//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: A Welcomed Guest // Story: Equestria's Martial Warrior // by Charson //------------------------------// It's been over a week since Leo has been able to shower. Filthy didn't even begin to describe his situation. Although he was wiped down at the hospital by the workers, his B.O. simply couldn't be wiped away. It needed to be washed out. His hair, on the other hand, was the worst he's ever seen it. It was extremely greasy, to the point of looking wet, and somewhat stringy. Leo was content while the warm water washed over himself, letting out a cooing noise. He hadn't gotten the chance to really slow down and relax until now. Although the hospital was nice, it still kept him on edge a little. He closed his eyes, thinking to himself about everything that's happened. So right now I'm in a world with ponies, ruled by a princess. Instead of common physics, the world runs on magic. But why? Why is there magic here, and not at home? Also, the biggest thing I can't seem to wrap my head around is that fox I saw while being transported here... Maybe I'll be able to find something at the library about all these things. Hopefully Rainbow or Fluttershy are willing to translate for me. Snapping out of his stupor, Leo grabs the bar soap in a corner of the shower to wash his body. It was a simple worn-down block of pure white soap, smooth due to constant use. Hopefully this works on skin. Shrugging, he runs it over his body. Looking down, he sees all the filth washing off, going down the drain in a brown and black color. Most of it was just dirt and sweat, but there was also some blood. Putting the soap bar back, he then grabs the bottled soap for his hair. Getting a whiff of it, it smells of flowers, like lilac. A super sweet smell, similar to vanilla, with a hint of roses mixed in. It was a very soothing and attractive smell. ...I swear, if this makes some dude come up and sniff me, I'm gonna sock someone in the jaw. Running the soap through his hair, once again, the bottom of the shower shows some filth going down the drain. Leo made sure to lather it through his hair well, getting all of the gunk out. Satisfaction filled Leo's mind. Finished, he turns the water off and reaches around the corner for a towel. He vigorously drys off his hair with it, wiping down the rest of his body after. He then wraps it around his waist and goes to look at himself in the mirror. I have been reborn! Though, I do have a little stubble. Would they even have the stuff to shave here in Equestria? He thinks as he scratches his chin, filled with little scratchy hairs. Leo wasn't particularly fond of his facial hair since it wasn't too full looking, opting to have it shaved most of the time. ...What in the world... is that smell?! Leo then looks at his underwear and pants, frowning. Picking up the underwear with just two fingers, he holds it as far from his face as possible, holding his nose as well. Somehow, there was almost a visible trail of green smoke, snaking its up into the air. Holy CRAP! I might have to burn these! These are a biohazard! Leo's face changes into a sneer towards the underwear as he slowly puts them on. Next were the pants, though, they weren't nearly as bad. His shoes and socks, like his underwear, were another beast altogether. The socks were deeply brown from the grime of being out in the wild, combined with the stench of a pigsty. Truly horrid. At this point, Leo didn't see the point of bathing if his clothes were this filthy. Once done dressing, he makes his way back to the living room, where he finds the two pegasi lounging around and talking amongst themselves, as well as a white bunny. The girls seemed to be in a good mood, giggling with each other. The bunny, however, didn't seem two friendly, giving Leo quite the stink eye. He looks like he needs to be kicked like a football... Leo didn't bother hiding his thoughts, wearing a villainous grin, causing the bunny to flinch. Leo then turns to the two mares, putting on a poker face. He starts, "yo Fluttershy, whenever we come back, could you help me find a way to wash my clothes? I also have something else to tell you, but that can wait for later." Leo wanted to go to the library soon as well but decided it would be best if he asked about it on the way to lunch. "Uhh sure, I was wondering about those, if you don't mind me asking," Fluttershy says, looking for Leo's approval. He nods, to which she continues, "how come you wear clothes?" ...That was... Unexpected. Never in my life did I think I would be asked why I wear clothes. "I guess it's many things. Let's save it for when we're walking to, what was it, 'Sugarcube Corner?' I gotta think about it for a