(A/N: Takes place between Ch6 & Ch7)
My eyes snapped open. No, it wasn't Twilight's freight train like snoring that woke me up. It wasn't Spike's muttering. Though now, I wanted to find out who this pony named "Rarity" was. It was the dull throbbing in my mouth. After the little dragon had offered me a gemstone, I tried it of course. My. Big. Bloody. Mistake. I had lost a canine in the aftermath, and it still hurt hours later. Twilight had come back in the middle of this whole ordeal. She sent Derpy home right after she walked in and saw the blood. I rose from my pile of blankets in the storage room that I was sleeping in and staggered to my hooves. Huh, looks like the spell wore off in my sleep. I ran my tongue over the gap where the tooth would have been and groaned. Spike wasn't really at fault here, I guess I was. Probably should've known better. I kept thinking about that fact and repeating it to myself as I shuffled to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. I opened the door to complete darkness.
"Glad these guys have light switches. Now where is it? GAAAAAAAH! MY EYES!" I yelped when I finally turned it on. After conquering near blindness, I opened the cabinet behind the mirror.
"Let's see, looking for aspirin, looking for aspirin....toothpaste, nope. Floss, nope. Comb, nope. Tamp-BWAAH! Nopenopenope." (Didn't realize ponies even used those.) Then I spotted my prize. A yellow and green bottle labeled "NAYER" aspirin tablets. I grabbed the bottle with my magic and closed the door back. I poured a couple of pills on the counter next to the sink and saw something out the edge of my vision, making me look up. I didn't really notice anything strange. My deer antler and goat horn didn't seem out of place, they looked like they always did. As did my snaggle tooth and tuft of a beard..... Wait a minute. Those looked kinda familiar, like I should know them. I leaned into my reflection to get a better look, and it leaned out toward me.
"boo."
I knocked the aspirin over and did a decent impression of Fred Sanford having "The Big One." Discord was roaring with laughter. I sat there catching my breath while he got control of himself.
"You should've seen the look on your face. Priceless. Ha! Anyway, I've got a present for you, human." he said with a smile. Like I'd trust him.
"Like I'd ever trust you, demon." I spat. He seemed to flinch at this.
"No, really. A gift. No strings attached." He said. He sounded hurt.
"What?" I asked. I had a fire spell warming up. Sorry Twi, but the bathroom might buy it.
"Your tooth. I was just going to replace it, seeing as the towns dentist is away on vacation. See? I'm not such a bad guy." He said as he crawled out of the mirror. How in the blue hell did he know about that? Was he stalking me? But, on the other hoof, I could use that tooth...
"Fine. Go ahead." I told him. No reason to look a gift whatever-he-is in the mouth.
"Really? Open up and say 'AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!"
I opened up. "AAAA-AAAAARRRRRRRGH!" I hollered as he jammed his talon in my mouth. I felt a sharp pain and tugging on my gums. Then just as suddenly, he pulled his talon out and the pain stopped. He grinned down at me.
"There now. Isn't that better? I'd say that's some of my best work." He picked me up and held me to the mirror. "See?" I blinked. It didn't hurt anymore, but something seemed off.
"Did ya have to make it look like yours?" I asked. Not that I didn't appreciate the effort. "Discord?" I looked around. I was alone. Everything looked normal. There wasn't any evidence that he had even been in the room. Nothing except that new tooth poking out of my lips. It's too early for this, back to bed.
I woke up later that morning to the feeling of being poked. Repeatedly. With a hoof. Then my tormentor added her voice. "Hey Anthony." Poke. "Anthony." Poke. "Anthony." Poke Poke. "Hey Anthony." Poke Pokety-poke poke.
"grrr... WHAT?" I growled, rolling to face them.
"'Sup?" Lyra Heartstrings greeted me with a grin. I'm normally a fairly pleasant person to be around, even the early morning. "Normally" meaning not being harassed by Discord in the middle of the night. I levitated my pillow up and took a few swings. Then I locked eyes with Lyra. The mint-green unicorn gulped and started backing up towards the door. I uttered a single sentence.
"Run. I want to make this interesting."
(Que music)
The chase lead all through the town. Being a pony made me faster than I normally was and I kept running into things. That poor colt in the outhouse will be scarred for life. We started around the fountain. That went on for five solid minutes until I looked up and saw her waving at me from a bench. I followed her through the park and she tried to dive into the pond to get away, but I used and ice spell and froze it. She hit it and slid across on her face. I teleported over to where I thought she was headed, but the "Lyra" just dissolved into nothing. An illusion. I searched the area and found nothing. Snorting in assumed triumph I portaled back the library. The main room was completely pitch-black dark. That wasn't right. Then, in the darkness, a pony farted. An intruder!
"Who's ther-"MERRY CHRISTMAS!
After my heart stopped trying to beat its way out of my chest, and I picked my jaw up off the floor, I was assaulted by a pink madness. "Hi-Ya Anthony! Were you surprised? Wereya wereya wereya?"
"I'll say. Pinkie, I didn't know y'all had Christmas here too. This is the last thing I expected." I truthfully told the pink mare. She giggled and bounced away and came back with a cup of cider. I took it with my magic and enjoyed it while I gazed at the veritable splattered rainbow of ponies milling around. A white coated unicorn sporting a blue mane with an electric blue streak with a musical note cutie mark trotted up to an area that looked like it was set up for a DJ and pushed s small button. The speakers came to life, filling the whole building with familliar holiday type music.
