//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: The Endless Void // by Charis Mokestis //------------------------------// “I was actually sent to look for you, you know. Princess Luna told us that our final pony had been found; of course, she didn’t know he was going to sleep over half the day away,” Cypress said with a laugh. “Sorry…I couldn’t sleep last night and…I’m sort of a very heavy sleeper,” I replied, feeling really embarrassed. Cypress simply patted me on the back, “Now look here, Techno; everypony is going to make mistakes,” he chuckled, looking over at me, “I remember my first day here, the guards had to send out a rescue team to find me.” I laughed, feeling a little better; “Really? You don’t seem like the type who could easily get lost,” I replied, smiling at him. “Now, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have gotten lost but…you’ve seen the size of this castle,” he said with a smile. I was feeling much better; Cypress was a really cool stallion and seemed to say the right thing at the right time. “Ah, here we are,” he said as he pointed to a door; “…It’s a door,” I said to him. “Really? Now I thought it was a cabbage pie,” he laughed, making me feel stupid again, “go inside the door, is what I mean.” I gave myself a mental slap, groaning at my own stupidity; “I knew that…just tired is all…” I said as I walked inside the room. Once I was in, I saw a few ponies reading books, saw two flying, and the last was practicing magic. “Well, these are your crewmates, what do you think?” Cypress said from behind; “I…I’m not sure, to be honest,” I replied. I didn’t know these ponies; they all just looked like regular ponies to me. “Our captain seems to be missing,” he said as he took a quick survey around, “probably with the Princess, discussing things.” Okay, so we have a farmer and a pony good with technology, also have these other ponies who I have no idea about, and now we have a captain; Sweet Celestia, it’s like Lost all over again, the further you go the more confusing it gets. “Well go on, talk to somepony,” Cypress said as he pushed me forward a little; “Whoa, what exactly am I supposed to say? ‘Hey, I’m a random pony, you don’t know me at all and I have no idea who you are but we should talk.’ Wow, you’re so nice, Techno, this pony’s trying to help you and you’re being a total asshole. “Uhm…sorry about that, Cypress, I’m not good at meeting new ponies,” I said to try and not seem like a jerk. “Well, just go up to them and introduce yourself; watch out for the two pegasi though, they like to target the new pony.” That could either mean beat up, or try and single out to me; “Target them…and beat them up?” Cypress laughed, “Uhm…I’m sure you’ll figure out soon enough what I mean,” he replied. I shrugged, and decided to walk around the room. After a couple seconds, I saw a familiar face; “Hey, I remember you…didn’t we see each other last night?” I asked the velvet mare in front of me. She turned around, sitting down and starting to blush again. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I told her as I sat down also; “I’m apparently the newest pony in this…group of sorts,” I told her. She blinked for a couple seconds, and then looked around with a still bright blush on her face. “I can leave, if you want,” I offered; she shook her head as I saw another mare come over. She was entirely new to me; she was a unicorn for one, and she had a light purple coat and a light red mane. She was about average height for a mare, about five or so inches taller than the mare she was walking towards. Once this mysterious mare arrived, she leaned forward and the other mare started to whisper to her. She nodded, looking over at me, and back at who I guess was her friend. “Alright, I’ll tell him,” she said as she walked towards me, clearing her throat. “Aloe says she’s sorry for the way she acted; you see, she’s very shy around stallions,” the mare told me, “she hopes she didn’t freak you out, or cause you to think she’s weird.” I shook my head, looking back at the pony I now knew as Aloe; “It’s alright, Aloe, I just thought you were a shy pony is all, not weird.” She smiled at hearing that, whispering something to the other mare; “She says thank you, and that you seem like a nice stallion, Techno.” I nodded, and looked at the speaker for Aloe; “Well you know my name’s Techno, can I ask who you are?” I