upset because he was stuck in this world, but at least he wasn’t letting it affect us, for which I was grateful to him. “Of course,” Spike said, going towards the door that leads outside. “Your rooms aren’t going anywhere; I can show you around Ponyville first.” We got up and followed him through the wide corridors of the castle onto the street. The sun was still burning hot over our heads. I looked up, hoping to see some pegasi who were supposed to handle the weather, but the sky was clear. The desire to see some pegasus in action hadn’t left me since Starlight had explained the principles of weather in Equestria. Canterlot’s ponies were mostly unicorns and earth ponies; besides, I hadn’t had the time to search the sky for pegasi as I was doing now. “There is supposed to be some rain in the evening today,” Spike said with a hint of worry. “I wonder when Rainbow is going to start on that.” He said Rainbow with an intonation like it was somepony’s name, but he could have meant a colorful nature event as well; ponies’ names were confusing like that. Come to think of it, Starlight had mentioned that one of Twilight’s friends was named Rainbow. The ponies on the streets weren’t as afraid of Marcus as when they had first seen him in the morning. They still preferred to keep their distance, but at least no one was running off in panic. Spike waved to a few of them and they waved back unsurely. We met a lot more ponies on the market. It was busy at this time of day, but not by London standards, so it was okay by me. I watched with interest at what they were buying – it was mostly food, like cabbages or carrots, but there were some household items too. Marcus was careful not to bump into anypony and he was doing a great job, until he literally stepped on somepony’s extensively long pink tail. The yellow pegasus – the owner of said tail – looked back and froze with a horrified expression on her face. She lifted her gaze to Marcus’s face and let out a barely audible squeak. Marcus immediately let go of her tail and offered a sincere apology to the pony. “I-it’s okay,” she stuttered meekly. “I’m sorry my tail got in your way…” “Hey, Fluttershy,” Spike greeted her. Fluttershy looked at him with relief, noticing him for the first time. Spike took her tail and brushed it with his palms, cleaning off the dirt, while explaining why she shouldn’t be afraid of Marcus. He shook the tail one last time – it was as clean as it had been before meeting Marcus’ boot. While they were busy, I thought that I had seen some spooky blue eyes looking at me out of the barrel that stood next to one the stalls, but when I looked closely nothing was there. I threw it out of my mind and paid attention to Fluttershy. I recognized her name – she was one of Twilight’s famous friends. Once again, I pointed out how the name was appropriate for the pony. Based on her behavior so far it was hard to imagine her battling monsters. Maybe she wasn’t always so…shy. “What is your name?” it took me a moment to realize that Fluttershy was asking me. “Eh…” I wanted to say Annie, but that name no longer felt like mine now. If I was serious about reclaiming my old self, I needed to start using my true name instead. “It’s Sundae.” Marcus looked at me with understanding and Ruby smiled encouragingly. They both already saw me more as a pony – even Marcus, who had known me as a human for all my life in his world. “They’re staying in Twilight’s castle for now,” Spike explained to Fluttershy. He told her the short version of our story and when he got to the part about me having been a human until a week ago, she gasped in shock. “Oh my goodness, that must have been horrible!” she exclaimed and gasped again, darting her eyes at Marcus. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” “Relax, I get it,” Marcus waved his arm, which seemed to calm the pony a little. “I have to finish my shopping list,” Fluttershy said apologetically. “But I hope we’ll talk later. I want to hear more about this human world, if you don’t mind.” We didn’t, Marcus assured her. Fluttershy also invited us to visit her anytime we wanted, but she also warned us about a bear who apparently lived with her. I didn’t know what my friends were thinking, but for me it kind of ruined the chances of getting anywhere near her cottage. We parted ways after that. Spike led us away from the market and into the town itself. We were just strolling through the street, entertaining ourselves by talking. He was telling us interesting facts about Ponyville – it had been built next to the Everfree Forest, for example. The forest had a bad reputation and for good reason – dangerous monsters inhabited it and sometimes even dared to attack Ponyville. Though such attacks had become a thing of the past after Twilight had settled here. But Ponyville wasn’t only known for its frequent monster attacks and disasters. Usually it was a pretty calm town. According to Spike, it was also the hometown of a world-famous fashionista and dressmaker. He was going to introduce us to her. That arose a great deal of interest in me. I was meaning to ask where I could find some pony clothes and a dressmaker was just the pony I needed. Though I doubted that I could afford her clothes – I couldn’t afford anything, since I had no money at all. I wasn’t planning to live with Twilight forever, so maybe looking for a job was in order. I decided to discuss it with Ruby on our way to the fashionista, since Ruby had expressed her desire to find a job and her own place to stay. “Ruby? I need your advice,” the mare looked at me curiously, encouraging me to continue. I cleared my throat. “Do you think it’s possible to find a job for me here?” “Job?” Spike answered instead. “Twilight would help you with everything you need, don’t worry.” “I need a job,” I said stubbornly. “I don’t want to be indebted to somepony, even somepony