//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: A New World // by DJ Br0n-3 //------------------------------// We went out of her private room when we saw the princesses right outside. "Vinyl, are you treating our new guest right?" Luna asked with concern. "Yes, Princess Luna. Would you like it if I kicked his ass for you?" Vinyl asked jokingly. Chuckling, Celestia stepped in and said, "No ass-kicking will be needed, unless he starts messing with my citizens." "Your Majesties have nothing to fear, then. I shall not fuck with your citizens as long as I am here," I said. "Well, you two have a great night. Mike, do you have a place to sleep tonight? Because if you don't, I can hook you up." "No, Your Majesty. He's coming over to my house. It's gonna be so wubtastic!" Vinyl explained, enthusiastically. "Well, you treat him right, or I will have to punish you, Vinyl," Luna said. "Just kidding. But, seriously, though. Don't rough him up too bad." "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I won't let her," I said, reassuringly. The two princesses bade their farewells and left, leaving me and Vinyl alone in the club. The room was so dark, I could hardly see anything. But it looked like there were more people there than just me and Vinyl. "SURPRISE!" a voice said from somewhere close to me. All of a sudden, the lights flashed on and I saw that purple unicorn from before with 6 others behind her. The voice from earlier said to me, "Are you surprised?" Then, this pink pony with really frizzy hair popped up right in front of me. "WHOA! Holy shit, where'd you come from?" I asked. "From over there, see?" she pointed to the square right next to Twilight. Twilight waved to me and said, "Hi, guy... um, I mean, creature... I mean, what's your name?" "Hey, everybody. My name's Mike. Good to meet you all," I said in my friendliest tone. "Well, howdy doo, there, Mr. Mike. Name's Applejack. Folks 'round these parts call me AJ," she said as she walked up to me, her coat a nice shade of orange. That pink pony from before walked- bounced, really- up to me and said, in a really fuckin' energetic tone, "Hey there, Mike. I'm Pinkamena Diane Pie, but everypony calls me Pinkie. Is your name Mike, or is it, like, an abbreviation of your whole name, like mine? Is your name really Michael or something?" she asked, bouncing everywhere. "Yes, actually. My real name is Michael, but everybody calls me Mike. Just like how your real name is Pinkamena, but everyone calls you Pinkie," I explained, actually very, really surprised at how accurate her intuition was. Next was a yellow pegasus who seemed really reluctant to meet me. "Hi. My name's Fluttershy," she said, in a small voice. "Hi, Fluttershy. I'm Mike," I said, crouching down to her eye level. "It's OK. I won't hurt you," I whispered, trying my best to comfort the poor thing. "Oh, I know. I'm just naturally this shy," she said, smiling and blushing. Next came a blue pegasus whose mane looked like a rainbow. "Hey there, Mister. Name's Rainbow Dash. Everypony calls me RD," she said, with the utmost confidence. "Sup, RD? How you doin'?" I asked. "Good. How you doin'?" "Can't complain." Next, there was a white unicorn with a perfectly done-up mane. She said, in an accent not unlike that of which the upper-class ponies in Canterlot talked in, "Why, hello, darling. My name is Rarity, Rarity Belle." She bowed in a most eloquent manner. I felt like I had an obligation to do the same, so I did, as I introduced myself in my best mock British accent, "Hello to you as well, Miss Rarity. To my family, I am known as Michael. But, as long as I am here, I am Mike." She slightly giggled at my mock accent. "How long have you had to practice that to get it to sound the way it does?" "Well, to be honest, I don't," I said, dropping the accent. I saw a flash of gray and heard a SMACK! I looked over my shoulder to see it was Derpy Hooves, the mailpony I'd met some hours earlier. She had accidentally smacked her face into a wall. She was dazed for about 5 seconds, at which point she shook her head and flew towards me, saying, "HI, MIKE!" She didn't slow down, and she ran directly into me. Again. I hit my head on the same spot I had earlier. The exact damn spot. The same dull pain coursed through my brain. I was going to feel this in the morning. "Hey, Mike! How you doing?" "Good, all things considered. Next time you see me, can you not fly full force at me and knock me over? Please?" "I'll try," she said, chuckling. Everybody started laughing, and then we felt the ground rumble. Vinyl was up onstage on her DJ equipment. Nobody expected what would happen next. She started singing. Never had I seen so many jaws plastered to the floor. Obviously, from the looks of things, she didn't sing often. But when she did, it was like her bass drops: awesome, to say the least. There were two other ponies onstage with her, and they were all doing the same song. One of them was black with red streaks in his mane. He was singing alongside Vinyl. The other one was blue with green streaks in his mane. He was providing the music. That song must have been to get everypony's attention, because after the song was done, they both walked offstage, but not before waving bye to all of us. Vinyl said, "Sorry, everypony. It's time for this weary traveler to hit the hay, metaphorically." I almost protested, but a yawn got in my way. "I guess I am pretty tired. It was nice meeting everypony," I said to all of them. "Bye, Mike. Maybe tomorrow you can help me with something in Sweet Apple Acres?" Applejack asked. "And then after that, maybe you can help me with my studies?" Twi asked. "And then after that, you can help me throw a gigantic party for you. It's gonna be huge!" Pinkie exclaimed. "And then, maybe, after that, you can help me out with the animals? I mean, if that's OK with you. If you can't, I totally understand," Fluttershy squeaked. "Are you guys kidding me? He's totally going to help me first. He's gonna help me get rid of the clouds for Pinkie's party... somehow," Rainbow Dash said, losing her confidence slightly. "Rainbow Dash, you can be such a thick-headed pegasus sometimes. He's coming over to the Carousel Boutique to get some new clothes, right?" Rarity asked, fluttering her eyelashes. Derpy stepped in and said, "I think he should help me deliver the mail sometime." Vinyl said, "No, he's staying at my place tomorrow so I can give him a few pointers on DJing." I was screaming on the inside at this point, because it looked like my checklist for, basically, the next few days had been filled up with important events. Time to prioritize. Clothes are important. Animals need caring for. Mail needs to be delivered. Studying is important, as well. Helping a friend out is good. Parties are for after hard work. Preparing for parties needs to come before the actual party. Music is pure reward, in its own right. "All right. Here's how this is gonna go down. Rarity, I'll go to you first," I explained. She smiled and left. "Fluttershy, I'll go to you next." She made her little squee sound and left. "Derpy, I'll help you next." She smiled, flew into the same wall from before, and left. "Twi, you next." She smiled and left. "AJ, after Twi, I'll help you." She bowed and left. "RD, I'll get to you on that one." She beamed and flew like a fuckin' bullet out the door. "Pinkie, after RD, 'kay?" She smiled broader than I thought she could muster without cracking her face in half like an egg. She bounced right out the door. "And Vinyl, sorry, babe, you'll have to be last." Vinyl didn't seem to mind. If she did, she hid it well. "Oh, well. Guess I'll have to wait my turn. Come on, we gotta get you home." A deep, low voice from behind the counter scared the shit out of both of us. "Before you leave, I noticed something. You still haven't figured out what to do for food yet." It was the bartender. Why the hell was he still here? How did he know I hadn't figured out the food situation? "I'm sorry, who are you?" I asked. "I'm Big Macintosh. Folks 'round these parts call me Big Mac. I'm also AJ's big brother, so if you do something to her, you'd better expect your ass to get whupped. Do I make myself clear?" he asked, menacingly. "Crystal, sir." "Good. Glad we understand each other." "Well. That was interesting," Vinyl said.