Chapter IX
Carrot Top's mind was spinning with everything that she and her husband had learned from their encounter with the strange creature. At first, Defender had tried to get them to talk to him, but after using an imaginative combination of drawings, miming, and interpretive dance, they managed to convey the fact that their method of translation was strictly one-sided.
He seemed to deflate a little upon finding this out, but that didn't stop him from writing a few more things about himself before leaving. And while the translation of those few precious words were highly suspect, it still gave Carrot and Written a lot to think about as they slowly made their way back home.
“Carrot, what do you think he meant when he said 'my shape not shape'?” Written asked, suddenly breaking the silence that had fallen between them.
Carrot just shook her head at that. “I don't know, I'm more concerned about what he said after that.”
“'I monster, not monster. Real monster bring me here?' Yeah, that's not ominous at all,” Written said, shivering a little as he spoke.
Carrot Top was about to answer, but stopped when she heard a fluttering, clinking sound from somewhere above her. Then, without much further warning, an armored pegasus fell out of the sky and landed gracefully in front of them, scaring the crap out of both of them.
“Don't do that!” Written Script said, desperately trying to get his heart rate back down to normal.
“Sir, ma'am, I'm going to need you to come with me,” the soldier said stiffly.
“Umm... are we in trouble for something?” Carrot asked nervously.
“No ma'am, the Princesses would just like to talk to you about what you saw in the forest,” he said stiffly.
Oh dear, I was not prepared for royalty, Written Script thought as his heart dropped into his stomach.
* * *
Almost, and... there! I thought, as I lifted up the fruit of my labor.
After months of effort, planning, experimenting, and failure, I had finally made a wearable pair of pants. Sure they were ill-fitting, sure one leg was longer than the other, sure they were just barely held together with leather strips, but at least I wasn't going to be running around butt-naked anymore.
This was especially important for me, now that I could expect at least some non-violent interaction with the locals. I knew that ponies weren't exactly big on clothes, but they could kind of get away with it since their...stuff...wasn't exactly hanging out in full view of everyone.
I, on the other hand, would never be able to get away with that. Sure, I could get away with it while running through the forest by myself, but human men without pants rarely do well in social situations.
One thing's for sure, though. After going through all of that, I now had a real respect for all the crap that tailors had to go through. I was just glad I didn't have to learn how to tan hides in the wild too.
That would have been a nightmare. Thank you Uncle Jerry and your obsession with hunting. Especially for your obsession with brain-tanning, despite how completely disgusting it is, I thought as I put on my new pants, making sure to tie off the leather strip I was using as a belt.
Now that my loins had been girded, I was ready to meet with alien royalty.
...Yeah, I couldn't keep a straight face either. I would have preferred a nice suit, probably something dark, with a rather snazzy tie to go with it. However, as I thought about that, I figured that a suit would probably make me look too much like slender man, so maybe that wouldn't have been such a good idea. Anyway, that wasn't until tomorrow, if the piece of paper was to be believed, so I pretty much had the rest of the day to myself.
Which meant that I was now bored. Up until this point, I had always had something to do, whether it was cooking, hunting, or trying to make these freaking awesome pants. If I was lying to myself, I would say it was because I was such a hard worker, and I hated to be idle.
If I was being truthful, however, it was because the nightmares weren't quite so bad if I went to bed exhausted.
As I looked around my cave, my eyes were irresistibly drawn to the pink box that sat next to the fire. Half of the cupcakes were already gone, but enough remained to give a pretty good idea of the message that was written on the top of each one. Now, after really looking at them, they seemed to be an invitation of sorts. It was clear that The Pink One wanted me to come to that delicious-smelling gingerbread house, but why? The sprinkles and balloon cupcakes between me arriving and the hug between us made no sense, and why on earth would she want to hug a monster?
I should probably just forget about it, I thought as I plopped down on the log next to the fire. There was no way I would be welcome in town, not now at least. She probably didn't know just how horrifying I was. I suppose I should grab a stick of charcoal and see how much my drawing skills have deteriorated since coming here.
As these and other thoughts chased themselves around in my head, I couldn't help but pick up the box of cupcakes and absentmindedly stuff one into my mouth.
* * *
“You're here! I'm so glad you could make it!” Pinkie Pie said in excitement as she opened the door.
“I'm glad I could come too! You always throw the best parties, though I'm not certain why you threw this one,” Twilight said as she entered Sugar Cube Corner. “You only said that there was a new pony in town, but you didn't say who it was, or when they arrived.”
Pinkie just smiled at that as she pulled Twilight into the building, shutting out the cool autumn night as she did so. “Of course I didn't, silly! He hasn't introduced himself yet, so I don't know what to call him! Though as for when he arrived, he's actually been here for a while. I've seen him about, but he's been really difficult to get an invitation to,” she said as she bounced her way over to the snack table.