as nice as Twilight.” Ruby nodded with approval, clearly pleased with my line of thinking. Spike shrugged, showing that he wasn’t going to argue here. I appreciated that. “It wouldn’t hurt to have something to do too,” said Marcus. I guess we all had a common ground here. The only thing left to do was to actually find a job. I was sure that Twilight would help with that if I asked, but I wanted to handle it on my own. It would be a cinch, for sure. I looked up at the sky above us and finally saw a pegasus flying there. The pony with wings was moving a cloud somewhere, which was amazing. I pointed it out to Marcus and Ruby with a silly smile on my face. Marcus shared my excitement, while Ruby looked like she was dying from boredom. I wish I had wings – that way I would apply for a weather job. It sounded like a good thing to do. But since I didn’t, there was no point in thinking about it, unless I was transformed one more time, which was doubtful. At least I had my horn and could learn to do magic, unlike both of my friends. “I’m sure there are couple of simple jobs for us in town,” Ruby said. “Isn’t that right, Spike?” “What?” Spike obviously wasn’t listening, judging by the dreamy look on his face. Ruby had to repeat her question for him. “Oh, yes. Maybe Rarity would have something to do in her store.” The prospect of working at a store didn’t thrill me. I was hoping for something more exciting than a simple job at a counter again. Then I lowered my ears in shame, remembering Ruby’s life after I had disappeared. Working at a store would probably be a huge improvement for her. Some clanking noise from the side alley distracted me from my thoughts. I stopped to take a closer look and saw a tiny baby alligator standing on a crate. It would have been a pretty strange sight for me before, but after flying ponies and magical castles my concept of weird had changed, so I just shrugged and trotted forward to catch up with my friends. They were just crossing a bridge over a stream, getting out into an open park with various tents set up on its ground. One of the tents was much bigger than the others. Upon looking at it more closely, I discovered that it wasn’t a tent at all – the cone-shaped building was just decorated as one. Its blue walls were covered by a pattern around the two big windows on the front. The second level of the building was thinner than its base and decorated with wooden horses, similar to that on a carousel. One of them also hung over the purple front door, wearing a dress. Even without the telling sign, I would have guessed that we were at the dressmaker’s shop by Spike’s eagerness alone. A “closed” sign was displayed on the door, but Spike just ignored it. The dragon approached the door with a jumping walk and knocked. It took a few more knocks before a delicate feminine voice from inside the shop said I’m coming. In the next moment the door opened. I recognized Rarity immediately. I thought that Spike was exaggerating her beauty, but I had been badly mistaken. Her coat was clean white and almost glowing; Ruby nervously stepped from one leg to another, no doubt embarrassed of her own coat with various dirty spots on it. Rarity’s purple mane was even more amazing than her coat –it sprung from her head, curling up on the end, giving her an elegant appearance. I suddenly remembered the last time I had brushed my mane was a few days ago, which had probably taken its toll on it. “Hello, Spike!” she greeted the dragon and then turned her attention to us, holding her stare on Marcus a few seconds longer. “You didn’t warn me that you were bringing along some new friends.” “Sorry, I was just showing them around town and I couldn’t miss the main event,” Spike smiled in his attempt at flattery, pointing at the store with his claw. “That’s nice, dear,” Rarity smiled, but I could see that her smile was a little stretched. “It’s just not the best moment for an excursion…My store is closed for now as you can see.” She gently pointed at the “closed” sign with her hoof. “But come on in since you’re already here.” She disappeared inside the shop, leaving the door opened. We promptly followed right behind. “She didn’t look very happy to see us,” Marcus whispered to me and Ruby. Spike had obviously heard him and gave him the stink eye. “She’s just had a bad day, dude, that’s all,” he said, thrusting an accusing finger at him. Marcus just shrugged casually, not caring enough to argue the point. I personally didn’t see the conflict in combining both of their opinions – Rarity wasn’t happy to see us because she’d had a bad day, plain and simple. My eyes went all over the place when I saw the various dresses displayed in the shop. They were displayed on special ponnequins. I wasn’t much of an expert on pony fashion, but for me each of the dresses looked fabulous and expensive. It was incredible that they had all been made by just one pony. We quickly got past them and into the kitchen. Rarity showed us to the table and then levitated a bunch of cups onto it, filling them from a teapot. The nice aroma of the fresh tea reached my nose. “Would you like some crackers with it?” she asked, levitating a bag of them out of the cupboard. She spilled them into a bowl after receiving our positive nods. We sat in a slightly awkward silence, sipping tea and nibbling crackers. I almost spilled it on me – my hoof motoric wasn’t all that great yet. “I couldn’t help but notice that you’re wearing the jacket I’ve made,” Rarity addressed me, finally breaking the silence. Oh, that was the same Rarity who had gifted it to Starlight. I wondered why I hadn’t made this connection before. I would probably have taken it off before coming here to avoid just such a situation. “Em…Yes,” there was no point in denying the obvious. “Made specifically for Starlight,” Rarity clarified after a pause. Well, that was getting