Strange New World
Chapter Ten: New Town, New Ponies, New Struggles
Having just awoke in a simple, yet comfortable bed in the farming community of Dodge Junction, Chris was being swarmed by his friends in a frenzy of thankfulness, seeing as Chris hadn’t slept for longer; or even worse, not woke up at all.
Chris on the other hoof had more questions than ever plaguing his mind; all of them brought up and yet unanswered by the ethereal apparitions of the two late Princesses, which left him to ponder all the possible meanings of their words. He found it hard to focus though when all he could hear was ponies cheering around him.
“Y’all okay, Sugarcube? Nothin’ hurtin’ too bad?” Applejack asked with a hint of concern in her voice. She knew that Chris had survived the journey to Dodge but it never hurt to double check.
“Yeah, yeah I think so...My chest just hurts a little...” Chris stated as he went to put a hoof to said area, as he did he felt the cold lining of the bandages that had been wrapped around him.
He took a moment to realize what had happened back in the Everfree forest. He remembered all the pain and anger going over him as he fought with the raging timberwolf, then took a sigh of relief; happy to be alive.
“We really thought we lost you when Fluttershy dropped you and that wolf dragged you down river...What happened after we stopped you? We didn’t see anything in those rapids...” Twilight asked as Chris began to recollect.
Images flashed in his head of the red eyes the wolf possessed, “Shade had something to do with it...Timberwolves don’t have red eyes...By the time we had hit that log, it had cut me up bad...And when I gained the upper ha-...Hoof I just, beat it down right there, like to a bunch of snapped twigs.” He stated as he was met with silence for a moment.
“............That is soo awesome!” Rainbow stated as she was visibly pumped from just hearing that, “You gave it a real Equestrian beatdown! Just like I said we would...well...it wasn’t exactly Shade but, he must have felt that!” Rainbow said as she vigorously patted Chris on the back, to be met with an unamused and slightly in pain look, “...Sorry.”
“Anyway...Everybody else okay?” Chris asked worryingly, since the last time he had seen his friends he was near death himself.
“Yeah. Spike and Zecora are out buying some things, Pinkie’s just enjoying herself, Rarity’s trying what she calls, ‘the outdoor look’ and Fluttershy is...well...she’s...” Twilight led into before turning to a nearby door, motioning for everypony to be quiet. All that could be heard was a faint cry coming from the next room.
Chris could put this puzzle in his head together rather easily. He sighed and stood up, taking care as he did. He paced towards the door and knocked lightly, “...Uh...Fluttershy?...You in there?” He asked as everypony went silent and stiff as a board.
“Y-y-yes...” The pink haired pegasus stated from the other side of the door as she held back more tears.
“What’s up with her?” Chris asked Twilight in a faint whisper.
“She feels really bad about dropping you...She was a wreck after we fished you out...I told her that you’d forgive her when you woke up to calm her down...and she just had a relapse I suppose...” The unicorn replied with a frown and slight shrug.
“Well of course I forgive her...I mean she couldn’t have know, right?” The brony retorted rhetorically.
“Not us ya gotta say that to, Sugarcube...” AJ stated as everypony apart from Chris nodded. The brony nodded shortly afterwards and put his attention back to the door.
“Can I come in?” He asked carefully, having to shout slightly to get his voice across.
“Okay...” They all heard faintly as Chris tried to keep his heart from exploding; he opened the door, and proceeded to walk in.
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The brony was met with a sight he almost couldn’t handle, in this world and his own; A crying Fluttershy, a Fluttercry or CryShy, sitting on a bed. He took a deep breath and did the best he could to keep himself together.
He seated himself down next to her and wondered which one of them should speak first. The brony stammered a few words out, “I uh...Um...I don’t...hate you...Fluttershy...”
“I...I know...” Fluttershy stated before wiping another tear from her eye, “I-I-I’m...sorry...sorry for drop-dropping you...Chris...” She stated as she bawled openly but still very quietly. Chris was close to breaking down himself, he had hardly never been able to cope with the mare crying though his television set, so right now, that natural instinct to feel sad for her was increased tenfold, or more likely twentyfold.
The brony calmed himself though and placed a hoof carefully on the mare’s back and patted carefully, “I don’t really think you have anything to be sorry for...I mean...you couldn’t have known that that wolf would have done that...and normally it wouldn’t have...so it’s not your fault...” Chris sighed as Fluttershy turned to face him, her gentle blue eyes left glassy from all the tears.
