Friendship is Weird

by Local Loco

Meanwhile

Falling, that’s what they were doing. The green Pegasus mare known as Facing North was plummeting down to Equestria below with the orange earth pony stallion Hopeful Journey in her hooves. He screams in excitement, his smile rather infectious. Facing North couldn’t help but smile, feeling the warmth emitting from the stallion’s smile. The smile summoned a rainbow, that enveloped the two.

“North?” She heard his voice. The innocence in it made her heart skip a beat. “It’ll all be ok.” Out of the rainbow, she realized that the two of them were on a flowery hill overlooking Ponyville. The smell of it all hit a sweet spot in her nostrils.

“Thesen’ll be a scent t’ b’hold. If’n that don’t wake her in a cuppa days it should definitely relax her.” A weird voice had come out of Hope’s mouth.

“These flowers are nice, aren’t they North-er Mareian…” Hope’s lips moved again, sounding as he normally sounds. “They have a nice smell to them, but you should see them all together.”

“Y-you can call me North.” The mare said, blushing. “Not many ponies call me by my real name. At least outside a formal sense. It makes me feel special that you refer to me as such.” Her breathing quickened.

“Hey… umm… Shark Face.” She heard a familiar raspy voice. Rainbow Dash appeared as if out of thin air before them. “I’m not sure if you can hear me, but I am really sorry about what happened at the competition.”

“It was only some friendly banter, Rainbow Dash. Not sure how I feel about you calling me Shark Face as well.”

“It’s ok Rainbow.” The reassuring voice of Hope spoke. “Accidents happen and there’s no need to beat yourself up over it.”

“Hope, I ruined your group dynamic. It’s been over two weeks since I’ve seen any pony else come here besides you.”

“Lucky was here just a while ago with the flowers… Oh, it’s that time already?” There was a muffled echo sounding like a voice talking through layers and layers of pillows but in a big empty room. “We gotta go Mareian. See you tomorrow.” Hope approached Facing North, pressing his lips together for a kiss.

“Umm right now!!! In front of Rainbow D-” Facing North point towards the rainbow Pegasus only for her to fade away into nothing. Hope was still there pressing his lips together in front of her. All she could do was close her eyes, but when she opened them again she was in a void.

“FAC*** NO*** TH** AR* ** A DE** SL***ER. W*** *P!” A voice coming through the void kept coming in and out repeating the same garbled message again. Facing North closed her eyes and began to cover her ears for a while, checking every now and then if the noise stopped. She opened her eyes again to find herself and Hope back on the flowery hill.

“Good morning, Mareian!” He said in his usual chipper tone. “Looks like these flowers took on some age. I don’t know much, but Lucky sure does.”

“They’re wild Hope. It’s only been a day they look the same. And please, continue to call me North, I like that.”

A strum on a stringed instrument was played. “I’m not as musically gifted at every instrument like Alto, but with a bit of practice I can play a couple of chords. I wrote a song for you with some help.” A ukelele appeared around Hope’s chest as he begins to strum.

“Huh?” Mareian opened her eyes slowly. Her body feels immobilized as if contained by something. There are some dry flower arrangements to her unoccupied side. She finds herself on a bed in an unfamiliar room with two ponies. Hopeful Journey laid half of his body on the bed she was in, his eyes closed with some tears coming out. His pompadour styled mane had grown out into bangs left unkempt. Behind him was Cookies N Cream, trying to pull hope off the bed with his hoof.

“WAKE UP!!!”

“Hope she is not going to wake… up…because you tell her to…”

“WAKE UP!!!”

“Wha-” Mareian tried to speak but she had found her lips were unbelievably dry and started coughing.

“Nurse!” Cookies had gone out the room and shouted.

“North?” Hope lifted up his head to look Mareian in the eyes. His blue ocean eyes were filling up with an ocean of tears. A combination of sadness and relief overwhelms him as he leans in to hug his friend. “I knew it was going to be ok.” He said in a mix of emotions.

It wasn’t long before what looked like a couple of nurse ponies came into the room. Some of them carefully removed the tubes and needles connecting to Mareian. One asked her some questions regarding her health and another brought her a cup of water for her to drink. They lead her to a big room and had her attempt to trot from one side of the room to the other, some tries with assistance and some without. It felt like all her limbs had been numbed to sleep on the first attempt but after a while she could walk more smoothly, however she limped on her right forehoof. They tested the flight capabilities of her wings which had thankfully remained unharmed and unchanged to her. By the end of it all, Mareian had been successfully discharged from Ponyville General Hospital, her hoof in a comfy sling. It was cloudy outside and she had felt a bit chilly, but warmed up at the sight of a smiling pony waving at her.