moment, plus, I think it'd make for a good conversation." Leo answers, who then looks towards Rainbow, "are we set?" She almost seemed to be stifling a laugh as she calls back, "yeah let's go, maybe you'll even get to try some new food." This can't be good... Ahh, whatever. The trio set off towards the town with their destination set, with Fluttershy waving at the white bunny. Rainbow then turns to Leo, "so, clothes?" Leo's expression turns a little awkward, "uhh, right, ahem so clothes serve many different purposes for us. I'll start with the most obvious. They protect us from the elements. Since we don't have fur like you guys, we need clothes to help regulate our temperature as well as cover us from the sun. Because of this, the clothes are also very comforting. Next is societal or religious. Basically, it's hammered into us that not wearing clothes is verrrrry bad. They're to hide our bodies from each other. Personally, I think that idea came from us wanting to differentiate ourselves from animals. Next is cul-" Rainbow cuts in per usual, "does that mean we are like animals to you?" Leo looks over to see her somewhat frowning. Ahh here we go... Sighing, Leo gathers his thoughts, "it's more complicated than that. After all, you all are much more human-like than ANYTHING on Earth, besides physically. Most of the animals on Earth can't even perceive speech or think non-instinctively. That's honestly why I was so taken aback whenever Fluttershy was just talking to her birds like they're people." I sound like such a dork. I can't believe I'm explaining myself. "Ohh, I get it... But were you always this much of an egghead?" Rainbow says, somehow reading Leo's thoughts. ... Pursing his lips, Leo continues, "so, as I was saying before I was RUDELY interrupted," glaring at Rainbow. "The last part is cultural and economic. With so many different places on Earth, there are bound to be different types of clothes in different regions of the world. Because of this, there is a HUGE global market just for clothes. All of this is surface level though." At the last few words, Rainbow and Fluttershy go wide-eyed. Rainbow then speaks out, "GLOBAL?! How have y'all been around an entire planet?! Equis hasn't even been fully EXPLORED!" Leo furrows his eyebrows, "but how? Y'all have magic and can fly naturally! We had to make machines to do it... They move and transport, both goods, and people." Leo's expression changes to a look of pity. Are they that incompetent?... No, that can't be it... There's just one question after another. Rainbow looks at him like he's stupid, "because there are MONSTERS you egghead! It's so dangerous, I wouldn't even go to some places, and danger's my middle name!" Who the hell is she trying to kid! "Danger's my middle name" my ass! HAHAHA Welp, it's no skin off my back that there are unknown dangers here since I'm gonna be leaving here soon. Leo shrugs it off. As the trio enters town through the dirt path that leads back to Fluttershy's place, Leo notices that it's strangely quiet. There's almost no traffic of ponies to speak of, with only the sound of birds chirping and trees rustling filling in the gap of sound. It left an odd feeling in Leo, but Leo brushed it off for the most part. He thought it was presumably fine since the duo didn't bring it up. Shaking his head, Leo shifts the conversation, "before the next question, could either of y'all take me to the library and translate for me tomorrow? There are a few things that I want to figure out..." Leo decides not to elaborate since they'd most likely look at him funny for talking about some "god fox" nonsense. Rainbow's face changes to a poker face, trying to hide her prejudice towards books. Fluttershy answers instead, "I-I can go with you if that's alright, though I might not be much help with finding stuff for you..." Leo slightly frowns from Fluttershy's slight self-doubt but soon smiles again. "Thank you, Fluttershy. And that's fine, I have an idea of what I want to know so don't worry." "So, was there anything else y'all would like to know?" Leo asks, keeping the conversation moving. "Hmmm," Rainbow puts her hoof on her chin. "What are the machines you mentioned?" She wears a genuinely curious expression. How technologically advanced are these ponies anyway? "For the water, we had boats which I'm assuming y'all have," he looks towards the duo, to which they nod. Leo continues, "then for the ground, imagine a boat but with two pairs of wheels. That's what we called, 'cars' and 'trucks,' trucks being bigger and able to move bigger and heavier things compared to cars. Now for the air, we had what was called planes, kinda like a giant bird that can't flap its wings but uses a propeller