//------------------------------//
// The Strange Rendezvous 
// Story: That Strange Stallion 
// by Gunther the Green 
//------------------------------//


That Strange Stallion


The Strange Rendezvous




While some would think waking up in a clinic would lead to an unhappy patient, Twilight, however, found no such thing. She was in no way at fault for Martin being sent here, but she felt a certain amount of responsibility because she did bring him there. She had come by with a book in her saddlebag on famous Equestrian landmarks for him to entertain himself with, should he need an extended stay. He never said it outright or looked put down by it, but she couldn't help but feel that he felt caged in his self-imposed imprisonment. He was in an entirely new country and he could only view it from the stories of others. So she got him a book to explore the nation from the comforts of home. Spike had come along as well to talk with his hoofball/comic book friend. Spike had warmed up to Martin pretty easily, maybe even looked up to him. 
Twilight found herself inside Martin's room, staring at the stallion playing with the pencil in his mouth. On the bed sheet was a piece of paper with, what can only be described as, chicken scratch scrawled all over it. Martin looked up from the pencil and spotted herself and Spike. He smiled brightly at them, "Twilight, Spike! Good to see you," he greeted, "Have you come to visit me?" he asked while setting the pencil down and getting out of the bed.
"Well we just wanted to make sure you were ok," Spike put in, "You did kinda faint on us." Martin's been shown to be able to do several strenuous activities without breaking a sweat, but whatever led up to giving the Ursa Minor a belly rub, left the poor stallion completely exhausted. Perhaps it had something to do with that tentacle monster?
"It seems you've recovered nicely. I'm glad you're alright," Twilight said with relief, "Do you plan to leave the clinic soon?" 
Martin shook his head, "I thought I was going to but the doctors wanted me to stay for several tests. While I have the normal anatomy of a pony, due to several stories around town, I'm believed to have super-pony capabilities. They want to see if there's a biological or magical reason behind it."
Twilight's ears lowered in guilt and she put on a strained smile, "Really? That's sounds... Interesting." Oh, no. Despite their efforts, they probably made other ponies suspicious of him. Either that, or he's been showing off. 
"Ya, but they couldn't find anything," he chuckled. What? But, how is that possible? Even if they couldn't find anything biologically, Princess Celestia herself confirmed that he had strange magic. But the doctors couldn't find anything weird about it? "They're going to do one last test to try and bypass my unstable earth pony magic. After that, they plan to give up until a new development occurs." Wait, was that the magic Princess Celestia mentioned? No it couldn't be, she specifically said foreign magic. There's nothing exactly foreign about that.
"That sounds rough," Spike commented. He could only imagine what kind of painful tests he was subjected to.
"Nah," Martin dismissed, "It was no trouble, I was happy to oblige." Twilight couldn't help but chuckle at his endless optimism.
"I don't think I've ever truly seen you down," Twilight commented. He's shown fear and worry but never actually upset or sad.
"Having a lot of hope will do that to you," he said with a chuckle, "I do my best to remain like this because smiling is infectious." He waved a hoof around, but when they didn't react he shrugged and continued, "If I'm happy, then those around me might feel better and be happy themselves. If for some reason I can't find hope, then I try to raise my own mood and think of my favorite things." 
Music began to play but it stopped when Nurse Redheart stuck he head in the room, "No singing, we don't need you waking patients or distracting doctors."
"Sorry!" he called, waving a hoof in her direction. She left doorway and Martin chuckled again, "Song blocked."
"You must really love to sing," Twilight pointed out. Ever since the day after the Summer Sun Celebration, Martin had hummed or outright sang a song at least once a day. He's gotten at least one other pony involved each time.
"That's what I like about Ponyville, I can sing whatever I want, almost anywhere, and I won't be a bother. Some of you ponies even sing along. I love it. There's nothing like that in Broken Depths," he explained.
"Why not?" Spike asked. Was his town so strict that they weren't allowed to sing in public?
"It disrupts the peace I guess," he said with a shrug, "Plus, there's nothing that makes music and nothing to sing along with me, so it could be cringe worthy to the spectators. That's why I love it here. So I want to get out as many songs as I can while I still have the chance." That sounded kinda sad, having a song in your heart but not being able to express it. She was glad he could get that kind of relief during his visit. "Were you planning on going somewhere after this?" he asked while nodding towards her saddlebags.
"Oh right. This is actually for you," she said while using magic to levitate a specific book out of her bag, "I brought you a little something to read while you were here."
