Chapter 7 “Welcome to Ponyville”
Scholars to this day still have no true understanding of the noise that came out of Ray’s mouth when the surprise was pulled on him. It was some strange semblance of a curse, a yell, and a cry of terror. To accumulate it into a word-
“FfffaAAGHHhhheeEEEeeeoout!”
The room instantly became silent as confetti and little streamers floated down around Ray. Although he couldn’t see his own eyes, as they were in his head, he knew they had to be wider than the pony’s before him. He tried to calm his heartbeat down from ripping out of his chest to cracking his ribs as Pinkie dropped down from the ceiling, somehow landing on her hooves despite dropping headfirst. In doing so, she allowed him a brief glimpse of the room.
Ponies of all colors and species lined the room, and a huge peach banner reading ‘Welcome to this Universe/Equestria/Ponyville and Happy New Friendship, Raymond!’ was strung from one end of the dining room to the other. Dozens of ponies were here, many of them blushing at his current state of apparel, or severe lacking of it. Ray just counted himself lucky he hadn’t dropped the towel, otherwise he might’ve just charged directly into the minotaur’s land from embarrassment. Not that this was much better.
There were several smaller tables in the room now instead of the singular wooden table earlier, each with a different refreshment on it. Some of the ponies wore little party hats, and there was a disco ball now hanging from the ceiling. There was also a pony with white fur and a blue mane with lightning blue highlights sitting at a DJ station. Ray didn’t really didn’t know how to react to the sudden party in his home, so he simply stared slack jawed at the scenery.
“Ooooooh, we gotchu good, didn’t we Ray?” Pinkie Pie had suddenly reappeared in his vision with a grin that Ray could probably stand on. “C’mon, tell me that was the most surprising surprise anypony has ever surprised you with!”
“What the hell,” he finally managed to ask. The effect was that of one dropping the big F in a kindergarten classroom, as everypony gasped at his language. Right, ponies were a bit sensitive about the whole cursing thing. He’d have to remember that. He decided to rephrase his question, as to get an actual answer instead of synchronized gasps. “Sorry. Can anybody tell me what is going on here?”
“Well, I don’t know if anybody can tell you what’s going on, but I know a particular pony that could tell you,” Pinkie said, her smile somehow growing. She threw herself around his neck, and screeched, “That’s me. We’re throwing a surprise welcome to this universe/Equestria/Ponyville and happy new friendship party!”
Ray set the soft pink pony down on the ground, finding her surprisingly light , all things considered. He took a step back, looking at all of the ponies in the room, only recognizing five of them, the ones from before. Had all of them really come just to welcome him to their home, even without knowing him. He didn’t even know how they had found his home, since he’d only lived here for less than four hours. And then there was the sheer amount of work they must’ve put into getting this party set up, since they had managed to be quiet enough he hadn’t heard them.
Not that he would’ve heard them, with what had happened. Oh geez. What would they have thought if he hadn’t come down, if he’d done it? What would they think if they found their newest resident dead in a pool of blood, razor in hand? Would they be able to understand what had transpired? How would they have reacted to a stranger’s suicide?
Not that it mattered now. He hadn’t carried through, whether for better or worse.
He gave the room a small smile. “Thanks for coming everybo- pony, but you really shouldn’t be wasting your time and money on me. I’m sure you have better things to do right now…”
Pinkie Pie pouted as she sat down. “Aaaah, what’s wrong? We do this anytime somepony comes to Ponyville. Or has a birthday here. Or an anniversary. Or-”
“I think he gets the point, Pinkie,” a familiar rainbow maned pegasus called. Several other ponies voiced their agreement, although most were looking away from him. Right. Towel.
He looked down at the hopeful pink pony. Giving her an uneasy smile, he told her, “Alright. Let me just get dressed.”
“Yay,” she shouted, shooting into the air as confetti sprayed out of her tangled pink mane. Ray backed out of the room, shutting the door to the stairs on his way out. He ran up the stairs quickly, running a hand through his hair. Why had he agreed? The answer was surprisingly easy. He was lonely, and had nothing to do for the rest of the day. Besides, he’d seen Apple Jack in the room. Hopefully he’d be able to offer up his services to her, if his assumptions were correct about her.
