At times I wonder if I regret my decision, and at others I wonder if I really had a choice to begin with.
1.1
Cold...
It was always cold. Sometimes it felt like I was bathing in arctic seawater that bit at my bones, and other times it was like walking through a fog on an early spring morning. Not a painful experience, but it was enough to make my hair stand on end. Regardless of how it manifested, the cold was the only constant within the Void. It was the only thing, besides myself, that existed in the nothing.
My smile brightened when I felt that it was to be a gentle passage through the abyss. As I drifted through, I felt the chill slide across my form. There was nothing here to keep me warm, nothing here to hold in my heat. Once I had wondered if the chill was from the emptiness trying to swallow me, but the heat that left my body was all that it could manage to catch. For a time, it frightened me, but, eventually the cold was just another thing I got used to.
When it's calm, it's actually kind of relaxing.
I felt my feet touch the ground, and the chill began to fade away. I stood there with my eyes closed. As the feeling of the Void vanished it was replaced with a warmth. I heard birds chirping and felt a light breeze flow through my hair. I took a deep breath and smelled the calming scents of early morning air, earth, and... apples?
I opened my eyes, and saw that I had stepped into an apple grove. The trees were larger than any apple trees I had seen before, but the red fruit that hung from their branches was unmistakable. The moment my eyes fell upon one of them my stomach decided to suggest something rather loudly. I smiled and took a step toward the tree intent on letting my stomach have its way. I gave a reflexive glance to the side, and what I saw made me stop. The trees were all lined in perfectly straight rows for as far as I could see. I looked to the other side and found that the row continued for another few yards until ending at a fence.
This isn't a grove. It's an orchard.
I took another look at the inviting morsel and sighed. Then, much to my stomach's disapproval, I began to walk towards the fence.
"We don't want to start off our visit with an act of petty thievery, do we?" I asked my stomach. My stomach's reply was a short grumble, but it then fell silent. I wasn't really hungry, and I suppose if my stomach could have made an argument it would have said that it was the apple's fault for looking so delicious. A fact that I honestly couldn't argue with. I hadn't seen an apple that begged to be eaten so badly in years. As I hopped the fence, I made a mental note that I would have to acquire a few the first chance I got.
On the other side of the fence was a cart path. I noticed two sets of grooves cut into its surface and multiple sets of hoof prints, some were between the grooves and others seemed to be random.
That's far too much traffic for a farm. There's a good chance there's a town ahead.
I looked up and for the first time took in the world around me. For a moment, the level of color actually threw me even through the dim of my sunglasses. Every part of the plants, dirt, and even the sky were saturated liked they had been painted. Above the trees, I saw the distant peaks of mountains. Craning my neck around I saw different peaks in all directions, which meant I was in a valley. I paused, one mountain catching my eye. There was a thick forest on the side of the path, which was blocking most of the mountain, but despite this I caught something glittering through the leaves.
I need to get higher.
I jogged off the path and up to the forest. It was a thick and tangled mess of untouched woods, and I quickly decided that it would be a bad idea to venture too far in. I didn't have to, fortunately, as I found a tall tree that looked like it could support my weight. The first branch was about twelve feet off the ground, but that didn't discourage me. Facing the tree, I took off at what most would consider a full sprint. A few feet from the tree's base, I leaped into the air planting one foot against the trunk without missing a step and shot up the side reaching out with my fingers. With very little trouble, my hand closed around the lowest branch and, using what was left of my momentum, pulled me up and over the branch. I made sure to angle myself so the scabbard strapped to my back wouldn't catch on anything.
I sat on it long enough to find my next target. In a combination of jumping, leaping, and shimmying I ascended the tree. It only took a minute until I had my hiking boots resting on a the last supportive branch sixty feet in the air and my back reclined against top of the tree. I stayed there awestruck at what I saw. At this height it was easy to see everything the trees had been blocking, and the sight demanded I remain there.
Picturesque was the only word I could find to describe it. Everything appeared crisp and clean. Whether this was a trick of the light or simply the truth I was uncertain. My earlier description of the color seemed to extend to every corner of what could be seen. It indeed looked liked everything had been painted like something from a Bob Ross video.
