Chapter 19: The Night is Young
Harold laid flat on his belly in the middle of the library. His face was firmly planted into the ground while his arms and legs were pinned down by the law of gravity. He tried to move a single bicep in his arm but it was no use.
Harold was the victim of boredom.
How did boredom get the best of him?
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“I wanna know,
Have you ever seen the rain?
I wanna know
Have you ever seen the rain
Comin’ down on a sunny day?”
Harold sat on the same seat in the library, listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival play their classic tunes while he was lost in the spiritualistic world he called tranquility. He listened to all 52 calm rock songs and his battery dropped only by 1%.
Thank you, Twilight.
The aforementioned pony tapped the human’s shoulder. Harold yelped from shock as his meditation was shattered, along with his slightly sensitive nerves. He turned back and saw Twilight smiling at him, levitating big stacks of papers that weighed a ton.
“I have some paperwork for me to do, Harold,” Twilight informed the boy. “In the meantime, try to do something and entertain yourself. I’ll prepare some dinner once I’m done with these.”
“That’s okay, Twilight,” Harold reassured the alicorn. “You have all the time in the world to finish those up.”
“Actually, since my latest incident with your unexpected, and mysterious by the way, arrival, I’m a bit behind on all this paperwork. They’re all due back to Canterlot by later tonight,” Twilight informed grimly to the human.
“Oh, okay. Carry on then,” Harold said using a mock-British accent.
Twilight trotted upstairs to her room while Harold stayed downstairs in the foyer of the library and quickly skipped over “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Harold remembered hating this song for its pointless operatic section so much, Lana downloaded it onto his iPod as a practical joke.
The time was 3:39 P.M.
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Having listened to all that music until the quarter after 4 and completing his drawings, Harold found nothing to do. Equestria didn’t have any TVs for him to watch, let alone have TV studios and broadcasting systems. Radios were nonexistent in this world. So what now?
Until Twilight was done, Harold would have to entertain himself.
“I’m getting so bored, dear Twilight, dear Twilight,
I’m getting so bored, dear Twilight,
So bored.”
Harold’s parody of Harry Belafonte didn’t entertain him at all. He was done with listening to music for today, so there had to be something else he could do. Maybe he could take a full tour of the tree?
Nope. It’d be impolite to him if he walked around the house without having his host show him around.
Could he try out a book?
Nuh-uh. He didn’t feel like reading.
Could he go visit Rarity for some company?
Fat chance. Those ponies gave him the stink eye and talked smack behind his back.
Harold clasped his head as he growled furiously into the wood.
“GAAAAHHHHH! I’m...so...BORED!”
The human couldn’t help but roll on the floor, screaming “Bored! Bored! Bored!” repeatedly until he found himself flat on his back near the library door, staring at the ceiling. There was a cobweb forming on the top shelf to the right of the library door. Harold sighed.
“Gimme a B!”
*Clap clap*
“Gimme an O!”
*Clap clap*
“Gimme an R!”
*Clap clap*
“Gimme an E!”
*Clap clap*
“Gimme a D!”
*Clap clap*
“What’s that spell? BORED!”
Harold cupped his mouth and imitated the crowd going wild. At least he had something to do while Twilight was getting her usual royal business done. But that something wasn’t enough to help Harold cure his conflict between laziness and restlessness. He felt like something inside him was dangerously mixing together and he could explode and bring about a mushroom cloud over the library. That was Harold’s feeling of boredom.
The pubescent human grunted.
“When is Twilight gonna finish her paperwork? I’ll have enough bored here to build a two-story house with a basement.” Harold clasped his hands together and started praying out loud. “Please, Lord, I’ll give you my soul just to have some excitement right about now!”
BAM!
The door smacked Harold directly into his face.
“Not like that,” Harold murmured.
Who the heck slammed the door, anyway?
“Twilight...I’m home.”
Harold’s mind suddenly clicked. He heard that voice before. It was the sound of a little boy’s voice echoing from the other side of the door, the same voice that blew his cover over at Fluttershy’s cottage. Harold sat up covering his nose where the door got him badly and looked to see who the pony was that caused him double damage today.
To his surprise, it was no pony.
It was a big lizard. A big, purple lizard with green spines and a green belly.
And it talked!
“Robert Ripley, eat your heart out.”
“Twilight, are you home? Could you make me a mug of tea wi--*BUURRRRPPPPP!*--with honey and crushed emeralds in it?” The lizard belched out green flames out of the sickness of his stomach, confirming that the lizard was a dragon. A pretty sick dragon, to be precise. Harold cringed at the creature’s slightly hoarse voice.
Either that, or it was the red liquid that started flowing out of his nose.
“Spike? Is that you?” Twilight called from upstairs.
