It had taken about an hour for Applebloom and Zecora to conclude their business as I had pretty much spent that time munching on a few edible plants I could find while generally keeping an open eye and ear out for danger. Once she was ready to go, Applebloom and I gave our farewells to Zecora before striking out on the path to Ponyville. It was during our walk that Applebloom asked me a few rather interesting questions to help pass the time.
"So where ya from?" She asked a few minutes into our path.
"A place very far and different from here. Often not in good ways either." She looked a little unsatisfied by my answer.
"So jus what are ya anyway?" Damn, that was another hard question to answer. I wasn't really sure what I was either.
"I'm a unitaur, kinda like a minotaur version of a unicorn." Applebloom perked up as it seemed she felt that was a much better answer than my last one.
"Dat's pretty neat, so can ya use magic like a unicorn?" I nodded my head as I answered her question farther.
"Mine's rather specialized, it works with earth, metal, and rock." I noticed her looking at the Superman 'S' on my t-shirt before she mustered up the courage to ask.
"What's da S on yer shirt stand for?" I chuckled figuring I could squeeze a rather corny line into the conversation.
"It's not an S, where I'm from it means 'hope'."
"Well where I'm from it's an S." I could barely hold back a chuckle at her retort.
"It's really an S where I'm from too, but it's worn by a great superhero of comics named Superman."
"Sound rather uh, super. So they have comic books where yer from, that's cool." Quick to shift the subject off of me. I figured I'd get some reconnaissance out of the way.
"Say Applebloom, has anything really strange or special happened recently in Ponyville?"
"Well yeah, the Everfree got all strange and attacked. So mah big sister along with her friends had to stop it." I let my mouth go slack to look as shocked as I could, which wasn't too hard. "I know, there were des black vines all around making all kinds of trouble for everypony." This was very close to the end of my knowledge of the current episodes of the show that had aired.
"Your big sister is one of the Elements of Harmony? That must be amazing." Applebloom seemed a bit confused as to what I was talking about. "Your big sis is part of the group that stopped Nightmare Moon when she returned and ended Discord's second reign of chaos, right? We hadn't heard names but called the group 'the Elements of Harmony' because they say that's how they stopped them. At least that's what they say." Maybe I should play dumber, but I couldn't help it. Even the comics don't go into a lot of world building other than plot, but acting like I had no idea about anything in the world could just as likely cause a whole boatload of problems and having to come up with how I don't know what should be common knowledge. Not that it wasn't a situation I was likely to find myself in soon anyway. Applebloom just looked at me with a slightly stern gaze.
"Yeah, I guess it's pretty cool. I mean to me she’s just mah big sister, but she really has dun some amazing things." I thought a bit and figured it might be easier to keep her talking on a board subject I was sure she could talk about.
"So, what's Ponyville like?" I don't really know a lot about it other than it's close to the Everfree." That got her talking for the rest of the trip out of the woods as she told me about landmarks from the show along with a lot of different small shops around town she had visited with family members. Once we were out of the forest, we stopped at a fork in the road.
"Welp, jus follow dis road ta da right and it'll lead ya into Ponyville square. Da left leads ta Sweet Apple Acres. See ya around. Onyxian."
"Thank you for the Applebloom." Her face lit up as we waved our goodbyes and headed in opposite directions. A few minutes walk and I was in Ponyville town square just like Applebloom had said. I got more than a few strange looks as I did my best to seem friendly, not wanting to end up another Zecora and having all the ponies too scared to even interact with me. I took note of a lot of the background ponies people had given names milling about as I found a bench and took a seat to rest my legs I suddenly heard another gasp from a very familiar high pitched female voice as I turned to see a pink earth pony with curly mane and tail with big ice blue eyes somehow level with mine.
"Hi there, I'm-"
"Pinkie Pie, it's nice to meet you, too. I'm Onyxian." She seemed a lot less perturbed that I knew her name than I would have expected her to be, but I wasn't sure what to expect from a fourth wall breaking pony able to abide by cartoon physics in a most normal world as far as natural laws were concerned.