instead." Leo then tries to tie all these ideas together, although very roughly. "Almost all of these use what are called 'engines' which burn gas to power a pulley system that makes the whole machine move. Of course, I'm horribly oversimplifying everything and there's much MUCH more that I'm leaving out. For example, some boats are powered by electric motors rather than gas. Or jets, planes that use a certain type of engine that pushes a force outward to fly. In fact, they can even go faster than the speed of sound." "I can do that too! I call it the 'Sonic Rainboom,' there's even a giant rainbow shockwave!" Leo looks over with a raised eyebrow, only to see Rainbow wear a genuine smile. She notices his gaze and continues, "yeah, I AM pretty awesome!" She's full of it today!! SHAMELESS!!... I guess it wouldn't hurt to humor her. Leo starts, "you should show me sometime!" Rainbow doesn't miss the very slight sarcasm in his voice. Fluttershy also frowns a little towards Leo. "You! You don't believe me, do you!?" Rainbow's smile turns into a scowl, "FINE! I'll show you before the 'Summer Sun' thingy, got that!?" Oh boy... Leo throws his hands up near his ears, contempt written on his face. "Alright, alright, I get it..." Leo turns to Fluttershy, "are we almost there?" Fluttershy nods, "mhm, not too much further..." An odd silence fills the conversation. Rainbow looks to Fluttershy with an odd grin, but Leo doesn't catch it. He seemed to be lost in thought, with his hand on his chin while he looks down towards the path. There's just no way a living creature could break the sound barrier... right? Hmmm, wait... Where am I gonna stay for the rest of the week? "Fluttershy, could I stay at your place for the nights?" Leo looks over at Fluttershy, seeking approval. However, before she can answer, Rainbow teases Leo, "ahh, shooting your shot already?" Leo gets flustered, not expecting ANYTHING like that to come up. After a slight pause, he facepalms, "I didn't mean it like that... I don't see you guys like that." Fuck, I just dug myself another hole, didn't I? "What, so is Fluttershy not good enough for you?" Rainbow catches Leo's slip up. Leo looks at her as though she grew another head. Is that how you wanna do this? Hopefully, Fluttershy doesn't take this the wrong way. "Sorry to let you down Rainbow, but I'm not the casual type," Leo counters, wearing, of course, his trademark shit-eating grin. Even though he used it as a comeback, it was completely true. Although he wasn't a prude, Leo wasn't the type of person to go and get around so to speak. Rainbow wasn't expecting such a response, causing her to clam up. Fluttershy, seeing her chance to speak, answers Leo, "s-sure you can stay, just no funny business." Leo looks over to see her stifling a laugh. Leo purses his lips with slight frustration. JUST WHAT DO THEY TAKE ME FOR!? I haven't even made that many crude sex jokes! Leo lets out a defeated sigh. He was getting double-teamed! Where are the bros when you need them... Amid his thoughts, Sugarcube Corner slowly came into view. It was like the rest of the houses, architectural-wise, but it was like a gingerbread house, with a yellow cupcake with pink icing and candles on the tippy-top. The walls were vanilla-colored, while the shingles on the roof looked like they were made from cookies. Decorating the corners of the roof was what looked like white icing. The windows and door were also the same pinks as the cupcake icing on top, a hot pink. Finally, there was a sign of a pink cupcake hanging off from the side of the building, indicating it was a bakery and or pastry shop. However, Leo also notices the lights were out on the inside. It struck him as odd because nobody would be able to make out what was inside the shop to see the goods. "We're here!" Rainbow yells at Leo, taking him out of his musings. He has a funny look on his face. "Are you sure this place is open? The lights are out..." Leo asks in earnest. He was honestly quite nervous about causing trouble since he didn't exactly leave the best first impression. "Yea, don't worry, come on!" Rainbow exclaims to the anxious Leo, taking the lead towards the doorway "It'll be fine Leo," Fluttershy reassures him, doing a much better job at comforting than Rainbow. She also follows suit. "...Okay, if you say so." Leo follows the two mares towards the door. As Rainbow opens the door, it reveals an almost pitch-black room. Did they bring me here to murder me or something?? Are they... gonna turn me into cupcakes?! ...I'm just being paranoid... right?! As he walks through the doorway, there's a slam right behind him. BAM "Uhhhh, guys?" Leo asks, nervousness creeping its way into his words. Nothing. Goosebumps