I release a tired and quiet sigh as I close the door to the bedroom, Penny clearly needing her rest, and I wasn’t all that better. Making my way over to the personal study area, almost like an office, I smile and lay down on the provided couch, kicking up my feet and relaxing my sore muscles. Never thought I would be able to say I helped in preforming a Unison Raid, but then again I could say I have done many impossible things since I got Displaced.
I knew that Penny and I would need at least a couple hours rest to be able to get our stuff and head back to Ponyville, but it was only a little after one in the afternoon, so a quick nap couldn't hurt.
At least that was the plan before I am broken out of my drowsy trance by a knocking at the door. I get off the couch as fast as I could to get the door. I didn’t want anyone to wake up Penny after a fight like that.
Opening up the door with a slight frown, I am tackled to the ground by a pink and red blur.
“Adam! That was awes-“ I cut off my fellow silver eyed friend and her pink earth pony attack partner with a hand over their mouths, shushing them and pointing to the bedroom door. The duo nod slowly and I release their sound holes and stand up, seeing the rest of the Elements, the princesses and humans silently laughing at the doorway.
“Come on, let’s head to the office. The walls and door are near soundproof in there.” I say quietly, everyone nodding and following me to the office. Once Fluttershy makes her way in, I close the door and sigh. “So....sup?”
“Sup?! Adam that fight was crazy! Why didn’t you tell us you and Penny could do that?!” Ruby yells, struggling to stay in one spot. I just laugh a little at her excitement.
“Because I wasn’t sure how to. It’s not exactly something you can randomly bring up in casual conversation.” I reply, taking my seat at the desk and leaning back. The others all find their own spots to either sit or lean against, each clearly curious.
“Well, could you maybe fill us in then? Rainbow only told us you three got summoned to another world and had a run in with your sisters.” Twilight says, clearly curious with a notepad and quill at the ready. I nod and reach into my jacket pocket, taking out the photo we all took at the end of the night.
“Here, maybe I should go over who is who first.” I say, holding the photo out. With that began the hour long explanation of who and what each of my sisters were, what we were doing in Nat’s world, and how we got our new powers. All the while everyone in the room payed very close attention to every word coming out of either mine or RD’s mouth.
“I was curious about how Loyalty’s fur and mane had changed, but I had just assumed she was victim to a prank backfiring.” Luna says with a small grin.
“Yeah you have no idea how weird that spell felt. It was like getting submerged with warm water but I could still breath. But, I’m not complaining. I always wondered how I would look if I decided to dye my mane or fur.” Rainbow says, lounging in the air.
“So you had fun at this...Hearth’s Warming party?” Pyrrha questions. I nod with a smile, but I wasn’t the one to answer.
“Best. Night. Ever.” All eyes turn to the door as a very much awake Penny walked in with a smile and blush directed at me, causing me to blush a little as well. The group all look back and forth between the two of us in confusion.
“Um, what?” Ruby bluntly asks.
“U-um, well...Penny and I may have...shared a dance?” I say quietly, suddenly feeling very shy. The girls all go wide eyed and look between the two of us quickly again.
“No...way.” Twilight whispers with a small smile. Penny ends up breaking the stunned silence with a small giggle.
“I am not sure why you are suddenly acting so shy Adam. It was a dance, so what? While it was amazing, I don’t see the reason to be so embarrassed about it.” Penny says, and I just sigh along with Qrow.
“It’s a guy thing Penny.” The drunk and I say in unison. The girls all laugh a little at our response before I shake my head again.
“Anyways, how are you feeling Penny? That spell we cast used a ton of magic.” I question with worry clear in my voice.
“Fine I suppose. A little tired still, but I am sure I can take a nap on the way back to Ponyville.” She says with a slight shrug before smelling something and scrunching up her nose. “Although, I may need to take a shower before we leave.”
“Hehe, I hear ya.” I say with a small grin, very much aware of how much I was sweating in that fight.
“Well then, I suppose we should go and grab our things for the trip back.” Pyrrha says with a smile, the others all nodding.