"Aw thanks Twilight," he sat down and grabbed book with both hooves, "You're the best." Twilight blushed at the compliment, glad he liked the gift. "Oh, a geography book, neat," he said looking over the images on the inside, "But I don't have a library card," he said giving Twilight a confused look.
She shook her head, "It's no trouble. Just be sure to return it after you're done, I trust you." 
"Well if you ever get bored of that, you can read one of my old comics," Spike said while pulling one out of Twilight's saddlebag. "In this issue, the Power Ponies are up against the millionaire Bright Light and his army of fluorescent robots," Spike pointed towards the picture on the cover.
"That sounds cool," he said taking the comic, "I'll give them a looksee after the test. I think they're ready for me." Twilight and Spike turned around and saw Doctor Horse standing near the doorway. He gave a sheepish smile and stepped out of sight to give them privacy. "I'll come by this evening to return them," Martin stated.
"You don't need to return them that quickly, take your time," she tried to reassure him. She knew a book could only be truly enjoyed when the reader read it at their own pace.
He chuckled at her statement, "Alright, then I'll come by just to visit."
"Sweet," Spike immediately approved, "I can totally show you my hoofball card collection. I've got a limited edition Half Pint card you have to see. It changes images when you look at it right." He lost all of his allowance but it was worth it.
"I'd love to hear about them but it's time. It was nice of you both to visit me, you two have a good day," he said while waving a hoof at them.
They bid their farewells and walked out of the room. Each anticipating the coming evening and started planning on what they wanted to do and talk about.



"Alright, you ready Pinkie?" Martin asked the mare in front of him. He had recently been released when the doctors failed to find anything, so he went to Pinkie to have some fun. Right now they were practicing a routine out in the park. It was some time mid-day, so there were a couple of ponies passing by but they were mostly ignored.
"Yep," said mare nodded with a serious look on her face. They stared at each other for a second before starting.
"Hoof bump, hoof bump," they said together while performing the action once with each front hoof.
"Monsters everywhere," the both of them raised one foreleg forward and slid it sideways.
"Now stand up tall," they both stood on their hind legs and braced their hooves against each other, holding the other up.
"And give a good stare," without warning they smashed their foreheads together with an audible 'crack' but neither flinched from the impact. They remained in that position for a few seconds before Martin cracked and began chuckling, then outright laughing, falling onto his back. Pinkie gave her own giggle but landed on her hooves. She gave him a few seconds to get it all out, then moved to his side and helped him onto his hooves.
"That was fun," she told him, still having a little giggle in her throat, "But could you tell me again why we need a secret hoof shake?" Honestly, she wasn't listening when he told her the first time. She was trying to memorize the moves that he wanted done.
"Well I figure, when I leave, I may come back at any time but I dunno if it will really be me or if it'll be a shapeshifter trying to pretend to be me," he explained, "So, I thought, if we have a secret greeting, we'll know it's really me."
"Oh, gotcha," she agreed. That was actually a good idea. This kinda reminded her of when she taught him the Pinkie Promise. Although he said he didn't have a Pinkie, she reminded him that he did have one, as a friend. That was funny of him to not get, but he agreed with her. And now, he taught her his own special thing they could share. "Does something like that happen often at Broken Depths?" she asked, curious if he was actually concerned of somepony impersonating him. 
"Not really," he said with a shrug, "I think Stranger is the only one who could get away with it. All the other shapeshifters aren't nearly as good. I've been told my personality is especially hard to replicate." He gave a goofy face as if to emphasize his point, which got another giggle out of Pinkie. 
She agreed at that point, Martin was one unique pony. That thought made Pinkie pause,  the other girls had only asked about where he's from and the ponies or other beings he knew, nothing about him personally. As far as she's aware, she's the only one who asked him anything personal. They were really missing out. She would remind them later. "Hey Martin, do you miss your home?" she asked him. He's been away so long, she couldn't imagine he wasn't a little homesick.
"Sometimes, but I know in my heart that each day I'm here, it's another day closer to returning home. So I better make each one count," he said. She smiled glad he was one of those 'glass half full' ponies. 
He was right though, they should make these days count. "So what else should we do today?" she asked.
He tapped his chin in thought, "Well the Beanboozled challenge is always fun if you have a strong stomach. But we don't have the play set." See, that's why she liked that he wasn't from Equestria, he had so many games she'd never heard of. "So we'll make our own," for some reason she felt like she was going to regret this.