asked her as I looked back at Aloe for a second. “Me? My name’s Rosemary, but everypony calls me Rosie,” she said with a smile, “it’s great to meet you, Techno, you’re the 9th member?” I shrugged, looking at her with a confused expression; “I guess, but I have no idea what I’m the 9th member of,” I replied. “Aww, you poor thing,” she said as she pulled me in for a hug, “nopony explained it to you?” She asked in a very soothing voice; why was I being reminded of my mother? “No…Princess Luna said I’d learn all I need to know today,” I replied as she started to rub my back. “Well, Rosie can help with that little problem,” Rosemary told me as she broke the hug, “don’t you worry at all.” I smiled, this mare was so motherly and caring; the kind of pony you’d want to be adopted by because she’s just that awesome. “Thanks, Rosie, you’re too nice,” I told her; she simply giggled and looked at me with a smile still present, “I’m just very kind hearted,” she told me. Wow, all three of the ponies I met here were pretty awesome; even if one of them is too shy to talk to me, she seemed really nice. “So, Techno, what would you like to know?” She asked as she lead me to the nearest table; “well, first I’d like to know what I’m doing here.” She nodded, tapping her chin for a second; probably thinking of what exactly to say. “Well, Princess Luna has gathered the nine of us because she says we’re the most qualified for a mission she wishes to set in motion; I’d tell you what it is but, I guess she was waiting for everypony to be here.” I nodded, writing that down, “Alright, guess we’re all going to find out in a day or so?” She nodded, looking around, “How about you go meet everypony else? I can tell you’ve already met me, Cypress, and Aloe Vera; go meet the others that are here,” she added as she turned me over to yet another mare; she was kind of like Rosemary, mostly because her mane was a light purple like Rose’s coat, and her coat was a nice orange, but she was an earth pony. Should I be worried that I had seen the cutie mark of the stallion I saw, but hadn’t seen the cutie mark of the three mares I saw? I shook my head, and walked over to the mare; “Hello, I’m Techno,” I told her. She looked over at me, and checked me out a little; “You’re the 9th, I take it?” She asked me. She looked strong also, just like Cypress; “That’s true, well that’s what everypony has said anyways.” She offered a hoof, and I, of course, accepted it; “Name’s Magnolia, pleasure to meet you, Techno.” I decided to sit next to her, so that I could get to know her a little; “So, Magnolia, why are you here?” I asked her. “Well, like Cypress over there, I’m a farmer as well.” This was getting weird, two farmers? What was she going to do with two farmers and a nerd like me; and what do Aloe Vera and Rosemary do? Are they farmers also, or are they something else? “Hey, Techno, everything alright?” I heard Magnolia ask me; “Hmm? Oh, sorry yes; just got lost in thought it seems,” I said with a light chuckle. She laughed a little also, “You know, you remind me of somepony else in our group.” I was baffled at what she meant by that; “I…do?” I asked her, looking back to her with curiosity. “Yep, I’m surprised you haven’t met her yet,” she replied; “you both seem like you’d get along nicely, she thinks a lot too.” As I took a quick look around, I noticed that only seven ponies were present in this room, including myself; “Uhm…is she here? In this room?” Magnolia took a quick look around as well, and tapped her hoof for a second; “Guess she’s out somewhere; sorry about that, Techno.” I sighed, “It’s fine; I’ll meet her later I guess.” I stood up, and decided to walk outside to where the two Pegasi were flying; “Be careful with those two,” I heard Magnolia say behind me. I looked back at her, confused again; “Why? Are they jerks?” She shook her head, whispering to me; “They’ll try and prank you every chance they get…” she told me. Oh great, it was 3rd grade all over again; two ponies always trying to prank me. I breathed in deeply, and walked outside to them; “Uhm…hello,” I called out to them. Both of them stopped mid flight, and flew down to the ground to see me. “You have any idea who this guy is, Turbulence?” The one on the left asked; “Not a single clue,” replied the other one. The one on the left approached me, looking me over. “Who are you, stranger?” He asked in a