//------------------------------//
// Chapter Two 
// Story: Lasting Memories 
// by Boopy Doopy 
//------------------------------//

Charley was falling through the air impossibly fast. The wind burned his eyes, keeping them squinted, not that he could see much. It was dark, night it seemed, and the sky was lit only by the moon and the stars near it. 
The sound of rushing air filled his ears, things that felt like they were now on top of his head. He could see a snout for a nose in front of him, but what color, he couldn’t tell. He could also feel the wind against it and rippling through his fur, blasting him with cold. Looking down, he thought he could make out stumps for limbs. Hooves? He couldn’t tell. He was falling too fast to open his eyes much.
Make sure to spread your wings wide open, and soar, he remembered death saying. Almost by instinct, he moved the appendages on his side, attached to his back, letting them spread wide open. Just like that, he stopped falling, now more gliding, moving forward as he fell. He glanced to his sides and could see feathers attached to wings, ones that moved as his command. He had both wings like a bird and hooves like a horse. What in the world was he?
He did his best to glide through the night, but wasn’t very good at it. Not that he knew where he was going. He could see buildings below him, little houses that looked like they had roofs of straw and something like plaster for walls. It was like a town that was a cross between the fifteen hundreds and twentieth century, except more colorful. Interesting, to say the least.
It was only a minute before the ground got closer to him and he tried to focus on landing. Not that he knew how. Instead of landing gracefully, he rolled and somersaulted, falling on his back and getting dirt on his face and in his hair. It wasn’t the best he could’ve done, but it could’ve been worse.
He got up and shook himself off, taking a minute to examine himself. He noticed he was standing on four legs, which ended in hooves. He also did indeed have wings at his side, long and wide and covered in feathers, like a bird. There were also a few feathers on his chest, but he had a pointed snout like a regular horse. He was somehow a cross between the two, like that Greek horse, Pegasus.
He looked under himself to check for something, and cursed when he saw it. “Oh yeah, just make a friend in a week when you’re gonna keep me like this!” he yelled to no one, his voice sounding exactly the same as it always did. “How am I supposed to make friends when I’m stuck being a man?” He had who he wanted to be in whatever that place was. Why couldn’t that have just translated to where he was now?
“This is bullshit!” he yelled. “I’m being set up to fail again!”
“Hey, can you keep it down out there?” someone, another horse it seemed, yelled from a window in their home. “Ponies are trying to sleep!”
He noticed the colors on the creature, a bright red coat with a shimmering blue mane, along with a horn like a unicorn. It was a strange sight, but examining himself again, he noticed he was just as strangely colored. A grayish-blue coat with an orangish-gold mane, and a picture of a frying basket on his butt. He didn’t know what it all meant, but it was certainly curious.
The whole world was brightly colored, like a children’s show, except more realistic looking than that. Even at night, he could see the houses perfectly clear, and the grass and the trees and the moon’s reflection off the water of a pond next to him. It looked serene. Picturesque. It just looked like a friendly place to be. He could see why Death chose… wherever he was.
Make a friend in a week, Charley thought to himself. That's what Death said. He said this would take less than a minute.
He had no idea what he should be doing or how to go about making friends. He wasn’t normally one to opt to make friends with people, but that made sense, considering he was here. He had no idea where to start.
He decided to just walk around, having not the slightest idea where on earth he was going. He hoped he’d eventually just bump into someone and they’d start a conversation and this whole thing would be over and done with. If this was the easiest place ever to make friends, this should only take about an hour.
It was about an hour when the sun rose impossibly fast and the local residents came out. All of them were equines, and all of them had widely varying looks. Some of them were uniformly colored, like one who had a green coat, green hair and tail, and green eyes. Others were the weirdest color combinations you could imagine, like someone he saw with an orange coat, purple hair, and dark blue eyes. There were tall ones and short ones, horses that were clearly kids and some that were definitely older and likely near their own meetings with Death. They came in varieties that consisted of feathery wings like his, unicorn horns, or neither. Almost all of them had a smile on their face, and seemed to be on their way to school or work or whatever horses like this did all day.