"Complete with happy little clouds," I said looking at the sky. I turned towards the east and smiled at the dawn. With a thought, a flash of blue appeared in my right hand and a camera materialized in its grip. I felt a warm feeling tickle my funny bone, a sensation that occurred every time I activated my data drive. It was another feeling I had gotten used to.
I picked the camera up and took a few pictures of the horizon. I brought the camera to my left and stopped when I saw buildings. It was a decently sized village about a mile down the road. From the tree it looked rustic, but as I zoomed in I could make out the steady glow of electric lighting from some of the buildings. I scanned the streets but couldn't make out anyone in town. Glancing back at the sun, I figured it must still be too early for most to be up. Returning to the village I took a few more shots. I let the camera move north and what I saw next made me freeze. I brought the camera down and whistled in awe.
"Okay, I don't think Bob would have painted anything like that," I said. I had found what I had seen glittering through the trees. A few ideas had come to my mind as to what it might had been, but golden city built into the side of a mountain had not been high on that list. In the red light of the morning the city glistened in a fiery blaze. I brought the camera back up and through the viewfinder could see the turrets of a massive palace. Their tips were decorated in what I guessed was gold, and the castle and most of the buildings built around it were white. The city's architecture flowed and curved in beautifully sculpted forms. It reminded me of a Disney castle only with a better balance of regality and fantasy. Separating the city from the mountain was a waterfall that would have made Angel Falls look like a small leak.
After taking a few more pictures I returned the camera to the data drive and relaxed against the tree. There was a time when I would have wondered how such a city could exist. I had since learned to let those questions go. It was just another thing I had gotten used to.
From the tree, I looked back to the small village and smiled knowing I had a destination. I was about to climb back down when I saw something shimmering in my peripheral. Only a couple of yards up the path towards the village was a lake sitting on the apple farm's property. It's crystal clear water glistened and rippled from a breeze. There was a large oak tree on the side of the shore beside the road. It's branches hung over the water, and a rope swing lazily swayed over the water from the tree. Directly under the tree was a thin space in the grass likely from someone using it as a place to lie in the shade.
I glanced at my arm and took notice of the layer of dust I had been ignoring since before I had arrived. It was as foreign to this world as I as was and had belonged to a place far less clean then this one. Like most things such as this, it began to get annoying the second I gave it any attention. I could feel it on my scalp, which was starting to itch, and it gave my fingers a chalky feeling that I didn't like at all. It caked my clothing making my jeans look almost like khakis and my red shirt appear pink. My eyes went from myself and back to the lake.
I haven't had a good swim in forever, and that's clearly someone's swimming hole.
I smiled again and began to climb down the tree. The town could wait, I decided.
Plus, I have no idea what the people here look like. If an alien were to waltz into town I would hope it would at least be a clean one.
There was a time where I would have found a thought like that strange. Now, thoughts like that were just another thing I had gotten used to.
"Scootaloo, can ya slow down a bit?" yelled Applebloom. "I don't like the shade of green Sweetie Belle's turnin'."
Scootaloo didn't appear to hear her friend as she sped across the road along Sweet Apple Acres, towing her two unfortunate passengers along with her. The wagon bounced and shook as it went over every bump in the road, and the two fillies inside it were forced to endure each one.
"Sorry, Applebloom, but I can't be late today," Scootaloo said.
"You've never cared about being late a day in your life!" shouted Applebloom. "If this were a school day you'd still be asleep."
"Girls, I don't feel so good," moaned Sweetie Belle.
"This is so much more important than something as boring as school," Scootaloo shot back. "Rainbow's going to start flying lessons with me today."
"Can we please pull over? Ugh."
Applebloom gave her pegasus friend a flat look. "Do you really expect Rainbow Dash to be awake at seven thirty in the mornin'? I give her another two hours or more before she even thinks about waking up."
"My tummy-"
Scootaloo rolled her eyes and looked back at her friend. "She promised me that we would start practicing 'bright and early' the first day school let out. Besides, I gotta limber up first. Do you know how embarrassing it would be to get a wing cramp in front of Dash?"
I'd rather die than let her see that.
"Oh, uh ugh!"