crawled onto Leo's skin. ... Suddenly, a switch flicked, flooding the room with light. Leo hastily shuts his eyes, wincing from the sudden illumination. After a split second, Leo opens them back up, revealing a huge mass of ponies within the building. Am I getting jumped?! Inside, the colors of the room popped out, the walls mostly consisted of vanilla and the beams in the walls and ceiling were brown. A support beam running across the middle of the room and in the trim in the corners were hot pink, also having images of candy painted on. The store looked almost like a candy and bakery shop, with various sugary sweets lining the wall to the right, with a rolling ladder to reach the higher-shelved ones. Straight ahead from the front door was the front counter, sporting a pink window that let the shopper peak at the delicious treats and pastries inside. On top of the counter were two labeled punch bowls, but Leo couldn't read them. To the right of the counter was a table, lined with cupcakes and cookies. To the left of the counter in the corner was a whole DJ turntable setup with record players along with a pair of big subwoofers. All around the room were, much to Leo's surprise, balloons, streamers, and plenty of chairs and tables. "SURPRISE!" Everybody screams, bright-colored confetti flying everywhere and party horns stretching out towards him. Pinkie, the pink pony Leo met from this morning, then speaks out, "WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!!!" huh? Leo was speechless, he never had a surprise party before. All of these ponies, who had no clue who or WHAT he was, came together to throw HIM a party. It gave Leo a really warm feeling in his chest, causing his face to shift into a gleeful expression. They threw a surprise party for a stranger like me? I'm even an alien to them too... Suddenly, Leo's eyes begin to water a little, touched by the genuine kindness. However, he holds them back. "HEY LEO! It's me, Pinkie Pie! I got everypony together to welcome you to Ponyville! Were you surprised?!" Leo looks at her, only to see the most universally contagious smile he'd ever seen. "HELL YEA I WAS! This is awesome! How did you get so many ponies together so quick?" Leo raises his eyebrow. Although Leo wasn't one for big parties, he knew how to get along and not be a buzzkill. Especially if that party was meant for him. Leo suddenly has an epiphany and looks over at Pinkie's flank, to which he sees three balloons. That explains why the party is so well put together, her cutie mark is for parties more than likely... Still, how did she organize a huge party like this so fast?! It hasn't even been five hours since I first met her! "I handed out invitations to everypony silly!" She looks at Leo like that was the obvious answer. "And I'm glad you like it! We have food, punch, one with and one without alcohol, and, of course, MUSIC! Scratchy, HIT IT!" They're drinking so soon in the day?! "You got it!" Leo hears a girl call out. Looking over where the voice came from, Leo sees a white unicorn at the DJ setup. She had two tones of blue for her mane and tail, one blue looks like an electric light blue, while the other looks like cobalt. Her hair was medium length, tailored in a haphazard, but stylish way. Over her eyes, she had black glasses with violet lenses. Finally, on her flank, was a pair of eighth notes for her cutie mark. The powerful subwoofers fill the room with music, taking on the genre of EDM and Dubstep. Leo wasn't much of a fan of it as much as he was when he was younger, but he still vibed with it, bopping his head to it almost as soon as it kicked in. This just made Leo want to play his guitar even more than before. Along with the music, the room also fills with colored lights, giving off the vibe of a club. So their technology is quite a bit advanced in entertainment... Where did those two girls go? Looking around the room for Rainbow and Fluttershy, he sees them seated near the table with all the cupcakes and cookies, stuffing their faces without a care in the world. Seeing the girls gorge themselves on food, Leo's stomach couldn't help but let out a loud rumble. Leo looks down at his stomach. Alright buddy, I'll get you some good food finally. As Leo walks over there, Rainbow spots him making his way to them. She turns and grins at him in a "happy-go-lucky" manner. "Hey, Leo! You like the party?" "How could I not?! I honestly would've never expected something so nice," Leo says, matching Rainbow's expression. "That's great," Rainbow pauses, her grin turns into something more sinister, but Leo didn't catch it, "try this cupcake!" She holds out a cupcake towards Leo. A VERY attractive cupcake. It was vanilla, with bright hot pink