Cinna had eventually caught up with Jasper.
“BOOP!” shouted the pegasus mare.
They booped the sheep on his nose and had been doing this a few times for a few seconds. Meanwhile, Banana Pie was watching from the background, knowing it would end soon.
Jasper was getting annoyed. “Can you please stop doing that? This is embarrassing,” said the sheep. It really was.
He would have escaped using magic, except Jasper did use up a lot of magic today, before and after he had left the tower. So, the sheep either needed to get something to eat to replenish the rest of his magic, other than the banana that Jasper obtained a while ago, go all the way back home and sleep and then return back to Ponyville the next day, or save up on the remaining magic until his return trip back home.
The pegasus mare’s hoof remained on the sheep’s nose. “Just a few more times? Pleeeeease?” asked Cinna.
He thought about it before sighing. “Fine,” said Jasper.
She smiled. “Yay!” said the pegasus mare. Cinna then booped the sheep’s nose a few more times before stopping.
Now that that was over, it was time for him to gather some information. “I heard that ponies like to celebrate a day during the summer involving some princess named Celestia who moves the sun with her magic,” said Jasper.
The pegasus mare nodded. “Yeah. The ‘Summer Sun Celebration’,” she confirmed. “Celestia herself is coming to Ponyville to lower the sun.”
The sheep smiled. “I see, and when is that happening? A week, a month?” he asked.
“In a few days. So, somewhere next week,” answered Cinna.
“Wonderful. I’ve always wanted to check it out and see what it was like ever since I heard about it,” said Jasper. He inwardly sighed. “Great. A few days is my time limit before she arrives. Better hurry then.”
The sheep was planning on saying goodbye to the two before leaving, but then suddenly, all their stomachs started making the same noise.
GROWLLLL!!!
Seeing how they were hungry and their stomachs growled at the same time made all three of them laugh.
“All that running did make me hungry. I might as well have something to eat to replenish my magic,” thought Jasper. “I'm in the mood for something sweet. Does this town have a bakery or something?”
“Yeah. ‘Sugarcube Corner’,” the pegasus mare informed.
“How about we all head over there and get something to eat? How does that sound?” asked the sheep.
“Banan!” agreed the unicorn stallion.
They nodded. “Sounds like a great idea. I was planning on heading for Sugarcube Corner anyway,” said Cinna.
He smiled. “Great. So, does anyone know the way to the place?” asked Jasper.
Banana Pie raised a hoof. “Banan!” he exclaimed.
The sheep had a confused look on his face, but decided to take a guess what the unicorn stallion was trying to say. “Are you saying that you know the way?” guessed Jasper.
The unicorn stallion nodded. “Banan!” confirmed Banana Pie.
“Well, lead the way,” said the sheep.
The unicorn stallion saluted before trotting off, while the two followed after him.
Less than a Minute Later
They walked inside of the bakery. It turned out that they were already somewhere near Sugarcube Corner, so group just had to make a few turns to get to it. It resembled a gingerbread house from the outside, and the inside flooded the nostrils with sweet, baked scents.
“Whoa,” said Jasper, impressed. He couldn’t wait to eat.
Before they could go over and place their orders at the counter, a voice suddenly sounded off.
“Hey there, Banana Pie! Cinna!” greeted a female voice. They then gasped excitedly. “Who’s your friend?!”
The voice belonged to a pink mare with a poofy pink mane and blue eyes. Sitting with her was an earth pony mare and a unicorn mare.
“Banan!” said the unicorn stallion, happily.
She gasped. “His name is Jasper and he’s new to Ponyville?!” said the pink mare. Apparently, she did understand that.
The sheep was both surprised and impressed. “You got all that just from him saying that one word?” he asked.
Pinkie Pie nodded. “Uh-huh!” she confirmed, serious.
Jasper really wanted to question how the pink mare was able to do that, but the sheep felt like a headache would be the result, so he decided not to.
