//------------------------------//
// Day Eighty Three: Happy New Year 
// Story: What Would Really Happen 
// by Z-A-C 
//------------------------------//


Day Eighty Three: Happy New Year





Family.

The one word that has brought me so much pain recently. No Thanksgiving. No Christmas. Well, I mean, Hearths Warming was okay, but I had to excuse myself for pretty much the whole day. They tried to cheer me up. Tried being the key word. They didn't succeed. Even the changelings tried! Aura made more of an effort, though. What made it better, however, was that Hearths Warming wasn't on the same day as Christmas like I thought it was. But still. Point is: I haven't been very happy for awhile. What surprised me, is that New Year's day is on the same day. Which is today... And how am I celebrating? By standing on the edge of my favorite cliff. Jumping? No, just thinking. I miss my family but, I'm not doing that. I am desperate to see them, though. It's almost funny, ya know? You see them every day. At least I do. Yet, you miss them when you go a prolonged period of time without seeing them. So, here I am... Two minutes till midnight, counting down the seconds atop a cliff-face, staring at the lights of the houses below. "I bet they're happy with their families." I sighed. "I hate this so much."

"Something the matter?" I heard from behind me. It was Luna and she startled me. She caught me in her magic so I wouldn't fall. Good thing to, because I almost did.

I stepped away from the edge and turned around. "Oh boy, that was close!"

She smiled slightly. "You should not stand so close to the edge." She then frowned. "I know there is something on your mind. Do not lock your feelings away, that only worsens the problems. Speak."

I sighed and turned around, looking out at the village below, again. "I miss my world."

"Just your world?" She said in a skeptical tone.

"My family, my friends. You know."

She nodded. "I do, and all too well. You are right to feel that way."

"I know, but how do I deal with it?"

"By talking about it and allowing others to help you." I saw her walk up beside me. "I have not known you long, Human, but I can see that you have bottled things up for awhile. You should break that habit. It leads only to self destruction. I should know." I looked over at her, and she had a dead serious expression on her face. But her expression softened soon after I turned to her. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to lecture you."

"No. No, your right. But I'm afraid the damage is done. I've bottled my emotions up for most of my life..." I shook my head. "But, anyway. What are the others doing?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"Wondering what's bothering you." Damn. "Every holiday you have been here. You have excused yourself. They are worried about you, Zane... And so am I." She said in a worried tone.

"Sorry. Tell them the same. I'm staying here."

"You're not coming with me?"

I shook my head. "No. I'll be along in a bit, don't worry."

She nodded. "This discussion is not over. But we shall leave it for now." I nodded. "I will see you shortly then?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Don't keep us waiting. Twilight has a surprise for you." I just nodded in response.

I looked at my watch again, and sighed. "Three... Two... One... Happy freakin' New Year." I stood around for a few more minutes before I decided to head back. It was a chilly night, but thanks to Rarity, I have a coat. She made several attempts at a human coat. Her first attempt...wasn't very good to say the least. But she got it, and I am grateful for her generosity. Her being the element of said generosity is up for debate, however, because I am not convinced. 

As I make my way through town, I noticed some partying going on. I laughed and shook my head at the drunken shouts of a for ponies. I would say what the said, but the only thing I could make out was, and I quote: "WHOOO!!!!" ...Yeah I just hope they stay safe. No one needs to fall into a fire place, ya know? I'm sure there are a few sober ponies watching the 'festivities'. If not... Oh well. I am surprised that Sugar-Cube Corner is some what tame tonight. Pinkie Pie must be at Twilight's.

Don't keep them waiting.

Yeah, speed up! Stop trudging along.

I don't want to go.

FEAR if for the weak! Are you weak?

Quit teasing him.

"Shut up, the both of you." I whispered. "They'll wait for me. Whether they like it or not. I'm almost there anyway." I heard the pony equivalent of dub-step from my left. "I wonder how Octavia is liking the music?" I chuckled a bit. "Poor Tavi. She'd kill me if she heard me say that."

"Not so much as kill," I heard the refined voice of the cellist, and jumped. "Berate? Maybe." She smiled. "But I'll spare you tonight."

"Well thank you milady."

She chuckled. "Always quite the gentle...man?" Not really... I was kinda making fun of the accent... "Why aren't you celebrating with your friends?"

I thought about telling her, but... "Personal reasons. I don't want to bother you with them."

"Nor will I pry. But it is rather cold out..."

"Then why are you out here?"

"Ha! Really? Can you not hear that racket?" She asked rhetorically. "I came out to get away from the noise." Understandable. "I'll go back inside to yell at her in a moment."

