//------------------------------// // The Welcoming of Kiwi Blitz pt2 // Story: The Misfortune of Kiwi Blitz // by KiwiFreakinBlitz //------------------------------// I had a bit of a history when it came to mishearing others and thinking they said one thing, when they had actually said something else. It's a bit of an embarrassing thing to admit, since I like to consider myself a good listener, but it had happened quite a few times in the past. I remember once a few years back, my good buddy was finally gonna marry his high school sweetheart and he was super excited, as was I, I was totally happy for him. He was like a little brother to me and so I wanted to do everything I could to help him and his blushing bride-to-be set up the ceremony. While they appreciated the sentiment, they wanted to handle all the planning and the catering and stuff by themselves, but my buddy did see how much I wanted to help out and so he called me up one day and told me I could go and take care of the invitations. So, I agreed, happy to help in anyway and asked of they had anything specific they wanted printed on the invitations. So, my buddy has me write down stuff he wants to be included in them and then tells me to just make something flowery and nice sounding for the rest of it. I say sure, no problem dude. Easy peasy! So I go through this local bridal shop and have a few hundred invites custom ordered as my wedding gift to my friend and his fiance, and it was a pretty easy process. Soon after, I take them home and set about inserting them into the fancy envelopes they came with and after a few hours they're ready to be shipped off. A quick run over to the post office and they invites are sent out. I call my buddy up and let him know they were taken care of. Nice, he says, and he thanks me, but wants to see what they look like. I had anticipated such a request, as it was really only natural, and brought the leftover invite I had kept to the side over to his place. When I got to his house and hand over the invite, he smiles. He really likes how formal and nice they look, complimenting my choice of a certain type of font. He opens it up and his eyes move along the lines printed, smile still on his face. Until he gets to the bottom of the card. Smile quickly disappearing, he actually looks a little worried. Without looking up from the invite, he asks me if I wrote down what he told me to put on the card, and I said yeah. Why wouldn't I? I put every word he had wanted. He looks up and glares at me, and brings to me attention that I did not, in fact, put down every word correctly, pointing to a line inside the card. I look to where he is gesturing and feel really bad about my blunder. He had been telling me he didn't want a dress code or anything for the wedding goers, and so had asked me to put down 'formal attire optional'. I had misheard, not catching the 'formal' part. So, I didn't blame him for being super upset, since it was a possibility some people might come to his wedding naked. After that little fiasco, I always tried to remember to clarify things if I don't think I heard correctly. Which brings me back to the party. That little flashback had passed through my little green head for a second after this cute filly before me had spoke, and I stared at her for just a moment, before shaking my head to get out of my funk. “I'm sorry,' I chuckled a bit, smiling unsure. “I don't think I heard you, with all the music and noise, could you please repeat that?” Clearly I had misheard her, there is no way she said she liked me after examining my face, right? It's just too unusual.....though, given my current circumstances, I'm not sure if I'm qualified to accurately spot something unusual anymore, but you get the point. She still smiles that wonderful smile. “I said I like you,' she said patiently, though speaking louder for my benefit. Well dang.... I guess my pony ears are working just fine. My blush deepened and I avoided eye contact with the filly, looking at her face to avoid being seen as rude, but unable to gaze into those deep brown eyes. “Uh.....o-oh, um thank you....'I stuttered awkwardly. I rubbed the back of my head with a hoof and grinned, nervously. “I-I don't know what to say, Miss.....?” She giggled softly, her beautiful blue locks bouncing about her face. She shook her head, amused by my reaction, and her chocolate eyes twinkled as she fixed me with a compassionate stare, capturing the attention of my malachite orbs. “You don't have to say anything, if you don't want to. I just wanted to let you know,' she said innocently. “My name is Sapphire Dream, what's yours?” 