'Just one drink.' They said! 'It wouldn't hurt.' But noooooo. It did....A lot. I grumbled under my breath as I walk along with the six mares and Big Mac. I let out a sigh as I used Big Mac as a shoulder to lean on. Quite literally. "I'm sorry Mac, honestly. I don't know what came over me." I apologize to Mac.
Mac just smiles as he looks on like nothing happened. "It's mighty fine, I ain't hold no grudge on you if that's what you're thinkin'." He says before continuing. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me."
I let out a small sigh of relief at this. "Thanks Big Mac.." Note to self: Never touch alcohol again. I thought as I shivered slightly.
I hear Blix chuckle with his mighty voice inside my head. I warned you didn't I? At least it could be worse. He tries to reassure me but I just groaned again.
please don't jinx me... I plea to the dragon chuckles once more and finally agrees to stop.
My mind wonders to how exactly I came up to this moment. Going back roughly an hour ago where anything that could've gone wrong, all went wrong.
An hour ago...
"You sure a drink won't hurt, right?” I followed Mac to a table where other stallions were sitting. One was a lighter brown coat with a darker brown mane that was slick back. His eyes were a very bright blue. Another stallion was skinny but tall, his coat a darker yellow, his mane more orangish and lime green eyes. The last stallion was a Pegasus with a very dark gray- almost black coat, light baby blue mane in the shape of a Mohawk and golden eyes.
Huh.. so they’re are more guys here. I honestly thought I was going mad when I could only see more and more girls. Maybe that’s just my imagination. I thought to myself as me and Big Mac stop in front of the group. Big Mac steps up and begins talking, “Fellers, I would like ya to meet-“
“There’s the guy of the hour!” The gray coated stallion suddenly shouts as he shoots up from his seat and hovers over to me. It’s honestly weird seeing a horse fly, especially since their wings looks like they can’t even lift themselves off the ground. “I was starting to get worried that I wouldn’t meet the rad pony of honor!” He says, putting an arm around me, pulling me into an one-arm hug.
The Pegasus pony held a wide grin as he walks to the table with me in tow. “Seriously though, beating some Timberwolves is not something you can do and live to tell the tale! Especially when saving some pretty mates.” The guys says to me with a small smirk. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Big Mac’s face form a small scowl at his comment. However he continues, “How’d you do it? Crazy spells? Oh! What about some sick fighting moves.” He exclaims and demonstrates with a karate chop with one of his arm.
“Um.. I guess you can say that..?” My response sounded more like a question, and to me it was a question. I remember fighting the Timberwolves but really it felt like my body did it on instinct. Was it because of this new body?
Not exactly young Mike, it was mostly from my doing. I hear Blix suddenly speaks up, my mind going blank for a quick second.
Huh? Really? How? I mentally ask him, really curious to know how he do it because I know full well I don’t take self defense classes back from where I came from.
In that moment when those wolves attacked I immediately went into action. ‘Temporarily’ possessing your body to fight back since you do not posses the ability to use magic yet. He explains simply. The thought of ‘possession’ really alarmed me.
Possessing my body?! Why- how did you even- I begin but Blix interrupts me once more.
It’s.. more complicated than you might think, and not just ‘ghost possession’ if that’s what you’re think because I know you are! Blix says quickly, I just stayed silent as I was actually thinking of that.
“Um..? Hey dude? You alright?” The dark gray stallion asks, waving his hoof in front of me. I snap back into reality, seeing all the other stallions staring at him with confusion and concern. I realize that I spaced out again and feel my face turn into a small blush in embarrassment.
“Heh.. s-Sorry about that, I have a tendency to space out sometimes.” I say with a small grin, the stallion just shrugs before patting my back.
“Ha! You’re a weird one that’s for sure! But seriously though, how did you manage to fight them off? If I remember right they can regenerate themselves right?” The stallion keeps firing question after question. I felt myself move back slightly from his bombardment if questions.
“Well I uh-.. I-“
“Honestly Thunderlane, stop scaring the poor chap will ya? Let him enjoy the party!” The lighter brown stallion calls out with a small smile. The gray pony, now I know as Thunderlane, had a look of small remorse. His ears folding down as he moves back.
“Heh, sorry dude. Just got a bit excited!” He says as his face changes instantly to a wide grin. “Here sit with us, I’ll make it by getting us all drinks.” He says as he motions his hoof to me. I let out a small sigh and obliged, sitting with the group of stallions while Thunderlane went over to the food bar it looks like.
“Excuse him young chap, now I believe we should get introductions out of the way. You’re already met Thundelane and Big McIntosh I assume.” The lighter brown pony starts, he had a bit of a British accent too. “This is Mr. Cake, owner of the finest bakery there is.” He points to the yellow stallion. Mr. Cake smiles at his comment and nods with pride form what I could tell. “And I’m The Doctor.” The light brown pony says finally.
