Seeing the ponies in confusion, anger, and for one pink pony enjoyment that there was a street long slide, I sheepishly turned around and gave an uneasy grin to Spike as yelling came from downstairs. “Um.... my bad?”
I had to give the little guy credit for his reaction. He just shrugged like it was no big deal before going over to a broom closet and pulling out... well a broom. What did you expect him to pull out? A nuke?... wait... who am I thinking this to?..... “Eh, it’s no big deal. Weirder stuff has happened since me and Twi moved here.” He gave me a wave and I waved back as I left.
And promptly slipped on my own trail, landing face first into the pavement. “Ow. Well I’m still graceful as ever.” I turned onto my back and was immediately facing a wall of pink hair. The bright blue eyes that were sticking out over the disturbingly wide smile kept their focus on me as I laid under whatever the mass of pink was attached to. “Um.... hello?”
The mass backed away and showed that it was actually that pink pony that was enjoying the ice earlier and not some mass of pink fluff. “HI! My name is Pinkie Pie! Did you make all this ice? Cause if you did THANK YOU! I’ve been wanting to ice skate for a while now, but winter isn’t for a while and with all this ice on the ground it was really really fun! I even managed to get to Twilight’s faster than I normally do! an-” She stopped to gasp before seemingly vanishing into..... a puff of smoke. Again, The fuckity fuck fuck did I just see? She.... reminded me of ... I shook the thought from my head and stood up. Best not to think about it. She disappeared months ago. Those days are behind me anyways, now more so than ever.
I stood and the ice on the ground seemed to shift over to me as I walked past it. It was very unnerving when it started to form tendrils before melting down into water. “Okay.... that’s just freaky in so many ways...” I turned back to keep walking with a sigh as I stared at my feet. Bye bye normality...
I then managed to somehow walk straight into one of the street’s light fixtures. Hello metal pole... It’s been a while, how’ve you been? I backed up and started to rub my forehead while I glared death at the light post. “Stupid pole... standing in my way....” I walked around it and kept grumbling to myself. I hate life. Just hate. Not enjoy, not somewhat okay with, HATE.
I turned a corner and started walking away from the iced street. I was so lost in thought that I almost didn’t hear a faint flapping sound getting closer. I stopped and looked up to see if I could find anything when something barreled me over from behind. “Oops... My bad!” I squinted from my ground-hugging position and looked around to see... letters? A grey hoof soon filled my vision and I looked up to see a blonde mare attached to it. “Here, let me help you up.”
Taking her hoof, I let her pull me up from the ground. “Thanks.” I looked back up at the grey mare and noticed her eyes were.... well... rather derped. Not going to be rude here. She hasn’t fled in terror yet so I need to make a good first impression. “What’s your name?” Step numero uno, accomplished.
The grey mare smiled and gave me a playful salute. “I’m Derpy Hooves! Mailmare Extraordinaire!” She kept smiling and adjusted her bag before she took off into the air to hover at eye level with me. “What’s your name?”
Now before I continue, let me get one thing straight with all of you. Despite being a guy who normally hates things considered cute, cuddly, and fluffy, there was one undeniable fact about this moment.
I was having an incredibly hard time not hugging this pony or suffering a heart attack from the cute.
I gave her a warm smile (one of the first genuine ones since this all started) and raised a hand. “The name’s Zach.” Before she could shake my hand, a breeze flew past us and sent all the letters that had scattered into my face. No really, every single one was plastered to my face and held in place by the wind. I pulled the letters from my face and the wind stopped. Wierd. I handed the envelopes to Derpy with an awkward smile. “I believe these are yours?”
Derpy blushed a little as she took the letters back and put them in her bag. “Uh, yeah. That was... strange but convenient.”
I gave her a deadpan stare while still smiling. “You’re not the one who just got slapped by mail.”
We both laughed a little before Derpy looked up and gasped. “Oh no! I’m late!” She gave me a panicked and apologetic frown as she started to fly higher. “Sorry Zach! I’ll have to talk to you later. See you around!”
I waved as she flew off over a roof, nearly clipping another pegasus while she was at it. I turned back and kept heading down the street with no destination in mind. Okay that’s a lie. I was just wandering around until I found Vinyl’s place. My encounter with Derpy made me remember that I had some comedy routines recorded on my Ipod. I wonder how Vinyl will react to ‘High Dance Threshold’..... Christian Finnegan, you are a genius among men.
I stopped walking and paused to read my thoughts. Wait..... why the hell am I being so open with these ponies?... I hate being open with people.... this isn’t like the normal me.