"Oh you know me, that speeds things up a bit. Saaay... you look an awful lot like a villainous king from a lost crystal empire that was recently rediscovered." I gave her the blankest look I could before a slow blink and then moved back to see that she had been standing on the bench to be eye level with me. "But I don't think you are. I relaxed and gave her a soft grin.
"Happy to hear it, I'd rather not have everypony scared of me on my first day here." I was suddenly bombarded by confetti and the sound of party noise makers.
"Then let's have a meet and greet party tonight where you can meet some ponies and no longer be a scary stranger, but a new friend." I thought about how I hadn't really been one for parties but how many would show on such short notice.
"Sure, sounds like a plan. Though, I could use some better clothes for a party." Pinkie jumped for joy letting out a woohoo as she took me by the hand leading me to Carousel Boutique and opening the door before shouting,
"Raaarity!! I've got a customer for you." The white unicorn walked out from the back seeing me and gasping in horror.
"Oh goodness, he was wearing that, in public? Thank goodness you brought him here, Pinkie dear." Rarity brought out a tape measure as I was sure I looked rather startled as she was on me in a flash. My arms were held out as she measured them while I kind of fidgeted around, not used to being poked and prodded as she did her work. "Hold still, darling. I need exact measurements if I'm going to make anything right. Oh and do please stand fully upright." I stood up straight as I could for her.
"What's wrong with my t-shirt? I don't normally wear my pajama pants in public, but sadly these are the only set of clothes right now." I thought she was about to have some kind of fit at what I had said.
"What? All you have? You'd be better off walking around with nothing at all! Hmm I guess this t-shirt isn't all that bad, but baggy was a season ago, Sweetie. What did you have in mind?"
"Uh better question, why are you still in your PJs in the middle of the afternoon?"
"Oh a um botched teleportation sent me to the middle of the Everfree Forest." Pinkie seemed to look a bit disappointed at my answer.
"So you didn't mean to end up here? What about staying in Ponyville and the party? I mean you're even getting clothes made for it." I managed to take the conversation from there.
"My home is very far away from here. Ponyville seems like a great place to stay until I figure out if I even want to go back. Well I guess if the party is tonight, a pair of pants might be the fashion issue to worry about first. "Rarity eyed me over in a bit of a huff.
"Well, I don't normally mix and match pieces, but I do agree that those pants are better only be for sleeping in and time is at a premium."
"I hope I'm not imposing on a more important client. I'm sure a designer of your talent has better things to be doing." My face fell as I noticed both of them looked a little hurt.
"Now now, Darling. No need to get self deprecating-"
"Yeah what she said.-"
"Yes, it is rather short notice but, for a lost newcomer to Ponyville, I will do my best."
" Well, then I know it will be great. Something simple to care for and comfortable. In any color you think would go well with my shirt. It can be my first ensembl." I perked up and gave her a thankful smile.
"Hmm I think I will manage something for you dear. I'm Rarity, what did you say your name was?"
"Onyxian, I look forward to seeing you at the party if you can come."
"Don't worry about that, Nyxie. I won't let her forget." Pinkie piped up again as she made her way out likely to plan some other part of the party. I was about to leave Rarity to her work but felt a tug on my pants stopping me.
"Why don't you leave Pinkie Pie to her planning. I think you could really use some cleaning up before meeting new ponies." I quirked my eyebrow then looked at myself and clothes seeing just how filthy they had gotten in my time in the Everfree.
"Yeah I guess I should do a bit of cleaning up before the party."
"Very good, there's a spa and salon not far from here that can get you all fixed up, but I need you to leave your shirt with me. In fact, why don't you just leave all you clothes and I'll see to them getting cleaned." I felt my shirt coming off as I struggled for a little bit, but let go of not wanting to ruin it with a sour look on my face before my eye bugged out at feeling magically pantsed.