“Actually Pyrrha, can I talk to you, Ruby, Cadence and Rarity for a second?” I request, the four females looking to me curiously.
“Uh, sure thing Adam.” Cadence says, turning to the others. “You all go on ahead, we’ll catch up.”
The others all nod and head out of the office to their guest rooms, each of them curious about what I wanted to talk about. Once all of them leave, I close the door and cast a soundproofing spell for good measure.
“So, what is it you need to talk about darling?” Rarity question. I take a deep breath before addressing the girls.
“First, I need the four of you to Pinkie Promise you won’t tell the others about this.” The four girls look to one another in worry, all very much aware of the severity a Pinkie Promise is needed for. The quartet nod and go through the motions as I take a seat at the desk and rest my head on my hands.
“Alright, What’s going on Adam?” Ruby question with worry. I take another deep breath and try to steel my nerves. I never thought I would need their help with this, but I do. After a second, I look to the four of them with a serious gaze in my silver eyes.
“I want to ask Penny out on a date and I need help on how to do it.”
The silence at descended on the room could only be described as deafening as the girls all slowly process what just came out of my mouth. I knew they would be stunned silent at my declaration, but I needed to be blunt about this. Eventually, the first one to come back to her senses was Pyrrha, who looked only slightly broken.
“Say what.” She says bluntly.
“As I said, I wanna ask Penny out and am not entirely sure about how to go about it.” I reply, the girls processing it still.
“I...I don’t even....when...who....mouth, not working with brain.” Ruby mumbles incoherently, looking to my eyes for any trace of this being a joke. There is none. I just sigh and lean back in my chair, rubbing my face in only slight annoyance.
“So....I take it this came on after your dance?” Rarity finally asks, having brought her mind back from the aether. I shrug at her question.
“Sorta. I mean, even back on Earth, Penny was always my favourite character in Ruby’s universe, so I already liked her. I am honestly not really sure when it changed to this point.” I reply, glancing over the slowly recovering girls.
“Ok. Ok ok. So, why did you pick the four of us to ask for advice?” Ruby questions, sitting on the couch.
“Well a couple of reasons, first and foremost being you four are my best bets. Ruby you are Penny’s best friend, so you know her better than anyone else. Cadence you are the Princess of Love, so asking you for help was a given. Rarity you are the drama queen of Ponyville, so I knew you would at least be able to give suggestions about what to do and I was going to ask if you could make me a new outfit. And Pyrrha, really its because aside from Penny or Qrow, you are the one I trust the most.” The girls slowly nod along as I talk.
“Plus my selection is rather limited anyways. I can’t exactly as Qrow or Oscar about this since one is a drunk and the other is only fourteen. The rest of the Element bearers are also out since they aren’t really objective. They would tell me what they would want to do, not what Penny would want to do.”
The four girls nod again at my explanation, looking to one another and silently asking how we should start.
“Well, perhaps you can give us a frame of reference about your experience so we can help. How many dates have you been on back on Earth?” Cadence asks, the three other girls curious as well.
“Absolute zero.” I reply bluntly, the four of them leaning back somewhat.
“Wait, seriously? You’ve never been on a date before? How is that possible? You’re a great guy.” Ruby says, completely unabashed.
“Thank you, but Ruby, you have to remember I am only two years older than you. Plus after a not-so-great event with my eldest sister, I was always cautious when it came to those looking for a relationship beyond platonic or familiar. I was hit on quite a bit in and out of school, don’t get me wrong, but I never really allowed myself to look into the romantic side of things. At most I have been forced to suffer through a bunch of chick flicks with my sisters because they needed a chaperone or something. And one time I had to help a friend of mine come out of the closet to his parents, but that’s it.” I explain, leaning in my chair again.
“Well....I certainly didn’t expect that. You have been so outgoing to others from what I have seen. But then again I have seen how defensive you have been when it comes to your sisters.” Pyrrha mutters, pacing the length of the room.
“Yeah, so all my experience comes from a bunch of chick flicks and word of mouth so I really no idea on how to ask Penny out or even what we would do for a date. I’m kinda flying blind here.” I mutter in annoyance. I really wanted this to be a simple affair, not a five-star restaurant, walk under the moonlight kinda thing.