stern tone, kind of like the guards I met; “I’m Techno, and you both are?” I asked. They looked at each other for a couple seconds; they looked a lot alike to be honest. They both had a blue coat, except the one on the left was light blue while the other was darker blue; plus the lighter one had fire red mane, while the darker one had a black mane. “I’m Zephyrus,” said the light one; “this is my younger brother, Turbulence.” That would explain why they looked so much alike; “Nice to meet you both, everypony has been calling me Number 9.” They both got the, “That’s what he’s doing here” face as I heard them both go “Ohh.” Zephyrus patted me on the back; “Nice to meet you, welcome aboard…now, you might want to go talk to Princess Luna,” he said as his brother smirked a little. Why did they want me to go talk to Princess Luna? “Uhm…alright…nice to meet you guys,” I said as I walked back inside. Magnolia was waiting by the entrance, and ripped something off my back; “Coming out of the closet, are we?” She asked as I looked at the note reading “I love cock.” I looked at the two brothers laughing their asses off; “So that’s why they wanted me to leave,” I said as I tore the note up. “I warned you about them,” Magnolia added; “I’ve been bullied most of my school life, this isn’t something new to me,” I replied as I threw the paper away. I just prayed that was the only thing they were going to do; “They’re going to do more…aren’t they?” I asked, already knowing the answer. “Yep…best of luck to you, Techno.” Great, it was pretty much a carbon copy of grade school, and I don’t even have a teacher that I could tell and they’d stop. Well, I’m a pretty okay stallion, maybe if I can pull a better prank on them they’d leave me alone…well, either that or I’d have be in the hospital for the next few days. Meh…I wasn’t going to do anything and I know it, so why bother even telling myself these lies? “This is probably just a phase…maybe, if I don’t react the way they want me to, they’ll get bored and leave me alone.” Worth a shot, right? I held my head up high, and looking around for any signs of a new pony. No luck, sadly; the numbers remained the same. Three earth ponies, two pegasi, and two unicorns; guess I had a little searching to do for the last two. I sighed, and walked back into the hallway. Now I begin my blind journey into this strange and huge place; seriously, would it kill them to have little map kiosks or something? “Now let’s see, they said she was like me…so if I were here, where would I want to be?” The answer was clear as day; anywhere that had internet or some kind of game system to play on. I walked around until I found a guard that could give me directions; “Excuse me, but does the palace have any place where there’s internet?” The guard gave me directions, I wrote them down, thanked him, and headed for where he said; I was going to make a kiosk joke to him but, he probably wouldn’t have found it very funny. After a few minutes of blindly walking around, I came to a very big realization; “Crap, I’m lost…” How could this happen? I followed that guards instructions perfectly…at least I think I did anyways. I groaned, and decided to try the only think I knew might work. “Marco!” What? If you were in my horseshoes you would have done the exact same thing; besides, screaming help might make somepony think I was in serious trouble. Nopony replied, so I decided to walk around and continue saying Marco until I got a response. It took about 3 minutes, but finally I heard a faint reply in the distance. My ears perked up, and I called again; “Polo!” I heard this voice reply to me, it sounded kind of feminine; maybe it was the pony I had been searching for all along. Finally, I found the source of the voice; “Ah, finally…somepony.” She turned around and looked at me; she was beautiful…her dark pink coat was so neat and clean, her beautiful white and rose pink mane was tied in a ponytail and her horn was so finely rounded and perfect. “Hey, you alright? You’re looking a little flustered and…are you blushing?” Oh sweet Celestia! I was blushing! Alright, I had to get myself together and try to calm down…she’s just a girl…a beautiful, well groomed, make your heart pound girl. “Uhh…I…” I cleared my throat, trying to talk; though it seems every intelligent word that I tried came out as a random noise and or a whimper. “Everything okay? Are