Time Lost
Ch. 6: Super Party Surprise
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights of MLP.
Edited by hunterman3.
Hey God?
It’s me, Luke. Could you do me a solid and strike me down right here and now.
Seriously.
Do it now!
I don’t think my sanity, pride and masculinity can withstand this. I mean seriously! They’ve got frilly blue ribbons, cartoonish balloons and small children waiting to throw me a party.
No.
NO.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.
Now take your divine judgment, aim for my head and put me out of my misery.
It’s all you big man.
Oh no!
Pinkie Pie’s heading this way!
Come on you bearded bastard! Strike me down like a British nanny!
Big Macintosh moved into the room with a conflicted Luke on his back. Luke’s left eye focused on the vibrating pink pony wearing the biggest smile one could imagine. It was the kind of smile that struck fear into the hearts of mortal men. “Hi Luke,” Pinkie Pie sang.
Is it bad that I’m atheist and I tried to ask god for something? I feel the hypocrite inside me rising. Do not judge me for I am an eight year old child and do not know better. And if you judge a small child harshly, then you’re an a**hole.
Taking Luke into her forelegs, Pinkie Pie lifted Luke above her head to proclaim, “Let’s get this party started!” Light shown from the ceiling, proclaiming the king of lions has arrived. Sorry wrong movie
The scenery blurred, many smiling ponies taking time to greet Luke. Luke smiled in kind, reminded just how small he was to the average adult. All those creepy eyes followed Luke as Pinkie Pie tossed him around like a football. The hippogriff flew through the air against his wishes only to be caught by the same pink abomination. Hey, I’m still injured here.
Luke blinked several times when the room finally stopped speeding past him. Sitting in front of Luke had to be around twenty children, looking up at him with wide eyes. Some of interest, some of boredom, some of … I think that pony’s asleep.
With a flourish Pinkie Pie motioned to group of children, “Luke, say hello to your future classmates and future friends! Maybe even best friends!”
Luke looked into Pinkie Pie’s face, and then to the group in front of him, “What just happened?”
Applebloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo sat excitedly in front of the group. Applebloom said, “Well Luke, we decided we wanted to do something nice for you.”
“We helped Pinkie Pie set up your very own Pinkie Pie ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party,” Sweetie Bell said, “I put up the banners.” Sweetie Bell motioned to the banner hanging against the back wall. Large colorful and very messily written letters of blue and silver spelled out ‘Welcome to Ponyville: Luke Skywalker!’ Luke also noted some very poor drawings of stars and what he assumed was a grey, blue and white hippogriff. It kinda looks like something Winona threw up. “Applebloom helped back the cupcakes.”
“And I made sure all our classmates would come!” Scootaloo announced.
“No you didn’t,” small colt with white fur and brown spots who spoke in the most adorable British accent. “You merely passed out the invitations. We wanted to come because it’s not only a Pinkie party, but we wanted to meet the new kid. You three have been talking about him all week.” That has to be the most adorable pony I have ever seen. I think my heart stopped for a couple seconds.
Scootaloo snapped, “No, I’m pretty sure I made it very clear if none of you came I’d smack you into next week.” For a girl, she’s pretty violent. Luke took a moment to think about that, And I am completely ok with that.
The tiny pony turned to Luke, offering him his hoof, “Anyway, good day to you Luke Skywalker. My name is Pipsqueak.”
Stop with the cuteness! Make it stop! It burns us! It burns us!
Luke smiled warmly, taking the tiny hoof into his slender fingers and giving it a firm shake, “Nice to meet you.”
Before Luke’s brain could be destroyed further by Pipsqueak’s cute abomination of an accent, Pinkie Pie interrupted, “Before I forget Luke, I got you a present!”
But it’s not my birthday.
Luke groaned inwardly at Pinkie’s sing song voice. Turning to face her, Luke felt a rather large object being shoved into his chest. On instinct Luke wrapped his uninjured arm around the cold metal object. Looking down Luke eye widened at the sight of curved bronze metal. What?
