//------------------------------// // 21 Party Time // Story: Hard Landing // by Flash_Game //------------------------------// Chapter 21 Party Time Get back on my feet, Aleks, how long has she been on my bed? Not that long Okay then... I turn to the ponies- Where are they?! I frantically look around and find no one, Noctis! After a quick examination I find nothing out of the ordinary, Well, except I still have her armour in my inventory... should-should I give it to her? Does she even know she can fight? ... That so far has meant you want me to find out by myself Eeeyup Of course... I sigh and head for the door, Might as well ask what happened to them "*Yawn* Mmmm," I turn to the bed and Noctis is sitting up and stretching "Good morning, sunshine," Noctis yelps and looks at me embarrassed, "Don't worry, I won't tell a soul," I wink Noctis adjust her glasses with a nervous chuckle, "It's not morning though" "I know, but what else would I say when someone wakes up?" "I don't know, 'Sleep well?' would be one of them, maybe 'Enjoyed the nap?' or something," She gives a very horse-like sigh and crosses her arms I get my whiny voice ready, "But then I wouldn't be able to fluster you properly," she gives me a death glare, Kind of. Too cute to actually intimidate, I start to walk to her "Red, that angry face suits you," I lean down and-, "Boop," I boop the snoot Noctis gets even more annoyed and flustered, "Don't do that!" I playfully mess her mane, "Anyways. What happened to those guys?" I motion to where the bed were "A few royal guards came by and took them to the capital," Noctis's expression gets a bit troubled, and she looks at her hands, "Am I a guard too?" she looks up back at me, her expression showing uncertainty... and something else I guess I can't hide it, could I? "What do you mean?" I want to tell her... I sit down next to her, ... But at the same time... Noctis starts to fidget with her hands, "Well..." She looks down at her hands, "The guards that came in called me 'Specialist Noctis Umbra' and acted as if I was their superior" "I..." ...don't want to tell you... I sigh "Yes," she immediately turns to me, I can't read her expression anymore... "You were the guard assigned to me" "As your bodyguard, I presume" "Yes," Noctis keeps her neutral expression, ...What are you thinking, Red? "I guess I got my answer, thanks for telling me. Prince" she stands up and goes to the window "Don't- don't call me that," then, couple of knocks at the door, "Come in," I mentally sigh, Red... I turn towards the door, Doctor Stable is there, "What's up Doc?" Did I just..? Yes you did "Ahh, Luis, glad to see you awake, did you sleep well?" "Honestly, best sleep I've had in years.... Wait, how did you know I was asleep?" "For once you told me you were going to rest," he adjusts his glasses with a smirk, "And the royal guards said not to disturb you on their way out," That was... Very anime-like, "Shall we get you two checked out then?" "Didn't you want to do an eye exam?" "Well, of course, but that hardly requires you to have this room" "Right, to make space, got it" "If you two would just follow me to the lobby..." Dude, I'm worried about Noctis Why? Since I told her about her being my guard, she's been very quiet and difficult to read. Did I mess up? Just finish signing out. As they say, 'answers will come to those who wait' or something Fine... But still, she even avoided looking at me, "...and there," I put the quill down, "Anymore places I need to sign?" "Nope, that's all we need. Enjoy your day, prince" I hold back a sigh, I can't just keep telling everyone to not call me 'prince'- I turn to the doctor, -I'll go insane with the repetition, "Let's go, Doc" "Darling, glad to see you here. Sweetie Belle has been wanting to meet you since I mention you to her, and darling she can be a nuisance," Rarity is carrying bags of stuff, "She should be getting off school quite soon, and I thought maybe I could surprise her with you" "I would love to, but right now there is still a thing I have to do here," Maybe Red just needs some time away from me, "I know, why don't you take Noctis here and I'll catch up later?" "I couldn't do that," Noctis says very monotone-like I lean into her ear, "Then make it an order" She frowns at me, "Fine!" Noctis then turns to Rarity, "Let's go" ==[POV - Noctis]== If he's going to play like that... What if he gets attacked again, I stop and look at Luis as follows the doctor back into a hospital room "I suggest we wait for him, darling," I give the white pony a half smile, "I was about to suggest the same," If he gets attack... I can't fail again, even if I can't remember "Well, then it's settled, we wait," she says very confidently as we sit down on the waiting area and silences follows for a while. I went over my predicament over and over again, but it came back fruitless This