//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: First Impressions II // Story: A Life, for A Life // by Zinnia //------------------------------// As Pinkie and I walked out of the castle doors, I noticed Pinkie had a bounce in her step, quite literally may I add. She looked like she was bouncing on a trampoline, except.. well, she wasn't. I'll just chalk it up to 'Being Pinkie'. I followed behind her on the dirt road, with the rest of the town in sight, maybe a 10 minute or so walk from what looked like the town square. When we were about half way there, Pinkie spoke up. "I know you'll just love it here Zale," She chimed, turning around bouncing backwards to look at me. "The townsfolk are all so nice, and you'll meet all sorts of ponies! I can't wait to introduce you to each and every one of them~!" Pinkie exclaimed, chin up and turning back around, still bouncing. I stumbled at the last part. I pulled out my phone to look at the time. Granted it was 8:40, not much time had passed since we left the castle, and the town itself didn't look all that big, but from here, there looked to be a lot of ponies around. It was still at most a 10 minute walk. "But we only have till noon." I pointed out, rubbing the back of my head. "And we have to be back for the chariot before hand." Pinkie turned her head slightly and smirked at me. "Don't you worry about a thing, besides like I said, the whole town will know you before noon and I will make sure of it!" She reassured me, a bright smile on her face. I smiled back and nodded, feeling a bit more confident and continued our trip into the town of Ponyville. As we were starting to enter the town, my appearance did not go unnoticed. I heard a few gasps as we passed by ponies eating at tables situated outside, and a few murmurs from a crowd that was forming behind us as we walked towards the heart of the town. Needless to say, I was starting to get nervous and my guide just kept bouncing along, humming to herself. We came into a part of town that looked like the main square, a pretty big circular building sat perfectly in the center, with a stage in front of it. There were already a few packs of ponies around, turning around upon noticing me. Pinkie and I went around them, I put my hands in my pockets near this point, my nerves starting to catch up with me. Pinkie bounced onto the stage, and stopped in front of the microphone. She looked at me and waved, prompting me to come onto stage as well. I went up the stage along side her, albeit a bit reluctantly. I saw that even more ponies were gathering around, a crowd of several dozen at least. There were even some pegasi coming in from various directions in the sky, stopping and hovering in place when they saw me. When the ponies stopped flooding in, I assumed that was mostly everyone here that noticed me, which was still a lot. I saw them all staring at me with various expressions, some had their jaws hanging open, either in awe or disbelief, some gave me curious and fascinated looks. There were some expressions I couldn't quite place, but that might have been my nerves messing with me. At this point I noticed that I was clenching the insides of my pants pockets, trying to get my nerves under control. After a moment of silent murmurs from the crowd, Pinkie Pie cleared her throat, grabbing everyone's attention and silencing the crowd. "Hiya everypony, good morning!" She began speaking in the microphone, waving to the crowd. "It's your favorite party pony, Pinkie Pie!" She waved to the crowd with a smile. The crowd cheered respectfully, acknowledging the the pink pony. When they died down after a moment, Pinkie continued. "As you all know, I throw a big party for every new face in town, and we have one right here!" She threw out both of her hooves in my direction, presenting me. "This is Isaiah Chase, but he also goes by Zale! And he's a- ..he's a.." She trailed off, looking at me with a curious look. "What are you again?" She asked, still talking into the mic. "Oh, uh I'm a human, sorry I guess I forgot to mention that." I chuckled sheepishly. Pinkie smiled and looked back towards the crowd. "And he's a human!" Streams of confetti and glitter shot out of the stage, startling me for a moment. The crowd looked at me with anticipation, and I heard a younger voice shout "Hi Zale!" coming from towards the front of the crowd. I looked down and saw a young colt, excited glee on his face. He had white fur with brown patches around his body, a brown mane and tail. "M-My name is Pipsqueak!" I smiled in amusement, walked up near the edge and knelt down on the stage. "Hi there Pipsqueak, it's very nice to meet ya." I said, ruffling his hair a bit with my hand. He flinched at the sudden touch a little but didn't show any resistance. He laughed excitedly and leaned into my hand. I chuckled at his antics, already finding myself quite fond of the little guy. I stopped the pets and stood back up, walking back over to Pinkie Pie. She smiled up