Awake
"Well, now that I am finished here, perhaps we should head back to town. If you were to go ahead of me and warn every...pony that I am not dangerous, then by chance they might be more willing to see reason."
"I don't think that'll work. Applejack is one of the most open minded ponies I know, and it still took some convincing. The rest of the town won't see it that way. I remember back when Zecora came to town, everypony was afraid of her because she's a zebra. You're not even CLOSE to being a pony." Ditzy replied with her head hung low. I could tell that she really wanted me to fit in.
"Well then. I guess I'll just have to let my music speak for me. After all, I AM a traveling musician. If I am unable to coax the ponies from their homes with song I may as well give up my instrument."
"Oh! That's a good idea! I haven't heard you play yet! You think you could play me a song?" She seemed happier at the thought of me playing a song."
"Why, I don't see why not, although just one, I'll be playing more once we get back to town. Let me just get my.... what? Hey! Don't touch that!" I ran as fast as I could towards the treeline to find three smaller ponies poking at my bundle. They jumped out of the way as I swept up my belongings and hid behind the trees.
"Thank goodness." I breathed a sigh of relief to find that all my possessions were very much intact. Then, looking into the woods, I spotted three pairs of eyes hiding in a bush.
'Blast, there goes another group.'
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER MONSTER CATCHERS GO!" At the yell of all three of them, my senses picked up movement. I jumped quickly to the left and looked back at where I was to see a regular yellow pony with red mane and hair bow, an orange one with wings and purple mane that was unkempt, and a third one with a horn and light purple, two tone mane that was in a by comparison fancy style. I tapped my foot as I waited for them to right themselves from the jumbled mess they were in.
"If you want to catch a monster, shouting, telling them what you are about to do is one of the worst methods there is. Such a thing requires patience, finesse, and a stint of good luck, three things that you three are clearly lacking." I paused and noticed that they were looking quite glum.
"I apologize for startling you earlier, It's just that among my possessions is a particularly fragile object that I value highly and I would hate for it to be broken due to carelessness." Their ears lifted from their heads, a sign that they were no longer afraid but rather interested.
"I am Lark Wolfe, traveling musician extraordinaire, and you are?" I gave a sweeping bow as I introduced myself. Finally, they became excited, almost as though introducing themselves was a treat for them.
"Ahm Applebloom, I help out at Sweet Apple Acres with mah sister, Applejack, brother Big Macintosh, and granny, Granny Smith." The yellow one said with the same accent as her sister.
"I'm Sweetie Belle, I, um, try to help my sister Rarity with her dress making, but it doesn't go so well....." She said in a squeaky voice, which at the same time seemed sad. Her voice was high and slightly painful to hear, given my condition.
"And I'm Scootaloo! President of the Rainbow Dash fan club! and together, we're......" the third one paused as all three prepared.
"THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS! We're on a crusade to find our special talent, and earn our cutie marks!" They yelled, which to my partly canine ears was torture. I felt dizzy for a moment, and when I regained my balance they all looked at me with a sparkle in their eyes.
"I'm sorry, you are trying to earn your what?"
"Their cutie marks." Ditzy began to explain. "Whenever a pony figures out what they're supposed to do with their lives, it appears, right here." She pointed to the bubbles on her flank. "My bubbles mean I'm supposed to travel wherever the wind takes me, which means being a mail carrier suits me perfectly. That, and sometimes the wind takes me into solid objects...." She blushed.
"So, you three are trying to determine what your skills and preferences are, and once you do?"
"Then the cutie mark appears." They added.
"How?"
"Well, magic I guess. It just, you know, shows up." At the mention of magic, I became a little unnerved, but then again, not all magic is evil, just the type I'm accustomed to dealing with. There is pure magic as well. It doesn't help my case on sorcery that the divine type is often used to try and hunt me. Still, I withheld my prejudice.
"Hey, you're a musician right? What's yer cutie mark?" Applebloom asked.
"Well, I don't have a 'cutie mark', although I do have a tattoo. It doesn't appear with magic on it's own. It's something I chose. It is inked into my very skin, by a method that is quite painful mind you. This ensures that we only mark ourselves with something of great meaning. I have two, actually." With that, I pulled up my sleeve and showed the group my forearm. Ditzy seemed interested as well.
"Here, on my right, a violin. I am a violinist. I have played for as long as I can remember. I made my fortune traveling from town to town, making music for various occasions. I even played in the courts of royals, believe it or not." They seemed quite impressed at that fact.
"The other is on my back, and is a crescent moon. What that symbolizes is a secret known only to me, and is something I cannot share with you." At that, they seemed downtrodden. They wanted to know what my secret was. I'm not going to tell them that the moon symbolizes that I am a slave to it, becoming a bloodthirsty monster when it is full.
"Well, I've come across five ponies so far who are not avoiding me. It's a good start. Now, where was I? Ah yes, going back to town. I have an idea that......."
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!"
