A New Beginning in a New Land

by REDACTED99999


Chapter 10

Applejack and Rainbow Dash turned out to be very competitive ponies. So the moment he had uttered the words ‘challenge accepted’ they had taken it upon themselves to be part of that challenge. Jax didn’t mind, it gave him someone to drink with. Applejack got a barrel of the stuff, some mugs, and they started drinking. They both seemed to be trying to keep up with his pace, which was pretty hard since he was drinking like he was dying of thirst. First of all, he had no trouble at all believing that this was the best cider IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE. Second of all, he really needed to get drunk. After everything that had happened since he arrived in this strange place, getting drunk, or at least tipsy, seemed like a well deserved treat. Between the cake and the cider he felt pretty damn spoiled as it was, and he felt fairly certain nothing could ruin his good mood this night. Watching Rainbow Dash and Applejack chug down their cider only added to his good humor and he soon had a huge smile on his face.

***

About half an hour into the party a voice rang out from a microphone. “Alright, it’s time to get this party pumpin’!” Looking around he noticed a white pony with a blue mane with a note as her mark standing in front of a turntable. Beside her stood a grayish mare with a treble clef as her mark, rolling her eyes.
“No way! How did you get Vinoc to perform on such short notice Pinkie?” Rainbow exclaimed, with her hooves on the side of her face, making her look like an excited kid. Pinkie, as seemed to be her usual way of arrival, appeared out of nowhere to give her answer. To his credit, Jax was only mildly surprised.
“I didn’t! They were in the neighborhood so I invited them, I guess they misunderstood or just wanted to make this super party even better!”
“Vinoc?” Jax inquired.
“Vinyl Scratch, aka dj Pon3, and Octavia something, I think she’s in an orchestra normally.” Rainbow clarified. “Two completely different ponies who play two completely different genres of music. About a year ago they surprised everpony by having a concert together, it was a huge success. It was so awesome that the Wonderbolts asked them to perform at their show!”
They started playing. Vinyl started with a slow beat, and Octavia complimented it with slow strokes of her cello. Then slowly they both started to build up to something. Silence… Then the beat dropped and Jax was hooked. With a huge grin on his face he moved his head up and down to the rhythm. Their music was hard to describe. Every sound Octavia made was enhanced and enforced by Vinyl, and vice versa. It was like they were complimenting each other… Or rather, like they were dancing with music. Jax noticed them smile at each other, obviously enjoying themselves.
He turned towards Rainbow who also had a giant grin of her own. She mouthed (muzzled?) the words “I told you so,” to him, and his grin only grew wider. Then the song ended with huge applause from everyone, Jax even let go of his mighty stick of awesome to clap along. The second song started out faster than the last, obviously encouraging them to go up to the dance floor. Jax almost dropped his cider when he noticed Twilight go up and drop some wild dance moves. Jax normally didn’t make a fool of himself willingly in public, but fuck it, this was a special occasion. He had cake, he had alcohol kind of, and he had music. Honestly, he hadn’t felt this good since long before he came to Equestria. He quickly drank the rest of his cider from the small mug that seemed to be the norm here, walked over to Rainbow Dash and took her under his arm, getting a surprised yelp from her, and looked at Applejack. “Coming?” He said, motioning over to the dance floor. She gave him a giant smile, before looking at Rainbow with a satisfied look. “Hey!” Rainbow sounded indignified, “how come she gets a choice?”
Jax shrugged and took Applejack under his other arm, getting an “What in tarnation?!” from her which was amusing in and of itself. She weighed more than Rainbow Dash but not so much that he couldn’t make it to the dance floor.
“Uuuhh what are we doing? Can I join? How do we play? Do I have to carry you? Hop on!” Pinkie said from Rainbow Dash’ seat, where she of course wasn’t a moment ago. She was standing with her side to him, obviously expecting him to get on. Normally he would decline because of a number of reasons, but normally he wouldn’t be making his way towards the dance floor with a pony under each arm. Besides, Pinkie had defied logic constantly and he was in his ‘fuck it’ mood.
Without further ado he… mounted her. God that sounded so wrong. To his surprise she didn’t collapse the moment he shifted his entire weight, counting Rainbow and Applejack as well, onto her. She did seem to struggle to walk but the dance floor wasn’t far, and Jax would like to imagine that they rode in elegantly and with style. Pinkie sure looked like she thought so, a huge satisfied grin on her face as he got off of her. Without further ado he put down Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who both looked somewhere between annoyed and amused, then dropped some wild dance moves. Pinkie joined him in his crazy jump style, which seemed to fit her quite well, and Rainbow and Applejack soon shrugged and joined as well. Three ponies and a human jumping around to the beat of the music drew attention, and soon everyone was imitating his jump style. It was awesome.