"Ain't this limbering you up enough?" When her friend didn't slow down Applebloom sighed."Well, if Sweetie Belle barfs I'm makin' sure it's all over you." Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle and saw that the little unicorn had her head hanging over the side of the wagon. Her eyes were heavily lidded, and her face was so green that it was starting to effect the color of her horn, somehow. She looked ready to spew at any moment.
"Fine," Scootaloo groaned and dropped her speed.
"Thank Celestia," moaned Sweetie Belle.
How many slices of pie did she have last night?
It had been a few weeks since Dash had taken the little filly under her wing, but with her going to the academy, handling Discord again, and running off to the Crystal Empire, she'd been too busy to actually start any formal training. They still had time to hang out more often, but it was never regular enough for them to dedicate more than a few exercises to it. Now with school out for the summer, and things quiet in Ponyville, she and Dash were ready to hit the sky flying.
Better than hitting the ground crashing.
"Why'd you guys want to use the lake anyway?" asked Applebloom.
Scootaloo shrugged as she angled down a fork in the road. "Rainbow heard from Twilight that water causes updrafts because of reflected sunlight or some eggheaded thing like that."
Plus, it makes a good crash mat.
"Alright then, just remember save up enough strength so we can shoot for our water ballet cutie marks," said Applebloom.
I wish Applejack hadn't shot down our high diving cutie marks idea.
"Did we remember to bring the gear?" asked a still nauseated Sweetie Belle.
"Yep," Applebloom said. She had been gripping the basket she and her sister had put together, so it wouldn't fall out of the pegasus powered wagon. "We've got towels, floats, mane caps, flippers, and apples for lunch," she said, looking through the basket. "Not that we can actually start swimmin' until my sister shows up. Which makes me wonder why we had to leave ahead of her." She shot an annoyed glance to the wagon's driver.
"Your sister's too slow," was Scootaloo's only reply.
"Oh yeah," she said, gaining a devious smile, "you know she could out run Rainbow Dash on hoof any given Sunday!"
She did not just say that!
"Rainbow Dash would make Applejack eat her dust!" shouted Scootaloo, pulling up to the lake.
"Uh, girls?"
"Nope, I heard Dash, herself, say it to that news crew that came by a few days ago," Applebloom said.
Scootaloo dismounted her scooter, took off the new helmet Dash had given her (Wonderbolts colors of course), and turned to Applebloom with a frown. "She was just being modest," she said.
"Girls?"
Applebloom hopped out of the wagon and looked unconvinced. "When have ya ever known Rainbow Dash to be modest about anything?"
"G-g-girls?"
Scootaloo felt her wings ruffle as she got angrier. "She can be modest when she wants to be!"
"Are ya sayin' it's better to modest then truthful?" Applebloom said. Scootaloo huffed. Applejack may have been the Element of Honesty, but she knew Applebloom wasn't far from being the same way.
"No," Scootaloo said, walking up to Applebloom. "I'm saying that-"
"Girls!" shouted Sweetie Belle.
"What?!" they both yelled, looking at Sweetie Belle. Sweetie had yet to leave the wagon and had somehow gone from green to a paler white than her fur had ever been. She sat there staring past her arguing friends until she raised a hoof and pointed at the lake.
"W-what is that?" she said.
Scootaloo followed her friend's pointing hoof to the base of the tree next the lake. Apparently somepony, or in this case something, had already beaten them to the lake. It was reclined against the trunk of the tree, and it seemed to be sleeping soundly despite the loudness of her and Applebloom's argument. Scootaloo looked to Applebloom, who looked more curious than afraid.
"Do you have any ideas what that thing is?" she asked.
Applebloom shook her head, "I ain't seen anything like it before."
"Maybe we should leave it alone," said Sweetie Belle, who appeared to be too afraid to leave the wagon.
Scootaloo smirked at both her friends and turned towards the creature. "I'm gonna go check it out," she said trotting towards it.
"Scootaloo, it could be dangerous!" said Applebloom, but she didn't move to stop her friend.
"Come on," said Scootaloo, dropping to a whisper, "It's asleep. I'll just be quiet."
"It might not stay asleep!" Applebloom whispered through clenched teeth. "Git back here!"