"Oh for goodness sake, I can't go a single moment without being interrupted can I?" I said as I tossed my wrapped bundle to the ground to avoid falling on it as I am knocked into the dirt by the inevitable impact of the thing that was charging me. I was not afraid of my attacker, given that I had bested a farm pony that was considered to be incredibly strong rather easily. I landed face first on the path and did what everyone knows to do when attacked by a wild animal. I played dead.
"Quick you four! I've got it pinned, run away while you still can! I'll hold it off!" I heard a brash voice from on my back.
"Wow Rainbow Dash, you're awesome!" Scootaloo. "Ow!" Apparently, one of the others poked her to remind her that her idol was harming her newest friend.
"Rainbow Dash, he's not dangerous. He's nice! Just a little funny lookin is all." Ditzy Do explained.
"Uug, not now Derpy. Remember what you said about that manticore that followed you into town?" Apparently, monsters are often attracted to the wall eyed pegasus. I guess I fit the bill then don't I? I would have laughed at my own thought, but then remembered that I was playing dead.
"It's different this time! Look, he walked all through town with me, met these three, and had a nice talk with Applejack. He hasn't done anything monster-ish at all. He's just a bit lost. And from a different time period." Judging by the shifting weight on my back, 'Rainbow Dash' had turned to look at my pegasus friend. I can only assume that she was trying to figure out if she was being serious or not. Then, she fell off of me and began laughing.
"Really Derpy? A different time? That's what you said about Doctor Clockwork! Time traveling pony in a blue box, get real!" She was laughing maniacally.
"The Doctor is a very nice pony and he DOES have a magic blue box. Twilight used that time spell to warn herself, what's so hard to believe?" Ditzy defended her sanity. I was starting to wonder if I really had lost mine or not.
"Grr, true enough." My still unseen attacker grumbled, having stopped her guffaw. I made no attempt to move. She poked me in the side with her hoof. I still didn't move.
"Uh, Dash, I think ya killed it." Applebloom deadpanned.
"Lark, you okay?" Ditzy gently prodded me. She walked up to my face to look at me. I opened my eyes and then winked at her. She seemed to get the hint.
"Rainbow! He's dead! You killed him! You, you, you MURDERER!" She cried fake tears.
"Hey, wait a minute, I didn't mean...." The once confident Rainbow Dash now had her confidence fading.
"No, you didn't! You just up and attacked him out of nowhere, and now he's dead! How could you?" She yelled.
"But, but, but......" Dash seemed close to tears.
"Alright Ditzy, I think that's enough." I rolled over, still laying on the ground. Ditzy fell over laughing.
"You FELL FOR IT!" She laughed and then crashed face first into the ground. "Ow."
"Well, now that miss Dash has learned not to attack strangers, perhaps she can help me up with an apology and we can introduce ourselves proper?" I smiled an innocent smile. She stood on my chest and looked at me with a very serious face. Her rainbow mane hanging over her one eye, she blew it out of the way.
"What, can't ya get up on your own?" She looked at me questioningly.
"Not unless you apologize. If you don't say sorry or don't help me up, I'll end up laying here on the path all night." Might as well play it for all it's worth.
"Mrh, sorry." She grumbled. I sat up quickly, surprising her as she was thrown off. I dusted my cloths off and stood upright, towering over her.
"There, was that so difficult? Now, how about introductions?" She stood up, flew to meet me at face level, puffed out her chest and said,
"I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria and future member of the Wonderbolts!" Oh, just perfect, a braggart. I assume Equestria to be the nation, or perhaps the province. I do not know what the wonderbolts are, nor do I care.
And I am Lark Wolfe, musician extraordinaire." I say, once again giving a large, sweeping bow. It's my standard introduction. I unfortunately did not use it with Ditzy Do as I had been out of sorts, and Applejack had taken charge of the introduction, not leaving me a chance to do so.
"Yeah, um, I'm sorry for just attacking ya out of the blue there. I saw you with these three next to the Everfree, and I kinda figured you were a monster attacking them." She was much more hospitable after she knew I wasn't a mosnter.
'Except that you are one.'
'Shut up.'
'Why am I having an inner monologue?' I shook my head to rid myself of the thoughts.
"Ah yes, were was I? Right! I have already been through town once, and unfortunately, all the others believed the same as you did and locked themselves within their houses, even the one called 'Pinkie Pie' which Ditzy has informed me is the town welcoming committee."
"Really? Even Pinkie locked herself up tight?" Rainbow asked.
"Yep, she said she wasn't home, which is kind of silly because if she wasn't there then she couldn't say it." Ditzy added.
"Well, I do have an idea of how to coax them out. As a musician, I will play a song in the center of town. All I need of you is to be an audience. If the others see you five listening to me, then they should realize that I am no danger and come out as well."
Ditzy Do began leading the group back into town. Applebloom to my right, Sweetie Belle to my left, and Scootaloo behind so she could get a better look at Rainbow Dash, above. Essentially, they had boxed me in in a kind of convoy. If I walked into town surrounded by ponies, they may think I had been captured. If not, it would at least make me seem non threatening.