Quickly drying off any remaining droplets of water, he got dressed back into the clothes Discord had given him. Taking a deep breath to prep himself for the upcoming socialization he was forcing himself into, he stepped out of his room. And nearly into Pinkie Pie.
“Gah,” he yelped, nearly stepping onto one of her hoofs.
“Sorry,” the pink pony apologized, her tail wagging as she stood up, grinning at him. “I just couldn’t wait for you to come down.” She shot up and plopped a party hat on his head. “Now c’mon, Mondy! We have a party to party!”
Raymond was suddenly dragged right back down the stairs, through an open doorway, and into the midst of dancing and chatting ponies. The party seemed to have started up without him, which was fair enough. What would you do during those two awkward minutes of waiting for the party recipient to return?
“Alright, everypony,” Pinkie yelled over the music the DJ was playing. “Ray’s here, so now it’s really time to party!!!”
The crowd cheered in response and the music in the room turned up by about a hundred decibels. Raymond slapped an uneasy smile on his face as he hesitantly walked into the room. There was really no hiding in the crowd as he was almost four feet taller than everypony, and that gained him a lot of unwanted attention. After only about a minute of awkwardly standing around, watching the party unfold, the song changed into a more upbeat tune. Before he knew what was happening, he found himself pushed into the center of a circle of ponies.
“Dance Ray! Dance,” Pinkie shouted springing above the crowd of ponies watching him. He gulped, unsure of what to do. This was more than he had bargained for when he’d agreed to join the party.
“I don’t know how,” he yelled back. Like a cannon going off- actually, she might’ve launched herself out of one with how quick she came- she shot into the middle of the circle. She had that slap happy smile on her face as she simply shouted, “Then I guess I’ll hafta just teach you!”
She stood onto her back two hooves, an impressive feat on its own, and bent her forelegs, swinging them back and forth. “Like this,” she instructed. Ray copied her moves, slouching a little so he could hear her better over the blaring sound boxes. He heard some ponies laugh at his off center dancing. He was pretty sure that he looked like a spasticated monkey running in place, and for some reason, he wasn’t bothered by this.
Let them laugh. He was a human, futher mucker, and he was going to enjoy this night as much as he could. He actually began to laugh with his pink pony partner, and the song flew by in a blur of laughter and smiles.
“Going for another round, Ray,” Pinkie questioned as the song ended. She stretched her hoof out in a beckoning motion.
“Nah,” he said, feeling slightly more comfortable about joining the party. “I think I’m just gonna mingle. Ya know?”
Pinkie nodded, and just continued with her strange dancing as ponies began to fill in the circle. Ray walked away, towards one of the concession stands in the corner of the room. Along the way, he had to keep answering pony’s questions about what he was and how he got here. He decided to use the story Twilight had given him, since it seemed the most plausible.
When he finally arrived, he examined his options. The stand bore several different colored cupcakes, some of them looking like they were made of more than frosting and pastry. There was a very real possibility that one of them had cilantro in it, based on the smell emitting from it. He decided to grab a peachy brown colored one with red frosting and green sprinkles. He wasn’t sure if he entirely trusted it, but decided balls deep was the way to go.
He closed his eyes and rammed the cupcake in his mouth and chewed it quickly. Ray tried not to gag too loud as the unholy combination of apple and chili pepper filled his mouth. He swallowed as quickly as he could without choking as raucous, tomboyish laughter erupted from behind him. He turned to find Rainbow Dash flying behind him smirking at his plight. In her hooves were two plastic cups, somehow held despite her lack of any fingers.
Come to think of it, how did ponies go about everyday life if they didn’t have fingers? It’s not like it’d be hard to replace handles with… um, hoof handles for most things, and he was sure that unicorns could use magic as such, but what about the other species? How did they write if they couldn’t grasp their pens? And what about software use, if they even had that.
They had electricity and some form of computer software in order to have the lights that brightened the room. There also had to be some sort of radiological work in order for there to be microwaves, since that required radioactivity magic. There were also refrigerators, which had to mean some other technological stuff he didn’t understand. Who knew? Maybe somewhere, in a dark back alley of Equestria, there were even guns being sold. After all, Pinkie had a cannon.