“That doesn't sound like you, Pinkie. As far as I've been able to tell, you've always been able to get an invitation to anypony,” Twilight said dubiously.
As Twilight made her way through the party, she noticed a few more things that were out of place. For starters, other than Twilight, Spike, and the other Elements of Harmony, there wasn't anypony else here. Even if the guest of honor hadn't shown up yet, this was still pretty sparse for a trademark Pinkie 'Welcome to Ponyville!' party.
Also, while all the fixings for the party were there, such as music, food and party games, the ponies weren't really involved in any of it. Instead, they were all watching Pinkie with varying levels of intrigue.
“Umm... Pinkie? You know as well as I do that there hasn't been anypony new in town for a while now. The last one to come to town was Cranky, and you've already established that he's not one for parties. You mind telling us what's going on?” Rainbow asked as she hovered over her pink friend.
However, before Pinkie Pie could open her mouth to respond, all six of the assemble ponies jumped when an ear-piercing, soul rending shriek came from outside the building. In a flash, Pinkie was already out the door before any of the others could even get their thoughts in order. In fact, Twilight could have sworn that Pinkie hadn't so much as ran out as she simply disappeared in a cloud of dust. Only the opening and shutting of the door marked her passage, letting the others know that no spellcraft had been involved in her vanishing act, though that last part was still a bit suspect (This was Pinkie Pie after all).
As Twilight ran to the front door, closely followed by the other four, she could hear a commotion outside as well as the echoes of Pinkie Pie's voice fading in the distance. "Wait! come back!" Pinkie said, though to whom, Twilight wasn't sure. Once outside, Twilight immediately spotted the pony who had caused the shriek, as well as those who were making the commotion.
In the center of the street Twilight could see Mrs. Cake, who looked like she had seen a ghost. On the ground behind her was what looked like Mrs. Cake's weekly supply of groceries, scattered where she had dropped them when she had reared up, throwing her loose-hanging saddle bags from her back. Around her Twilight could see that quite a crowd had gathered, all questioning her, trying to get some sort of answer out of the seemingly comatose baker.
“Mrs. Cake! What happened?” Twilight asked as she approached the shaking mare, her friends close behind.
“M-m-m-m-m-monster! Monster trying to get into my house! Trying to get to my children!” she stuttered, horrified at what she had seen. “I-I-I-I screamed, and it went that way!” she said as she pointed off to where Pinkie Pie could still be seen in the distance.
* * *
“Where in Tartarus did he go?” Sergeant Weather said as he searched the forest below. After he and Private Heart had relieved Sergeant Glider and Corporal Rider, they had faithfully kept an eye on the creature, only for it to disappear once the sun had gone down.
Sergeant Weather wasn't even sure what had happened. One minute the creature was standing at the entrance of his cave, and the next minute he had vanished. He hadn't even looked away for that long before it had pulled its disappearing act either!
“Princess Luna is going to kill us...” he said as he rubbed his forehead with his hoof.
* * *
Why did I think that this was a good idea? It must have been the cupcakes. Why am I such a sucker for baked goods? I thought as I sprinted towards the edge of town, desperate to reach the safety of the forest before I was caught by the mob.
Something was wrong, though. Instead of a large group of hooves, I could only hear a single set. Instead of the huge, deafening drone of noise from a lynch mob, I could only hear a single, pleading, tearful voice.
My ears must be playing tricks on me, I thought as I doubled my speed, determined to put as much distance between me and the perceived mob. There can't be just one pony behind me, there must be at least a hundred, all clamoring for my blood.
I knew I wasn't going to lose the mob if I stayed on the street, so as I ran, I coiled my legs underneath me and launched myself towards the building on my right.
If I had been a normal human, all that would have happened is I would have made a short hop, followed closely by me landing on my face after tripping. However, as I've stated before, I wasn't exactly human anymore. So when I launched myself, I easily cleared the edge and landed on the thatch roofing.
Fortunately, I managed to land on the ridge of the roof, the center support beam preventing me from falling through and allowing me to bounce to the other side. Okay, now that I've left them in the dust, I can finally get out of here... I thought as I ducked into the alley in front of me.
...Only to run straight into something pink, teary eyed and adorable.
She said something, something that I couldn't understand. I didn't bother trying, though, as I turned and fled the other way, deftly dodging her outstretched hooves as I bolted. If she's here, the mob can't be far behind... the irrational, fear riddled part of my brain told me.
Then why was she trying to hug me?
I twisted and turned, dodging down alleys in my mad dash to get away, then stopped after ducking into what appeared to be a closed train station to catch my breath. I knew from my previous excursions that the northern edge of the woods I made my home in wasn't too far from here. If I could just make it, I'd be in the clear.