Rarity and Fluttershy were enjoying their spa day to it's fullest. Fluttershy was having her wings cleaned and Rarity was having her horn filed. It was a bit of a tradition for the two of them to have such an outing, just a day for them to talk, relax, and get pampered. No worries, troubles, or fears. Sadly, that relaxation was interrupted by a loud noise against the door. Aloe and Lotus looked at each other worried, wondering what could have caused that. For some reason a familiar feeling came across Rarity but she didn't recognize the sound. Fluttershy instead tried to shrink into the bed she was laying on, fearful of what may be on the other side. Aloe went over to the door and opened it slowly. She was relieved to see that it was just Martin, who seemed to be having trouble getting a helmet off his head.
"Welcome back, Martin," she greeted, "Do you need some assistance?" He paused to look at her but then redoubled his efforts and successfully pulled off the helmet his head. "Nevermind then, what brings you here today?" she asked him. He didn't have an appointment, so unless he wanted a simple bath, they really couldn't do much for him. They still had to finish up with Fluttershy and Rarity after all.
"Hi Aloe," he greeted back, "I'm actually here because of a request on the board, the one about cleaning one of the larger tubs?" he tried to make her remember. He placed the helmet on top of his head, balancing it.
"Oh yes, the request," Aloe remembered. Quite honestly, she didn't think anypony would actually take the request. She thought she'd have to get a professional cleaner and was pleasantly surprised Martin was willing to do it.
He looked past her at the other ponies in the building, "Hi Lotus, hi Rarity, hi Fluttershy." Lotus nodded at him, not being able to verbally respond with the horn file in her teeth. Fluttershy gave a weak smile and a wave.
"Good afternoon Martin, so nice to see you. You've come to help out Lotus and Aloe today?" Rarity decided to make small talk.
Martin walked up to them, Aloe went back to attend to Fluttershy, "Yep, it's about that time where I help who I can, when I can. I thought a cleaning detail would be especially helpful to me. I'm hoping that being surrounded by some cleaning solutions will get at this smell that seems to be clinging to me." Now that he mentioned it, Aloe did smell something unpleasant coming off of him, but she didn't want to be impolite. Luckily they were far enough away to not be subject to it now.
"Now why would you smell bad? Did you forget to clean yourself today?" she asked. 
"No, I definitely cleaned myself after Pinkie barfed on me, but the smell is still there," he revealed. All the girls flinched away from him in disgust. Each of their own stomachs getting queasy at the thought.
"Why in the world would Pinkie do... that to you?" Rarity asked, hesitant to name the event.
"Well it was pure accident, but it was probably because we were playing a variant of the Beanboozled challenge called the Doughnutboozled challenge," he explained. 
"I fail to understand how that would make Pinkie of all ponies gag, not unless you over indulged," Rarity speculated. Though even then it was unlikely, that mare could really pack away the pastries.
"Nah, nothing like that," he denied, "See, the challenge is that there's a set of a food item and each one has a different flavor. The two doughnuts with those flavors are supposed to be indistinguishable from each other so you have to guess which is the good one."
"The good one?" Fluttershy asked, finally getting into the conversation.
"Ya, you see, one could be filled with rich chocolate, and the other could  be filled with thick mud," the girls immediately gagged. That was completely disgusting, and this was a game? "Don't worry, we don't actually eat the stuff completely. It's usually enough to just get the taste and then spit it out. The game ends when we either run out, one of us gives up, or one of us upchucks. And unfortunately, I won." He gave a chuckle while rubbing his mane, presumably where it landed on him.
Rarity decided to change the subject before she lost her lunch, "So tell me Martin, why were you wearing that hoofball gear?" she asked, pointing at the helmet on his head. The offending object looked so tacky, no style whatsoever.
"Head protection," he said tapping it with a hoof, "I thought it would help me against the doors. That's a big ol' nope. That door must have some kind of armor penetration. Still felt the whole impact and it got stuck on my head. I gotta up my endurance, instead," he shrugged at the confused mares. He opened his saddlebags and dropped the object inside. "So what about you two? Just felt like getting pampered today?" he asked.
"Oh yes, but this isn't some one off. We have a small tradition of a weekly spa visit. Isn't that right Fluttershy?" Rarity asked the other mare to confirm.
"Oh, uh, yes, it's nice to relax for a day," Fluttershy agreed. Although she felt she didn't deserve such pampering, Rarity had insisted. So far, she hasn't regretted accepting.
"I would invite the other girls as well," Rarity continued, "But everypony either doesn't care or never has the time. Possibly even both." Applejack and Rainbow Dash were especially adamant on not going. 
"Which reminds me, Fluttershy," he called for the mares attention, "I've seen where Rarity and the others work, but I've no idea what you do." Huh, that's strange, he's been all over Ponyville several times a day but he's never seen Fluttershy's cottage? Perhaps he thinks that's outside the town limits in his self-imposed imprisonment.