Ray felt his tongue burning. Right, disgusting cupcake. Rainbow shoved one of the cups into his hand, and said, “Drink this, it’ll help.”
Ray eagerly took the proffered cup, taking a large swig of the drink. It tingled a little in his mouth, so he figured that it was carbonated slightly to give it more of a kick. It tasted like a sharper version of apple juice, but also had a dulled out hint to it, like someone had left it out a little too long. It was warm in his throat, and so good that Ray finished the entire cup with a long drag. He smacked his lips as he finished, turning to Rainbow.
“What was that?”
“Cider,” she responded, before pointing to the cupcakes. “That was one of Pinkie’s infamous party pastries. Every party, she makes some for those weirdos that actually like them, or, in this case, to prank the newcomer. She personally taste-tests each one she makes to be sure it doesn’t poison anypony.”
“I think her testing is a bit faulty. That, and her taste buds must be shot from taste-testing that.” Rainbow guffawed and slapped Ray on the back, although slapped was a strong word for it. More like a heavy tap on the back. Ray gave her a smile, then asked, “So where are the actual concessions?”
“The Apple’s stand,” she said, pointing towards another concession stand where a familiar orange pony stood. “AJ always makes sure that some edible food is brought to a party. If you want more cider, there’s a barrel over there.”
He followed her hoof to the corner by the closet, where a pony-size barrel stood against the wall. Nodding his head in acknowledgement, he strode over to it and filled his plastic cup with the frothy liquid. He chugged the cup down and walked over to the other corner, right by the DJ’s booth, where the Apple’s stand was.
“Howdy, partner,” Apple Jack called as Ray approached. She grabbed an apple fritter off the table and extended it to him. “Have one a’ these. Saw ya had a little mishap with one a’ Pinkie’s ‘party cupcakes.’”
“Thanks,'' he said, bending down slightly to grab it. He ate the entire pastry in one bite, letting the sticky, sweet flavor of apples and cinnamon float in his mouth before swallowing. Apple Jack smiled in approval.
“Ya look like ya got somethin’ ya wanna say to me,” she stated with a knowing smile.
“Yeah,” Ray said, sitting down by the pony and squeezing into the corner so that he was out of the way. “I was wondering, do you work on a farm or something”
“Why yes I do,” she exclaimed proudly. “Sweet Apple Acres, to be exact. Why?”
“Well, I was thinking that I need a job so I can pay to keep my stomach full,” he said. He rubbed the back of his head, slightly nervous. He’d had his fair share of job interviews, at least for his age. They were usually more formal than asking to have any job he could during a party. But this was a different dimension without any other humans in it, so it was probably different in the regard of job interviews. Hopefully. “And I figured that if you worked on a farm, you could use a hand with the work there.”
“So yer offerin’ me yer services, eh,” she said, thoughtfully rubbing her chin with a hoof. She gave him an assuring smile and said, “We always need a hoof at the farm, and zap apple season’s right around th’ corner, so I’ll take ya up on that offer. Given, I’ll hafta make sure that Big Mac knows about this, lest he bucks ya into next week fer trespassin’, but’cha got yerself a deal.”
Ray let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks again,” he said, before holding up an empty cup. “I’m gonna go get another cup of cider. The stuff’s amazing.”
Apple Jack nodded in agreement. “Family made,” the pony said proudly. Ray huh’d as he turned and walked over to the barrel getting another cup of the delicious liquid. He leaned against the wall, sipping his cup and letting that warmness spread as song after song played.
After three, a sea green pony with a turquoise mane and tail walked up to him, a camera around her neck. Her Cutie Mark featured two rectangles with green jewels overlapping each other, and he realized they had to be slides. He gave her a welcoming smile as she walked up to him, an excited air about her.
“Hello,” she greeted in a singsong voice. “My name’s Emerald Joy, Secretary and Archive Keeper of Ponyville. I’m supposed to record any significant happenings that go on here, and I figure that a foreign creature moving here is pretty significant. Mind if I take your picture?”
“Not at all,” he responded, smiling for the camera. It snapped, and Ray rubbed his cheeks. He hadn’t smiled so much in one day since… well he couldn’t even remember. It was strange that in one day, he’d been the most depressed, saddest, and happy he’d been in years.