Scootaloo ignored her friend and slowed to a crawl. Now that she was closer she could make more details of the creature. It was a long and lanky thing, almost six-and-a-half hooves tall. It had hands kind of like Spike's, except it had five, clawless fingers instead of four, sharp ones. It's right hand had a silver band around one of the fingers. She eyed its weirdly shaped feet and saw that it had five digits as well. However, these were so stubby she didn't know how they could used for anything. It was wearing a damp, red shirt that covered its chest and a pair of red and black shorts which were also damp.
Why would anypony go swimming with their clothes on?
Laying on the other side of it was a guitar. It's right hand rested on the instrument's body, and the other lay on his chest beneath the guitar's neck. It seemed to have fallen asleep while playing it. The guitar 's neck certainly appeared well used as the brown finish on the neck had been worn down to the bare wood beneath. Looking up closer to its head she saw a pair of black, blocky things with strings coming out of them. She didn't have a clue what those were.
She saw something in the corner of her eye and glanced up. A line was tied around a branch of the tree and strung out a few hooves to a black pole that had been driven into the ground. On the line was pair of blue pants which seemed to have been hung to air dry. Something else hung from the line that she didn't recognize. It looked like a belt with a cup attached to its side. Inside of it something with a black handle and made of shiny metal swung in the breeze. If she squinted she could have sworn she saw a blue glow coming from inside.
She looked back at the creature and stared at it's weird skin. It was pale and had little fur except for a bit on its arms and legs. It's mane was a messy, brown color, but it seemed to have streaks of golden blonde running through it. It was like someone had used it for a paintbrush and didn't get the job done cleaning out the paint.
The weirdest thing of all was the creature's face. It didn't have a muzzle. Just a small mouth underneath a long, thin nose. On which was balanced a pair of round sunglasses. They didn't have any frames, so she had no clue how they stayed on its face. It had a short, stubbly beard that was just thick enough to be noticeable.
It has a beard, so I guess it's a boy.
Above the beard on his left cheek was something that made her gulp. A two and a half inch long scar ran along his cheek. It would have been distracting if he didn't have such deep, green eyes.
Wait "deep, green eyes"?
Scootaloo froze as she looked down at the creature, and he looked right back up at her.
I've been caught sleeping by plenty of unpleasant things before, but unless something unexpected came out of the orange thing beside me—which I still couldn't rule out at this point—I think I was fine this time. It stared at me. Its face showed several different emotions at once, all of which some derivative of terror.
Again the first thing I noticed was the little thing's color. Its fur was bright orange, and the mane and eyes were an interesting fuchsia. A color scheme that I would have never thought worked, but on this thing it was adorable. As for the creature, it looked like a miniature horse only infinitely more cute. It's eyes were large and expressive, and I could see the anxiety written on its face.
As gingerly as I could, I scooted my back up the tree into more of a sitting position which brought us to equal eye level. As I did it's eyes stayed locked onto mine, and I saw it draw in a breath. It didn't back up, though, as it was too frightened to move. I tried to look as relaxed as possible. I had a soft smile on my face, my muscles were relaxed, and my movements were as slow and nonthreatening as I could manage.
She, or at least to me she looked like a she, didn't move until I started to raise my hand, however it was what she moved that surprised me. She tensed and a pair of orange wings flared out from her sides in an attempt to make her look bigger.
A pegasus? Well that makes things interesting.
"It's okay, little one," I said. I raised my hand up and held it out to her. "I'm not going to hurt you." For the first time she looked away from my face to my hand and then back. She kept looking between the two with increasing uncertainty. I had to hold myself back from "daaawwwwing" at the sight. She had to be among the top three most adorable things I had ever seen.
From over her head I noticed movement. I quirked my head up and saw two other small horses a few yards down the road. One had light-yellow fur with red-orange eyes, and a rose red mane. She had a pink bow tied up in her mane and was waving both of her front hooves in the air which I read as a "get out of there" gesture. The last one, which was hiding in a red wagon, was smaller than the other two. Of course that may have been because she had curled herself up into a trembling ball of white fur. I could see her two-toned mane and tail of purple and pink vibrating from where I was sitting. The horn protruding from her forehead didn't surprise at all. If there were pegasi here, than the fact there were unicorns shouldn't be that much of a shock.
