A Bad Day to Fish

by FlashKenshin77

13 - The Party Breakdown

The rest of the girls, minus Fluttershy, were already there and they looked as Martin, Pinkie, and AJ came in. Pinkie looked at him, unhappy. "You haven't told her yet?" She asked.
He looked at her dumbfounded. "Told her what?"
"That you really, really, realllly li-"
He quickly covered her mouth. "Don’t say it out loud."
"But why not; everypony deserves to have a special somepony…" She somehow said around his hand.
He quickly looked around and made sure AJ wasn’t close by. "Yes but ya don’t understand." She sat down and looked at him, waiting for him to explain. He sighed and looked; AJ and the others were talking and putting up decorations. "It's just that… I'm a human… and she's a pony… how do ya think that'll work out?"
She started talking too fast for him to understand and it didn’t help that he held her mouth shut. He removed his hand, letting her speak freely. "What about Mike and Shy? He was human but he still followed his heart; why does it matter what we are when we're in love?" She asked, dramatically holding a hoof to her chest.
He stared at her blankly. "I understand what you're trying to say but I'll have to talk to Mike about this… he'll understand." He said, deciding to go visit him in the hospital. She frowned but understood she couldn’t help and went to help the others finish the party decorations.

=

"Hey Nurse Redheart, is it alright if I visit Michael?"
She looked up from her stack of papers. "Sure, just make sure you knock first." She winked.
He smiled and nodded, making his way to the room. He knocked twice before he slowly opened the door. "Hey Mike."
Fluttershy and Mike looked at him, Fluttershy feeding him some wonderful hospital food. "Hey…" He said, sounding tired.
Martin looked at Fluttershy. "Um… can I talk to Mike privately for a minute?" He asked, trying to be as polite as possible.
She looked at him before nodding; setting the food on the table next to the bed and nuzzling Mike's cheek, making both of their faces turn bright red. She smiled and left, shutting the door behind her. Martin watched the door shut.
"I gotta ask for your advice…." He said hesitantly.
Mike blinked, surprised. "Sure; what's on your mind?"
Martin scratched the back of his head. "Well… it's about AJ…"
Mike smiled. "Trying to figure out how to tell her?
"Well… that's a problem as well… I can't get over the fact that I'm a human and she's a horse… it just seems weird ya know? I've been thinking about it more closely."
Mike raised an eyebrow and stared at the blob. "Do you honestly see them as only horses? Do horses have a culture, a society, a means of writing stuff down and magic or the ability to fly?"
"Ya know what I mean… I see them as more than just horses… it's just… how would that work out?"
Mike shrugged. "How did I get turned into one? We can't always explain it… if you really want to be with someone or in this case, somepony, you're going to have to think about it and ask yourself if you're ready to at least try the relationship."
Martin frowned, staring at the ground. After a few seconds, a light bulb seem to appear over his head. "What if…" He muttered, quickly turning around and running out of the room.
Mike stared at his disappearing form before he sighed. "That was interesting…"
Fluttershy slowly came back into the room, looking at him, confused. "Um… What has gotten into him?" She asked quietly.
He looked at her. "I don’t really know, one minute we were talking then he just bolted out of the room…"
She sighed.