at me, and stepped aside. I took that as my queue to say something to the rest of the crowd and took the microphone in hand. My nerves weren't as bad as they were before I met Pipsqueak, he gave me the confidence boost I needed. I cleared my throat, smiled and said, "It's nice to meet all of you. I hope to get to know you all, and maybe even become friends down the line. I'm in a bit of a pickle at the moment, but I wont let that stop me from treating you all with kindness and respect." I lowered the microphone and put it back on it's stand, letting Pinkie Pie take over again. "Now, I won't actually be able to get the party ready right now," Pinkie began. "We are kinda on a tight schedule. But there will be a party when we get back!" She pulled out a party horn out of her mane and blew into it, making a comical sound and used her tongue to put it back. I stared at Pinkie for a moment and shook my head, deciding to just ignore what she just did. The crowd started to stomp on the ground with excitement. For a second there I thought they were going to stampede but then I realized that they were applauding, and I smiled and waved in response. Pinkie Pie and I walked off the stage and into the crowd, and I got to meet a lot of the ponies that called Ponyville home. Some of them were from out of town, only visiting for a day or so and just happened to be there. ~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~ Outside of Pipsqueak, I met a lot of other ponies. Only a handful really stood out to me though. I met a mint colored pony with a mint and white mane and tail. She was with a cream colored pony who had a blue and pink mane and tail. "Hi there, my name is Lyra, and this here is Bon-Bon." She said, pointing to the pony in question. "You said you were a 'Human', yes?" I nodded in confirmation. Lyra looked up at me with a wide smile, and then smirked at her friend. "Cough 'em up." She said, making a gesture with her hoof. Bon-Bon rolled her eyes and took out several gold coins from her saddlebags and Lyra took them in her magic. I raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. Lyra put the coins in her own saddlebags and looked back to me. "It was very nice meeting you, we were on our way to the market so we'd best be going. See you later!" "Alright, I'll be seeing you." Lyra and Bon-Bon walked away and waved, disappearing behind a building. The next ponies I met were three fillies, all looking pretty energetic. One of them though looked a little intimidated, and I couldn't help but feel bad for the little thing. Like i did with Pipsqueak, I knelt down and smiled at them. "Hey there girls, it's nice to meet you. What are your names?" "Heya big fella! I'm Applebloom!" One of them said. Applebloom had yellow fur, with a red mane and tail. She had a southern accent, much like Applejack's I noted. In fact they both shared the name 'Apple'. She was wearing a bow in her hair, which I found cute and odd at the same time, but cute nonetheless. "I'm Applejack's little sister!" Ah. That explains it. "You seem like a really nice guy mister Chase!" I froze up when she called me that. I don't know why but it sent shivers down my spine, and a feeling of déjà vu washed over me for a moment. I chuckled though, a little embarrassed by the formality. "Just Isaiah is fine, or call me Zale if you want to. Most of my friends do.." I paused for a moment. I guess it was true, although I've only been in Equestria for not even 24 hours, I've made a bunch of friends that warmed up to me pretty quickly. I shook my head, trying not to think too hard about it. "Although I know it's out of respect, you don't have to be formal with me." I said warmly, giving her a quick pat on the head. "That's how she always is," the filly on the right said, rolling her eyes. "Oh, I'm Scootaloo by the way! Nice to meet ya." Scootaloo said, a filly with orange fur and a violet mane and tail. She had a bit of a raspy voice. She looked over at the last filly, a white unicorn with a pink mane and tail. "Uh, Sweetie Belle? You okay?" She asked. Sweetie Belle didn't respond, only stared at me with a mix of wonder and fear clearly visible on her face. Scootaloo waved a hoof in front of her to snap her out of it. Sweetie Belle blinked and look at her friends, who gave her questioning looks. She visibly gulped. "O-Oh yeah I'm fine. My name is Sweetie Belle." She looked back up at me briefly before looking away. I raised an eyebrow at that. "And we're, The Cutiemark Crusaders!" Applebloom and Scootaloo said in unison. They looked back at Sweetie Belle who was looking anywhere else but in my direction. The other two shared glances, worry on their faces. "Sweetie Belle, are you sure you're okay? You seem.. distant." Applebloom asked with a hint of suspicion. Sweetie Belle actually took a step back, looking back and forth between the two. "Really I'm fine," Sweetie Belle began, her voice cracking a little. "I-I just remembered that I have something to help my