//------------------------------// // Chapter Six // Story: What's Out There? // by Sharky White //------------------------------// I wake up with a dry mouth and crusty eyelids. I had somehow managed to roll all the way to the front door in my sleep. With a groan and a stretch, I sit up on the floor and rub the sleep out of my eyes. A flash of white catches my eye as I blink sleepily. There is a piece of paper on the door. I pick it up and read it curiously. "Dear Star, Gone to get some herbs from Everfree Forest and Froggybottom Swamp. Be back in a few hours. In the meantime, I've scheduled a meeting with two ponies. One is named Colgate, the second is named Applejack. They both know to expect something unusual, so they shouldn't be too hard to handle. Good luck. Best wishes, Shadow Gale" "Oh great, he's leaving me alone to deal with them..." I mutter. It must have been unavoidable, otherwise he'd likely have stayed. "Colegate and Applejack... Well, I dunno about Colegate, but I'll put good money on Applejack being a part of the 'Apple' family. Since that's the biggest farming family in all of Equestria, I figure I can expect a very rural stallion." I tried to think of a way to relate to him, but I knew nothing about farming. I'd have to relate to him on a male-to-male basis. As for the Colgate pony, I had no idea what to expect. Colgate was more of a unisex name than Applejack, and the name gave me no hint as to her occupation either. I'd have to wing it... which would be ironic if Colgate turned out to be a pegasus. *knock* *knock* *knock* "Who is it?" I call. "Colgate! You don't sound like Shadow..." A femenine voice responds. Colgate was a mare. "Uhh... yeah. I'm the unusual thing Shadow told you about." "What do you mean? You sound fine to me..." "Lemme open the door and you'll see." I trot slowly over to the door and pull it open. I'm confronted by a thin unicorn mare with a light blue coat, and a half-blue, half-white mane. She gasps and falls backward. "W-w-waa--" Colgate starts to scream. I lunge forward, clap my hoof over her mouth, and drag her into the house in one stunningly fluid motion. "No no no no no, don't scream. I'm no monster, I swear! Here, I'll let you go. Don't scream." I release her and she stumbles into a corner, falling back against the wall. "What are you?!" She hisses lowly. "I don't know. Please, don't be scared. I just want to be friends." "F-friends?" The mare asks in disbelief. "Yes. Here, let's start over. Hi, I'm Star. You must be Colgate." The mare cautiously gets to her hooves. "Yes..." She mumbles warily. "Good, Shadow told me you'd be coming. You know Shadow very well?" "Uhh... I've seen him a few times... When he drops by for a check-up." "Check-up? Are you a doctor of some sort?" "I'm a dental hygenist. Dentist, that is." She states more firmly, trying to not look scared. "Oh, you would love my parents." I say with a small smile. She tilts her head. "Why?" "They owned a candy store. I'm sure they'd create plenty of buisness for you." Colgate returns my smile with a small chuckle. "Really? What are they like?" "Well, my dad is a yellow unicorn wi--" "Wait wait, your dad is a pony?" "Yes." "Then what in the name of Celestia is your mom?!" "A pony." "... I don't--" "I'm adopted." "Oh... That makes sense then." "Yeah, I don't know who or what my real mom and dad are." "Well... that's sad." "It's not so bad. I never knew them, so I really don't know what I'm missing. Anyway..." "Can... Can I see your teeth?" Colgate asks suddenly, surprising me. "Uhh... I haven't had the chance to brush in awhile..." "That's ok, I just want to see." She assures me. I was a bit hesitant, but I didn't want to upset her. "Ok..." "Yay! Ok, lay down." I lay down flat on the floor and Colgate trots over to my head. "Ok, open wide." I open my mouth slowly and Colgate leans over me to look. I see her horn light up and I feel a tingly sensation on my teeth. "Brushie, brushie, brushie..." She begins to hum to herself. "What are y--" "Shush!" She scolds, forcing my mouth back open with magic. I panic a little, but allow her to continue. After a few minutes of tingling in my mouth, she backs off with a smile. "You've got a pretty mouth!" She announces happily. "... I beg your pardon?" "Your mouth! It's really pretty. You've got all these different teeth! Sharp ones, flat ones, they're so different from the teeth I'm used to seeing. I can tell you take good care of them too, I just gave you a quick cleaning to make them shine!" "Thank... you." "You should come by my place! I could get a more in-depth look." "As tempting as that sounds, I'm afraid I can't leave this place." I sit back up and lick my teeth curiously. They taste slightly... minty. "Why not?" The dentist