=

Martin ran back to the Sugarcube Corner, ponies staring at him. He could see it in the distance; ponies surrounded the door, the party still in full swing. He sighed; annoyed that it was still party central.
Pinkie waited by the front door and when she saw him, she jumped up and down, waving enthusiastically.
He slowed down, walking towards her. "Hey Pinkie."
"Hey Marty, was your talk with Mikey helpful?" She asked.
He scratched his neck. "More or less…"
She leaned in close. "So are you gonna tell her?"
He blankly looked at her before walking over to the snack bar. The girls were off by the counter, chatting amongst themselves.
"Should we go get the hospital couple?" Rarity asked.
He looked around, all the noises overwhelming his senses. Ponies talked, laughed, and danced all too close to him. He walked away from the cluster of ponies and leaned against the wall, trying to hear his own thoughts; he stared at nothing.
A hoof rested gently on his arm. "Martin, ya feeling ok; you're lookin' a little pale…" AJ said.
He snapped out of it, glancing frantically around before he noticed the orange mare. "Oh... it's just that I'm really no fan of parties, ya know…"
She nodded. "Ah get where yer coming from, but the party's for you… and well Mike when he was a human, but still."
He agreed with a sigh. "Yeah… I know and I appreciate everything…"
She faintly smiled. "Then try and lighten up and enjoy yerself… ya never know what happens." She said, flicking her tail in his face before heading back to the others.
He stood there and took a few deep breaths before following her.
"Hey there darling, how are you?" Rarity said as she saw him.
He felt dizzy and nauseous, the world slowly spinning. "I-I'm… ok…"
They noticed his face had gone pale. "Ya don’t look ok…" AJ said.
"Maybe you should go lay down?" Twilight suggested.
"Lay down; at his party? But everypony came here to see him!" Pinkie said, appearing out of nowhere.
He looked at her, the room rapidly spinning. His heart rate skyrocketed as he held a hand on his chest, taking fast breaths. His body started to shake as AJ's eyes appeared in front of his, her hooves holding the side of his head.
"Look at me and only me." She commanded. "Just take a few breaths…" He stared at her and his breathing slowed down but he was still shaking. "Good." She said, taking her hooves and grabbing his hand. "Just take it easy…" She said, leading him to a stool and forcing him to sit down.
He frantically looked around the room; the noise seemed to be closing in on him as he felt his chest tightening. "Hey." She said, forcing his head towards her again. "Look at me and only me. Just imagine it's us." She put a drink in his hand. "Do ya trust me?"
He stared at her blankly with the glass shaking. "I… o-of course…."
She nodded. "Then drink, it'll relax yer nerves… trust me."
He stared at the drink before he raised it to his lips; it was the same thing he'd drank at the pub, just with stronger alcohol. "Ah asked Pinkie if Ah could bring mah on drinks." She said hesitantly.
He lowered the glass, the strong taste traveling down his throat. "I… I need some air." He said, dropping the glass and quickly getting off the stool.
She grabbed his hand and led him through the ponies, before leading him outside. He stared at the sky and took deep breaths, starting to calm down as he lowered his head and closed his eyes. "Thank you…"
"No problem." She said quietly.
He opened his eyes and saw a bench not that far away and he tumbled towards it, sitting down. She followed him and sat next to him, quiet as he leaned against the back of the bench, his breathing starting to go back to normal. "You ok?" She finally asked.
He finally noticed the alcohol taking effect as he looked at her. "Much better now…"
She raised an eyebrow. "That’s good, Ah'm glad." He had a dazed look on his face. "Maybe Ah put a little too much alcohol in there." She looked at him worriedly. "Ah'll be right back, Ah'll go get ya a glass of water." She said, starting to get up.
He grabbed her shoulder. "No… stay here…" She paused and let him push her back on the bench. "AJ… d-do ya wanna meet sometime?" He asked, staring into her eyes.
"At the farm?" She looked at him confused.
"No… I mean, like a date…" He said, his face flushed with alcohol and embarrassment.
"Oh." She blankly stared at him before it seemed to register in her mind. "OH!!" She blushed, her freckles highlighted. "Uh… sure…"
He smiled. "What day is today?"
She thought for a moment. "Thursday Ah believe…"
He nodded. "How about Saturday?"
She blinked. "That… that'll work."
"Where to go though?"
"Um… there's a café close by, one of us could go make reservations?" She offered.
He nodded, looking at the sky again. "I'll go do it… does six in the afternoon sound any good to you?"
She nodded. "That sounds perfect." She smiled. "So…it's a date?"
He smiled at her, his cheeks a bit red. "Yup."
She got up. "Well… Ah better go tell the girls before they find out the hard way…"
He chuckled. "Probably for the best…"
She flicked her tail at him. "You gonna be alright by yerself?"
"Don’t worry, I'll be fine."
She smiled at him. "Ok... then Ah guess Ah'll see ya later?"
"Yeah…" He said, rubbing the back of his neck.
She nodded, waving goodbye as he watched her head back into the Sugarcube Corner. "Wow…" He muttered to himself, sitting there staring at the ground for a moment. He sighed and got up, heading towards the hospital.