“Well, you already know my advice.” I look up from my desk as the smiling Pyrrha. “Just be yourself. I can tell that Penny likes you a lot as well, so why pretend to be someone you’re not. Like I told Jaune, you can’t get it wrong if its the truth.” Pyrrha and I end up chuckling at that, both of our laughs a little melancholy. I could tell she was thinking back to what Nora said after she told Jaune that.
“While I agree with you in that regard dear, I can perhaps make this a little more extravagant. Nothing over the top of course, but there is a new omnivorous bar and grill opening up in a couple days in Ponyville in response to the rise in visiting griffins to Equestria. Perhaps I can set up a reservation for the two of you.” Rarity says with a smile, one I return and nod in thanks.
“Honestly, I think you can handle this Adam.” We all turn to Cadence as she said this, the mare inspecting her nails. “I have been using my magic to see the emotions of pretty much everyone in the booth and in the arena during and after the fight, and I haven’t sensed a speck of lust or any other negative emotion between you and Penny. There is only curiosity, attraction and a growing speck of love. It’s obvious both of you are unsure if that is what you feel, but the fact is I can sense that both of you are at least curious about pursuing it.”
I nod after a second and truly process what she said. I knew that Penny and I like one another, the emotions the both of us felt during our dance being a pretty big indication, but the fact she was curious about pursuing it too did give me some relief that this wasn’t a one sided thing. I smile a little before turning to Ruby, the girl just raising a brow at me.
“What? It’s not like I can give you any dating advice here Adam. At least compared to these three. I’m just as blind about dating as you, probably even more since I never really felt attracted to anyone I have met before.” She says, leaning against the wall. I nod with a small laugh.
“Yeah I expected as much. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t help. There is at least one thing I want to do for Penny that I am sure she’ll like.” The four girls all lean in closer as I say that, clearly curious. I just smirk and shake my head. “I’ll tell you if she agrees to going out with me.”
The four girls all groan and frown at me, and I can’t help but laugh at their expressions. Eventually the four of them relaxed and joined in the laughter.
“Hehe. Alright, let’s get out of here. Thanks for the advice girls. Hopefully this all works out.” I say, dispelling my soundproofing spell as the five of us leave the room and the barracks. After a stopping by my guest room for a quick shower and to grab my clothes, I met up with all my friends at the entrance to the castle before we all left for the train station.
The girls, Oscar and Qrow all made small talk with one another as we made our way through the city, while I remained silent, trying to figure out the best way to ask Penny out. I knew it would have to be at some point when the two of us are alone, and wouldn’t be interrupted. Then I also had to check out that restaurant Rarity mentioned before stopping by Vinyl’s store to pick up something I commissioned her for. I just hope they’re done.
Before I even realized it we had arrived at the train station and were waiting for the next train to show up. I took out my scroll and began to listen to some music before going through some of the locked files again. I figured out that timer was for when I would run into my sisters, somehow, but other than that, not much has popped up in my device. I managed to open the ‘character files’ of team RWBY, JNPR and some of the secondary characters like Qrow, Sun, Ilia and obviously Penny, but some of the info almost looked like it was missing.
It may be because of when I left, but I think the missing info had to do with Volume 6. When I was displaced the Adam Character Short had already been released and I think the intro was going to be revealed a month or two later, so it could be possible my missing information had to do with Volume 6’s original timeline compared to the timeline of my friends. I could only hope this device was self updating so I could read about what I missed back on Earth. Maybe I could get some answers to some of the mysteries of the RWBYverse.
Before long the train arrived and all of us were in our cabin as the train headed down the mountain towards Ponyville. As she said she would do earlier, Penny found a way to lay down on my lap and fell asleep for the ride while I absentmindedly rubbed her head, the human humming in contentment. Honesty, this kind of physical contact is something I was always hesitant about when it came to those who weren’t family, but I seem to do almost on instinct with Penny. Maybe being a faunus made me more comfortable when it came to physical contact, I don’t know.