“Thanks,” the pony said, looking down at her camera as she inspected the photo. He gave her a little half smile as she looked back up at him and asked, “Mind if I ask you a few questions,”
“Not at all.”
Five minutes, two cups of cider, and a song later, the pony walked away happily, humming an unknown tune. Ray felt a soft smile cross his face as he watched the room, leaning against the wall. All of these ponies were here for him. Actually, with the amazing cider , awesome music, and fun dancing, maybe not. Still, it was nice not to be alone for the rest of the day. Speaking of amazing cider…
Ray turned to get another cup. As he did so, his eyes found two familiar figures in the crowd. Rarity and Fluttershy stood in the only unoccupied corner of his dining room, talking. He filled his cup and walked over to the two. As he neared, he could hear their argument.
“...but darling, you have the voice of a songbird,” Rarity complained.
“And the heart of one,” Fluttershy shot back. “I’m not doing any karaoke, and that’s final.”
“Don’t songbirds want to share their songs,” Ray questioned, joining the conversation. Fluttershy jumped into the air with a tiny yelp, turning to him with a shy look over her shoulder. Rarity, who had probably seen him coming, smiled up at him, before grimacing at his chest area. He looked down to see if any food or cider or foo had gotten on his shirt, but found none.
“It’s just you, Ray,” Fluttershy said, her voice filled with relief. He gave her a small smile.
“Mind if I join in,” he asked.
“Oh why not at all, darling,” Rarity exclaimed. Fluttershy flew over a little so Ray could stand beside her. “We were just having a friendly little chat about how Fluttershy here should try out a round of karaoke.”
“It’s not going to happen, Rarity,” the pink pegasus insisted, looking down at the ground. She looked up at Ray and asked brightly, “What did you want to talk about.”
“I don’t know, actually,” he admitted, taking a sip from his cup. “I saw some familiar faces in the crowd and gravitated towards them.” He looked back down at the ponies with a guilty smile. “Guess I’m just a little shy when it comes to getting to know people. Or ponies in this case.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” Fluttershy assured, giving him a pretty little smile. “I know I get scared in large crowds.”
“I can deal with it no longer,” Rarity suddenly exclaimed, startling both the human and pegasus. Ray had forgotten that the pearly white unicorn was there. “That ensamble simply won’t do. Come over to my shop tomorrow, and I will measure you up and assemble a new wardrobe for you. Those clothes Discord gave you are dreadfully representative of him, and that just can’t be.”
“Um, okay,” he agreed, not completely sure how to respond to the sudden outburst. Instead, he opted to change the subject. “Speaking of Discord, where is he? I figure he would be here, since parties naturally spell chaos of some sort.”
“He’s asleep right now,” Fluttershy answered. “He fell asleep around two, I think.”
“Why so soon? I mean, it’s not like he would have a job or anything right?”
“Oh no,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s just that, since he’s the Lord of Chaos, he falls asleep whenever his body decides. The same goes with waking up. In fact, not two weeks ago, Discord and I were having our weekly tea, when he suddenly fell asleep in the tea cakes! I had to try to wake him up long enough to get him home. He slept for three days afterward.”
Ray chuckled, sipping his cup of cider once again as he reached up to scratch the side of his head. That did sound like quite the problem to have. Imagine falling asleep during a funeral, and waking up to angry family members asking how one could be so rude. Or falling asleep during finals, and waking up to an F. Actually, that one made him cringe. That would suck.
He looked down at Fluttershy, who was staring intently at Ray’s arm. His wrist to be exact. Ray followed her gaze to his wrist, finding a long cut there, right where he had intended to cut. He hadn’t realized that the cut had been so deep, or so close, for that matter. Just a couple more centimeters, and it would have all been over, whether he had meant to or not.
“Ray, what happened there,” the sweet pony asked, worry filling her voice. He struggled to come up with a plausible excuse as she tried to read his face. Her brows furrowed in concern as she found something he didn’t want her to see. She tilted her head and put a hoof on his shoulder. “You didn’t do that to yourself, did you?”