whines, tapping her hooves poutily against the floor. "Because the majority of the ponies here don't know me. There's a good chance I'll get attacked again." "What do you mean again?" "I mean when I first came here I got attacked by a huge mob of ponies." "Oh... Hey! I have an idea! I'll help spread the word about a nice monster-like thing. Then, when ponies are calm enough to not freak out, you can come visit me!" "... Sure, why not?" "Promise?" The mare asks intensely, leaning toward me. "Y-yeah, promise." "Yay! I'll get right on it! See you soon Star!" Colgate darts out of the house eagerly, and I can't help but wonder if I made a mistake agreeing to her idea. At least she hadn't bothered to notice my lack of a sheath, which only reinforced my parent's objections to my wearing clothes all the time. In any case, I just put the event aside in my mind. I still had to prepare for the Applejack fellow. I had been doing well so far with my 'winging it', but I would feel safer with a plan. "Let's see, relate to him as a stallion... uhhh... 'Ya see the game last night?' ... Nah, I don't even know if there was any kind of sports game last night. 'Any fine mares here?'. No, I don't want to sound like a perv or something. *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* A powerful banging came from the door, causing me to jump slightly. "Well, so much for having time to make a plan..." I mutter to myself. This stallion was pretty strong to make a sound like that. "Who is it?" "Applejack!" A shockingly femenine voice answers. "An' who are you? Ya sure don' sound like Shadow." I quickly move to the door and pull it open. In front of me is an orange earth pony mare with a blond mane and a hat that looked like something out of the old cowpony books I read. "You aren't a stallion!" I exclaim in surprise. The mare steps back and gazes at me with wide eyes. "... Whoooee, Shadow said he had somethin' strange, Ah wasn't expecting it to be this strange." "You aren't scared?" I ask curiously. It had been foolish of me to just throw the door open, but luckily this mare appeared to be pretty brave. "Nah, Shadow said the thing, bein' you, is nice, an' Ah trust him." "Oh... well, would you like to come in?" "Sure." The orange cowmare trots into the house nonchalantly. "Sorry Ah'm late, by the way." "You are?" "Yeah. Shadow wanted me here at sunup ta talk to 'im before he left. There was a problem with mah mornin' chores though, so Ah'm a bit late." "I see. So, my name is Star. You're Applejack. How nice to meet you." I extend a forehoof towards her as she closes the door behind herself. She accepts the hoofshake warmly, placing her hoof in mine and shaking me vigorously. When she's done, I see stars and my eyes seem to be rolling around. "Nice ta meet ya. So, what brings ya to Ponyville?" "I came here to make friends and get out of my house." "What was wrong with yer house?" "Nothing really, I had just been there for nearly 18 years." Applejack's eyes widen. "Whoo boy, 18 years? Why?" "My parents were afraid other ponies would freak out and attack me or something." "What?! That's ridiculous! We here at Ponyville would never, eve--" "Yeah, I got attacked by a mob when I got here." ".... Oh. Well uhhh... Ah'm sorry." "Not your fault, I don't think. Unless you're the one that yelled 'get him'." "Well gosh, Ah can't believe that happened Star. Ah'm sorry, and Ah'm sure the ones that went after ya will apologize too once they know you were just tryin' to be friendly." "I certainly hope so. Enough about me though, how are you? How's the farm?" "The farm and Ah are just fine, thank ya fer asking. We're gonna have to shut down soon, winter is comin' on fast." "Is that a bad thing?" "Well, it means money's gonna stop comin', but Ah'm gonna have a lot more time on mah hooves as well. Ah can't wait for a bit of a break." "Good! Glad you've got something to look forward to. Speaking of tight money situations, do you happen to know where I could make some bits? I wanna help Shadow out." I waved around the ragged house. "You know, after I can walk around freely." Applejack curls a hoof under her chin and thinks for a moment. "Well, what can ya do? Ya don't look too strong or nuthin, so what're ya good at?" "Well, I'm really smart, I can use magic, I know nearly everything there is about making candy, and I have some rough knowledge of a few languages." "Well... maybe you could get a job as a tutor or somethin'. Last I hear, some of Cheerilee's students were complanin' about not understanding some of the stuff she taught 'em." "Good idea Applejack. That actually sounds like fun." "No problem Star, Ah'm happy ta-- Oh fer the love of Celestia, can ya cover that thing up? Ah know ya can't help it, but it's