“Wait- just Doctor? Doctor- what?” I ask, noticing he just said ‘Doctor’ and nothing else. It was strange because it did sound familiar before, like it was from a show or something. I shrug, must’ve been my imagination.
“Don’t think about it too much, we have no idea either.” Big Mac comments in.
“Although sometimes we call him Doctor Whooves.” Mr. Cake adds in with a shrug as well.
Doctor Whooves clears his throat pretty loudly to catch our attention again with a slight annoyed scowl. “Well I beg your pardon, I think my name is perfectly normal here.” He says before he continues on though Thunderlane comes back with five large mugs. A few of those mugs he had to carry with his wings and I wasn’t about to think about how he’s even able to do that.
He begins to hand everyone a mug and hands me one as well, I see it looks like cider and became excited again. Feeling a grin appear on my face as without a second though I began to chug the mug. The apple taste was there but there was another taste. A very strong sour kind of taste that hit my taste buds hard. I reacted instinctively and put the mug down. Without having anywhere to spit it out I slowly drank it. I know what the other taste was despite never having it before. Alcohol, I've smelled Alcohol before, the smell had been always ingrained my mind before so I knew exactly what this extra taste was. I guess my reaction had been noticed by the other guys because Bic Mac looked at me with slight worry.
“Ya alright there, partner?” He asks with a hint of concern in his voice. I slowly nod and felt kinda queasy.
“Yeah.. is there alcohol in this?” I ask, looking down at my mug. It looked pretty much the same as a regular cup of non-alcohol cider.
Thunderlane replies back, “Uh yeah there is! You don’t like that? Sorry dude I thought you did.”
I shiver slightly, the taste of the broad alcohol still on my tongue. I shake my head, “No it’s alright, I just.. take it easy when it comes to this stuff.” I say. Eyeing the mug in front of me.
Thunder lane nods in understanding, taking a small sip of his mug. “Ah yeah that makes more sense, sorry I can go get you something else if you want?” He suggested.
I slowly shook my head, “no no, it’s alright.” I reassured. Thunderlane nods once more before sitting down. I look back down at the mug before sighing a little.
This is suppose to be a party right? I’m suppose to enjoy myself, I mean this isn’t really my first time trying alcohol before. Now that I think about it, this isn’t as strong as some I tried back home.
I felt a familiar click in my head as I hear Blix’s voice once more, I’ve been hearing your thoughts.. are you sure you can handle this worlds hard beverage? It might not be a good idea. I hear Blix say to me.
I took a deep breath and nod my head, feeling a small and sheepish grin form. Yeah.. I think I can. I don’t think this stuff is as hard as it is back home. With another, this time longe, deep breath I raise the mug once more. Chugging down the contents as quickly as I could. The mixture of the sweet apple cinnamon flavor with the hard alcohol mixed in rushed into my senses like a train.
After I quickly drank the mug I set it done with a little more force then I intended to use. The stallions before me gaze at me with slight shock. “Woah.. you alright? I thought you said you take easy on that stuff.” Thunderlane finally says, chuckling a little at the end.
I couldn’t help but shrug a little, feeling the drink slowly kick in. I raise the mug into the air and shouted full-heartedly. “Well this is a party isn’t it? Well I say screw the rules and let’s have fun!”
The stallions as well as a few ponies cheered at this. A random pony came up to me with another mug filled with the hard cider. I graciously accepted and begin to chug it down. I could hear Blix sighing in my mind but I just mentally shrugged it off. What’s the worst that can happen?
15 minutes later...
"PONYVILLE!? ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!?" Mike shouts out over a crowd of ponies all gathered near him. The ponies shout with cheers. Mike was clearly in a tipsy state, but not too drunk. Still he show cleared signs that his mind isn's all there.
In his hooves he held an electric guitar, courtesy of a certain DJ, Vinyl. It took him a minute or two before he was able to get a good handle of the instrument on his hooves. Said hooves were a blessing and a curse. He was glad that he wouldn't need a pick of sort but it would make playing notes with hooves a hassle while also standing up on his two hind legs.
After another minute he figured out a good way to play before coming onto the small stage that also resided a DJ booth. Normally Mike wouldn't do this but after some convincing from Thunderlane in the form as a small bet. Mike didn't doubt his skill but he always felt nervous when performing. But thanks to his drunken state he had an extra boost in confidence.
The sudden performance gathers the attention of all the ponies there, including six certain mares.
Before much could be said about his decision, the lights dim as a slow beat begins to play in the background. Vinyl grins at Mike as he nods. He takes a small breath as his hooves begin to play
The more Mike played the more he seemed to relax, he certainly felt like himself. Enjoying the beat of the music as he let his hooves run along the strings as best as they could allow him too.
Ponies all alike stood there mouth agape as well as the mares. Then they began to cheer wildly as he continues on.
Soon the song came to an end with Mike holding onto the last note a little longer. As soon as that ends the crowd goes into another cheer for the last time. Mike couldn't help but smile, he takes off the instrument and sets it down gently and took in all the applause from the crowd. It felt such a nice moment to Mike that he didn't want it to end.