sister with! Bye!" She turned around and galloped away, leaving a trail of dust behind her. We all stared after her for a moment, before Applebloom and Scootaloo looked back at me with sheepish expressions. "Ah' really am sorry about Sweetie Belle," Applebloom said with a sigh. "She's not usually like that towards anypony." I shook my head, giving her a soft smile. "Well, that's just it. I'm not any 'pony'. But it's alright, I understand." I stated, standing back up to my full height. "I'm sure she'll come around eventually, I don't want to force her to talk if she doesn't want to." I dusted myself off a bit, stretching my stiff joints and hummed as a few satisfying pops resounded. "Well Pinkie, I think I-" I paused, looking around in confusion. Pinkie wasn't anywhere to be seen. I also saw that most of the crowd that had formed had went back to whatever it was they were doing prior, leaving only me, Applebloom and Scootaloo left standing there. "Huh. I guess I can talk to everyone else some other time." I figured, shrugging my shoulders. "It's not like I would have enough time anyway. Speaking of which.." I pulled out my phone to glance at the clock. It was already 11:17. I winced a little, smiling apologetically at Applebloom and Scootaloo. "Sorry to cut this short, but I need to make my way back to Twilight's castle. See you around." They waved me off as I made my way down the dirt road that hopefully lead to my destination. As I walked through town, the ponies that I met waved in acknowledgement when I passed by. I was in the market place, judging by all the stands and carts that were spread about the area. There were pretty much what you could expect to see in stands, food and produce, tools, toys and knickknacks. I saw the castle in the distance in front of me, but I'm pretty sure this wasn't the way Pinkie and I came in from. Or maybe I just made a turn without realizing? This way seemed to be shorter than the dirt path I was on before, the stands on either side of it. "Hey! You there!" I heard a voice, sounded like it was directed towards me. I turn back, looking around to see who it was. Behind me was a light blue unicorn, with a slightly lighter shade of blue for her mane and tail. She was wearing a magicians hat and cape, with stars embedded in both. "The great and powerful Trixie would like to have a word." I raised an eyebrow. I looked behind her, but no one was standing there. "Okay, but I've only got a few minutes. Where can I find her?" I asked the unicorn. Her mouth went agape in disbelief and hurt. She stammered a little, looking a little annoyed. "She's right in front of you!" She exclaimed, causing me to reel back slightly. My eyes widened in understanding, and I smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I-" I paused for only a moment, and sucked my teeth. "Well how was I supposed to know you were referring to yourself in 3rd person? This is my first time meeting you." I asked inquisitively. Trixie raised her hoof and open her mouth to say something, but she paused. She put her hoof back down and sighed begrudgingly. "You're right. It was my fault." She grumbled, kicking the ground. "But like I said, I'd like a word with you." I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to get to the point. "You know Starlight, right?" I nodded in confirmation. "Okay, so I only need you to deliver this package to her for me." A purple box with blue stripes appeared in Trixie's magic. "I would do it myself but I need to be somewhere right now." I took the box in my hands. It wasn't that big, if anything it was roughly the size of a tissue box. "Sure, I'll give this to Starlight when I see her." I assured her. "Have a nice day Ms. Great and Powerful." I said teasingly, causing the mare to look away with a blush. Trixie waved me off, I put the box in my back pocket and I was back on track towards the castle. ~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~ I was nearing the edge of the town, the dirt road continuing up the hill and to the castle. But then.. a blood curdling scream could be heard from the distance. I snapped my head around, the scream coming from some ways behind me, followed by a ground shaking roar. The other ponies around obviously heard it as well, and panic began to spread throughout them. I didn't recognize many of the ponies around, but regardless I turned around and ran towards the sound, my heart beating rapidly in my chest. What the hell am I doing!? I screamed at myself internally, knowing that I should be making my way towards the castle, not away from it! But that scream, I knew that voice, that pitch. I couldn't place it but I didn't care. Whoever it was could be in serious trouble. I ran back through the marketplace, seeing all the other ponies in a frenzy as well. Most of them seemed to be running in the opposite direction of where I was going. Were they running away from something? Shit.. I thought, looking for any familiar faces in the crowd. I made