***

Luna arrived at Ponyvile half an hour after she set of. She was a fast flyer and Poyvile was relatively close. She was uncertain where to go for another half hour, until she flew over the orchard and heard some unusual music. It sounded like a mix of that horrible ‘music’ they played at night clubs, and the classical music she loved. Following the logic that Pinkie + new pony = party, and party = music, she followed the sound to the barn, where a party was most definitely ongoing. Ponies were walking in and out as they pleased, chatting happily amongst themselves.
Luna landed close enough to observe the party, but far enough to not be spotted among the trees. She laid down, getting ready for a night of sp- ehh… observing.

***

Fluttershy stood in the corner of the barn, being kept company by Rarity. She liked the music, she just wished the cello would play a little more, and the other thing a little less. Other ponies didn’t seem to think so though, so she kept her thoughts to herself.
She looked at the dance floor where Jax seemed to have introduced a new kind of dance where you jump around. It looked fun, but she knew she would never be able to do it herself.
“So uncouth.” Rarity said beside her. Looking over she noticed she was looking at Jax with a disapproving frown. “Cake in his mane and on his hoof, jumping around like a madstallion. Did you see how he arrived to the dance floor? Poor Pinkie looked ready to collapse!” Rarity looked over at her. “Oh I know darling, I shouldn’t judge somepony without even talking to him but… look at him! Look what he did to his only clothing! It’s ruined. Who does that to their own clothes?” She sounded genuinely upset.
Fluttershy looked over at Jax. The only clothing he had was the remains of his pants, most of which seemed to be teared off, and a pair of very worn shoes. The rest of him was mostly covered in the bandages she had applied yesterday. They were already dirty and she would have to apply new ones as fast as possible.
She gathered some courage. Rainbow Dash always told her to say what she wanted to say, and Rarity was always willing to listen. She took a calming breath.
“He had to use his clothes to make bandages. He has more scars and wounds than I have ever seen on a creature, and if he didn’t bandage them he would have died long ago. But uhm… I can see why you would be upset.” She ended, hoping she wasn’t being too straightforward.
“Oh… Oh my. That poor dear. Having to destroy his own attire just to survive.” Rarity looked at Jax again. “I guess I should really give him a chance, even if he does have cake in his mane.” She sighed. “Can you call him over dear? I just hope he doesn’t try to touch me with his cake-covered hoof. That would be simply terrible.”
“Oh uhm… Of course. I guess I can do that… after the song ends.”
Fluttershy did honestly try to get his attention, but he seemed to have too much fun on the dance floor to notice her, and if she was completely honest with herself, she wasn't putting her heart into it. He just looked so happy that it brought a smile to her own muzzle just looking at him. She could understand why Pinkie liked making others smile so much. Thinking back to just this morning where he seemed absolutely certain that bad things would happen, she couldn't help but feel a little proud of herself that she had made him come. It had required more courage than she thought she had to look him in the eye and ask him to come even though he obviously didn’t want to, but she couldn’t just let him go back into the Everfree. With all the scars and wounds he had, it was obvious to her that he didn’t belong in there, and he would certainly not survive. She couldn’t bear the thought of a creature dying when she could do something to help it.
