It was starting to get dark by the time I left Rarity's place with my new outfit, an earthy green and brown short-sleeved button up with brown khaki pants and the hat I had picked out. I was about to walk out the door when I remembered why I came to town in the first place. "Oh! Do you think you could point me in the direction of the library?" I asked.
"Why of course Darling, it's just down the street there in that old oak tree." She said, pointing with a hoof. "Thank you." I said with a tip of the hat as I started walking out that way. It was a short walk and I soon found myself at the front door of the library. As I walked in the lights were dimmed and then they suddenly turned on in a flash of light and a big "SURPRISE!!"
Surprised is definitely how I felt as I walked into the library's main room. True to her word, Pinkie had decorated it with balloons and streamers in every conceivable hue you could think of and there seemed to be a karaoke machine set up in the back by the stairs. The table in the center of the room was assorted with a variety of different types of party foods and a punch bowl in the center. The floor was covered in confetti from where they had welcomed me just now, and the room was filled with guests, some I recognized right off the bat from having either met them previously or having seen them throughout the day. "Oh dear, did I miss the big surprise?" An elegant voice from behind me spoke up.
I turned to see Rarity coming in through the door with AJ's hat held in her aura. "'fraid so Rare." AJ said as she walked up to get her hat from Rarity, I have to say it was kinda odd seeing her without it. "Oh well, at least I managed to mend your hat before the party got too underway." She said, handing AJ her hat which she promptly returned to her head.
I was about to walk over to snag myself a cupcake from the table when a very energetic Pinkie Pie jumped up in front of me with a blow of a party horn. "Hiya Jack! Cupcake?" she asked as she held out a cupcake.
"Thanks!" I said, gladly taking it.
"I bet you're really surprised aren't you? I remembered when you first came into town, you asked me where the library was and that was when I got the idea to throw you a surprise party here! I knew I was risking the surprise part of it by telling you I was throwing you a party but you didn't know where it was going to be and THAT'S when I got the idea to make it a suprise! And.. OOO THAT'S GENIUS!" She said as I turned my cupcake into a sandwich. "Huh? Oh, haha! Yeah, Ya get more in your mouth and less on your face like this." I said, taking a bite out of it. "I gotta try that now!" she said as she bounced off to get a cupcake.
As the party got underway I had struck up conversation with Lyra from this morning. "So what is it that you are again?" She asked, studying my figure.
"A human."
"And these things are called feet, right?" She asked as she held my hand in her hooves.
"Hands actually, my feet are what I walk on." I corrected, pointing to them.
"Oops, my bad." She giggled. "And this little appendage on your hands right here is the only thing keeping the other four from being practically useless?" She stated, poking at my thumb with her hoof.
"Yes, pretty much everything I want to do with my hands I have to use my thumb as well." As I said this I saw out of the corner of my eye a mare that had fit Turners description of Twilight Sparkle perfectly. "Could you excuse me for a moment Lyra?" I said as I got up, pulling my hand out of Lyra's hooves who wanted to ask me more questions about their functions.
"Are you Twilight Sparkle?" I asked as I approached her.
"Yes, I am. And you must be Jack." She said as she held out her hoof.
"Very nice to meet you." I said as I shook her hoof. "I was told by Time Turner that you might be able to help me get back home?"
"Of course, I can send a letter to the Princess immediately asking her to send enough money for you to get back to your home town. Now where is it you live? Mane-hatten? Fillydelphia? I hear there are quite a few oddities out there." she asked as she levitated a quill and pen in from upstairs.
"It's actually a bit more complicated than- wait, oddities?" I asked as she grinned sheepishly. "Never mind, I'm not from this world."
"What exactly do you mean by 'this world'?" She asked. I was about to answer when Pinkie Pie jumped in and grabbed us both in a hug. "Why are you two talking about messy theoretical stuff? This is a PARTY!" She said as she jumped away, then jumped back. "And by the way, have either of you seen JetWave? I invited him, but no one has seen him since yesterday. Not even Lyra!" She asked. "No, I can't say that I have. I really wanted to run a few more tests on him to understand how such a drastic ability could be granted by just a Cutie Mark." I'm sure that I visibly shuddered as Twilight said that. "Don't really blame him for not showing up with that thought in mind" I thought to myself. "Awww! He's missing out! Oh well, BACK TO PARTYING!!!" she cried out as she pulled a cannon out of nowhere and shot off a bunch of streamers, confetti and a.... large purple lizard?? I saw Twilight chuckle as she bounced off.
