“Alright, let’s go.” Twilight says and all the ponies and dragon begin walking with me down the hallway. This is it, my new life is going to start now. I hope I don’t do anything to mess it up. As we walk past some doors that are open, I catch a glance inside some of them to find some pony’s in beds with some friends or family members around them. Some see me glancing at them, making them give me this weird look which confirms my suspicion that they've never seen anything like me before, while others give me a smile, a nod, or a quiet mouthed thank you. I smile at them and just continue walking. My short quick entrance the day I came already has some admirers. Good, at least now I have a better reputation than back home.
The others begin walking down a flight of stairs. I grab the rail and take the first step but before I go down them I turn around and look back through the hallway I just walked down and see every single door, except the one I came out of, open with one pony or more poking their head out to look at me.
Some of them immediately pop back in when I look at them, while others just continue to stare. I give a smile and a small wave back to them. Some go back into their rooms while the rest give a small wave back to me. I turn forward and begin walking down the flight of stairs.
As soon as I make it to the bottom, I find myself in another hallway and at the end looks like the reception desk with spike and the other ponies there with Twilight filling something out. I turn into a light jog and I make it to them before I know it, actually a bit too well. I’m fast but I made it to them in only a few seconds, when the hallway is way longer than that.
“You alright?” Applejack, says, snapping me out of my daze.
“Huh?! Yeah, yeah I’m alright. Just… when your body is lying on a bed for the last couple of days, it’s not used to suddenly spring back to life.” I say, not really sure what it was that just happened to me right now.
“I hear that.” She replies. I look around a bit, just noticing some of the various plant life around, along with some chairs and tables around to accommodate anyone waiting. I look back to the reception desk to see a regular white pony with eyes of a light blue color, and her mane and tail color is a light pink color. She looks down at a piece of paper which looks like a form that is being filled out by floating pencil. Wait, floating pencil?
I see a light pruplish aura around the pencil and see the same color emanating off of Twilight's horn. What the hell? That's new. Twilight soon finishes up with the form and slides it back to the reception pony.
“Alright then Twilight. Remember, if anything bad happens and he’s the cause, it’s on your flank.” The white pony says. Twilight is willing to take responsibility if I do anything bad? Wow, nice, and generous.
“Don’t worry, Nurse Redheart. I have good feeling about him, and he’s already proved himself to be a friend to the ponies of Ponyville. If anything does happen, I’ll take responsibility.” Twilight replys. She’s clearly taking a pretty big risk for this.
“Alright then, dear. Be careful out there.” Nurse Redheart says. Twilight turns around and we begin walking to the door.
“We will!” Twilight replies back to her and I hold the door open for them. We begin walking down the path to the town. The sloped walking path we walk reveals that the hospital is on a hill and stands out a fair bit with the place being away from the town.
“So… where too, partner?” Applejack says to everypony and they are about to say something but I need an answer for something.
“Firstly, Twilight, what was that little glowy thing you were doing when you were filling out the form back in the hospital?” I ask, curious to see what exactly it was.
“Oh that! It’s magic!” Twilight replies happily and I stop. Magic?
“Magic?"
"Yes, magic." After taking a few more steps, they turn back to finally notice that i stopped.
"Huh, I always thought that was fake.” I say, making them turn their heads a bit in confusion.
“Fake? Oh no. Magic is very much real.” Rarity says and we continue walking.
“See, Swift, magic is an essence that every pony is blessed and born with, doesn’t matter if it’s an earth pony, a Pegasus, or a unicorn, every single pony has to have at least some magic in them. Unicorns are usually more magic aligned than other ponies and we can harness the magic within us to manipulate various objects, creatures, etc.” Twilight explains. I never thought I’d see magic for real and in all its glory. Especially not in this type of way.
“What kind of manipulations?” I ask.
“Teleporting, which I am very good at, tracking specific items, transforming creatures to something else, repairing various objects, levitation, the possibilities are endless!” Twilight finishes explaining.
“Yes, deary. Magic is a tool that we ponies can use and is a part of our lives we use every day. Whereas some creatures rely on brute strength or agility and other skills to best others, we use magic to help ourselves and sometimes others.” Rarity adds. Wow, I knew magic was made to believe that it could do amazing things, but the thought of actually seeing something like this, it’s pretty cool.
“Wow. That’s pretty cool. Where I come from, we have something called magic but it isn’t as… flashy as yours, we can’t manipulate things on a massive scale but it’s mostly used for entertainment and not many people can actually do it very well. I always figured that magic was a hoax and only people who are actually pretty good at it can make a living of it, or there are those who are pretty pathetic with it.” I say.
“Well, maybe sometime we can show you just how well we can work our magic.” Twilight says. I can’t help but give out a chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” Rainbow asks and I stop.
“Sorry, just an expression my people use all the time.”
“Oh.”
“So, where to y’all?” Applejack asks. The ponies ponder on where to go exactly, since we all were just talking right now and not really going somewhere specific.
“Let’s just let the flow take us wherever Ponyville has in store for its new guest.” Rainbow says.
“I don’t think so. If he’s going to be staying here, he needs to know exactly where he is going. If we just walk around all over the place, he’ll probably get lost.” Twilight states.
“That’s probably smart. With how everything is, I don’t want to take the chance of getting lost in your town. Not to mention that not everypony looks like they like to make friendly conversation with me.” I say while looking around to see some ponys giving me a curious stare while others continue to go about their business.
“Yeah! I mean, I don’t want some pony to think he’s just some crazy, weird monster that no pony’s ever seen before that’s just going around town making everypony feel weird with his questions!” Pinkie enthusiastically states.
“Fine, so where do we start then?” Rainbow asks. I look around to find something that stands out above everything else that can be my beacon in case I get lost. I then find a massive building in the middle of a small clearing where it has something like a patio all around it.
“What about that?” I ask pointing to the building. The ponies look over in the direction I’m pointing to.
“That’s perfect! Town hall will be the perfect place to start from.” Spike says and the others agree. We all begin walking over to it until we are all standing right in front of the stairs that lead to the door, which they seem to be separated in half from the top and bottom.