is getting awkward... I turn to the white mare, "Rarity, right?" I don't remember her name that well. Maybe this one was Rainbow ... Jack? "The one and only," I extend my hand to her, Akward situation averted. Mission success "Noctis Umbra, pleasure to finally speak with you," "Darling, the pleasure is all mine. Although I must ask, what is a batpony doing out here in the day? Aren't you all night guar-?" Rarity stops herself and goes wide-eyed, "I'm so sorry, darling, I didn't realize how insensitive that sounded" "I wouldn't be able to tell you much at the moment, I got amnesia," I sigh, "What I can tell you is that..." Should I tell her? If I do, what could happen? I like this normality, I look at Rarity who's waiting for me to finish my sentence, "Could you keep a secret?" Judging by her comment, I might get a different treatment from everypony else "Of course, darling. A lady always keeps her friends' secrets," "I AM a royal guard. Specifically the guard assigned to Prince Luis," I sigh, "I just have one request; don't treat me different for what I am," "Darling, I wouldn't dream of it," she puts a finger on her chin and examines me up and down and her expsesion turns in to a smile, "I must say, your couture needs some colors," she looks at me as if expecting a big reaction I look down at my clothes, "I think it looks just fine" "I would definitely agree on that," I jump, turn, and press whoever's head against the wall, It's Luis!!, I immediately let go. He bends his neck with a crack, "Not bad... although you could have used more force" "I am so sorry!!" ==[POV - Luis]== "Don't be, I was the one who sneaked up on a trained guard," I chuckle a bit as Noctis goes a little red, That actually hurt a little, "By the way, we're free to go," Rarity stands up and grabs her bags, I try to reach for a couple, "Here, let me help" She hands me a few bags, and we start heading out the door, "Thank you, darling" Noctis turns to Rarity a bit annoyed, "Why didn't you tell me he was behind me?" she says in a hush voice "Because I asked her to be quiet about it," I say, which gets me a nice reaction from Noctis Our way to Carousel Boutique was mostly uneventful, we talked sure, but nothing really interesting. I did share a few fashion trends from my world with Rarity and even ended up taking out the laptop to show her a few pictures and designs. Her liking kimonos was a surprise, though. At first, I thought she wouldn't like it because it was a simple dress, but apparently she loved the designs, the flowers and scenes, depicted in many of the pictures. Noctis in the other hand kept avoiding eye contact, probably even more than before. I tried apologizing, but she wouldn't accept it. I'm really starting to think I fucked up big time... "We're here!" Rarity opens the door and turns to us, "Wait here. I want to make sure it's a surprise," she goes in I look at Noctis, who apparently finds the door very interesting, "Noctis..." "I don't want to hear it. My job is to protect you," she says with something odd in her voice, can't quite put my finger on it "*Muffled*Come in darlings" We enter the very dark room, Surprise. Dark room. Oh, no... "SURPRISE!!!" the light switch on, and the whole room is decorated, streamers, confetti, a banner that says 'Happy 'Late Birthday and Welcome to Equestria Party' Party' among other things, like the huge freaking cake in the center. I should probably point out that Noctis is in a defensive position in between me and the mane six, Spike, Rick and the Princesses She stands up straight, "Sorry about that. You startled me" "WereyousurprisedIhopeyouweresurprisedweworkedreallyhardtomakeitasurpriseandthecakewasreallyfuntomake-mmphh mmmhh..." "Yes, darling, I think he was surprised" "Rarity, I have to give it to you. You did really had me," I give Rarity a thumbs up "Well, darling, it helps that I really didn't have to lie," she says with a smile Out of nowhere, my legs get tackled and I almost fall on a little someone, "My sister told me all about you, prince," Oh god. The voice cracks..., Sweetie Belle looks up at me, "Wow! You are almost as tall as Princess Celestia" I awkwardly smile and chuckle, "You don't have to call me 'prince' Sweetie Belle," I look at the other CMC's attached to my legs, "Same goes for you two, okay?" The three fillies' expressions light up, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS PRINCE'S FRIENDS YAY!!!" My ears hurt Now imagine how I feel and shut it "Anythin' girls?" Applebloom says excitedly looking at her shoulders, So that's where their cutie marks go... interesting They deflate a little with a disappointed 'aww', "Maybe you'll get your cutie marks for best party goers? Come on, enjoy yourselves," I motion towards the room, they gasp and run towards the game corner, "Energetic as always," I smile to myself "I've been meaning to ask