“No, it’s Fancy Pants, but I’m hopped up on balloon gas,” Spike joked weakly. The alicorn trotted downstairs to the foyer. She had a mix of relieved and concerned feelings for the young dragon.
“Spike, you’re not still sick, are you?” Twilight laid her hoof on the young reptile’s forehead for five seconds and confirmed her diagnosis.
“Yep. You’ve gotta fever. You’re probably dehydrated from you’re earlier vomiting.” Twilight gave Spike a small shove to the staircase. “Now go on and get some bed rest, young dragon. I’ll make you some tea and give you some medicine for your stomach.”
“Medicine” was the code word to jump Spike back a couple inches.
“No way, Twilight! I’m not gonna taste that awful stuff again and that’s final!”
“Spike,” Twilight said sternly. “Regardless of whether it tastes good or not, you have to take the medicine. Otherwise, you’ll go through the night with an aching stomach and a bad night’s sleep. You want the pain to go away, right?”
Spike huffed defeatedly. “Yes, Twilight.”
Twilight trotted into the kitchen to cook up the tea while Spike staggered to the staircase leading to the upper floor. “Oh, Celestia. I’m never flying with--*BUURRRPPP*--with Twilight ever again.”
“Tell me about it,” Harold said subconsciously, preoccupied with covering his bloody nose. “I could barely breathe when I flew with her and I was riding in a chariot.”
Harold and Spike suddenly stooped and shot looks at each other. The crimson-faced human found himself staring at the green-faced dragon, both at a loss for words for a moment or two. Then the screaming came.
“AAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH! IT’S YOU!!”
Twilight dropped the teapot in shock. The spilled teapot left behind a big puddle of freshly-drawn water on the floor, motivating her to storm her way into the foyer with a maddened look upon her. There, she saw Harold and Spike in a battle of blowouts that put a lot strain to Twilight’s hearing.
“Alright, tough guy! Who are you!? What are you doing in the library!?”
“I should ask you the same thing!”
“This library is my home and Twilight’s home!”
“...And Twilight invited me into her home!”
“Likely story! Tell me who you’re working for or I’ll belch out a fireball at you!”
“You’d better not! Rarity made these clothes for--”
“Hang on! How do you know my sweet Rarity!? What did you do to her!?”
“Why do you think I did anything to--HMMPPPH!”
“HMMPPHHMMPH!”
Both Harold’s and Spike’s mouths were zipped closed and covered with a metal plating. Near the kitchen doorway stood a very stressed out Twilight, who was lighting her horn and trying her best to keep her composure without freaking out. Her glint in her eye was like a spear striking into their fearful souls.
“Before I raise my Canterlot Voice again, let me make this perfectly clear,” she said with venom in her voice. “One: This is a library and I want it to be a silent place for anypony to enjoy reading or studying. Two: You both are frightened by each other and I agree on that logic, but that doesn’t give you the right to fight over something petty like who saw who in Fluttershy’s yard. And three: If I hear you two fighting again, I will personally kick your flanks out until you’ve learned your lesson. Is that understood?”
Spike and Harold both whimpered and nodded in unison. Twilight undid the spell, leaving both of them to kneel down and gasp for air. They looked up to an unimpressed alicorn standing over them with her gaze fixated on Spike.
“Now then. Spike, this is Harold the human. He’s been living it hard on his world and needs time to recover from his loss, so I want you to treat him nicely.” Spike looked away with his scaly head low away from Twilight’s view. The alicorn turned to Harold, still covering his nose. “And Harold, Spike is my number one assistant, so I need you too--Harold, is your nose bleeding?”
Harold’s face was red from his nose to his mouth. It was about time somepony would notice his condition.
“Nope. My head is a strawberry and the dragon juiced me some by slamming his door in my face.” Twilight wasn’t buying his joke one bit. He knew, because Twilight had the same face on her like she did during his interrogation and heaved a sigh.
“Hang on, I’ll get a tissue.”
Twilight levitated a nearby box of tissues and brought to Harold, where he greedily grabbed a big handful, stuffed it to his nose and held his head up high to help reduce the bleeding.
“I’m gonna get Spike’s tea ready. Spike, you keep Harold company while I get your tea fixed up.”
Spike suddenly waved his arms in protest. “Uh-uh! No way, Twilight! There’s no way I can hang around with this guy around, knowing he’s the one who got me sick at Fluttershy’s cottage!” Harold felt a bit crushed by the dragon’s words against him staying, leaving Twilight more disgusted with Spike than ever.
“Spike. Come in with me to the kitchen please. I need to talk to you in private”
The young dragon grew uneasy. Whenever Twilight’s voice became neutral, stoic and stern, it meant Spike got himself in deep trouble. The bad part for him was that he had to comply to Twilight’s command or refuse and fester the situation.
