A lazy man once said;
"Why are we here? Are we the product of some cosmic coincidence? Or is there really a God watching everything? I don't know, man but it keeps me up at night"
Well, Grif...I still don't have your answer but I feel almost, dangerously close.
I smiled down at the little cream-coated filly. She just beamed up at me with those bright, sparkling green eyes. "Well, it wasn't the first choice my parents made but it's what I got" I said, rubbing the back of my neck absentmindely. " 'Roseluck' is a pretty decent name too, I reckon" I added
She just turned away shyly and grinned "Really? Well, thanks" she looked back at me, now curiously. "Wait 'not the first choice'? What was the first choice?" she asked.
I sighed. "Austin. My name was going to be 'Austin Tester' " I grimaced "Then 'Garner'...and now" a small smile worked it's way onto my face. " 'Mercer', I guess"
"You've gone through a lot of names, haven't you?" Roseluck observed.
"Yeah, well, just call me 'Kyle', alright, Rose?"
"Okay" she beamed. I smiled at her, appreciatively.
The fact that I wasn't absolutely star-struck by pretty much everypony I saw and spoke to still eludes me today. Looking back, I always grimace at the thought of being a super-hyped fanboy running around, screaming at the top of his lungs as he saw the very same entities that, through their existing, created his fandom. I guess I was just fortunate enough to keep a level head, right?
Yeah, we'll go with that.
I kneeled down so I was eye-level with her, grunting uncomfortably as I did so. "Alright, I think it's best that I hit the trail, ya good?" Roseluck grinned at me, a look I returned happily.
"Yeah, I'll be fine, thanks for helping me again" she answered, I ruffled her soft, unkempt mane and she giggled musically.
I chuckled and stood up, stretching. "Alright, just checkin', catcha, Rose" I flicked two fingers from my forehead to the air in a half-salute and she waved back as I turned around.
"Okay, bye, hmm-er...Kyle!" she waved again and with that, I was off down the dirt road to out of town.
Either I was partially invisible, more and more Ponyville citizens were becoming blind...or they simply had no quarrel with my presence. I sighed, smiling in relief at not having to deal with some bastard of a pony who just was not happy with me. For whatever reason he or she might've had. I didn't care anymore, I finally had some good news and that was having a regular home away from home. A house, a shack, a cottage, a place I could call my own and live in. Nothing else crossed my mind but blissful thoughts as I walked down to where I remember it had been.
I made a mental note to tell make Lyra and AJ aware of my new home as soon as possible, I still wasn't sure how long that little orange filly was going to be around for but I thought I might as well make the most of it, you know?.
Even with all the calming Spring- Time sounds of the whistling winds and the chirping birds, I still craved a touch of melodic harmony. This whole world was a simple dish and I wanted to spice it with a little musical cinnamon. With the confirmation that no one or nopony was around, I began to hum to the tune, I can honestly say, there hasn't been a single time when this song didn't cheer me up whenever I might've been a bit down. I snapped my fingers occasionally with the rhythm.
"..The heart is a bloom...shoots up from the stony ground and there's no room, no space left in this town, you're out of luck...and the reason that'cha had to care, the traffic is stuck...and you're not movin' anywhere, ya thought'cha found a friend...who can take ya out of this place, somewhere where you can lend a hand in return for grace. It's A Beautiful DAY!!" I chuckled a bit, over-exaggerating and practically screaming the last note, I breathed in. "Sky falls, you feel like..." my voice trailed off and I stopped dead in my tracks, I stared, wide-eyed at what was in front of me. "...it's a beautiful day" I barely uttered.
Trailing down the path led to a rather large mound in the earth, a green hill just curving upwards with the branching road. Before that was a bridge, just in front of me, it was built in a way that made the earth look simply cut out from under it. Above all, however, the bridge was looking very freshly built over the flowing river stream beneath it, occupied by vacant lillipads and wild, green fauna sprouting by the shore and from the water surface. The path led up to the oval-shaped door between the white painted arches of the house. The thing that surprised me the most about it though was the fact that it looked like half the house was a tree, specifically, the top half.