you, Luis," I take my attention to Twilight, "I see humans have their cutie marks on a single hand. Why is that?" "To tell you the truth, well, humans don't have cutie marks. Not in our world anyways" "I was so confused when I saw the marking. I had just flown out of a plane 30 thousand feet in the air, then I wake up in a forest, THEN a freaking lion with wings and a scopion's tail chases me for like an hour, AND THEN I find this thing-" He raises his hand, "-and have no idea what the hell is going on. People are going to think I went fucking insane when I go back and tell them" "Jesus Christ, Rick! Watch your language, there are kids present," Rick gets a grin on his face "Fuck shit motherfucker," What the actual fuck??!! "They don't understand curse words," he smiles "What?" I get the feeling that's only for him... I look around and see the three girls a ways away, I guess there is one way to find out... "Well, damn...," I hear a colloctive gasp from the ponies, I sigh, ...of course... I turn to face them "I can not believe those words..." She puts on a mock surprised face "Honestly... you've heard me use worse," Literally yesterday, I look at the fillies, They didn't seem to notice what just happened. Good, "Anyways, let's just forget this happened and go straight to the party," everyone seems to take my advice. I go to Rick and punch him on the shoulder, "Bitch," I put a smile, "I can't believe you made me fall for that. Still they didn't understand you, but I knew they would understand me perfectly," I face palm, "And I still did it" "If you knew, then you shouldn't have tried it" I get sarcastic, "Yeah, thanks" Celestia aproaches me while finishing a scroll, "Luis, everything is set for your public interview on Monday, three days from now," They use the same week days, nice "Wait, public interview? You mean a press conference?" "I should start calling them that. Indeed, a press conference here in Ponyville," The Everfree is so close, yet so far, She turns to Rick, "This relates to you too. It's to integrate you fully into our society" "So just a simple Q&A, I can do that. In three days right?" Celestia nods, "Okay, I'll have to tell the guys about it. Not experimenting on that day I guess" "And, Luis. Soon enough you will have to meet with the leaders of the other kindoms" "Uhh..." Oh god... politics... "I guess, sure, I'm ready-ish," Celestia kind of starts walking towards the couch, and Rick and I follow "Wait. Do I have to go to that too?" Celestia shakes her head, "Oh thank Jeebus," we sit on the couch I internally facepalm at Rick, There he goes again... I turn to Celestia, "Anything I need to know for this summit?" She looks at me for a brief second, "For this political meeting, all that's going to happen is an introduction, and your role in Equestria will be disclosed" "Which is..." "We shall soon find out," Luna joins in and sits down with us, "Like a cutie marks, it's something everypony discovers on their on" "Indeed. I would have never thought myself capable of keeping political relations stable until we had a country to run," Celestia looks at Luna with a smile which turns slightly into a frown, "I also never though myself capable of doing it alone..." she turns her frown back into a smile, "But those days are over. Finally" A Little Earlier ==[POV - Noctis]== I wouln't had thought Luis knew that kind of language, "I can not believe those words...," Neither can I... A hand lands on my shoulder, "Noctis Umbra, May we- I have a word with you?" I nod, "Please princess, call me Noctis" "Very well. Then you shall call us Luna," She says with a smile "But princess, I couldn't possibly do that," her smile sadens, "As a royal guard-" "But you are not a royal guard at the moment, now are you?" I raise my hand to interject, but Princess Luna stops me, "I would be unjust for you to do a job when you have no idea what it is about, or why you do it. In your current mental condition you do not qualify for any guard duties," the Princess looks at me sternly, "You are currently in leave of absence as per the records" I hold my sigh, "Fine. You win, Pri- Luna," her smile returns, Feels wrong. But it makes her happy... fine... Princess Celestia approaches with a scroll in hand, "Sister I may need you in a moment. The other kingdoms have requested a meeting about your return and Luis's appearance" "I will be there, sister," Princess Luna turns back to me as Princess Celestia walks away, "It appears my life will return to normal sooner than expected," the relieve in her voice is palpable "How would the other kindoms react to both you and Luis, Luna?" Still feels off "I do not know, but it feels exciting," She grins, "The mystery! Oh, how thing have changed!" "I'm sure you'll have fun" "We may have different definitions of the word 'fun'," Princess Luna quickly glances to where Princess Celestia