“Well then shall we get started?” Twilight asks looking back at me.
“Say whatever it is you feel is needed to be said.” I reply, since Twilight and her friends are about to give me the full view tour of Ponyville.
“Alright then. As you can see here, this is Ponyville’s town hall. It’s used to hold special gatherings for when we need to have meetings that concern the whole town, special celebrations like the summer sun celebration, and various other uses as well.” Twilight says.
“This building here has been a part of Ponyville for some time now, but it was when my granny was a little filly that she and her family came and settled in Ponyville and grew it to what you see now.” Applejack explains.
“Wow.” I say as amused as I can sound while looking the building up and down. It definitely stands out above the rest.
“Shall we continue?” Rarity asks and I nod a yes.
“Follow us then.” The ponies begin walking and I follow close behind them.
“Over there we have a quaint little bar.” Twilight says while stopping and pointing with her hoof. A bar!? For ponies?
“You guys have a bar?!” I ask surprised.
“Yes, why? Wasn’t expecting that?” Twilight asks. A bar… for ponies… in a town with the most generous ponies I have ever seen… with happiness practically drooling out of every orifice seeing how bubbly and cheerful most of the pony's are. Especially that one flying upside down and diving to catch falling mail and... wait...
"Swift?"
I shake my head to get back to the matter at hand. “Sorry, but in any case, bar wasn't what I was exoecting in a million years.” I say and Twilight chuckles.
“Well, we may be a very tight knit group and helpful town, but we still have our share of miseries every so often.”
“Like those attacks I heard about that you guys have every week?” I ask Twilight.
“Mm-hm. Some here aren’t so used to the dangers that threaten us, so they sometimes like to try and escape it.” Twilight explains. These ponies don’t deserve that, they don’t deserve anything bad to happen to them.
“Plus, everyone’s so dark and gloomy in there that they won’t let me have any parties there!” Pinkie practically yells in my face from out of nowhere right next to me.
“Ooooohh! That reminds me, I didn’t have a chance to throw you a welcome party to Ponyville!” She says happily while jumping up and down but then stops in mid-air. How did she do that?
“Oh, I just remember something! I got to go do… uh… a thing, yeah, a thing! That’s it! C’mon Rarity!” Pinkie yells before hitting the ground and wrapping her hoof around Rarity’s neck.
“Uh no, dear I- Woah!” Rarity try’s to say but gets whisked away in the blink of an eye before even I could say anything as well. I just watch as the dust trail Pinkie left slowly disappears. And I’m fast?!
“O… kay.” I say.
“Get used to it, Swift. That’s Pinkie Pie for you.” Applejack says.
“Why don’t we continue with the tour?” Twilight states and I nod.
“That probably would be best.” I say and the five of us continue to walk.
“We do what we can to protect our town and have been doing a good job since these attacks first started.” Rainbow says with confidence.
“Except a couple days ago.” I add. She punches me in the side pretty hard with her hoof.
“Hey! Those Timberwolves snuck up on the town before we could even react!” Rainbow snaps at me with anger.
“Settle down there, Rainbow. He didn’t mean to offend you, right?” Applejack says, expecting me to answer.
“Right. After all, you did push that wolf off me so I can say I’m grateful for you saving me.” I say.
“And then you saved me by tackling that same one…” she says.
“So now we’re even.” I add and she nods.
“Are you two done?” Twilight asks and we nod.
“Good, now this is Sugarcube Corner.” Twilight points to another building in front of us. The place seems bigger than any other type of pastry store I‘ve ever seen. Most are just simple places lined with tiles but this one has one hell of a decorum to add to the outside. If all the other buildings in Ponyville were like the ones back where I came from, Sugarcube Corner would definitely stand out.
“Wow.” Is all I can say.
“Yep, Pinkie lives there with Mr. and Mrs. Cake and helps out around their bakery. She also makes some of the best pastries and deserts you’ll ever find in Equestria. Not even the best chef’s in Equestria can hope to make something that’s better than Pinkie’s creations.” Spike explains enthusiastically. Must be some damn good food they make.
“Ah’ reckon you’ll want to mosy on in for a spell to help get your strength up? Our treat.” Applejack proposes. Wow, already their willing to buy me dinner, or desert more specifically. I open my mouth to say ‘no thanks,’ but my stomach disagrees with me. A loud groan is heard and they all look at me to realize it’s my stomach. My face blushes red from embarrassment.
“I guess a quick snack couldn’t hurt.” I say and they chuckle and lead me inside. The door’s aren’t like those old western doors, they are split into two doors that open up from the top and bottom, just like the town hall’s. However the place’s architect and décor is different. It seems a bit much for just a pastry store. Which of course isn't obvious enough to do the entirety of the outside of this place looks very much like a giant cake. Most things like this back where I’m from have this type of workmanship reserved for only the most prestigious and very important places. Let’s see if the food is as good as they claim and looks just as good as the place.
“Over there.” Rainbow points with her hoof to a round table that’s set up next to the window. The chairs are set up like the ones I’m used to, so I don’t have enough trouble sitting. I lay my bag on the ground to my side and I sit where the window is to my left, Applejack has her back to it, Rainbow’s sitting in front of me, Twilight is looking out the window, and Spike is between me and Twilight. Soon a regular pony with a yellow orange coat, orange mane and tail, freckles on his face, a pastry chef’s hat, apron, and a red and white rainbow colored bow tie walks up to us.
“Hello, girls and Spike.” He says with a smile.
“Hi Mr. Cake!” All four of them reply and Mr. Cake looks at me.
“Is that the creature that everypony in town’s been talking about?” He whispers to Twilight and I smile.
“I have ears and can understand you, you know.” I say.
“Oh! I’m terribly sorry; it’s just that… well… I’ve never seen anything like you before.” he apologizes and explains. I give out a slight chuckle and sigh.
“Yeah, I kinda already figured that out.” I say and look out the window to find the pony’s I saw before when I first came to town. Bon-bon and Lyra if I remember correctly. They stare at me for a few seconds before I wave to them. Bon-Bon takes off but Lyra waves back before being pulled by Bon-Bon.