"No fuckin' way..." I let out to myself.
This...this house...I knew I had seen it before, I knew there was something about it that felt missing. You can imagine my surprise when I saw the rundown old shack revamped to what was obviously a secluded cottage. Not just any cottage either.
"Fluttershy's house...?"
I pawed at the front door in awe for a moment before pushing it open, unfortunately, it was a little shorter than I was, I had to duck slightly open entering. I also found the fact that it didn't open by two seperate doors like in the show quite interesting, I sort of wondered why though. This was eventually going to be Fluttershy's cottage, right? Why wasn't it exactly the way it was supposed to be?
I shrugged it off.
I closed the door behind me and grinned to myself as I took in the interior of the house. Tia really had made sure was spruced up alright, it almost looked like a completely different building compared to the abandoned shack it once was. The green coloured floor boards, the oddly placed stove to the right, the archway to the kitchen on the left, the neatly built staircase off to the side, leading to the second floor. A couple of coffee tables, a lamp, what looked to be the pony-equivalent of a recliner next to the same couch I sat down on with Celestia.
And cried on with Celestia.
A cabinet just off in the corner next to the door and a freshly woven, crimson rug all in the centre. All in all, the place was sweet...I could help but get a gnawing feeling that something was missing though.
Maybe all the little structures for the dozens of animals that were to live here sometime in the future?
Eh, whatever. I walked up the stairs, they squeaked under my weight, the ha-...er, hoof-railing was a tad bit lower than I was used to though. At the top of the stairs was a short hall way, a door directly ahead of me stood and to both sides, adjacent doors were held between the arches aswell. The first door was an empty storage closet, I rolled my eyes and closed it. The room on the right was a simple yet homey bathroom, I nodded as I caught sight of the cube shaped shower.
"Definitely gotta have one of you tonight" I muttered to myself, closing the door. Finally, I looked down the hallway to the last room at the end. Quickly walking up to it, I turned the door knob and entered the room. Although, it wasn't quite a room that I was greeted with but rather another smaller flight of stairs Shrugging, I ascended in a few easy steps.
I sighed, smiling.
At the top was a well placed and decently sized mattress. Framed between a blue painted, wooden headboard and a similar foo-...hoofboard. It was well kempt and recently with a nice, thick and fluffy blanket covering the white sheets beneath it, topped off with a very similar blue pillow. Off to the side of it was a bookcase/nightstand sitting beneath a bolted in shelf in the wall, all shelves were empty.
There were at least six windows just in this room. Four circle based ones with crossing boards on adjacents sides of the room and two retagnular ones, placed symmetrically at both sides of the bed. At the foot of the bed was a simple, thin chest. Finally, opposite to the set of drawers on the left was a stone fireplace, to the side of it was a already a freshly stacked pile of cylindrical wooden blocks.
I grinned and rolled my shoulders, they cracked. Outside, the soft, raidant orange glow of Celestia's ever lowering sun cascaded through the windows, in this light, it was like a regular home away from home.
Home...where exactly was home now? I had been in Equestria for roughly three days now, this being my third and to tell you all the truth. I wasn't as depressed about it as the previous day. This weren't overall looking down for me, I currently owned my own house, had a hefty purse of bits, had made, surprisingly, a couple of friends; including the two current Princesses, a future florist the Element of Honesty herself...and a musical human fanatic.
Tia, Cadence, AJ, Rose and Lyra...I smiled at the thought of them, how they were now and the mares who'd they'd all become in God knows how long. In a way, I felt anxious, knowing most of the future events that were to transpire as soon as Luna returned but was also kind of excited to see all those events in person. From Twilight coming to town, to Discord showing up, to the wedding and who knows? Maybe I'll get to see Twilight grow a pair, eh? However, that was the future, I needed to pay more attention to the present, issues were still needed to be sorted out.
