Ch. 2 Friendly Faces
After eating the food I was left by what I could only describe as an angel, I walked downstairs to see if anypony else was in my house. I took one look around before sighing in disappointment.
“Those pictures lied to me…” I said, frustrated. The walls were bare as there was no paint or wallpaper. Fully furnished? Not even close. There was no furniture in the living room at all. Just bare wooden walls and floors. I walked to the kitchen which was the only sufficiently furnished room in the whole house. The only thing I could see in the kitchen was a fridge, cupboards, and a sink.
The only other furniture I could find in the house was a small dining table that was covered in cards. I walked over to it to see they all said “Get Well Soon” on the front of them all. They also looked to be made from scratch like how little fillies and colts do in school. “How long was I out?” I asked myself.
“The entire night,” A voice behind me spoke suddenly, scaring me as I nearly fell over the table. My breathing picked up as I slowly turned to face the voice and saw the beautiful mare from earlier with two others. One was the hyperactive pink… thing from earlier and the other one was probably the biggest surprise I could have seen coming. She was a pale mulberry alicorn with a dark sapphire blue mane that was cut just above her eyes with brilliant rose and violet streaks through it.
Princess Twilight Sparkle… honestly wasn’t expecting it though considering where I was it made sense. She kind of stared at me with her clear, violet eyes before speaking again. “You okay there?” she asked concerned. Before I even got a chance to answer or show respect for her, the pink mare was in my face again… causing me turn away from her.
“I’m so sorry about what happened yesterday I had no idea you were going to passout! We’re so sorry please forgive us!” I could see the tears in her bright cerulean as she practically begged me for forgiveness…I think. I really could barely make any of that out.
“P-please,” I managed to get out, hoping it could stop the madness. She seemed to hear me even though I was about as quiet as a mouse. “I-It’s fine… I-I’m fine,” She perked up immediately.
“Really?!” She asked as the tears seemed to disappear completely and her wide smile returned, more joyful than ever. “You mean it?!”
“Y-yeah just… t-talk slower please,” I said a bit louder than before, though I really wished she took a step back…or eight.
“Oh…key… dough…key… low…key!” She said as slowly as possible. Twilight put a hoof on the pink ball of energy’s shoulder before getting her to thankfully back up.
“Sorry about Pinkie.” Twilight apologized “She tends to do that.” After the two backed up a bit and I was able to control my breathing again, I turned back to face the mares. I bowed my head courteously to the princess which caused her to giggled. "There's no need for that. I may be a princess but I don't need to be treated as one everyday by everypony," I raised myself. still feeling awkward and didn’t really want to talk but at least I was feeling calmer. “Oh how rude of me! As you've figured out, I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she motioned to herself, leaving out her title, “This is Pinkie Pie,” Pinkie waved to me very quickly. She then gestured to the mare from before who kind of backpedaled behind her. “And this is Fluttershy,” I could see Fluttershy’s lips move but I didn’t hear anything. Twilight seemed to sigh at her friend before turning back to me. “And you are?”
“P-Playwright…” I said quietly, still a little nervous.
“What?” Pinkie asked as she got uncomfortably close to my face again. “Claybright?”
“N-no, it-it’s Playwright…” I repeated. Twilight seemed to chuckle.
“Déjà vu,” I looked at her questionably, wondering what she meant.
“Pardon?” I asked confused.
“It’s nothing,” she waved it off, her small smile staying. “So with a name like that you must be a writer?”
“Y-yeah...” my answer lacked any confidence on the matter though. Even so, Twilight smile still didn’t fade. If anything it got a little wider.
“Now that’s something that’s definitely new here!” Twilight said in a joyful tone that seemed a bit… too joyful but I would eventually come to think that her reaction was actually muted compared to later.
“Oh!” Pinkie suddenly sprang to life. “We should introduce him to the others! They’ll be happy to see that Wrighty’s up!”
“Wrighty?” I said confused.
