//------------------------------//
// Party Crashers 
// Story: Innocence Lost 
// by Granite 
//------------------------------//

The ring of party music echoed across the Town Square. Some of the houses had closed windows, trying to shut it out. Others were empty. Pinkie Pie had recently been "stepping up her game" with her parties, at least that's how she put it. It was essentially just, w more food, with Vinyl Scratch behind the turntable, which made it much louder. Granite didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't this big. From above, it looked like everypony in Ponyville was there. There was an abundance of guards around the place, perched on the rooftops and patrolling the area. He assumed that meant Princess Twilight was attending. He wasn't sure if he should be flattered or annoyed by that. 

Rainbow Dash lead him to the store's entrance. She walked right in, but the guards stopped him. "Hold it right there sir."

Granite huffed. "Umm this is supposed to be my welcoming party."

The two guards looked at each other and back at him. "So you're Granite?"

Pinkie Pie came up behind them before he could answer. "Come on boys! You really gotta hassle everypony in town? Seriously stop doing that. Twilight isn't in any danger." 

The guards looked at her, and the block comes up. Granite walked past them cautiously, and their eyes trailed him. He found himself in a room full of ponies he had never met before. There was whole counters of food. Cakes, cookies, pudding, candy and Jell-O in a overabundance of flavors and colors. One of the larger cakes had the words, "The Cake is a Lie" stenciled on it, and a mint green pony with a matching green and white mane was laughing hysterically at it for some reason. There was a pony with a electric blue mane and white fur mixing beats in the back. Another pony with dark grey fur and a black mane was drinking punch at a table not to far away with an uptight demeanor, with an expression of detest for the beat. There were a few others he had met in the town before this while buying supplies. Pinkie Pie was bouncing in front of him. "Isn't it so wonderfully amazing super dooper Granite?" 

He took a moment to adjust to the scene. His ears went back. "Isn't it a little...much?"

Pinkie giggled, oblivious to his discomfort.  "Nope!" She yanked at one of his hooves. "Come on, you have to meet my friends."

She dragged him away from the door and towards the back, where a group of mares was gathered around a table, seemingly arguing about something. Princess Twilight was there, with another two guards behinds her. Rainbow Dash was there, along with two other ponies, one Earth Pony with an orange coat with a blonde mane, tied back in a red hairband at the bottom. The other was a snow white Unicorn with a deep purple mane curled way too formally for the occasion. Fluttershy was there too, but she shrank back slowly when Pinkie brought him up. Granite's hooves scrapped against the wooden floor in protest. He wasn't comfortable at all. 

Pinkie brought him all they way up to the table, then sits down between him and the white one. "Found him! Late to his own party. Silly stallion!"

On an impulse Granite bowed to Twilight. She frowned slightly. "Umm no need for that Granite. I'm not so used to it yet."

He straightened. "Sorry...I just assumed..."

The white mare interrupted him with an accent that belonged in Canterlot and with a hint of detest. "Twilight refuses to accept the perks of royalty. Rather silly if you ask me."

Granite paused, astonished at the lack of respect. He shot back with a bit of a nippy attitude. "You don't sound very happy about it."

Twilight looked away for a moment while the Unicorn stared threateningly at him. He stares back, and it stayed like that for a few seconds. Twilight looked back up. "Don't worry about it Granite. I told my friends the coronation wouldn't change anything between us, and it won't. There's no need to argue with Rarity."

The orange mare spoke now, with a heavy southern accent. "Ah think Rarity is just jealous"

Rarity opened her mouth, and used a totally different tone of voice, like she was offended. "Of course you would say that Applejack. I simply think Twilight should embrace the rewards for all her hard work. Is that a crime?"

Applejack sighed exasperatedly. "Or maybe Twi could choose for herself wat she want's ta do. Ever thought of dat?"

I went on like that for a few minutes. Twilight started rubbing her temples halfway through. She clearly was at odds with the situation. Rainbow Dash eventually busted the argument by slamming the table."GUYS!" The argument was cut swiftly as Rainbow continued. "It's up to Twilight what she's gonna do, and we shouldn't complicate it with our own complaints. Now why don't you two go away and give Twilight a second to herself?"

The group of mares stayed where they were for a bit, then Rarity and Applejack left the table in opposite directions. Rarity went to talk with the dark grey mare near the turntable, while Applejack went to stand next to a big, red stallion with a work collar. Neither of them looked happy. Fluttershy walked off with Rarity before Granite could notice.

Now it was Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie and Granite. Twilight still had one hoof on her head, and she talked in a tired voice. "It's been going like that for months now. It really is exhausting."

Granite took awhile to catch up. "So....you didn't ask for wings?

Twilight looks a him with a blank, almost apathetic expression. "No, but it's not like I don't take is as an honor either. I'm just...confused on what to do."

Rainbow Dash grumbled. "Whatever you want. You shouldn't let us stop you from becoming all powerful."

Granite continued to press to topic. "Dash is right, you can't run from your destiny. Things like that are set in stone."

Twilight looked up from the table, then back at the guards, and vented her anger at them. "Would you two get out of here?! He's not hurting me, so back off!"

The guards shrank back hurriedly, making their status as protectors look bad. Of course Twilight was an Alicorn, and could probably kill them if she had a motive. At least have them demoted a bit. She then seemed to relax. "My guards are convinced there's something wrong about you. I don't need them harvesting information from me. Or you for that matter."

Granite looked at her confused. "Why would I be a threat? I'm just an archaeologist. Best I can do is give a pickaxe a good swing."