Spike felt his legs sag like weights when he followed Twilight into the kitchen, not from sickness, but from nervous intimidation. The teapot was lying where she dropped it and the water formed a big puddle that spanned all over the floor. Spike had his eyes on the floor, daring not to look up at his adoptive sister.
“I’m disappointed in you, Spike,” Twilight said, cutting to the point already. “I was disappointed in how you treated Harold in there. I was expecting more from a young dragon like yourself to be hospitable to our guest, but you let your personal grudge get the better of you instead.”
Spike looked away from Twilight, rocking on his heels and his claws behind his back.
He was too ashamed to even say a word.
“Furthermore, Spike,” Twilight continued. “You’ve neglected to realize that you actually hurt Harold’s feelings back there. Just because he’s an otherworldly creature doesn’t mean you can turn him down like that.”
“But Twilight--”
“Don’t ‘but Twilight’ me, young dragon. I thought we went over this after that little squabble between you and Owlowiscious.”
Spike groaned sadly.
Twilight leaned a little closer into Spike’s face. Her once strict face turned into a mask of concern and sadness. “Spike, this is important that you listen to me. Harold lost someone he loved not too long ago and Princess Celestia entrusted me and my friends to help him back on his feet. And now Ponyville is afraid to even look at him because he’s...”
“Different?”
“Exactly. Remember how scared some of the Ponyvillians were when they learned I brought along a baby dragon?” Spike immediately recalled when he and Twilight first touched down to Ponyville. Several Ponyvillians were afraid of the baby dragon at first because of the other oversized, greedy dragons.
“Yeah. Everypony gave me a funny look, but they eventually warmed up to me.” Spike looked back at Harold pinching his nose with his crimson-colored tissue bunch in the foyer. “Oh, I get it now. Everypony won’t open up to him like they did to me at first, right?”
“And like when Zecora first came to Ponyville,” Twilight added. “But that’s why I need your help, Spike. He’s all alone and we need everypony’s support to help him back on his feet. We have to start by helping him make friends.”
“So what do you want me to do about it?” Spike asked.
“For starters, you can go apologize to Harold and make up with him.”
The young dragon nervously rubbed his arm and groaned. Twilight turned his body around by the hoof and showed him to the living room. Before Spike set one foot into the room, Twilight leaned her face next to the dragon’s ear.
“Go on, Spike. You’ve made friends easily, this should be a synch.”
Spike walked over to the human, who wiped he last bit of blood from his nose.
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Harold dabbed the blood-soaked tissue to his nostril before the liquid became a crumbly, red dust. A little taste of copper remained in his mouth, for Harold accidentally hocked the blood up into is throat.
Of all the times that Harold’s blood was spilt, this had to be the most comical way he’s ever been through before. There were times when Harold was hit in the face by fists, lockers and sneakers and he would lose a little or some of his vital bodily fluid. But getting slapped silly by a wooden door that came at him at like 30 m.p.h took the cake.
He couldn’t tell whether it was funny, or if it was painful.
After a few dabs on the nose, Harold looked up to see a crestfallen dragon nervously twisting his right foot on the wooden floor. Harold quickly deduced that the dragon...Spike, was it?...was feeling nervous about making friends with a different creature like himself.
“Uhh, hi,” the dragon spoke nervously.
“Hey.”
Harold could easily tell this was going to be a slow coversation.
“Listen, I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier in front of you,” Spike lamented, looking away shamefully. “It was wrong for me to say all that mean stuff. So...” Spike held his claw out to Harold. “Friends?”
Harold reluctantly reached out for Spike’s claws, but he managed to safely clasp those claws, which hoisted him off of the floor. One more tissue dab on the nose and Harold tossed into the wastebasket.
Ten points!
“I guess so. Friends.” Harold sounded stuffed up a little.
Spike rubbed the back of his scaly head with a gleeful smile. It felt like an elephant was lifted off of his back.
“I guess this what making amends feels like, huh?” Harold asked
“Yeah. That was a silly thing to get mad over,” Spike said, giggling a little. “Getting mad at somepony for accidentally scaring me like that. I’ve had moments when I would shoot a fireball towards whatever made me jump. You were lucky I was sick earlier today.”
“Yeah. What was your name again?”
“I’m Spike.”
“Hi, Spike. I’m Harold from a planet called Earth.”
“Wow. Talk about a coincidence. This planet is called Earth, too,” Spike pointed out.
“I figured as much.”
“So, what is your planet like, Harold? Is it a nice place?”
Harold tipped his hand like a teeter-totter, giving Spike the old “so-so” gesture.
“Not at the moment, Spike. Currently, my world has gone into some sort of economic crisis, you know?”
“Oh. Sorry to hear about that.”
“Yeah.”
First, there was a brief silence.
Then Harold started to laugh hard. He was laughing to the point where his laughs became funny little gasps of air that hooked Spike into a bout of curiosity.
“What’s so funny?”