“At least some are warming up to me.” I say and they chuckle. So happy and vibrant these ponies are. I can only imagine what sick bastards from my world will do to these ponies if they found out about them. Hopefully I’ll never have to find out.
“Well, since you saved our friends Twilight and Spike here, and possibly the rest of Ponyville, whatever you want, it’s on the house.” He says happily and I can’t help but give out a smile and chuckle.
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Wow, th… thank you, sir. That’s very generous of you.”
“No problem. I know how to take care of my friends, mister… uhhhh?” he tries to address me but he doesn’t know my name.
“Swift, the names Swift.” I say while extending my hand to shake his hoof. He gives me his hoof and I shake it.
“Swift, huh? Is that something you just came up with it or…?” he trails off, expecting me to finish.
“I don’t remember my name, so thanks to the fun happy go-lucky Pinkest pony I’ve ever seen, I’m Swift.” I explain.
“Pinkie helped name you, huh? Well, I’m not surprised. She’s always been so helpful and cheerful to anypony that needs it.”
“No doubt.”
“Sooooooo, not that you two are done introducing each other, can we get something to eat?” Rainbow Interjects.
“Oh, right! Sorry about that. I sometimes trail off. Now what can I get you all?” He asks and pulls out a notebook from his apron and places it on the table. He then proceeds to pull out a pencil and holds the back part of it in his mouth.
“Ah’ll have a slice of Apple Pie.” Applejack orders. Mr. Cake then rights down her order with the pencil in his mouth. I don’t think I could do that.
“Nothing for me, I had already filled up on Hospital food today.” Rainbow replies with a slight grimace on her face. He nods.
“A blueberry muffin.” Twilight orders.
“Have anything with gems in it?” Spike asks. Gems?! Better not be what I'm thinking.
“Oh don’t worry Spike. We’re prepared for you when you come by. We have a Ruby coated cake piece with your name on it.” He says and Spike’s tongue hangs out as he smacks his lips at the thought of that. He nods vigorously and Mr. Cake rights his order down.
“Gems?” I ask to no one in particular but Twilight explains:
“Dragons usually eat gems but anything that’s considered food they eat as well, but they mostly prefer gems.”
“Wow, and are gems common here?” I ask surprised, since gems back on my world are kinda expensive and rare.
“In a way, not many can find them just about anywhere, but our Fashionista pony Rarity has developed a spell that allows her to find gems easily. She uses them in most of her dresses.” Twilight explains. So Rarity is a dress maker, but what’s a Fashionista?
“Fashionista?” I ask but Twilight shows me her hoof and nods no.
“Later, right now, order so you can eat and get your strength back.” Twilight says sincerely. I guess she wants to make sure that I don’t get too weak from lack of food. She’s definitely a caring pony.
“Alright then, Twilight.” I say and I look back to Mr. Cake, who’s waiting patiently, I think.
“And you?” he asks me. I try to think of something but most of my time I’ve only had to eat what’s necessary, not anything really fun.
“I’m… not sure. What do you girls recommend?” I ask them and they look at each other until Twilight gets an idea.
“A few blueberry muffins for him and some chocolate milk.” Twilight says and Mr. Cake nods before writing down my order, putting the pencil away, and taking the notebook in his mouth and going to make our orders but I notice he has some pictures of some cinnamon buns on his behind.
“What’s with the cinnamon buns on his… behind?” I ask, not wanting to say anything that the pony’s won’t understand or get hurt from.
“That. Oh that’s his cutie mark.” Spike says. Cutie Mark?
“Excuse me?” I ask.
“See, whenever a pony finds their calling in life, they get a cutie mark on their flanks that signify what they’ll do for a living and like to do.” Twilight explains.
“For instance, my cutie mark symbolizes my specialty with magic.” I lean to the right past Spike to see Twilight having like a twinkling crystal star on her flank.
“My family’s been bucking and harvesting apples for generations. So it’s obvious that since my brother and granny got their cutie marks involving apple’s, ah got just that.” Applejack says and I lean to the left to see her Cutie Mark is of three apples.
“And mine…” Rainbow says with enthusiasm and she spreads out her wings to their full length and brings them down, shoving a big gust of wind into my face, almost knocking me right off my seat as the action launches her into the air, her bandages coming off as she hovers in place with ease.
“Is the most awesome Cutie Mark ever!” She says with grace as I look and see hers is a cloud with a lightning bolt of rainbow colors coming out of it. She’s definitely boastful.
“Wow.” I say and Rainbow goes back to her seat.
“Rainbow Dash! Your wings!” Twilight exclaims, worried about her friends brash move right now.
“It’s cool, Twi. The wolf didn’t do anything majorly bad, just a flesh wound, although they are a bit sore from not using them in so long.” Rainbow says. It’s only been a couple of days, but then again, you have to use every part of your body at least once a day, so I guess can’t really blame her. My legs do feel a bit sore from not using them as much, especially since I run a lot so I wouldn’t be caught back in my world.
“I guess I can relate.” I say while rubbing my leg.
“I see.” Twilight says.
“Anyways, don’t your people have anything like that to signify their calling in life?” she asks and I nod my head no.
“Unfortunately, my species doesn’t have the same luxury as you all do. We just go around the best we can to find out what job or occupation suits us best. Sadly, most of my people go their whole lives without realizing what best suits them, or they find out what they specialize in and don’t like what it is.” I explain and it’s true. I never did find my calling in life and with the whole issue with the police and all, I couldn’t. Especially since most of my people either hate their jobs or just never find anything that suits them and they live a life of misery.
“Oh c’mon, are their really things in your world that are so bad?” Applejack asks and I get mad. I clench my fist tightly and I almost slam it on the table. I keep myself cool and I let out a breath of air. These ponies look like they don’t have to worry much about dying or constantly looking over their shoulder to see if someone is watching you.