Twilight perked up at that with a little more enthusiasm. "So Rainbow was right about that then. You're here to inspect Darkfall Tower right?"

He shrugged. "I plan to sometime soon. I'd like to build a home first though."

She smiled tiredly. "Good. Let me know if you find anything interesting okay?"

He nodded and get's up from the table. He turned around, and bumped into a tall Pegasus stallion, with a yellow coat, and a brown mane that covers his eyes with a basketball cutie mark. Given his height that talent wasn't too far fetched. Granite stumbled and looses his footing when he bumped into the tall one, but all he did was snicker. Granite got back up, but was shoved right back down, rather roughly from behind. He looked up to see yet another one, more matching his own size but his muscles were much more toned. He had a chocolate brown coat and a pale blonde mane, however it didn't cover his eyes, which were a navy blue color. His cutie mark was a hoof weight, which explained a lot. This one jeers at him while on the ground. "Well look who it is Hoops, little colt Granite comes back to town. Poor guys gotta nose bleed!" 

The tall yellow one, who must have been Hoops, laughed mockingly. Granite gets up, blood running down his snout and noticed the party stopped dead. Vinyl Scratch stopped playing music, and even took off her shades to see better, which actually stole some attention as her ruby red eyes could be seen, which didn't happen often judging by the way Rarity was staring. Ponies stopped talking. Guards stepped in front Twilight defensively, and the Princess groaned in annoyance. Rainbow Dash stepped in. "Knock it off Dumb Bell, I thought we were past this crap!"

The second pony, Dumb Bell according to her, swayed a bit and it was apparent he was drunk. "Shut it Rainbow Crash, Pebbles has some..." 

SWACK!

Granite gave Dumb Bell a pop in the jaw, and he recoiled, clearly not expecting it. Rainbow Dash flapped back with her wings, out of harms way. Hoops did a quick lunge at Granite, but the red stallion that Applejack was with went after him, keeping him pinned with little effort. Applejack whispered something to him, then nodded at Granite, as if there was a silent understanding. Fluttershy watched, trembling. The ponies gasped and whispered to each other and the guards quickly intervened between Granite and Dumb Bell, but Twilight raised a hoof, dispersing them. The guards retreated and one whispered to Granite in a husky voice.

"Beat his ass kid."

Granite looked at Twilight, unsure of what she was trying to accomplish. He wasn't even sure he knew what he was trying to do. Hoops and Dumb Bell used to be the bullies of flight camp back when Granite was a colt. They picked on everypony, but Granite was the only student to get beaten up by them. Others usually just got called names. 

Dumb Bell got back up, and with all eyes on the fight, there was a score to settle. Dumb Bell rushed Granite head on, and Granite struck with a low kick to the legs, ducking under and tripping him, causing a faceplant. Before he could get up, Granite spun around, faster than he should have been able to, ready for another pass. 

Dumb Bell got up, with a few splinters in his face from the wooden floorboards. He was drunk, but seemed to be focusing fast, so he wasn't too drunk. He took a quick look at Hoops, who was still hopelessly pinned by both Apple siblings, now Applejack held down his flailing wings while her brother kept his hooves down. He looks back at Granite and taunts him. "Not bad Granite, never used to put up much of a fight back then. You come at me now, let's see what you can do." 

Granite stayed silent, but complies. He made a quick rush at him, and Dumb Bell started to counter. Granite flies above him, coming down in a bullet kick. Dumb Bell stood aside at the last minute and Granite hit the floor hard. 

Dumb Bell mocked him. "Bwahahahahahaha! That was wonderful. Do it again. You really think you can....hi-"

He got cut off by two, navy blue hooves around his neck. Dumb Bell felt a cold metal on his temple. The point of a dagger. The crowd fell into silence. The guards drew their own weapons, but it didn't matter now. The crowd went into a panic, but a coarse stallion's voice coos from behind Dumb Bell. 

"Everypony relax, just looking for an old friend."

Some ponies stopped, but most just ran out the door. Princess Twilight was quickly moved out of harms way, Rainbow Dash was helping Granite off the floor. She'd seen this stallion before, but she had never once spoken to him. 

The stallion behind Dumb Bell grunted, throwing his captive to the floor hard, which knocked him against a table on the way down. He had navy blue fur that looked dirty, like he'd been in a dust storm. His mane was a reddish orange mix with golden yellow, and he had a cutie mark of drops of blood, with black flames within. Rainbow got the feeling it was a more violent destiny. His eyes were a bright orange and one had a scar running across it. One of his ears had a chunk taken out of it. She realized he was looking directly at Granite, who was tugging at her hoof, towards the door. She followed him, rushing out of the bakery and into the street. Fluttershy was out there, shuddering under the mass of hooves running about. Granite stopped, then turns around to pull her away too. Rainbow Dash was flying above now, and Granite followed her from the ground, dragging a whimpering Fluttershy behind him. When he looked back he saw guards swarming the place, but they didn't see the stallion. Most likely still inside. It didn't look like they caught him either.

They eventually made their way to the grassy plains, and it wasn't three seconds before Fluttershy panicked and locked herself inside her cottage. Rainbow and Granite stood on her doorstep, but neither of them said anything. Rainbow Dash knew she'd seen the stallion before, but she couldn't place a name. By the look on Granite's face he already had, and he wasn't looking too good. He looked at his cyan classmate and mouths something. 

"Tomorrow" 

With that he went back to his own property, leaving her to wonder who the buck that stallion was.