Harold held his hand out to Spike, gesturing that he needed a minute before his fit of laughter subsided. “I was just thinking about when I scared you...back home, I was always so jumpy towards the slightest things, like a maid coming around the corner or a ladybug landing on my shoulder.” Harold wheezed from another laugh.
“But this one time, I woke up in the middle of the night and went to the bathroom for a drink of water. I was going back to my room when I saw this thing at the end of the hall. It was big, it looked like it had big eyes and these big tusks. I was so scared that I ran into my sister’s room crying and that thing managed to follow me into her room.”
Harold fell into another fit of laughter. Spike looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“So what was so funny?”
Harold waited until his laughing cooled off a little. “When that thing came in to my sister’s room, my sister went up and tackled him to the ground. I flicked on the switch--” Harold cracked up as he got to the punchline. “It was the head butler Reginald! He was wearing a mud mask and had cucumbers over his eyes!!”
“Wait, you mean--” Spike’s mouth wriggled and he burst out laughing onto the floor. “You mean some old dude was doing a girly makeover and he scared you out of your wits!?” Spike continued his laughing as Harold joined in on the fun.
“I know! Funny part was, the next morning, Reginald came down with a black eye where my sister socked him!”
The two rolled on the floor laughing. Tears were running down the cheeks and onto the floor. The human and the dragon laughed until their lungs and their sides became intensely sore.
BUUUUURRRRRPPP!
Harold immediately ceased his laughter after hearing the belch, followed by a small gurgle and a moaning of pain. He saw Spike clutching his aching stomach while lying sideways on the floor.
“Are you alright?” Harold asked with concern.
“I’m fine, Harold. It only hurts when I laugh.”
Spike chuckled a little before his stomach cramped again. Twilight came in with a small mug of steaming tea wrapped in her aura. There seemed to be tiny bits of pure green gemstones floating at the surface of the drink as Twilight helped Spike off the floor.
“Come on, Spike. I’ve got your tea ready, now it’s off to bed for you.”
“Awww, Twilight. Can’t I stay up a little longer?”
Spike’s sickly burp answered that for him.
“Sorry, Spike. Your stomach caught a bug after you regurgitated earlier today, so you have to get plenty of bed rest.” Twilight showed Spike to the staircase. “Up to bed, Spike. I’ll check on you tomorrow morning.”
The dragon went slowly upstairs with his tea in his claw. He almost spilled his drink staggering halfway up the stairs.
Harold sat there on the spot he was laughing on. As he watched Twilight care for the young dragon, he couldn’t help but reminisce about the times Lana cared for him when he felt sick. She’d feed him soup and tea whenever he caught the stomach flu and had Reginald keep watch over him when she couldn’t stay with him for long. The best part was, he didn’t have to put up with school on those days.
But from seeing how Twilight and Spike were bonding like sister and brother...
Harold started leaking tears.
Twilight sigh snapped Harold out of his thoughts. He felt the need to wipe the tears off of his face before the alicorn could take notice.
“Now that that’s done, we should go over your living arrangements for staying here in Ponyvi--” Twilight stopped when she saw Harold wipe some moisture from his eyes. “Hey, are you crying again?”
Harold perked up.
“Hmm? Oh, of course not. Something must’ve gotten in my eye.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“Harold, you’re not lying to me, are you?”
“No, I’m not lying.” Harold wiped his eye again, covering his fingers to pull an eyelash to help hide his sadness. “See? An eyelash just fell into my eye. Tricky little buggers aren’t they, eyelashes falling randomly into your eye.” Harold chuckled and shivered nervously, raising many questions in Twilight’s mind.
“Okay, just wanted to make sure you were alright.”
Harold sighed with relief.
“Anyway, I wanted to talk about your living arrangements in Ponyville. Since you don’t know your way around town that well, I though it’d be best if you’ll bunk with me for the time being.”
Harold nodded his head.
“Fair enough.”
Another silent moment passed.
...
...
...
“Sooooo, what do you want to do?” Twilight asked the human, who shrugged his shoulders in response.
“You got me. I’m so bored I might just pass out.”
Twilight yawned.
“You know, me too,” she said tiredly. “I’m just nearly done with filling out the paperwork and I’m already tuckered out from signing legal documents and approving somepony’s crazed law of outlawing cherry pie a la mode. I think I’m gonna lie down for a bit.”
With that said, Twilight fell onto the floor, belly up and wings sprouting to the sides and eyes closed.
“Not a bad idea.”
Harold copycatted Twilight’s belly up fall, minus the wings.
The two laid there on the floor together, one of the duo awake to stare at the wooden ceiling. The stressful feeling of an eventful day had drained most of their energy right out of their system, evidently shown with the human and the alicorn lying on the floor together.