Finding he couldn’t lie to the buttercream pegasus, he raised the cup back to his lips, looking straight forward. He could practically see her through the plastic that was intentionally blocking his vision, and promptly began to drink the remaining cider as an excuse for his silence. However, due to the fact that he’d already drunk half the cup, and the cups were made for ponies, he quickly ran out of beverage to drink. After a solid minute of drinking nothing, Ray caved in on his ridiculous act, lowering the cup.
When he did, he found Fluttershy directly in front of his face. She was giving him probably the most commanding look he’d ever had used on him in his life. It was a cross between a glare and a “mother’s stare”, which, despite Ray’s best efforts, unnerved him. He tried to look away desperately, but found that he couldn’t tear his eyes away from hers. Her stare was growing stronger by the second as her eyebrows became more and more angular. After several seconds of the stare, Ray let out a short, annoyed sigh.
He looked in either direction to make sure none of the ponies were close enough to hear him over the music, before saying, “C’mon.”
He grabbed her closest foreleg and pulled her after him, across the room to the door to the stairs. Opening it quickly, he rushed up the stairs, Fluttershy in tow. Turning left in the hall, he rushed into his room, slamming the door. He wasn’t actually sure what he was doing, but he knew that he didn’t want everypony to know exactly what he was about to say.
Turning to the now confused pegasus, he began speaking. “I’m not what I look like,” he explained, heading across the room to sit on his plush bed. “I didn’t have a happy life back in my home. I put myself into a cage to pay back for the things I’ve done. I tried to protect my family from many things. One of the most dangerous was me.
“When I was born, my parents had to quit college to pay for and take care of me. When my sister came along, they knew that they wouldn’t be able to go back to college. When six more kids came, I realized fully what I’d done to my family. I’d taken away my parents' shot at a happy life.
“By the time I was eleven, I realized something. I had damned my parents to a hell in life. To make up for it, I swore that my siblings would have the life of their dreams. I damned myself to hell in life so that my siblings had heaven that I never would’ve deserved.
“It was a year later, when I had time to think, that I realized I was pointless. I was only another mouth to feed, my share of money barely enough to get groceries for the family. I realized that if I’d never been born-” Ray’s voice cracked- “then my family wouldn’t be stuck on the road to destruction.”
Ray felt something warm brush his cheek, and, without moving his head, glanced over to see Fluttershy nuzzling his cheek. Taking a deep breath to stop himself from sobbing, he continued.
“I became even more determined to do something, anything, to help my family. I had picked up some… unlawful work, and that began to improve my income, and even living standards. It all toppled down however. Then, today happened.
“I don’t know if Twilight told you, but I was supposed to die today. I would’ve been hit by a car, and just like that, my life would’ve been over. Pointless, without even fulfilling my one true purpose. My family would fall apart without me, some of them killing themselves, and it would’ve been all my fault.
“I was thinking about it in the shower today. I was pointless in one life, a life that I had cheated my way into, so why would this life be any different. I wanted it all to be over, to just be done with the pain and sorrow and suffering. I wanted to just float away, forgotten. But in that moment where I was holding that razor against my wrist, I couldn’t do it. I would’ve, and a part of me still says I should. But then a thought came to me.
“Initially, I thought of disregarding what Twilight had told me, about the war invasion. I thought that I would just enjoy the extra year of life I had. When I was holding the blade that could end it all, I realized what Twilight had unintentionally done for me.” There was a brief silence before Ray continued.
“She’d given me a chance. Now, life could actually mean something other than the monotonous hell I was putting myself through. I could finally do something. I could fight, not for Twilight, but for my own damned soul. I could save a world that had shown me it’s lightest and darkest sides in just minutes, or die trying.”
Ray stopped his rant, staring blankly at the white door. He heard a sniff come from his left, and felt wetness through the fabric of his shirt. Turning, he found a teary- eyed Fluttershy looking at him. As soon as he had turned, she threw herself around his neck, sobbing. Ray gently patted the pony on the back as he felt his own tears come on. He knew that he had confronted himself about it in the shower, but saying it out loud finally made him feel better about his decision. Now he had audibly made his decision, and he would stick to it through thick and thin.
“I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through all of that,” Fluttershy wailed. “No pony should have to go through what you’ve had to. It just isn’t right. To me, you’re perfect the way you are. I hope you know that.”