“I thought since you didn’t have anything to do on the farm, I’d get you a saxophone to keep you busy,” Pinkie Pie said excitedly.
Luke however, was completely confused, “How did you know I played the saxophone?”
“Well,” Pinkie Pie put a hoof to her chin, thinking deeply. Inside her brain Pinkie Pie replayed a certain memory from yesterday.
Big Mac and Applebloom walked happily into Ponyville Thursday afternoon. The small filly was talking loudly about her grade on the spelling test she had taken a few hours ago. She got a B+. Good for her. Luke sat on Big Mac's back, both wearing amused smiles as the filly danced around her brother. Unknown to them a silent shadow followed closely, darting behind any object and pony before her prey knew she was there. The surprisingly good pink huntress, pursued with a note pad busily taking note of anything the small hyppogriff took interest in. Suddenly the party of three stopped, Luke took a surprising interest in the display case for a secondhand store. Behind the spotless glass, sitting among a stack of tattered books and pawned off jewelry was a worn bronze alto sax. The instrument had some dents to it, but appeared to be playable. Pinkie Pie overheard the words, "It's got a lot of character" to Applebloom. With a smile Pinkie Pie tore down the street to her home with a plan in mind.
"Let's call it Pinkie Pie Intuition.” Or stalking depending on who you ask.
Pipsqueak and the other children watched in amusement as Luke’s face twitched. The gears inside the small feather head ground against each other to create an unearthly metal scream when he realized this was the exact same instrument he saw the other day. How did she know? “Huh?”
Pinkie Pie patted Luke on the back, “Don’t worry about trying to figure it out. Even Twilight couldn't and she's like super-duper smart.” Pulling Luke closer, Pinkie Pie whispered into his ear, "And just between you and me, I think a certain dragonequus can't even figure it out."
Miles away within Canterlot Castle, Discord felt a sudden coldness touch his shoulders. Looking up in surprise from the five hundred year old painting of Celestia he was defiling with a mustache and sombrero. “That was weird,” Discord grumbled to himself. “Maybe I should give her a unibrow? Some bucked teeth would do nicely.”
With a smile, Pinkie asked, “Why don’t you play a song for them? I’m sure they’d love to hear you play!” In a blur of pink, Luke found himself standing in front of the entire group of ponies on an empty table. All of the fillies and colts sat silently in front of the adults. Every large, cute and kinda creepy eye looked up to Luke with great expectation.
Except for a curtain pair of fillies, Luke noticed a single pair not looking up at him. One pink filly with a white and purple mane wearing a shiny tiara snickered to her grey friend.
Luke looked to the adults, finding Big Mac offering a supportive smile. The stallion originally thought it was a good idea for Luke to get a chance and meet other children, but shoving him in the spotlight like that was a little hasty.
Licking his dry lips, Wait, birds don’t have lips. Then how am I able to smile? Luke peared down at the saxophone in his hands. The metal was polished with a few dents in the body. Luke could surmise that this instrument was previously used. The good news was that the mouthpiece looked brand new with a pristine reed. With a quick glance to the audience, Luke decided he might a well entertain them with a song. I certainly don’t want to disappoint those faces. I mean look at them! Look at all those cute little fillies and foals.
Luke brought the instrument to his beak. The movement felt familiar. The curves and keys sparked something inside Luke’s brain. The taste of metal and bamboo coupled with the smell of oil triggered felt so nostalgic. Luke felt calm by the instrument in his hand, like he was welcoming back an old friend.
Ignoring the twinges in his sides, Luke took a deep breath and he began to play.
Big Mac and Applejack were quite surprised by the sultry smooth sounds coming from the instrument in Luke’s hands. After being in the high school marching band for four years, Luke had some skills. He may not have the natural talent like some of his friends, but Luke could play some smooth saxophone music. Luke’s hands moved to the rhythm of his music as they danced across the keys of their own accord. The result was some sweet jazz.
All the foals and adults swayed to the rhythm of the sweet jazzy blues filling the air.
No one noticed the grey mare with a straight mane look in surprise. A single tear fell from her eye. The music of the gods entranced the ponies inside Sugarcube Corner with their presence.