“HEY! OVER HERE!” Hope yelled over to Mareian. He had a dark green and orange accented winter hat with ear flaps on his head and wrapped around his neck is a rather plain red and black plaid scarf. It took her a bit to come to him so he ran over to assist her. “Sorry, I thought you were 100% when you woke up. Are you ok?”

The mare gave the light orange stallion a somewhat thousand-yard stare. Her heart was beating faster the moment he started acting as her new foreleg. “I-oh it’s fine. I… everything feels like it happened at once. It’s all giving me a bit of whiplash.” Hope slowly steps away from Mareian causing her to shiver. “Brr. When did it get so chilly?”

“Recently, I’d say. It’s fall and all, so in comes the cold and soon winter, hehe.” Hope joyously said as he wraps his scarf around her. “This is the least I can do on such short notice. I don’t mind.”

“It feels like the running of the leaves happened only a couple days ago and it feels like winter.” Mareian looked down at Hope’s scarf, a feeling of nostalgia overwhelms her. She notices that Hope’s smile slowly fades as the two trot back home. “Hope… how long was I in the hospital for?”

Hope had stopped in his tracks, causing Mareian to look back and stand in front of him. He had the most serious, unblinking face that she had ever seen him in. “It’s been over a month since the Best Young Flyer’s competition.”

Mareian’s eyes widened at the realization. She took a deep breath before nudging Hope with her slinged hoof. “Don’t scare me like that, jeez. I thought you were going to say that I was out for over a year. A month is much don’t get me wrong, but if I missed my first ever gala with you…” Mareian realized what she was saying and abruptly continued her sentence. “…guys I would feel awful.”

The serious look on Hope’s face lightened. A soft smile forming on his face as he looks at his friend. “I’m glad you’re awake, North.”

Mareian’s wings stood up stiff ash she tried to cover up her blushing face with Hope’s scarf. “O-of course I’d be fine. I’m the element of generosity. Generously giving my life to save my… friend.” There was an awkward silence between the two as they stood in the somewhat bustling pathways of Ponyville. “…you called me my name…” She whispered into the scarf.

“Hm?” Hope looked at Mareian with a curious look. “You said something?”

Mareian hesitated as she struggled to find the right words for her to say. “Why do you call me North?” Hope tilts his head, not understanding the question. “It’s that you called me Mareian when we first met. Every pony calls me Mareian because I’m a mare librarian and it’s a funny portmanteau, don’t get me wrong. Only my brother or in formal introductions do others use my real name, but you…”

“Did you not like it when I call you by your name?”

“NO! No, it’s…” Mareian sighs in frustration. “I like it. I just want to know why you call me that is.”

“Because you’re my best friend!” The words that escaped from the stallion’s mouth caused the mare’s wings to flutter as her face practically turned red, hidden by the scarf. “It’s like… For a serious moment you know. I’m not casually talking to the mare librarian. I’m having a serious moment with my best friend, Facing North.” The smile on Hope’s face pierced through Mareian’s heart that she couldn’t help but stumble flying a bit. “At least that’s how a see it, a casual conversation versus a heart to heart but if you don’t like it I can stop.”

“No!” Facing North stammered. “You can call me North if you want… I don’t mind. Hehe, it seems like I’m collecting all these names for myself. Mareian, Shark Face, North, Heart Racer…”

“And Best Young Flyer!” Hope interrupted.

“WHAT!?”

“Oh hey, look we’re here!” The two stop directly in front of the library. Hope squints his eyes at some lettering above the door. “‘Golden Oak Library’?” He looks over to the sign next to the door that has a clearly visible book before looking back at the tiny lettering. “I didn’t know this place had a name. Anyway, come inside!”

Facing North hesitantly entered the library, slightly worried about the mess. To her surprise, the library had been well kept. The books are properly shelved in the official Dewey Decimal System. The only ponies that she knows are herself and…

“NORTH!” a green stallion Pegasus with a map cutie mark tumbles down the stairs in a rush to give Facing North a hug.