I groaned, realising I had been saying this all out loud. With my jaw tired from constantly jammering, I decided to go for a quick walk around the land...that I now, apparently, owned.
Here's where I now stand, smiling down at a beaming green filly unicorn pony by the shore of a lake. She giggled a bit but her grin was replaced abruptly with a concerned frown.
"Wait, what about all your family and friends on Er-...Errrr...." Lyra struggled.
"Earth"
"Yeah, Earth! Aren't you going to miss 'em?" she asked, still with the same concerned frown.
"Well, yeah, I guess..." I said, rubbing the back of my neck and turning away slightly. When I caught her empathetic expression, I gave her a half-hearted reassuring smirk. "Hey, don't worry about it, I'll be alright" she simply nodded.
"Yeah but ya know, if I was taken away from my world into one I had never seen before, surrounded by strange ponies, I don't think I'd be alright" she admitted, rubbing her leg with a hoof absentmindely. She looked up at me and smiled enviously. "But you're brave and really nice, so I think it'll be okay"
I nearly shed a tear from her praise, Hell, her intellect was almost enough to make me croon. It was refreshing, she seemed so modestly intelligent with her evaluation of herself in my situation, it made me respect her even more so. Not to mention that every ten-year-old I'd met in my life was dumb-as-nails.
"I dunno if I'm that brave, Lyra" I admitted. The unicorn tilted her head confusedly. "There's a lot of things that scare me"
It was true. One of which I had now as going to sleep. I didn't want to risk it.
It was so strange, never had I had a nightmare so real, so vivid before coming to Equestria, sure there were some buried deep in my mind, flashes of scenarios and whatnot. These were different, however, the first one was...well, pleasant up until the abrupt ending but the second?
...Maybe I should take therapy sessions.
"Like what? I didn't anything could scare somepony as big as you" I let her term-use slip go uncorrected as I shyly grinned at her.
"Well, just because I'm tall doesn't mean I'm not afraid of anything"
"Okay then, what are you scared of?" Lyra asked. I rubbed the growing hairs under my chin.
"Hmm, being alone, I suppose" I muttered, I sort of blanched at that the second the last syllable escaped my lips. Was I? For the longest time, ever since I could remember, that's all had I wanted. Solitude was what I always desired...right? At least, I thought so.
"Being alone?" Lyra repeated questioningly. I jumped out of my trance at hearing her voice.
"Uhh, yeah...I'm scared of being by myself, ya know? Alone when...when I actually need someone" I said, more to myself than to her. I gazed up at the orange sky, Celestia had already begun lowering the sun towards the horizon. My body rocked back slightly as a warm weight pressed itself against me. I looked down to see the little unicorn filly, she had almost painfully wrapped her hooves around my thighs and was squeezing tightly in a hug. I smiled serenly at her, her pressed her face into my legs, clenching her eyes as she tightened around me with all her might, letting out a strained squeak in the process.
Lyra loosened slightly as I brushed her mane gently with a free hand. She squirmed as I broke from her embrace and kneeled down to meet her eye level. She quickly jumped back onto me and this time, I was ready and caught her, she nestled the crook of neck as I stroked the soft fur on her back.
For the second time, I could barely supress a tear.
"What's wrong, Lyra?" I asked.
"You won't have to be alone, okay?" she managed. My eyes widened for a brief second before I smiled gingerly behind her as we embraced eachother.
Another priceless moment to remember.
"Thanks, Lyra" I managed, sniffing a little at the end of my sentence. "I think that's what I needed to hear" The little unicorn pulled back and grinned as she closed her eyes to rub her nose against mine. I returned the gesture to the best of my ability, although it did in fact feel somewhat awkward, I had assumed this wasn't something friends normally did.
But more along the lines of what lovers did.
I wasn't complete known to Equestrian society other than what was portrayed in the show but...I had indeed, despite my age, read 'Xenophilia'.
That was just fanfiction, right? Surely that's not how it works here...
Anyway, I'm rambling again.