Pinkie Pie zipped from the table and over to the sheep, a smile on her face. “It’s nice to meet you! My name’s Pinkie Pie, Ponyville’s #1 Party Pony!” she declared enthusiastically. She then pointed a hoof at one of the two ponies sitting at the table. “And this is one of Ponyville’s Psychiatrists, Gentle Hope-”
The psychiatrist pony smiled. “It’s nice to meet you there, Jasper. I hope we can be friends,” said Gentle Hope, honestly.
Jasper smiled. “Likewise,” he said.
The hoof then moved to the other pony. “-And Melon Grumps! But everypony calls her Melon,” continued the party pony.
Melon looked over her shoulder. “Hi,” said the melon pony dismissively. Then, she turned back to continue eating.
The psychiatrist pony looked at the melon pony with a disappointed look. “Melon, that’s rude of you,” admonished Gentle Hope.
Jasper was unaffected. “She must be shy or something,” thought the sheep. “Nice to meet you all.” He then realized something. “Wait. ‘Pie’? So you and Banana Pie are related?”
Pinkie Pie giggled before shaking her head. “No. Just because me and Banana Pie share the same last name doesn’t mean we’re related,” the party pony informed. She smiled before zipping over to Banana Pie and put a leg around him, hugging the unicorn stallion. “Although, he is like a brother to me.”
Banana Pie smiled.
Pinkie Pie then let go of the unicorn stallion and zipped up to the sheep. “So, where are you from? Where do you live?” asked the party pony. “Why do you have two different colored eyes? What’s that thing you’re holding? Do you like parties? What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? Favorite kind of cake?”
He was surprised by her line of questioning, but was able to answer them.
“Can’t tell you that, Everfree Forest, implanted left eye, magic staff, kind of, watermelon, and carrot cake,” answered Jasper.
The sheep had to lie when answering the ice cream question since he had a feeling that Sea Salt Caramel wasn’t an ice cream flavor that was being sold in any of the pony cities or towns. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie had pulled out a notepad and pencil from out of her mane, surprising Jasper.
“Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm,” said the party pony, nodding. “Got it. Thanks for answering my questions.” She then put the stuff back into her mane.
“Now here’s my question. Why are you asking?” asked the sheep curiously.
Pinkie Pie smiled. “It’s for the welcome party I’ll be holding for you later here in Ponyville,” answered the party pony.
The sheep shook his head. “No, thanks. I don’t want a party,” Jasper informed. “I don’t like parties.”
Hearing him say that shocked her. Pinkie Pie then got into the sheep’s face.
“You don’t like parties?! Why?!” questioned the party pony, shouting. “Everypony loves parties!”
This time, Jasper wasn’t surprised. “Sometimes the place is overcrowded or not enough show up, and other times there’s either not enough food or the good stuff is all gone,” he answered. “I hope she actually believes me and just gives up.”
It was actually all a lie. The sheep likes parties, it’s just that Jasper needed to get home later and prepare for the Summer Sun Celebration within the time limit that he had. Also, Jasper just didn’t want to be in Ponyville once it was nighttime.
“No, thanks. I have to return home later in a few hours before night,” the sheep informed, adamant.
She wasn’t going to give up. Then, Pinkie Pie had an idea. “Then, we can have one right now! I’ll even invite some ponies to the party so it won’t be overcrowded!” said the party pony. She looked at both the pegasus mare and Banana Pie. “I’ll even invite Cinna and Banana Pie as well.”
The unicorn stallion looked excited. “Banan!” he said. Sounded like Banana Pie agreed with the idea.
Cinna looked at him, smiling. “Come on, Jasper. Would it be the worst thing to come to one party?” said the pegasus. “Think of all the potential clients!”
They were talking about Jasper’s business that he was starting up. The sheep had told Cinna and Banana Pie about it while on their way to Sugarcube Corner when the pegasus had asked some things about Jasper.
He thought about it before giving off a frustrated sigh. “Fine,” said the sheep. “I hope I don’t regret this later.”
Pinkie Pie jumped into the air. “Yipee!” the pink mare cheered..