Okay, I'm going to need a new adorableness list because these three just broke it.
I looked back at the orange pegasus who had to steeled herself enough to make up her mind. I rose an eyebrow as she lifted a hoof to my fingers instead of leaning in with her snout to get my scent. It was better to offer something less vital to a potentially dangerous creature than something dangerously close to the brain. It was a very, for lack of a better word, human and intelligent gesture. Therefore what happened when her hoof touched my fingers shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did. It felt like an icy fluid flowed from her hoof and into my hand which wound its way up my arm and into the base of my skull.
Scratch what I said earlier. Things have just become very interesting.
I felt the cold sensation flow into my brain until it seemed to find a hole that I didn't know had been empty. It proceeded to fill it up and I was greeted with flashes of emotion and memory. I felt a boundless sense of determination and perseverance. I also felt stubbornness, pride, and arrogance, but these were smothered by other attributes: love, altruism, and friendship. I knew these wonderful feelings would keep the more negative aspects at bay if not drown them out entirely with time. It was a beautiful soul.
A few images played across my eyes. Most were of the other two creatures I had seen. I also caught a glimpse of two older figures, but their forms were blurred and distorted. The last thing I saw was a rainbow colored flash that was coupled with a sense of deep admiration. I blinked my eyes and once again saw the little pegasus beside me.
"What was that?" she said, in a young, feminine voice. She stared at her hoof, and her fur stood on end from the sudden cold she had likely felt. Luckily, the viewing was one way, and I had only seen her soul and memories. Of that I was thankful. No one deserved to see mine.
"Something I honestly didn't expect," I said, looking at my own hand with small interest. The pegasus froze and seemed to realize I was still here.
"Y-you can talk?" she asked, her mouth hanging open.
"Yes, quite elegantly too, if I wish," I said. Her fear seemed to lessen, and she tried to put on a brave face. She puffed out her chest and spread her wings. It would have been convincing if the her wingtips weren't trembling.
"Okay, well, what are you?" she said. I smiled.
This is going to be fun.
"You're asking me the wrong question," I said. She looked at me confused. "For you see, I'm not a what. I am a who. Therefore, the question you should be asking is, 'Who am I?'. But this is a rather rude question to ask, and you don't like to be rude meeting new people. Then instead you would ask, 'What is your name?'" I stopped and looked at her expectantly.
"Uh?" she said.
"Eh, close enough," I said shrugging. "My name is Isaac, but my friends call me Ike. At your service." I bowed to her as best as I could from my position. "And now since I do not like to be rude to new people, I will ask you the same question. What is your name, little one?"
She seemed a little stunned by speech but much less afraid, which was the point.
"Um, my name's Scootaloo," she said.
"Scootaloo, huh," I said, looking up in thought, "that's an interesting name."
"Well, Ike's weirder," she said. "It sounds like ick!"
I chuckled, "That makes it easy to remember."
I actually got her to smile on that one.
"Yeah, I guess so," she said. Silence fell, and I looked at her expectantly again.
"Well," I said, "are you going to ask the next question?"
"What?"
"Almost," I said, "the full phrasing is 'Ike, what are you?', or if you wanted to be scientific it would be 'Ike, what species are you?', or if you wanted to be rude 'Ike, what the heck are you?'"
"Uh, the first one," she said.
"Fair enough. I, my dear, am a humble human. Of course, I don't think that answers a lot."
She shook her head. "Nah, not really," she said, pausing for a moment before looking up suddenly as if realizing something. A sly smile crossed her face. "Ike, what is a human?"
"Aha! Look who's catching on," I said with a wink. "A human is a two legged primate." She gave me a funny look. "You know what a monkey is right?" She nodded. "Same family, just distantly related. Humans have a nose for trouble, a passion for stubbornness, a fierce curiosity, and apparently a knack for making little pegasi laugh."
Scootaloo was relaxed, a little wary, but definitely not afraid. She was also chuckling. It was a cute squeaky sound, and if I closed my eyes I could have fooled myself into thinking it was a little human girl I was entertaining and not a pegasus. However why would I want to do that? Reality was much more interesting.
"So does that make you a monkey boy?" she asked.