"We're friends, Kyle" Lyra said happily. "And friends look out for eachother"
"Yeah" I replied quietly. My mind drifted a bit towards my old pals. "I guess they do, don't they?" I continued. We seperated after that and I stood up, glancing upwards at the falling orange orb. "Ya'll 'right to walk home?" I asked. Lyra nodded and pawed a hoof at the ground nervously. I rolled my eyes and let a knowing smirk adorn my face. "C'mon, then" I said, gesturing with a wave for her to follow. Lyra giggled and trotted happily next to me.
You know, I might've exaggerated when I said that foals were about to my waist. Truth be told, they're more up to lower thigh.
We barely chatted anymore than a bit of small talk on our way back to Ponyville, I has asked her why she was by the house and she just said that she was out on a walk. Something told me there was a bit more than that to it but maybe I was just imaging things. I didn't mind not talking that much, I was just settled with enjoying the company.
I really wish I had my shoes. Maybe I could get Rarity to make some...Oh, yeah, she's a filly without a cutie mark. I'm not sure she could even if she wanted to, sure she made those bazaar-looking food costumes but experience comes with time and I wasn't going to ask her young mind to develop footwear for an alien.
Especially if she'd be so appauled by my appearance, she run off and cry for help.
Anyway...Lyra caught me out of my rambling when she asked me something rather peculiar; "Do you play anything?" I glanced down at her.
"What do you mean?"
"An instrument, do you play anything?" I couldn't help but chuckle a bit at her question, she was a future lyrist after all, I should be asking if she plays anything.
"Well...just a bit of guitar but ya know...only four chords" I said, shrugging.
"Only four?" she asked critically.
"That's all ya need" I replied, knowingly.
"Huh?"
"E minor, G, C, D; Learn those and you're golden. Almost every song for the last decade on my planet had those four chords just repeated. Only thing that's different is the tempo and strumming pattern" I informed.
"That's sorta..." Lyra trailed off.
"Not creative?"
"Yeah"
"Hey, some of greatest tracks from my day are four chord songs. Anyway, what about you?" I asked.
"Uhhh...no, I don't...I don't play anything" Lyra replied, almost in a sad tone. I blanched at that, she didn't play? She didn't play the lyre? Did she even own an instrument?
"Lyra?" I asked, worriedly.
"I wish I did though" she continued solemnly. I knelt down and rested a hand on her shoulder, she didn't flinch but she stopped walking and turned to look up at, a sign I found welcoming. I smiled at the little unicorn.
"Hey, c'mon now, I'm sure if ya let your parents know, there just might be something with a few strings on Hearth's Warming Eve" I said with a knowing smirk. Lyra chuckled slightly and gave her shoulder a brief pat. "...Ponies do exchange gifts on Hearth's Warming Eve, right?" I asked, she nodded.
Guess it's more connected to Christmas than I thought.
As I stood up, Lyra began to eye with confusion. "Wait...how do you know about Hearth's Warming Eve?" she asked. I resisted the urge to potently slap my face for letting yet another bit of information get out. I started up walking again and Lyra followed, still curious.
I scratched my head. "Well, I uhh..." I let out a nervous chuckle. "I ummm, heard somepony mention it yesterday, said it was some kind of holiday in the winter" I said. "Hey, speaking of which, when is Winter here? I thought that it'd be snowing since it's November" I questioned. "November is a month here, right?"
Lyra seemed taken aback by how questions I was asking but managed to speak. "Yeah, it's November and why would it be snowing? It's Summer" she stated. I looked at her in intrigued.
This was...interesting.
For the longest time, I had imagined the seasons to be more akin to those of the United States, with November, December and January being the coldest months. However, from what this little unicorn had just said, that's not the case. In fact, it appears that they're closer to those of home.
I mentally fist pumped in Aussie pride, at least this was something I was used to, December in Summer, just like always. Although, there was a problem there.
"Alright but when is Hearth's Warming Eve? I thought it took place during the Winter"
"It does" Lyra replied, knowingly. "June 1st is the date, in case you're wondering" she said, I hint of annoyance in her tone.