Chris sighed once again and said the three words Fluttershy really wanted to hear from him, “...I....forgive you.” He nodded as he sat and waited, hoping the pegasus would start to cheer up. Eventually, she did.
She still had some tears resting on her bottom eyelids but she smiled as she lifted Chris’ hoof off of her and gave the brony a big hug.
In that one instance, Chris felt the most relaxed he had ever been since he had arrived in Equestria, all his worries and inhibitions seemed to drift away as the yellow coated mare embraced him. He hugged back for a second, smiling as well. It seemed like a perfect moment for him; until the pain due to his recent injuries set it.
“Ow, ow...owwww...!” He stated as he pulled out of the hug and put a hoof on his shoulder. He looked back at Fluttershy, seeing her start to tear up yet again at the thought of actually hurting the brony, “Oh for goodness-” Chris stated as he hugged Fluttershy again, this time keeping his moans of pain to himself as to not upset her anymore.
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A few moments later, the pair emerged from the room with smiles on both their faces; Fluttershy more than Chris given his current physical state. Everypony turned and grinned similarly before going over to hug them both. Chris backed away from most of the hugs since, well fool him three times, shame on him.
A knock was then heard on the door as it slowly began to open. When it did, yet another familiar pony stood in the doorway, none other than Cherry Jubilee. “Hello everyp- Oh! You’re up!” She stated as she went over to Chris and extended a hoof, “I’m Cherry Jubilee, pleasure to finally meet you properly.” The swirly haired mare exclaimed with a grin and a southern accent.
“Eh, Chris...Charmed.” Chris stated as he promptly shook the invited hoof, wondering why of all the things he could have said he said, ‘Charmed’. Dodge wasn’t really the place for formal language such as that, he wondered how anypony that spoke like that could find solace here...Then he remembered Rarity was just out shopping.
“Well I’m glad to see you’re up and about, let alone still kicking. Applejack, y’all owe me 10 bits now.” She stated as Chris turned with a really unamused look on his face to AJ, “Pfft, I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” Cherry chortled as Chris gingerly chuckled with her. “Now, I must show y’all around, come on.” The mare exclaimed once more as she was almost literally pushing Chris out the door, with everypony following.
“...So did you actually be-” Rainbow was asking before being cut off by Applejack, “No!”.
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As Chris and the others took a step outside and had the blistering sun meet their face, they covered their eyes so they could readjust. As the stallion took another step however, he was met with a high pitched squeal, a cluster of pink and a unique smell of cotton candy. Who caused this goes without saying.
“HI! Felling any bet-” Pinkie was saying before Chris interjected abruptly.
“Pinkie! Pleeeaaassseee! Stop startling me like that....Could have popped a stitch!” Chris stated as he proceeded to cover his mouth with a hoof, realizing he had just yelled at Pinkie Pie. “....I am soo....sooooo sorry...” He commented as he could only just watch.
Pinkie’s brow narrowed and her cheerful wide-eyeness was quickly turning into a glare of pure malice, she inched her face closer and closer to Chris’ as the stallion’s knees started giving way and he was slowly but surely backing down.
The pink mare leaned in closer and closer until finally, she spoke, “..........Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie exclaimed as her grin and cheerful demeanor came back and she happily hopped around to the back of the group with a slight squee.
Chris just stared forward, his rump resting on the ground as he had to take a few moments to process what just happened. He got to his hooves, remained silent and continued following Cherry.
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The group continued through the settlement as Cherry gave them a rough ‘tour’. Meaning she pointed at things and said some other things. This continued for about ten minutes and Chris’ eyes were wide with boredom as he thought to himself, “If I wanted this type of torture I would have stayed home and watched Newborn Cuties.” He said mentally before turning around, seeing Pinkie and shivering, “Okay...let’s not think things we can’t take back, Chris.” He thought.
The tour finally came to a close however when Cherry had brought them to their final destination, “And here we have the Marshal’s office, this where the Marshal and his deputy spend most of their time. In fact I think they might be ‘er, hold mn. SLIM! SLIM YOU ‘ER?!” Cherry shouted as the front door swung open to reveal a stallion who was, presumably, Slim.
The stallion had a rough and yet composed look about him, he was sporting a generic cowboy hat, some boots, a swirly brown mane and a creamy yellow coat, and a cutie mark that resembles a empty gun holster. He trotted over to the group and promptly responded to his call, “You called for me Cherry, what is it? Diamond Dogs? Bandits?” He stated with a hint of excitement in his voice strangely enough.
