//------------------------------//
// Ch 4. The party to remember 
// Story: Shouldn't Be 
// by Lumadous 
//------------------------------//

    The party, now in full swing, was quite fun, despite the games being more like I was accustomed to seeing at a child's party, but somehow Pinke made them fun and challenging. The DJ had been playing some harsh dubstep for hours, but when Applejack noticed me twitching at some of the particularity harsh beats she went and talked to the white unicorn standing behind the DJ station, convincing her to switch to a slower tempo and less 'explosive' sounding music.

She trotted back over to the couch that I was sitting on and plopped down next to me.

"So what do ya—" I quickly shushed her, motioning towards the two sleeping baby ponies in my arms who, somehow, were able to sleep through all the music and noise of a lively party, but started stirring when anyone tried talking to me directly.

"Aww" Came her response as they snuggled closer to me, apparently I was their newest favorite pillow, hell, when Mrs. Cake tried to take them to their crib earlier they instantly woke up and started crying until I held them again.

"So what do ya think of the party," she said, as she scootched uncomfortably closer to me so she could whisper into my ear.

Blushing slightly, I whispered back, "I'm still amazed that she pulled it off this quickly."

"She's had a lot of practice, its kinda her thing."

"Umm, you feelin’ okay Appleja—" Applejack shushed me with her hoof pointing at the twins, who had stirred.—

"Call me AJ *hiccup*, have I mentioned you look good with kids?" Apparently that punch had been spiked at some point.

"How much have you had to drink AJ?"

"Enough to do this!" she said with a grin as she pecked me on the cheek. "Hehehe, you taste funny."

"You're never allowed to drink alcohol, ever, again."

"Oh you know you liked it," Applejack teased.

"Yeah and so did everyone else in the room," I said, nodding my head towards the crowd who had stopped and were watching us intently, waiting for more "action".

Applejack, noticing this, blushed deeply and attempted to hide her face behind her stetson. Her embarrassment only gaining a few more 'aww's from the group.

From behind the couch Pinkie Pie slowly rose so her eyes were showing and broke out into an age-old song,

"Cass and AJ sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes twins, then comes marriage, then comes......" Pinkie stopped when her friend stood up shakily with tears in her eyes and ran out of the shop, into the cool evening air.

Standing up I quickly, but gently, set the twins down on the couch and ran out the door after Applejack. Where the hell did that come from? Have I been so engrossed with Sarah that I couldn't notice other females being attracted to me? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. At least she was easy to follow, just follow the dust cloud and the surprised looking ponies. I rounded a corner near a giant tree that looked like it was actually a house and ran face first into a wall of red, knocking me flat on my ass.

"What did you do?" asked Big Mac accusingly, stepping onto my chest.

"Honestly, nothing, she kissed me at ugh—" The rest of my sentence was cut off as he nearly crushed my ribs.

"SHE DID WHAT!" Getting face to face with me.

"*gasp*..Can'...*gasp*...breath" I barely wheezed.

"Brother, stop it you’re hurting him!" Thank god Apple Bloom came right then, I was about to pass out.

Giving me a glare that left no room for question, he ordered me "Stay right here." and then took off after his sister.

I didn't have much time to breath because Apple Bloom was soon bouncing on my chest, driving all air from it.

"Did she really kiss you? What was it like? What did she say? What did you say? Are you going to marry her? Huh huh huh"

Reacting quickly before I could add broken ribs to my current injuries I caught the young mare mid jump, surprising her enough that she "eeeped" rather cutely, if she hadn't been trying to kill me a moment before. Pausing for a moment to catch my breath, I saw quite a few odd looks coming from ponies near me. I sat Apple Bloom next to me and set up, scooting back so I could lean against a lamp pole.

"Yes, she really kissed me, but she was drunk so she wasn't thinking straight, she said I tasted funny, I told her she was never allowed to drink again, and I already have a fiancee back in my world, so I don't know. Besides, we aren't really the same species so I don't think it could work out.

"But Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies marry each other all the time."

"Well, that’s ummm, different, I mean heck, ya'll look similar, just some have wings or horns, me, I don't even walk on the same number of legs that you do."

"But weirder things have happened," she started looking desperate.

"But what about my fiancé, I've been here for what 3 days, what would she think if I cheated on her so fast, before I even know if I can get home or not?"

Her pout on her face let me know she wasn't going to let the subject drop easily when I was suddenly sent flying down the street into a wall with a solid thud. Seeing stars I saw a light blue pony with rainbow hair? Shaking my head to make sure I was seeing right the other, very pissed off looking pony got right in my face.

"What did you do to Applejack?" She demanded in a dangerous voice.

"Nothing," said Pinkie Pie from behind the blue mare, startling her enough that she headbutted me in the nose. I swear I heard something crack as blood flowed freely down my face.

"What did you say Pinkie?" she said turning around, still pinning me to the wall.

"I said he did nothing, she kissed him and I went and embarrassed her like a mean ol' bully." Pinkie sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"Well I ugh," looking down at me she grimaced at my blood soaked front and my not-too-happy face.

"Sorry," she said with a weak smile.

"Can you two just watch Apple Bloom while I go find her?" I said flatly, how was I getting sucked up into all this soap opera bull?

"Yeah, we got her," they said in unison.

Standing up, I looked in the direction that she had ran off and started jogging after her, completely ignoring the looks of shock as ponies saw my blood everywhere. After a few blocks the road emptied out onto a path that lead into the forest and, seeing nowhere else she could have ran, I didn't even hesitate as I ran in.

I had only gotten about a hundred yards into the forest when I heard a shriek of terror ahead of me. Determined to help my friend I sprinted into the clearing ahead and ran into a statue that looked alot like Big Mac. Ahead of me was a weird chicken/snake hybrid thing and Applejack who was backing away from the creature as quickly as she could. I watched as my friend slowly turned into stone right before my eyes.

Something in my head just clicked, everything started happening slower, distorted around the edges. I was very familiar with this state, whenever my life had been in direct danger it always seemed to happen and I was able to save myself.

Planting my hand on statue Big Mac's back I leapt over him, gaining the attention of that creature. It slowly started turning towards me, but it looked like it moved so sluggishly I easily ran forward and grabbed it by it's neck, squeezing hard and forcing its face into the ground so it couldn’t spit poison at me too.

I looked up at Applejack to see her almost completely stone, only the area around her eyes were still her. She looked at me with hope and pain as, one final tear falling to the ground, she finally turned completely into stone.





I looked down at the little chicken thing in my hands, my vision growing more blurry and taking a red tint.....