I could feel the girls eyes on me as I rubbed Penny’s head but I just ignored them and continued to read through some of the info on my scroll, learning little bits of information that I seriously doubt was in the show. Like Blake’s file, the rest of the files on the girls had things like their three sizes, preferred weapons, favourite foods, just random personal information that one would try to keep personal.
But there was one file that I haven’t been able to crack despite how much time I spend trying. Adam’s character file. No matter what password I try, what connection I try to make, that one file just refused to open. Maybe it is because I turned into him, but I feel like I should know any and all info about him.
With a silent sigh I exit the character files and go through a couple of my contacts, seeing I still have my sisters numbers even if I can’t contact them with my scroll. Maybe I could ask Screwball if she could use her Chaos Magic to let my scroll make calls through dimensions. Aside from them, I also have the numbers of the Remnant gang and Ruby even gave me the numbers for the rest of her team and of team JNPR. I can only hope they would actually pick up when they show up and I call them.
I must have been really lost in thought, going through my scroll, because before I knew it an hour had passed and Ponyville was coming up fast. Pausing my music and putting my scroll in my pocket, I glance down to the still sleeping Penny, seeing the small smile on her face. I guess she is having a nice dream. Good. The last thing I would want to see is her having a nightmare.
Gently shaking her shoulder, the girl mutters in her sleep before her eyes slowly flutter open with a small yawn. Rather than just sitting up though, Penny rolled onto her back and chose to remain laying down, looking up at me with a smile. I couldn’t help but chuckle and smile back down to her.
“You feeling better?” I asked.
“Much, thanks for letting me rest here.” she replies, finally sitting up and stretching with a satisfied sigh. The both of us turn to the others as we hear some of the girls giggling. While Penny looked confused, I just deadpanned stared at them and willed myself not to blush.
Eventually the train came to a stop and all of us departed into town. Looking to my scroll, it is around three in the afternoon, so I still had some free time to take care of some things. After arriving at the house and unpacking our stuff, I grabbed a bit bag with some of my personal funds and got ready to leave again.
“Hey Adam, where ya heading?” Oscar asks from his spot on the couch.
“Oh, just heading out to pick up a couple things. I should be back in an hour or so.” I reply, heading out the door as I see the young warrior nod. Making my way through town, my first stop was the music store Bass and Orchestra that was run by Vinyl and her marefriend Octavia. I had only briefly met them in my time in town and obviously I ran into Octavia in Natali’s world, but Vinyl seemed pretty cool.
Walking into the store, I smile as I see all the different instruments, from guitars to tubas to piano and even a theremin. Looking to the desk, I can see a familiar headphone wearing unicorn nodding her head to her music I can partially hear as some serious dubstep. Her purple shades were resting on the table infront of her, letting her bright scarlet eyes show.
“Hey Vinyl.” I say, earning the mares attention, who gives a cocky grin.
“Yo Taurus! I was wondering where you were. Heard you got into a scuffle with some of the captains of the RG. Good seeing you not in a full body cast.” She replies, her voice a lot like Rainbow’s in tone, very tomboyish, but higher in pitch.
“Hehe, yeah. Though that might be the case with my opponents, Penny and I didn’t really hold back.” I reply with a smirk, walking up to the counter. “So, you got my orders?”
“Yup, came in yesterday. Gotta admit, never saw you as a guitarist or a violinist. But, I guess books and covers right?” She says, heading to the back and coming back a minute later with a guitar and violin case in her hands.
I smile as I open up the guitar case, revealing a beautifully crafted mahogany six-string acoustic with forest green and yellow flower designs painted along the sides. Picking it up, the guitar is sized perfectly to fit my stature, the neck being smooth and long to work with my arms and the bend in the body all but moulded to fit against my knee.
Putting the guitar back in the case, I move on to the violin case. Inside is another masterpiece of musical crafting, this one being made from the wood of some apple trees apparently, with the four strings stretched perfectly and this one had a Snow White finish with ocean wave designs painted along the sides. The bow on the other hand was pitch black with swirling silver and cerulean designs along it, contrasting pretty well with the instrument itself.