“If I remember correctly, the doctor says that it’s only been a few weeks since your town started getting attacked. In my world, people can corrupt one another to be things they don’t want to be… and not many actually do anything about it. Fights of different sizes break-out all the time around my world. Before I can say that you all are better off in your world than mine, I’ll have to see how things are here exactly…” I say and I lean back in my seat with my hands behind my head with a smile on my face.
“But until then! Let’s enjoy the moment!” I say happily, and I meant it. For the first time in years, I’m not looking over my shoulder for a mugger to take my money, a police car coming around a corner, the sounds of someone getting attacked or raped, just… peace right now.
“Just so you all know, if I’m going to stay, I’m not going to be a burden. If you all need some help with something, feel free to ask. If I end up do becoming a burden, don’t hesitate to tell me, I want to do whatever I can to help you all, not hurt you.” I say strictly, since I don’t want in the least to do anything bad to the creatures that have shown me kindness for the first time in years.
“Will do, pardner.” Applejack agrees.
“That’s very nice of you, Swift, but you don’t seem like the kind to just out right out of nowhere to just go ahead and harm us. As long as you live with us, you help us, we help you.” Twilight says and I smile to know that she has my back.
“Yeah! You saved us first. We’ll make sure to help you out so you can do the same for us.” Spike says.
“Yeah! We got your back. We may be filly’s but we’ve been in our share of fights. So we know how to get down and dirty!” Rainbow Dash says with confidence in her voice. Not many people in my world can be as enthusiastic and boastful as her, well maybe a lot can but she brings out a certain field to it that doesn’t make her seem like a jerk. Maybe it’s her, or this world? I don’t know and right now I don’t want to pry, just be grateful.
“Thanks girls, I appreciate it. Definitely feels good without being worried of being betrayed.” I say gratefully while being quiet with the last part.
“No problem. Now, new topic, Is Mr. Cake married? I’m curious.” I ask. Curious since the others addressed him as Mr.
“Why yes, he is. Mr. ‘Carrot’ Cake is married to Mrs. ‘Cup’ Cake. They’ve been together for quite awhile and they own this bakery.” Twilight informs me.
“Nice.” I comment.
“They also have Pinkie pay rent so she has a place to stay and she works here as much as she can, but most of the time she goes around town trying to help brighten up anypony’s day.” Spike says but now that he mentions Pinkie, where is she and Rarity?
“Do any of you know where Pinkie took off in such a hurry earlier?” I ask them. They all share look with each other until they look back at me and nod no.
“Nope, that there pony is always a mystery.” Applejack says.
“Always?” I ask and she nods.
“Always. Some advice, ah reckon you should expect the unexpected when it involves Pinkie Pie.” She tells me and I nod.
“After her first impression, that probably would be best. I don’t want to hurt her or anything.” I say to them.
“Don’t worry, until you get settled in, we’ll try to keep Pinkie from popping out of nowhere.” Rainbow assures me. That’s good, after getting chased from the police, I’m pretty on edge after the whole ordeal. The other’s groan though.
“We’re gonna have our work cut out for us then.” Spike says, making the others give a light chuckle.
“No doubt.” Twilight adds. A few seconds later, we hear some shuffling noises and look past the counter into the doorway behind it to see a pony struggling with some crates.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa whoa whoa!” I hear as a Pink pony tries to balance some crates on its back. From the voice, its female, from the color, its Pinkie.
“Pinkie, dear, I told you to not carry so much in one trip.” I hear another voice as a white unicorn follows Pinkie while carrying more crates using her magic. And again, from the color of her coat, and color of her tail and the top of her mane, its Rarity.
“Ah guess we know where they went.” Applejack states and I smile.
“You know what they are doing?” I ask and they nod no.
“No doubt we’ll find out later?”
“Probably.” Rainbow says and I chuckle.
“Okay, everypony, here you are.” Mr. Cake comes back with a tray on his back that has all our food on it.
“Finally.” I say happily under my voice. Since I don’t want to offend and because I haven’t eaten in a while, so the hunger is already making me tired, and just looking at the food is already making me even hungrier. Twilight uses her magic to give Applejack her piece, then hers and Spike, in which Spikes looks pretty badass on account his is covered in sharp Ruby’s. No doubt a bunch of women back from my world will go ballistic to get their hands on that muffin, especially since it’s about to be eaten by a dragon. Twilight then levitates my food over to me, five muffins with blueberries baked in them, along with a big glass of chocolate milk. I’ve never been one for blueberries or chocolate milk for that matter, but now’s not the time to be picky. Applejack uses picks up a fork with her hoof and slices a piece off her pie and eats it. How she picked it up, I can’t say, but now I’m hungry as hell so I forget it. I pick up a muffin and look over to Twilight who is taking a bite out of her muffin while holding it with her magic, and Spike is savoring his while Rainbow is waiting patiently. I sniff it for a second to see if there is anything odd about it but nothing just smells normal. The taste whoever, dead wrong.
After taking a bite of it, my taste buds spike. The flavor of it is so rich and invigorating, the blueberry’s taste tremendously good and the rest of it, wow. In no time at all, I devour the rest of it like nothing, but the taste still lingering in my mouth. I grab my drink and I taste it. The chocolate is rich with sweetness and sugar, probably the best I’ve ever tasted. I down like a quarter of it before I go back to my muffins. I take one in each hand, and I practically shove them in my face as I devour them, now truly realizing how hungry I am. After finishing the two up, I take another swig of my drink and down another quarter before I take a deep breath and work on the last two.
Soon, they are gone and I grip my glass one last time and I throw my head back as I begin chugging down the remainder of my meal. The glass soon empties in my mouth and I slam it onto the table, not enough to break it but to be noticeable. I give a deep sigh and breathe right back in, my hunger sated for now. I look around to see the others staring at me.
“You weren’t kidding about Pinkie’s cooking.” I say in a serious tone, because I am serious damnit!
“Told you.” Twilight says.
“You eat muffins as fast as Derpy!” Rainbow quickly says.
“You sure do. You ate as fast as those parasprites that nearly gobbled up our whole town awhile back.” Applejack says, a bit surprised on how I ate so fast, I’m a bit surprised myself.
“Wait, Derpy? Parasprites?” I ask since I’ve never heard anyone named Derpy, or a creature called a parasprite.