"Hmmm, alright then" I said, simply. "Sorry for kinda badgering you with all that, I'm just curious" This was something else I had to get used to in Equestria; Christmas in June.
Why was it the first though? Ah, I'll think about it when I get home...
...home.
There wasn't much left to walk after that so there was barely any time to get any more words in our conversation.
Can't be helped I suppose.
Anyway, it was well into the sunset by the time Lyra led me to her house. This, in turn, meant that there weren't alot of ponies trotting about through town. I thankful that the few individuals that were out on the street didn't give me much of a look, well, maybe some did but they weren't glaring. I had to thank Lyra on this, I'm sure if it weren't for her, I'd be in a much worse position than this.
I owed her.
Anyway, this was the first time I had seen where Lyra lived, a cozy looking house that fitted in perfectly with the rest of town. She stepped up to the door and knocked before turning to look at me with a smile, I returned it naturally. The door opened to reveal the same mare from the previous day.
Lyra's mum.
"Hi, mom!" the little unicorn hollered, reaching at the mare to hug her around the legs. I hadn't yet caught wind of her name yet, she smiled down at her daughter and stroked her two-toned mane, flattening a few stray strands. Lyra broke away and gestured to me with a hoof. "You remember Kyle, right?" she asked happily.
The mare looked up at me and her smile faltered a tad, she wasn't glaring at me but she wasn't grinning either. Surprisingly, she reminded alot of a mother of an old friend I had in Primary School, I felt less uneasy with this comparison.
"Mhm, I remember" she stated with a nod. "I heard you were with the Princess today, correct?"
"Yuh huh, she actually managed to set me up in that old cottage at the edge of town" I replied.
"Oh, really?" she asked. "So, you're now staying...in Ponyville?"
"Looks like it"
"Isn't that awesome, mom!?" Lyra inquired gleefully. The mare looked down at her, silently. She did the same to me but kept her gaze unreadable.
Damn, her poker face had Celestia running for her money.
"I suppose so" she finally said. "As long as you don't get her into any trouble, I'm fine with you two being friends"
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thankyou, ma'am" I said.
"It's Quo" she said, a small smile adorning her face.
"Quo?" I asked.
"Or Status Quo but nopony calls me that" she explained. Well, that's an interesting name.
"Alright, goodnight and catcha, Lyra" I said, turning around after giving a mock-salute. I took one step before my leg was caught in a fim grip. I looked down to see the little unicorn, her hooves wrapped around my thigh and her face nuzzling into it as she smiled up at me. I grinned at her and brushed her mane slightly before knealing down and giving her a proper hug.
She really must've liked hugs, as it would seem.
We broke away from eachother and she scampered off to her mother who was now smiling at me, almost knowingly. She nodded, I returned it and closed the door as soon as Lyra gave me a quick wave and headed inside. I smiled and turned away towards the dirt path and started up walking again but was cut off by a door abruptly opening behind me.
"Mr. Kyle" came the voice of Quo. I turned to face her, she wore a serious face on her muzzle.
"Yeah?"
"You're her first friend" she stated simply. "At least, in a long time, I can see you make her happy..." she stared at me in silence for a moment. "I need to thankyou for that"
"No need, Quo" I waved a hand dismissively. "Lyra's a good lass, I'm glad I met her first, I owe her and I'm glad to call her a friend" Quo smiled at me and nodded once more, closing the door for the second time. I sighed happily and began the walk back home.
Oh, I remember this. The walk home. This was something I had been doing after nearly every social event I went to. I loved it most of time but when I hadt to do it everyday? It just got on my nerves.
This time, I loved it though.
It was starting to get dark but I barely picked up my pacing, it wasn't solemn loneliness, it was peaceful, carefree.
Eventually, I made to the house; My house. Walking up to the door, I merely pushed it open and sighed in exasperation as I closed it before taking in breathing heavily within the comfort of my house.