As we reached the center of town, by what Ditzy pointed out as a stage, I walked up onto it. They told me that there was equipment there that would make my music louder so that all the town could hear. There were strange black boxes, as well as a stand with something on it. Sweetie Bell said 'Testing' into it, and to my surprise, the sound was much louder than her voice. I took my violin from it's protective bundle, then out of it's case. I drew my bow several times to judge the correct distance from the 'microphone' so the sound would not be too loud or too soft. Satisfied with the distance, I looked around to see various ponies looking out from their houses cautiously. Obviously, the sound had drawn their curiosity, and seeing me surrounded by ponies, including children and one who was clearly a town defender of sorts, their desire for knowledge started to overcome their fear. I cleared my throat, took a deep breath, and began to play a song.
I watched as the land bound ponies in my group, including Scootaloo despite her having wings, began to sway with the tones. Ditzy flew haphazardly in the air, attempting grace, while Rainbow Dash performed acrobatic flips and such. I closed my eyes and lost myself in the music. Because of the 'speaker system' on the stage, my song could reach the entire town, something normally not possible with a single instrument. I too began to sway with my song. I opened my eyes again to see the trio of fillies dancing in front of the stage. I have never seen a pony dance before, so although I am not sure what is considered good, Scootaloo seemed to move with more grace than the other two.
'I wonder, are all pegasi graceful, with the exclusion of Ditzy Do?'
Slowly, the numerous ponies left their respective abodes drawn by my music and the show of dancing and flying that was going on before them. They too began to sway. Two that were clearly a pair carried crying infants with them, who stopped crying and began to listen intently when they heard my song. If music can calm the savage beast, it will perform miracles for the passive one. As I played, I found myself smiling. Strange, in five years, I had not once smiled, yet after coming to this 'Equestria' this, 'Ponyville', I had done so almost constantly. My song ended and was met with the stomping of hooves. I assume this to be their form of applause. I played three more songs before I was finally approached by 6, Rainbow Dash and Applejack being two of them, the other four, I did not know. I stored my violin and prepared to greet them.
"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle said excitedly, running towards a pristine white unicorn with a blue mane, styled exquisitely.
"Applejack!" Applebloom followed.
"Somepony has caused quite the disturbance in our little town it seems. Not that that is a BAD thing. It is quite welcome." The one known as Rarity spoke in a refined manner not unlike my own.
"I heard ya all the way over at Sweet Apple Acres. That was some fancy fiddlin ya did thar." I was slightly annoyed at her confusing my violin with a fiddle, but dismissed it. Such a conversation was not worth pursuing.
"Yeah, it was pretty good." Dash huffed, trying to act as though she wasn't impressed when she clearly was.
"That was wonderful. Oh, by the way, I'm Twilight Sparkle, this is Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. I see you have already met Rainbow Dash." The purple unicorn stated.
'Wait, unicorn? Twilight? Isn't she the crazy magician? Not good.'
"Lark Wolfe, a pleasure to meet you." I bowed again.
"Oh my, so refined. And such a stylish outfit." Rarity exclaimed, quite impressed with my manners. I had the feeling that Rarity and myself would get along quite well.
"Um, hello. Um. I'm Fluttershy......" A familiar voice said.
"Aha, so you were the one watching me from the shadows in the forest." She made an 'eep' noise and shrank.
"You must be quite skilled at concealing yourself. There is not much I miss, yet I couldn't find you. I recognize you by your voice. Did you enjoy my song?" She just nodded with a blush.
"I'm Pinkie Pie and I'm watching you buster!" A pink pony with a darker pink mane bounced and stuck her nose to mine as if to be intimidating.
"Al...right... then?"
"Pinkie! what has gotten into you, I've never seen you so hostile before, especially to somepony new! Not even with Zecora!" Twilight defended me verbally, the pink one suddenly being surrounded by a purple glow and being lifted through the air by it back into the group.
"Was that......."
"Magic? Why, yes it was. It is my special talent after all." Twilight replied pridefully.
'She's not a witch, she's not a witch, she's not a witch, she's not a witch.'
"I see. Well, pleasure to meet you. I'm glad I've finally convinced you all to come out of hiding."
"If you don't mind me asking, what are you? I mean, I know you're a musician, but species." She asked.
"I am a human, well, mostly. That is actually a matter I wanted to speak with you regarding, but that is something for private conversation."
"AHA! He's hiding something! I knew it! He's nothing but trouble Twilight, I know it! My Pinkie Sense is telling me he's BAAAAAAAAD news." The pink one jumped in again.
"Your Pinkie....?"
"Pinkie Sense! When things are about to happen, I get a twitch, or an itch! Uh oh, twitchy tail!" She exclaimed, at which point all the ponies covered their heads.
"Weird, twitchy tail means something's gonna fall, I wonder why nothing did?" In her musings, she knocked over the microphone stand, casing the black ended stick to fall right in front of one of the speakers. The air was filled with a shrill, high pitched screech. All the other pony's ears went flat to their heads and they covered them with their hooves, trying to block out the noise. I became nauseated, fell to the stage floor, and blacked out.