you lost, or something? What’s your name?” She asked, looking at me with an expression of confusion and worry. Come on dude, don’t make yourself look like an idiot in front of her; just try and say something. “H…Hi…” is all I managed to mutter out, and I was still blushing terribly; wonder if this is what Aloe feels like whenever she talks to a stallion? “Hello, I’m Iris,” she said to me, still looking a little freaked by me; “and, you are?” Oh, this was going to take a while; “M…my n-name…m-my name…” come on, don’t look like a freak, do something! I took a deep breath, got out my notepad, and wrote my name on it; better to do that than keep acting like a weirdo. “Techno, nice to meet you…are you related to Aloe Vera by any chance?” I shook my head, slowly starting to gather myself back to normal; “N-no…it’s…nice to meet you, Iris,” I said with a shy smile. “Are you lost, because if you are I can help you,” she offered me; “o-oh…no…I’m Number 9.” She smiled at hearing this, and walked closer to me. “Well, we should probably meet up with the others,” she said as she nudged me; “you have met the others, right?” I nodded, slowly standing up with my legs shaking terribly. Iris took note of this, and chuckled a little; “You really do remind me of a stallion version of Aloe,” she jokingly said. Ah great, that’s what a stallion wants to hear; I needed to show her I wasn’t shy, but try and keep it tame so she doesn’t think I’m weird. “Uhm…would a stallion version of Aloe…have,” I needed something cool, and I only knew of one thing that might impress her. With the glow of my horn, I teleported the coolest sword replica I had bought a few years ago into my hooves and took it out of its sheath. “Would a shy stallion have this awesome sword?” Her eyes lit up when she saw it, and a smile came to her face; “Well, I didn’t know I was in the presence of The Hero of Time.” Oh my sweet Celestia she knew what it was from; Princess Luna, if this is a dream…please just let me stay asleep. “Mind if I see it,” she asked with a hoof out; “Uhh…no, of course not.” I slowly placed the sword into her hoof, blushing as my hoof touched hers. Her horn started to glow as she looked it over, still smiling; “This is quite detailed; where did you get it?” “Uhm…internet,” I replied. This mare was beautiful, she looked so attractive with glasses, and she was a gamer girl…it’s like a perfect trio combined into one, like the Triforce. I wanted so badly to ask her out, but…I was scared, what if she said no? I want to be friends with her, but I’d love to be…well, more than just friends. Asking her out might make things awkward for us, and then I’ll have nopony that I might be able to have nerdy conversations with. I sighed, putting the sword back into its sheath and teleporting it back home. I guess it was for the best that we just build up a friendship now, and maybe I’ll try once we get to know each other a little better. “So, you’re a nerd just like me I take it?” I said with a chuckle, taking my glasses off to clean them of fog. She nodded, giggling a little; “Have been all my life; my parents joke and say I was born with a controller in one hoof, and a bag of chips in the other.” I laughed a little, smiling as I regained my composure and calmed down; “Mine say that my first words were ‘Finish him’.” She began to chuckle at my nerdy jokes; and it wasn’t an ‘Oh, you poor thing’ laugh, it was a ‘That’s pretty funny’ laugh. Hmm…but I needed something big to see just how nerdy she was; “Hey, Iris…mind if I ask you a question?” She looked at me with interest, wondering what I was about to ask. Hmm…what’s the nerdiest question possible for a mare like her? “What time is it?” She simply grinned, putting up a hoof and waiting for me to bump it. I, of course, did; “Iris, you are the coolest mare I’ve met so far…nopony else shares my nerdy knowledge…you even got my TV show reference.” She chuckled; “And you’re the first stallion I’ve met that shares my knowledge as well; you have no idea how many references I’ve made and everypony just looked at me like ‘…what?” I chuckled; my shyness was over to say the least. “Come on, we better go get with everypony else just in case something important happens,” she said as she trotted down the large hallway. I quickly followed, taking a glance at her every so often. There was no denying it anymore…I was in love with this mare.