Lessons from Another Dimension

by HolyOrdersOtaku

Chapter 7: Innocent

Bass bid Fluttershy farewell and started to make his way back to the library. On his way he decided to really get a good look at Ponyville. Frankly, he felt it was one of the most beautiful and peaceful places he had ever been. He decided to take a stroll through the nearby park and sat on a park bench to watch the other ponies go by. In spite of his secret being out in the general public’s eye, everyone seemed to ignore him. Well, maybe not ‘ignore’ ignore, but they treated him like any other pony that they didn’t really know; just a stranger. He chuckled softly at that thought, which caused him to remember a song that he liked. He began to hum the tune while listening to the song in his head. People are strange when you’re a stranger. Faces look ugly when you’re alone.
But a sudden sound dragged him from his mental concert. He saw three fillies running around excitedly in the park. Their flanks were plain and blank, telling Bass that they had not discovered their special talents yet. This made him feel a tad bit sad. Having grown up without the pressure of having to find his special talent, he was able to discover it entirely by accident. He always loved playing musical instruments for years, but the first time he played a bass he knew it was his favorite instrument of all time. But, at the same time, maybe he shouldn’t feel sad. He observed the three fillies and noticed that they didn’t seem to have a care in the world as they played. Their minds must have been a million miles away from their potential cutie marks, and they didn’t care because they had friends that they could play with. That must be it! They’re just experiencing a normal childhood!
He nodded happily. Live your childhood to the fullest! He cheered from his thoughts.
When they got close enough to him he heard them cheer excitedly, “Cutie Mark Crusaders Monster Hunters!” right before they charged him and pounced.
He lay on the ground with three little fillies, one earth pony, one unicorn, and one pegasus, piled on top of him. It kind of hurt. “Can I help you kids with something?” he asked in a pained voice.
The three jumped off of him and looked at their flanks simultaneously. Nothing. “Aww! Ah was sure we’d get it that time!” exclaimed the yellow earth pony with a country accent that reminded Bass of Applejack. Her mane was apple red, he noted.
“Oh well, I guess it was worth a try,” the unicorn said. She was white with pink and light purple in her mane.
“Maybe we didn’t tackle him hard enough!” the orange pegasus said. Her mane was a pinkish purple.
Bass immediately bolted up. “How about we don’t and say we did!” he exclaimed, startling the fillies. “What the devil do you think you’re doing? Don’t you three know that it’s rude to attack strangers?”
“S-sorry, mister,” the earth pony said. “We were just trying to get our cutie marks in monster hunting.”
I retract every thought I had about these kids. I retract it all! Bass thought as he facehoofed. He also noted that doing that action hurt more when you have hooves instead of hands. “Dare I ask why you chose me to be your monster?”
“Because you said yesterday that you aren’t really a pony!” the pegasus said.
“On the contrary, you will find that I am currently one hundred percent pony. I just happen to be from a world where I’m, indeed, not a pony.”
“Um, mister Chord?” the unicorn asked.
He felt like it would be impossible to remain angry at them for long, so he sighed heavily to calm down. “Yes?”
“Please don’t tell our sisters we did this to you?” she asked pleasingly.
“Sisters? Who are your sisters?”
“Oh, you don’t know? Well, in that case…”
“No, Sweetie. He asked, and we should answer. Mah sister always said to be honest if you were caught doing something ya shouldn’t be doing,” the earth filly said. She looked at Bass. “Mah name’s Apple Bloom. Mah sister is..”
“Applejack, I assume?” Bass asked. Apple Bloom nodded. “And you two?”
“I’m Sweetie Belle. Rarity is my sister,” Sweetie said.
“I don’t have a sister,” the orange filly said. “But, my name is Scootaloo.”
“Just because you don’t have a sister doesn’t mean you can’t get into trouble. He could tell Rainbow Dash.” Sweetie pointed out.
“She a friend of Rainbow’s?” Bass asked.
“More like avid fan and worshiper of Rainbow. Rainbow could very easily punish her for any trouble she causes!”
“Hey, you caused it too!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“Oh, look what we have here,” said a snobbish, but young, voice. Oh, shit. Here we go, Bass thought. He had heard a tone of voice like that before. Sure, it came from someone different, but he still knew what it meant; trouble. “The blank flanks and the freak of a pony who showed up yesterday!”
“Hey! That’s rude ya know! Ya don’t even know mister Chord!”
“Please stop calling me ‘mister Chord’. Just Bass is fine,” Bass stated calmly. He turned to face the new voice. He saw a pair of young fillies, no older than the other three, who both bore cutie marks. The one that spoke had a tiara on her flank, and the other had a spoon. That’s…interesting. “Can I help you fillies?”
“Just when I thought you three couldn’t get any weirder, you start hanging out with this monster disguised as a pony,” she continued, ignoring Bass.
“Oh, so that’s what that feels like,” he said, having forgotten what it’s like to be treated like he didn’t exist. Or rather, he had never felt that way, which made the experience even more interesting.
“Uh, Tiara?” the other filly said. “He’s an adult. You shouldn’t be making fun of him.”
“What’s it matter, Silver? He’s not really a pony. And those three will never find their special talents! They’re all freaks.”
Bass started to laugh. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle stared at him in confusion. He looked at the other two fillies. “Full names, please.”