Jasper watched her cheer for a little bit then hurry towards the kitchen to prepare the food for the party.
“I guess as long as I attend the party for a few hours, I can return home before it gets dark. After that, I’ll start preparing tomorrow instead,” thought the sheep.
His stomach made another noise, reminding Jasper why he came there in the first place.
GROWLLL!!!
“For now, I need something to eat,” thought Jasper. He looked at both the pegasus mare and the unicorn stallion. “Let’s get something to eat before we all forget and leave hungry.”
Saying that made Cinna remember her growling stomach. The pegasus mare giggled. “Right. Can’t let that happen to us,” he agreed. Cinna looked at the psychiatrist pony and Melon. “We’ll be right back after ordering our food.”
She smiled at the pegasus. “Take your time. Neither one of us are going anywhere,” said Gentle Hope. “Me and Melon had just ordered our food before you three got here, and it’ll be a while until they finish. So take your time.”
Cinna nodded. “Okay. We will,” he said.
The three of them had gone over to the counter where an earth pony mare was waiting.
She smiled at them. “Hello there, dearies. Who’s your friend?” asked the mare.
“Hi there, Mrs. Cake. This is Jasper,” introduced Cinna. “He just arrived in Ponyville and is new to the town. The three of us were hungry from trotting around, so we decided to get something to eat from the bakery.”
Mrs. Cake gave the sheep a motherly smile. “Nice to meet you, dearie,” greeted the mare.
He waved at her. “It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Cake. Love your bakery,” greeted Jasper. “It looks very nice.”
The mare smiled at the compliment. “Why thank you, dearie.” She pulled out a notepad and pen and kept her smile. “So, are you three ready to order?” said Mrs. Cake.
The sheep smiled back before looking at the pegasus mare. “You two can go first, Cinna,” said Jasper.
She nodded. “Sure thing. Hmm…” said Cinna. “I’d like to have a chocolate cake and a chocolate milkshake, please.”
Mrs. Cake nodded as she wasn’t surprised by the order. “Of course,” said the mare. She looked at the unicorn stallion. “Let me guess. Anything with bananas in it like usual?”
He nodded before pointing a hoof at the kitchen. “Banan,” said Banana Pie.
“Pinkie Pie, dearie, I need your help with Banana Pie again,” Mrs. Cake called out.
“Okay!” called out the party pony. Pinkie Pie bounced out through the kitchen doors and arrived at the counter. She looked at Banana Pie, smiling. “What would you like? Cake? Muffin? Pie? Cookie? Pudding?”
“Banan,” he said.
Pinkie Pie nodded, and looked at the mare. “He said he’d like a Banana Cream Pie and a Banana Milkshake,” the party pony informed.
She nodded. “Of course,” said Mrs. Cake. The mare smiled at Pinkie Pie. “Thanks, dearie,”
She smiled again. “No problem!” said the party pony.
Pinkie Pie then bounced back into the kitchen. As for Mrs. Cake, she then looked at the sheep.
“And for you?” asked the mare.
Everything in the bakery looked so good to him that it made Jasper’s mouth water. In the end, the sheep decided on what to get. “I guess I’ll have two Strawberry Cream Cheese Danishes, an entire Peanut Butter Cheesecake, six chocolate cupcakes, and a strawberry milkshake,” he answered.
The sheep had both a major sweet tooth and a gluttonous appetite. That amount of food would be able to help Jasper regain some of his magic. Mrs. Cake, the pegasus mare, and the unicorn stallion stared at him.
“Wow. Are you sure you want to order that much food, Jasper?” asked Cinna, concerned. She didn’t want the sheep to end up sick from overeating. “You’ll only end up sick to your stomach if you do.”
Jasper nodded, understanding the pegasus mare’s concern. “Yeah, I’m sure. I pretty much eat a lot of food anyway,” he informed.
Cinna was kind of surprised to hear that. “Oh. Okay,” she said.
The sheep looked back at the mare. “How much does it all come to?” he asked.