Luke’s lips parted with the brass instrument after the last note faded into the crowd. The air was silent. No one moved. All eyes remained on Luke. Luke felt sudden warmth rising into his cheeks was the seconds ticked by. Beads of sweat began to develop on his feathery brow. The silence continued to stretch further. Maybe I’m not as good as I remember.
The clapping of hooves finally broke the uncomfortable feeling inside Luke. Looking to the source, Luke smiled at the sight of Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom clapping enthusiastically. The three ponies’ eyes were wide with amazement.
Soon every adult and child joined in. The crowd creating a loud roar that threatened to deafen Luke. Luke smiled ruefully, scratching the back of his head with his rising red cheeks.
“Whoa,” Applejack muttered. The smooth tones and mellow rhythm created a calm feeling in Luke’s audience. Applejack didn’t expect the level of jazzy goodness to come from such an unsuspecting place. Applejack turned to her brother. Big Mac wore a very impressed expression wondering if Luke would be interested in joining one of the local jazz groups. That might be a fun extracurricular activity for him.
“Luke’s pretty good with that instrument,” Applejack pointed out.
Big Mac tore himself from his thoughts, offering her the usual, “Eeyup.”
“I think Octavia would agree?” Applejack motioned towards the grey mare wiping her eyes.
“That was cool,” the sudden appearance of the blue Pegasus caused both Apple siblings to jump.
“Ah didn’t know you like jazz?” Applejack asked, mimicking Big Mac’s intrigued eyebrow.
“Not really,” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head, blushing slightly. “Don’t get me wrong! Jazz is cool, but I prefer something with a little more oomph to it. You know, like rock n’ roll.”
“Hmmmm,” Big Mac hummed to himself, quite surprised by Rainbow Dash’s complement. But then again, the audience would say otherwise, Big Mac’s eye caught sight of the children crowding around Luke. Luke wore a very happy smile, his saxophone held gently in his uninjured hand.
Applejack watched Rainbow Dash, confused. When the cyan Pegasus looked at her brother, Applejack could have sworn for just an instant those magenta eyes took a quick glance at Big Mac’s big cutie mark. Probably just mah imajination.
Luke felt his hesitation wash away as he left the spotlight. Luke may not have a severe case of stage fright, but he still felt some level of fear and hesitation before every performance. That’s only natural.
Scootaloo tackled Luke when the small crowd finally dispersed from around him. Her orange wings buzzed in excitement, “Why didn’t you tell us you were awesome with the saxophone?”
I could make that into a sex joke.
“Scoots let the guy breathe,” Applebloom said.
Scootaloo looked down at Luke, his face relaying the uncomfortable feeling of having a metal saxophone pressed against his body and cracked ribs. Scootaloo’s face turned bright red when she realized she was on top of Luke before quickly jumping off his fragile body. “Sorry,” the orange Pegasus said in embracement.
“It’s alright,” Luke sighed, feeling his lungs welcoming the fresh air. Do I smell cupcakes? Luke pulled himself up, scanning the room for the source of the heavenly smell. Luke raised an amused eyebrow when he caught sight Scootaloo’s red face. She’s just so cute.
“Oh isn’t that sweet!” a very loud and snarky voice rang in the air. Luke turned to see a pink pony wearing a silver tiara and a silver filly with large spectacles. Ten bucks says she’s a pain. Any takers?
From the first moment, Luke laid his eye on them he knew he disliked them. Their posture and body language spoke that they were the typical snobs, bullies with filthy rich parents.
Diamond Tiara walked up to the small group, wearing her traditional sneer. Luke turned to the CMC and saw the heat of their glares focused on Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Luke could feel the expectation of their gaze on him. Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon took their time judging him on his bandaged body, gryphon half and his lack of a cutie mark as something unclean or unworthy. Diamond Tiara turned to look at Scootaloo’s angry face, “I think you two will make the perfect couple. You can be blank-flanks for life.”
Is that suppose to be an insult?
“We are not a couple!” Scootaloo snapped, red flashing across her vision.