“Polo?” She asked surprised. Looking around the library, it seems to have been decorated with more plants than she remembered last time she was here. “OW! Still hurts.” North yelps.

“AH! Sorry, sis.” The stallion backed away from her. “Happy get out of the hospital day.” He said with a mix of sarcasm and nervousness.

Facing North rolled her eyes and looked around the library with Hope sticking close to her. “Is that everyone? Where’s Cookies and the others for that matter?”

As if on cue, the entrance door swings open revealing the below average sized white unicorn stallion. “Apologies, my dear Mareian. The trip from the hospital to home to here took longer than expected.”

“Heya Shark Face! Glad to see you’re finally awake!” Bursting past Cookies is a large blue Pegasus with purple eyes. Facing North almost didn’t recognize Speed Sound at first since she came without her Wonderbolt bodysuit. She noticed that her cutie mark was that of an anatomically correct heart with lines around it as if it was beating. Coming up in between the two is a rather meek looking gray Pegasus stallion who North feels like she saw at the Best Young Flyer competition.

“Now, now, Speedy dear. The mare woke up not too long ago.” The gray stallion patted Speed Sound on the chest with his hoof. His mane and tail were white and shaped like clouds similar to Alto’s. On the stallion’s flank is the image of a storm cloud with a lightning bolt coming out of it.

“Oh Roary.” The words that came out of Speed Sound’s mouth came out less sarcastic and more romantic to North’s surprise. Sound notice’s North’s reaction and gives a knowing laugh. “Ya haven’t met my hubby yet, ain’t cha, Shark Face?”

The stallion gave a light chuckle as he smiled at North. “Seems my son has made very caring friends. I’m glad that ponies like you exist.” The stallion patted North on the shoulder. “Roaring Thunder. Thanks for looking out for my boys.”

“Uhh… no worries. Your son is cu-” North looks over at Hope quickly before staring back at his dad. “Cube snouted stallion yep just like his sister taught me.” The response got Roaring Thunder to chuckle with a warm smile.

“That he is, and Sky the ever observant one as well.”

Another pair of ponies enter the library along with a foal who is looking at the bookshelves. It was Whipped and Sour Cream, Cookie’s mother, and father alongside his younger brother Bananas. “Good to see everyone is here, but unfortunately timing couldn’t be more off.” Sour Cream stated in a monotone tone.

“Everyone?” North asked as she looked around the library. “Where’s Lucky? Where’s Alto? EC? Scales?”

“I’m right here you don’t have to worry, jeeze.” The dragon came off of the green stallion causing him to wince in pain.

“Do you have to cling on with your claws?”

“I’m a dragon, South Pole, I can’t help it.” Scales said as he stood himself up. “Alto and EC felt bad about the accident, feeling weak. Cookies’ uncle came over to train them all, but apparently it was a ‘no dragons’ training facility.” He said with a bit of spite. “They’ve been in Los Pegasus since then. I worried for a bit, but Cookies returned so it must not be all that bad.”

North looked over at Cookies, the light sparkling in his eyes as he nervously smiled before coughing into his hoof. “Yes, yes. And as for Lucky, she has been busy tending to her garden in Appleoosa. She’s been potting them and bringing them over here and it clearly shows how well she tends to these wonderous plants. Which reminds me, I need to message her about your condition.” He pulls out a stamped envelope with his magic from his mane.

“OH! Don’t forget to send this to Alto and EC!” Hope said with as be pulled an orange envelope with his cutie mark over it from his mane, giving it too Cookies as the unicorn leaves the library.

“Hope, deary, would you be a sweetheart and watch over my baby Banana. Soury has a meeting with Mr. Rich with some super serious adult time and I don’t want my sweetiekins to be bored. I hear that there is a party going on in that bakery restaurant my darling little angel son volunteers at, could you take him there?” Whipped Cream asked.

“Oooh a party! Come on let’s go!” Hope tugs at North’s wing as she gives a nervous smile.

“But mom!” Bananas whined. “There are so many cool books here why can’t I be here?”

“Kid look!” Speed Sound got up un the colt’s face and started to point her hoof at North while giving an exaggeratedly excited look. “That mare right there is the best young flyer of the year. She’s got stories that will blow your mind, and all you have to do is spend the day with her.”