"Yes, well. I should get going surely they're waiting for me."

She nodded. "Indeed. Have a good evening." I waved to her as she went inside. I vaguely heard her yelling at Vinyl turn the music down and laughed.





I arrived at the library and opened the door. It was completely black. Pitch freaking black."Twilight!?" No answer. "I hate surprises... Aura!?" Still no response. "Turn the lights on or I'm going somewhere else!" The lights came on but there was no one there. I don't like this.

Neither do I.

They might be in the basement.

"I'm not going in that basement. You kidding me?" I looked around. Owlowiscious was still on his perch. Not that he could help me. I tried to concentrate on my hearing to see if I could hear anything. Sure enough something from the basement made a noise. "Oh my god, they're baiting me." I sighed. "They want to make this a game. Might as well get it over with."

I make my way to the basement entrance. There was a faint green-blue glow down there. "Great." I slowly made my way down the stairs, and saw what the glow was coming from. They were gelatinous 'pods' filled with some kind of liquid. I gently poked it and it jiggled. It had a weird texture, and decided not to touch it, or any others. I came to the second doorway, and listened to see if I could hear anything on the other side. I heard whispering and reluctantly reached for the doorknob.

I turned the knob and opened the door. The first thing to hit me was the smell. It wasn't unpleasant, it was just odd. The second was that it was empty as well. Now I know I heard somebody in here. "Okay, come on out!" Still nothing. I turned around to walk out of the door. But it slammed shut, and there was no magic aura covering it. I had no indication of who slammed the door. "U-um..." So much nope is happening right now. "D-did I do something to upset you?" I asked without turning around, fear starting to grow. There was no answer. I grabbed the doorknob and tried to open it, but it was stuck. Now I was starting to panic. Oh no...

We need to get outta here!

 They finally betrayed us!! I knew it would happen!!

"Shut up. Shh just...quiet."

Zane, we need to go. Now!

"I know I know I know." I whispered, still jingling the doorknob.

"Zane." Said a ghostly sounding voice. I froze in place. "Why so scared?" I somehow managed to turn around. And immediately regretted it. There just inches away from me was a "ghost pony". It wouldn't be so bad, but the wispy cloud that was surrounding it kinda added to the fear factor. That and the empty eye sockets with red glowing lights. "Why so scared, Zane?"

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. I turned around, kicked the door opened, and booked it. Ran up the stairs so fast, I swear I didn't even touch them. I reached to front door in no time, and almost ripped it off of the hinges. I left it wide open and just ran. "Nope! Nope! Nope!" I said over and over again. I had no idea where I was going, and I didn't care. I just needed to get away. Anywhere would do. 

I looked over my shoulder for a brief moment. It wasn't following me. I sighed with relief and looked forward again. And ran right into a lamp post. Knocking me out cleanly.

Nice going, idiot. Never. NEVER look back...




~Some Time Later~





I woke up and everything was blurry, and I had a monster headache. Nothing around me looked familiar. The only thing I was certain of was that I was on a couch and that it was now day time. "Ugh my head." I rubbed my temples. "Where am I?"

"At our house dear." I heard a certain refined mares voice say. "What had you so scared to run like that?"

I looked around and saw that I was in their living room. I blinked a few times to get rid of the blurriness. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Really? You seemed absolutely terrified! Surely it is believable."

I sighed. "I saw a ghost..."

"A ghost?"

"I-it was all wispy and had glowing red eyes! And... I ran." I shook my head. "I will never go into her basement again."

"This was all in Twilight's basement?"

"Yes."

"Hmm... Can I get you anything? A drink? Perhaps breakfast?"

"You don't believe me, do you?"

She nodded. "I believe you."

"Sure you do. Um... Maybe a drink? A um.., glass of milk, please. And something for the headache, if it's no trouble."

"No trouble at all," She said politely. "I'll be right back."

I nodded and laid back down and closed my eyes. What was the deal with that? That was freaky. I'll have to ask Twilight about that. After all, it was her surprise. And I am none to pleased with her. I heard hoof-steps come from where Octavia was before, and heard place something down on the table in front of the couch. "Here's your milk, and some medicine to help with your headache."

"Thank you." I sat up, popped the pill ,and took a sip. "Vinyl asleep?" She had an annoyed look on her face. "I take that as a yes. All that late night partying takes it's toll, huh?"

"Indeed." She said flatly, then sighed. "Well I suppose this is normal for her. She is a 'DJ' after all."

I chuckled and took another sip. "How's that been going by the way?"

"Very well, actually. She's getting more popular around the local clubs."

"That's good news."

"There's even better news."

