//------------------------------// // XXVI. // Story: The Nobody's Regret // by Synthetic Soul //------------------------------// Roxas ignored the stares and weird looks he was getting from the ponies who had not yet become accustomed to his presence. He thought nothing of it as, even though he had traveled the world, there was only one of him. Through time all things fade, and memory was no exception. He had been exploring the town for a little while now, and was getting the layout of the land. He decided to make his way back to the library. He made his way to the main part of Ponyville. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sugarcube corner, a place he had not yet visited. ‘I’ve always wanted to try Sugarcube Corners food, but I had to wait hundreds of years for it to even exist. Now seems like the perfect opportunity!’He thought. He made a beeline towards the shop. Opening the front door of the shop, he heard the ringing of the bell that alerted the store to a new customer. Roxas looked and saw Mrs. Cake manning the counter. “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” she greeted. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Roxas enter, but they quickly returned to normal as her mind placed the image of the being in front of her as a close friend of the princesses. “How can I help you?” she asked as Roxas approached the counter. The human observed the pastries protected by the glass case. He had always been a man of simple tastes, much preferring simple things like cupcakes and pies, instead of the more eccentric recipes. His eyes settled on a vanilla cupcake with swirling pink icing. He could tell the frosting was the more solid buttercream kind, and not the frothing whipped kind, which he despised. He pointed to his desired pastry. “I’ll take that,” he requested. “Right away! That’ll be two bits,” said Mrs. Cake as she grabbed the cupcake. Roxas reached into his coat and pulled out two gold coins, and placed them on the counter. The mare handed Roxas the desert, and took the bits. “Thanks for your business, do come again!” Roxas picked up the cake, and exited the shop. He stepped away from the front entrance, and leaned against the side of the building. He took off his gloves, and placed them in his pockets before he unwrapped the cupcake. After doing so, he bit into it, and instantly relished the sweet taste. It was everything he hoped and more. He quickly devoured it, leaving pink frosting on his face, which he quickly wiped off with the napkin that came with his cupcake. The sugar remained on his taste buds as he looked over the town. ‘That was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted,’he thought. As he did, his eyes landed on a pony with a mane as pink as the cupcake he’d just eaten. There he saw Pinkie Pie sitting at a table under an umbrella. But her usual chipper demeanor was replaced with a forlorn expression. Roxas could see she was looking at something, so he followed her gaze to see that she was observing none other than Gilda the griffon. At that moment, Roxas saw her use her tail to snatch an apple from a vendor stand. At first, Roxas thought to leave the situation alone. It wasn’t a major threat to Equestria as a whole, and it would work itself out within a few years. But as Roxas observed Gilda, he remembered a bit of the circumstances that made her who she was. Her homeland was impoverished and everyone there had the same, survival of the fittest attitude. Perhaps he’d be able to talk to her, and help repair her relationship with Rainbow Dash before it became fractured. Making up his mind, Roxas decided to wait for the right opportunity to approach the Griffon. *Knock knock knock* Rainbow Dash heard the familiar sound of her door being knocked on. Fluttering to the front, she opened the door, only somewhat surprised, to see Pinkie Pie at her door, being suspended by her waist by a bouquet of balloons. “Hey Pinks, what’s up?” “Hey Rainbow, can I come in?” Rainbow looked at her, and then down towards her cloud flooring. “Well, if you made it this far up, you probably can.” Pinkie let out a soft chuckle, which to Rainbow was a sign that something was wrong. Pinkie normally would have been rolling on her sides laughing at a joke of that caliber (or any caliber really). Rainbow stepped aside, and gestured for Pinkie to enter. “You okay? You don’t seem as ‘pinkie’ as usual.” “Yeah, I’m fine,” said Pinkie as she floated further in to Rainbow’s house. “It’s just, well, it’s about your friend Gilda. “Gilda? What’s wrong, did something happen?” questioned Rainbow, alarmed. “No, no!” replied Pinkie, shaking her head. “It’s just, well I don’t know her like you do, but from what I’ve seen of her around in Ponyville, she was acting kind of…like a jerk….” “Well Pinkie, Griffons are a bit tougher than Pony’s, you know. What, was she a little grumpy or something?” “Well, when I was trying to hang out with you guys, Gilda kept trying to get rid of me. And looking back on it, I realize I was kinda pushing into your one on one time, but later on I saw she scared Granny Smith half to death with a prank! And she’s pretty old, a scare like that could giver her a actual heart attack! And I also saw her steal an apple from a fruit stand! Luckily, it wasn’t one of Applejacks, but still!” Rainbow quickly processed what Pinkie Pie had told her, and while she was disheartened to hear that her friend wasn’t adjusting to Ponyville as well as she could, she wasn’t completely surprised by what she heard. “Oh. Well Pinks, from what Gilda’s told me, Griffonstone is a pretty rough place to live. Like REALLY rough, especially compared to life in Ponyville. Griffons typically don’t have friends, and only really seem to care about themselves. I don’t want to make excuses for her, but I really think she just needs to be able to adjust to being in Ponyville. We do things pretty differently here.” “Wow,” gasped Pinkie as she slowly floated inward. “Griffons don’t like Friendship?! No wonder she’s so grumpy!” “Yeah, we should just give her time. Although, she is going back home in a few days…maybe I’ll just stick around her to keep her out of trouble until then.” “Oooorrrrrrr,” said Pinkie as she turned to face her friend. “Or, we could show her how wonderful Ponyville is! So wonderful that she’ll decide to live here! Then we help cheer her up, and show her that she can have as many friends as she wants!” “Uhh….hmmm, maybe. But how would we do that?” “We’ll throw her a party! We’ll throw her the biggest, best-est welcome to Ponyville party ever! We’ll invite everyone, and give her presents, and maker her feel right at home here!” “That could work…but I don’t know if she’d be that into a Ponyville party. She’s kind of more…punk rock than that. A Ponyville party might bore her.” “Well, maybe we should add something she likes? Like…” “Like pranks?” suggested Rainbow. “Yes, that’s perfect!” screeched Pinkie, as she grabbed onto Rainbow’s withers. “We’ll make it a prank party! And by the end of the end of the party, she’ll realize just how fun Ponyville is!” “And cool!” added Rainbow. “This is gonna be awesome!” “You bet it will be!” The two ponies high-hooved each other, and in tandem they shouted; “Let’s get started!”