awkward. “It’s a beautiful jacket, Rarity,” Spike said, hoping to diffuse the situation, but one glance at her face made him stop. “How can I hope to be a successful designer when even my friends don’t want to wear the clothes I’ve made?” she exclaimed, drooping her ears and slumping into the chair, her eyes wet from tears. “Are you okay, filly?” Ruby asked, even though she obviously was not. I gripped my teacup hard in my hooves and watched the devastated pony in front of me. I wanted to say something to calm her down, but I was afraid to upset her even more. Finally, I found a way. “Starlight gave it to me because I was struggling with being a pony,” I said. Rarity gave me a surprised stare. “That jacket helped me overcome some of my fears.” Taking his cue, Spike quickly told Rarity our story, which she listened to with great interest. She recovered while he was talking and by the time he was done, she was showing a calm exterior. “Oh,” Rarity said, blushing embarrassingly after he was done, “I guess I overreacted a little. Though it’s been a very stressful day for me, but that’s no excuse, of course.” “Damn right it’s not,” Ruby said quietly, but everypony had heard her. I looked at her incredulously and she smiled, drooping her ears. “I mean it is…” “I understand,” I interrupted her, addressing Rarity herself. “Your dresses are great, by the way.” Rarity bowed her head at me, showing more regality in that one move than I’d seen in Twilight since I’d first met her. I guess I got why Spike was so obsessed with her. I definitely wanted to get to know her better. “Would you like to try some?” she offered me with a warm smile. I shook my head, hoping that my rejection wouldn’t upset her too much. Trying on a dress I couldn’t afford would just make me feel bad, but I didn’t want to admit it to Rarity. “Did something happen, Rarity?” Spike asked with concern in his voice, before she could react. She sighed heavily. “It’s nothing, really…” she started denying it, but trailed off. “You’re going to keep asking until I say it, won’t you?” Spike nodded with a smug grin. “Okay, I’m waiting for a letter from Manehattan. My whole career literally depends on it! How could I not worry?” Rarity threw her hooves into the air dramatically. I noticed how Ruby rolled her eyes in the corner of my vision, but everyone else thankfully had missed it. Spike was looking at Rarity with concern, while Marcus wore a puzzled expression. He wasn’t used to such expressive emotions. “What’s so important about that letter?” Spike asked. “It’s going to tell me if I got the permission to open a boutique in Manehattan!” Rarity loudly exclaimed and covered her muzzle with a hoof embarrassingly. “Sorry, I’m just stressed out. I was supposed to have gotten that letter days ago. I even went to the post office, but they said it hadn’t arrived yet. What if I was denied? What if–” “Quit it, for Celestia’s sake!” Ruby interrupted her rant. Rarity stopped with an open mouth. She slowly closed it. “Of course you will get the permission. You’re friends with the Princess; no one would dare to deny you.” Ruby stood with her ears flat against her head and with her forelegs on the table, glaring at Rarity. I had suspected that the two hadn’t hit it off from the start, but I hadn’t realized how bad it was. I felt like I had to say something. “Calm down, please,” I said, gently putting my hoof over Ruby’s. That earned me a glare from her, but at least she didn’t swat my hoof away. “Well, excuse me for caring about my business, darling,” Rarity snapped back, having recovered from the initial shock. “A quality that you obviously lack.” She looked her over meaningfully, no doubt referring to the rough condition of her coat. Marcus facepalmed and I completely understood his feelings. I didn’t want my friend arguing with one of Twilight’s best friends, especially over something so petty. Before I could try anything though, Spike jumped onto the table between them. “Everypony just stop before you both say something you’ll regret,” he said, trying to sound reasonable. It was a pretty good attempt if you asked me. It wasn’t his fault that it failed. “The way you whine about tiny problems makes me sick,” Ruby continued, ignoring Spike’s advice. “Other ponies live in poverty while you just sit in your fancy house, selling some useless rags!” Rarity and Spike both gasped in shock. I felt my hooves go cold – it was never a good idea to insult someone’s life work, especially when it wasn’t justified. I jumped at my hooves, ready for anything. “I…You…Get out of my house!” Rarity screamed, unshed tears in her eyes. Ruby stomped her hoof on the table, making a dent in its wooden surface and stormed out of the kitchen. I could hear the entrance door slamming from here. An uncomfortable silence hung in the room once again. Spike was looking at the dent absent-mindedly; Marcus just sat in his place, tapping some melody with his fingers. Rarity appeared hypnotized by his movements. “I’m really sorry; my friend was way out of line here,” I said, drooping my ears. I felt guilty for some reason. “I guess I should go too…” “Don’t be silly, dear. I’m not blaming you for what happened,” Rarity said with a forced smile. She didn’t, but I did. I shouldn’t have rushed into a friendship with somepony I barely knew. Maybe the Sundae of the past had been a friend of hers, but I had no clue who Ruby really was. I had liked her at first, but now I wasn’t sure what to think. “I overreacted a little too, I guess,” said Rarity, settling back on the chair, “But that’s no excuse for her rudeness.” I silently nodded, examining my hoof that had suddenly become very interesting. Of course, I was just trying to mask my discomfort. Another loud bang coming from the shop made us all jump in our seats. I turned to face the door, fully expecting Ruby to come in with guns blazing, but a blue pony stumbled into the kitchen instead; I could hear something falling behind her as she made her entrance. It definitely wasn’t Ruby. This pony had a tighter body and looked much more athletic than my friend in general. She also was the owner of a pair of wings, which was obvious, since they stuck out from her sides fully open. “Should have known you’d be here, Spike,” she grinned widely, winking at the little dragon. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Her eyes went wide when she noticed Marcus towering over everypony. He lifted his hand in greeting and gave her a friendly nod. “Who in Tartarus are you?” “Have some manners, Rainbow,” Rarity frowned at her. “They’re my guests.” Rainbow, huh. It made a lot of sense considering her colorful mane. She was another one of Twilight’s famous friends I’d heard about from Starlight and Spike. At this point, I think I had met all of them. Or not… I had a vague feeling that there was one more pony I was missing. “Eh, sorry, pal,” Rainbow ruffled her colorful mane with a hoof, making Rarity cringe in silent horror. “No problem,” Marcus said calmly and introduced himself to Rainbow. “Me and Annie – or Sundae – are from another world. Spike will tell you the full story, if you want.” Spike was about to open his mouth to start retelling the story yet again, but Rainbow stopped him with a hoof. “It can wait,” she said him. “I’ve wasted enough time already looking for you. Let’s go.” “What? Go where?” Spike asked in surprise. “I’ll explain on the way,” Rainbow shot at him and went out of the door, fully expecting him to follow. Spike remained in his place, crossing his arms on his chest. The pegasus returned a few seconds later, throwing an annoyed look at him, which didn’t concern Spike in the slightest. “I swear, if it’s one of your pranks again…” Spike trailed off meaningfully. Rainbow Dash growled in annoyance, flicking her tail wildly. She put a whole lot of effort into answering calmly. “I’m telling you again – I’m sorry! I learned my lesson then and it won’t happen again. I need you for something else entirely.” Spike still watched her suspiciously with his narrowed eyes. I could see that it would take much more than a simple denying act from Rainbow to convince him. But finally, Spike sighed. “Fine. Tell me what it is…” he asked Rainbow with resignation. She didn’t need to be asked twice. “I need a judge for a competition!” She exclaimed. “And who would be better than you?” “Em, Twilight? She has experience with that kind of stuff,” Spike said, unmoved by Rainbow’s blatant flattery. Rainbow Dash shook her head angrily, waving her mane all around. Her eyes flitted from Spike to everypony else in the room and finally stopped on Marcus. A wide smile appeared on her face. “Hey, big guy,” she addressed him, “Are you up for being our referee since Spike got cold feet?” I could see what was going on – Rainbow Dash wanted to play the chicken move on Spike. Her plan was transparent for me, but apparently not for Spike himself. “Hey, I’m not afraid; I just don’t want to get into another one of your pranks,” Spike retorted, offended. The pony smiled cunningly, seeing that her plan was succeeding. “I told you, it’s not a prank,” Rainbow said more seriously. “Me and Applejack just had an argument and I want to settle it once and for all.” “Oh my, I hope it’s nothing serious,” Rarity said, drooping her ears slightly. Rainbow just shrugged at that. I looked at Rarity with concern. She had just been attacked by my friend and another fight between her own friends wasn’t something that she needed right now. “It’s quite serious. Applejack doesn’t believe that I could eat more apples than her in one minute,” she said. Rarity laughed at that for a couple of moments, but then stopped, noticing Rainbow’s frown. The pegasus hovered over the floor in agitation. “This is serious! My reputation is at stake,” she assured us. “Let’s go, Spike. Applejack is getting everything ready on her farm.” Before agreeing to anything, Spike looked at us apologetically. “You won’t mind staying at Rarity’s, guys?” he said. “I’m sure it won’t take too long.” “Can’t we just go with you? I’m kind of bored anyway,” said Marcus. I wasn’t sure what to say myself. I wanted to stay with Rarity to make sure she wasn’t too upset by my friend’s behavior earlier, but I also wanted to stay close to Marcus. Happily, my problems were solved by Rarity words. “I’ll go too,” she said with a sigh. “I’m not in the mood to work anyway.” Great, now we didn’t have to separate. Spike rapidly nodded in agreement, glad that Rarity was coming along. Her horn glowed and the empty cups from the table flew off to the kitchen sink to be dealt with later. We all went to where Rainbow was leading us. I was a little worried for my friend Ruby. What would she do if if she decided to come back and apologize, but didn’t find us here? And where did she run off too in in this town that was unfamiliar to her? Ponyville appeared like a nice and quiet place, so I was sure nothing bad would happen to her while wandering alone on the streets. It wasn’t even dark yet, so she should be fine. I tried to put those thoughts aside – it was her own fault anyway. In case of trouble, she could just return to Twilight and wait for us there. *** The farm was outside of Ponyville itself, which was to be expected. We walked on the road along an apple orchard. The apple trees were planted on both sides, protected by a small fence. Rainbow Dash hovered above the road in front of us, lazily flapping her wings to stay in the air. Marcus and I were looking at her flight in fascination. It would be awesome to stay in the air like that; too bad I didn’t have wings. “Are you enjoying the view?” Rarity asked out of the blue. I suddenly realized that me looking at Rainbow’s behind could be interpreted wrongly by any observer. Judging by