"Really?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh yes. She's even getting requests from Canterlot!" She said excitedly.

"Awesome. What's that mean for her?" I asked with genuine interest.

"More money, better venues, and bigger crowds." We heard from the hallway.

"Good morning Vinyl." Octavia said with a hint of surprise. "Why are you up so early?"

"Yeah, we didn't expect you for awhile."

She shrugged. "Heard talking. Figured I'd see if you were awake."

"Yep alive and well. Mostly."

She nodded her head sleepily. "Your welcome by the way." I just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I used a low-level healing spell, to stop the swelling." I had a look of surprise on my face. "Oh, and you broke your nose. We fixed it."

"Well alrighty then. Thank you. Any other fixes I should know about?" I asked with widened eyes.

She tapped her chin in thought. "Naw, we fixed you up good." She turned to Octavia. "So, Tavi, what's for breakfast?"

"Excellent question Vinyl." Octavia said, tapping her chin. She walked into the kitchen, over to the cabinets, and started rummaging through them. We followed. "Pancakes?"

"We had pancakes yesterday." Said Vinyl. "Any other options?"

"Well...uh Prench toast?"

"Prench?" I said, confusion plain in my voice. "What?"

Octavia stopped looking through the cabinets, and turned around to look at me with a raised eyebrow. "I thought Ms. Sparkle was teaching you about our world?"

"We haven't been doing lessons recently." I scratched the back of my head. "So, what's Prench? Or Am I going to have to guess?"

"Well, um... How would be a good way to explain it?" Octavia tapped her chin. I saw Vinyl roll her eyes playfully.

"Don't over complicate it, Octavia."

"Yes, well..." She cleared her throat. "Have you gone over countries and continents yet?" 

"No."

"Prance is a country." Vinyl chimed in. "Things that come from Prance are Prench. So, Prance equals Prench."

Octavia looked at her with a slightly annoyed look on her face. "That's a rather...simple explanation, Vinyl, but yes."

"Oh." I said flatly. Man, I feel stupid.

Octavia looked concerned. "Something the matter?"

"Prance, France. Prench, French." I sighed. "It makes sense now." I then face-palmed. "Detrot, Detroit. Manehattan, Manhattan. Stalliongrad, Stalingrad. I should have put the pieces together sooner." The two mares had confused looks on there faces. "It seems there are more similarities between pony and human kind than I thought."

"That's strange..." Said Vinyl.

"It is odd, isn't it?"

"No, I mean it's strange that breakfast ready yet." Both Vinyl and I looked at her with different expressions. Mine with slight amusement. Octavia's with annoyance.

"Really? Well, if that's your attitude, then you can make something yourself." Octavia said with a huff.

"I was just kidding."

"No, no. You're on your own. I, on the other hand, am making Prench toast. You may not have any." She turned away from Vinyl and started to get the ingredients for her breakfast.

"Aw come on Tavi!" Vinyl said desperately. "It was a joke!"

"Even so, it was of bad taste. There is cereal in the pantry."

"But Octavia!"

"Not another word." She said sternly. Then looked at me. "Zane, would you like any?"

I looked between the two of them. The term 'lover's quarrel' kept repeating in my head. Surely not. "Umm... I think I'll go to Sugar-Cube Corner for a muffin or something. How much is a muffin again?"

"Two Bits, I think."

I checked my pockets, and only had one Bit. "Never mind. Yeah, I'll have some toast..."





We decided to sit down in the living room to eat breakfast. I don't usually like French toast but Octavia did a pretty good job. Maybe it's the ingredients, but this is really good. "So," Vinyl said. Her and Octavia made up. Which made things less awkward, and I am grateful for that. "I heard that you went to Canterlot recently."

Octavia's eyebrow raised as she dabbed her lips with her napkin. "He did?" She turned her head to me. "How was it?"

"It was pretty cool actually."

"It is a nice city isn't it?" I nodded. "What did you do during your visit? How long did you stay?"

"I stayed for about two days, and I didn't do much. Just sight seeing mostly. I did attend royal court though."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I nodded and took a bite of the Prench toast. "It was interesting."

"Wait, where did you stay? The hotels are expensive!" Vinyl asked.

"The castle. The princess were nice enough to let me stay in one of the guest rooms. A bit too fancy for me, but hey, it was nice. Even actually hung out with the princesses." They were staring, slack jawed. I chuckled. "I got to know them a fair bit. Though I already know Luna." I shrugged. They were still staring at like that. "Might want to close your mouths. Ya don't want to catch flies."