Ray smiled softly and gave the pony a small squeeze. “Yeah,” he muttered, “I do.”
They sat like that for a while, Fluttershy holding him around his neck and nuzzling him lightly. He rubbed her back as newer thoughts, happier thoughts, filled his head. If most ponies were like Fluttershy, then he would have a happy life here, even if it was short. There were so many things to be had here, too. With the way these ponies had almost instantly accepted him here, he felt more at home than on Earth. Finally, Fluttershy pulled back to look him in the eyes.
“If you ever need to talk, then you can always come to my cottage to talk,” she assured. “I don’t ever want you to feel like that again, you hear?”
Ray nodded, his soft smile growing slightly brighter. “I don’t even know where you live,” he teased. This made the pegasus’ cheeks flush red and look at the ground. Ray chuckled before saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll find my way around Ponyville soon enough.”
Before Fluttershy could respond, there was a loud banging on the door, followed by Rainbow Dash yelling, “Ray, open this door now before I bust it down.”
“The door’s unlocked,” he yelled back, quirking an eyebrow in confusion. A second later, the door burst open and a rainbow streak sped into Ray, hitting him squarely in the stomach and knocking the breath out of him. Despite Rainbow being four times smaller than him, the force of the encounter pushed Ray across the bed. When his vision returned to him, along with his breath, he found the pegasus sitting on his chest, glaring down on him. “What the-”
“Oh no you don’t,” Rainbow shouted, pointing an accusing hoof at Ray’s nose. “I don’t want any of your excuses! You aren’t layin’ a hoof on Fluttershy tonight!”
“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy shouted, sounding flustered. “That’s not what was going on here! We were just talking!”
“What are you two talking about,” Ray asked, the whole situation catching Ray off guard. He wasn’t really sure why Rainbow was suddenly lighting up like a Christmas tree. “What’s going on here.”
He sat up as Rainbow sheepishly climbed off of him, just in time to see a breathless Rarity charge into the room. Her fur was orange and damp on her face, and her makeup was smeared on her face.
“Rainbow Dash, leave them be,” she cried out, grabbing the pony with her magic.
“Somebody please tell me what’s goin’ on,” Ray said as the unicorn began tugging the cyan pegasus out of the room.
Rainbow opened her mouth, but then shut it as a bright blush lit her face even more. Finally, after Rarity noticed that Rainbow was about to say something and set her back down, she said, “Well, I saw you dragging Fluttershy away from the party, and went after you to stop you. Other than, Rarity stopped me, which only made me more suspicious. She said the two of you were talking, and that made me even more suspicious, because nopony misses out on Pinkie’s parties.”
“She’s right,” Pinkie agreed, making everyone jump at her sudden appearance. “Everypony knows my parties are the best in Ponyville. Anyway, you were saying?”
Rainbow took a breath to prepare herself to tell them what she’d thought was going on, and also possibly to recover from Pinkie’s jump scare. “I also saw that you’d had six cups of cider, so I figured that you thought you could get lucky with Flutters. I mean, three cups of cider is usually enough alcohol to get me pretty tipsy, so I thought you were straight whacked out.”
Ray’s eyes widened as he realized exactly what Rainbow Dash was implying. He looked over at poor Fluttershy, who was using her wings and hooves to cover her beet red face. Turning back to the others, he blurted out, “I’m only fourteen!”
“What?!” All three ponies at the door stood in shock at the door. Rainbow instantly went purple in the face as Rarity turned to give her an “I told you so” look, for what, he didn’t know.
“You’re underage,” Pinkie pie shrieked, placing her forehooves on the sides of her head as she stood on her hindlegs. “That means you shouldn’t’ve had the cider. And I was the one that brought it. Which means you drinking is my fault, which means I’ll lose my party license!”
The pink pony began to hyperventilate as she stumbled backwards, passing out. Rarity smacked herself with a hoof in the pony equivalent of a face palm. She simply said, “Girls, I believe that the party has gone on long enough, and since the main orchestrator is currently out of commission, I think we should end it.”