“She does that too,” Twilight explained. “Though I agree with Pinkie!” Before I could even react, I was being dragged out the door by Pinkie Pie with Twilight and Fluttershy following suit.
“Lah! Hey let me go! I have four working legs!” I shouted, hoping she would realize this fact and let me go. She didn’t listen and even though Twilight tried to get her to stop, she still dragged me around till we came to a farm called “Sweet Apple Acres”. After she let me go, I dusted myself off and gave her a look of annoyance even though it was like giving it to a tree. Although the raw strength she used to drag me here could be compared to a bull.
“I wonder where AJ is at,” Pinkie said as she gave the farm a good searching. “APPLEJACK!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. I covered my ears as the scream was so loud that you’d have to be deaf or on the other side of the country not to hear it. We waited patiently for a little bit but this “Applejack” was a no-show.
“She must not be home,” Twilight reasoned. “Or she’s way out in the apple fields. Let’s wait a little longer,” I did have some questions but I really couldn’t think of any reason to ask any of them. The only questions I had were “what they were doing in my house after what happened” and “where did they get all the get well cards”. None of it really mattered so I just kept my mouth shut.
As much as I didn't want to meet anypony, I knew if I tried to run I wouldn't get very far. So I walked over to a nearby fence and just planted my butt there till something happened. I didn’t have to wait long.
“What’s all the ruckus?” another female voice shouted as a brilliant orange body came through the trees. She wore a cowboy hat over her blonde mane that was tied up and fell to one side. She was followed by a towering crimson pony with a giant working collar around his neck. A smile immediately took to her face when she saw who her guests were. “Hey girls, what’re y’all doin’ here?” she spoke with an accent that was a little thick but not too much that I couldn’t make out what she was saying.
“We came to introduce you to the pony from the party yesterday,” Pinkie Pie said with her normally overjoyed tone. Applejack looked surprised as she finally noticed I was here. I waved hello before she got closer but she thankfully kept enough distance compared to Pinkie, who seemed to be on a personal mission to invade my space at any given opportunity.
“That was quite the scare you gave all of us, partner,” Applejack said in a sincere tone. “It’s the only time I can remember where we had to cancel one of Pinkie’s parties,” Pinkie Pie turned sad for a quick moment before returning to her normal self. “Wait, why do you look like you’ve been showered with dirt?” she asked concerned as she saw how dirty I was from Pinkie dragging me all the way here. My annoyed glare fell on said mare that wasn’t looking in my direction and just giggled obliviously. “Well he’s certainly a talker, right Big Mac?”
“Eeyup,” said the huge crimson pony called Big Mac.
“Oh, this is my brother, Big McIntosh,” Mac looked at me with a friendly smile and that’s about it.
"Oh AJ, I need to talk to you about something," Twilight said with a bit of urgency in her voice.
"Why don’t you keep our guest company, Big Mac,” Big Mac nodded as he sat down next to me. There was a shock wave so strong that it actually caused me to get airborne for a split second. The mares all walked away to talk about something important. I looked at Big Mac who was just staring at nothing in particular. Though I liked the silence, it was starting to get awkward.
I took a few glances at the giant to see that he was inspecting the nearby apple trees
We sat in silence till the mares finally came back. Minus Applejack who walked off into the fields again, causing Big Mac to get up and go back to work.
“Okay now let’s go introduce you to Rainbow Dash,” Twilight suggested as we all began to walk to wherever they were taking me. At least I was allowed to walk this time... as much as I didn't want to meet any more ponies.
After walking for a little while, we came to Rainbow Dash’s house. It was made of a humongous cloud that hovered over the open field. It had rainbows pouring out of it every which way like waterfalls.
“Hey Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie shouted. No answer came back and nopony came out. That didn’t stop her from trying for a half hour. “I wonder where she is,”
“E-Excuse me, Twilight…” I began, as the alicorn turned her attention towards me. “B-But what kind of pony is this Rainbow Dash?”