I shook my head and opened the book that I got from the library. Whatever, I’ll just read this as I try to find Vinyl’s place. I kept walking until I could hear something like a bass pounding in the distance. My hunch says she’s thataway.
I started to walk towards the noise. I had traveled about a block before I saw the source. The house’s windows were shaking in time with the music and the strobe lights were pouring out of the windows. The vinyl record on the door helped some as well. “Jesus, does she need the music that loud!?” I sighed and rested a hand on my head as I looked up in exasperation.
I almost didn’t notice the black and purple streak that flew above me... Um........what? I shook my head and kept walking towards Vinyl’s house. Screw it. That was a pegasus and that’s what I’m sticking with. If it turns out to be something else then I’ll just deal with it later........like how I never would have thought that those words would ever be in my head. Ever. I moved up to the door and knocked a few times before standing patiently.
The music soon quieted down a little and the door creaked open to let Vinyl’s head poke out. “Who’s.... Oh hey man! How’s it goin’?”
I just shrugged my shoulders before responding. “Eh, so so at the moment. Half the town’s indirectly mad at me for accidentally freezing the street and I managed to find a book that should help with the whole issue that is this.” I pointed at The Eye and then pulled out the book.
Vinyl nodded a little. “Not bad. I hope you have some luck figuring out how that stuff works. I mean, unicorn magic is one thing for obvious reasons,” She pointed at her horn with a smirk, “but what you got going on is beyond me.” She moved over and waved a hoof at the interior of her house. “So you comin in or what?”
I nodded and walked into the house. It was a cozy little house and the front door lead straight to their living room. There was a hall that lead to some more doors and a flight of stairs. I was a little curious as to what was upstairs, but decided to stay in the living room and sit down on the couch. “Thank you. Now what was all that noise I was hearing from outside? You having a party?”
She shook her head and started to move through one of the doors and I could see a linoleum floor on the other side. “Nah, just doing the dishes.”
I looked at the door she just went through in confusion. “Dishes?.... wha-” I was suddenly blown back over the couch and into the wall face first as the music from earlier continued. I moved my head as much as I could and shouted over the music in hopes that Vinyl could hear me..... even if I could barely hear myself. “HOW IS THIS DOING THE DISHES?!?!?!”
Vinyl poked her head out of the doorway and put a hoof to her ear. “What? You say something?” I waved my arm for her to turn it down and she ran back into the kitchen. Not soon after that, I fell onto my head and decided to lay on the floor.
Vinyl moved around the couch and looked down at me. “Dude, you alright? I haven’t ever seen anyone get stuck to my wall before.” She looked over to the kitchen and tapped her chin. “It’s not that loud is it?”
“Yes Vinyl, it is.” I peered around the edge of the couch and saw a grey hoof standing in the front doorway. “Now who’s the unfortunate pony you’ve managed to pin to the wa-” Octavia stopped talking when she saw me laying on the ground. “Oh.”
I waved a little from the ground. “Hello.”
She looked down at me unamused and sighed. “Didn’t you say that you’d be headed for Canterlot after you did what you needed to do here?”
I grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head. “Yeah..... about that. When I left the library, there was a large mob of ponies wondering why there was a massive ice slick in the road. I didn’t really feel like getting attacked by an angry mob.” I paused for a moment before raising a finger. “Aside from one pink pony. She immediately tackled me and thanked me for the ice..... which still utterly confuses me as well as how she simply vanished in a poof of smoke”
Octavia smirked before she walked over to a second chair in the living room and sat down. “So I take it you’ve met Pinkie Pie?”
I got off of the floor and sat down on their sofa with Vinyl next to me. “I think so..... It was hard to tell though the wall of words.”
Octavia’s smirk turned malicious as she got up and moved down the hall. “Well I’d be expecting something very loud, very soon if I were you.”
I looked over to Vinyl for her to clarify, but she shook her head with a laugh and followed Octavia. “Nope. It’s a surprise. I’d be wary if you plan on staying for more than a couple days.”
“Um.... Do I dare ask why?”
Vinyl stopped in the doorway and looked back at me with a smirk. “It’s best not to think too hard about it.” She turned only to stop herself and look back at me again. “Oh hey! I just remembered that there’s supposed to be a parade tomorrow and the trains are gonna be shut down. So I don’t think that you’ll be able to head out of town anytime soon unless you jump on like you did back in the Crystal Empire or magically get some bits, you’re pretty much stuck here in Ponyville.”