Harold looked at the alicorn to his left. He was receiving some sort of unknown, fuzzy feeling just by looking at her. Her bangs cutting across her face with the purple and pink streaks. Her intelligence. Her eyes. This wasn’t a feeling of love, but it was something else. Something forgotten.
“Twilight...why do I know you?”
Harold closed his eyes as he felt himself drifting into a deep sleep.
...
...
...
SLAM!
FWEEEE!
“SURPRIIIIIISSSEEE!”
Twilight and Harold awoke screaming with a jolt to the slamming door, noisemakers and the screaming of a happy pink pony carrying her Party Cannon. Twilight gazed at the doorway to see Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy standing just outside.
“Pinkie Pie! What in the wide world of Equestria are you doing!?”
“Well, duh! Isn’t it obvious!?” Pinkie Pie gleefully answered Twilight with a question. “It’s a surprise party!”
“A surprise party!? But...but I wasn’t informed we’d have a party right now! Spike is upstairs sleeping and now...” Twilight pointed a hoof towards the shocked and shaken Harold backed into the wall opposite to the door. “Look what you did to Harold!”
Pinkie Pie giggled. “Oh, Twilight, you silly-willy filly! That’s how a surprise works! Because if we just came inside first and then shouted ‘SURPRIIIIISSSEEE’ afterwards, then it wouldn’t be much of a surprise party and Harold wouldn’t be surprised him with his party if we didn’t surpri--MMPPPHHHMPHHMMMMMPHHH!”
Applejack cut her pink friend’s speech short with her hoof in her mouth...again.
“Long story short, this here’s Harold’s surprise party fer him.”
Harold stopped shaking all of a sudden. “A party? For me?”
“Why of course, darling!” Rarity exclaimed. “We thought we could all pitch in and give him the proper Ponyville welcome he deserves.”
“If only there were anypony else joining in for this party,” Rainbow Dash muttered. She received a deadpan look from the cowgirl pony who heard the whole thing. “What? It’s true.”
“We don’t want you to think we were inconsiderate if we just went about our day without showing you kindness, so we organized a surprise party for you.” Fluttershy shot her eyeballs back and forth and shrunk down into her mane. “Ummm...that is if you don’t mind.”
“Ah...eh...oh guys, I...”
Harold felt completely speechless.
He struggled to find the right words that were scrambled by this moving feeling inside him. He fell on his knees and found his body sagging downwards as Fluttershy broke out of her shyness and rushed over to support him.
“Oh my. Are you alright, Harold?” the yellow pegasus asked.
“I...I’m fine, Fluttershy. It’s just, well...” A tear started to fall while Harold’s voice cracked from this touching feeling. “No one else has ever shown me this much kindness before. I’m just so...happy that you’re all doing this just for me.”
Rainbow Dash sniffled a little and wiped a tear from her eye.
“Aw, quit the waterworks would you? You’re gonna get me all sappy.”
Pinkie Pie bounced over to the saddened boy and gently patted his back with her pink hoof. “Aw, don’t be sad, Harold. I know a perfect way to dry up your little wetty-wetty face.” Pinkie pulled a cupcake behind her back and held it in front of Harold’s face.
“Cupcakes?”
Pinkie Pie nodded, her head sounded like a rubber duck’s squeaking.
“Thanks, Pinkie, but I shouldn’t eat sweets before dinner.”
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie gasped in exasperation.
“You’re saying no to Pinkie Pie’s cupcakes?” Rainbow Dash asked, slightly peeved. “Pinkie Pie’s bucking awesome cupcakes?” Rainbow Dash received an “mm-hmm” from the human. “Oh, come on! Pinkie Pie makes the best cupcakes in the whole entire world! It’ll make all the best bakers in the world look like second place losers!”
After Rainbow Dash mentioned it, Harold could see the pastry chef back at the mansion bowing down to Pinkie Pie who stood on top of an altar made entirely of the sweet, delicious pastries. The human giggled slightly.
“Thanks and all, but I’ve got a routine about dinner. First dinner, then desserts.”
“Oh, don’t be modest, darling,” Rarity chimed in. “Pinkie’s cupcakes are just simply delicious.”
“The toast of the town,” Applejack said.
“The sweetest thing you’ll have ever tasted,” Fluttershy stated.
Harold looked back down at the pink earth pony. Her eyes were getting big and watery. Her sad, pouting lips and her deflated mane and tail spelled out incoming trouble for Harold. If Pinkie looked at Harold with her head down and her eyes gazing at him, it would mean another cuteness overload attack.
“Well, if it means not getting another shock from Twilight. I’ll try it out.”
Pinkie’s mane went poofy again as Harold took the cupcake from her and bit down into it.
Harold’s mind went blank when he savored the cupcake. The cupcake was moist, sweet and, most importantly, delicious. It was like his taste buds conducted an orchestra of flavors in his mouth, all playing in perfect synchronization.