I gently pick up the string instrument and place it on my shoulder, resting my chin on the chin rest just as I have been taught so many years ago and go through a couple of notes, the sound reverberating throughout the empty store. I barely noticed as a certain grey earth pony walked out the back room as I play the a few more notes before a song I love begins to come together.
https://m.I am not sure where they were coming from, but other instruments began to join in as I played the song, these two being my absolute favourite songs in the whole of the Legend of Zelda series. I just closed my eyes and allowed myself to be absorbed into the music, barely noting as I hear a slight beep behind me.
Before long I come to the end of my impromptu song, hearing a duo of claps behind me. I turned and saw Octavia with an awed smile at me, while Vinyl was giggling to herself, a small recorder held in her hand. I end up blushing a bit as I realize Vinyl was recording my music.
“Umm, tada?” I say lamely, the two mare giggling at my response as I put the violin away.
“That was incredible dear! I never would have thought you were such an amazing violinist! Just where did you learn to play, might I ask?” Octavia praises, causing me to blush brighter.
“Heh, thanks. It was my grandmother who taught me when I was a kid, and it always just stuck with me. I prefer a violin over a guitar, even though I am about as good with one or the other.” I reply, taking out the bits for Vinyl to ring up my new instruments.
“Really now. Huh, despite the warrior motif, I can oddly see that. You always struck me as a family stallion-er, man.” Octavia says, so which I just shrug.
“Yeah I get that a lot. But having two older blood and surrogate sisters, a younger blood brother and younger surrogate sister, it isn’t all that surprising. My family is pretty big, yet really close.” I reply. The two mares nod, being used to big families because of the Apple family.
“Well, if you ever have some free time, feel free to stop by and we can record a couple of your songs.” Vinyl says with a grin.
“Maybe. But please don’t try and make an album. I am a huntsman, not a musician.” I reply with a laugh as I head out the door.
Exiting the store, I make sure the shoulder strap for the guitar case is properly set before heading into town, intent on finding that new restaurant Rarity mentioned. I saw that a new building was being constructed a little ways past the market, but I didn’t really take the time to wonder what it is going to be.
Walking through the market, about half the stalls are beginning to close up as the afternoon changes to evening, but they all wave and smile to me as I pass by, more than a few sending curious glances to the two music cases in my possession. I just smile and wave back as I make my way through before arriving at the new restaurant. From the outside it looked like one of those bar and grills my dad would visit with his friends every now and then, it even had outdoor seating.
Walking through the front door, I see that the inside is an average looking bar with a separated lounge area where the those who just want food would sit. I could see a few ponies and griffins going around, cleaning, setting up the tables and generally getting everything ready for the opening in a couple days.
One of the apparent employees noticed me and walked over with a small smile on his beak. He was a black feathered griffon with a gold beak and talon, his feline half being what appeared to be part lion judging by the tail. He was wearing a nice white chef coat and pants, with a small pair of glasses hanging off his coat pocket.
“Hello there. Welcome to The Valley bar and grill. I am sorry, but we won’t be open for business for another two days.” He says.
“Oh, ok. Um...dumb question. Are you guys accepting reservations for the opening?” I question awkwardly.
“Of course. Though, this would only be the third reservation for the time being. So, how many and why?” He asks, going over to some kind of log book.
“Just two. I was going to ask a friend of mine on a date and I wanted it to be at least slightly more romantic than a lunch date.” I reply, suddenly very nervous from saying it aloud. The griffon smirks somehow, and nod, writing in the book.
“Alright. Am I to assume it will be under Adam Taurus?” He says with his smirk.
“Oh! You’ve heard of me?” I ask in only slight surprise.
“Of course! There are very few who haven’t heard of ‘The One Who Matched The Moon’. You have really made a name for yourself both inside and outside the kingdom.” He replies with a laugh.
“Hehe, I guess so. Really though, I am not that much. I am a warrior sure, but I am not like, a knight or anything like that.” I reply with a sheepish grin.
“Heh, coulda fooled my mate.” He replies, closing the book. “I’ll do what I can and see to it that your date has the best night of her life.”