'Wow, such a pretty name...it really suits her,' I thought to myself, before sitting up straighter in my chair, trying to look friendly and confident. “My name's T- I mean, my name is Kiwi Blitz. It's nice to meet you, Sapphire Dream.” I said, faltering for second and almost used my human name, but quickly caught myself. I extended a hoof out to her, smiling. Sapphire looked at my hoof for a second, then decided to ignore it, by reaching forward and wrapping me into a gentle, but strong hug. My heart started beating faster than was probably healthy, and I may have taken a subconscious wiff of her mane (she smelled of strawberries and vanilla~), as she held me to chest tightly. I wondered if she cold feel they heat in my cheeks on hers, as the hug brought them together. It seemed to last for a life time, but in reality was over in a few seconds. The filly stepped back after embracing me and smiled in the pleasant way she had since she appeared, though her eyes shined brightly with caring and kindness and...a bit of mischief? “Call me 'Sapphire', Kiwi. And it's very nice to meet you too,' she said, meeting my eyes with hers. “I hope we can be good friends. Bye!” And she started to turn and leave. “W-wait!' I reached a hoof out, frowning in confusion. “Where are you going?” She glanced at me from over one shoulder. “I'm going home. I came to the party to meet the new pony and see if I liked them. I met the new pony. She looks very cool and seems to be fun to be around. I really, really like her. So, my job her is done.” she smiled in a matter-of-fact kind of way, it was innocent and straight forward. I couldn't even comprehend what she was talking about, she had confused me so much. So, she says she really really likes the new pony, i.e. ME, but is leaving after meeting me? Hubba hazzah wha?? Oh my poor brain, I fear it may never know what it was like to be a solid every again, for alas! Once more, my pitiful gray matter was of the pudding variety once more. “But-but, don't you wanna stay and hang out or something? If you like me, wouldn't you want to get to know me better and make friends with me?” I ventured, hesitantly. She said she wished we could be friends, right? You guys heard that too, right? Does she think she can just forge a relationship without any kind of social interaction? I mean, it's not like friendship just grew on trees! … Okay, I know there's a Tree of Harmony, but that doesn't count. I said 'grew ON trees', not 'grew INTO a tree'. So, yeah. I dunno wanna hear it. Sapphire nod earnestly, her smile widening at the prospect. “Oh yes! I would love nothing more than to hang out with you Kiwi. I have some much I wanna know about you, and I feel like we will be the greatest friends in the world!' she said excitedly. “But, I can't right now. Daddy says a mysterious introduction will keep me prevalent in your mind and increase my chances of being a more important character in the story. So, next time! It'll be super fun!” She giggles and winks, before disappearing into the pony ocean of party-goers before I can even fully process everything she just said. I sat there in the chair for a minute or two, just staring off after the 'mysterious filly' that had so suddenly inserted herself into my consciousness and then just of suddenly exited, stage right. My over-sized wings twitched behind me as I held my hoof out, and my mouth hung open ever so slightly. As the hamster in my little noggin tried to tred pudding and stay afloat, my confused little face slowly but surely tilted to the left, solidifying the amount of 'I don't even' going through me at that time. My mouth worked to say something, but paused. My eyes glanced upwards in thought, as I tried to find the perfect word for what I was feeling. Ah yes, that'll do nice. “....huh.' I expressed my opinion on the matter, getting up off the chair and walked off into the crowd aimlessly. She held her confident stride until she was sure the green pegasus filly was no longer able to see her, before she lost her composure and her off-white face exploded into a flush of deep red, making Sapphire wobble as she walked at the intensity of her feelings. Oh my Celestia, just what was doing? She totally came on a little too strong, she fretted to herself as she searched for her father. Kiwi probably thinks she's a crazy fillyfooler or something! Oh no, she really hoped that she didn't ruin her chances of being her friend! Sapphire really liked the new girl and would just be devastated if she didn't like her too. 'No, Saph, don't get discouraged!' she thought to herself, a determined expression forming on her face as she wove her way between party guest. 'You always second guess yourself and end up blowing it. Just be cool and Kiwi will totally be your friend! She just has to be! Before you know it, you and her will be inseparable and will be doing everything together and having loads of fun! You know you will, so just settle down....' She stopped for a moment and turned her head to look at her flank. A glance at her cutie mark seemed to calm her down, a sapphire heart with a pair of eyes laid over it, and turned back to find her father. 'We're all destined to find our best friend, and I finally found mine...Kiwi Blitz...' Well, one thing about what Sapphire Dream said was for sure, I certainly wouldn't be forgetting her anytime soon. Strangest introduction I've ever had, and I've had some really strange encounters over the years. Not that it was really a bad thing, I actually enjoyed her company, for what little time I shared it. The more I thought back to the conversation with the older girl, I realized that despite the blushing and heart beats, I felt really....well, calm in her presence. It was a very weird feeling and I didn't quite understand it. And so, I did my best to put it out of my mind for the moment and just enjoy the party. The bass vibrated through the air as a heavy dance mix rocked through the library and the ponies danced together in a big group in the middle of the floor, stomping their hooves and shaking their bodies restlessly, working up a big sweat. I was never much into the dance club