The ponies looked on as the human boy sat in the spot, lost to his own fantasy world.
“So?” Pinkie’s question broke Harold into reality. “How do you like it?”
Harold stared blankly at the cupcake in his hand. “Well, Pinkie, this cupcake is...oh, how should I put it?” The human suddenly shot his face into Pinkie’s. “THE BEST CUPCAKE I HAVE EVER TASTED IN MY LIFE!”
“Really!?”
“Really, really!” Harold shoved the rest of the cupcake in his cake hole. “Oh, man! I haven’t had something this sweet since forever!” Harold swallowed the cupcake down. “My God. I’ll tell you, if you and my mansion’s pastry chef competed for best cupcakes in the world, you’d win by a landslide!”
Rainbow Dash chuckled.
“See? What’d I tell you? Best. Bucking. Cupcakes. Ever!!”
“I’ll say! Is there more!?”
“There’s plenty more where they came from...” Pinkie Pie zoomed to the door and back with her most potent weapon. “So let’s PARTYYY!!” The pink pony reared her front hooves to blast her Party Cannon.
“No, Pinkie, wait! Spike is still--”
=====================================================================
*BUUURRRRRPPPPP*
Spike’s sick belching woke him from his slumber.
That, and the fact he could hear voices ringing up loudly from downstairs, and the door was closed.
It was difficult for the young dragon to rest early while he was enduring the stomach bug he caught earlier that day. The tea he was drinking seemed to work on his stomach OK, but there was still some lasting symptoms that needed to be working out.
Spike turned over to his mug next to his basket bed.
It was half-full, but still warm.
The dragon sat up in his basket to easily guzzle down this comforting drink, mixed with honey and crushed emerald dust. He brought the mug to his mouth.
BOOM!
Spike jumped to the sound of a cannon shot in the library. The tea spilled at the jolt, causing Spike to yell in pain as he was covered his belly and his bedcovers with the hot liquid and the crushed emeralds. Now Spike was getting mad. What a perfect waste of a good stomach remedy!
“Just let it go, Spike. Don’t get involved in this.”
Spike grumpily turned over in his sheets and covered his head with pillow.
How was he gonna sleep with all that racket downstairs!?
=====================================================================
Harold clapped his hands over his ears as he painfully recoiled from the Party Cannon’s loud blast. He was amazed at how in a split second, the cannon transformed the library into a party palace, courtesy of Equestria’s most hyperactive pony.
Colorful balloons, streamers and confetti decorated the interior. Tables of cakes, punch and sweet pastries galore appeared at the walls. For Harold, it was yet another sight to behold.
Harold uncovered his hands. He could hear nothing. The blast was powerful enough to cause him ear pains and temporary deafness. He looked over and saw Twilight arguing with the giggling and carefree Pinkie Pie. His hearing quickly returned and heard the following argument between Twilight and Pinkie Pie.
“...Spike is still sleeping, Pinkie, but now you’ve woken him up! How many times did I have to tell you!?”
“Mmmm....Sorry, lost count.”
*Sigh* “Pinkie Pie, what am I gonna do with you!?”
“We can have a party, here and now.”
Twilight sighed once more in defeat. There was no way she could get through to the party pony without her jovial attitude constantly changing the subject. Twilight turned back to the human, twisting his pinkie in his ear.
“What do you think, Harold?”
Harold shrugged.
“I don’t see why not.”
Pinkie Pie suddenly jumped into the air. “Alright! LET’S PARTY!!!”
“Shhhhh!”
Pinkie froze in midair and saw Harold holding his index finger sideways in front his lips and pointed his thumb to the upstairs. It was an indication to Pinkie Pie that told her Spike was trying to sleep.
“Oops. Sorry,” Pinkie said in a whisper. “Let’s party!”
=====================================================================
“So let me get this straight. You got scared because some old guy who lives at your mansion was trying to make himself look pretty?”
Rainbow Dash rolled on the floor laughing after hearing Harold’s story of Reginald accidentally scaring him in the middle of the night. Everypony was gathered around in a circle, feasting on sweets, drinking punch and listening to some good stories of Harold’s life.
“I know, huh?” Harold washed down his cake slice with some punch. “So the next morning, Reginald woke up with a black eye and my parents wanted to know why his eye was black. He said he walked too fast to the bathroom, slipped on the loose rug and he hit his eye on the doorknob!”
Everypony, including Harold hooted with laughter.
“And did your parents believe him?” Fluttershy asked.
“I wouldn’t say,” Harold answered. “Except the next morning, all of the rugs in the hallways were removed and sold to some rich furniture store company nearby Time Square.”
The mares once again giggled at the story. Rainbow Dash wiped a tear away from her eye. “I tell ya, Harold. Despite what you’ve been through in your world, you must’ve had some good times in your foalhood.”