Where are the adults? Luke turned from the two fillies to look towards the adult ponies. Most, if not all, of the adults had decided to take up conversations among themselves. With a sigh, Luke broke the two arguing fillies, “Stop it you two, you’re being ridiculous.” Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo broke away from the epic stare off of doom. Luke turned to Scootaloo, “How about we get a cupcake?”
“Why?” Scootaloo asked incredulously, her mind only focused on crushing her opponent.
“Because she’s not worth wasting your breath on,” Luke said, ignoring the look of scorn Diamond Tiara threw his way. “This is supposed to be a fun party-” Maybe for a eight year old. But I digress. “-so we’re going to do something fun. And fun sounds like a cupcake.” Luke motioned towards a table covered with so many mouthwatering treats Luke could feel his teeth rotting away. Wait, birds don’t have teeth. Oh what trouble I can get into.
Diamond Tiara began to speak, but Luke was quickly ushering the three fillies towards the snack table. Luke’s eyebrow rose in amusement as he drew closer to the snacks, particular the two colts sitting right next to it. An Earth pony colt, wearing a silly multi-colored cap, sat next to the table playing with what he could only describe as the pony version of a Gameboy. Yeah! The colt standing next to him was a grey Pegasus with a dark mane. The Pegasus watched the small screen intently, saying, “Button Mash, your mom told you stop playing that videogame.”
“But Rumble,” Button mash wined, “This isn’t just a game! This is Dungeon Crawler 5! The most bloody hand held game known to all of ponykind!”
“But you have that on game console,” Rumble responded with annoyance.
“But this version has Spawn!” Button Mash continued to whine, his eyes still glued to the small screen. “I just need to get past this last boss and I’ll have every character.” Luke and the CMC stopped next to the pair, watching the two colts with amused fascination. Button Mash eyes widened, his screen suddenly turning black, “What! No! No! Noooooooooo!” Button Mash cradled the handheld device to his chest as if it was the most important thing in the world.
Is it wrong to think sound of that child’s crying is hilarious? Because it is.
“That’s what you get for playing six hours straight,” Rumble rolled his eyes. Rumble turned away from his crying friend, catching sight of Luke’s and the CMC’s amused smiles. Poking his friend, Rumble whispered, “Button Mash look, you need to greet the new kid. Now show him a happy smile or your mom will think you’re being rude. And you know what’ll happen if she sees you being rude to the new pony in town.”
Button Mash turned to face Luke, tears running down the side of his face with the snot bubbling from his nose.
“Okay Button, stop showing them,” Rumble said, looking away from his friend.
Button turned to Rumble, latching onto his friend like he was the last lifejacket on the Titanic. “Rumble,” Button Mash cried, “I lost all that hard work! Now I’ll never unlock Spawn! This is the worst thing in the history of forever! I can never look into the eyes of my heroes ever again! I’m a failure in the eyes of Neightendo and all its copyrighted characters!”
Wow. Just wow.
Rumble turned pleadingly to the CMC and Luke. Ew. Ew. Ewwwwwwwwww. It’s cold and wet. Luke felt bad for Rumble. The pegasus’s grey colt was quickly becoming covered by the green goo dripping from Button Mash’s running nose. Oh sweet Celestia, it’s clumping! It feels so wrong and nasty! Rumble patted Button Mash on the back, his face contorted in silent anguish. “There, there Button. It’s going to be alright.”
Deciding to lend rumble a hand, Luke handed Scootaloo the saxophone, “Could you hold onto this?” Scootaloo silently obliged, trying her best not to laugh at the sobbing colt. I wonder why Sweetie Belle’s so red? Luke caught sight of Sweetie Belle’s blushing face. Deciding to ignore it, Luke approached Rumble and Button Mash.
“Um, hey there,” Luke said, Rumble turning to him like he was the messiah. I really don’t want to touch him. With a very hesitant hand, Luke gently patted Button Mash on the back, “Now, ummmm- Button, I’m sure your game had an auto-save. You can always start where you left off later.”