scene back home, so I didn't decide to join in or anything. I observed the ponies making a frenzied storm of movement from a safe distance, and had fun watching some of the moves they were pulling. I saw a vermillion mare doing a hectic type of jitterbug with another mauve unicorn, the ladies giggling wildly and perhaps a little intoxicated, from how sloppy their movements were. I saw Vinyl Scratch break-dancing next to a gray mare I figured was Octavia, who was simply leaning from side to side as her DJ friend seemed to be trying to get her to cut loose and she was having none of it. (I wondered how the music could play without a DJ, but didn't worry too much about things I didn't know about) I spotted PON-3's buddy Neon Lights dancing nearby the other two, obviously trying to helping Scratch in encouraging the cellist to get wild, the rapping stallion in the middle of 'the worm'. I might have imagined the earth pony fighting to keep her face straight as she watched the two friends antics before her, but you never know. Scanning the crowd, I saw more and more scenarios similar to that one, with all kinds of background ponies dancing in wild, awesome ways. Heck, one pony with black-framed glasses was dancing Gangnam Style! I laughed at that, it was just so bizarre and entertaining, yet strangely familiar.....hm.... Oh well. “It's pretty awesome seeing one of Pinkie's parties in person...' I said to myself, continuing my stroll through the happening scene. “Yeah, it's something alright.” I jumped in surprise at the voice behind me and turned to see a pony standing behind me. “Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to startle you,' the lavender alicorn smiled apologetically, and my eyes widened as I saw Twilight Sparkle standing there. “Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle. You're Kiwi Blitz, right? Rainbow Dash's sister?” I nodded dumbly, and stuck out a shaking hoof. “Y-yeah....nice to...meet you...” She nodded and took my hoof in hers, giving a firm and friendly shake. “Same here,' she says brightly, and raises an eyebrow at my expression. “Are you okay?” I snapped out of it pretty quickly. She must have realized I was staring at her, I mean it was pretty freaking obvious, no magic needed to discern the awe I had oogled at her with. I chuckled and smiled sheepishly. “Eh heh heh....sorry,' I apologized, shrinking back a little bit. “I didn't mean to stare or anything...I guess I just didn't think I'd be meeting you....” She tilts her head, incredulously. “You didn't think you'd meet me in my own home?” she says, deadpan. Oh, right. I sigh and facehoof, gently though, didn't wanna brain myself on my first day as a pony. “Right, what was I thinking?' I looked back at her, seeing her smirk in a playful manner. “I just meant...well, you see....you're THE Twilight Sparkle.....and I'm a big fan...” I will admit that I gushed juuuuuust a smidge when I said the 'fan' part. She double blinks in surprise, and then smiles modestly. “Oh, I'm not anything special...' she waves a hoof, dismissively. “NOT ANYTHING SPECIAL!?” I couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief, turning a few heads in the process. “You're Twilight FREAKING Sparkle! The most magical pony this side of magical ponies! You saved Princess Luna, your stopped Discord, you helped save Canterlot from a changeling invasion, you helped save the Crystal Empire, you REFORMED Discord, and done so much for the world of Equestria as a whole, as was rewarded by becoming a Princess! You are the Best Pony!!” I blinked, realizing how I had went off on her and somehow pressed my nose against hers and backed her into a corner. She stared at me with wide-eyes, a faint flush of embarrassment coloring her light purple cheeks. I tentatively looked around me and saw all the ponies nearby staring with similar expressions at my outburst. Boy, it felt like my face was on fire! I promptly back away from the magical pony princess and sat on my haunches, hanging my head and using my wings to hide my face for a moment. Holy crap, and I had promised myself I would never do that if I ever met the Tara Strong-sounding Element of Magic. And I broke it. Geez, I'm such a fanboy... This stays between us, right? “Sorry....” I managed to say, meek and ashamed. Twilight slowly came away from the way and eyed me with an air of caution for second, before relaxing and smiling in understanding. “You don't have to apologize, Kiwi,' she said warmly. “I'm flattered you think that highly of me. Thank you.” I look up, and blink. Did she really not get creeped out by that? If I was in her horseshoes, I would have been so disturbed by some random filly pressing me against a wall and screaming my accolades at me, I'd slap a restraining order on her flank so fast her head would spin! “Really? You're not mad?” I asked, surprise in my tone. She chuckles and shakes her head. “Really. While it was certainly...surprising, I was offended or upset in anyway with what you did.' she looked down at me, and walked over to sit beside me. I noticed nopony was watching us anymore. They were probably desensitized to this kind of weird stuff after several years of the Mane Six had subjected the town to their specific brand of crazy and antics. “Heh, yeah, sorry about that...' I said, sitting up a little straighter now that I didn't feel like a creeper. “I just got