“Uh, ‘childhood,’ Dash,” Harold corrected. “And yes. Good times were often rare at home. Most of the happier days in my life involved Lana and my parents or the bullies being away.”
The mares suddenly paused.
“What?” Harold asked.
“You were bullied back home?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
“How come ya never told us ‘bout that, sugarcube?” Applejack questioned concerningly.
“I don’t know. I guess it was personal stuff,” Harold explained.
“Those jerks! How could they rough you up and get away with it!?” Rainbow Dash smashed her hooves together. “I oughta teach them a little lesson about bullying.”
“I agree. Those ruffians may as well taste my unladylike skills,” Rarity snarled.
“Don’t bother, you two. Drake Singer and his bulldogs are rotting away in different maximum facility prisons as we speak.”
The mares gasped.
“They went to prison!?” Fluttershy squeaked and shrunk back. “They sound like bad humans. Very, very bad humans.”
“Yep. That’s one good thing that happened before I took my journey.” Harold sipped a little bit of punch. “Nowadays, I wonder how they’re surviving the slammer. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. Bottom line, they’re paying for what they did to me and Lana.”
The mares looked at Harold as he held his cup with two hands.
They could feel the anger barricaded inside him.
It really dampened the mood on the party.
“So, what am I gonna do tomorrow?”
The mares were caught off-guard by Harold’s question.
“Huh!?”
Harold dug deeper into his question to explain to the mares better. “What I mean is, what am I gonna do tomorrow? You know, like visit some of your homes, maybe make some more friends and all.”
Pinkie Pie quickly raised her hoof.
“Ooh, ooh! I know, I know! You should totally come over to Sugarcube Corner! You’ll get to see how I make these wonderfully, yummy cupcakes AND you get to meet Mr. and Mrs. Cake, their foals Pound and Pumpkin and my pet alligator, Gummy! I bet Gummy would be happy to meet you!”
Harold did a spit take at Rainbow Dash’s face.
“You’ve got an alligator living in your home!?”
“Uh-huh.”
Harold scooted out of the circle and held his arms defensively.
“Oh, no no no no! There’s no way I can go to your home with an alligator living at your place!”
Pinkie Pie giggled.
“Oh, don’t worry, silly. I named him Gummy for a reason. He’s got no teeth, so if he bites you, it’s not like a painful, teeth-gnashing, eating-you-alive-in-three-bites feeling, but it’s more of a tickly, little funny-feeling-in-your-whole-nervous-system feeling.”
Harold lowered his arms.
“Well, as long as Gummy acts friendly to me, unlike that rabbit at Fluttershy’s house.”
“Oh, don’t worry. Gummy is totally the best pet alligator anypony can have in the wide, wide, world of Equestria!” Pinkie Pie’s mouth opened wide and shoved a whole cake in her mouth with her tongue.
“Heck, as long as we’re talkin’ ‘bout visitin’ other ponies’ homes, you should visit mah home at Sweet Apple Acres,” Applejack chimed in happily. “Ah’ll get Granny Smith, Big Macintosh an’ Apple Bloom an’ mah dog Winona ta warm up ta ya some.”
“Warm up. Nice.” Harold shot up suddenly. “Wait a sec, you’re related to Apple Bloom?”
“Yep. She’s mah little sister. Why, you’ve met her?”
“Yeah, earlier this afternoon. She and two other fillies barged into the library and tickle attacked me with nets and a rope.” Harold looked up and stroked his chin. “Now, what were the other two fillies called again?”
Rarity almost choked on her punch. “I beg your pardon, but did you say my little sister Sweetie Belle and her friend Scootaloo attacked you earlier today?” She asked daintily.
“Oh, you’re Sweetie Belle’s sister!?” Harold asked surprised. “Wow, that’s amazing! I met the little sisters of two of the first six ponies I’ve met on this weird trip!” Harold pointed a finger towards Rarity and Applejack as he explained his astonishment.
“Don’t forget three,” Rainbow Dash butted in. “I’ve taken Scootaloo under my wing not too long ago.”
“I sit here corrected,” Harold said flatly.
Rarity cleared her throat in a refined manner. “So you say you were attacked by Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. They didn’t do any damage to that newly created outfit I made especially for you, did they?”
“Of course not, Rarity. They were tickling me instead of hurting me. The three of them apologized to me afterwards and I died momentarily from those cute little faces.” Harold’s face blushed when he remembered those cute, but lethal sad faces.
Fluttershy gasped. “Oh my! You died!?”
Harold shrugged his shoulders. “Well...Twice.”
“Twice!?”
“Yep,” Harold said to the four mares, minus Twilight and Rainbow Dash.
“What was it like being...you know...not of the living anymore?”
Harold proceeded to answer Rarity, despite him having some blank memory what the afterlife felt like. “Ummm...Well, I was floating around in a dark void. Then there was a light and I saw my dead sister. She came over to me and shocked me a couple times. I woke up and was fried like an egg.”