"Actually, we don't." said the voice of Twilight Sparkle. I turned and found her sitting where Pinkie had been until a second ago. "We don't have that holiday here in Equestria."
"Then how is this here?" I asked the librarian. She grinned sheepishly.
"Well, remember when I tried the E-CATS?" She asked. I nodded, and loudly slurped my cider. What? It's damn good cider!
"It seems that the spell went both ways. It looks like I picked up some of your memories as well." She said. "And based off those memories, I saw how much it meant to you and the fact that it was getting close to that date when you were brought here. I talked with Pinkie and we decided to throw you a combination Christmas/Welcome to Ponyville party. That's not a problem is it?" She asked. She must've noticed the expression on my face, because she sounded concerned. It's true, Christmas is my favorite holiday, but... As argumentative and grouchy as my family was, they were family. Then, there were my friends. I didn't have many, but I thought of them as family as well.
"Anthony? Are you okay?" She asked sitting down in front of me. I turned away and sniffed.
"Yeah, Twi. I'm fine. Just brought up some memories is all." I said, my voice cracking a little.
"Your family?"
".....Yeah."
"You know you're going to see them again soon, right?" She asked, again walking in front of me. "Aren't we your friends?"
"You're right. *sniff* Just look at silly old me here, sniveling, crying over family, ruining a perfectly good party with my new friends on my favorite day of the year." Twilight offered me a tissue and I wiped at my eyes and blew my nose. "Let's go have some fun, huh?" I said, and looked around. "Speaking of friends, where's Derpy? I'd have thought she'd-." I was interrupted by a loud slam when the front door flew open and the pegasus in question nearly knocked me over.
"I'm sorry I'm late, I rushed through the mail route so I could come." She saw my reddened eyes. "Did I miss anything?" She asked. I had to smile. Something about the mare behind those golden eyes.... I brushed the thoughts aside.
"No, Ms. Hooves, you're just in time." I walked over to the DJ table and picked up a microphone, and blasted the speakers with some magic and prayed silently for a miracle. The DJ yanked me aside and demanded to know what I was doing with her equipment.
"The party was for me right?"
"Yes."
"You know I'm not from around here, right?"
"*sigh* Yes."
"Then allow me to sing you the Christmas song of my people."
"*snort* Knock yourself out."
(I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas)
I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas / Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad.
I broke my bat on Johnny's head / Roscoe snitched on me
I hid a frog in Flutter's bed / Angel snitched on me
I spilled some ink on Twilight's rug / I made Tommy eat a bug /
I bought some gum with a penny slug / and somepony snitched on me
Oh I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas / Mommy and Daddy are mad /
I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas / cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad
I won't be seein' Santa Clause / Somepony snitched on me
He won't come visit me because somepony snitched on me
Next year I'll be goin' straight / Next year I'll be good just wait
I'd start now, but it's too late / Somepony snitched on me
Oh I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas / Mommy and Daddy are mad /
I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas / cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad
So you better be good whatever you do / Cause if your bad I'm warning you /
You'll get nuttin for Christmas, NUTS!
Oh I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas / Mommy and Daddy are mad /
I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas / cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad
Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad
Silence. I looked out over the party goers. All eyes were on me. Some ponies at the back of the room started shouting.
"What the hell was that?" "Where'd he learn to sing?" "I don't know!" "Muffins!" (Et tu Derpy?)
(Oh, crap!) Just so long as they don't start throwing stuff.
"Hey, lets start throwing stuff!"
......Shit.
I flinched and waited for the bombardment of bottles and rotten fruit. Instead, I heard the tapping and clinking of coins. I peeked out and saw a small pile scattered around my hooves. They liked it? I thought about doing another song, and realized that the others I knew needed at least two people. Sighing, I slipped off stage and scraped up a few coins with my magic and stuck them in my pocket. I got about halfway back to Twilight and Derpy when it hit me. What pockets? I wasn't wearing pants, so, where did they go? I could bring them back easily, but I had no idea where they went. Trying to get rid of this thought, I sat down with my friends to enjoy the rest of the party.
The party lasted the rest of the day and into the night. My whole experience culminated in a dance off between Twilight and myself. She won, hooves down. Last time I danced someone called the EMT's because the thought I was having a seizure. I was worn out. Saying goodnight to everyone, I crawled back to my "bed" in the storage room. I shut the door with a light "click". I curled up on my blankets and tried to sleep, but I kept tossing and turning. It felt like something was jabbing me in the back. I stood up and made a small light with my magic and saw the culprit. A small wrapped bundle tied to a note. I levitated the note up to where I could read it.
~Anthony~
I know you were disappointed the other night, and I'm sorry Bon-Bon and I couldn't be there at the party. I hope this makes up for it.
~Lyra Heartstrings~
Now that I was good and curious, I opened the bundle. My phone fell to the pillow. It looked like it had been completely repaired, not a scratch on it. I kept turning it over examining it. It looked like it just came from the factory. The battery was a little odd though. I saw some rune like markings on it, the only one that vaguely looked familiar was an infinity symbol. I guess that meant infinite power? I wanted someway to keep the memories of tonight with me. I eased back out and into the front room, where the party was still going. Derpy and Twilight were standing next to the cider keg talking to that white unicorn with the diamonds for her cutie mark. Spike had wandered up and from the way he was staring at her, I figured this must be Rarity. He said something to Rarity and they all burst out laughing, while he just blushed. Heh. *click* I ducked back into my room and put the phone away. As I lay back and settled in for the night, one final thought floated through my mind.
"How did a single pony not notice my tooth?"