They tried to recover from their momentary stupor, and I just shook my head and smiled. "You actually hung out with them?!" Vinyl asked, I nodded. "Like hung out, hung out. Not what Twilight did that one Grand Galloping Gala?" I nodded again. "Whoa."

"Do you know how many ponies would pay for the opportunity?" Octavia said.

"And do you know that those same ponies would have an ulterior motives for getting close to royalty?"

"You...do have a point." Octavia reluctantly admitted.

"Do I, really?" I asked, surprised. "I was just being an ass."

"Well, Canterlot ponies are..." Vinyl started, but stopped and looked at Octavia.

"Not too kind." Octavia finished for her. "That's one of the reasons I moved to Ponyville. But yes, you have a point. Many Canterlot ponies would try to gain special favors from the princesses. But enough about that, what did you do while 'hanging out' with them."

I sighed. "Answered a lot of questions. I almost feel bad, I didn't have a proper answer for a lot of the questions Celestia had."

"Did you find out anything interesting about them?" Vinyl said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Vinyl!"

I chuckled. "They have pet names for each other."

"Really!? Oh man, you have to tell us!"

"I can't."

"Aw why not?"

"I was sworn to secrecy. Too bad to, it's pretty funny." I added with a sly smile. Which slowly faded. "Speaking of which: I need to have a talk with Luna." I looked at my watch. It was only eleven O'clock. "But not yet. Twilight should be awake though." I said in a low tone. Octavia and Vinyl exchanged looks. "I think I should be going now. Thank you for the food." I stood up.

"Don't do anything rash."

"Don't worry, I wont." I took my plate into the kitchen, and rinsed it off. I walked to the door and opened it. "See ya later guys."

"Goodbye"

"Bye."

I left and closed the door behind me. Twilight has some explaining to do.

No kidding. Make her pay!

No just talk to her. See what was up with that.

"Either way, I'll make her explain." I said with a scowl. I look ahead and see the library. Octavia and Vinyl don't live far from Twilight's. Pretty much a straight shot down the street. So, about two minutes walking time. Maybe more. "Because that wasn't cool."

I arrive at the library and opened the door. Twilight was in the main room, talking with a pinkish purple unicorn mare with a two tone mane. They both looked at me when I walked in. Twilight said something to the mare, and walked over to me. "I thought you back to Canterlot?"

My brows furrowed with confusion. "What do you mean?" I asked slowly.

"Princess Luna went back to Canterlot last night. I thought you went with her?"

"No," I slowly shook my head. "I was being my 'usual cheery holiday' self out by that cliff. What time did Luna leave?"

"Around ten. Why?"

"That doesn't make sense. She visited me at the cliff around eleven-thirty."

"That's strange." She tapped her chin in thought. "Maybe it was a quick visit?"

"Doubt it. Also, she said you had a surprise for me. Hell of a one if you ask me."

"A surprise?" Her eyebrows furrowed as well. "That's not possible. I was at Sugar-Cube Corner with the girls. I asked Chrysalis to find..."

I curtly nodded head. "Thank you, I think I know who to yell at now. Take care of your costumer. I'm going to brave the changeling habitat." I walked over to the entry way to the basement, and walked down the stairs. Passing the luminescent blob/bubble thing on the wall. I reached the door and reluctantly reached for the door knob. I opened the door and slowly stepped into the basement proper. I looked down and saw Aura and Wisp looking up at me with concern obvious on their faces.

"Hi?" Aura said, with a suspicious smile on her face. Wisp tried to leave.

"Oh, your not going anywhere. Neither of you are." I said as I walked down the stairs. "You're going to tell me what was with last night. And where is Chrysalis?"

"L-last night?" Aura said. "I don't know what you're talking about." Wisp remained silent.

"Aura don't play dumb. I know you know what I'm talking about. Whether you were apart of it, or not." Wisp gave Aura a look. "Oh come on! Just tell me!" They still silent. "Okay, fine. Where's Chrysalis?"

"Mom's asleep."

"Is she now?" I sighed. "Didn't think I'd be lied to." That got a reaction from Aura. "I'll just leave then. Cause I'm obviously not getting anywhere." I turned to leave. "Tell Chrysalis I was looking for her."

Wisp relaxed, while Aura looked hurt. I took a step toward the stairs. "Wait." Aura said and I stopped. " Mom is asleep, but it was her doing. Wisp was in on it."

"What about you?" I asked without turning around.

"I was with Twilight and the others. You can ask her if you don't believe me."

I turned around. "Do you know why they chose to scare me like that?"

Wisp, who was glaring at Aura, spoke. "It was supposed to be a harmless prank."

I looked at her. "Supposed to be. But aren't all pranks?"

"What?"

