//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Hearths Warming Nightmare (edited) // Story: Chaotic Harmony // by shirotora //------------------------------// December 17 “AAAHHHHH!” I was jolted awake by screaming. I jumped up to what was wrong, and saw Twilight in a corner holding a chair in her magic toward Mephisto. The dog, though, was just sitting there wagging his tail. “Mephisto, what are you doing?” I always found it funny how he always looked behind him. He never turned his head, but instead craned it backward so he was looking upside down. I had to suppress a laugh at his innocent expression, his tongue hanging out and nearly licking his own face. “Give her some space.” He whined in disappointment but did as I asked, and sat beside me. “Good boy,” I said as I started scratching his head. “What is that?” Twilight asked oh-so-calmly and not panicking whatsoever. “He’s a puppy,” I said in a cutesy voice. “It’s huge, how is that a puppy?!” she said. “His name is Mephisto, and he’s only nine months old,” I said, my tone betraying my irritation. She looked between me and my dog a few times, her eyes wide in disbelief before they narrowed and locked onto just me. She asked in an exasperated voice, “When did you get a puppy, and why didn’t you ask me?” “I got him about seven months ago, and I didn’t ask because I didn’t know you,” I said flatly. “He came with me here but apparently landed somewhere else. Fluttershy found him and was caring for him until he got away from her last night and found me.” “So he’s your puppy from your world?” she asked, to which I nodded. I winced as she facehoofed, thinking how much that must hurt. “Well that’s just great. Is he as weird as you?” “Weirder. And he’s definitely helping with my homesickness,” I said, barely keeping my excitement in check. “Great,” she said, trying to sound annoyed, though I could see the amusement trying to overtake her expression. “How did it go with Luna last night?” “I figured it out,” I said. “For example…” I waved a hoof at Twilight. The purple pony blinked a couple of times and looked around the room. After a few seconds of searching she looked back at me, confused. “Uh... Okay... I felt magic, but... did you do something?” I was trying to hold back the laughter. “Eeyup.” She looked at he expectantly for a moment before asking, “Well? What did you do?” “T-take a l-look,” I said, struggling now as I pointed to a mirror beside her that wasn’t there a few seconds ago. She looked at the mirror, obviously wondering where it came from before she saw her reflection sporting a very tomboyish (tomcoltish?) rainbow-colored mane cut. The look of pure shock and disbelief on her face pushed me over the edge and I doubled over laughing. Even Mephisto started doing some kind of bark/laugh. “Turn it back, now!” She was mad... I mean she was about to set me on fire or something... literally. She glared at me, gritting her teeth as smoke was starting to waft up from her mane. I swear her eyes started turning red, but that might have just been my imagination. “Hey, Twilight, I like what you did with your mane,” Rainbow Dash suddenly said, giving me and Twilight a bit of a start, before she too busted out laughing. Twilight’s barrel flopped to the floor with a painful sounding thump as she threw her hooves over her head, trying to cover her mane. “Ow... Damn it, Rainbow Dash, don’t encourage him! And use the door!” My grin grew wider as another devious plot wormed its way into my head. With another wave of my hoof Dash had Twilight’s do. Twilight looked up the new sight before her. Her lips trembled and a poorly suppressed giggle escaped her as she pointed a hoof at Dash. Within seconds she lost it, her hooves dropping from her head as she rolled onto her back, clutching her stomach. “What?” Dash said and I pointed out the mirror, “What the hell… Bwahahaha!” Just as we started to calm down, we took another look at each other and once again lost ourselves to our laughter. After we were able to calm down again and look at each other without relapsing I turned their manes back to normal. “My, hehe, sides hurt,” Twilight said, still out of breath. “Yeah, mine too. That was great. So that’s your chaos magic, huh?” Rainbow Dash said with a mischievous look in her eye. I looked over at the speedy mare, about to reply when I caught her expression. A devious grin spread across my face as I realized where she was going. “I think I know what you’re thinking. Come on, Mephisto, let’s go,” I said and headed for the door. Dash raised an eyebrow at that. She turned to look at who I was indicating only to come nose-to-nose to the big pup. Her eyes widened a bit, as she said, with a touch of fear creeping into her voice, “Uh... wh-when did you get a dog?” The dog grinned and