It was something straight out a show for little girls, that Charley knew.
All I have to do is find the dumbest looking one and make friends with them, he thought to himself as he looked around. This is gonna be a piece of cake. Now who would that be…?
He had to admit, they all looked kind of dopey, what with such big eyes. They were large and round and flat, more like plates than balls. Their mouths were a bit small for their faces, too, and their bodies a bit too perfectly proportioned. And overly friendly. That was the biggest part. They all looked way too overly friendly, like an annoyingly helpful neighbor out of a sitcom. He might have been searching for a friend, and one he could make quick, but overly friendly was a turnoff for him. Still, with a little bit of looking, he found his first target.
“Heyyy…” he started as he stepped forward, moving up to a particularly idiotic looking horse. It was a female with a silverish-gray coat and blonde hair, as well as a few bubbles on her butt, in the same place he had his frying basket. She had wings like he did, and a brown uniform on that came with a bag of letters, like a mailman. Or a mail horse. One of her eyes was lazy, however, he couldn't tell which one, and she had a particularly dumb grin on her face as he made his way to her. She would do, he was sure.
“I…” he stared as she looked at him, before fumbling for words. He had absolutely no idea what he should tell her, no idea how to start a conversation, really. He knew he shouldn’t lead in with the fact that he needed her to be his friend, lest his soul be taken. That might push people away.
This is ridiculous, he thought to himself. How do people do this?
“So uh… can I buy you a drink?” he asked, cringing slightly to himself. It was such a lame way to start a conversation, more like trying to get a date than a friend, but hey. It wasn’t like this would last forever. He only had a week to do this, and the sooner he got it done, the sooner he could leave.
“Awww, no, I can’t stop delivering this mail right now, mister,” she told Charley, her voice sounding just as derpy as she looked. “It’s an important job. I can’t be late… say though. What’s your name? Maybe I can give you your letter right now!”
His inclination was to just turn around and leave, but he forced himself not to. “It’s Charley, but I doubt there’s anything in there for me. But what if you stopped delivering letters? Just for a little while? I wanna talk to you.”
“About what?” the horse asked, tilting her head in confusion. The way it asked what about got under his skin for some reason. He already didn’t like this person.
“Well, about, uh… what do you want to talk about?” he asked. Yeah, just keep the conversation in her court. That was how making friends worked, right? Getting people to talk about themselves? She didn’t look bright enough to not be able to be easily manipulated into becoming his friend either way. This would be all over soon.
Only a way to meet one’s ends, nothing more, Death’s voice played in his head. That was what he was doing to whoever this horse was now. Using them as a way to make his ends meet. Of course, since he was required to make friends, how could Death expect any different? Besides, the future of forever for him was at stake. He was going to be manipulative if he had to.
“Oh, I have lots of things I like to talk about, like weather and muffins and time travel and being a mail pony…”
“What’s being a mail pony like?” he asked, trying to sound eager and excited about it when he really couldn’t care less. “That sounds like such an interesting job!”
“Oh, it is! The best job anypony could have! I bet everypony in Equestria wants it! But I really shouldn’t stop to talk. I gotta get these letters delivered.” With that, she lifted her wings and started to fly into the sky.
“Now wait,” he tried to say, grabbing onto a wing with one of his hooves. He didn’t know how though. There was no way a hoof should’ve been able to grab anything. But he didn’t question it, too busy trying to stop her from leaving.
“Don’t you want to be my friend?” he asked. “I mean, I’d sure like to hear a lot about how you do your job. How does someone get into being a mailman anyway?”
“Well I can show you that!” she said happily. “I can teach you all about being a mailpony! Just follow me!” She once again tried to fly away, but Charley kept firm hold of her.
“Wait a second though,” he said, staring up into her lazy looking eyes. “I kind of really need to make a friend, and you seem… friendly enough…” He almost said she was easy enough, but caught himself before he could let that slip out.
“Um, sir? Can you let go of me? You’re hurting my wing.”