“But it’s a handheld game,” Button sobbed into Rumble’s coat. Rumble’s pleading eyes asked Luke for some kind of miracle to save his grey fur from the onslaught of Button Mash. “It’ll only save after the last dungeon I completed and this dungeon took me four hours to complete.”
“Well,” Luke said, pulling this straight from his rump, “look at the bright side. You’ll know what coming when you start again. I’m sure you can shave some time off your next play through.”
Button’s sobbing froze for just a second. Luke’s words of common sense slowly penetrated the thick skull of Button Mash. Thank god he stopped. I don’t think I could withhold my laughter any longer.
To Luke’s horror, and to the increased laughing of the CMC, Button Mash decided to pull Luke into a bone breaking hug. No! Button Mash cried happily into both Luke and Rumble, “You’re right! I don’t have to start over again! You are the bestest best pony-griffon-thing!” Sweet mercy kill me! It’s sticking to my feathers! “You are my best friend! With you, me and Rumble we’ll be the Three Musketeers! We’re going to go on grand adventures, face many trials and grow into a legendary team!”
It’s reaching my belly button!
“Maybe Rumble and Button Mash will finally join the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Applebloom whispered, a brilliant idea entering her head. “You’ve been trying to get Button Mash and Rumble to join ever since you two had milk shakes a couple of weeks ago.”
Sweetie Belle’s expression turned from embarrassed to dreamy and then uncontrolled laughter. Button’s shrill screaming from the ice cream headache still fresh in her mind.
While all this was going on, Diamond Tiara could not believe what had just happened. The new kid had not only scoffed her, he didn’t seem to care to get her name. No pony snubbed her like that. She was Diamond Tiara, daughter of Filthy Rich and no one snubbed her. Even if those blank flanks try to, there is no way some freaking COLT is going to get the better of me.
With a plan in mind, Diamond Tiara marched up to the group. The three fillies watching the distressed colts and the blubbering button Mash. This is just too perfect. “Now this is priceless,” Diamond Tiara’s voice broke through the priceless scene of Luke and Rumble being held captive. “Look Silver Spoon, the new kid has finally joined the freak squad.”
“Why aren’t any adults watching us? We’re kids,” Luke grunted, trying to pull himself away from Button.
“Let’s look at this situation,” the venom on her voice could fill a swimming pool and then dissolve what poor unfortunate soul was dumb enough to take a dip. “We have the disgusting gamer, his lame best friend, the three blank flanks and the newest addition-” I’m beginning to hate her. “a half-bred griffon living with the apple pushers.”
Silence fell over all of the children present. The only noise was the quiet murmur of the adults’ socializing. What happened next truly surprised Diamond Tiara and the rest of the ponies.
Luke began to laugh.
“Is that seriously the best you can come up with?” Luke tried to wipe a metaphorical tear from his eye, but the iron clad limbs of Button Mash prevented him. Are all Earth ponies this strong? Looking at Button, Luke asked, “Could you please let me go? I’ve got to put someone in their place.”
Button Mash opened his arms, dropping Luke and Rumble on their rumps. Dusting himself off, Luke approached Diamond Tiara. The filly began to say something, but Luke cut her off by holding up his open hand. Bullies had always been a sore spot with him. In junior high, Luke wasn’t the most popular of people and had to deal with some idiotic kids poking fun at his lack of sports. They were only name callers. In high school, people got really-really stupid. Growing up in a backwater town, some teenagers got it in their heads they were tough. They formed what I called wannabe gangs. There was nothing real about them. All talk and no substance. They covered the concrete buildings with graffiti, destroyed property and absconded from school. Your basic hoodlum.
Why was Luke so annoyed by bullies that he denied Diamond Tiara the chance to even speak?