excited and got a little carried away right then. Twilight laughed. “Don't worry about it, I'm used to that kind of reaction. You should see your sister whenever she meets one of HER heroes,' she grinned down at me in good humor and I returned it. I snorted. “Yeah, she really wears her admiration on her sleeve, doesn't she?' “Well, that's just how she is,' the older mare replied, nodding in agreement. “It's one of the things that makes Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash. “ I smiled and turn to watch the ponies party once again. Twilight made a good point, I realized. It was great to see that the characters were all more or less themselves do far, and it made me think about my own friends, back in the human world. My buddy that got married should be having his first child soon, his wife was pregnant before this happened. I may not have had much of a life back home, but they were like family to me, and.....and I just now realized that they'd never know what happened to me. I would never see them again, I was fairly certain. I know in lots of fanfictions I've read with the main characters in the same kind of situation I'm in, they all are pretty adamant to get back home and out of Equestria from the get go. They think that this isn't where they're supposed to be and want to return to their own lives, without the hardships that being trapped in an entirely new dimension brought to their lives. Whether their lives were happy or crapped on them every day of their lives, the majority of them just really wanted to go home. If I thought about it, really my life hadn't been that bad. Sure, I lacked to much of a social life and didn't have a bunch of friends, but I had a handful of close friends that I would've died for, and they for me. My job wasn't glamorous, but it was stable and I enjoyed what I did and the people I worked with. And okay, so I wasn't on the greatest of terms with my parents and siblings, but the love was very clearly there and we always were there for each other. I had a better life than most, so you'd think I'd be obsessed with trying to figure out how to change things back to the way they were. But, I wasn't. It wasn't some huge internal struggle for me, nor did I feel like I didn't belong here. I wasn't crushed or freaked out by my drastic change in anatomy or species, nor was I put off by all the walking, talking technicolor creatures cutting a rug or getting blitzed (heh) on cider about me. I wasn't shocked at my physical attraction to the equines I found to be pretty, nor was I bothered by me being technically gay now that I was female and still attracted to females (I always believed love is good, no matter who it is.). I wasn't particularly worried by the fact that magic and monsters existed or that there was a possibility I might become heavily involved with either/or. All these generalized reasons that you read in those fics for why the MC wants to get home, and I can see from their perspectives about why they were legitimate concerns. I just didn't see them that way, myself. And while I may miss the people and things I knew and loved, I realized in that moment something profound. It wasn't in anyway in doubt in my mind or in my heart. It was true, it was fact, and I actually felt a little guilty for thinking about it. I had no desire to go home. “What's the matter, Kiwi?” I was brought out of my inner thoughts be a gentle wing draped over my shoulder and I looked up to my side to see the worry in a certain adorkable alicorn's face as she stared at me. “You got really quiet and sad looking for a minute there. Are you okay?” Aw, I didn't realize I had zoned out on her as I reflected on my moral drama. Now I felt a little worse, Twilight was such a sweetheart. “Ah...yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, Twilight, don't worry,' I reassured her, speaking slowly, to help drive it home to me, as well. “I guess I was just feeling a little....homesick.” It was true enough. I did miss my home. I did miss my friends and family. And I know I would certainly miss all of the things I enjoyed as a hobby over the years, like anime and pro wrestling and football and video games and junk food and meat...OH GOD! MEAT! Yeah, okay, I forgot about 'lacking bacon cheeseburgers' being a significant reason most people hated being here in those stories....was it too late to change my mind about hunting Discord down? Yeah.....surprisingly, I'm willing to sacrifice that kinda stuff to live here. Probably would make me sick in this body, anyway. “I can understand that,' Twilight said, giving me a little nuzzle that I instinctively leaning into and returned. Oh wow, I didn't know ponies were so physically affectionate. That might take a little getting used to. “ Everypony feels that way sometimes. But you don't need to feel sad, okay? You have your big sister here and also all of us to talk to and keep you company if you ever get lonely, okay?” I couldn't help but smile big, a genuine giddy feeling making my lightheaded. “You mean it?” I asked, knowing full well she did, but a childish part of me needed to hear her confirmation before I did a mental celebration of the prospect of hanging out with them. She giggled at the hopeful tone that had been in my voice. “I mean it.' she assured me, and gives me a little squeeze with her wing, before getting up. I stand up with her, and