“Rainbow Dash is one of the fastest pegasi in all of Ponyville and inspires to become a member of the Wonderbolts,” she said as she spoke of her friend. “She’s also capable of creating the sonic rainboom, an aerial stunt so fast, that it creates a rainbow explosion,”
“You should really see her in action!” Pinkie suddenly spoke, literally jumping into the conversation. “She gets super duper serious when it comes to flying and she’ll be from one place to another in seconds! Did I mention that-” Fortunately for my ears sake, Twilight spoke up, interrupting the conversation right away.
“Pinkie, we can come back here later,” Twilight suggested as she was tired of waiting. “Let’s go talk to Rarity for a while,”
'There's more?!' I shouted in my head. 'How many ponies am I going to need to meet?!' I was on the verge of tears as I desperately need to think of a way out. I didn't come up with one as Pinkie made sure I started walking.
“Okay!” Pinkie said happily as she bounced towards town. We made our way right in front of an elegant boutique shop after a few minutes of walking. "I hope she won't mind if we drop by," said Pinkie Pie, before taking a deep breath and shouted. "Hi Rarity!" I looked at the door and saw a doorbell right next to it.
’Does this crazy mare do anything subtle?’ I thought as I rubbed my aching ears.
"I'm coming, Pinkie Pie dear," Rarity responded through an open window on the second floor, as we waited for a while before the front door opened, revealing a unicorn with light grey coat, indigo mane and blue eyes. "Honestly, please try knocking or ring the doorbell for a change… OHOHOH! Lookie here! The young stallion is awake!" she said excitedly. Now I was really nervous and was especially sure I wanted to go home.
"Playwright, don't be rude," Twilight whispered to me, noticing that I was nervous right away. "Just calm down, take a deep breath and relax." Her advice, as much as I would like to follow it, didn't help me at the slightest. She put me on the spot and that just made it embarrassing. I couldn't even find any coherent words to use.
"Isn't that cute! He's just like Fluttershy!" Rarity pointed out.
Now both of us felt uncomfortable if her face was anything to go by. She quickly hid her face before Rarity continued to talk. I could feel my face getting warm from embarrassment as the blood ran to it. It was then that she noticed my look of discomfort on my face and realized what she did.
"Oh my, I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable. Please, come inside and make yourself at home," We all went inside thought I was the last one in mainly because I contemplated running home as fast as I could and locking the door. As tempting as it was, these ponies didn't deserve that kind of rudeness. “So where are you from, Mr. Playwright?” Rarity inquired. It was clear that she wanted to know a bit more about me.
“C-Canterlot,” I answered simply as it wasn’t that big a deal to me. But it was to her.
“Canterlot!” she spoke loudly and suddenly with surprise. Her reaction kind of scared me but it was then I realized I hadn’t told anypony where I was from as they all seemed pleasantly surprised. “So Playwright dear, do you know anypony from Canterlot? Surely you must have met a few well known ponies back home.” she said in a very joyful tone as I was now the only pony in the room that she was focused on. I rubbed my head sheepishly before answering.
“I-I guess you could say m-met in the loosest sense of the w-word possible…” I answered with my voice getting quieter with each word and myself trying to avoid eye contact. While I did meet some well known ponies, I never really got to do anything more than say hello.
"That’s marvelous, but what brings you over to Ponyville, Mr. Playwright?" Rarity asked me. I hesitated with my answer as I wasn’t sure if I wanted to give my true reasons for coming.
"...I-Inspiration... I guess," I spoke quietly, but loud enough for the unicorn to hear.
"What did you do for a living, darling?" Rarity continued to ask me.
"I'm a writer," I responded after calming myself down a little.
"I'm sure you and Twilight will become very good friends with an occupation like that," Rarity said simply. I was surprised, wondering if she meant what I thought she meant.
"Rarity!" Twilight seemed to think the same thing.