lunged forward. *Slurp* --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Dash moved the pink cloud over the entrance to The Corner and retreated to the tree. Pinkie was just coming back from Sweet Apple Acres with a bunch of apples when she spotted the cloud. “Oh... my... GOSH!” she yelled and ran under it. “Come on, come on,” she pleaded with it with her mouth opened. I smiled and opened it, but it wasn't the expected chocolate milk... it was snakes. Illusions of course, but they looked real. “AAAHHHHH!” she screamed and jumped back pressing her back to the gingerbread house. Suddenly she clutched her chest with her hoof and gave a pained expression as she collapsed to the floor. “Pinkie!” Dash and I both screamed and ran over to her. I put my ear to her face... she wasn't breathing. I felt for a pulse... it was very faint. “Oh my gosh, we killed her!” Dash was panicking. “Gimme room!” I tilted her head back and leaned in to deliver the breath of life... “Phwwwtttt.” The 'dying' mare blew a raspberry right in my face and broke out in hysterical laughter. “You, haha, sh, ha, should, haha, see your faces, haahahaha!” I had to laugh. “You are an asshole, Pinkie, you know that?” “Yep! That was a good one though. Keep it up, Dashie. After all, the one-hundred-twenty-seventh time's the charm, right?” she said with her signature smile while Dashie grumbles something under her breath. I smiled. “You might be right about that.” “Woof woof woof!” Pinkie was instantly clinging to the sign in front of the sweets shop shaking like a leaf. “Good boy, Mephisto.” He was sitting behind where the pink blur had launched from, wagging his tail with a proud look on his face. Dash was laughing her flank off. “I love your dog, Shiro.” Pinkie gasped and dropped off the sign stopping a few feet above the ground, turned in mid air and dropped the last few inches onto her hooves. “When did you get a dog?” “He's my dog from back home. He followed me somehow and was in the forest for a few days before Fluttershy found him.” “Can I take him to the park to play?” asked the pink pony, getting right in my face with her usual unnatural smile. I was glad the Navy killed all concepts of personal space for me, otherwise that would have been uncomfortable. “If he wants to go,” I said and Mephisto quickly nodded his head in agreement. The two ran off towards the park... Well, Mephisto did. Pinkie was kinda... pronking (it’s a word. I looked it up!) “So now what?” “I should probably go to Cloudsdale to report in and get next week’s schedule,” she said, taking a glance at the sun to gauge the time. “I put it off too long already. I’ll see ya later.” The mare took off like a shot, her namesake trailing behind. “Well I guess I'll go practice my magic,” I said and headed toward the outskirts of town. By now, most of the townsponies recognized me as “Pinkie if she were a zebra stallion,” but few knew about my magic. That being said, there were more than a few confused ponies when I started ice skating down the street... without ice. About halfway out of town, I saw a familiar orange pony trying to pull a cart out of a ditch. The farmlands in this part of town just had a localized storm so the path was a bit muddy. Judging by the skid marks, part of the path gave way. “Hey AJ, need some help?” I asked. “Yeah,” she said. “This dang cart won't budge.” She threw her shoulder into it again, trying to get it to move, but the mud offered little traction. I took a look at the situation. Pushing wouldn’t get us very far with all the mud, neither would pulling from the front. “Hey, AJ,” I spoke up as an idea came to me. “You got your rope on you?” “Always do. Why?” “Let me see it.” She reached into the cart and pulled out a coil of sturdy rope, passing over to me. I took it, and, in a feat of dexterity that still confused me, tied it around the... um... thingy that you hitch the horse to... Shut up, I’m not a farmer. Anyway, after I made sure it was secure, I went over to a tree on the other side of the road and tossed the rope over a branch. Catching on to my plan, Applejack stood beside me and we both grabbed the rope and pulled down with all we could. The cart gave a lurch and slid back onto the muddy path. “Thanks,” she said, wiping the sweat from her brow. “Where are ya goin' anyway?” “I'm kinda bored so I'm goin' to practice my magic somewhere,” I said. “Well hay, why don't ya come over fer diner? Ya can meet the family,” she said. “That sounds good to me.” She was about to hook herself back in but I stopped her. “Here, you've been workin' all day. I'll pull it for ya.” “Why that's mighty kind ah ya.” She put the harness on me and we went on our way, mostly chatting about how I was settling in. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- “And there we go,” AJ said as she removed the harness. I tried to take it off myself, but had no idea what I was doing. “Thanks, Applejack. I don’t know how you do that every day.” As I stretched a familiar red stallion stepped out of the door. “Hey, Big Mac,” AJ said as she walked up to him and gave him a kiss. Not the kind of kiss on the cheek some siblings give, but a full-on romantic kiss on the lips. What the fuck?! I thought to myself as I watched in horror. “Big Mac, this is Shirotora, that pony Ah told ya about. Shiro this is Big Mac, mah husband,” she said. “Applebloom, my little sister, is staying at her friend’s house, and Granny Smith is off in Appleoosa so it's just us three.” Husband, huh? I'll have to ask about that later. “Pleasure ta meet ya, sir,” I said, offering a hoof. “You, too.” He took my offered hoof, giving a firm shake. “Ah hope ya don't mind, darlin’, but Ah invited Shiro ta dinner,” AJ informed the red giant. “Company is always welcome,” he said as he turned to head inside. “It’s just ‘bout ready.” I decided to figure this out. “So how'd y'all two meet?” “So ya don't know everything 'bout us,” she said with a grin. “In the show y'all were brother and sister.” “What?! That's disgustin'. I thought ya said it was for little fillies?” “Y'all weren't married,” I said flatly. “Oh, well Granny hired Big Mac ta help out on the farm 'bout six years ago,” she said as we walked inside. “It was love at first sight. 'Course I was only sixteen so we waited a couple of years and started courtin'. We've been married fer two years and four months now.” “No foals yet?” I asked. She laughed as we sat at the table. “Yer startin' ta sound like Granny. She's always askin’ when we’re gonna have children.” Big Mac placed three plates of mashed potatoes, collard greens and cornbread on the table, one for each of us, and an apple pie for dessert. We ate and talked about various things, like why I have an accent similar to theirs, and how they always place the baskets to catch every apple (the baskets are enchanted, in case you’re wondering). “That was great,” I said after the last bit was gone. “I'll have to return the favor sometime.” “Ah heard you was a cook,” Applejack said with a warm smile. “We’ll have ta take you up on that some time.” “I really should get going, I have work in the morning. I’ll see you guys later, I guess,” I said as I stood up. “I’ll probably stop by fer lunch sometime tomorrow,” AJ said as she started clearing the table. “I’ll see ya then.” “It was a pleasure meetin’ ya, Mr. Tora,” Big Mac’s voice rumbled. “Please, call me Shiro,” I said. “I’ll give Applejack a little something to bring you tomorrow.” “That’s mighty kind of ya, Shiro.” And with that, me and my overfull belly waddled out the door. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Now, I know a lot of people don't like it when stories just skip ahead in time, but hay, my life was kinda monotonous for a bit. I woke up, I ate, I worked, I pranked, I practiced, and I just hung out. If I went into details y'all would probably be bored to tears. So... December 25, Hearths Warming Day “Mmm, something smells good,” Twilight said as she came down stairs. “It's my traditional Christmas breakfast,” I said. It was chocolate pancakes with whip cream and cherries on top. I placed three plates on the table and called for Spike. Twilight took one bite and her eyes lit up. “Oh, this is good! You only make this for Hearths Warming?” I nodded with a mouthful of goodness. “That sucks.” After we ate and got dressed in our special outfits (just a black dress coat with light blue stripes for me). We sat in the main room waiting for the others. Eventually we were all present and chatting merrily with our dates. I was with Pinkie, Dash and Twister, a coworker, were together, Twilight was with Candle Light, the stallion who ran the bookstore, and Rarity was with Steel Forge, the smith. Fluttershy, AJ and Big Mac were visiting family out of town. We exchanged gifts. Pinkie got me a nice blue scarf (Rarity said it matched my eyes) and I gave her a cotton candy cloud. “And yes, it rains chocolate milk,” I said. She latched onto my neck. “THIS IS THE BEST GIFT EVER! Thank you! Th-nk -ou! T--a-k -o-...” --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- “Unh...” I groaned, wondering why it suddenly felt like I was just waking up. “Hey, you guys!” I heard a voice say. “He’s coming around!” I opened my eyes to see everyone looking down at me, concern in their eyes. “Sorry about that, Shiro,” Pinkie said with a sheepish smile. “It's okay... I guess,” I said getting back to my hooves. “What just happened?” Pinkie replied, “I, um... got a little hug crazy and you kind of... passed out.” I laughed a little at that. “So I guess you really liked my gift?” Pinkie brightened