“Derpy’s a friend of ours and parasprites are some creatures that reproduce very quickly and eat just as much and as fast.” Twilight explains.
“A nuisance is what they were, but thanks to Pinkie Pie, they were gone lickety split.” Applejack says happily. Sounds like they were more than a nuisance.
“Is everypony satisfied?” Mr. Cake asks and they finish up their meals and we all nod yes but I quickly raise my hand to get his attention.
“Can I get a couple more muffins and some more of that chocolate milk for the go?” I ask since I still feel a bit puckish.
“Sure thing!” Mr. Cake says happily and goes to get them.
“So, as soon as he comes back, we continue the tour?” I ask, since I still want to see the rest of the town before nightfall.
“Sure thing, pardner.” Applejack replies and we all get up. I grab my bag and I wait near the counter and look the others as they wait near the front door. I tap my foot on the ground as time passes and I hear the doors behind me open and I turn around to see Mr. Cake coming over to the counter with a small bag in his mouth. I grab the bag and I look inside to see the two muffins in a baggie and a bottle filled with chocolate milk. I open my duffel bag and I put the bag with my food inside it carefully so they don’t get crushed.
“Thank you again for your generosity, sir.” I say sincerely.
“No problem! Anything for the Guardian of Ponyville!” he says and I smile.
“Guardian of Ponyville, huh? I like it. Sounds cool.” I say and I walk over to the others.
“Shall we?” I say opening the door for them.
“Yes, lets.” Twilight says politely and we leave to continue the tour. We all begin walking to our next destination.
“Over there is Rarity’s home and boutique, and your temporary house.” Twilight gestures with her hoof to a two story building. The place is well decorated and has some very impressive designs to it, really making it stand out above the others.
“Wow, so now can I ask what a Fashionista is?” I ask since I want to know what she’s doing with a boutique, and how her Cutie Mark was of some diamonds or gems if I remember correctly.
“Rarity’s a Fashionista, meaning she makes a career out of being a designer of various clothing.” Twilight says and Applejack continues:
“Dresses, suits, whatever ah pony needs to make them look good on such short notice, she’s got you covered.” Never heard of a pony dress designer before, then again, I’ve never believed magic was real, or ponies talking, so I should really get used to seeing things that aren’t right to me.
“Interesting.” I say a bit intrigued as we continue walking.
“And if you hadn’t noticed already, she’s a helpful generous pony, but a clean freak as well.” Rainbow says the last part in annoyance.
“You don’t like her being so clean?” I ask.
“I’m a daredevil pony, Swift! I live for the rush of adrenaline, the speed and wind that flows and bashes against my face and mane! I’m bound to get dirty once in a while and she usually makes a big fuss about it whenever she can.” Rainbow explains. Live for the danger, the adrenaline pumping through you as you perform feats that make others quake in their place. I may not be able to remember much about myself and my family, but I do know that for a while, I was in danger for a long time, and I didn’t have much choice in the matter.
“Hm, that’s pretty cool. I lived the life of a daredevil when I was younger but after too many close calls, decided to stop…” I lie to them, not wanting to tell them about how for a few years I was hunted down by the law of my planet.
“But from what I’ve seen so far, I think that old part of my life my just come right back up.” I say.
“Just be careful, alright? We saved your life once already, let’s try not to make a habit of it.” Twilight says and I chuckle. When I was fighting those wolves, to fight something much different than me, something not of my own species that had skills and powers nothing like me, it felt a little invigorating to take on something new, not the helicopters or fast cars the police use, or the dogs they used to chase me at times. Since I am the only one of my species here, I got to learn about the new threats that lurk here in this world.
“No promises.” I say and Twilight shakes her head with a smile. We continue to walk for a while, my new friends showing me some of the more unimportant houses and buildings, some buildings being homes for other ponies, others just some various stores around town. We soon come across a store to my right that has a sign that’s a sofa with a quill over it.
“And this here’s ‘Quills & Sofas.’” Applejack gestures with her hoof to my right. The store window is filled with some quills of different kinds hanging by some threads close to the top of the window while some sofas adorn the bottom of the windows, although there are only a couple since one takes the whole bottom half of the window and there are two windows.
“Quills?” I say to no one in particular. I forgot the last time someone used a quill. Nowadays, they just prefer pens or pencils.
“That’s right. We use the ends of most bird feathers and ink in order to use them as writing utensils.” Twilight informs me.
“Yeah, I know. We used to use them as well but now we barely to not at all use them and instead use something else called a pencil mostly.” I say to them and Twilight smiles.
“We have pencils as well, but we still use quills as a sort offffff…” Twilight trails off, trying to come up with a word for it but Rainbow beats her to it.
“Traditional?” she asks and Twilight snaps out of her thinking state.
“Yes, that’s it. We’ve used quills for quite awhile before and when we were able to use pencils, most of us still use quills to keep things traditional. I learned that the hard way the last time we tried to wrap-up winter.” Twilight explains and I look at her a bit confused.
“Wrap-up winter?” I ask.
“Winter wrap-up is what we call it. Whenever winter comes along, we have fun for what time we have with it but the ponies here in Ponyville have decided to wrap-up winter the old fashioned way so we can bring in spring on time. Twilight here tried to use magic to clear some snow and ended up making half ah mountain fall on all our work.” Applejack says and looks at Twilight, making her blush a bit in embarrassment. Applejack then smiles and continues:
“But then again, if it wasn’t for her handy organizing skills, spring would have been late again. So for the first time, winter was properly wrapped-up.” I look at Twilight who now has her head held high, feeling accomplished at her achievement.
“So, the ponies here in Ponyville stay with the traditional way of wrapping-up winter with your own hoof, do other places use something else?” I ask since I’m curious if other communities still do it the old fashionable way as well.
“Not many really. Other places like Canterlot use magic in order to clean up winter but Ponyville will still do it the traditional way.” Rainbow says with a bit of grace, happy that Ponyville stays with their old ways so they don’t forget them. Can’t say the same for my people. Even if they find something more efficient for themselves, they still like to hold onto the old ways as a sign of tradition.