“Nah, you wouldn’t be soo lucky. I’m just showing my friends here around, introduce yourself. Folks this is Slim Pickings, our deputy marshal!” Cherry stated with a grin as she sauntered off to Celestia knows where. Slim went towards the group of mares and stallion and introduced himself as ordered.
“Howdy. Like she said, I’m Slim. Nice to meet y’all.” He stated as he shook everypony’s hooves, ending with Applejack. However neither of them let go for a few seconds before releasing. Chris wondered exactly, “What’s going on there?” He knew AJ had been to Dodge before but, “...Huh.”
“Anyway, I doubt y’all wanna stay out here and cook on the ground. C’mon in, I’ll show ya around.” Slim remarked as he led everypony inside the Marshal’s office, which was pretty empty.
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“So...Marshal not here?” Chris asked as he nonchalantly looked around and ran a hoof over what he guessed was the Marshal’s desk. Slim seemed a tad more attentive when Chris did that.
“Yeah...yeah he’s out investigating some things...Hear there was an attack on Ponyville?” Slim asked as he realized who exactly he was talking to, “Oh...right...guess y’all would know that...Well Marshal’s looking into anypony who made it out okay...” The stallion finished as Chris continued to look over the Marshal’s desk.
“Why would he be investigating that?” Twilight asked of Slim, wondering what the reasons behind the investigation was.
“Did y’all not see what happened at Canterlot, and then Ponyville, all those monsters and them big ol’ smoke clouds? Marshal’s just trying to see how it happened so it don’t happen here I’m guessing.” Slim answered as Chris went away from the Marshal’s desk.
Suddenly the door was slowly opened and everypony turned to see who was entering. It was another pony Chris had never seen before. It was another earth pony stallion, with a denim blue coat, an outfit similar to Slim’s, short blue hair, grey skin and a cutie mark in the shape of a sheriff's badge.
“Slim, who are these mares?” The pony asked as Chris thought to himself, “Guy right here, dingus...or are you just gonna be ‘that’ guy?”
“Oh, Marshal! These are some of mah friends that just rolled into town, they came all the way here from Ponyville.” Slim stated as it clicked in Chris’ head that this new character was the marshal, so he wondered, “Why is his cutie mark a sheriff’s badge?...Promotion?”.
“Ah, good. Be meaning to meet y’all, I’m Marshal.” The stallion said as everypony just stared blankly except Slim. Rainbow had to say something at that point.
“Marshal......Marshal...?” The pegasus pony tried to get an answer, and she eventually did.
“Just Marshal.” The stallion stated blankly as Chris tried to hold back a chuckle and luckily succeeded.
“Hehehahah, you have a funny name. It’s your job and your name, hehehahaha!” Pinkie stated as she made no effort to contain her laughter.
“Yeah it’s very funny, that ain’t my name actually...I just prefer ponies t’call me Marshal...Problem with that?” He wondered as everypony shook their heads from side to side, Slim included.
“Slim I got somethin’ I wanna talk with you about, s’bout the whole Ponyville mess.” The stallion stated as he remained standing next to the door. Slim nodded and began leading everypony out the way they came. As Chris was the last to leave, the Marshal tapped him on the shoulder, put a hoof around him and said a few words.
“Listen son, I know y’all came from that town and...Well you and your friends are the only survivors we have on record, the rest are either long gone or didn’t survive...Now I got a question for you...What do you get when a town and city’s been attacked, and you and your friends made it out scott free?...Well almost..” He started as he pointed to the bandage around Chris’ chest.
“Suspicion is what you get...Now you seem alright to me but just watch yourself out there...I got ponies to protect...” The Marshal finished as he shoved Chris out the door to his friends and promptly closed it.
“...Yeah well your name’s stupid...and your cutie mark’s wrong.” Chris stated mentally once again before getting to his hooves and following his friends further into the town.
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The group wandered idly as they tried to reach a consensus as to what they would do next. Twilight spoke up with her question, “Well, what do you think we should do next?” She wondered since she didn’t know as much of the town as she would have liked.
“Well the best bet’d be to get to Appleoosa’s soon as we can. Might as well check in at the train station. Though maybe we should get everyone else together, the train might be leaving pretty soon.” She stated as everypony nodded in agreement.
“Okay. That seems easy enough. Rainbow Dash. You, Chris and Fluttershy can go get the others, we’ll go have a look at the train times.” Twilight nodded with a grin as she hoped the plan had all come together. Luckily for her it did as everypony nodded in agreement and set off.
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As Chris, Rainbow and Fluttershy went to find their wandering friends, a thought entered Chris’ mind. With all the drama going on around them, Chris never really had time to get to know his new friends through normal means such as conversation. He figured now would be a better time to start than never.