"What?" Either she's acting dumb or she did it unintentionally. "So Playwright," Rarity tried to get the conversation back on track. "Do you have any family back home?" Rarity showed us to some chairs and couches which we each took a seat in.
“…My parents… and a brother,” I was starting to feel less awkward now that I got to sit down.
"Do you plan on writing a letter to them when you get the chance?" Twilight asked me. I shrugged as I really hadn't thought about it.
"I guess... maybe when I have something to say," Only now did I realize that my parents probably missed me. Though I didn't have much time to think about it as Pinkie sprang to life.
"Oh we have to tell Rarity about the thing," Pinkie reminded Twilight about something.
"That's right!" Twilight agreed. "Excuse us," I saw this as my opportunity.
"Actually, I should be getting home. Importing writing stuff to do nice meeting you all kay bye," I said really quickly with a big fake smile on as I walked out the door and immediately headed home.
"Bye-bye then, Wrighty," Pinkie Pie called out. I turned around to see her sticking her head out a window before going back in. I let out a sigh of relief now that all the awkwardness was over.
‘I can relax finally,’ I muttered under my breath. I took to the sky to avoid being found in case they came looking for me. I figured going home right away wouldn't get me any alone time as that would the first place they'd look. After all, I was still unfamiliar with some parts of Ponyville. Plus, I could use some fresh air before heading back.
After flying around for a while to learn the layout of the town, I landed on a hill and looked towards the horizon. I saw the orange sun setting as the sky around it changed from orange to yellow to blue. It was truly a beautiful sight and I had the best seat in the house. I felt... happy to see the sunset from where I was. 'I should come here more often,' I thought to myself with a smile on my face that felt way overdue.
I decided to make a mental note, making sure that I don't forget right away. After the sun had set and Luna raised her moon, I felt it was safe to go home as I doubted that anyone would come looking for me.
After a few minutes, I finally arrived home, but much to my surprise, I saw Fluttershy standing right in front of my house. Why she was here was a mystery. But that didn’t stop my heart from kick starting just from seeing her. Before I could say anything she noticed me and was immediately taken by surprised and started stuttering her explanation although this time I could make it out though only just.
“Oh I-I-I-I’m so sorry… I-I was j-just… c-checking to see if y-you were home… i-if that’s okay with you…” she said it so quietly I didn’t think I heard her right.
"I-I'm sorry, but c-can you repeat that?" I asked Fluttershy, hoping she would at least speak up a bit more.
"I..." she started backing up so I did the same hoping it would calm her down.
"Is this better now?" I asked once more. She nodded her head as we now had a good twenty feet of space. "Alright then; can you tell me what it is again?" I called out to her.
“I-I got to get h-home and make sure the animals are well fed. If that’s alright with you…” Fluttershy said as she circled around me and didn’t wait for a response before flying home at breakneck speeds.
"Alright then," I said to myself, a bit weirded out by Fluttershy's behavior. "She certainly lives up to her name..." I said as I walked into my house and remembered that I was still dirty from Pinkie dragging me around. I headed upstairs and took a quick and refreshing shower. After drying myself, I wasted no time crashing on the bed with a sigh.
As I rested on my bed still trying to comprehend all that happened today, my mind couldn't help but drift to a certain pegasus mare. The beautiful mare who was kind enough to take care of me after the little surprise last night, just so happened to live nearby. “I didn’t even thank her… or any of them for that matter. I should really apologize tomorrow,”
But as my thoughts continued to drift back to Fluttershy, I had to shake my head to get rid of the delusions. "Get it together, Playwright. You barely even know her. You shouldn't be thinking such things about somepony. At least not until you have a conversation with her. Who am I kidding? I passed out yesterday! There's no way in Equestria that I would be able to hold a conversation with her. I couldn’t hold a conversation with that Big Mac guy from earlier!” I sighed as I continued to stare at the ceiling in frustration. “Maybe I should just go to sleep and think about this later,"
I rolled over onto my side and tried my best to fall asleep. It seemed like forever before sleep finally grabbed hold of me.