“Interesting. For my people, when we find something more efficient, we usually toss out the old ways and sometimes focus wholly on the new. Most of my people have lost touch with how they once were before because some of them feel that we should forget the old, forget how we once were before because things were just too inferior to the things we have now. For weapons, we used to have rifles that would take almost a minute to reload and when you fire, they send the round almost always off course, now we have weapons that can send thousands of rounds in a minute at your target with near perfect accuracy.” I say and they seem a bit amazed but cringe a little at the thought of that many rounds barreling at them, especially since they got somewhat an idea from my pistol.
“That’s big change for you.” Spike comments and I smile at his surprise but it slowly disappears.
“Yeah, it is, but my species is pretty dominant on a lot of things, mostly about different groups and their ideals. So if we can’t come to a compromise, we take, usually by force.” I ask with a bit of sadness. They catch up on that and Twilight moves closer to me.
“That’s awful. How long has that been going on?” she asks sincerely and I smile a bit about her concern.
“A couple thousand years, we take each other’s lives almost every single day, fighting over some new thing that everyone has to benefit from, but only a few can. However if there’s one thing we’ve learned and developed over the course of our fighting, we’ve shown that no matter what faces us, we always fight back against even in the most impossible of odds. When a massive crisis happens, most of the time, we help each other out, but then afterwards, we go right back to fighting each other.” I say because it’s true. We haven’t really had any major worldwide disasters that affect everyone at the same time, but there have been some moments where sometimes different countries do help one another, but history is mostly filled with fighting, destroying, dominating, and more.
“That's horrible. We don’t have that much fighting. Some countries of ours are filled with griffons, dragons, zebra’s, and a lot more other types of creatures, but we haven’t had any type of a major war or anything like that. The most crisis that Equestria has had was when Princess Celestia had to banish her sister Princess Luna to the moon…” Twilight says and I look up to try and find the moon and I do, although it’s not lit up, the sun is already close to the horizon so it makes a bit sense.
“The moon?”
“Yes, our princesses are very powerful Alicorns that have lived for thousands of years. But then Luna got greedy when ponies were sleeping through her beautiful night, so when she wouldn’t lower the moon, Princess Celestia stepped in and banished her for a thousand years, at least until one of Princess Celestia’s summer sunset festival, where she raises the sun that morning for all to see, but when Celestia wasn’t found to raise the sun, Princess Luna, or Nightmare Moon as she wanted to be called at the time, came in and held the moon. But with the elements of harmony, Nightmare Moon was vanquished, Princess Celestia came back and her and Luna were reunited again after a thousand years.” Twilight finishes giving me a brief description of their history. Even in times where they have hard paths to cross, it finishes off with a smooth and beautiful road in the end.
But seriously, ponies controlling the frickin' sun and moon? Damn. Better not piss them off.
“Not many happy endings for my people.” I say under my breath, hoping they didn’t hear me but Rainbow caught it.
“What’d you say? We didn’t hear you?” she asks and I snap my head up.
“Nothing! Just… talking to myself.” I say and she gives me a confused expression but then shrugs her shoulders.
“Fine.” She says. I look up and see sun is just on the horizon.
“I think we should be heading to our houses soon. It’s getting late.” I say and they all look around to notice the sun is close to going down.
“Tarnation! Time sure flew fast today. Best be getting home so ah can help harvest some apples bright early tomorrow.” Applejack says.
“Yeah, and me and Spike should be going as well. I still have to send a letter to Princess Celestia.” Twilight says and I look at Rainbow. She just looks at me.
“I just wanna go back home after spending the last couple days in the hospital.” She says and she spreads her wings and flaps them to make sure they are alright. She then jumps into the air and is about to take off but Applejack bites her tail.
“Hang on there, Rainbow!” Applejack says through clenched teeth. Rainbow dash then hovers in front of us, probably a little annoyed at her friend’s actions.
“Why don’t we make sure our guest makes it to his home first, alright?” Twilight says and she’s right, its late right now and I don’t have the foggiest idea where my temporary home is. I should really get a map of this place.
“Yeah, that probably would be best. Lead the way.” I say and we begin walking again. The dark orange sky soon turns to the blackness of night without a star in the sky. It’s not that late yet for them to pop out so I think nothing of it. It doesn’t take us long to make it to my temporary home. Even though I was shown it before, it still definitely has that feel of a designer to it with the décor it has and how its built from the outside. What’s also bugging me is that it’s completely dark, like it’s abandoned.
“Isn’t she supposed to be back by now?” I ask and the others look just as confused as me.
“Where in tarnation is that mare?” Applejack asks and I go up to the window and I look into it. I can barely see anything, the only light I have is from the barely rising moon.
“Hello? Anyone home?” I ask, hoping to get an answer. But I don’t get a verbal answer.
*CRASH* A vase breaking is the only reply. I look to see something moving inside, but I can’t make it out.
“Something’s inside here!” I quickly say and they look worried.
“Did you see who it is?!” Rainbow quickly asks and I shake my head.
“No. Too dark to see.” I say and I look again to find nothing moving around.
“What should we do? What if Rarity’s in danger? We have to do something?!” Spike quickly says in a worried tone. I go to the door and I try to push it open, but its locked and I hear shuffling noises inside. I decide to take matters into my own hands. Rarity was willing to let me stay in her home, and If someone or something hurt her and I robbing her place, not on my watch. I hand my bag to Applejack and I pull my pistol out of the holster and I hold it up.
“I’m going in, watch my back.” I say and they nod. I place my hand on the door to be ready. I’m about to go but one of the others taps me in the side with their hoof. I look back to see Twilight.
“Be careful.” She says sincerely and I nod. Time to live up to my title, The Guardian of Ponyville. I bring my foot back and I kick the door where it locks into the door frame. There is a loud snap as the door swings open, a piece of the door frame snapping right off. I quickly aim inside but I keep my finger just above the trigger so I don’t accidentally fire.