Marcus’ reddening face, he had realized the same thing. “W-what do you mean?” I asked, my cheeks burning in embarrassment. “Why, the orchard, of course,” Rarity said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “What did you think I was talking about?” “Exactly this,” I lied, waving my hoof to encompass the surrounding trees. They really did look pretty. I glanced at Rarity and she gave me a mischievous wink. She had been playing with me! That made me blush even more for some reason. Good thing Rainbow was too concentrated on flying to pay attention to anything around her. “Yep, the trees here are cool,” she said, proving my guesses wrong. “Applejack sure knows her stuff. Still gonna beat her, though.” “I’m not so sure about that, Rainbow…” Spike said from behind, panting heavily. “You’re the judge, Spike, so you’re supposed to be the neutral one here,” Rainbow retorted. Spike just shrugged and concentrated his efforts on keeping up with everypony else. His legs were pretty short compared to the others, especially to Marcus. I wondered if somepony would carry him for a while to make it easier on him. I saw Twilight doing that on our way to her castle, so I wouldn’t be insulting ponies if I offered the idea. The more I thought about that, the more I realized that I was the only option for him. Rarity didn’t strike me as the kind of pony who would carry others on her back and Rainbow…she just looked so tense right now. Truth be told, I had always wondered how horses felt when they carried people on their back; now it was my chance to finally find out. Here it goes. “Em, Spike?” I asked him, not sure how to bring it up. He looked at me in question. “I see that you’re tired. Hop on my back; I’ll carry you the rest of the way.” Spike jumped on me without any questions in one experienced move. He wasn’t very heavy; in fact, I barely felt his weight. I continued trotting forward just as lightly as before that. The others took my action for granted except for Marcus, who gave me a funny look. I ignored it – he was the one who thought I should embrace being a pony in the first place after all, so he didn’t have any reason to be surprised. I caught a movement in the corner of my eye and sharply looked to the side, but there was nothing except for some trees and a lone haystack just lying there. I thought it was out of place, but what did I know about farming…I could swear it twitched a little as I turned away from it, but I wasn’t paying attention to it anymore. We didn’t have to walk far after that. Rainbow took a turn and we got to the entrance in the form a wooden arch, decorated with fake red apples. The farm yard was right behind it. A big red barn with windows stood there along with smaller buildings, most likely for the animals. A few small fields spread out into the open space behind the fence with some crops on them. An orange pony with a large brown stetson hat on her head was putting a large bowl of apples on a table. She saw us too and waved her hoof in greeting. I recognized her as Applejack from previous descriptions. She trotted towards us to meet us. “Howdy, y’all,” she welcomed us with a weird accent that was somehow familiar to me. “See you brought some new friends to see your humiliation, Dash.” She ignored red-faced Rainbow and turned to me and Marcus. “Name’s Applejack.” We introduced ourselves in turn and we shook hooves. It still felt weird to do it without fingers, but I was handling it a lot better than before. “So now that you all know each other, let’s start!” Rainbow called to us from the table impatiently. Spike jumped off my back, went to the table and climbed on top of it easily. He looked at the two big bowls of apples curiously and scratched his head. “Maybe you should explain the rules to me since I’m the judge and all?” he asked Rainbow. “Oh, right,” she chuckled nervously, while Applejack took her place on the opposite side of the table from her. “You see these apples? There is supposed to be the same number of them in each bowl. Me and Applejack are going to eat them for one minute and whoever has more apples in their bowl by the end is the loser!” she looked at Applejack pointedly and the pony answered with a snort. “Just say it and we’ll begin!” “Aren’t you going to make sure there’s the same amount of apples in each bowl?” Marcus asked, crossing his arms on his chest. Applejack gave him a flat look, while Rarity smiled instead. “No one ever doubts Applejack’s honesty,” she told him as if it explained everything. Marcus didn’t appear convinced though and neither was I. As much as I wanted to believe everypony was pure of heart, even the most admirable of people, or ponies in this case, wouldn’t resist to help themselves a little in a situation like this. No one would notice if a few apples were missing from Applejack’s bowl before the competition started. Anyway, the competition was about to begin despite what Marcus and I thought about it. Spike counted to three and waved his hand sharply, signaling the start. Both competing ponies assaulted the apples in front of them with ferocity. Rainbow was gulping down one after another, not even bothering to chew them. Applejack was much more calm about it, but despite her casual attitude, or maybe because of it, her apples disappeared into her mouth faster than Rainbow’s. Just a few seconds were left before the end, when Rainbow, seeing that she was about to lose, doubled her efforts. Spike whistled, putting a stop to their activities. I couldn’t say who had won just by looking at the bowls. Both were half-empty and anypony might have been the victorious one here. Looks like Spike would have to count the apples first. “Are you ready to lose, Applejack?” Rainbow poked the farm pony in her chest. “Only after you, Rainbow Dash,” she answered with her own poke. While they were bantering with each other, Spike was doing