What the hell is wrong with me? he asked himself. Stop being a creep and let her go. He might not have had many friends, or any according to Death, but he was certain that this wasn’t the way they were made. This was how people got restraining orders filed against them.
“Sorry,” he apologized, letting go of her. “I’m just, uh, eager. Also, I don’t think I can fly.” He flapped his wings a few times for emphasis.
“You can’t fly?” she asked curiously, tilting her head, both of her eyes focusing on him for the first time. “But every pegasus can fly! Maybe you just aren’t trying hard enough!”
Well, that got her attention, although he wasn’t really sure why. He figured there was at least one person with wings who couldn’t fly, but he shrugged it off. It was a detail that grabbed her attention regardless, and one that he would use to get closer to her.
“I haven’t tried at all since I just got here,” he said. “But maybe you can show me how? I mean, after all, you do look like an expert!” He was trying to sweet talk her into spending time with him. He just wanted to get this over and done with.
“Oh, I’m no expert,” she said, “but I’d sure love to help! Let me deliver these letters, and I’ll get right back to you, lickiety split!”
“Wait, no, don’t go!” he said, trying to grab her wing again, but missing. She quickly flew away from him, leaving Charley standing alone, a giant scowl on his face. His first attempt at making a friend was a miss. 
Doesn’t matter, he told himself.  There are a hundred other horses here. Any one of these people will be easy to get to be my friend.
It wasn’t as easy as all that, it turned out. Most ponies at this time of day were busy, and the ones that weren’t could see his scowl as he approached them. If not, they could hear the insincerity in his voice much more easily than he expected. Making a friend was turning out to be a tougher task than he expected.
Death said this would be a piece of cake, he thought as he tried to talk to a pink horse inside of a bakery shaped like a gingerbread house. He said it would take a minute. Much more than a minute had passed, and yet here he still was, sitting grumpily while some girl with ADHD was talking his ears off.
I have a week though. I can find a friend in a week. Hell, I can find a friend by the end of the day. This is gonna be easy.
He thought he was onto something with the pink horse in the bakery when she offered him a free meal since she’d never seen him before. When she started talking though, he knew he was going to hate this girl. He could hardly get a word in with her, the pony running her mouth nonstop about some party she wanted to throw for him.
“And then we can play pin the tail on the pony and freeze tag, and then eat cupcakes covered in hot sauce–”
“Wow, those things just sound so neat,” he said, rolling his eyes and trying to portray how sarcastic he was. The mare didn’t seem to pick up on it though, which Charley guessed was a good thing. He’d probably have to tone down his extreme annoyance if he wanted this to go anywhere though.
“I know, right? And you’re gonna make so many friends there! That’s what you said you wanted, and if my name isn’t Pinkie Pie, I’ll be sure you make a hundred new friends! I’m friends with everypony in Ponyville, and can give you all the juicy details on all of them!”
“I’m so excited,” he replied flatly. “But listen,” he continued, trying to work a word in. “I’m really only interested in making one friend. So, uh, you don’t need to throw a party for me.”
“But I always throw a party for all the new ponies that move to Ponyville! And you’re a new pony, so that means you gotta have a party! All of my friends have to have one!”
There it was, the magic word. If a party would get this over and done with, he would go to a party. He was so itching to get back to wherever Death was so he could regain the form he had there. Being this horse was not appealing.
“So you’re saying if you throw me a party, that means we’re friends?” he asked. “Is that how this works?”
“Yepperooni!” she nodded quickly. “I’d never throw a party for somepony who wasn’t my friend. I mean, a party for a big, smelly villain like King Sombra? PU! But you’re not a big, smelly villain like him, so I think we can be friends!”
“Do you think we could throw the party now then?” he asked, almost sounding eager. “I’m just so excited for us to be friends. I mean, you’re just so interesting to talk to.” He was laying it on a bit thick, but he was sure Pinkie Pie wouldn’t notice. She seemed more idiotic than that gray mare.
“Hehe! I’d love to! But these things don’t just sprout up out of nowhere, you know! There’s so much planning to do, and so many ponies to talk to! Plus, it’s gonna be a surprise party, and you won’t be very surprised if you know it’s happening, silly!”