“Well, it’s 19 Bits for the Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Milkshake, 22 Bits for the Banana Cream Pie and Banana Milkshake, and 59 Bits for everything you ordered,” Mrs. Cake informed.
Before the pegasus mare and Banana Pie could get out their bits to pay for their food, Jasper brought out his bag of bits.
“Don’t worry about it, you two. I’ll pay for everything,” offered the sheep.
Cinna felt apprehensive at first as Jasper had offered to pay for their food, but in the end, the pegasus mare decided to accept his offer. “...Thanks, Jasper,” said Cinna. It made the pegasus feel bad that the sheep was paying for her.
No one, except for the unicorn pony, had noticed. So, he put a hoof around Cinna and gave them a side hug, which worked as it made the pegasus mare feel a little bit better.
“All together that would be 100 Bits,” the mare informed.
Jasper nodded before taking out the exact amount of Bits onto the counter.
She counted and collected all of the bits after a while. “It’ll be a long while until some of your orders are ready since my husband and I have to care of those that came before you,” Mrs. Cake informed.
The sheep could wait since he was stuck here thanks to the eventual party. “Okay. Thanks,” said Jasper.
The sheep, Cinna, and Banana Pie went back over to the psychiatrist pony and Melon’s table.
“Hi, there. Can we sit here with you two?” asked Jasper.
Gentle Hope smiled. “Of course. We have plenty of room,” she said. The psychiatrist pony looked at the melon pony. “Right, Melon?”
Melon looked at the three. It was either leave and miss her order that the melon pony paid bits for, or sit and eat with the sheep. In the end, Melon made her decision as she then huffed. “Fine. Whatever,” said the melon pony.
Gentle Hope and Melon moved out of the way to make room for the others. The pegasus mare sat next to the psychiatrist pony, the unicorn stallion sat next to the melon pony, and the sheep stood in between Cinna and Banana Pie since sitting at the table would make it shorter for him.
The pegasus now felt shy as there were a lot of individuals around him despite there only being three ponies and one sheep. “Come on Cinna, you can do this. Just ask him the questions that are on your mind,” thought Cinna, determined yet shy. “So you said that you live in the Everfree Forest, Jasper? That’s gotta be interesting, right?”
Jasper nodded. “Yeah, it very much is,” the sheep confirmed.
“And when did you move there?” asked Gentle Hope, curious.
He thought back on how long it’s been since the sheep moved to the Everfree Forest. “Let’s see…Sometime last year in Fall,” answered Jasper.
That surprised everyone.
The psychiatrist pony felt concerned. “Wait. You spent months all by yourself without anypony around?” she asked. “You must have been really lonely without anypony to talk to. Especially in a dangerous forest like that.”
While the sheep was lonely, what was important were the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. “It’s not that bad, Hope. I was just more interested in my work,” said Jasper. “Besides, I made a few friends in other universes in the process.” He slightly shrugged. “Living above it is pretty safe after all.”
Everyone had become confused by his explanation.
“Above it? What do you mean?” asked the pegasus.
“Like I said, I live above it. In a tower that is located on a floating island that is floating above the Everfree Forest,” explained Jasper. “It has my tower, some gardens, trees, flowers, etc. It’s quite nice actually.”
That shocked everyone again.
Now Melon had a question. “How come no one has ever seen it? After all, a ‘floating island’ should attract ponies’ attention since you’ve supposedly been here for months,” said the melon pony. She did the hoofquotes with her hooves. “We would’ve seen or at least heard about it eventually.”
“That’s because it’s high up enough and hidden away that no pony on land would be able to notice it. Besides, even if there was a chance that some pegasi flying around would eventually discover it, they wouldn’t be able to enter the island without my permission,” the sheep explained.
“I see. How far away do you live?” asked the pegasus mare, curious. “I’m only asking in case we want to visit you at your home.”
After all, if the group wanted to visit Jasper by taking a hot air balloon, they all would need to know the distance and how high up they would need to fly to get to the floating island.