icing and with pastel sprinkles on top. It was a shame such a work of art was going to be consumed. Leo stared at it with a solemn expression. I'm sorry, but it was inevitable. I shall end your suffering. Without delay, he grabs the cupcake and promptly shoves it into his mouth. It was sweet. So sweet in fact, Leo was scared his teeth would decay right then and there, but it didn't happen. It was immensely savory. Leo bathed in the taste that graced his mouth. Leo could only describe it as perfection. "Mmmm," a soft moan comes out as he's chewing his new favorite dessert. "Mmmm?" Something confused Leo after a moment. It was odd, a weird sensation began to fill Leo's mouth. It was similar to a burning sensation, like something spicy. It was a very slow and creeping burn, Leo's mouth was slowly encased with this sensation. The burning was also getting stronger by the second, causing Leo to sweat a little. "What did you put in this cupcake?!" He sounded fine at first but his speech trembled at the end of his question. "Ohhh, nothing much. Just a little something for some 'kick,' ya know? I thought you'd like it... HAHAHAHA!" Rainbow stifled her laughter until eventually having a full fit of hysterics. She had used this opportunity to get back at Leo for teasing her about eating her wings. "HAaaa, haaaa, I need to, haaaa, DRINK SOMETHING!!" Leo was having trouble grounding his breathing, eventually practically breathing flames out of his mouth. His face was drenched in sweat, with snot running down from his nose and his mouth-watering to an unimaginable degree. In a split-second decision, He runs towards the punch bowls at the front counter, grabbing a cup lying around. Picking the bowl to the right, he didn't stand on ceremony, scooping up punch and gulping it down. It was immediate relief. After what he could only assume was four cups worth of punch, he finally feels the burning start to fade away. Thankfully, he didn't cause too much of a scene, with only a couple of ponies glancing his way. Letting out a sigh of relief, Leo barely escaped the clutches of death. He turns around to give Rainbow a piece of his mind. "...How much did you drink?" Rainbow asks Leo when he turns to face her, not even letting him get the opportunity to speak. He couldn't understand why she sounded so concerned, after all, she did give him that deathtrap. Leo raises his eyebrow. "Like four cups?... Are you trying to avoid my wrath?!" Leo makes his way to her, rolling up his imaginative sleeves. He was gonna get payback, one way or another. Unbeknowgst to him, his head started to feel a little hot... "DUDE! That punch was spiked with ALCOHOL!" Rainbow exclaims. "You're not gonna be okay here in a few minutes, you need to sit down. NOW!" Hehe, that just makes things more fun! Does she seriously think she can tell me what to do? PFFF What's the point if I make it too easy for her?! Leo dawns his evil smile once again, maniacally laughing. "HAHAHA, YOU'LL HAVE TO CATCH ME!" He makes a break for it. Thankfully, he wasn't stumbling quite yet, but he knew it would get to that point soon. The crowd was huge, making it hard to breakthrough. Without any direction, Leo keeps going through them, stopping at no cost. His vision lands on the pink party pony he was talking with earlier, Pinkie Pie. He calls out, "Pinkie, save me from Rainbow! She's trying to take me captive for... 'unknown' reasons." Leo tells the pink pony his sob story. He does a pretty good job at playing his part in his opinion. Pinkie buys it, waving at Leo to follow her. My acting is impeccable... hehe Giggling like a little kid, he makes his way to Pinkie. He hadn't had this much fun in a very long time. The alcohol was starting to hit him pretty substantially. HAHA Messing with these ponies, specifically Rainbow, definitely takes the cake in comedy! "We gotta stay on the move sooooo, let me introduce you to some ponies!" Pinkie tells Leo, beaming at the opportunity to help Leo make new friends. It wouldn't hurt to meet more people... Perfect! Nodding, Leo follows her. As they move through the crowd, Pinkie is saying "hi" and greeting everybody. Leo gained newfound appreciation after watching her be nice to so many ponies. After walking around for a minute or two, they reached a certain table. Seated at it are two ponies, one of them presumably a mare while the other a stallion if he had to guess off of their features. The mare has an orange coat of fur, a long blonde mane and tail that are tied off near the ends, and a brown Stetson hat. Her eyes were a bright green, like emeralds, with pale freckles exaggerating them even more. The stallion has a bright red coat of fur with a yoke around his neck for pulling carts