his job. He overturned one bowl, throwing all the apples onto the ground and was picking them out one by one. Then he repeated the same operation on the second bowl. When he was done, he took a piece of parchment and wrote down the results. “About time!” exclaimed Rainbow, hovering above the table anxiously. “So, who’s won?” Applejack leaned forward, no doubt interested in the answer as much as her pegasus friend. Spike held a dramatic pause, cleared his throat and took the pose of a royal announcer. “The winner is…” he looked at both ponies, squirming nervously, “Applejack!” “What?!” Rainbow’s face turned into a scowl. Applejack, on the other hoof, looked happy. She smiled smugly at Rainbow Dash, who had landed on the grass, smashing a stray apple under her hooves. “No need to waste a perfectly good apple, Dash,” she commented with a slight frown. Rainbow glowered at her instead of an answer. “Congratulations, I guess,” she said through her teeth. Applejack nodded gratefully. She approached Rainbow and patted her on her back. “You were doing great,” she said reassuringly and after a small pause added, “For a pegasus.” Rainbow growled in annoyance and took off into the sky, disappearing from view. Applejack chuckled heartily at that. Rarity trotted to her, looking up into the sky where Rainbow had gone. “That was a little too much, don’t you think, darling?” she said with disapproval. I silently agreed with her. Rainbow had already lost, there was no reason to rub it in. She didn’t look like the type of pony who enjoyed losing. I didn’t know anyone who would, to be honest. “Don’t you fret over it,” Applejack waved her hoof dismissively. “You know she would be insufferable if she had won.” “That’s true,” Rarity admitted with a sigh. “But still…” Applejack shrugged, showing that she wasn’t interested in continuing this conversation. Instead, she turned her attention to Marcus and looked him over. “Never seen your type around here. Marcus, right?” she waited for his nod of confirmation and continued. “Are you Spike’s friend from the Dragon Lands?” The Dragon Lands? It was probably the place where Spike was from. It made sense that the other dragons lived there, considering he was the only dragon I had seen so far. But Spike looked nothing like Marcus, except for the fact that they both were bipedal. “He’s not a dragon, Applejack,” Spike pointed out. “But you’re right, he’s not from around here. He and Sundae, the pony you see here, are actually from…” He told her our story from the beginning. I noticed a few small details that hadn’t been there before, but I didn’t bother to correct Spike. If anything, it just made the whole story sound cooler and less depressing. We finished eating the remaining apples from the bowl while listening to the story. They were exceptionally delicious and juicy. Without a doubt, they were the best apples I had ever eaten in my whole life! “These apples are perfect,” Marcus put my exact thoughts into words, taking a bite from a big red apple in his palm. “We pride ourselves in the quality of our apples here at Sweet Apple Acres,” answered Applejack with a bow. Soon, Applejack said that she had to get back to work. We helped her to take the table back into the barn and cleaned up the yard a little. We left the farm in a good mood. *** After getting back to Ponyville, we decided to head straight for the castle. We all were a little tired after walking through most of the town, though I wasn’t so sure about Spike, since he had been sitting on my back for half of the way. Rarity decided to stick with us, saying that she wanted to visit Twilight. Spike was only too happy to hear that, but I was slightly worried. Ruby was probably waiting for us in the castle and going there with the pony she’d had a fight with wasn’t the best idea. But I couldn’t express my complaints – it wasn’t even my castle to begin with; I couldn’t just forbid ponies to visit the Princess, especially if they were her friends. The castle was already close, when a pink furball suddenly bumped into Spike, throwing him off my back onto the ground. The furball revealed herself to be the first pony I’d met in Ponyville – Pinkie Pie. “Spike! What a surprise to meet you here!” she jumped on her hooves, helping Spike to get up. “I actually live here,” he answered, pointing his hoof at the castle behind her. Pinkie giggled at his answer. “I know, silly,” she said and then whispered something into his ear. My ears swiveled in their direction automatically, but I couldn’t pick up any discreet sound. “Oh, I see,” Spike nodded and turned to us. “We can’t go to the castle yet. Apparently, there is a big clean up going on right now.” Pinkie nodded a few times with a wide smile on her face, confirming Spike’s words. I wondered why she was so happy. Did she love cleaning up so much? “How long will it take?” Rarity inquired calmly. Pinkie considered something in her mind before answering: “Come back in an hour; everything should be ready by then.” I wasn’t completely sure, but something bothered me about the whole deal. Pinkie was looking at me mysteriously with a foxy grin, which made me kind of nervous. Spike jumped on my back while I was deep in thought and I jerked in surprise. He patted me on my side to calm me down. “Let’s go, everypony,” he said. “There is a park nearby, we can spend some time there.” *** The next hour was spent doing nothing in the park. I had a long conversation with Rarity about the importance of clothes for humans, while lazily lying on the grass. Rarity was talking with me from a bench – she didn’t want to ruin her coat. Rarity was interested to know that humans, unlike ponies, wore clothes most of the time. She threw a curious glance at Marcus, who was busy talking with Spike in a distance. “I wonder how you humans look under all of these clothes,” she said thoughtfully. Her offhand