"I wonder if the kitchen has anything..." I let out to myself, stepping towards the archway. Surely enough, in the corner on the counter was a stocked fruit bowl, I was going to have to thank Tia again, the last thing I ate were a few biscuits when I was talking to Cadence this morning.
Needless to say, I was hungry. Giggling happily, I snatched a decently sized pink-lady apple from the bowl and muched happily on the juicy fruit. It wasn't any Sweet Apple Acres material but it was alright, filled my stomach enough.
I yawned audibly and stretched my arms. "Well, might as well crash" I said as I started for the stair case up to the hall and up to the bedroom. I wouldn't call myself an owl but even as none of the laterns of candles were alight, I could make my way through the house easily enough. With a quick motion, I discarded my jacket and practically flipped onto the bed, quickly rummaging to get the warm blankets up to my chest. I sighed and once again, found myself ponderng over everything.
"If Hearth's Warming is on the first of June, does that mean...?" I started, I slapped my forehead and gave a brief chuckle. "Freaking June is the first month of the year, here? Damn and here I thought I knew everything about this place" I continued, laughing quietly. I sighed as a serious frown adorned my mouth. "I hope you're all doing okay, girls...especially you, Pinkie" I said, turning my head on the pillow and closing my eyes. "...Please don't make me see them like that...I can't take that again" I finally said before the confines of sleep finally took me.
"Damn, that was good" I said in satisfaction. I gave my stomach a quick drumming solo as the delicious treat from earlier set in. "I don't care if I'm putting on weight, I need me some more o' those" I looked out to the busy streets of Ponyville after walking out of Sugarcube Corner. I caught glimpse of Berry Punch and she met my eye, she smiled happily and waved, I returned the gesture with a two-fingered salute.
Hang on...what?
"You know, you curse alot" came a voice from behind me. Despite having never heard it before, I knew whose it was and for some reason...I loved hearing it. I turned around to where the voice had come from and spotted the grown, mint-green unicorn mare standing behind me, smiling playfully. I had to tilt my head a fair bit to meet her eye level, she was only about up to ribcage. That's strange, if she was fully grown, shouldn't she be taller? Actually, why does my face feel so fuzzy? What am I wearing? For some reason, I already knew that I was wearing a white three-quarter sleeved shirt with black accents and a pair of black jeans.
Why was I wearing jeans? I never wear jeans! How did I even get them?!
Also, who is this pony? It can't be...Lyra?!
I wanted to ask why she was so tall and why her voice was more...mature but instead, I just stared at her, grinning slyly.
"I know, I do that when I'm happy" I said, unsurprisingy, happily.
"You're weird" the unicorn muttered, rolling her eyes with a happy sigh.
"And that's why ya love me" I replied smoothly, leaning towards her. Wait, WHAT!?!
Lyra leaned into me as I grinned at her with the side of my head turned towards her. She abruptly pressed her lips to my cheek in a quick but meaningful movement before pulling back. I turned to her, I wanted to ask what was that, why she...why I was behaving the way I was! Instead, I merely smirked her playfully and she bit her lip...cutely.
"That's one of many reasons, I suppose" she said, eyeing with an emotion I...recognised, somehow. I just stood there, hunched over while we stared into eachother's eyes.
I felt...happy.
Amongst all the confusion of what my body, of which was now far different, was doing without my consent, amongst everything this grown-up Lyra had done so far...had said so far. I felt happy.
Lyra wrapped her front hooves around my neck, weighing me down a tad but not too much. I grinned and held her body by her mid-section with my, now enlarged, hands. Glancing quickly at them, I was surprised to see the bulging mass that made up my arms, with this came something else; strength. Lyra giggled slightly as I hoisted her up, never letting go of my neck with her hooves as she did so. I lifted her so she was now eye-level with me, she grinned as she wrapped her hind legs around my waist and bit her lip again.
Damn, did she look cute!
Without another second, the two of us dashed towards eachother in a fiery, romantic kiss.
...WHAAAAAT?!