“I agree,” Rainbow nodded, looking awkward in the room. She raced out of the room after Rarity, who was carrying Pinkie in her magical grasp, leaving Ray once again alone with Fluttershy. The poor pony was tucking her wings back against her sides, her face still beet red.
“I-I’m s-sorry about Rainbow Dash,” she stammered, refusing to meet Ray’s eyes. Not that he wanted her to, as he could still feel the remains of a blush on his cheeks. “She’s a-always been protective of me, even though I’m two years older than her.” Ray could hear the smile in her voice as she continued. “She didn’t have any siblings, so when she saw me at her flight camp, she took me in.” The smile left her. “I wasn’t any good at flying when I was young, so I was a level lower than my age. Rainbow’s the fastest flier in Equestria, so she was a level above her age. Two misfits sticking together. That’s what she called it.”
Ray felt a soft smile tugging at his lips. This pony, though. Fluttershy looked up and saw his smile and returned it with her own. “I think we should head downstairs now. It’ll be suspicious if we don’t.”
“You go first,” Ray insisted. Laying back on the bed. His bed. Jeez, this was going to be hard to keep track of. “If we came down together, after spontaneous disappearance and being chased, rumors would fly. Unwanted attention.”
Fluttershy nodded in understanding as she left the room. Ray waited several minutes, listening to the sound of the music turning off and the door opening and closing dozens of times. The house seemed to be large for one person, but, in reality, it was quite small. The walls also seemed to be thin, which meant he could hear some murmuring through the walls. After what seemed like a reasonable amount of time, he ventured back downstairs.
He found it completely intact, as if it hadn’t been changed at all from when he’d first gotten into the shower. His jaw dropped as he inspected the clean manner his house had been left in. There wasn’t even a sprinkle on the floor to hint the amazing party that had just happened. That is, amazing until Fluttershy had worried her pretty little head about him. Ray frowned.
He should’ve just told her not to concern herself about him. It would’ve been so much easier, but there was just an enchanting way about her that had seduced him into talking to her. Her calm, kind demeanor and large, watery eyes had demanded him to tell her everything, and he unwittingly had. Now she knew more about him than any of his siblings had. He sighed, trying to come up with an excuse as to why he had spilled everything -scratch that- most everything to her. It was just too much to handle. This day was too much to handle.
“So,” a voice suddenly said to his right. “Ya just gonna mope around like that all day?”
Turning in alarm, he found Apple Jack casually leaning against the open doorway into the kitchen. She smirked at his jumpiness, pushing her hat up so she could see him better. Ray released a breath, relief that it was only his employer.
“What’re you doin’ here,” he asked. “Not that I mind, but all the others seemed to have left, and I figured that everyone meant everyone.”
“Oh, ‘s a’right,” she responded with a toothy grin. “I was just down here while all th' others were… up in yer room? Anyhow, I kept business goin’ down here while y’all were talking, so I reckoned I could just stay a tad longer to ask why. Fluttershy especially seemed… flustered. Mind tellin’ me?”
Ray grimaced. “Y-y… yeah. Fluttershy had some questions for me that I didn’t wish to answer… publicly. Please don’t ask. I told her things I wish I hadn’t. Anyway, Rainbow had seen us going upstairs, and thought that I was trying to… b-bed with her.”
He winced at how bad that sounded and waited for a kick in the shins, but when he didn’t receive one, continued. “Then it became a whole fiasco where we were tryin’ to explain what was going on, and it ended with Pinkie passing out because I’m only fourteen and had six cups of cider, which apparently alcoholic.”
Apple Jack stumbled as she lost her balance. “Yer only fourteen?!”
Ray gave her a tight smile. “Yup.”
“Well hot diggity,” she muttered. She glanced behind her, a mischievous glint in her eye as she turned back to him. “I think I should leave now. Wouldn’t want th’ poor poor boy ta miss his bedtime.”
Ray gave the orange pony a flat stare as she trudged out of his house, chuckling on the way. Glancing at the stovetop clock, he saw it read 8:17. “Not even that late,” he grumbled to himself. As if to prove him otherwise, he yawned. “‘Parently still tired though. Has been a heckuva dat though.”
He shook his head. These ponies were already purifying him. Hopefully not too much though. They’d need a monster to win this war.