=

When he got there, he saw Redheart leaving, papers being filed away; she wasn’t paying attention and he had to move out the way. "Hello Nurse Redheart."
She paused and blinked, finally noticing him. "Oh, hello there; how's the arm?"
He looked at his arm, sling less. "Um… can't complain…"
She raised an eyebrow, looking at him skeptically. "You ok? You seem a little flushed…" She leaned forward.
"Umm… y-yeah, I'm fine." He said, quickly walking past her. "Good day Nurse!" He yelled back at her, walking into the hospital, hoping to avoid a detailed conversation.
He opened the door and saw Fluttershy walking down the hall, carrying a basket in her mouth. She smiled at him. "Hey Fluttershy, how's Mike doing?"
"Oh… he's fine... he's just taking a little nap." She said, blushing.
He nodded and walked passed her as she walked out of the hospital. He went into Mike's room and saw him peacefully asleep, snoring quietly. He chuckled and sat down in the chair in the corner of the room, waiting for him to wake up.
A few moments later, Mike groggily opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "Hey mate, sleep well?" Martin asked, walking over by his bedside.
Mike blinked and turned his head. "Oh hey…" He squinted, trying to make out the blob. "Martin?"
"Yup…"
"Yeah… I guess I did…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be with AJ?"
Martin blushed. "I was… guess who got himself a date?"
Mike grinned. "Nicely done!" He held out a forehoof. "So ya finally asked her?"
"Yup." He said, bumping his fist against the hoof.
"So… when is it?"
"Saturday at six o'clock."
"Nice… well, I wish you luck my friend."
He nodded. "Thanks."
"What do the others think?"
"I don’t know… she wanted to tell the others."
"Oh…"
Pinkie magically appeared out of nowhere. "Way to go Marty!" She yelled, hugging him.
"Wha-what?!" He asked, panicking as Pinkie squeezed him tighter.
Mike blinked. "Did Pinkie just appear out of thin air?"
Martin stared at the epitome of pink. "Um… Pinkie?"
"Yes?" She asked, looking up at him.
"Doesn’t matter…"
She giggled and let go before turning around and looking at Mike, producing a plate of cupcakes out of her mane. "Here you go sleepy head, since you can't come to the party." She said, putting them in his hooves before trotting towards the door.
Martin watched her. "Sorry that I left earlier."
She paused in mid hop. "It's no biggie, I understand. I didn’t think having that many ponies for a party would scare you that much."
Mike looked at Martin, curious.
Martin frowned. "It doesn’t have to do with them… well at least it's nothing personal, I'm claustrophobic."
She stared at him and Mike tried not to laugh.
He sighed. "I suppose ya don’t know what it means, aye?" She shook her head rapidly. "Well… it’s a phobia. When I'm around big groups of people in a small space… well, ya saw what happened."
"Oh…" she said. "But that’s silly, why are you afraid of all your friends?"
"It has nothing to do with them; it’s the place that matters… I would've been fine if the party was outside."
"Oh, well why didn't you say so?" She said, disappearing from the room.
They watched her vanish. "I'll never understand that pink blob of happiness." Martin said.
Mike shook his head. "Neither will I, but I guess that’s just normal for her."
Martin shrugged." Oh yeah, forgot to tell you; I got a job now."
"Oh really; where?"
"At the smiths."
"Really? Congrats…" He smiled. "Just moving right into place."
"Yep."
Mike paused and looked at the sheets. "I wonder what's going to happen when I get out…"
Martin grinned. "How about you and Fluttershy move in together, aye?"
He sighed. "I… I don’t know about that…" He muttered, staring at the sheets.
"Hey… come on mate, heads up."
There was silence. … "Can I ask a personal question?" Mike asked.
Martin leaned closer. "Course, ya know you can share your thoughts with me.""
Mike took a few deep breaths. "What if this whole thing with Fluttershy is because she feels sorry for me? We just met a few days ago…" Tear drops fell onto the bed. "I… I think I'm just a charity case for her…"
Martin placed a reassuring hand on Mike's shoulder. "I don’t think so… I know her better than that. There was a bit of a moment when we got you here after the attack.""
Mike looked up. "Really?"
Martin nodded. "She was making herself responsible for all the injuries you got and she began crying. She was worried sick about you and no one would've been as worried as her if they wouldn’t care about you as more than a friend. I assure you that she likes ya just as much as you like her."
Mike stared at the cupcakes. "Thanks…" He whispered.