as well as some freckles. His mane and tail were a simple orange, with his tail being on the short side. He also had the same bright green eyes as the mare. Being the first stallion Leo's seen, he sports a stronger jawline and an overall bigger frame. Oddly, his hooves stood out as a different color compared to all the other ponies, whose hooves matched their coat color. His hooves were almost like a pale peach or tan color. He might be the designated first Equestrian bro... We'll see. Leo didn't want to come off rude so he didn't glance at their flanks, but if he had to guess, they were some type of farmers. Pinkie looks over to Leo, "this is Applejack," she points to the mare. Pinkie continues, pointing to the stallion, "and this is Big Mac! They run Sweet Apple Acres here in Ponyville! They also make the best apple cider and zap apple jam!" She then talks to the duo, "This is Leo, he's new here!" "Well howdy, so you're the Leo Ah've heard about! Nice tah meetcha, ah'm Applejack!" The orange mare says, sticking out her hoof for a shake. Leo shakes it and nods. She then points to the stallion, "this is mah brother, Big McIntosh, but you can call 'em Big Mac." Leo and Big Mac both just nod at each other, acknowledging each other in a sense. "It's nice to meet both uh ya..." Leo starts to slur his speech slightly, laughing at himself internally. He's grinning ear to ear with a hint of red over his face. Holy shit, I'm pretty drunk... I'm such a lightweight! Applejack looks at Pinkie and giggles a little, but Leo's too drunk to understand. It all sounds and looks a little hazy. He looks down and realizes he's shirtless. His muddle-headed brain kicks in. I want a shirt... "Less talk when I'm sober," Leo says to Applejack and Big Mac, to which they nod. Leo then turns to Pinkie Pie, "I gotta do somethin'. Hey Pink, you know some-, I need clothes." Leo half asks Pinkie. Although Leo liked looking at himself recently due to the new musculature, he hated not having a shirt and clean clothes. "Sure, follow me!" Pinkie replies. She's not too worried about Leo being too drunk, as he seems to be having a good time. If anything, she just wondered how much he had to drink since the party had begun for no more than 20 minutes or so. Thankfully, he could still somewhat walk. "You're the best, Pinkster," Leo says, feeling thankful he's found good friends since he's been here. As he follows Pinkie, his mind wanders, thinking about all the cool ponies he's met since coming here. They've all been so nice, even throwing him a surprise party. Thinking about the party though made him kinda bitter a little, since he got drunk almost as soon as it started, but he was having a good time with Pinkie. Following behind Pinkie, they come to a mare, a unicorn, with a white coat of fur. Her deep violet mane was all pampered up and curled along with her tail. She clearly spent a decent amount of time on them. Leo also realized she was wearing mascara and eye shadow, unlike any ponies he's seen thus far. Her eyes were a deep blue, like the ocean. Boundless. Looking at her flank, Leo sees three blue gem-looking things, matching the color of her eyes. She seemed to have caught Leo's lingering gaze on her hind quarters. ahem "Who might you be? Although I'm flattered, your manners are somewhat lacking darling." She says in a very elegant manner. ...Oops... Pinkie cuts in, "this is Leo! I'm introducing him to some ponies and he wanted some clothes! And, of course, that made me think of you! Leo, this is Rarity," Pinkie then leans into Rarity and whispers, "sorry he's a little tipsy." "Uhh, nice to meet ya, ya make clothes?" Leo asks, cutting to the chase. "Oh, of course! I would love to make you some if you don't mind! You are just so... unique! It's not every day I get a chance like this! Say, why not meet me at my boutique whenever you're feeling 'better' darling?" Rarity can't seem to hold herself back, taking Leo by surprise a little. She must like clothes... wait. "I'm broke," Leo tells her with a frown. "That's fine! It'll be on the house darling, don't you worry!" Rarity says, wearing a sympathetic but also excited expression. "Sweet, I'll swing by sometime," he tells Rarity. "Okay I'm gonn-, I need Rainbow and Fluttershy, where are they?" Leo turns to Pinkie, concern written on his face. He wanted to go home... Sadness and isolation began to worm their way into Leo's head. Fuck, this is why I hate drinking... Leo started to feel down in the dumps. He wanted to just go and lay down more than anything. He missed his home, his music, everything. This sensation made him feel like he was being ungrateful aswell, magnifying the emotions in his mind. "Uhh, yeah, I'll help you find them," She