is, "I think it would be best if I go see what my sister may need" "See you later Princess," She glares at me, "Lu-luna, see you later, hehe..." "Just remember, Noctis, at the moment you are not a guard," she starts to walk away but stops and turns to me, "I believe Luis has demonstrated to be more than capable of handling himself, enjoy his company. I am sure he enjoys having you around," with that Princess Luna leaves The party went on as what I could only assume is normal, nothing too interesting happened, and the Princesses left somewhat early on, but not before Princess Celestia had a generous helping of cake... more than a few times. I did notice Luis just sitting by himself most of the time, he did seem to be enjoying it, but still, I felt bad for him. In comparison, Rick talked with everypony, even me; Luis only seemed to talk when talked to first. He reasured me he was fine, and that it was normal for him to do it, but I joined him and talked to him for a good while. He put on a 'movie' on his 'computer' about a bunch of toys that move whenever nopony is around, it was fun and kinda creepy at times. Like the movie, even the party came to an end. Rainbow Dash was the next one to go, something to do with having to prepare her house for 'something', then everypony started to leave. Twilight said that we will stay with her in the library, Luis kinda didn't want to intrude, and I learned something from that: Ponyville has no inns We are quitely walking to the library on the other side of town, I kinda like him, but I'm a guard- ... used to be a guard... I look at Luis as he hastily looks away, I hold back a giggle as he almost drops the cake, or what's left of it, Cute, It dawns on me, I guess I have nothing to lose... any more, I turn to look staight ahead again, ...I could lose him... ... I guess If I don't get my memories back, I can't be a guard agai- "Red," I turn to Luis again, "I really want to apologize" "For what?" "It was my fault you lost your memories, and I want to make it up to you" "Don't worry about it, I'm enjoying myself quite well. I should also say that by the way it feels, I might be enjoying life a little better," He gets a bit aggitated "Do..." He calms down, "Do you want your memories back?" "I... I don't know..." If I get them back I won't be able to got with him, he doesn't need me as a guard. But what about whatever family I have... "It's just that because you were a guard, there is a file on you in the archives, with your information in it," he sighs, "What I'm trying to say is that if you want to, I could ask mom for it," But... aghhh, "Thanks for the offer, I'll think about it," "Maybe you just need to sleep on it," I respond with a 'huh?' "Just think about it, maybe tomorrow you'll know" "Sorry to interrupt, but we're here," she opens the door, and her and Spike step through, "Please, make yourselves at home" Luis motions for me to go in, "Ladies first" "But you're a prince" He gets miffed, "I insists" "I insist harder, you are a royal" A smug look appears on his face, "Then by royal decree, you go first" "I- Fine!" I playfully stomp in, although, a little annoyed, and he follows ==[POV - Luis]== "Hey, don't get angry at me," I lean down to be face to face with her, "After all, you gave me the opening," I boop her, and she blushes "No to be rude, but fighting with each other is not good" Noctis steps forewards, "Just some friendly teasing, that's all" "Yeah, so don't worry," I can't believe Red said that. I honstly though she took it the wrong way, "Anyways-" I yawn, "I know this place only has a spare bedroom, so give it to Noctis and I'll take the couch" "Ummm, what couch?" I look around and there is indeed no couch, The fan-fics lied to me Don't be so dramatic "Well, I guess... I'll take some covers and sleep on the floor," I shrug, Could be worse "He'll take the bed" "No, you take the bed" "But you are the prince here," I get smug again, "And no 'by royal decree' excused," Noctis wags a finger at me "I have to agree with Noctis here, Luis. You'll take the bed and Noctis can sleep on the ceiling, she is a batpony after all" "How am I supposed to sleep on the ceiling exactly?" "By your tail of course... Right, amnesia. I think there is a book around here about it. Spike!!" she waits for an answer as she begins to search in the bookshelves, "Spike?" Noctis chimes in, "I think I saw the little lad go up stairs," I hold back laughter, Little lad, BWAHAHAHAHA!! "He probably went to bed already, he IS a baby dragon after all," she continues searching "What's the book called?" I want to help "It's called- OH! Here it is!" She turns around with a book in hand, "The Pony Races of Equestria Volume 4," she opend the book and begins reading waht I can only assume is teh index, "Batpony, batpony rituals, batpony colors, diets- Sleeping habits! Page 46," she flips to