"Do you have a banana?" She shook her head. "Darn, if I could peal it with my toes, then we could find out!" I flexed my toes in emphasis.
I was rewarded with a full laugh that proved to be infectious as I joined her.
"Hey!" someone shouted. Scootaloo and I looked back and saw that the red maned one had finally found her voice. "Scootaloo, Ah told you to git away from that thing. It could be dangerous." Her voice was higher and laced with a delightful, country twang that dredged up a few memories of summers that past long ago. I pushed them aside as I always did.
"Applebloom, relax," said Scootaloo. "His name's Ike, and he's cool."
I drew in a shocked breath. "Wow!" I said, "Here five minutes, and I'm already cool."
Scootaloo gave me a flat look. "Don't push it."
"Sorry."
"How do you know he's not trying to lighten you up before he does something?" Applebloom said.
Paranoid this one.
I couldn't blame her. She had every right to think I was planning something, and if it had been anyone else Scootaloo could have been in deep trouble many times over in the last few minutes. However, for me paranoia was just an obstacle that I had to get out of the way as fast as possible.
"Is there anything I can do to defend myself?" I asked.
Suddenly the unicorn that had been hiding in the wagon spoke up. "I have an idea." Her voice was even higher and squeakier then the other two. It also happened to be heart-shatteringly adorable.
Definitely going to need a new list.
"We can make him Pinkie Promise not to hurt anypony," she said.
I had to hand it to Child Logic. It had pulled my butt out of the fire a few times before, but I couldn't condone how silly it was. The thought of taking it made me feel guilty. I also felt extremely relieved that it was me and not someone else who had shown up here.
"I don't know," I said. "I'm not sure that would be enough."
"No wait," said Applebloom, "Pinkie would never let anypony go back on a Pinkie Promise. I remember what happened to my sister when she broke one." I could see Applebloom's bow quiver.
Okay, maybe it wasn't Child Logic, and it was religious. From the sound of it this god, Pinkie, looked over whoever made one of these promises and punished those who broke them. A little dark for a place that seemed so G-rated. Of course, I'd only met three kids and seen some pretty scenery, so what did I really know about this place.
This, oddly enough, made me feel even more guilty, and even more relieved that it was me that showed up here. I didn't argue this, though. It wasn't polite to challenge one's religion.
"Alright," I said, "how do I do this?" Scootaloo turned to me and sat on her haunches.
"First you say what you swear," she said.
"Okay, I, Isaac, solemnly swear to not harm anyone-"
"Anypony," said Applebloom, sitting next to her friend.
"What?" I asked.
"It's not anyone. It's anypony." I could almost hear the gears click in my head.
"Oh, pony!" I said. "I get it."
Looks like I'm going to have to pick up the vernacular.
"Alright," I raised my right hand in a scout's salute, "I, Isaac, solemnly swear not to harm anypony," the girls nodded in approval, "while I'm in-" I paused. "Uh, where am I?"
"You don't know?" said the unicorn who had left wagon, but still hid behind her friends. I shook my head. "You're in Equestria."
Of course I am.
I shrugged and began again. "I, Isaac, solemnly swear to not harm anypony while in Equestria," I thought for a moment, "or how about never unless in the defense of others."
"That's a good promise," said the unicorn.
"Now," said Scootaloo, "Cross your heart." Her hoof crossed her chest.
"Cross my heart," I said, dragging a finger across my chest.
"Hope to fly," she said flapping her wings.
Lacking wings I used my arms. "Hope to fly."
"Stick a cupcake in your eye," she said, placing a hoof over her right eye.
I blinked a few times before sticking my palm against my eye. "Um, stick a cupcake in my eye."
Cutesiest religious oath I've ever given.
"There now we're good," said Applebloom. The level of faith she had in such a simple gesture was both disconcerting and heartwarming. I felt bad for how empty it was coming from me. I sighed.
I don't need to wrath of a god breathing down my neck in order to keep my promises. I can do that on my own.
"Well," I said, trying to brush off my hollow feeling. "Now that I'm not a threat. I must take care of something that's been bothering me. You," I said pointing to the unicorn. "What's your name, little one?"She looked nervous for a moment before sliding around her friends sitting beside Applebloom. Now they were all sitting beside me.