watch her look around the library, a contemplative frown on her face as she squints her eyes. “There sure are a lot of ponies in here, it looks like the whole town came for the party. I can't find Spike or the girls anywhere!” I stood next to her as she sighs, attempting catch sight of any of the Mane Six as well. I had completely forgot that that was I had set out to do earlier, having been distracted by Sapphire Dream. My face felt hot as I remembered the older filly and tried hard to focus on looking for the others. Twilight and I scanned the ponies in each room for what seemed like hours, scouring the main room, the kitchen, the basement, upstairs, even the bathrooms (I apologized profusely when I walked in on Berry Punch, I never knew somepony could “KYAA!” in real life....) but to no avail. “This is ridiculous! I didn't even think the library was big enough to hold everpony!' Twilight sighed in frustration, starting get just a little impatient about the search for her missing compatriots. And really, I had to agree. It was almost impossible to find anypony in here, and with Vinyl Scratch now back to the turntables and having 'dropped the mad wubz' as she put it, it would probably be impossible for anypony to hear you even if you shouted out to them. Why, you'd have to have some sort of physics defying powers to do that! Which is impossible and sounds kind of ran....dom.... Why didn't I think of it before?? “C'mon, Twilight!' I called to her, with a confident grin. I tugged lightly on her tail with my teeth, getting her attention, and I gestured for her to follow. “I have an idea!” Blinking, Twilight followed after me, confusion in her pretty eyes. With my idea in my head, and with what I know about a certain pony, I knew exactly what I could do to find them! Heck, once we flushed her out, we'd have no problem finding them others, and I could finally meet everypony I've loved since the show began! Trotting at a light gallop, we made it back downstairs as I led the Best Pony to the location where my genius plan would show results. “Why are we at the refreshments table?”The alicorn asked quizzically. I looked at all the assorted treats on the table, and there was a lot of them, looking for a specific confection. “I have plan for finding the rest of the girls.' I say simply. Where is that treat?... Twilight raised an eyebrow. “How does eating a snack help us find the others?” Hm, she sounds skeptic...ah! There it is! With a glint in my eyes, I snagged a certain cupcake and held it up for her to observe. “You'll see, just watch!' I promised, and she sighed and watched me with a frown. Oh, ye of little faith... I swiftly brought the frosted treat to my mouth and took a big bite. GOD MY OH!!!!! If I didn't believe in Heaven this morning, I certainly did now. This cupcake was perhaps the single most delicious thing I had ever had the extreme joy of putting in my tongue. It was the type of cupcake to bring a man to elightenment, granting them all the knowledge and wisdom in the universe. The cake itself was so deliciously fluffy, soft and moist, and the pink frosting had just the perfect amount of sugar and used a mixture of different kinds to make the perfect balance in sweetness, with the sprinkles on top accenting the flavor perfectly. I had never been as happy in my entire life as I was in that moment, chewing that bite of cupcake. It was like I had found my soulmate.... And as such, it would kill a little of my soul with what I was about to do. I spat the bite out of my mouth in a loud display of disgust and faux-retched, my tongue hanging out in exaggeration of dislike. “YUCK! THESE ARE THE WORST TASTING CUPCAKES I'VE EVER HAD IN THE HISTORY OF EVER, FOREVER!!!!” I shouted, tears of shame for such a lie running down my face. Twilight stared at me in wide-eyed horror and shock. She was about to say something, when it happened. The earth shook, the heavens trembled as they were torn asunder, and the it seemed like the very moon and stars themselves lamented the horrors brought onto these lands by such blasphemy as that. A veritable explosion of red liquid exploded from the punch bowl and a angry pink demoness roared from within, eyes shining with a eldritch malice as she rocketed forward and once more got in my face, this time not making me blush, but quake in fear as the mortal fool as I was. “YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!!!!!!!!' Pinkie Pie growled, tears in the corner of her eyes that made my heart hurt. “-is the exact opposite of how I feel about these cupcakes.” I said softly, genuinely meaning it, as I savored the rest of my cupcake and wrapped my forelegs and wings around the party pony in a hug. “They're delicious, Pinkie.” Instantly, the angry demoness was no long there, in her place was the same old Pinkie Pie, only blinking in confusion for a second. Reality around us turned back to normal, and the everypony in the vicinity let a breath the had no idea they were holding. “Don't scare me like that, Kiwi...' Twilight exhaled. “That wasn't a very nice thing to do to Pinkie, either.” I smiled apologetically, as the mare in question had quickly got over her confusion and hugged me back affectionately in forgiveness. I blushed a bit as she nuzzled me and started rambling on about how she was glad I enjoyed her cupcakes and grinned at Twilight behind her. “I told you it'd work.”