comment made me blush and she noticed that. A smile of amusement grew on her face. “Did I say something inappropriate, darling?” Rarity asked innocently. I carefully considered what to say and in the end, I decided to answer honestly. “Yes, kind of,” Rarity’s smile changed to a concerned frown and I rushed to calm the pony. “But not that much! It’s just that humans think it’s indecent to be out nude. I had the same problem at first, but now I’m kind of used to it…” “I guessed as much,” nodded Rarity seriously. “There were pony cultures in the distant past that had the same ideas and I thought it might be the case with humans. I’m sorry if my little teasing got to you.” “It’s fine,” I assured her. I wasn’t upset, I just wasn’t used to such jokes. The conversation switched to more innocent topics like the weather. It wasn’t just some pleasant nonsense that people would talk about usually; here in Equestria, the weather was truly interesting with all the pegasi responsible for making it. “I can make something specifically for you,” Rarity suddenly offered, taking me by surprise. It took me a moment to come up with an answer that wouldn’t upset her. “I don’t think I could pay for it right now…” I started unsurely, but Rarity interrupted me with a hoof gesture. “Don’t be ridiculous, darling,” she smiled at me. “You can consider it as my welcome gift to you. Come to my shop tomorrow and I’ll take the measurements.” I nodded gratefully to Rarity – since it was a gift, there was no point in denying it. I felt like already more than an hour had passed since our meeting with Pinkie, when Spike finally approached us. He was sitting on Marcus’s shoulders and looked at us from high up. “Found a new ride, I see,” I commented dryly. Not that it was anything important for me anyway. Spike chuckled, rubbing his spikes nervously. Rarity watched him in amusement and I let out a tiny smile too. “Yep,” he finally shrugged. “Much better view from here. Anyway,” – he continued after a small pause – “we must go to the castle. I’m sure everything should be ready by now.” He gave me a small wink, which I wasn’t sure if I understood. Was he trying to hint at something? I didn’t know, but I guess I would find out more at the castle. I stood on all fours and stretched myself. My muscles were stiff from the long period of lying on the grass. Rarity stretched as well, but with much more grace than I could possibly hope for. We walked back to the castle, which wasn’t far away from here. Ponies on the street were avoiding us by a large margin, which was better than the outright fear they’d shown in the morning. I was happy to see that – it would be much more difficult for Marcus to stay here if everypony ran away in panic at the first sight of him. Soon we were at the castle’s main doors. No guards were in sight, which wasn’t surprising. Twilight had told us that she’d had no time to set up her own guard. I found it a little strange – in my mind it was too dangerous to leave such important objects without some sort of protection. Maybe Equestria was safer than Earth or Twilight was just that confident in her magic abilities… Marcus opened the door wide open and we followed him. It was unusually dark inside and it only got darker when the doors closed behind us. I couldn’t see a thing. A worry settled in my heart – I felt a presence of someone in the darkness around us. Is there a switch somewhere to turn on the light? “SURPRISE!” a loud shout into my face dropped me onto my haunches. The light flashed brightly and it took a few moments for my eyes to adjust. When they did, however, I saw Pinkie Pie with a colorful party hat on her head standing right in front of me, staring into my eyes with a wide grin. She put another hat on me and then did the same with Marcus – she had to jump to reach his head. A lot of ponies were cheering in the foyer of the castle. With a sense of relief, I noticed Ruby among them. She was still my friend, despite her rough behavior earlier. She lowered her gaze after meeting my eyes. I would have liked to talk to her, but more pressing matters were demanding my attention. For example, what the hay was happening?! Had Pinkie Pie organized all of this for some reason? “This is a party for you!” she poked a hoof at my chest to leave no doubt who she had meant. “And for you too!” she pointed at Marcus now. My friend blinked stupidly, dumbfounded by this turn of events. Pinkie giggled, seeing his reaction. “Welcome to Equestria!” *** The party had been going on for hours. I had never been a party girl – the only party I had ever been to was our ex-boss’s birthday at the store. But this time was different. Pinkie was bouncing between me and Marcus, trying to engage us in different activities. Even I had found some of them fun, like Pin the Tail on the Pony. Marcus had tried it once and I laughed hard when he pinned the tail somewhere around the drawn pony’s muzzle. A lot of ponies were also interested in our story, but I quickly grew tired of repeating it, so I delegated this to Spike since he already knew it perfectly. He didn’t mind – he seemed to enjoy the popularity. Some curious and brave ponies had approached Marcus to start a conversation. I would have liked to stay and listen, but I had other things on my mind. Ruby walked up to me when I was talking with Rarity about different techniques of grooming your coat. I didn’t want to make a bad impression on the local ponies with my disheveled appearance and Rarity, with her perfect coat, clearly knew how to achieve it. I could see Rarity tense up when Ruby came to us. She watched my friend suspiciously, fully expecting her to throw another tantrum, but I knew that wasn’t it. Ruby had come to apologize. “I’m very sorry, Rarity,” she said, drooping her ears. “I kind of overreacted…” Rarity was silent for a moment, considering her answer. I put a hoof