Finally after two more songs Rainbow Dash whispered something in Jax’ ear and he looked over. After saying something to Applejack who went somewhere else, they came over.
***
Rarity had waited patiently while Fluttershy meekly tried to get Jax’ attention. Finally he was coming over with a huge smile and with Rainbow Dash flying beside him. He went straight over to Fluttershy and gave her a hug, which resulted in an ‘eep’ from her, and Rarity noted with satisfaction that he only used his clean left hoof to hug her.
“Fluttershy, I want to thank you for making me come here.” He said whilst hugging her. “This is the best party I’ve ever been to.”
“I told you!” Pinkie could be heard from the dance floor, still jumping around. Jax only chuckled, apparently already used to Pinkie’s… Pinkieness.
Rarity chose this moment to draw his attention with a small cough. “Hello darling, a pleasure to meet you” She said as she extended her hoof, which she was again pleased to see he took with his left appendage, giving it a gentle shake. “My name is Rarity, and I wish to personally welcome you to Ponyvile. I was absolutely horrified to hear what you had to do to your clothes, so as a ‘welcome to Ponyvile’ gift, allow me to make you new ones. Come by my shop tomorrow and I shall take the measurements I need.” Against Rarity’s expectation his smile completely disappeared and she briefly wondered if she had made some kind of mistake before he spoke again.
“But I don’t… I have nothing.” He looked genuinely upset, as if he had just realized it.
“Oh but I don’t want anything in return darling. That’s the point of a gift.” She said with a gentle smile. He returned a smile of his own as he bent down to be in eye-height with her, which was much appreciated. It made him look less… imposing.
“Thank you” He said softly. It was the most genuine appreciation she had received in a long time. She could almost see the gratitude through his green eyes. It was at times like these that she remembered why she was generous in the first place. Happiness rushed through her as her smile grew.
“Think nothing of it darling. It’s my pleasure really.”
“Well I appreciate it none the less. Tell me if you need any help with anything. Now, can someone tell me where the bathroom is? Having dried cake on your hand is only bearable for so long before it starts annoying you.”
“I’ll show you. I need to wash up the cake I got on my coat when you picked me up and carried me around. That was not cool by the way. Kind of fun, but not cool.” Rainbow Dash reprimanded with her hooves crossed.
Jax laughed at that. “Sorry Rainbow but I felt like dancing and the process of asking people is way too awkward, especially if you get shot down. I guess it was a rude way to do it and I apologize.” To Rarity’s joy he gave a little bow at the end.
Rainbow shrugged it off, smile back on her face. “It’s okay. I would have gone if you had asked though.” They shared a smile before Fluttershy spoke up. Well she talked in an audible volume, which was hard for her with the music playing.
“uhm… If you are going to the bathroom, I should go with you to change your bandages. If that’s okay with you Rarity.” Fluttershy looked at her, and she quickly waved it off. “It is fine darling, I would never stop you from tending to an injured creature.”
Rarity looked on as the three of them made their way out of the barn. She knew that many other ponies would misjudge Jax as quickly as she did, and she knew she had to do something about that. After all, she knew how quickly rumors could ruin a pony’s reputation. She looked over to a group of ponies whispering while looking over at Jax from time to time.
“Alright Rarity. Time to work your magic.” She said under her breath as she made her way over with a smile on her face.