I blinked hard and stared at the wall as Vinyl left into the kitchen with a smile on her face. I’m no expert when it comes to travel..... Even if I was born overseas... and moved to Nebraska... then to Oklahoma.... and then back to Nebraska from Oklahoma..... Okay, I’ve got a bit of travel smarts under my belt, but that’s not the point! The point is that Vinyl has a big point about the situation. I’m broke, not willing to hobo my way back onto a train, and they’re going to be shutdown tomorrow.....Shit, I’m stuck here till I'm not helpless.
Suddenly Vinyl was shouting for Octavia. “Hey Tavi! The fridge is empty!” And there's no food! This fucking sucks!
I sighed and got up to poke my head into the kitchen. Vinyl was doing the same with the fridge and Octavia was shaking her head. "So what's this about a parade?"
Octavia looked at me for a moment. “The Harvest Parade is going to start tomorrow around ten in the afternoon. It’s mainly to celebrate the harvest from most of the farmers here in town.”
Vinyl pulled her head out of the fridge and grinned. “That, and some of the venders are going to give out free food before it starts! Which is a good thing too,” she looked over at Octavia, “cause.... we need to do some shopping...... again.”
Octavia face hoofed and I stepped into the room. “Vinyl.... we filled that to the brim less than a week ago. How are we out of food already?” Vinyl shrugged while grinning sheepishly and Octavia looked over at me. I could practically feel the stress coming off of her. “And I’m guessing that the parade isn’t the only thing you were going to ask about?”
I rubbed the back of my head and chuckled a little. “Yeah.... um. I know you were against me staying here.... but Vinyl kinda brought up a legitimate point. I’m broke, the trains won’t be stopping at the train station tomorrow, and I don’t have anywhere to stay.” I tapped my toes on the ground and let out a sigh. “So..... It alright if I stay here at least one night?”
Octavia stared at me with a calculating gaze before Vinyl leaned over and booped her on the nose. Broken out of whatever trance she was in, Octavia shook her head and looked back at me. “One night should be fine. You can stay on the couch.”
I nodded a little and smiled at the gray mare. “Thank you Octavia.” I went back into their living room and flopped onto the couch. I reached into my cloak and pulled out both my Ipod and the book again. Okay, seriously, how is so much crap just staying in my cloak? Does this thing defy physics!? I stopped the train of thought before it could start going any farther down the rabbit hole and opened the book.
Once upon a time, before the peaceful rule of Celestia....
After I finished the book, I simply laid on the couch with it laying on my face. That was the worst story I’ve ever read. Sure it solidified the whole Ice Powers thing..... but GOD was that story so.... so........ unrealistic. I mean this was like reading folklore that had several hundred holes cut into it with a cheese grater. I grabbed the book and closed it before stuffing it into my seemingly void filled cloak.
It was pretty late in the day by now, and Octavia and Vinyl had ‘retired’ into separate rooms to do their own things. Octavia was upstairs practicing a cello which I had to admit is a very beautiful sound, she's got quite the talent, and Vinyl was being quiet in comparison as she worked on some sheet music and.... something else while in the basement. I’m not entirely sure what, but I’m absolutely positive that silly doodles and such are not part of the musical system. I should know after playing violin for over six years. When I asked her about it, she brushed it off as nothing big and went back down to the basement of the complex.
I didn’t have anything to do other than lay in their living room on the sofa and listen to my Ipod. With the book read, and me not being in the mood for music, I pulled out the journal and quills that I had stashed in the bag I kept..... it also was in void cloak, which confuses me, but I ignored it and started to write.
Day 2, 9:48pm
Today’s been interesting. After a long trip down the street, and going to the library I managed to meet some interesting characters that live in the town I’ve found myself in. Ponyville’s ‘Mailmare’ Derpy seems like a nice pony who’s happy with where she is in life, and one ‘Pinkie Pie’, as Vinyl has told me her name is, is most definitely very interesting and possibly a little too happy. The Librarian of the town Twilight Sparkle is one of the more interesting I’ve had the pleasure of talking too. Not only did she hold a good conversation (Even if it did only last a few moments) but I even managed to find something I never expected to.
There was another freaking person here! Not a pony or griffon. A legitimate Human that’s stuck in the same boat that I am! He said his name’s Aleister Pinkerton. But if that’s the case then that means he’s the same guy who vanished from Oregon over three months ago in August, and if I recall correctly, others vanished as well soon after.... I wonder how my family’s doing right now.....
Maybe we’re not the only two who made it here.
But enough of that depressing dribble. I’m told that there’s a parade tomorrow that’s to celebrate a harvest. It kinda reminds me of the fall parades that I used to see in Oklahoma.... Damn.... just thinking about it is making me want to talk with an accent again. I plan on going to the parade to see how it goes down. Maybe have some pleasant memories come and hit home.
-Zachary