“Really!?” Bananas said with a spark of excitement as the colt looked at North. Just as he does so there is a loud whooshing noise. In that brief moment all the parents had disappeared from the library. “Hey lady, Hope’s mom said you were fast, why’d you get to be like that? Does it have something to do with getting your cutie mark?”

“Uhhh… I don’t think so. I just know how to navigate myself.” North replied to the eager colt. “You’ll get yours soon kid. I believe in you.”

“Yeah! So, let’s go to the party and have fun and make more friends and discover things! It’ll be a fun adventure for us all, right?” Hope said with an excitement that shined in Bananas eyes. The stallion looked over at North’s brother and Scales who were indifferent to the idea.

“You two can have fun with the colt, I just need to finalize some things here before heading back home. Business is really booming, North. You should see it sometime.”

“I think I’ll observe. Not really much of a party dragon.” Scales says as he slowly slinks himself onto North’s back, practically unnoticed.

The group wave goodbye to North’s brother as they head towards Sugar Cube Corner. The party there was to celebrate a foal on getting their mark. There were tons of fillies and colts attending the party, though Bananas didn’t know any as he was not from Ponyville. It wasn’t until a pink filly alongside her grey filly cohort came up to Bananas.

“Looks like another uninvited blank-flank showed up to my party.” The pink one said.

“Yeah!” The grey one retorted.

North looked over at Hope nervously. “Shouldn’t we do something about this? This… this is bullying isn’t it?” She said to the orange stallion. His smiling expression didn’t change as he looked at her and then back at the fillies teasing Cookie’s brother. He took of his winter hat and sloppily placed it on North’s head, causing the mare to blush and hide her face more in the scarf.

“Now, now. We all have are playful ribs at each other. Blank flanks, book worms, adopted. But remember that we’re all here to have fun with each other and spreading good times all around. Be kind, courteous, and make some friends! Life’s a big adventure and you can’t just go around making enemies you silly little fillies.” Hope gave a smiling lecture to the two.

“Do you know who she is? Her dad is going to-” The grey one spoke up before the pink one shoved her hoof in her mouth.

“Of course, mister celebrity, whatever you say.” The pink one said with a nervous smile on her face. “Come on Silver Spoon, colt I don’t know the name of, let’s eat some cake and have fun.” She said rather scripted like.

“Yay! Friendship! Thanks Hope!” Bananas was off making new friends.

“C-celebrity?” North muttered to herself, unbeknownst that Scales was hiding on her and listening to what she said. The dragon put a couple of newspaper articles in front of her face.

“EQUESTRIA’S HOPE” said one that had a picture taken during the Summer Sun Celebration of Hope being paraded around as the sun rose. “FOURTUNE’S SCORE” read another article, showcasing Hope at the forefront of the talent show stage with Cookies right behind him. “DRAGON BEFRIENDED” was one article though no picture was taken, Hope’s name was plastered over it. “PRINCESS LUNA RETURNS” has a picture of Luna, but it was taken just as Hope had hugged her after she was crowned at her coronation. “APPLE SEASON CAME EARLY” shows Hope and that one mare that she had passed 5^th place at the running of the leaves race. The two smiled as they stood in front of several barrels of apples.

“Heh… guess Hope really is a talented guy.” North laughed, but Scales continued to hand news article. One she was well familiar with was the one about the running of the leaves. What had caught North off guard were the non-stop articles related to her incident at the Best Young Flyer competition. Nonstop photos of Hope giving his usual smile towards the camera while standing in front of the hospital.

It has been 3 weeks since the events of the Best Young Flyer and the winner of the event has been hospitalized since. Many ponies have come and gone from the hospital ranging from princesses Celestia and Luna to members of the Wonderbolts, but one stallion has caught many reporters’ eyes. Hopeful Journey (20) was a member of the audience at the event and was the one who had plummeted down to Equestria before the winner, Facing North (21), had swooped down to save him. Day in and day out of the hospital, this stallion has been visiting non-stop.

“Mareian (Facing North) is my best friend. I don’t want her to go a day alone. That’s what friends are for.” The stallion responded when asked about the relationship between him and the comatose mare. “I know it’ll all be ok.”

This wasn’t the first time that Hopeful Journey was interviewed by our reporters. The stallion had been on front page news ever since the Summer Sun Celebration back when he informed Ponyville of Princess Luna’s return or the time Ponyville was under the threat of a dragon and ended up befriending the beast. For now, we shall wait until Facing North meets a full recovery lest we face the dilemma of turning Ponyville’s sunshine smiler into a frowner.