Of course, they couldn’t get it done right now. That would just be too convenient, wouldn’t it? He was going to have to be here the whole week trying to work up to being this pony’s friend.
“God, this is gonna be a fucking waste of time,” he muttered to himself before stepping out of the bakery. He wasn’t alone though. The mare hopped next to him like a rabbit, smiling at him with a gigantic, irritating grin.
“Aw, cheer up!” Pinkie Pie told him happily. “Sure, you can’t have a party right now, but that’ll make it twice as good when you have it tomorrow! Won’t that be amazing?”
“I’m quite alright,” he said. “I’ll just look for friends somewhere else.”
“Okie dokie loki! I’m sure you’ll find a whole bunch of ponies, and before you know it, you’ll be at the party and then you’ll already be friends with everypony in town and be partying your tail off!”
“Yeah. Sure. But uh, maybe you should stop following me and get on that.”
“Oopsie, hehe! Oh yeah! I gotta get started on planning that party!” With the words, she quickly sped away in a moment, leaving Charley blinking at the dust trail she left behind.
“Ugh. Yikes. I hope I don’t have to deal with her for the rest of the day.” Somehow, she seemed like the type that would sneak up on him. He’d fall asleep and then he’d wake up to her hovering over his bed or something, like a crazy girlfriend. He laughed a little bit at the thought of it.
“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter,” he continued to himself as he walked in an aimless direction. “Make a friend today, get out of here today. Then Death lets me go… somewhere and… I don’t know what after that.” He just wanted to look and sound like he did in front of Death again. He had no time at all to appreciate it before he was stuck back into a man’s body when he got here.
Charley put that thought out of his head as he walked, looking for someone else he could try to get to be his friend. He came up quite empty however, just as empty as before, at least until that gray mare suddenly came back, bumping into him and knocking him on his flank.
“Oops, sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! I’m just klutzy,” she apologized, extending a hoof to pick him up. “But I came back, just like I said!” She beamed happily at him, seeming proud of herself. Charley couldn’t say whether he really liked this mare, but at least he could talk to her without hearing a million words a minute back.
“Yes you did,” he said, clearly annoyed as he brushed himself off. “Although next time, I’d appreciate not getting dirt all over me, thanks.”
“Sorry. Uh, I can teach you how to fly now!” she exclaimed. “All done with my mail for today! I did double time so I could get here! Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he said flatly. He truly didn’t care either way whether or not he could fly. He just wanted to get a friend and have this be over and done with.
He had a feeling that this would be a ridiculous experience coming from a mare whose eyes were as lazy as hers, and ridiculous it was. Not only did she not fly particularly straight, she was awful at explaining what to do. Plus, she crashed into him when she stopped to land again. More than once.
“You just have to tell yourself that you can do it!” she cheered from the air, a phrase that made Charley scowl.
“If all I have to do is tell myself I can do it, then what the hell do I have wings for?” he asked back angrily. “This is so stupid!”
“Just try flapping them and closing your eyes!” she suggested. “That’s what I did when I was first learning how to fly! Everypony can do it!”
“I’ve done that like seven times and nothing’s happened yet! It’s not gonna change with the eighth!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll come down and show you again!” she said, making him roll his eyes. A second later, she was speeding down and crashing into him again. He was gonna be covered in bruises by the end of the day at this rate.
“Oops, sorry,” she apologized sheepishly, rubbing a hoof behind her head. “Didn’t mean to do that again.”
“Look, if you can’t see correctly, then stop fucking racing to the ground as fast as you can,” he barked. “That’s the fourth time you’ve hit me.”
“Sorry,” she said again quietly. “I’m just trying to help.”
He sighed to himself. Don’t drive her away, he told himself silently. Can’t drive her away. Make one friend and get this over with.
“Why don’t we do something else?” he asked, trying not to sound too irritated. “Like being a mail pony. What’s that all about?”
“Uh, well, it’s really a long story,” she said, rubbing a hoof behind the other. “I really should go, though. I have to get home soon.”