instantly. “It’s awesome!” “Alright, Pinkie,” Twilight said, halting her friend from getting too hyper again. “Just try to be more careful, alright?” Pinkie nodded vigorously, her poofy mane bobbing back and forth. “Good, now is everypony ready to go?” “Already?” I said. “It's still morning.” “It's four in the afternoon,” Twilight said. I looked at the clock. “I was out for six hours?!” I said. “Meh,” I shrugged, having run out of fucks to give. “At least I'm well rested.” “Actually, one doesn’t really rest...” Twilight began, but trailed off at the sight of the annoyed looks she was getting from everyone present. “Never mind. Let’s go have some fun.” --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Twilight, Candle Light, Pinkie and I decided to make it a double date for now. The party was town-wide with games and activities. There were a lot of decorations that were the same as Christmas back home: wreaths, decorated fir trees, giant fake candycanes, mistletoe (I managed to get a peck on the cheek from Pinkie thanks to that one), and all kinds of ribbons. There were a few fair-type rides, including a ferris wheel, and that one thing that spins really fast, pinning you to the wall before the floor drops. We rode a few of those, and I’ll admit, I kinda was hoping to turn it into a romantic thing on the ferris wheel. What can I say, Pinkie’s a great girl. Unfortunately, I knew enough to see she just wanted to be friends. Oh well, I tried. We just finished watching the retelling of the story of Hearths Warming Day (It was pretty much the same as the show), and decided to get some food. Half of the food was stuff that I couldn't eat. My pony appearance was really just that, an appearance. My diet remained human, only without the meat ‘cause it wasn’t exactly available in Ponyville. I piled a plate with fruit and baked goods, and sat at the table with Pinkie, Twi and Candle. The four of us ate and talked about nothing important for a while. “This party rocks. You, my pink friend, are a genius,” I said to my hyperactive date. “Aww, thanks, Shiro,” she said. “I must agree, Ms. Pie,” Candle said. “I think it's even better than last year.” “You know what will make it even better?” I stood held a hoof to Pinkie. “Would you care to dance, mi'lady?” I said with a overly exaggerated 'proper' accent. Pinkie giggled and answered with a similar voice, “My, that would be lovely, Sir Tora.” We walked onto the dance floor and commenced a series of motions that would make a catholic priest tie us down and break out the holy water. It wasn't even dancing as much as it was random and violent, jumping, spinning, and kicking. We didn't care though; it was fun. After a few songs we sat down panting. “You're probably the best dancer I've ever known,” Pinkie said. Twilight and Candle gave each other a look that seemed to ask ‘is she kidding’. I just shrugged. “Candle and I are going for a walk. We'll see you two later, okay?” Twilight said. “Really?” I gave a Pinkie-ish grin. “Well I guess your date has been really good.” “WHAT?!” Twilight almost fell over. “We aren't... we're just going for a walk.” “I know, have fun,” I said. “Oh, and Candle... if you disrespect her, I'll hurt you.” “I wouldn't dream of it,” he answered. After watching the two walk off, out of earshot, I turned to Pinkie and said, “He's a good guy. I hope they hit it off.” “Me too,” Pinkie said. “Twilight needs to get laid.” “Hah, she is kind of uptight isn't she?” --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- We spent most of the next few hours making rounds on the games and pranking ponies. We had just finished a rather fun little piece with The Cakes. The look on Cup’s face when Pound said, “Excuse me, mother. I do believe I have soiled myself,” was priceless. Already, I spotted our next victim. Rarity was at a table across the street, having a drink with Steel. A grin came over my face, “Pinkie, are you pondering what I'm pondering?” She put a hoof to her chin. “I think so, Shiro, but how are we going to convince the manticore to wear the tu-tu?” “...No, but I like where that's going, hold on to that one. Okay, first-” I was interrupted by the sound of screaming. I sprinted out of the square towards the sound. I just passed the library when I saw a sight that made my blood run cold. Twilight and Candle were running from something that looked like a cross between a gray wolf and a bat. I recognized it as a barghest. I froze and watched as the thing gained on the two fleeing ponies and pounced on Candle. With one deft movement it brought its jaw down and crushed the stallion’s skull with a sickening crunch. Twilight stopped to look at the fate of her Hearths Warming date and froze with fear. The monstrous hunter dropped its kill and turned on Twilight.