“He… He visited me every day?” North asked as her face started turning red.

“Of course, I visited my best friend every day!” Hope exclaimed in a chipper tune. He noticed all the newspaper articles that Scales laid out on a nearby table. “Oh! I remember these moments. We should start a scrapbook about all our adventures as one happy little group of friends!”

“That’s why I carry these articles around, Hope. But all I have are these photos of you and that birthday photo.” Scales explained. “EC has her own scrapbook of her life, but I bet she’d be excited for one of her and her friends.”

North’s eyes began to wander around the party, looking for something to talk about. She noticed a booth that had a camera painted on the side. Didn’t look occupied from her perspective. “Hey, I think they rented out a photobooth for the party, we could all go there and start this scrapbooking thing… if you want that is. I don’t want to force you.”

North was surprised as Hope gently guided his hoof along her wing. “It’ll be fun. Let’s go.” He said with his every smiling sunny disposition. Lightly dragging her along to the booth, the trio find themselves seated with their faces towards the camera. Scales sets up the photo taking process while Hope takes off the scarf and hat North had on. “There! Now we can see your beautiful smile.”

North bit her lip as she looked away feeling her face burning but she couldn’t cover it without falling over. “O-ok” She could only mutter.

“Alright, get into positions guys. We’re starting this.” Scales said as he sat next to Hope, who was in the center position. A countdown appeared on the screen before them. Hope wrapped his hoof around North to bring her in closer. She tried to remain calm as she stared at the camera with a nervous smile. After a flash enveloped the room, the screen in front of them counts down from 10.

“OH! Let’s make silly faces!” Hope suggested as he begins to cross his eyes and give himself a bit of an overbite. Scales counters with a deadpan, sharp underbite while North just looks at the camera with her mouth agape. After the flash, Bananas barges in the booth with a colorful colt who looks to have a cutie mark of a color wheel but only is a patch of fur just on his one side and one colt who was kind of bland and a faded temporary tattoo where a cutie mark would normally be..

“Hey Hope, check out these new friends I made!”

“Sorry sir, ma’am, dragon. I tried to convince them not to bother you but-”

“HO! Hey there missy is that seat taken? You need some color in your life courtesy of Colour Wheel? OOH!”

The three blank flanks looked up at the confused mare, stallion, and dragon as another flash came up. It was at that moment that Hope wrapped his hooves around all in the booth, getting them all to look at the camera. “Say: Pickled Packaged Pumpernickel!”

The booth turned into assorted screaming as the final flash came and the three colts started giggling as they ran out. Hope came out with his usual smile while North was in a bit of a blushing daze trying to cover her face with her slinged hoof and a wing. Scales went up to the dispenser on the side of the both and got the photos.

“Yep. These came out well.” The dragon showed the results to Hope and North, bringing a smile to both their faces, or at least a smile to North as Hope was already smiling. “Another one for the scrap book. At least when we get back home. Let’s just grab some cake instead.”

“OH YEAH! Can’t have a party without cake. Come on, North, before there’s no cake left for us.” Hope said in unrestrained excitement as he instinctively grabbed her slinged hoof. North winced at first, but started to notice that she wasn’t feeling any pain. By the time they got to the cake table, she tried standing on her hoof and noticed that it wasn’t as awkward as it had felt back at the hospital. “Open wide!”

“Huh?” North turned her head from her hoof to Hope who had a fork that had some vanilla cake with pink frosting on the end of it. She scrunched her mouth closed first, but the pleading in Hope’s eyes made her relent as she closed her eyes and took a bite. “Thanks.”

“No problem! That’s what friends are for, right?”

North took a look around them. All the fillies, colts, and older ponies were all having fun with each other. Bananas and his new friends started talking to another group of fillies. The pink and grey filly from earlier are playing games and having fun with some of the other guests. Hope stared at North, with a patient yet warm smile across his face. “Y-yeah, friends and friendship and all that. Haha.”

“OH! Look! The ball game freed up! Guys let’s go!” Hope excitedly ran over to the basketball set up and started throwing the balls with one hoof. Scales appeared from his back and started throwing the balls as well.

North shook her head as she went over to join the two. She muttered to herself: “Friendship is weird.”