Our lips parted on their own but didn't break away from the other as our tongues clashed together in a salivating, epic war of passion. Lyra moaned into my mouth, a sign of which I took well and proceeded.
"Ugh, get a room you two!" came a raspy voice from over head, I broke away from the kiss, grinning and looked up at the sky. The tone was irritated but lacked seriousness, the voice itself I recognised. Actually recognised.
Instead of screaming in confusion, I just smiled at the cyan pegasus gazing down into my eyes with a playful smirk.
"Jealous, Dash?" I asked, sarcastically. Lyra giggled into a hoof at my comment, not bothering to look away from me.
"You wish, Big Guy!" Rainbow Dash retorted.
"Oh, trust me!" Lyra began, tracing a hoof over my chest. "You have no idea, Rainbow" she added, seductively.
"Oh, please!" Dash replied, confidently. "Between you and AJ, I don't think he can handle me! I am the fastest in Equestria, after all!" she stated, proudly.
"Shouldn't be a problem, then" I replied, a sly smirk on my face. Dash's eyes opened as her pupils shrank, a heavy blush adorned her cheeks as she pointed at me fiercely with a hoof.
"T-that's not what I m-meant!" she stuttered.
"Sure it wasn't, Dashie" I replied.
"Ugh! Stop calling me that!" she groaned. "Only Pinkie Pie calls me that, why do you have to?" she asked. I wasn't smirking anymore and instead I was merely smiling, smiling happily at the cyan pony who hovered just overhead. Her expression calmed down a bit at my silence and my own expression. She looked confused as I turned away to look at the unicorn I cradled in my arms.
"No reason" I said as Lyra leaned in to rub her nose against mine. There was a brief pause before something caught my ear.
A tune? No, not just any tune...this was vaguely familiar. I'm not sure why it was so vague to me, I knew exactly what it was but for some reason, it felt like a distant memory.
Then it clicked.
"Oh, sweet Luna, it can't be" I said to myself, smiling down the road as the song got louder. "No way, really? Ar-are you being serious right now?"
"What is it, babe?" Lyra asked. I didn't blanch but by now, nothing was to my surprise, I just listened more intently and began to hum to the beat.
"Da dadada da da dadada da" I muttered and soon, it hit me in the form of a pink coated, bubbly mare trotting down the grass street, her eyes closed and a smile on her muzzle. "Aww yeah" I let out.
"What's going on, buddy?" Dash asked.
"You two, stay here" I said, smiling madly as I put the mint-green pony back on the ground. Lyra looked dissapointed at that.
"Why? Where are you going?" the unicorn asked, concerned.
"I'll be right back, you'll know when to show up" I stated before I ran off towards the prancing earth pony. The music revolved around her but in a sense, it felt all around me, I decided long ago to not question the capabilites music had in Equestria, let alone with Pinkie Pie.
Long ago? How long is that?
As I neared along side her, my excitement doubled and I prepared my vocal chords for the oncoming song.
"My name is Pinkie Pie, Hello!" she waved at a white unicorn walking in the opposite direction. "And I am here to say, How ya doing?!" I breathed briefly.
"I'm gonna make you smile and I will brighten up your day-ayyy!" we chimed together as I began to walk along side her.
"It doesn't matter now" I continued.
"If you are sad or blue" she added, gesturing to two glum-looking filles over by the side of the road. "Cause cheering up my friends is just-"
"-What Pinkie's here to do!" I found myself jumping onto a short flight of steps, or more specifically over it. I leaped off the tallest step and landed on the grass. However, Pinkie decided that was too boring and slid down the railing with the two foals on her back.
"Cause I love to make you smile, smile, smile!" she sang as she fliiped off the end of the railing and onto a hay cart driven by none other than my marefriend's brother.
Huh?!
I grabbed the cart and threw myself in with Pinkie and the foals "Yes, you do" I grinned.
"It fills my heart with sunshine all the while!" we sang.
"Yes it does" she added.