“Thanks, nice meeting you.” I reply, leaving the establishment and heading back to the house with a slight spring in my step. One that vanished as I got closer to the house and just now realized I had to figure out how to ask Penny out.
“Great. Now the hard part.” I mutter to myself as I see the house come into view. Walking in, I see the place it pretty deserted from the ground floor. With a small sigh of relief, I head up to my bedroom and put my new instruments away. Afterwards I check around the house, seeing that I am the only on in here at the moment. I guess the others found some things to do before dinner. With a sigh I head back to my room and grab my new guitar, intent on getting rid of the rust on my skills.
Sitting in the living room, I bring up my new guitar and tune it for a minute before its all perfect and begin to play a bit. Nothing all that extravagant, just a small tune that helps me get a feel for the instrument. I smile as my muscle memory for it comes back to me, my hands flying across the guitar as I pick up my pace a bit. Before long I stop my tune, and sigh with a smile.
“Wow. I knew you were great with a violin, but I didn’t know that extended to a guitar as well.” I jump slightly before turning to the front door, seeing as Penny walks in with a smile.
“Oh hey Penny. Scared me for a second.” I say with a small chuckle, Penny giggling and sitting next to me.
“So this is what you were saving up for.” She mutters, looking over my guitar.
“Heh, yeah. Even though we have jobs as hunters, we still need some hobbies to help us relax.” I reply with a smile, before an idea pops in my head. “Would you like to learn?”
Penny looks to me with widened eyes and then to my guitar before nodding rapidly. I laugh a little before freezing with a blush as Penny takes the guitar out of my hands and sits in my lap with an excited smile. It took me a second to recover, but eventually I take a breath and begin to go through how to hold and play the guitar, guiding Penny’s hands over the instrument. She seemed to understand quickly, playing through some of the notes without me guiding her.
“Ow!” She yelps as she goes through a couple more notes, looking to her fingers. I saw a few blisters beginning to form along the tips of her fingers.
“Sorry, I forgot to warn you. Your body will end up developing these blisters as you play a steel string. That is a good sign for us to stop for a bit.” I tell her, expecting her to get up. Instead she just nods, places the guitar on the side of the couch and leaned back into me. I tense up as she relaxes against me. “Am I seriously that comfy for you to rest against me?”
She just grins and nods, laying the back of her head on my shoulder. I just sigh and resign myself to being a cushion for the time being, wrapping my arms around her. I could feel Penny tense against me as well, before relaxing again.
‘Now you idiot! She is literally resting against you and no one is here!’ I think to myself. I gulp and take a couple breaths, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the human in my arms.
“Are you alright Adam?” She questions, looking over her shoulder to me. I take another breath and nod with a blush.
“Y-yeah, I’m good Penny. Um, listen, Penny?” She turns and looks to me directly. “Um, w-would you um...would you like to go out and grab a bite to eat in a couple days?” I finally manage to ask, my face feeling like a volcano.
Penny tilts her head to the side, clearly not understanding, before something seems to spark in her eyes and she ends up blushing and leaning back a bit.
“Are....are you asking me on a date?” She questions quietly. I just nod slowly, trying to will my face to stop burning. Penny is silent for a bit, which was torturous, but eventually she smiles and nods. “Sure. Sounds like fun.”
“Great!” I say a little too loud, before coughing into my hand, Penny giggling from my response. “Um, I mean, great. So, how about Tuesday night, we can go to the new restaurant for the opening?”
“Sounds like a plan.” She replies with a smile, leaning in and giving me a hug before getting up. “My turn to make dinner tonight, so I’ll be in the kitchen. The others should be back soon.”
I watch as Penny makes her way out of the living room and vanishes past the wall dividing the kitchen before releasing a large sigh.
‘Hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life thus far....worth it!’ I think to myself with a smile, grabbing my guitar and heading back to my room as I hear the front door open and the others begin to filter in.
In the kitchen, Penny appeared calm and content, but in her mind she was happily freaking out.
‘I have a date with Adam! I have a date with Adam!’