"I ended up running out of here so fast that I hit a lamp post. And apparently broke my nose."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but it was hardly our fault."

"Well, yes and no. It was indirectly your fault." I sighed. "I gotta admit, though. It was pretty good."

"You're not mad?" Aura asked.

"Not really, anymore at least. Once I found out it had to do with Chrysalis, it made sense."

"Huh?" Both Aura and Wisp said.

"At first I thought it was Twilight. But she said she was out celebrating the new year. Seeing how she has no reason to lie, I let it go. But if she didn't have a costumer, there would have been yelling." I shook my head. "But, whatever, I'm going now." I turned around again.

"Are we..." Aura trailed off.

"Yeah we're still friends."

"What about me?" Wisp asked.

"What do you think?" Was the only thing I said before I walked up the stairs. "The answer is yes by the way!" I yelled down before closed the door. Might have been a little dramatic. I don't know.




~Three Hours Later~





That pony was still here when I came back up from the basement. Apparently she was a good friend of Twilight's, by the name of Amethyst Star. She told me that she was neutral on the whole racist thing, even though it's mostly over with now. She's pretty nice, was kinda in a hurry though. After she left, Twilight turned to me. She asked if I figured everything out. I said yes and told everything that had happened. Despite my protests, she told Luna as soon as she came back. Little Lulu wasn't too happy about Chrysalis using her appearance. Luna asked if I was alright and I told her what happened. She said she will have to personally thank the kind ponies that helped her friend.

Since she returned recently, I offered to take her to Vinyl and Octavia's house. She nodded. "That sounds fine. Lead the way."

I reached for the doorknob, but then stopped. "Is transformation magic possible?"

"Yes. And it is within my skill level." She said matter-of-factly.

"You might want change form before we leave."

She blinked, then looked herself over. "I suppose that would be a good idea." Her horn glowed for a moment and there was a flash. Stood her place, was a normal pony size version of her. "Better?"

I looked her over. "Cutie mark is still the same. Mane and tail are different, good job there. You still have wings and a horn, though."

She nodded and her horn glowed again. Another flash of light of the stood a normal pegasus. "How about now?"

"Yep. You're good." I reached for the doorknob again. "Hopefully we wont run into Pinkie Pie." I knocked on entryway. "Knock on wood." I opened the door and stepped out, leaving it opened for Luna. Who thanked me as I was closing the door.

"Where do they live?"

I pointed in the general direction. "I few minutes that way. I know the house." We started to walk. As we were walking, I kept an eye out for the overactive party pony. But so far it was going like it always does. Some waved, some turned their heads, some of them smiled. I shrugged the negative glances and turned heads off. I learned that the initial hatred was mostly gone. Only fear remained. And having learned that Ponyville has been the chaotic hot spot for the last few years, I think I understand why they acted like that. They're tired of it. Makes sense to me, at least. I still think they went a little overboard. I shook my head to focus on finding the house. I have a habit of going one house too far. Good thing too, because they're house was just ahead. The loud dubstep helped with the realization. "And here we are."

Luna was covering her ears, but nodded. I knocked on the door, but didn't get a response. So, I banged on the door. I heard Octavia yell at Vinyl to turn it down and laughed. She did and I faintly heard hoof-steps go up to the door on the other side. The door opened when I was still laughing. "Oh, hello. I didn't expect you to come back today."

I stopped myself from laughing, and looked at Octavia. She looked like she was getting ready to go out. "Is this a bad time?"

"I was about to go to the market, but that can wait for a little while." She said politely and noticed the disguised Luna. "Please, come in."

"Thank you." Luna said.

We sat down in the living room and Octavia fetched Vinyl. "Hey, sup." Vinyl said sitting down.

"Not a whole lot. Just thought I'd introduce you two to a friend of mine." I gestured to Luna. "Octavia, Vinyl, this is..." My face grew a mischievous smile. "Lulu." I felt Luna hit me. I looked over at her and she was glaring at me. "Sorry your highness." I said laughing. "It was too good to pass up."

"Thou was sworn to secrecy!"

"Oh come now. It's just a nickname!" I heard one of them clear their throat, and looked back over to the other two ponies in the room.

"Excuse me, but what's going on?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." I said innocently.

"Zane, who is this. Like, who is this really?" Vinyl asked.

"I already told you."

"I think I should reveal myself. Lest your game go on for a while." And with that, Luna's horn glowed and she stood in her true form. "Hello Octavia Melody and Vinyl Scratch. I am Princess Luna." A couple things happened at the same time. Octavia fainted and Vinyl's mouth fell opened. She was stunned.

"Surprise!"