“So...You two ever been here before?” He asked. The irony being he knew the answer and circumstance behind the answer already, but it couldn’t hurt.
“Yeah. AJ was here a while back after she entered some contest. She didn’t come back to Ponyville so we went to get her here.” Rainbow stated as she hovered absentmindedly next to Chris.
“Really? She do bad in the contest or something?” Chris asked, once again knowing the incoming answer.
“Not really. She didn’t win the way she wanted to win and she sorta flipped out and started working for Cherry here. Like she was never going to go back.” Rainbow answered with a slight stretch of her hooves.
“Wow...heavy stuff...So, you guys doing okay? I mean, a lot’s happened recently and just...wondering.” He enquired.
“Well...uh...we can manage...I suppose...” Fluttershy stated rather promptly as Rainbow continued for her.
“Yeah...I mean we’ve faced down some pretty nasty things but, nothing like this has ever happened before. We got some work ahead of us to get things back to normal.” The blue pegasus stated.
“Yeah...tell me about it...I hope I’m not holding you guys back or anything. Last thing I’d want to be is a liability.” Chris retorted with a slight frown.
“Well...you haven’t done anything to give us a reason not to have you here...If that’s okay with you?” Fluttershy stated as she kept to her usual reserved stance.
“Well of course I don’t mind being here. It’s just I don’t know if I’m being of any use and if I’m just being dead weight really.” Chris added, frowning on one side of his mouth.
“You kidding me? Did you not see what you did with that Ursa? And how you got away from Shade? Or how you saved most of Ponyville? Sure you blew up the library but nopony ever took out books from there anyway...Kind of weird now that I think about it.” Rainbow pondered as Chris wondered the same thing.
“Anyway. And how you helped with those timber wolves? And just, everything? You may not be the most tactical or calm pony but that doesn’t mean you haven’t done some awesome things. And coming from me, that’s awesome in itself.” Rainbow finished as Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
A slight smile came onto Chris’ face as he returned back to his normal self; or how normal he could be considered in this current form, “Wow...some pep talk there Rainbow...thanks.” He stated as his trot got a little more vigor to it.
“No problem. With any luck you could be able to do some of my moves...maybe I could teach you some. I’m a black belt y’know.” Rainbow stated proudly, bringing the spotlight back where she liked it; herself.
Chris pondered the proposition. He thought for a few seconds on the prospect until he realised something, “It’s training...with Rainbow Dash...” He didn’t waste a second after that, “Sure!” He stated with some visible over enthusiasm; given that his ears perked up past his hair.
“Awesome! I’m sure we’ll find time on the train, or back at the hotel if we gotta wait another day.” Rainbow retorted as the three continued on.
“Um...If you two do do that...can I be in a different cart...or room?” Fluttershy asked with a slight squeak at the end of her request.
“Fluttershy, what are you talking about? Twi told us about that one time with that bear. You should teach Chris some of that!” Rainbow remarked, almost as excited as Chris. The yellow pegasus blushed slightly and responded.
“That was...therapy...” She retorted whilst looking away and continued walking, getting the message across that she’d rather not talk about that one scene. Rainbow and Chris continued following behind her as Chris whispered something to Dash.
“Thank Celestia I didn’t hurt my back.” He chuckled as Rainbow followed in suit. Chris smiled at the fact he had actually got to have a conversation about something normal with these ponies; or as normal as things could get.
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The mares and stallion walked past a nearby store and spotted a little purple and green fellow standing inside. With some pleasant grins they walked in and saw that the little dragon was still accompanied by Zecora. Chris looked around the establishment and saw that this was clearly some form of alchemist’s or alchemical supply store; honestly he didn’t expect to see one here of all places.
Rainbow and Fluttershy began conversing with the zebra and dragon, which gave Chris a chance to look around and observe his surroundings more carefully. Sufficed to say, there were some nasty things in those jars. Chris saw what appeared to be something he could only describe as ‘Not fresh’ and gagged a little, much to the discontent of the store owner.
After that rather odd sight seeing excursion, Zecora had payed for what she had came for and handed Spike her things. Chris looked and saw that the dragon was carrying a lot of bags with him. The brony wasn’t surprised though, the dragon did live to serve but he just wondered what was inside those bags.
He inquired about it as the newly grown group exited the store, “So...what did you guys buy out here?” The stallion pondered. He expected Zecora to answer but Spike instead took the helm so to speak, “Just some supplies. A bit of food, some medical stuff, adventuring gear and stuff like that.”