a sharp right turn, passing by even more ponies running the other way. I heard her scream again, even over the shouts of terror and panic the crowd produced. She was a lot closer this time. Just around that corner. I turned again, stopping in my tracks at what I saw. There was a creature unlike anything I've ever seen. It was huge, now when I say huge, I mean MAJOR. It looked like you could see through it, and it had a violet coloration, with what looked like stars in it's form. When I looked up, I noticed that it resembled a bear, kind of. What caught my eye, and to my horror, was the pony it had in it's grip. And it was looking right at me. She was a gray pegasus, yellow mane and tail. When I saw her my heart fell to the pits of my stomach, because I knew I couldn't do anything against that. Even so, I wasn't going to stand there and do nothing. The beast lifted it's hand the mare was trapped in, and threw her at me. Shit! I couldn't let her hit the ground, or she would die from the impact. Acting quickly, I pulled off my hoodie, stretched it out and prepared to take the brunt of the impact for her. She collided in the hoodie as planned, but the force was too much. The air was forced out of my lungs, and I was sent flying back with the mare still in my arms. I didn't stop until my back slammed into one of the abandoned stands, which shattered upon the impact. "Agh!" I shouted in pain and shut my eyes, as I felt something hard and dry pierce my right side of my back, and the force of the impact that came with it. I was in a daze, numbly aware of the blood that was now soaking the back of my T-shirt. Slowly opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was the mare in my arms. I scanned her for any sign of fatal injury, but luckily, she didn't seem to have any, and she was still conscious although stunned from the throw. She put a hoof up to her head, groaning in discomfort. The mare opened her eyes and looked around, seemingly confused as to what happened. Her crossed yellow eyes landed on me, and she put a hoof to her mouth in shock and fear. "O-Oh my gosh! Are you okay!?" She got off of me carefully, taking a step back. "I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean it." I grunted in pain, but managed to get the words out. "It's not your fault, d-don't worry about it.. Are you hurt?" I asked looking up at her in concern. She shook her head, and her eyes widened as realization struck her. "Did.. did you save me..?" She asked tentatively, holding my hoodie in her hoof. I nodded, and coughed up a little blood, trying my best not to pass out. "Oh.. well thank you-" Another earth shaking roar cut her off, and the beast was heading in our direction. The throw managed to put some distance between us, but that didn't make it stray off it's target. "Don't thank me yet." I said, trying to carefully pull out the piece of debris that pierced my side. It didn't hit any fatal spots, and it wasn't that deep thank god, but it still hurt like hell. I hissed in pain as it slid out of me, clattering on the ground with the rest of the debris from that destroyed stand. "Can I have that back?" I pointed at the hoodie in her hoof, and she immediately gave it to me in my hand. I took it, and wrapped it around my waist meeting with my injury, and tied it tightly to stop most of the bleeding. I'd have to worry about that later though, and I focused with determination burning throughout my body, and anticipation as well. I knew I couldn't fight that thing, but at the way it stared me down I knew I was it's intended target. I got up and ruffled the mane of the mare that was now next to me. "It looks like it's after me," I began, looking around for routes to run in. "You get out of here, I'll distract it." She looked up at me in disbelief. "But I-" "No buts!" I said with finality, looking at her directly this time. She fidgeted in place, but relented. "My name is Derpy by the way.. Derpy Hooves." She narrowed her eyes and shoved her muzzle in my face, and I reeled back slightly at the approach. "You'd better be alright when this is over Zale." She flew off before I could respond, but I got the point. I began to run for dear life, and the monster in respond and according to plan chased me down the street. I didn't know where I was going to go, but away from the town was the first thing that came to mind. I ran in a relatively straight path, making as little turns as possible. The beast was just down the street now, getting way too close for comfort. I jolted off into one of the alleyways nearby, weaving through trash and other debris. when I broke through to the other side, I found myself on a dirt road again, this one leading to a forest. But before I could get any ideas, the beast crashed through the buildings, right on my tracks. An object came flying at me from the corner of my vision, and struck me in the side of my head. I was sent back, collapsing on the floor on my side, and darkness slowly started to claim me.