on her withers for support and she sighed quietly. “Everypony has their rough moments,” Rarity said finally and her face softened. “The important thing is that you’re ready to admit your wrongs and seek forgiveness.” Ruby’s ears perked up and a smile grew on her face. She shook a hoof with Rarity and joined our conversation. Turns out she knew a few grooming techniques of her own. I couldn’t have guessed it by looking at her worn out coat. “Not to be rude, darling, but your coat needs a little more caring,” Rarity brought up what was on my mind. “Perhaps you’d like to visit the spa with me. I have a visit scheduled for tomorrow; I could take both of you along with me.” Ruby frowned slightly, having been reminded of her less than perfect condition, but I knew that Rarity was only trying to help. Before Ruby could say something that she’d regret, I took Rarity’s generous offer, answering for both of us. “Excellent!” Rarity exclaimed excitedly. “I love going to the spa, but it’s a little boring going there alone.” We chatted for some more before we all got sucked into another one of Pinkie’s games. It included a lot of jumping and by the time we were done I was barely standing on my hooves. Rarity and Ruby had been lost among the other guests for me, so I decided to look for Starlight. By questioning random ponies, I learned that she had left just recently to stroll outside. I had also started to feel the need for some air. I approached the door unnoticed by anypony and slipped out onto the street. It was still day outside. I looked around, hoping to see Starlight somewhere close to the entrance, but no luck. Perhaps she was walking around the castle. Trotting down the stairs, I went searching for her. I checked behind the castle first. There was no Starlight, but I had found a beautiful lake instead. The water was so clear and alluring in such a hot weather, but I fought back the urge to jump in. I wasn’t sure in my ability to swim as a pony and the lake could be deep for all I knew. A sound of hooves approaching from behind distracted me from admiring the lake and I turned around, hoping to see Starlight, but it was an unknown stallion. He had no wings or horn, so I knew he was an earth pony. I hadn’t seen him at the party. Although I wasn’t expecting to remember everypony there, this stallion had a distinct dark blue, almost black coat and a shortly cut mane. A weird necklace composed of small flasks hung on his neck. He stopped at a small distance from me. “Hello?” I greeted him, unsure what to think. Something in him had made me nervous. The pony didn’t answer me, continuing to stand there, quietly watching me. I decided that that was enough and walked away. Or at least tried to – the stallion blocked my way. I attempted to walk around him, but he didn’t let me. I stomped my hoof angrily and snorted, trying to hide my uneasiness. I was sure that nothing would happen to me literally in Twilight’s backyard, but– A sudden movement from him broke my train of thought. The pony ripped off a flask out of his weird necklace and threw it under my legs. It blew up before I could react, throwing me off my legs onto the ground. I cried out from a sharp pain in my foreleg, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. But there wasn’t any time for injuries – my life was in danger. My attempts to get back on my hooves were effectively stopped by a hoof hitting my face. Stars shot in my eyes and I got thrown back again, feeling a bloody lip with my tongue. The situation wasn’t developing in my favor, that’s for sure, but I had a trump card up my sleeve, so to say. Remembering Starlight’s lessons, I concentrated some magic into my horn and released it in the direction of the attacker. The results were disappointing to say the least. The stallion ignored my magic blast completely – an aura flashed brightly, deflecting it to the side harmlessly. I grunted in frustration. “Why are you doing this?!” I asked in the small pause between the next move. I got no answer to my question, however. Instead, the stallion took another flask and prepared to throw it at me. I flinched and scrambled back, knowing it couldn’t be anything good. “What in Tartarus is going on?” a familiar female voice demanded. The stallion switched his attention from me to the voice’s owner. Starlight stood there, a furious expression on her face. Without hesitation, the attacker threw his flask in her direction and I saw a powerful explosion engulfing the mare’s figure. I didn’t have the time to panic when the smoke dissipated, revealing Starlight completely unharmed. A glistering see-through crystal enveloped her body, having protected her from the blast. It disappeared in the next moment and she made a step forward, her horn glowing bright. “My turn,” she said. A beam shot out from her horn, hitting the stallion in the chest. A smug grin appeared on his face when the beam slid off to the side, leaving a scorched mark on the grass. Starlight frowned in confusion. The stallion took one more flask, throwing it in my direction, but Starlight hit it in the air, sending it flying right into the lake’s calm water. The attacker frowned in annoyance, but before he could do something else, a second, much more powerful beam struck him. No magical aura had helped him this time. He flew off, hitting the castle wall with a scream of pain and fell onto the ground unconscious. Or worse – I couldn’t really tell, considering the force with which he was hit. Starlight wasn’t taking any chances. She conjured up a rope with her magic and tied the stallion up, removing the flask necklace from his neck and carefully levitating it to the grass some distance from us. Then she finally turned her worried face to me. It was the last thing I saw, because at that moment my wounds finally got the best of me and I closed my eyes, everything fading into darkness.