“Anyone in here come out now and I won’t hurt you?!!” I yell and for the first few seconds, nothing, but then:
“Surprrriiiiiiiiissssee!!!” A bunch of the ponies yell as they jump up from behind some furniture as the lights turn on, confetti blasts in my face and balloons fall to the ground from above, Pinkie Pie being the loudest and most joyful of the bunch. I just stand there still aiming and surprised at the surprise party that they all planned. I put away my gun without a sound and soon, about twice more ponies start revealing themselves. Now I count about 16 of them. I look back at the others behind me and they all look just as surprised as I am. Some of the ponies begin cheering, others are surprised, some scared, and one pissed off pony most of all. Oh wait, that’s Rarity. Her eye twitches at what just happened and I give a weak smile.
“This was not part of the plan!” Rarity yells loudly and everyone shuts up.
“You just had to bump my vase and break it didn’t you?” Rarity yells as a pony with a gray coat, yellow mane and tail, and has bubbles as her cutie mark. Her eyes are also a darker yellow, along with both eyes looking in different directions, individually. Whoa... wait I think I saw her before.
“I’m sorry. I don't know what went wrong.” She says and Rarity sighs and as her face shoots to me with a very mad look and I tense up.
“And You! What do you think you’re doing?!” She yells right at me as I look down at her.
“It was getting late! I wanted to check out my new home and get some sleep! Whe-when I saw the lights off and heard the vase breaking, I freaked and thought someone was robbing you. I-I just… acted.” I try to explain and after I’m done she sighs and looks back at pinkie with a cross look on her face.
“I told you to make sure the door wasn’t locked.” Rarity says and Pinkie looks away.
“I thought it wasn’t locked.” Pinkie says with regret in her voice. Rarity sighs again and she begins walking away.
“Continue enjoying the party everypony. I’ll get a broom.” Rarity says and walks into another room. Silence is what sweeps the room after that little escapade that just happened.
“Awkward.” Rainbow says. Everyone just stands there and I decide to break the ice.
“Okay…” I say clapping my hands together once.
“Well you heard her. Let’s enjoy this party.” I say and Pinkie brightens up.
“Yeah, lets!” Another pony yells and the others begin agreeing.
“Great! I’ll go get the cake!” Pinkie says and zips into the other room. Some of the other ponies begin conversing a bit and I look back to Twilight and the others.
“If this were my birthday, it’d be a day I’d never forget.” I say and I look to find a little stage of sorts surrounded by mirrors a few feet away and I go to sit.
“It sure would. By the way, how old are you?”Applejack asks me and I open my mouth but… I don’t remember, no surprise about that.
“I don’t know. I was moving around for about three years or so, but I don’t remember my life before that. The best I can say is between 15 and 18. I can’t be sure.” I say and the girls look a little sad since I can’t remember my own age or birthday.
“It’s alright girls. I’ll find out eventually.” I say and it looks like it worked. Their frowns turn to smiles and I nod.
“Why don’t we say your 16.” Spike says and I shrug in approval. Twilight’s eyes then light up like she has an idea but I brush it off.
“I don’t see why not.” I say and I hear rolling sounds and look to see a giant cake with different shades of pink frosting covering it along with having the word ‘Swift’ on it while Pinkie pushes it. Before Pinkie can say anything, Twilight goes over to Pinkie with Spike on her back and whispers something into her ear. Pinkie just listens then her face gets a big grin.
“A Birthday?! Oooohhhh, even better! It’s now two parties in one! I’ll be right back!” Pinkie says and zips away again in a flash. I look at Twilight and she smiles while I’m a bit confused.
“Birthday?” I say and she waves her hoof at me, gesturing me to come over to the cake. I get up and I walk over to the cake and when I do, a few seconds later, Pinkie comes back in and begins placing some candles on the cake. When she’s done, there are now 16 on the cake. She then grabs Spike in between her fore hooves and dangles him close to the cake.
“Do the honors Spike!” Pinkie says happily and Spike inhales deeply and lets out a small breath of light green fire. The fire doesn’t scar the cake whatsoever and lights up the candles with a green fire. She sets Spike down and stands on the other side of the cake from me.
“Now everyone together now!” Pinkie says while waving her fore hooves into the air gathering everyone’s attention in the house and they all gather around. I think I already know what’s coming.
“Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Swiiiift, happy birthday to you.” Everyone in the room sings.
“Yay!” Pinkie adds by herself and some of the ponies laugh at that, even making me chuckle as well.
“Now for your welcome to Ponyville party!” Pinkie says and now I start to hear some music. I look around and behind I see a small music-box like thing. ‘where in the hell did that come from?’
“Welcome welcome welcome, a fine welcome to you,” she sings. She’s singing? Where did the boom-box come from? God, so many questions.
“Welcome welcome welcome I say how do you do? Welcome welcome welcome, I say hip hip hurray! Welcome welcome welcome to Ponyvilee today!” She then skidded on her knees to the side of the cake. Then the music-box explodes and I get covered in confetti as it hits my back and rains around me. I blow some of the confetti off my left shoulder and I chuckle loudly.
“Man, Pinkie! Not even the best party planners back where I’m from can even hope to compare to you!” I say loudly and Pinkie beams with joy and bounces around me.
“Oh I’m so glad you think so! I always do my very best to try and make everyone I know happy as can be and I’m just so happy when I can and-“ Pinkie is stopped by Applejack with a hoof in her mouth.
“Can you just blow out your candles and make your wish so we can eat?” Applejack asks and I look around and the others nod as well. I smile and when I lean to blow out my candles, I stop.
“So Twilight, is this town going to be my new home?” I ask and she smiles.
“Of course, Swift. You saved mine and Spike’s life. We already saved yours but we can’t let you go out with no memory of yourself. So until your capable enough, and when you wish to leave, Ponyville is your home.” Twilight says with sincerity in her voice. She really does mean that. Ponyville is my home now, I don’t know if I can go back to earth, and if I could, would I want to go back? I was on the run fro years, and if was on the run, then my parents must be gone as well, I have nothing left. This is my home now.