“Aw, come on, I’m sure you’re such a great mail pony! How do I become one?” he asked, trying to grasp any straw that would make her stay.
“I have to go. No offense, but you’re kind of scary,” she said, taking a step back away from him.
“How on earth am I scary?” he asked aggressively, taking a step forward and scowling. A second later, he covered his eyes with a hoof, realizing in exactly what way he was scary.
“I’ll stop yelling,” he said quickly after rubbing his nose for a second. “I’ll stop cursing, too. I’m just reaaaally looking to be friends with someone.” Charley tried his best to put on a wide, toothy grin once he finished. He hoped it didn’t sound as creepy to this mare as it did to him.
“That’s alright,” she said politely, looking uncomfortable. “But, uh, I’m sure lots of ponies want to be your friend! You could even have Pinkie Pie throw you a ‘Welcome To Ponyville’ party! Everypony goes to those! You’re bound to make friends there!”
“Whatever,” he replied, his smile dropping immediately as he hung is head low, deep in the scowl he’d had on all day.
“Uh, I can come by tomorrow and try to help you with your flying some more, if you want me to!”
“It’s fine,” he tried to say as politely as he could. “You don’t need to look for me. I’ll be out of here before then because I’ll find a friend before then.”
“Uh, okay, I don’t know what that means, but… I’ll see you later, Mr. Charley!” She waved at him happily as he walked away, on his way to see who else he could try and manipulate.
Manipulate. How he came up with that word to describe making friends, he had no idea. It was a sad indictment of himself that he used that word. He had to manipulate people into being his friend because no one would want to be his friend naturally. How pathetic was that?
Just take a breath and calm down, he told himself. Relax. You’re being way too aggressive going at this. All you have to do is find someone who’s not busy and engage them. Let them talk about themselves. Don’t yell when they smack into you eight times in a row. Then you’ll be out of here.
Easy. This was going to be easy. He just needed to take time and he could get this done. It would be a piece of cake.
“Charley! Charley! Charley!” a familiar, hyper, energetic voice sounded, drawing closer to him, not even giving him enough time to lift his scowl. Keeping himself from yelling and grumbling in annoyance was gonna be easier said than done. He did not like her upbeat attitude.
Smile, he told himself. Smile. This mare is probably gonna be your best hope at getting a friend as soon as possible with the way these ponies are.
“Oh, Pinkie,” he said, his smile not very wide and his voice not sounding particularly happy. “Who would’ve guessed I’d run into you again?”
“I know, right?” she chattered eagerly. “This is so exciting! How many friends have you made? Huh? Is it over ten? Oh, I bet it’s a hundred! Somepony as friendly as you probably already swooned over the entire town with your personality! You’re just such a charmer!”
Was… was she being sarcastic? The look on her face made it seem like it was a genuine statement, but he couldn’t be sure.
“Not quite,” Charley replied, his ears flattening a bit in embarrassment. It wasn’t nearly as easy as Death made it out to be.
“Awww, but I was sure you could’ve made at least one. Hey, if you just got to Ponyville, where are you gonna stay?” Suddenly, she gasped as an idea came to her. “I know! I know! You could stay with me! And then I can teach you all about making friends, and before you know it, you’ll be friends with everypony in Equestria! Doesn’t that sounds like fun?”
The words ‘I’ll find someone to take me in’ were on the edge of his tongue when he stopped. With the way this was going, he wasn’t sure he would be able to find someone. The thought made his frown drop back into the scowling look he’d been wearing all day.
“Oh, only the most fun,” he said sarcastically. “You’ll let me stay with you, right? Since we’re friends now?”
“Abso-tootly, posi-lootly!” Pinkie Pie happily cheered. “I mean, we can’t be real friends until I throw you your ‘Welcome To Ponyville’ welcome party, but you can stay with me until then! Follow me!” With that, she hopped like a rabbit to somewhere else, Charley begrudgingly following behind her.
I guess I’ll get out of here tomorrow, he thought as he followed grumpily. She’ll throw me a party, say I’m her friend, and then I’ll be gone and be able to be who I was in that place.