"Cause all I really needs a smile, smile, smile!" Pinkie and I chimed, she wrapped a hoof around my shoulder and I placed a hand on hers. We bounced with the chorus, swaying eachother in the gleeful music. As if on cue, we jumped out of the hay like a pair of assassins and I swear, we may as well been flying as we hung in the air. We were still attached as we looked at eachother, as if the world had slowed down just for this moment, the absolute joy on her face probably mirrored mine.
"From these happy friends of mine!!" we practically shouted at eachother, joyously.
Damn, my life rocks!
What do you mean? What's going on?!
That's when I felt my eyes abruptly open and the warmth of the blankets still coating me. I sat up with an audible groan and rubbed my face with both hands.
"Argh...when I said I didn't want any nightmares, I didn't mean show me something like that" I grumbled to the darkness around me. I sighed in irritation of being awake so late as I lazily fell back onto the pillow. "What was that anyway? Am I seeing the future now? If so then..." My eyes widen and I sub-conciously lifted a hand to my lips. I could still feel Lyra's own against mine, the way we connected in complete ecstacy, complete passion, in complete...love.
"What's going on with my dreams lately?" I asked to the nothingness. Silence was my only answer, a short while passed before I chuckled amusedly. "Singing with Pinkie, wow" I let out before laying my head back and closing my eyes a second time.
However, I couldn't find it in me to sleep. I felt...uneasy. I frowned and gazed up at the ceiling. "Something's not right" I let out to myself, flipping the covers over to climb out of the bed. I made my way to the window on the far side of the room, each step I took felt heavier than the last somehow. Outside, it was dark, nearly completely pitch black but I had mentioned before, my night-vision was quite in shape.
I wish it wasn't.
I peered out the window and was greeted by the dark void of the night, only the full moon and stars gave off any light. "Good job, Lun-..." I cut myself off, feeling a pang of sorrow in my heart. "...Good job, Tia, it's a nice night" at that moment, I wondered whether or not Equestria could have anything but a full moon, seeing as the sun and moon are aligned perfectly and don't move on their own.
Food for thought.
However, that train of thought was snatched off it's rails as I looked down at the grassy field outside the house. My heart sank, my breathing became erratic.
There it was.
The same creature I had seen in the Everfree Forest.
Crouched there in the blackness that shaded the bright green grass was the bony, pale creature. If I listened carefully enough, I could hear it growling as it scratched and pawed at something in the ground. Immediately, my senses were rattled with anger. For whatever reason, the fear simply drove my hatred for the thing. I didn't give it a second thought as I pushed open the window forcefully and glared down at the creature.
"Get the Hell outta here!!" I yelled at it. It looked up at me with it's black eyes and gasped in surprise with a slight croak, it didn't move. "You heard me! Fuck off!" I added. The creature didn't need another warning, immediatly it scurried away on all fours, close to the ground and very...very quickly. I watched it leave "I don't care why you're stalking me but I know what you want!" I shouted. "And you're not getting it, you bastard!!" with that, I shut the window, no longer allowing the cold night air to sweep inside.
I froze at that point, my eyes widened and I brought my hands up to my arms for what little comfort I could give myself. My teeth began to chatter as I slowly made my way to the bed and crawled into it. I stared uneasily at the ceiling for what felt like hours.
"It knows where I live" I let out to myself in barely a whisper. "I don't care if it's what I think it is or how that would even be possible" I continued. "But I do know what it wants from me, what it wants me to do...and by Celestia, he'll get more than he bargained for" I had yet to notice that I had started to 'it' as 'he' by this point. "This is war...Rake"
I seeped into my pillow at that thought, the terror I had felt before was once again replaced by hate and with that anger...stood a purpose.
"I'm not going down without a fight...you won't break me" I said to the darkness.
By now, I didn't care that I was initially talking to myself, perhaps a bit too much.
As I closed my eyes again, a soft playing, happy song worked it's way into my head and I found myself murmurng the words as I dozed off to yet another slumber.
"Giggle at the ghostlies...guffaw at the groslies...crack up at the creepy..."