I inhale and let out a stream of air, blowing out the candles one by one until they are all out. The ponies then begin cheering and a smile breaks my face again, along with a tear. It’s been so long since I had a proper party, or was even happy like this.
“Um, are you alright?” I hear a familiar voice and I look to my right and I see its Fluttershy. I smile at her and I wipe the tear away.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just… it’s been awhile since I felt this happy.” I say and she smiles a little.
“So what’d you wish for?” Rainbow Dash asks while hovering above me. Her wings are better. Good.
“Uh uh uhh, if he tells you, then it won’t come true!” Pinkie Pie quickly says in-between me and Dash in a second. Seriously, how does she do that?
“Fine.” Rainbow says and goes away. I didn’t wish for anything however, because it’s already come true. I have a home now. I’d wish for my memory back, but something’s compelling me to not want it. I don’t want my memory back and I don’t know why.
“By the way, why did you decide today being my birthday?” I ask and Pinkie rolls her eyes.
“Well duuuu, we already named you, seemed liked a good idea to make it your birthday too!” she says and I just look at her.
“Makes sense.” I say, shrugging my shoulders.
“Now do the honors Swift!” Pinkie says to me while holding a knife in her hoof. How? I have no idea. Magic? Maybe. But right now, I’m tired as hell, time to relax. I grab the knife and I look at the cake. It seems bigger than most are back from where I come from. I look around and I begin counting all the ponies around, even seeing Rarity sweep up the broken vase. Including myself, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Spike, leaves a total of 21 here. I try to get a good representation on how to cut and when I do, I begin. I begin cutting the cake into the right size of pieces, even messing up a few pieces here and there but I make do. Once it’s done, I stand back to look at me handiwork.
“Now, let’s eat!” I say loudly and they all begin cheering. Pinkie hands me some plates and I begin moving the pieces of cake onto the plates. It takes awhile but we give everyone some cake. I sit back down where I was sitting before and as soon as I take a bite of the cake, divine. Absolutely divine. The texture, the taste, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, even mint! Pinkie truly is a master when it comes to this kind of stuff. I don’t destroy the cake instantly, I savor it.
“Here’s your bag.” Applejack says as she place my bag down next to me on the floor.
“Thank you Applejack.” I say with a smile and she returns it.
“No problem.” She says and leaves to mingle with the others. After I finish up my cake, ponies begin talking with each other, all having fun, drinking punch, and playing some games that Pinkie set up. I sit back down and a few ponies coming over to me. One is like a violet color, another lime green, and black.
“Hey, since this party’s about you, think we can get to know you some more?” the black one asks, and judging by his voice, must be male.
“Yeah, tell us!” the lime green one says in a giddy attitude. Female.
“We’re eager to know.” The violet one says in a calm voice. Female as well.
“Well, alright then. I guess I deserve to answer some questions.” And after that, I spend the next couple hours explaining the things about me, what my species is, what was in my bag, my weapons, and so on. It didn’t take long before almost everypony in the house was listening in. I then feel really tired and I see some of the other ponies are yawning as well.
“Alright, well it seems that the night of fun has passed. I think it’s time for everyone to leave and get some rest.” I say and they all nod and begin heading.
“Goodbye! See ya! Don’t let the bed bugs bite!” Pinkie says to everyone as they all leave. The only ones left are me, Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Spike.
“Well, ah say it’s high time for us to hit the hay as well. Ah’ll see ya’ll tomorrow.” Applejack says and heads for the door.
“Yeah, I’m getting pretty tired too. See you guys tomorrow.” Rainbow says and makes for the door as well.
“I better go too, Angel and the others will probably get worried if I’m not back soon.” Fluttershy says as well and walks out.
“Aw well, there’s always tomorrow for more parties!” Pinkie happily says and bounces out the door.
“We better hurry home as well, Spike. We still need to send that letter and quick before the Princess goes to sleep.” Twilight says a little worriedly with Spike on her back but Spike pats her head, trying to make her feel better.
“Don’t worry Twilight! Even if Princess Celestia is asleep, I’m sure Princess Luna will get the message and pass it on.” Spike says.
“You’re probably right. Let’s get going.” Twilight says and begins trotting out the door. I go over and lean out.
“Have a good night! And thanks for everything!” I yell to them and Twilight turns back.
“Your welcome, and you too!” she says and I close the door, but it doesn’t stay closed. I keep trying to close it but it just doesn’t stay. I give a sigh of frustration, knowing I was the one that caused it, even if I did have good intentions. I look around to prop the door with something and to my left is a mannequin in the shape of a pony. I grab it and I place it against the door. Better to have it closed than open.
“Sorry again about the door, Rarity.” I say and she sighs.
“It’s alright. I’ll find somepony to help fix it up tomorrow. Now about your room…” she says and I smile with the thought of a bed makes me feel so relaxed right now.
“Its occupied.” She says bluntly and I tense up.
“What?” I say straight forward and she chuckles nervously.
“I sort of filled that room with all my surplus and extra materials I use to make my dresses. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be using, so I just thought…” she trails off and chuckle.
“Alright then, where do I sleep?” I ask since I want to hit the hay right now.
“I have a couch in the other room, come.” She gestures me and I follow. Its now without all the ponies around that I see all the contours of her home being the highest and most beautiful I’ve ever seen in any type of décor that anyone can make. I check some curtains she has and the stitching is very well placed and elegant. And the dresses she has, very vibrant and eye catching. Even the best fashion designers back on where I’m from can’t compare to this.
“Here.” I hear Rarity and I look to see her setting some sheets on a couch.
“This’ll only be temporary, at least until I clean out the room.” She says and I barely listen as I just lay down on the couch and I turn my back to her.
“Don’t strain yourself.” Is what I say and I close my eyes. I just lay there for a bit until the lights turn out.
“Sweet dreams.” I hear and I wave back to her.
“Yeah yeah, you too.” Is all I say before sleep finally consumes me. Finally, not concrete or the forest floor.
Author's note: Finally! Longest Chapter I ever made. Hope you like it. Oh! and also, if anypony knows on how to properly talk like Applejack, please send me a list. I keep having the feeling that I messed up a few times while making her talk.