After so long on the job, Knox was practically nocturnal, but that didn't stop him from bolting upright in his bed in the middle of the day. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep, either. The nightmare would only wake him again anyways. Since he was up anyways, he decided to go to the only other place in which he felt somewhat comfortable.
He arrived at the school in less than a half hour. As he pulled open the main doors with his magic, he hoped he'd arrived during a class period so the halls wouldn't be too crowded. Of course, he'd never been a lucky pony. His schedule kept him from making new friends, the one friend he had made was locked up in Tartarus last he'd heard, and now as he opened the door... Oh. Maybe he should've been hoping for a crowded hallway.
The hallway was eerily silent, with only a few ponies passing through on their way to class. He was used to how silent the corridors were at night, but the lack of noise during the day was... unexpected, to say the least. It was actually kind of creepy.
After checking with the new headmare (Starlight, was it? Oh, never mind...) to make sure he was allowed to be there during the day, he continued his casual walk through the hallways. He came to an abrupt stop at the next corner, where another hallway intersected with this one, for he saw something he didn't expect. There were two grown mares debating over where to take their lunch break. One, a unicorn, had an elegant purple mane and a coat as white as snow. The other mare was excitedly bouncing up and down. She had no wings or horn, but she had a poofy pink mane and a paler pink coat.
He walked up to the mares, eyes wide, and had planned to introduce himself. Instead, he didn't think before he spoke and ended up spurting out, "Great Celestia, you are beautiful!"
He face-hoofed as soon as he heard himself say it, but the mares just paused for a moment before they chuckled. Thankfully, they'd found it funny instead of creepy.
"Darling, I'm sorry," said the unicorn, "but I'm afraid you're just not my type."
Knox looked confused for a moment, but then understood what had happened.
"You're not my type, either," he replied quite bluntly. "I wasn't talking to you."
The unicorn's jaw dropped at this retort. The adorable pink earth pony that still hadn't stopped smiling spoke up next.
"Well, then who were you talking to, silly? Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie and this is Rarity." She paused to gesture at her friend, still with her mouth agape.
"Nice to meet you," replied Knox, now hanging on to the little puffball of joy's every word.
"There's nothing better than making a new friend, is there?" asked the pink pony apparently named Pinkie Pie. 'Pinkie Pie' The name echoed through his mind, and although Pinkie didn't see it, he was giving a very small, nearly invisible smile. The one called Pinkie Pie then surprised Knox as she tackled him to the ground in a hug. The hug was so fluffy, so warm, so forceful. It was almost exactly like a grown mare's version of the hugs from...
Knox screamed, and Pinkie quickly retreated from from her embrace with worry on her face. 'I've gotta get outta here,' he thought to himself as he ran away from the two mares.