Chris wondered what that would entail before realizing something, “Wait. How did you guys get money for that? I don’t remember there being mention of much money...” The brony wondered as Zecora went on to ease his worries.
“Spices and herbs from the forest you see, a hefty price to go for they be.” She answered in her usual way but with a slight grin.
“Ohh...I guess stuff like that from such a dangerous place is worth quite a bit. You guys get those when I was out cold?” Chris asked as the zebra nodded in response, as did the stallion. “So you guys were out getting supplies, you two, Twi and AJ were looking after me. What did Rarity do?” Chris posed the question.
Rainbow paused and rubbed the back of her head, “Well...it’s kinda obvious...She uh...” Rainbow stopped as she attempted to figure out how to finish her sentence. She didn’t need to in the end.
“She went to get you new clothes.” Spike interjected. Right then and there the sudden realization fell upon Chris...that he was naked, and still very much, a blank flank. The brony’s face melted into a frown and his eyes widened as he jumped, instinctively covering himself with his hooves.
“I can’t believe I’m naked out here! In public!” Chris exclaimed. Everypony looked rather confused as Chris had yet another realization and knew right away what the immediate response to his statement would be.
“...We’re all naked.” Rainbow stated rather bluntly as Chris scrambled for an excuse for his outburst. Luckily she spotted a convenient excuse on his flank, or lack there of.
“Well are you guys all blank flanks? Rainbow and Fluttershy?” Chris asked, saving himself at the end there.
“We didn’t think you noticed by now. You were fine up until now!” Rainbow retorted aggressively.
“I didn’t feel like I was naked though with all the bandages on! It just felt sorta...natural...huh.” Chris stated as his mind drifted for a bit on how much he may or may not have become immersed in this world.
“Well we don’t want ponies pointing at you flank and your clothes were all wrecked so Rarity kindly volunteered to get you some threads.” Spike finished as Chris began to calm down and return to his normal stance.
“Yeah...I mean...hardly anypony’s noticed the flank...right?” Chris stated as his friends all nodded. Right after that, a faint ‘Ha’ was heard from somewhere in town. Chris’ ears merely drooped as he turned to go find Rarity, luckily, she had found them.
The white coated mare stood there with a rather large grin on her face as Chris got slightly startled by the sudden appearance. “You. Are going to love. What I found for you, Chrissy!” Rarity stated exuberantly.
“Chrissy?” Chris whispered to Rainbow, “She has pet names that she makes when she’s happy.” Rainbow replied, “Ohhhh.” The stallion retorted as he stood there waiting for Rarity.
“I took the liberty of buying you two of the same strapping outfits, one for now and one for an emergency.” The purple maned unicorn stated as she reached into her bags and pulled out something that made everybody’s eyes widen, and some chuckle.
Rarity had levitated above her head, three items. A pair of brown pants, a white shirt and a small brown overshirt. However, there was obviously more to that. It appeared that some things were stitched onto the rather simple outfit. Some tassels, jewels, sequins, embroidered edging and various other fancy editions. Chris just stared blankly and didn’t blink.
“I made a few additions. Sadly though, I wasn’t able to do the same thing to the emergency outfit in the time I ha-” Chris cut her off right there and proposed his idea.
“Would I be able to just wear the emergency outfit then? Uh...I mean...look at me. All bandaged up and stuff...I think that’s enough of an emergency...right?” Chris inquired as Rarity tilted her head and tapped her chin to Chris’ reasoning.
“...I suppose that’s fair. I wouldn’t want blood on this wonderful outfit either.” Rarity replied as Chris breathed a sigh of relief and motioned for everypony to follow him as they started heading back to everypony else with all their supplies.
“Hey Spike...I need a favor...” Chris asked.
“Yeah?” The dragon responded.
“You eat jewels yeah? How about cloth?...Sequins?...Leather?” Chris hoped.
“Yes, no, no and nope.” Spike responded.
“Dang it.” Chris grumbled.
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Later that night, after the group had settled in in their hotel rooms, a brisk storm had fallen over the settlement. Thunder and lightning struck the place as everypony lay quiet in their homes and businesses. One in particular was the train station...It was abnormally quiet.
A shadowy figure stood on the train tracks leading out of town, and was strapping several things to the tracks. The figure muttered to itself, “Not leaving...not just yet..” The figure stated as it finished strapping what it needed to to the rails, the figure lit a fuse, and proceeded to run away...leaving a sizzling fuse inching towards several sticks of dynamite...