I was interrupted in my thoughts when I heard a shuffling sound behind me. I quickly turned to spot the pink specter from before, rising out of the garbage can I was leaning against. In a flash I was off, racing across the tracks and towards the woods, praying that she'd lose interest once we reached the tree-line. What does she want from me? Is she really that determined to make me pay for being a monster? For coming into town and scaring everybody?
But she was the one who sent me the invitation in the first place...
I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the thoughts that plagued it. No, you've had extremely good luck with the ponies that you've met so far, but you're still just a monster. You cannot expect that luck to carry you through forever! I thought as I reached the trees. Your only hope is to somehow escape that pink demon.
She hasn't acted like how you think she is. She isn't even armed.
I twisted and turned, changed my path, doubled back, and generally did my best to lose The Pink One and her mob, hoping against hope that I could somehow get away
I slowed down as I reached the stream, a quick glance told me that no one had followed me, and as I listened, I could tell that I had somehow lost my pursuers. I then sat on my haunches in front of the stream, out of breath and exhausted. As I sat there, I noticed that I had reached one of the eddies in the stream where the water formed a perfect mirror, allowing me to see myself in all of my terrifying glory.
I had seen the sight before, but I was still horrified each time I saw my own reflection. I still couldn't quite reconcile my new face with the one in my memories. I'm nothing but a monster. What other reason could she have to chase me? What possible reason could she have? I thought as I lowered my head to take a drink.
As I sat up after my drink, I studied my reflection again, the water rippling and distorting the image before finally becoming calm again. As I watched, a plethora of emotions clashed inside of me: Rage, despair, loneliness, all boiling inside of me, seeking release. The feeling built until I could no longer contain them, and I found myself pounding my fists impotently against the hated reflection in front of me, splashing the water in all directions.
As the feelings inside subsided, I couldn't help but turn upon myself. Why am I like this? There was no mob, yet I still ran. Am I truly that scarred from my abduction? From my self-imposed exile? I thought as I stared at the slowly reforming reflection.
As I watched, I spotted a pink figure slowly approach from behind. At first I thought she looked scared, what with her tail being as low as it was and her ears flat against her skull. Her hair also seemed to have deflated at some point during the chase, making her look like an entirely different pony.
It took me a second longer than I would like to admit to realize that it wasn't fear in her eyes, but something else entirely. It was an emotion that I hadn't seen in over six months, unless you counted that weird moon dream I had had last night. It was something that had become so alien to me, that I had almost forgotten what it looked like.
Slowly, she crept closer, almost as if she were trying not to scare me again. On reflex, I tensed up as I felt her hoof touch my shoulder. When nothing happened, though, I slowly I turned my head towards her, fearing what I would see in those brilliant blue eyes.
What I saw wasn't hate, or even fear. All I saw was sadness and compassion, with a deep undertone of empathy that I had rarely seen in anyone before. She said something in words that I could not understand, her voice filled with hope, but framed in the form of a question. All I could do was stare into those eyes, unable to even move as she reached with her other hoof towards my other shoulder and pulled me into a sudden, inexplicable hug.
The gesture was so unexpected, so uncalled for, so needed, that I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her as tears ran freely from my eyes. I felt my whole body seize up and start to shake as a shuddering sob tore itself from my throat, all the emotions that I had bottled up for the past six months suddenly crashing down on me as I hugged the soft, pink pony in front of me. I don't know how long we sat there as I felt the emotions inside of me drain like a poison, but at some point I became aware of other voices nearby. Some were alarmed, some were belligerent, some were fearful. The Pink One responded in a cheerful, bubbly voice, however, only to be answered with what sounded like arguing.
I didn't care though, all that existed for me at that moment was the pink pony in front of me who, somehow, was leeching away all the sadness, loneliness and pain I was feeling.
Then, without warning, I felt someone else join in the hug. I tried to see who it was, but I couldn't quite make it out through the tears that blurred my vision. The moonlight was bright enough for me to faintly make out something yellow, but anything other than that was frankly beyond my understanding.
What...? I thought incoherently as the two ponies gripped me tighter. I couldn't quite grasp what was happening around me, but I wasn't afraid of them anymore.
Something inside changed at that point. I had feared rejection so much, even when the ponies had proven time and time again that they weren't anything like what I had expected, that when they had tried to give me a chance to prove myself, I had repaid them with nothing but fear and doubt.
Yeah, I was a monster alright, but the monster I was wasn't something I could ever see in the reflection. No, the monster I fought was instead something deep inside me, causing me to second guess myself and everybody around me, despite all the evidence I had to the contrary.
I no longer tried to hold back the tears after that realization, and for the first time since I was ten, I cried like a child.