"Hey. hey I can't just run around naked there are some things about me I'd rather keep private." I protested as Rarity had taken everything but my blue boxer briefs as I was desperately fighting to keep them on.
"Onyxian, it all just smells rather dirty and really should be cleaned. The sooner you let me help you the sooner you can get cleaned up and I can get to work on your pants." With a sigh, I let go in defeat as they came down. Rarity then looked at something about face level to her and then back up at me. "Ah I see, well it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of." I think having her say that broke something in me.
"I'm not going outside like this, it's too embarrassing."
"Really now, you're just being silly. No pony is going to judge you.Now go get cleaned up for your party."
I've had nightmares and dreams where I'm walking around naked in public. In real-life the sense of dread and embarrassment is much much worse but no one really seemed to mind so I made my way to the spa only then realizing that I didn't have any money to pay for anything. I made my way around the corner and used a bit of magic to drag up a nice handful of cut gems before walking into the spa. I walked up to I think Aloe who seemed more than put off by my haggard appearance.
"I'm sorry, I don't have any of the local money. Would you be willing to let me pay you in gems?" I held out my hand and opened it to reveal the handful of gems I had been holding. She looked at them with a look of surprise as I felt rather silly at the moment.
"I think we can work something out." The accent was a little strong but I didn't have too much trouble understanding her as I followed her past the lobby. "What were you looking to get done?"
"Well a bath and a uh mane cut. Maybe my tail, too if there's enough for that in what I have." I noticed the spa seemed a little dead but maybe that was just because of the time as I noticed Lotus Blossom was maintaining the large group bath they had used in 'Bridle Gossip' as Aloe stopped me. "Um after that anything you figure that would help me look nice for a party I'm going to tonight if I still have anything after everything else." I handed over all the gems with a smile sure that I was overpaying but not really all that worried. "Rarity spoke very highly of your spa, so I know I'm in good hooves." Aloe seemed rather surprised at me name dropping Rarity as I was taken deeper into the spa. A few hours later, I was out and glossy with a shiny coat, tail, and mane that had been trimmed down a lot and done in a fashion similar to the upper class pony Jet Set since I let Lotus and Aloe have at my mane under the stipulation that it would be easy to manage. I even got a hoofcure and my nails done along with my horn buffed as Aloe confirmed for me that it was gemstone not bone. Feeling the most primped I'd ever felt in my life, I made my way back to Carousel Boutique waving and generally being friendly to anyone that crossed my path on the way there getting a few winks and even a handsome from one mare as it seemed I might have been considered a kind of exotic handsome by some ponies. I stepped into the boutique and heard.
"Oh lovely, darling perfect timing I just finished the last seams." Rarity walked and let out what I hoped was an elated cry. "Oh marvelous! You clean up very nicely. Why I am going to have to get you into some proper clothes later. I simply must." I felt a bit weird at her saying that to me, but figured I better get dressed and ready for the party. I found everything to be cleaned and a new pair of blue pants had been folded over my shirt. I got dressed and was very happy with them slightly heavy, but very easy breathing. I walked out to find Rarity.
"Thank you for the pants, these'll be perfect for everyday wear."
"Thank you darling, oh yes they look rather nice on you indeed. Not my best work, but they do go with the shirt. Is painting shirts common where you're from Onyxian?"
"Yeah they are, all kinds of logos and symbols even words get put on them."
"Interesting, I noticed your shirt and pants were machined clothe."
"Well clothing is a really big business where I'm from, public nudity is very frowned upon so it has to be made cheaply for the masses" Rarity seemed rather surprised by the idea. "Interesting, I do look forward to seeing you at the party."
"Same here, it's always good to make friends and you've been very generous to me, a complete stranger. I do intend to return such generosity as soon as I can."
" Don't feel like you have to return it like a loan, darling. Seeing how much you like them is all the reward I need." I waved to her on my way out figuring I'd make my way to Sugarcube Corner to wait for Pinkie Pie. I walked in and was greeted by Mr. Cake.