"Even if she doesn’t like you as much as you do her… I always go your back. If you die, I don’t have a meat shield anymore, so I gotta take care of ya. You're one of the most important peo-ponies in my life, I couldn’t let ya die."
Mike faintly smiled. "Same here… us human/human-pony hybrid gotta stick together, aye?" He asked, holding a hoof out again. "Besides, AJ or Twilight would kill me if I let ya die…"
Martin chuckled and bumped his fist against the offered hoof. "Aye…"
A pony sniffled and they turned to see Fluttershy standing in the doorway. "Is that what you were worried about?" She asked Mike. He was silent, unsure what to say. Martin quickly moved aside as she got closer to the bed. "You think I did all this to pity you?" She asked, her voice small and shaky.
"…I was scared Fluttershy… I keep getting hurt and you were always there for me… I don’t have the self pride… especially since I got turned into a pony were I can't even do the simplest things… and you kept helping me… I was afraid you felt sorry for me and took care of me because you pitied me…" Mike looked down, his face red and with tears hitting the sheet.
Martin silently made his way to the open window and thanking that the room was on the first floor, hopped out of it to avoid interrupting their moment.
"I would never want to hurt you… I could never... because.. bec-" She began to stutter, her face bright red.
He looked up at her. "Because?" He asked, his voice weak.
Her face turned almost the same color as her mane as her jaw started to quiver. "Because… I…"
He watched her, waiting for her response. She took a deep breath before she leaned in close, her face mere inches from his as she looked him in the eyes. "Because… I… I really like… you…" She whispered, her face brighter than Pinkie.
All the blood went straight to his face and he rivaled Fluttershy's blush. "I-I-I-" He paused and leaned forward, gently kissing her on the lips. She looked startled, her face turning even redder before she closed her eyes and enjoyed the kiss. A few minutes later, they separated their lips. "I know…" He whispered, a small smile on his face.
She smiled as she stared at the floor, embarrassed.
"I-I'm sorry." He muttered.
She nuzzled his cheek before her lips connected with his once more; their faces bright red as they both closed their eyes and were lost in passion.
Martin watched from afar, underneath a nearby tree with a large grin on his face.
"It's so adorable ain't it?" Discord asked as he held out a bag of popcorn towards Martin. "Popcorn?"
Martin quickly turned his head and fell over, looking at the demigod. He started to crawl away as fast as he could.
"I take it no popcorn?" He snapped his fingers and the human flew towards him. Martin stared at Discord in horror, helpless in the air. "What's with the look of pure fear?" He asked with a smile.
"Wh-what do you want?!" Martin asked, full of fear and anger.
Discord shrugged. "Just bored and checking on you two…" He glanced through the window. "Seems we got a lovey dovey couple."
"Don’t you dare touch them!" He yelled, struggling against the magic.
Discord held a claw over his chest. "Well I'm just insulted you'd ever think I would harm ponies in love."
"Actions say more than words!"
"What have I done? You should be thanking me for saving your friend!"
Martin glared at him. "I'm sure the princess could name a few things, aye!?"
He snapped his fingers and Martin fell on his bad arm, hard. "Oh please, that’s water under the bridge."
Martin yelled in pain. "Ya little shit." He got back to his feet, holding his arm tenderly.
Discord glared at him. "Just remember who you owe a favor too… but don’t worry, I'll be cashing that in really soon." He snapped his fingers again and a midnight blue feather appeared in Martin's hand, covered in blood. Tootles. He said, disappearing once more.
Martin stared at the feather in horror. "Martin… what do you have?" Dash stared in horror, sneaking up on him. "Why do you have that feather?!"
He ignored her and stared at the open window, he could see them hugging and Mike looked like he was pain.
"Hello, Equestria to alien, don’t ignore me!" Dash demanded, flying in front of him.
He pushed her out of the way and quickly ran towards the window, hopping through it. Fluttershy eeped in fear, looking at him. "M-martin, what's wrong?" She asked, only to notice the feather and her eyes grew wide.
"Martin? The hell is going on?" Mike asked as he grabbed Fluttershy's shaking hoof and turned to look at Martin's blob.
He looked at the feather. "I… I can't protect you… I failed…"
Mike blinked. "What in the world are you talking about?"
Martin sunk to his knees. "I can't do anything… I-he…"