the page and reads a little of the entry, then she hands the book to Noctis, "Here you go, read those couple of pages" Noctis adjusts her glasses, "Okay, will do," she starts to read Twilight then turns to me, "And you, help me set up the bedroom," I lift the cake a bit, "Right. You should leave that in the kitchen first" "Yeah, I'll be back in a bit," I enter the kitchen and leave the cake on the counter and look at the fridge, I wounder if they actually have electricity, I take out the PKE, Before I forget, I favourite the thing to my hip, then I turn it on and aim it at the fridge, and it chimes. The bars on the screen are blue, Oohh, hidden artifact, I follow the signal to where it peaks on the screen and- In the cake..., I aim the PKE all around the cake, but it peaks at the cake every time, There's only one logical thing to do, "KALIMA," I thrust my hand in the cake and hit something solid in it, "Ouch," I grab it and take it out, Smoke nade, nice- wait a minute..., I stare at it for a few seconds, ... ... uhh, should I ask? *sigh* Fine. Your power can make them spawn anywhere, and if you don't find it, it just simply despawns Weird, I fix the cake a little bit So you can now shoot fire out of your hands AND you are in a parallel universe, but this is the weird part? I put the cake in the fridge, When was the last time you heard of matter appearing out of nowhere? Well, Twilight usually just makes scrolls appear out of nowhere She teleports them to herself from somewhere Touché I enter the spare bedroom, and Twilight is already done with everything, "What took you so long?" she steps away from the bed "Oh, you know..." I show her the grenade, "Stuff" "What is that? I don't remember ever owning something like that" "Believe it or not (form Repleys), I mean, It's part of my talents," I sigh in disappoinment, "You would not believe where I found it" "Where would that be?" 'Inside the cake' would be a bad answer I'm sure Definitely "Eeehhhhhh you'll probably find out tomorrow" "Seriously, where?" I just shrug, "Tell me!" I hum 'idk', Twilight grunts "Okay, fine. I'll give you a clue," her expression lights as I smirk, "It was in the kitchen," her attitude drops again "What's in the kitchen? And are you two arguing about?" I turn to Noctis, who's entering the room "Oh, you know, stuff" "Do you always act this vague?" Noctis gets on a 'get your manager' stance "No, I also act sarcastic," I smirk "What did the Princess see in you that made her adopt you?" "Don't ask questions that you don't want answered," I chuckle to lighten the mood a bit, "Anyways," I strech, "Time for bed," I think I meme too much; I almost said 'time for crab' What?? "Fine," she crosses her arms Nevermind "But tomorrow you have to tell both of us" "Sure," I just got an idea, "I'll tell you when we eat cake, sound fair?" They look at each other, and with an unspoken agreement, they nod, "Cool, good night," Can't wait for their reactions You got weird from one second to another Mentally unstable, remember? "Sleep tight, you two," Twilight heads for the door "Wait! Where am I sleeping?" Twilight turns around and points to a branch a little ways above the bed, "Up there," Noctis looks at the branch a little uneasy, "Don't worry, I tested it" "With magic?" "Yes, with magic" I lay down on the bed and close my eyes, I can feel them staring, I open my eyes and look at them, "What is it?" "Are you not going to get changed?" Oh god... "Not infront of anyone. Besides, I don't exactly have pijamas, you know?" "Do what you want then. Just don't complain if your covers get dirty" I take off my boots, "There," then lay back down, "Good night" "Good night, Luis. Good night, Noctis" "Good night, Twilight," Twilight turns off the lights and leaves. A swoosh later, Noctis is hanging from the branch, "Good night," I notice a grin on her face, "Prince" "I told you not to call me that!" She giggles, "I know, I know, I'm just teasing you, good night," She closes her eyes I can honestly say I could listen to that giggle for days and not get annoyed That's love, mine friend I mentally sigh, Who knew it was this easy? Non-reclusive indivuduals... Oh, shut up, I look at how peaceful she looks one last time before closing my eyes, Is my story supposed to be a romance adventure? Let me see here... *paper ruffle* ...It says here 'Adventure, Random, Slice of Life', I'm going to have to ask if this is a mistake Well, since this is a fan-fic, wait, it is a fan-fic right? Not like, a published work? Nope, it is a fan-fic In that case, if it was romance, we would have fallen for each other and been head over heels in like three chapters, no? I guess that IS the average How many chapters are we at now? *cough cough* Ehhhh, twenty one Come again... Twenty one IT hasn't even been two weeks!! How are you at TWENTY ONE CHAPTERS??! I'm gonna end it here WHAT??