Until he came up with a horrible idea.
Mike then turns around, facing away from the crowd which confuses some ponies.
"STAGE DIVE!" He announces as he jumps off the stage. Ponies around move away in time but unfortunately not all ponies were able to react in time from the sudden stallion's action. One of the ponies that was unfortunate was Big Mac.
Back to the present...
"Well did you have fun at the party besides that!?" Pinkie shouts in my ear suddenly. Causing me to yelp in surprise and bring me our from the memory. I took a breath to calm my speeding heart as I nod.
"Yeah, despite what happened I did actually have fun." I say with a small smile.
Pinkie smiles more from my answer seems to bounce with joy. Literally as she bounces along with us. Rainbow slowly flies nearby us, however she had a knew look that was more of interest.
"That was totally AWESOME by the way! Where did you learn to shred like that?" She asked, gaining the attention of every one else. The other girls had similar statements.
"Yeah! did you have an awesome teacher?" Pinkie asks as she continues on with her bouncing.
"While it's not my cup of tea darling it was quite entertaining." Rarity says.
"Well shoot, ah was mighty surprise you could play that thing with just two hooves." Applejack added as well.
"It was really interesting to see you play with your hooves instead of your magic." Twilight states.
"It was nice.." Fluttershy's barely audible voice manages to catch my ears.
I kept my head low from their stares in embarrassment as I felt a small blush on my face. "Aw stop, you're making me blush." He says before looking back up to them with a smile. "I learned the basics from my mother who liked to play the guitar. And as for learning to play in that style you saw earlier, that was from mostly self-taught." I explained.
"What? Self-taught? No way! That kind of playing would take ages to learn by yourself. You must've had help!" Rainbow says unbelievably.
"He ain't lying Dash." Applejack spoke up, making Rainbow's face go into slight shock. I just chuckled and shrug as I continued on walking.
"well.. anyway, I'll see you guys later. I got weather duty tomorrow! See ya!" Rainbow says as she then turns and flies to a different direction.
Probably to her house. I thought as I heard a yawn coming from the push mare.
"I have to go as well. A mare needs her beauty sleep after all. Ciao!" Rarity says before turning and heading towards a building that looks like a carousel.
"I gotta help out the Cakes tomorrow for a special wedding cake in plan!" Pinkie announces as she gives me a quick hug before hoping off. I blush a little from the contact but thought nothing more from it.
You like the attention. Blix says with a hint of playfulness in his voice.
Shut up, you're not helping! I quickly retorted.
"As much as I want to continue to talk more, I have to go check on Spike and send my report to Princess Celestia. See you all tomorrow!" Twilight says as he horn glows for a moment before she disappears in a flash of white.
That's so cool! I really need to learn how to do that! I thought as I look up at my own horn. Maybe I could ask Twilight if she would lend me some books on magic.
It would be a good place to start, maybe tomorrow when she's available. Blix suggests, which makes me nod my head.
Yeah! Let's do that! I answered.
Fluttershy then speeded up ahead of us. "Oh I hate to leave but i'm worried about my animals. Have a goodnight everypony." She says in her gentle voice and rises up from the ground slightly heads on to I guess her own home.
That left only Applejack, Big Mac, and Me. I turn to her, "Guess you gotta go home too huh?"
Applejack nods. "Yeah. Me and Mac gotta head back to the farm. Apples can't pick themselves." She chuckles at her own joke before adding, "Wait, where are you gonna stay? You don't really have a place to stay right?" She asks. This made my mind go blank for a second before the realization kicked in.
"Oh right, well I don't really have a place to go to.. and I don't have any money to rent for a hotel room for the night.." I begin to internally panic. With no money, or a roof over my head, how am I gonna survive in this colorful world?
Big Mac then speaks up. "Well you can stay with us for the time being." He offered, my eyes widening a little from the sudden hospitality.
"Really? I mean I wouldn't want to be a burden to you or your family." I say reluctantly.
Mac shook his head, "Non-sense. we'll be glad to have ya, besides you said it yerself. You ain't got money to get a hotel room." He says, making me sigh in response as he was right. "Besides, think of it as a repayment for saving mah sister." He finishes with a smile you see on a relived mother, or brother in this case.
Applejack blushes slightly and nods. "How about it? I say you ain't got much of a choice sugar cube." She finishes with a small smirk.
I considered my very limited options and as much as I didn't like living in other people's home I agreed. "Alright, alright i'll stay. But I want to help out too, I don't want to be completely useless." I added. Big Mac nods in approval.
"I like yer style Mike." Mac says as he turns as well as Applejack and begin walking with me following close behind them. I couldn't help but smile. I was starting to really like this world. But another thought always keeps popping into my head. What is my purpose here at all?
I became lost in my thoughts as I soon look up to see Mac and Applejack already farther ahead of me. I shook my head to clear my head. I'll think about it later. I thought to myself before rushing to the two farm ponies. "Hey! wait up!"