"Hello there, welcome to Sugarcube Corner, I'm Mr.Cake. You must be Onyxian, Pinkie Pie came by talking about you."
"Nothing bad I hope." Mr Cake seemed to lose a beat. Maybe that wasn't a common turn of phrase here.
"Well no, just that you accidently ended up in Ponyville, but found it a nice place so you might be staying awhile." I nodded to him and heard a pair of small babbling voices turning to see the Cake's twins Pound and Pumpkin.
"Yeah, that's pretty much the long and the short of it. Cute babies." They both noticed me making their way to me with baby noises as Pound zipped right at me as I managed to catch him gently with a hearty laugh. "Already flying around? Won't you just be running your poor dad ragged in a few years? Looks like you might already be at it now." Mr. Cake gave a sigh of what I hoped to be relief that I had caught him as I turned back to him with a slight smile. "I'm sure they're the lights in your eyes, Mr. Cake." I gently set Pound on the floor musing his mane before letting him go back to playing with his sister who had fortunately for me lost interest and was on to sticking one of her toys in her mouth. "If it's ok, I was hoping to wait for Pinkie here."
"Oh uh yeah, that's fine."
"Thank you, I'll wait outside." I took myself back outside and just kind of pony watched until I saw Pinkie Pie trot up to me.
"Hiya Nyxie, ya ready for your party?"
"As ready as I can be. Lead the way." I followed Pinkie to Twilight's treehouse library rather surprised that she would have been the one to provide the venue for a party. Upon entering, I saw the treehouse had been decorated much in the same fashion as when they had thrown Twilight her welcoming party. I looked around the room, seeing about ten or twelve ponies at the party. After about a minute of feeling a bit lost, I was approached by Twilight herself, her wings tucked behind her.
"Hello Onyxian, I'm Twilight Sparkle, welcome to Ponyville." She gave me a smile which I returned in the most friendly manner I could.
"Thank you, I'm sorry if my appearance disturbs anypony. I've been told I look an awful lot like a former foe of your's." I looked to see Spike huddled behind Twilight's right foreleg in a tensed pose as if expecting me to lash out right then and there.
"Well, now that you mention it, you do look alot like King Sombra, the once dark ruler of the Crystal Empire. You'll have to forgive Spike. He had a much harder experience with Sombra than I did."
"Well howdy, welcome ta Ponyville, Onyxian. Name's Applejack, my little sister Applebloom told me about ya." I turned to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash now flanking me.
"And I'm the awesome Rainbow Dash, I'm sure you've heard all about me." Not really against taking some of the wind out of Rainbow's sails, I replied.
"Rainbow who? Nope, sorry, never heard of you, but I'm not from about here."
"What?! No pony even said anything about me?"
"Sorry, guess it never came up while I was talking with anypony."
"Speaking on what you do know, I'm rather interested in what you know about The Elements of Harmony." I turned to Twilight very sure I had a deer caught in the headlights look.
"Um they're the primal forces of order in Equestria, right?" Twilight's face turned rather stern at my answer.
"Mostly correct, but what I'd like to know is how you know that? That's not even common knowledge in Equestria and you know that we could use them."
"No, I told Applebloom I was aware of some pony heroes that had defeated foes that had only been defeated by The Elements of Harmony before. We called them that because we figured that's what they were using."
"An ya used very vague answer when my little sis asked where you were from. 'A place far and different' is what I think she said."
"Now wait a moment. Why are you all ganging up on him like this?" He's lost in a new place and you're all being very mean to him." I heard a soft voice speak out as I saw a light pink mane behind me.. It was fluttershy and I can say I was rather surprised she'd be the one coming to my rescue. The rest of the ponies around looked rather hurt at being called out as she was now beside me. "You should all be ashamed. Uh Mister Onyxian? Why don't you ask Pinkie to introduce you to everypony else?" I nodded and took my leave to find Pinkie, thankful to have dodged the issue for now.