"It's nothing really special," she denied it's importance, "I just help some animals." It was nothing as impressive as making beautiful dresses or taking care of an entire orchard. But she loved doing it all the same. It was her calling in life and she was proud of it. She wouldn't brag about it though.
"Fluttershy here is the caretaker of all animals in the immediate area, domestic or otherwise," Rarity explained further, "While we do have a veterinarian for medical check ups, Fluttershy would be the one you go to if your pet needs a little extra love and care."
"Wow that's real nice of you Fluttershy," he complimented, making the mare blush. "Would you like some help at any point in the future?" he asked further. She tapped her chin in thought and came up with something quickly.
"Well, I could use some help giving the animals a bath. You see, some animals don't enjoy bathing, so I need to pay extra attention to them so they stay in the tub while they soak. But when I do that, I have to neglect the others who really do want to take a bath. It's very time consuming," she explained. She could not clean the resistant animals but that would leave them unhealthy and she couldn't let that happen.
"Sure I'd love to help," he quickly agreed, "What time do you want me to come over?"
"Um, maybe tomorrow morning? Unless that's too early for you and you'd like to sleep more," she said and almost immediately took it back. She didn't expect him to agree so quickly.
"Morning's fine, I'm usually up by then," he agreed, "I can't wait to see the animals you have. I bet they're just as cute as those baby bunnies."
"Oh, yes," she hesitated. She remembered those bunnies and how they cowered in his grip. Honestly, he could have approached them more delicately. The poor dears. Hopefully he wouldn't be so clingy this time.
"Speaking of working, perhaps we should go about our own tasks?" Aloe tried to get the situation moving. She didn't mind his presence but before long they'd have to shift locations and he was distracting. Plus, if he was going to start cleaning, they needed him to do it as fast as he could so they can use the tub again.
"Right, it was nice chatting with you two," he gave a small wave to the robed mares, "And I'll see you tomorrow at 6, Fluttershy. Aloe, I brought my own cleaning supplies, so I'll get started now. Where is it?" Aloe pointed towards one of the doorways. With that, Martin saluted and walked into the room.
"Do you wish to leave him unsupervised?" Rarity asked the twins. She knew very well that Martin was capable, but he also had strange amount of bad luck. Any number of accidents could happen.
"We aren't worried," Lotus reassured, "He is one room over, if anything were to happen, we can be there immediately." Almost immediately after she said that, they could hear several plastic bottles falling over along with a splash.
"Uh oh, clean up on aisle 3," Martin called. "Also, just so you know, cannon balls work better in pools, not tubs," he informed.
"Perhaps you should be worried," Rarity said with a half-lidded stare. Honestly, even if he had the best intentions, that stallion still didn't take enough care for himself. 
Aloe ran into the room to check on him, leaving Fluttershy with a worried expression. Oh dear, and she agreed to have him help?



At the top of a hill, Rainbow Dash was practicing her speed in order to do the sonic rainboom. It was a skill she had done once as a foal but haven't been able to do it since. Right now, though, she had a trump card. She'd heard from AJ that Martin was crazy strong. So she figured, she could use that. Right now they were on top of the nearby cliff getting ready to enact their plan.
"You ready Martin," she asked him. He was standing on his hind legs, oddly, it was easy for him, with his hooves high in the air, holding onto her.
"I question the legitimacy of this plan," ugh, he was questioning it now? Why'd he go this far before bringing it up? "How is me throwing you going to help? You already fly faster then I can throw," he pointed out.
"No duh, but this way saves time and energy. I figure if you do the first half of the speed then I can push myself even further with the second half," she explained. It was foolproof, now if only Martin was actually a fool and didn't smell like bleach. 
"I don't think that's how it works," he said as if he knew anything about flying. 
Well she'll show him, "Just shut up and throw me," she said while prepping her wings. She could feel him shrug. He pulled back and threw her as hard as he could down below the cliff. 
Aw ya! Now this was what she was talking about. She maintained the speed and flew up into the open sky so she wouldn't hit anything, soaring above homes and trees. After that she strained herself to go faster. She could feel herself speed up, it was working. But her hope quickly died out when she felt her speed stagnate. She tried as hard as she could but she couldn't go faster. Sighing in defeat, she circled around and made her way back to Martin. He was still there, a hoof raised to shade his eyes as he watched her come closer. He took a step back and allowed her to land in front of him.
"Did it work?" he asked. She frowned at him for pointing out her failure. 
"Did you see a rainbow shock wave?" she shook her head, "I just couldn't do it. Ugh, this is frustrating! I did this when I was a foal! I should be way faster after all these years." Though that probably had more to do with her cutie mark then the actual speed. It was still frustrating either way.