***

Jax quickly learned that these ponies knew how to party! It would seem that they had a lot of practice thanks to a certain pink pony that loved throwing parties. He found out that she threw a lot of parties, sometimes with only a slither of a reason as to why. The most popular were the ‘welcome to Ponyvile’ parties though.
After drinking A LOT of cider, and a lot of toilet visits, Jax was finally tipsy and it was AWESOME. Of course at this point, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were all out drunk, which was hilarious. Applejack kept asking ponies if they wanted an apple and would get offended if they didn’t, in the end forcing ponies to accept them anyway. Rainbow Dash was trying to show off with some fancy flying, which had already resulted in three crashes so far. Anyone who told her that flying inside was a bad idea was met with some choice words that would maybe offend a five year old. It was a thing of beauty really.
Jax noticed that a lot of ponies were throwing Rainbow and Applejack looks like they were embarrassed, which made him feel like he should apologize for getting them drunk in the first place. On the other hand some ponies looked as amused as he was. He took in a deep breath. It was time to get those two under control. He didn't have to pull in a drunk friend in since a little over a year ago, when his friend Max had caused a major commotion at Liza’s party.
A frown appeared on his face. He hadn’t thought of Max and Liza in a while… He couldn’t help but wonder how they were doing without him. That frown quickly disappeared as he saw Lyra come towards him with a… What was she? Whiteish? Jax was never good with colors yet these ponies had so many. Anywho, she had candy as her mark which was interesting.
“Hey Jax I would like to introduce- Why are you laughing?!”
“I’m… I’m sorry Lyra” He said between laughs. “You’re just forever associated with Whack-A-Pony” He laughed a little harder.
“Bon Bon.” Lyra whined “How do you redo first impressions?” Bon Bon looked at her puppy eyed friend and then at Jax. She walked over to him and motioned for him to bend down which he did.
“Look, Lyra feels really bad about your first meeting,” She whispered. “So here’s the deal. You pretend this is the first time you two met, and I’ll give you free candy at my store. A lot of free candy. Deal?” She reached out her hoof.
Jax immediately took Bon Bon’s hoof and gave it a firm shake, turning around towards Lyra with a gentle smile, the laughter from a second ago completely gone. “Hello young mare, my name is Jax. Who might you be?” He said as he extended his hand. The promise of free candy was working wonders. He still felt like laughing but he managed to keep it together.
“Uhmm…” She looked uncertainly at Bon Bon. “I’m Lyra… Nice to meet you.” She put her hoof in his hand and he gave it a gentle shake. Just as he raised himself to his full height a certain rainbow maned pony crashed right into him, sending them both to the floor.
“Hey, watch where you’re standing you big… Oak… tree…” She was obviously having trouble finding the right words.
“But I’m not even a tree.” Jax answered with a huge grin. He was already looking forward to making fun of Rainbow tomorrow.
“Well you’re as tall… as… as one. A tree. You’re as tall as a tree.” Her frown turned right around as she looked at him. “I like you Jax. You’re fun.” She seemed to realize something. “AppleJax.” She said before bursting out in laughter.
“Alright I think you’ve had quite enough Rainbow. Look at me. I’m in charge now.” He picked her up and put her under his arm like earlier when they had made their way towards the dance floor. He turned towards Lyra and Bon Bon. “Excuse me ladies, but I need to find Applejack and make sure that these two don’t do anything stupid for the rest of the night.” Rainbow burst out in a fit of giggles as he said Applejack’s name. Lyra and Bon Bon both agreed that it was probably for the best if he found Applejack as fast as possible.

***

Jax looked at the pony in front of him. He was big, red, and had a green apple as his mark. “So Pinkie said you would know where Applejack is.”
“Eeyup.”
“Okay… Good. So where is she?”
“She was actin’ like a foal, so I sent her to bed.”
“Oh good. Good… You know, I feel like I must apologize. It’s my fault she got drunk in the first place.”
The big stallion, appropriately nicknamed Big Mac, looked at him for a while before answering. “Think nothin’ of it. She’s a grown mare, she can make her own decisions.”
“Yeah, we can make our own diciasions,” Rainbow said under his arm. “Now put me down!”
“You’ll thank me tomorrow Rainbow. Now, Big Mac, drunk people sometimes do stupid things… You think she’ll try to rejoin the party?”
“Nope. Was out as a light the minute she hit her pillow. Just like last time.”
“She’s been drunk before?” For some reason that surprised him.
Big Mac nodded, somewhat reluctantly. “Just once. When our parents died couple of years ago. Found grandma’s hard cider. Ah found her crying down by the river.” Jax suddenly felt bad. What do you even say to something like that?
“…Thanks Big Mac. I’m going outside if you need me.” Big Mac gave a nod as Jax went out of the barn.