looks at him in the eye. "Are you okay?" She has no clue... The homesickness hits him like a truck, but he grits his teeth. If Rainbow or Fluttershy asked this question though, Leo definitely would've choked up at the very least. "Yeah... I'm fine." Pinkie deflates a little but shakes her head, regaining her bounciness. After a moment of walking, they spot Fluttershy and Rainbow walking around looking for who they would assume was Leo. "Will you be fine from here on?" "Yea, thanksh Pinkster," Leo says, "for the party and helpin' me. Let's hang out when I'm shober." Leo begins to slur his speech more audibly. He turns to head towards the pegasus duo, stumbling a little bit. "Okay!" Pinkie exclaims, bouncing off like a floating tumbleweed. "Hey!" Leo calls out. The blue and yellow ponies turn towards Leo, rushing over to see if he's alright. "L-Leo, are you alright?! You can barely walk straight," Fluttershy practically whispers near the end, but Leo can still hear her to a degree. "Ohmygosh ohmygosh omygosh, Leo, where the hay were you! Why did you run off?! Do you know just HOW much alcohol you had?!" Rainbow chastizes Leo, surprising Leo with how worried she really was. She sounds like a mom... "Okay mooom, can we go now? I'm pretty out uh it," Leo asks. It takes a second to register with them but they nod. "Sorry," Leo says softly. Rainbow then shoots back, "no, I'm sorry. I forgot you couldn't read... I shoulda got you a drink after I gave you that cupcake or something." She looks down at her hooves in shame. But she would still give me the cupcake... HEARTLESS!! "Less leave, I wanna go," Leo says again. The girls nod and lead him out. They weren't too far from the door, but Leo barely manages to not fall over before reaching it. However, it was a different story when they stepped out of the doorway. BAM Leo faceplanted right outside, "Aughhhh," he groans. His stomach also begins to feel upset. Rainbow and Fluttershy help him up, Rainbow on his right and Fluttershy on his left. "Lean on me so you don't fall over," Rainbow tells Leo flatly, trying not to burst out laughing at his plight. "Okay," Leo answers. Leo looks around as they slowly make it back to Fluttershy's house. Everything was different than home. No humans, different buildings, a different society. It was all different. Yet so similar all at once, it made no sense. Silence filled the air. "I want to go home," Leo says in a hushed tone. Fluttershy doesn't hear him, but Rainbow does, causing her to bite her lip. She doesn't have the solutions for him, but she can help him feel at least a little better. "Tell me about your home," she says, her voice carrying a softer tone than usual. Fluttershy looks over with interest to the subject as well, her ears perking up to listen. Leo start, "it was shimple, not much there really. Jus me, my mushic, and the people I know... I miss the familiarity..." Leo says, looking around at nothing in particular. Then something clicks in his head. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. Maybe, I can show them this... "Hey, when we get back, I'll show y'all my mushic from home," Leo says, wearing a goofy grin. He was happy he could pay them back in some sort of fashion. They had been able to share all the wonderful things with him, but he had nothing to show until now. "W-what? How? We don't have a guitar," Rainbow questions Leo, thinking he's spewing some drunken hysterics. Do they have phones? "Ahh, dun worry, it's uh surprise," Leo answers, "Anywaysh, do you think they're mad at me for being shitfaced? I feel like a ruined the party they worked so hard on." Leo chokes up, his drunken state heightening his mood swing. Fluttershy cuts in unusually, "don't say that! As long as you enjoyed it, no matter how short, is what matters. After all, the party was for you." "She's right, big guy, everypony had a good time. Besides, they can meet you another time." Rainbow reassures Leo. Big guy? Leo shakes his thoughts away, "thanksh guysh, for everything. Out of everyone that I haven't met, I wanna meet that DJ." Leo speaks his thoughts aloud. Suddenly, Leo feels his most hated sensation. He's going to vomit. Sprinting, he goes to a flowerpot housing a little tree near one of the houses on the path. "HURRRR." It wasn't a pretty sight. Leo's face goes read from his body exerting itself, his veins popping out on his face and around his throat. His face began to drip sweat and snot onto the ground. ...And I just showered toooo... "Better?" Rainbow asks. "Yea, jus a bit," Leo responds, chuckling a little. "Alright, let's keep going. We're almost there." Rainbow tells Leo, earning a nod. ... After this, I don't think I'm drinking for a long while... maybe.