"Uh, my name's Sweetie Belle, and what's yours?"
"It's Isaac, but my friends call me Ike. Which would you like to call me?" I asked.
She smiled realizing my game. "Ike!" she said.
"Good," I smiled, "And I'll call you Sweetie if that's alright?" She nodded.
"So, Ike," said Applebloom, "what was it ya said ya were?"
"He's a human monkey-boy," Scootaloo said before I could answer. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle crumpled over laughing.
"Now wait a minute!" I said. "That's a misconception. I'm a human, and we're related to monkey's... distantly. A chimpanzee would be a better example."
"A chump pansy?" Scootaloo asked.
"Imagine a shorter version of me, but much hairier and lacking dashing good looks," I said, running my hand through my uncut hair. At this, all three girls were laughing, but unfortunately it was at the wrong part of the joke. "Okay, laugh it up."
I decided to scoot around. So I leaned off the tree and sat cross legged, facing the girls. They all stopped laughing at my movement and watched as my legs bent in ways theirs never could. Now with my back straight I was a full head taller than them. Applebloom paused as she noticed something behind me.
"Is that a guitar?" she asked. I was only a little surprised that she knew what it was, but I could see the wagon and scooter they had with them. It was only a slight stretch to imagine they had other things I would recognize. Besides, the village looked human built, but I imagined I would only find older versions of these three once I got there.
"Yep," I said, picking it up.
"How do you play it?" Sweetie asked.
"What?" I said.
"Well, you don't have a horn, so you can't use magic... can you?" she said.
Horn equals magic. We'll file that away under need to know.
"Well, I-"
"Now wait just a minute," Applebloom said, cutting me off. "My cousin, Six Strings, can play a mean guitar just fine, and he's an earth pony."
Conclusion: No wings or horn equals an earth pony. Interesting species dynamic.
"Oh yeah," Sweetie said, "I forgot."
"Yeah, but he doesn't have hooves either," Scootaloo said.
"Fingers," I said, playing a quick riff. The girls' eyes grew larger, somehow, as my fingers flew across the strings. "Quite dexterous," I said when I finished.
"Cool," Scootaloo said.
"Do you know any songs?" Applebloom asked.
You have no idea.
"A few," I said.
"Could ya play us one, please?" she said. Her voice cracked, as a child's tends to do, when she said please. One the of the memories I had pushed down a minute ago came back, and I was unable to stop it this time.
She was about six-years-old and freckle faced. Her smile could melt your heart even with the gap in it from the tooth she had lost the night before, and her sun-bleached hair cascaded down her back to the ground. She looked up at me with puppy dog eyes.
Might as well say yes to whatever she's about to ask you now, bud.
"Ike?" she said, country accent and young voice made it sound like 'awk.' "Could ya sing me a song, please?" Her voice cracked, as a child's tends to do, when she said please.
Like I really have a choice by this point.
"Sure, coz," I said, grabbing my guitar. It was an old thing. The finish on the fretboard was worn thin, and the wood on the body was scuffed from my fingers striking it as I strummed.
Eh, it gives it character.
"What would you like to hear?" She got up and walked over to the T.V. She fished around in the drawer beneath it for a second before returning with a movie in her hand.
"The last song from this movie," she said, showing me the box. I knew the movie and the song in particular very well. It was her favorite.
"You like this one, don't you?" I said. She nodded.
"It's happy," she said, which to a child was all the reason she needed. "Will you play it?"
"Sure, little one," I said to the trio of pony's in front of me. I brought my hand up to the strings. "To the small hours," I said and began to play.
I knew the fingering well enough, so I closed my eyes and became just as much an observer to the song as the girls. I felt lose as my fingers moved across strings, but I felt free when I began to sing. The lines came to me, and I felt a little upset when it was over.
I opened my eyes and saw the girls in various states of awe.
"That was beautiful," Sweetie said.
"I didn't expect ya would be able to sing so well!" Applebloom said.
"Yeah, it was okay," Scootaloo said, trying to hide a misty eye." A little soft though."
"Uh huh," I said, eyeing her and then looked at Applebloom. "I guess you could say singing's my natural talent." All three girls shot up at the statement.