The memory came from the dark depths of Luke’s empty mind. On a dark night when he was walking to his car from work, a man of sixteen leaving his job at a Little Ceasars. Wow. My first job really sucked. When Luke was struck by a baseball bat to the side of the head by some hoodie wearing kid. Luke fell against his car, his head swimming. The kid struck a second time, Luke backing up as the bat crashed into the side window. The glass shattered, spilling inside onto the car’s worn seats. The kid never got a third strike. The punk decided to rush forward with the wooden bat raised above his head. Luke’s curled fist striking straight in his face. Dad really-really liked boxing. But he got a career in the Sheriff’s department instead of trying to become a contender. By the end of it, Luke returned home with a new baseball bat and his hands covered in a red substance he didn’t want to tell his mom what it was. Let’s not count the stitches. I don’t want to talk about them. Since then, Luke decided it was best to shut down bullies before they started their trash talking. They end up being really stupid anyway.
“Look, I don’t care to know you,” Luke’s stern voice cut into Diamond Tiara. The fire in his single eye could illuminate the room. “Now shut up and I will leave you on your devices without any repercussions.”
Diamond Tiara stood silently. Luke turned towards the CMC. His words were lost to Diamond Tiara, her mouth moving but no sound came. She felt anger rising in her. No colt had ever talked to her like that. It wasn’t the fact that he argued with her or his attitude towards her, Diamond Tiara knew these well. To her, Luke had done something far more sinister. He didn’t acknowledge her. Luke viewed Diamond Tiara as little more than an obstacle. A bump in the road to deal with that didn’t even deserve part of his attention, a thing without a name. To Diamond Tiara, Luke denied her any recognition as a person.
I could do worse, but I’m afraid of what Big Mac would do if I did. I mean have you seen the guy. He’s huge!
Diamond Tiara’s eyes followed Luke to grab a cupcake with the CMC, Rumble and Button Mash in tow. Why? Because I feel bad for the guy. No, not Button Mash. I mean Rumble. Button’s joining us because I find his pain amusing. Luke froze for a moment. “Something wrong?” Applebloom asked.
“I just had a horrifying realization.”
“What’s that?” Rumble asked confused.
“I’m kinda twisted,” Luke said nonchalantly.
Before any of the other children could ask, a loud and angry voice called out, “Wait right there you feather freak!” Oh god, not her again. Diamond Tiara stormed up to Luke, looking him straight in the eye, “I don’t know who you think you are.” Luke Skywalker, duh. Diamond stabbed her hoof into Luke’s bandaged chest with some force. Luke expression remained neutral, ignoring the Earth pony strength applied to his frame. “I am Diamond Tiara! Daughter of Filthy Rich, the pony who basically runs Ponyville! And I will give up my own cutie mark before I let a freak like you talk to me like that.” All noise stopped. Diamond Tiara never noticed the change in atmosphere. All she could see was the hippogriff in front of her. “You think you can just brush me aside like I’m nothing. I’m more important than you or any of these blank flanks. None of you will ever be as important as me or my family. All you will ever do is be just the ponies we step on to stay on top. You are nothing more than dirt beneath my hooves.”
Big Mac could honestly say he was surprised by Luke’s reaction. Luke’s words were cold, “You say I’m less than dirt?” Luke’s gave bore into Diamond Tiara. “You think you have more because your family is richer and has more material possession makes you a better person.” With a sigh, Luke said “You think those possessions will make you happy? Do you believe having more than others will make up for what you just said to everyone here?” Diamond Tiara looked confused, “I consider you less by your attitude and your blatant disregard for others. You say I am less, when you have with your own words put down every single person in this room.” Luke turned his back on Diamond Tiara, “Now I will take my leave. You’re not worth any of my time or energy.” Luke may not be a complete pacifist, but he never liked fighting to begin with, especially when it came to fighting girls. Yeah I know it sounds sexist, but my mom taught me to be a gentleman or else she’d break out the coat hanger. Luke visibly shuddered, And you do not want to see what happens when she does.
Applebloom swore Diamond Tiara’s pink head would explode. With one final insult, Diamond Tiara snapped, “At least I have a parent who loves me. All you’ve got is a farm full of dirt ponies without your mom and dad.” You better not go where I think you’re heading. “If I remember right, Applebloom said you had no family and I’m sure there’s a good reason for that.”
Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Bell looked like they were about to launch themselves at Diamond Tiara as she finished, “I bet they just left you because you're the freak offspring of a griffon’s and pony’s after drunken one night who no one cares about.”
The room was frozen, children and adults feeling a creeping sensation crawling up their spines. Big Mac and Applejack felt the fires of rage rise inside their stomachs. One or both of them were going to have a long conversation with Filthy Rich and his daughter. Pinkie Pie looked worriedly around the room, looking for a quick way to solve the problem. The venom and spite in Diamond’s words kept everyone in their places.
“Well,” Luke turned towards Diamond Tiara for the third and last time this night. Luke’s voice cut through the hostile air, “If I turned up to be a pompous bitch like you I’d wish my parents stayed dead. That way they’d never have to see the kind of disappointment I became.”
Jaws flew to the floor. Big Mac and Applejack had no idea how to respond. Half of them wanted to scold him, while the other thought he was justified in his response. Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Bell all were thinking the same thing. That was cold. The CMC and their constant run-ins with Diamond Tiara had prepared them for what they thought were Diamond Tiara’s worst.
Looks like they were wrong.
“No one forced you to be here and no one forced you to talk to anyone. Instead,” Luke voice rose. “Instead you made the choice to come here. You decided to insult the people around you, many who weren’t even talking to you. You made the decision to insult an injured kid who’s parents are dead by saying they didn’t love him.” Luke took a deep breath his shoulders shaking, “How do you do that? How do you insult someone who has never wrong you personally, who’s clearly injured if you couldn’t tell by the bandages?”
All eyes were on Luke. “The answer is simple. You wanted to.” Luke pushed his point further, “You wanted to be here, to insult others and to insult me. You purposely chose to insult the kid who just went through a pretty traumatic experience and has been dealing with varying levels of pain and discomfort for the past week.” Diamond Tiara didn’t know what to say, he was right. With one final glare, Luke finished his ramblings, “If this is the kind of person you are, then you need to take a long hard look at your life and think about where you’re going. You’ve already proven today, that you have issues. I suggest you fix them.”
Luke left the speechless filly to gawk as he walked past all the other ponies. Luke simmered silently, making his way to the hallway. I’m going to find a bathroom, get cleaned up and no one will stop me! Luke moved into the tan hallway, not noticing the warm and homely feel.
Big Mac gently pushed his way through the crowd of ponies, taking extra caution around the unmoving colts and fillies. A hovering Rainbow Dash trailed behind him with Appplejack. “Applebloom?”
Applebloom peeled her eyes from Luke’s exit to look up at her big brother. Big Mac saw very conflicting emotions behind Applebloom’s large eyes; confusion, sadness and traces of anger towards a certain tiara wearing filly. Big Mac said to the three, “You stay with Applejack try and keep things mellow, I’m gonna go grab Luke. I think it’s time we head home.”
Something about the air shimmered. Pinkie Pie felt a cold disturbance in the air and in a flash of pink she disappeared.
Luke was grateful when he finally found the bathroom. Its light walls and white trim reminded Luke of a very scrumptious yellow cake with marble white frosting he saw on the snack table. Moving next to the sink, Luke hopped onto the edge. It seems my catlike reflexes are still intact. Turning on the spout, Luke began the laborious process of removing all of the crusting green gunk from his feathers.
She just came up to me with an attitude like ‘I’m all that and a side of fries’ and she expects me to give her respect. No way in hell. She doesn’t deserve my respect or anything. Luke sniffed loudly, How dare she say that about my parents! She doesn’t know them! No one does… Only me? Luke mind moved from angry to sad, the scattered memories of his family plaguing his mind reminded of the fact that he knew very little of his parents. Bits and piece may pop up every now and then, but I feel like I don’t know them. I can’t even remember their faces.
Luke felt emptiness growing inside his chest. He was ashamed at himself for losing that once precious connection.
A gently knock on the door, broke Luke from his mindless task, “Luke? Ya’ll right in there?”
Luke turned back to the mirror, looking himself over. Whether it was luck or his feathers were naturally resilient to staining, the hippogriff in the mirror looked cleaned once again. Maybe a little damp.