“I’m Diamond Tiara, and this is Silver Spoon. Respect those names, nobody!”
Bass looked at Silver Spoon first, his eyes conveying all he wanted to tell her. If you don’t want to be in trouble, back away and leave these fillies alone! They said. She got the message and slowly, and nervously, backed away.
“Silver, where are you going?”
“Tell me, Diamond Tiara, how does it feel to be named after the rarest and hardest mineral to ever exist?” Bass asked.
“What’s it matter to you?”
“Well, I just so happen to have been born in April. My birthstone is the Diamond, and I’ve always taken pride in it. In fact, only once have I deviated from my birthstone, and that was in memoriam of my grandmother who had died; her birthstone was Emerald, by the way. And you know what? I was bullied once when I was about the age you fillies are now.”
“Probably because you were freak on your world too!” she retorted.
“Actually, do you really want to know the reason?” he asked. He turned to the other three fillies. “Do you?” They nodded. “There isn’t a reason. I didn’t share an interest in sports, had a difference of opinion, liked different movies, or listened to different music. To them I was just ‘different’ from them for whatever reason. Why was I different? To me, I was just being normal. I did what I wanted to do, and I acted the way I wanted to act.
“Meanwhile, they all felt the need to conform themselves to agree with each other. They felt the need to belong in a crowd, even if they didn’t agree with that crowd. I didn’t. The friends I had were genuine and they didn’t pretend to be anything else. They accepted the differences between us, and they didn’t try to force me to like what they liked. Tell me Diamond, what do you see in the three fillies behind me?”
Diamond was about to answer, but something stuck and she couldn’t seem to get any words out. “Is it uselessness? Differences? Oddities?” What was that phrase she used? “Blank flanks, even? Do you know what I see? I see three fillies who want to belong because they feel like they’ve been pressured by an insecure society of their peers. I see three fillies who will find their special talents the very second they stop trying to find them. And the only way they can stop trying to find them is for others to accept that they haven’t figured out what they want to do yet. They need you, Diamond, to lighten up and let them be. Maybe even become their friend eventually.”
“B-but…” Diamond began. She felt intimidated by Bass.
“However,” he said in a deeper voice. He was finally letting the trace amount of anger he felt towards this child out. “I think that for you to lighten up, you need to be taught a lesson. It’s not my place to teach it either. Perhaps I tell your parents about how you treat these fillies?”
“W-why should they believe you, though?” she asked, trying to sound like the concept didn’t frighten her. “You’re a stranger, and you’re not even a pony!”
“True enough, but if my word isn’t enough, how about the word of Twilight Sparkle? Maybe even the princesses themselves? I could even get Discord involved.” He was throwing the princesses and Discord in for the intimidation factor. It seemed like it worked. He turned to Silver. “That goes for you too, young lady. I’m sure you’re involved in some form or fashion.”
“Y-yes sir!” she said immediately.
Bass smiled and nodded. “Now, apologize and run along.”
The fillies said their apologies and left. He turned to the other three fillies and continued to smile. “If they cause you any more problems, don’t hesitate to tell me.”
All three of them had their jaws open in shock. “Y’all actually made them apologize?” Apple Bloom said.
“You actually scared them to behave?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“You told them to be our friends? Why!?” Scootaloo asked. The other two stared at her. “What?”
“Believe it or not, sometime those who bully us can become good friends. When I was in elementary school this one kid would pick on me every day. When we got into middle school and high school, however, he stopped and he and I started having casual conversations that didn’t lead to any fights. While I can’t call him a close friend, I can still call him a friend,” Bass said.
From behind, Bass heard another country voice. “There y’all are! I was beginnin ta worry about you gals,” came the voice of Applejack. “Oh, well howdy there, Bass. I see you’ve met the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
“Yes, I believe I have,” he said.
“Sis! He scared off Diamond and Silver!” Apple Bloom announced.
Applejack looked at Bass. “Ah hope ya didn’t threaten them.”
“Only that I might tell their parents about their nasty habit of bullying other children,” he answered honestly. “I don’t like it when people get bullied, so I felt I had to say something.”
“Well, that’s mighty kind of ya, Bass.” She lowered her voice to a whisper to where only she and Bass could hear it. “Though, I had hoped the girls would sort it out on their own.”
Bass whispered in return, “I actually gave Diamond and Silver some advice on that matter. If they take it to heart, I wouldn’t be surprised if they became friends with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.”
Applejack smiled. “Ya know what, Bass? Swing by the farm later this week. Ah want ta thank y’all for helping the girls out. I’ll give you a jug of our Sweet Apple Acers Apple Cider!”
Bass could practically feel his lips water at the thought. He already mentioned that apples were his favorite, and that was no lie what so ever. And of all the apple related drinks, cider was his favorite. “That’d be nice. Ordinarily I would turn down that offer, but I do like cider.”
“Well, we look forward to having ya,” Applejack smiled. “C’mon girls. We gotta get back ta the farm. Granny Smith made lunch a while ago.”
Bass waved bye to the mare and the three fillies before going his own way. Farm, huh? He thought. Honest work, I suppose.