"Really?!" they said.
"Did you get a cutie mark for it?" Applebloom asked.
"A cutie what?" I asked.
"You don't know what a cutie mark is?" Sweetie Belle asked. I shook my head.
"A cutie mark is a symbol that appears when a pony discovers their special talent," Scootaloo said. She looked down. "We haven't gotten ours yet."
"But we're workin' on it," Applebloom said.
"Yeah," Scootaloo said perking up. "No matter how hard!" She put her arm (foreleg?) around Applebloom.
"No matter how long!" Sweetie Belle said, putting her own arm around Applebloom.
"No matter how many times we fail!" said Applebloom, putting her arms around both her friends.
"We will not stop until we get our cutie marks!" all three girls said. "Because we're-" the girls stood up on their hind legs and threw their hooves in the air "- THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, YAY! WHOA!" Unfortunately, they hadn't gotten the balance right, and they all teetered over onto their backs. I was about to move to help them when Scootaloo looked up at me.
"We're still working on the chant," she said.
Please excuse me, my heart just stopped from an overdose of distilled adorableness. Not even going to bother making a new list, because nothing would be worthy of it.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders, huh?" I said as the girls started to sit back up.
"Yup, we try everything we can think of to get us our cutie marks," Applebloom said. "We haven't had a whole lot of success yet, but we'll keep tryin' till we get um."
Gotta love the determination.
"So what about you?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Hm?"
"Did you get your cutie mark singing?" she asked.
"Uh, I don't think humans get cutie marks."
"What?" they gasped.
"Then how do you know what you're good at?" asked Scootaloo.
I shrugged, "Humans just try things until something fits. For me, I was practically raised on the stage, so singing and performing just comes naturally for me. Some people are like me, and others have to try a lot harder to know what they're good at. Some people never get the chance to find it at all." The girls looked at me confused.
"Never knowin' what you're good at?" Applebloom said. "That sounds horrible."
"Hey, humans are tough," I said. "We can survive."
"Hm," mumbled Applebloom. Her forehead screwed up as she thought for a second. Then she looked up at me smiling. "So your kind never gets a cutie mark?" she asked. I shook my head. "But they can still have a special talent?" I nodded. Her smile broadened, and she leaned over to Scootaloo and whispered something in her ear. Scootaloo looked confused for moment before smiling herself.
"That's a great idea!" Scootaloo said.
"What is?" Sweetie Belle asked, and Applebloom leaned over to her. She was soon smiling, as well. "That's brilliant, Applebloom!"
Okay, what am I missing.
Applebloom looked at me, smiling broadly. "Ike, the girls and I have decided to ask you to be the official Cutie Mark Crusaders Musical Mascot!"
"What?!" I said.
They want me to be Chuck E. Cheese!
"I don't know," I said.
"Please, Ike," Sweetie said.
"Yeah come on, dude," said Scootaloo. Before I could respond, I was hit with a triple entendre of puppy dog faces.
Well, there went my heart again. Crash cart! CRASH CART!
My mouth moved before my brain could tell it not to. "Okay," I said.
"YAY!" the girls shouted.
"Ike, you're pathetic. You just got manipulated by children. For shame, son, for shame."
"They had weapons of mass adorableness on their side. I was out gunned," I mumbled.
"..."
"Fine be that way!"
"What ya say, Ike?"
"Nothing," I sighed. "So what does being a mascot entail?"
The girls looked at each other and shrugged.
"We haven't really thought that far yet," Scootaloo said. "But we'll tell you when we think of something."
"You could play us another song," Sweetie Belle said.
I smiled.
Singing I can do.
"Sure," I said, righting the guitar. "So Scoots, you wanted something a little more hardcore? I think I've got something."
I'll tone down the vocals just a tad.
As I started I saw Scootaloo grow excited at the quick opening. I let my eyes close and fell to the music. All-in-all this had been a great start to the day. If things kept going this well then I was in for a fun stay, but then again what did I really know.
I show up in a quiet apple orchard and take in some wonderful scenery. Then I meet three sweet and trusting girls who were lucky I was as nice as I am. If this place really is as innocent as it appears then I shudder to think of what kind of trouble it's in to have called me here.