“I had to use a defibrillation spell to restart his heart,” Twilight added. “Twice.”
“And the Cutie Mark Crusaders did this to you!?” Pinkie Pie yelped.
“It was an accident. I didn’t know their cuteness could kill.” Harold smiled. “And believe me, I died happy, seeing how cute those little fillies were with those big eye and those sweet little faces.”
Harold stopped himself. The six mares were looking at him awkwardly.
He was speaking some sort of baby language used when his people talked to babies.
...
...
Harold cleared his throat. “B-Bottom line though, they became three of my newest friends.”
Applejack chuckled. “Well, wallop mah withers, Harold. If Ah didn’t know better, Ah say you’ve already made over ten friends in one day.” The cow mare grabbed Harold’s arm and vigorously shook it as a sign of their newly established friendship. “That’s good work, sugarcube. Yer alright after all.”
“Th-Th-Tha-a-a-ank y-y-you-ou-ou-ou, A-A-Appleja-a-a-ack.”
Twilight tapped Applejack’s shoulder.
“Uh, Applejack?”
“Yes, Twi?”
“That’s enough.”
“Oop. Sorry.” Applejack released Harold’s arm, with the latter left shaking his arm hard until Fluttershy stopped him. Harold smiled sheepishly, making both Rainbow Dash and Rarity giggle from the display.
“Golly, Ah felt a bit o’ muscle in them arms o’ yers, Harold,” Applejack commented. "Say, how’d ya like to help me out with handlin’ the apples at the farm? Ah could always use an extra set o’ hooves around the house.”
Harold looked at Twilight for an answer.
“As long as you’re back by tomorrow evening,” Twilight responded. “We’ve got an interview to finish.”
“Hoo-wee!” Applejack howled. “It’s settled then. Ah’ll be seein’ ya at the farm tomorrow.”
“Aww, no fair!” Pinkie Pie whined. “I wanted him to come by Sugarcube Corner tomorrow!”
Applejack trotted over to the pink pony and laid a hoof on her shoulder. “Oh, don’t feel bad, sugarcube. Ya said he can visit Sugarcube Corner and he will. Ah don’t mind waitin’ fer him ta drop by the farm, even if it means visitin’ in the late afternoon.”
“Just as long as he Pinkie Promises me to drop by the shop for at least an hour,” Pinkie said. Harold scratched his head.
“Pinkie Promise?”
Pinkie used her hoof to put an “X” at her chest, made fluttery wing movements and smack her eye while chanting, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Okay...” Harold made the “X” at his chest, repeated the fluttering wing movements and covered his eye with his hand and restated the chant. His movements and patterns were almost as perfect as Pinkie’s.
“Oh, and one more thing I should mention,” Pinkie Pie jumped in. “Once you’ve made your Pinkie Promise, you cannot break it because breaking a promise is the fastest way to lose your friend...” the pink pony shot the human a glare. “FOR-EVEEERRRRR!”
Harold inched back from the glare.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie Pie yawned. “Wow, I’m tired. I’m ready to go beddy-bye right now.”
“I agree.” Rarity yawned and pardoned herself. “Today was a rather...crazy day.”
The yawn spread like a contagion around the room. It was 6 P.M. in the evening an yet, everypony was feeling tired. The events of today must’ve drained their energy and now they had to call it a night.
“Well, I gotta get going,” Rainbow Dash said. “I’ve gotta help the Ponyville weather team with tonight’s storm.”
Rainbow Dash flew out of the door with Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy following behind her. The three mares stopped trotting and turned to give an approving smile to the tired human boy.
“Ah’ll see ya tomorrow, Harold,” Applejack said.
“Sweet dreams, Harold,” Fluttershy squeaked.
“And remember, Harold...” Pinkie shot Harold another glare. “For-evvveeeerrrrr.”
Harold yawned loudly. “Alright. See you girls later.”
Pinkie’s face turned back to her chipper mood as she bounced out of the library along with Applejack and Fluttershy. Rarity and Twilight were the only mares left in the confines of the tree’s main floor.
“Twilight, do be sure to give my little Spikey-Wikey my wishes on a full recovery.”
"I'll be sure to tell him."
With that said, Rarity trotted daintily out of the library, closing the door behind her with her magic. Twilight sighed tiredly as Harold got up and stretched himself.
“What do you think, Harold? Bedtime?” she asked through her growing fatigue.
“You read my mind,” the aforementioned human concurred.
The two drained mammalians sulked their way upstairs to Twilight’s room so they could wrap themselves up in a nice, warm blanket on top of a soft mattress. Harold sighed blissfully, lost in a cloud of joyous thoughts.
For the first time in a month, Harold was finally going to get a good night’s sleep.