***

Luna was so very bored. The music somehow became better the more you listened to it. It was almost too much when the cellist stopped playing and the DJ took over, but she endured and after 4 hours she was actually starting to enjoy it. Not much else to do. At night court she could at least venture into dreams and help out with nightmares, but that left her oblivious to the world around her, so she would not be able to tell if something happened. She had been discussing with herself for the past hour whether to go or not, when Jax finally came out of the barn, with… Was that Rainbow Dash under his arm?
Luna almost panicked when he started walking towards her hideout amongst the trees. She tried to get up but her legs betrayed her and she fell down again. She really should not have been laying in the same position all this time. He was almost there and she did not have time to teleport away. She held her breath as he… walked right past her hiding place.
She let go of the breath she was holding. She had forgotten how well her coat blended with darkness.
She got herself up again, this time being able to stand. After stretching a little she slowly followed after Jax. She could not help but wonder why he was walking into the orchard with Rainbow Dash. Two scenarios forced their way into her mind, one horrific, one embarrassing, both unwanted.
She shook her head. She didn’t want to walk in on any of those scenarios. Hopefully she wasn’t going to. She could hear Jax not far ahead of her. He would not be able to do much before she caught up, and if things got heated, depending on the situation she could either help out or trot the other way. Maybe gallop as fast as she could.
She shook her head again of the unwanted thoughts. There could be a lot of reasons why he was carrying a female out into an orchard in the middle of the night… Like… He wanted to talk about his feelings. That was it.
Luckily she was brought out of her musings by Rainbow Dash’ voice. “Jax, where are we going?”
“Well, since I’m apparently a tree, I thought I should be among my own kind.” He answered happily.
“Good thinking.” Rainbow laughed a little. “This have anything to do with what Big Mac said?” She sounded tired, like she was bound to fall asleep any minute.
“Partially. I didn’t know what to say, so I made my escape. There is a different reason as well though.” They had made it to a small clearing and Jax was making his way into the middle of it while Luna stopped on the edge. She could still hear the conversation as Jax continued his explanation.
“The other reason is this.” He motioned towards the star-filled sky.
“The sky?”
“The stars. Every night since I appeared here I’ve been looking at Equestria’s starscape, and I’m not about to stop now. I bet you don’t even realize how beautiful it is. No light-pollution, so you can see it in all its glory, and a giant moon that is full every night. It’s beautiful.” He said as he put down Rainbow Dash and laid down on his back. Rainbow Dash looked at him before lying down next to him.
Pride and joy rushed through Luna as a giant smile appeared on her face. He liked her night. He had walked away from a party and into the night just to enjoy her stars. He had looked at them every night for a month and he was going to keep doing so because he… he found it beautiful. Luna felt like giggling but got herself under control.
They laid there for an entire hour, and would probably have kept on doing so, until they heard voices calling for them. Luna flew up into a tree as Pinkie bounced past the place she was resting a moment ago.
“There you are. Big Mac said we’d find you out here. Vinyl said that she wants to relax for the rest of the night, but a party without music isn’t as good as a party with music, so I thought ‘who do I know that can play music?’ And then I realized that I don’t even know if you can play music Jax, so come on!” She started dragging him back into the party, Rainbow Dash following behind with a smile on her face.
After a while curiosity won out, and Luna followed as well, past her hiding spot so she could hear Jax’ performance.

***

So there he was, in front of a bunch of ponies, with a microphone in his hand. Jax tried to think of a song that was happy, and had a fast pace. This limited his options a lot. Their giant eyes were looking at him in anticipation and the pressure was limiting his thinking ability as well.
So he started singing.
It was hard to tell, but he was pretty sure most of the ponies loved it. And so, the party continued until late at night.