distracting." Applejack turns away from me hastily, pointing a hoof at my lower body. "Oh, sorry. Nopony else seemed to mind. I'd love to cover up, but my clothes have been thrown away. I don't really have anything else." "Ah guess it's no big deal. Oh! Ah can go see iff'n Granny Smith can knit somethin' fer ya if you'd like." "I'd love that, actually. You don't have to th--" "Hush, it's no trouble at all." "Well thanks then. So, what do we do now?" "Well, can ya tell me more about yerself? Like what 'cha are and the like?" "Actually, I can't. I don't know what I am." "What? How do ya not know what you are?" "I just don't. In all the reading I've done, which is a considerable amount, I've never discovered anything in any writing that even remotely resembled me. Excepting minotaurs and centaurs, but even they aren't quite the same." "Huh, that's mighty strange. Ah can't imagine not even knowin' what Ah was." "Eh, it's not so bad when there's no alternative." "So what're yer parents then? Ah'm assumin' you were adopted by ponies from the way ya talk about 'em." "Correct. Actually my--" "Wait wait wait, did ya say you could use magic earlier?" Applejack suddenly interrupts. I sigh deeply. "I wish everypony would stop being startled by that. Yes, I can use magic." "H--" "I don't need a horn to use it, no. No, I don't know how. I just can." "... Ok, well Ah should get goin' now. Ah still got work to do yet." "Really? Well, I won't keep you. Have fun, Applejack." "Ha ha, Ah will Star. Best a' luck to ya in your friend-making." Applejack gives me a warm smile as she leaves. With her gone, I go back to my corner and sit against the wall. "Whew... This stuff is nerve wracking." I mutter to myself. Straining to keep from making a bad impression on beings that naturally assume you're a monster is difficult. "I certainly hope I don't have to meet many more ponies before I can actually do stuff. After all, I've basically run away from being stuck in a house, just to end up stuck in a house." "Hello?" A voice calls from nearby. I freeze up. "Is somepony here?" It continues. It's masculine. "I'd swear I heard talking." "Uhhh... Yeah! In here!" I shout suddenly, deciding to make a friend on my own. "Whoa! Who's in Shadow's house?!" The voice shouts accusingly. "I-it's me, Star. I'm a friend of Shadow's." "Yeah, sure. Hold it Star, I'm comin' in!" The stallion gallops to the front door and throws it open. It's a green stallion with a light blue mane and a halo as a cutie mark. "What th--" I magically tug him into the house and slam the door behind him before he can scream. "Yes yes, I get it. I look like a monster. I'm not. I don't know what I am, but I'm only here to make friends and see the world outside my house. Shadow took me in and that's why I'm here." "... Ok." The stallion says understandingly. "What?" "I said ok. I can see you're telling the truth." He states simply. "... What... you just know?" "Yeah. It's my talent." He points to the halo cutie mark. "Keeping ponies honest. That means I can tell when somepony is lying from a mile away." "Oh. Well. That saved me a whole lot of time. Well, as long as you're here, let's talk for a bit." The stallion nods in agreement and taps his horn thoughtfully. I hadn't realized he was a unicorn. "Well, my name is Truth Seer. I'm a detective. What's your whole name and occupation?" "I'm Star Watcher, and to be honest I have no real occupation yet, other than learning." "Ah. Well, it's nice to meet you. I--" "Truth!!" A femenine voice calls. Truth suddenly looks mildly panicked. "Have to go! I'll come back to talk more soon, bye!" Truth vanishes faster than any pony yet, leaving the door open in his wake. "That was odd." I say to myself as I shut the door gently using my magic. Once again, I am left in the house by myself, so I pull out my magic book. "What Shadow doesn't know won't hurt him, right?" I flip the book open to the 'Protection Spells' page. I'm faced with a list of various wards and fields used for defense against different things. Most were surprisingly specific, but there were a few all-around shields as well. The only one I had ever actually been allowed to practice was the weakest all-around shield, simply named 'Protective Barrier I'. With a simple downward movement of my eyes, I locate 'Protective Barrier II'. All it really required was an increase in the amount of energy put into the spell. With a flick of my hoof and a grunt, a dark blue barrier, slightly thicker than usual, comes into existance from the ground to the ceiling. "Ok Star, I'm home!" Shadow calls as he opens the door and trots in. He gasps when he sees the barrier. "Star!! I told you not to pr--" Then the wall across from me explodes in and something slams into my shield.