“Yes.”
Luke ignored the redness around his amber eye, telling himself it meant nothing. Moving to the door, Luke undid the lock and opened it to reveal a worried Big Mac.
The instant Big Mac saw Luke, he knew Luke was upset. To Luke’s credit, he was handling it better than when the councilor’s first visit to the farm. Big Mac motioned with his head for Luke to follow, which he obliged without a word.
When the pair returned to the main room of Sugarcube corner, Luke was set on by a yellow blur. Who happens to be very soft. A very sweet voice said, “Are you alright little one?” Luke inwardly groaned at this, I still don’t like them calling me that.
The Pegasus in question held Luke up in her arms, nuzzling him. The mare had a long pink mane and striking eyes. The kind of eyes that could stop a person in their tracks by the sheer volume of kindness they held. Her soft smile was absolutely adorable and assaulted Luke’s mind with sunshine and rainbows. Then she spoke again, her tiny voice and timid mannerisms too much for Luke’s macho-manly side to survive the blow, “Hi Luke, my name is Fluttershy.” Luke was unable to speak, this force of absolute cuteness holding him tight in their grip. “I’ve heard so much about you from Applejack and Big Mac that I really-really wanted to meet you today, but you were having a fun with your friends. I didn’t want to interrupt you. Then after what Diamond Tiara said to you I thought you could use a hug. I hope you don’t mind.” I think I just got secondhand diabetes from the amount of sugar coated cuteness just fed to me. Realizing she was still holding Luke like a small puppy, Fluttershy quickly and very gently placed Luke onto his flank. “I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said bashfully, hiding behind her mane.
That should be physically impossible! How do you become even more adorable than before? Applebloom and her friends was one thing, but this is like a F5 tornado of cuteness. At this rate, there will be no survivors.
Fluttershy looked towards Big Mac standing stoically silent, “Hi, Big Mac.”
“Howdy Fluttershy,” Big Mac nodded. His attention returned to Luke. Luke’s expression had drastically changed from being pissed off too surprisingly calm. Fluttershy even managed to bring a partial smile to Luke’s face. That’s the power of Fluttershy.
Luke looked around the room, finding it surprisingly empty. Only the CMC, Button Mash, Rumble, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Twilight and a white unicorn Luke had not met yet. “Where did everyone go?”
“I decided to send them home with some gift baskets,” Pinkie Pie said, appearing out of nowhere to Luke’s right. Luke responded like any rational thinking person would. He jumped back and squawked in surprise holding a hand to his furiously beating heart. Luke was about to snap at her but the pink pony’s expression held his anger. Why the long face? Pinkie’s hair seemed to deflate, losing its pink luster. “I’m sorry the party didn’t turn out the way it should have,” Pinkie Pie said, her voice hollow. “I didn’t think anypony would want to party after what Diamond Tiara said.”
People can suck sometimes. Of course Luke never voiced his opinion, he was more concerned about the deflated party pony. I’m afraid if I don’t try to make this up to her she’ll snap, cut me up and bake me into cupcakes. Luke shook his head to clear his head of that last random and morbid thought. That was both random and twisted. “It’s alright Pinkie,” Luke said in the most sincere voice he could muster. Pinkie Pie turned to look at him, Ah! Again with the creepy eyes! “I’m sorry I ruined you party. I really appreciated the effort you and the CMC put into it.”
With the flip of a switch Pinkie Pie transformed from sad mare to bouncy ball of pink doom, wrapping her rubbery forelegs around Luke, “You’re welcome Luke! Maybe we can throw another party and this time it’ll be even better! Just you wait!” I’m scared.
Then something strange happened.
And I’m not Joshing.
A literal light bulb popped out of Pinkie Pie’s mane and turned on with no visible source of power. Luke wanted to ask how the glass bulb was being held above her head without any means of support, but Pinkie Pie’s voice struck him like a wrecking ball. “I’ve got an idea!”
Hey God, you still there?
I think the apocalypse is about to happen. You better call in the rapture and beam me up.