Settling into Ponyville had been … problematic. Grey’s problems had varied, from being berated by one of Ms Sparkle’s friends for his ‘hideously bland outfit’, to brandishing his chainsaw at Twilight’s pet dragon when Grey mistook him for a monster.
Who owns a dragon anyway? And why call it Spike? Its spines are rounded.
Not to mention Twilight’s constant experiments upon him. They weren’t harmful in any way but they were slightly annoying. Just the other day she had wanted to see how much stamina Grey had. She had set up a conveyer belt she called a ‘Treadmill’ and asked him to run on it until he needed to rest. To her surprise though, Grey just kept going and going. Clad in armour he ran until Twilight fell asleep for the night. When she awoke in the morning Grey had nodded off to sleep as well, his legs still propelling him forward strangely in some form of sleep sprinting.
Apart from those odd problems however, the transition into life in Ponyville had been rather smooth. He had fashioned himself a small bed on one of the library shelves after deciding it would be ungentlemanly to sleep in the same room as Ms Sparkle. It may not have been as comfortable as his well-worn bunk back in the castle, but by the makers if that pillow isn’t soft. He had found and raided a large box of children’s picture books. Intent on teaching himself to read and write even if he was too embarrassed to admit it to Twilight and Spike, both of whom seemed to take great pride in their writing abilities.
Finding himself a week into his stay at Ponyville, Grey was resting in the rafters of the library, Twilight sitting at a desk within easy view of him. She was writing in a large blank tome, occasionally looking up at the Crasher before returning to her writing. This went on for the better half of the morning before Twilight decided to break the silence.
“You know Grey, apart from my close friends you haven’t met many ponies yet have you? Even then you only met my friends
once and were disoriented from having Pinkies cannon go off in your face.” Twilight queried as Grey turned his gaze to the lavender pony. “Maybe you should spend more time outside meeting everypony, not cooped up here. It is the weekend after all.”
Just as she finished speaking Spike burst out laughing “HE should spend more time outside with other ponies? You’re not exactly the biggest socialite yourself Twilight.” Spike exclaimed between bouts of laughter.
Twilight scrunched her nose. “I am a Princess now and have important duties to attend to.” She replied defensively.
Spike just continued to laugh “*pfff* Yeah because reading ’50 Manes of Grey’ is really important.”
Hmm. Maybe I have been spending too much time in this place.
“I do more than just read!” Twilight yelled at the baby dragon who was now rolling on the floor, clutching his sides.
Some time away from these two couldn't hurt either.
Rolling sideways off the rafter, Grey landed with a solid thunk as his boots made contact with the floor. Walking away from Twilight and Spike, Grey brushed the dust from his tabard as he reached for the door knob and let himself outside.
Outside the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud to be seen in the sky. Birds were chirping and all the ponies were trotting about with smiles upon their faces seemingly unfazed by the odd short creature that was Grey. It all seemed like something out of a fairy-tale; everything was just so seemingly perfect.
Well you’re outside. What now genius? You don’t know how to make friends. Well let’s take a page from Red’s book, ‘act like you belong and you will belong’.
With a plan in mind Grey set out to the park that he saw on his quick tour of Ponyville upon his arrival. Setting off at a brisk pace Grey waved and nodded with a smile at the ponies he passed on his short jog. A few of them gave him odd looks and one mint green pony openly gawked at him, but the majority of them simply returned his smile as he went past them.
Why didn’t I go outside before? Friendly faces, clear skies and no asinine experiments. I’m going to have to do this every day.
Grey finally slowed to a walk as he approached the bridge leading to the park. Stopping at the peak of the bridge he looked out over the park. Fillies and colts were playing, adults sat around on blankets gossiping and there were even two of the ponies that he first saw when he got to Ponyville. The light blue one, with a rainbow main and the bright orange one wearing some kind of hat, they seemed to be doing the pony equivalent of arm wrestling.
Well Grey, the world is your oyster. What are you going to do with it?