He chuckled. “If you’re talking about distance and height, then I live very far from Canterlot, and I live high up enough that I used up some of my magic by the time I got here, and I was already tired from using it from my job before I even left the tower,” answered the sheep.
“Speaking of your job, what is it that you do exactly? What kind of job do you have that makes you spend so many months alone?” questioned Gentle Hope. “Was it something involving having ‘clients’ like what Cinna said?”
Jasper nodded. “I have a lot of jobs, but they all involve using magic. I make potions, magical artifacts, spells, you name it,” he answered. “So far, I haven’t had any clients yet, so I’ve been busy making stuff.” The sheep smiled. “Does anyone have any more questions for me?”
“What’s up with your left eye? Why do you have one blue eye and one purple eye?” asked Melon. She was only asking because Jasper’s left eye seemed weird to the melon pony.
Cinna had noticed something about the sheep. “And while we’re at it, what about your teeth? It looks like you have fangs,” she added.
Jasper nodded. “To answer your questions, my left eye is actually a magic eye that used to belong to my magic teacher. I had lost my eye in an accident, so to help me, he gave me his to replace it,” he answered. The sheep grinned, showing his teeth. “And as for my teeth, I was born a hybrid. I’m one-third Crystal Sheep, one-third Diamond Dog, and one-third Dragon.”
That surprised everyone to hear that, especially since Jasper didn’t look like one.
As for the pegasus mare, their eyes lit up, and then Cinna grabbed the sheep’s hooves. “You're a hybrid?!” she asked, in an excited tone.
That surprised Jasper to see that the pegasus looked excited at his revelation.
“Uh, yeah. I am,” said the sheep. “Other than being able to use magic, I can breathe fire and eat gems like a dragon can, have a great sense of smell like a Diamond Dog, and I can eat both vegetables and meat since I’m an omnivore.”
She was amazed. “Ooh. That sounds so awesome!” said Cinna.
The psychiatrist pony had to agree with the pegasus as she felt fascinated. “Interesting. If Cinna had never pointed out your fangs, we would have never found out about you being a hybrid,” said Gentle Hope. “I guess there are other kinds of hybrid creatures out there other than the Cockatrice and the Manticore that exist in Equestria that we ponies don’t know about.”
Cinna had let go of his hooves, and then nodded in agreement. “Yeah,” they agreed.
The rest of them agreed with the psychiatrist pony.
It was now the unicorn stallion’s turn as he had a question too. Banana Pie pointed at the sheep with a hoof. “Banan?” he asked, curious.
Jasper was confused as he didn’t understand the question. “I’m sorry. What did you say?” asked the sheep.
The party pony was standing right next to the table. “Where’s your magic staff?” she said, translating.
That surprised everyone as they never noticed that Pinkie Pie was there the entire time. She was balancing a tray of their drinks on top of her mane.
He decided to ask the party pony. “Could you repeat what you said before about my magic staff or something?” asked Jasper, confused.
Pinkie Pie went around, placing everyone’s drinks in front of them. “I said, ‘Where’s your magic staff?’,” answered the party pony. “That’s what he was asking you.”
The sheep understood now. “Ohh...” he said. Jasper took a sip of his drink, enjoying it. “Yeah, I put it into my cloak so it won’t get in anyone’s way. And before you ask, it’s a magic cloak that is imbued with storage magic. It was my very first magical artifact that I made a long time ago.”
“Banan,” said the unicorn stallion. Then, Banana Pie started sipping his banana milkshake.
“He said, ‘That sounds like an interesting story’,” said Pinkie Pie, translating again.
The sheep smiled. “It really is. Also, thanks for translating for me, Pinkie Pie,” he said.
She smiled back. “No problem!” said the party pony. She bounced back to the kitchen.
Jasper was having fun since it was interesting answering the questions. “Anyone else?” he asked.
Afterwards, the sheep started answering more of everyone’s questions. Eventually, the group’s food had arrived at the table. The group ate while chatting amongst each other.