Mike looked at Fluttershy before grunting and forcing himself out of the bed, struggling to held back the pain. She tried to stop him but he forced his way through, the machines going crazy. He lowered himself to Martin's height and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Martin, what are you talking about? You saved me, remember?"
He shook his head. "No… I can't stop him…" He held up the bloody feather. "There is nothing I can do… I'm useless…"
Mike stared at it. "What is that? I… I can't see it." He said, squinting at it.
"It-it's your feather…" Fluttershy said, horrified.
"My what now? Feather?" He said dumbly. "Oh yeah… it must've fallen off when that manticore attacked me." He looked at her. "I don’t get what's the big deal…"
"D-Discord… he did something…" Martin stuttered.
"Oh? What… what did he do? Did I miss something?" Mike asked, looking around.
"He… he didn’t harm you?"
Mike blinked. "Discord harm me? No… of course not… why would he?" He asked, horribly confused.
Martin stared at the feather. "He gave me this feather… where did it come from?"
Mike struggled and opened a wing, gasping in pain as he put it close to the feather. "Does it match?"
"Yes… yes it does…"
He let his wing fall back to his side. "Huh… I'm not sure, maybe he picked it up from the forest?"
Martin shook his head. "No… he used his magic to pull it out… at least I assume he did."
Fluttershy grabbed the other wing and gently extended it, examining the feathers with a cute little blush on her cheeks. She gasped and pointed to a spot. "He's missing a primary here…" She trailed off…
Martin looked at the spot. Did you feel a stinging pain just a few seconds ago?
"…Yeah, why?... Oh…"
"If he can simply pull out one of your feathers… there is nothing I can do to stop him if he plans to do anything worse…" Martin said, looking at the floor.
There was silence as no one understood why Discord would do it until Mike started to chuckle that turned into full blown laughter. Fluttershy and Martin shared a brief look as Mike held his side.
"Why are you laughing?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.
Mike paused and took a deep breath. "So we've been here for what, five days… and I've broken a rib, had a seizure that made Celestia turn me into a pony, and got my side tore open by a rare manticore and nearly died." He looked at Martin. "And you broke your arm twice and were nearly thrown in jail… He took a deep breath. "And now we gotta worry about Discord? Well"- He fell flat on his face, passed out.
Martin quickly picked him up, his arm almost giving out.
"W-what happened to him?" Fluttershy asked, worriedly looking at him.
"He just passed out." Martin said, grimacing.
She noticed his right arm shaking with the strain. "Maybe I should go get a doctor to look at your arm…"
"Maybe…" He agreed quietly.
She nodded and quickly left the room as Martin put Mike back on the bed. He sat at the edge, holding his bad arm. A few minutes later, a doctor and Fluttershy soon walked in, the doctor taking one look at Martin before sighing.
"What did you do now?" He asked, trotting over to Martin. "I swear, you humans like to get hurt, don’t you?" He muttered.
Martin was silent as he held his arm out for the doctor to look at and followed his instructions. The doctor finally sighed. "Well… that’s good; I thought you reinjured your arm." He stared at Martin. "I want you to not use this arm at all for at least the rest of the week."
Martin sighed. "Ok… I'll try."
"If you keep injuring it, we're going to have to keep you in here for the entire healing process to make sure you don’t damage it beyond what we can fix." The doctor said flatly.
"…On second thought, I'll make sure not to use it."
He chuckled. "That’s what they usually say." He turned to look at the unconscious pegasus and walked over to the bed and gave him a quick look over. "What happened to him?"
"Um…" Martin began, unsure if he should say.
"Well… I guess I shouldn’t know…" He shook his head and looked at Fluttershy. "Just make sure he stays in bed; we'll have to keep him an extra night." He nodded to Martin before leaving the room. "I've seen them more often than either Derpy or Dash." He muttered as he left.
She nodded and sat down on the bed, running a hoof through Mike's mane.
Martin sighed and got off the bed. "I better get goin'… I still have to a make a reservation…"
Fluttershy looked at him. "A reservation; for what? I mean… if you want to tell me…"
He blushed. "Well… um… I-I got a date with AJ…"
She smiled. "Congratulations…."
He scratched the back of his neck, nervous. "Yeah… thanks…" He said, waving goodbye and disappearing down the hall.
Fluttershy sighed and continued to run her hoof through Mike's mane as he unconsciously nuzzled her stomach.