"She's got a point, we can talk about this later. For now, let just enjoy your party."
"Agreed." I said with a smile.
After a few more cupcakes, a lot of rounds of pin the tail on the pony, and one slightly awkward run-in with that filly from Carousel Boutique, who turned out to be Raritys little sister and one of those "Cutie Mark Crusaders" Apple Bloom was talking about at lunch today; I was starting to get a little run-down. So I walked outside and saw a rather tall tree with branches that were low enough for me to climb next to the Library, so I proceeded to do so.
Once I found a branch that I liked that was about level with the balcony at the back of the library, I got my self comfortable and laid back on it as I reflected on what all had happened today and all the ponies I met.
After awhile, I saw what looked to be a yellow pegasus with a pink mane come out of the library, I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl since I didn't have my glasses in this world; I could see a bird fly down and land on a wing that had been extended for it though. After what seemed to be a short conversation between the two, the bird flew off and I saw the pegasus start to fly up towards me. Once she got up near me I could tell that she was in fact a mare with a rather long pink mane and tail and three pink butterflies as her Cutie Mark.
"Um..... H-hi.." She said with a voice as smooth as buttermilk as she was flew next to my branch, partially hiding behind her mane. "Hi there, I'm Jack!" I said, holding out my hand. She almost seemed to recoil at my voice and for a moment it looked like her wings were about to go stiff. "O-oh!" She said nervously.
"I'm.... Flutt..sh.." Her voice trailed off as she was introducing herself, hiding behind her mane more and more. "I'm sorry, couldn't quite hear your name." I said, withdrawing my hand as it became apparent she wasn't going to shake it.
"I'm.. Flutter..." She said again. "Flutter? That's a very pretty name, quite fitting if I may say so." I said as she squeaked and hid completely behind her mane.
After awhile of awkward silence between us I noticed that her wings were shaking more and more as they flapped. "Would you like to have a seat?" I asked, patting the branch I was sitting on. "Ok...." She whispered as she landed on the branch, wings instantly snapping shut. The entire branch was shaking as she trembled. "Would it be ok if I asked you something?" I asked, treading carefully as I could tell this mare was easy to spook.
My efforts were in vain as she jumped when I spoke. "O-of course!.." She said with a squeak, less hidden by her mane than before. "Why are you so nervous? It's not like there's anyone out here judging you." I said, seeing her snap up and look at me. No longer trying to hid behind her mane. "Well... I.. I guess that it's......." She said as she fiddled with her mane with her hooves "It's just..... I'm just not very good around new ponies.. or any ponies really, for that matter..." I couldn't help myself but chuckle.
"Clearly, I'm not a pony though." I said with a smirk.
She jumped up when I said this. "Oh! No no no! Of course not! I-I didn't mean to offend you..." Again, I couldn't help but laugh a hearty laugh as I patted her head. "What was in that punch?" I wondered briefly. I felt both her and the branch jolt as I did that. "There wasn't anything offensive said." I could have sworn that I saw a tear begin to pool in her right eye when she looked up at me.
"Cm'here, you look like you could really use a hug." I said, holding my arms out. She got up and floated into my lap as I wrapped my arms around her. She was still shaking, but not as much as much as she had been before.
"Now, tell me what about me is making you so nervous." I said in a calm level voice.
"W-well.... I.. I..." She seemed to be on the verge of tears. I started to stroke her mane in an effort to calm her down, to no avail. And then, she let it all out.
"Nothing! I don't know why I'm so scared of you! In fact, there isn't anything scary about you! But I'm still so nervous and I don't know why!! And.. And... And I just don't want to be so afraid of everything anymore!!!" She said, crying into my arm after she opened herself up to me.
I held her close and stroked her mane more until she had calmed down and I released her from the hug. "S-sorry.... I-I'm not usually that outspoken...." She said, hiding behind her mane again. "Don't be. It's never good to keep all that bottled up like that." I said. "If you ever feel like you need to tell somebody something, talk to me about it."
She seemed to smile behind her mane as she nuzzled back into my arms. "Thank you...." She said as she calmly started to doze off in my now tear-stained shirt.
I was starting to drift off as well and it wasn't long before I fell into a deep sleep. Never noticing a rainbow hued mane poking out of a cloud that had been floating just above the library ever since I'd been out here.