"Well just keep trying," he said what she already knew, "If you did it once, that definitely means you can do it again." He was right, she was going to do it again. She can take on any challenge. "Ok, my turn," What? Without warning he made a leap towards her. Immediately she dodged out of the way with a roll.
"Hey watch it Martin, what were you even trying to-Where'd you go?" she started to scold him but realized that he was nowhere to be seen. She looked around briefly. She didn't hear anything that might have been running. Maybe Pinkie had a point about him being camouflaged in grass. She looked over the edge of the cliff just in time to see him impact the ground with a 'thud'. "Martin!" she called in worry, flying down to him quickly. "Hey, you ok?" she said nudging him with a hoof. He looked ok from where she stood but his head was half buried in the ground.
He raised his head from the ground and stared at her, "Either I fall slowly or this cliff is taller then I thought. I counted at least 7 seconds for that drop." Ignoring that, she gave him another look over and saw he was only slightly dirty from the fall.
"What were you even trying to do there?" she asked while helping him to his hooves.
"Like I said, it was my turn to get thrown," he told her. She could only stare at him weirdly. What is with this stallion? Is he nuts?
"Why the hay would you want me to throw you? You don't have wings to fly, in case you forgot," she said, tapping his head with her hoof.
"It would be like flying," he tried to explain.
"No it definitely would not. That would be falling, really fast falling," she informed him, "Besides, I can't throw you like that."
"But you carried me up to that cliff," he pointed towards said cliff, calling back to how they got up there.
"Carrying and throwing are two completely different things," she told him. She could carry ponies fine, her wings did most of the lifting, she just needed to keep a good grip on them. Throwing, however, used a different set of muscles. "Sides, even if I could, I wouldn't do it. It would just end up like this," she said while pointing towards the dent in the dirt.
"It still would have been nice," he daydreamed briefly, "But you're right, it probably wouldn't be as good as I imagine." Well now she felt kinda bad, great. 
She sighed before putting on a smile, "Hey don't worry about, I ain't mad. But if you really wanna know what it's like up there, you should totally come visit my place. I'll give you the grand tour," she promised him, wanting to keep his hope up.
"Really?" he said excitedly. There it was, that excitement he gets when introduced to something new and interesting. She'd seen that look a lot when flying over head. At least once a day he'd find something to get excited over. Life was probably never boring for him. "Thanks, Rainbow," he thanked her preemptively.
"Thank me after you've seen it," she said. Now she just had to figure out how to not make this topic weird when she asks Twilight if she knows a cloud walking spell.



"Ya'll sure about this Martin fellow?" asked Big Macintosh. It was currently somewhere close to the evening. They were getting in some last minute farm work before heading in for the night. Big Mac himself was using the plow to get the soil ready for new saplings. Applejack was following close behind dropping said saplings into the disrupted dirt, evenly spacing them, and Applebloom was just behind her, burying the base. Martin was past them getting the dirt ready by taking out the old roots of the trees he uprooted. Personally, Big Mac had only met the stallion a few times. He was a nice fellow, little screwy in the head but that don't make a bad pony. But he had heard a lot about the guy from his stay at the clinic. Even Applebloom heard things about him at school. Apparently he's been telling them fantastical stories about his home. Like some creature named Neph who is supposedly a mismatch of multiple creatures and has power of different dimensions. Big Mac will say this about him, he can certainly spin a tale.
"He ain't the bad sort," Applejack answered with a shrug, "He ain't hurting nopony with his stories and hay, he may even be telling the truth with some of them. So ah'll suspend my disbelief until proven otherwise."
"He's kinda weird though," Applebloom decided to enter the conversation, "Ah asked him about how he got his cutie mark, and he said he had no idea how he got it and that it just appeared." She wanted to see if somepony not from Equestria had any tips on getting a cutie mark but that didn't work out at all.
"Huh, weird but ah could believe it coming from him," AJ said with another shrug. That stallion could be attentive if he wanted to, but when he wasn't, he just didn't seem to see anything not in his immediate attention. Speaking of the inattentive stallion, she figured it was about time somepony went to check on his progress. "Applebloom," she called to the filly behind her, "Go on and take a look at what he's done. Ah'll come back 'round and finish buryin these ones later. If he's finished, send him on his way."
The smallest pony nodded and trotted towards where they left him. It didn't take long, finding him almost immediately. He was shifting the dirt with his bare hooves and pulling any roots out with his teeth. Despite the roots being buried pretty deep, he had no trouble pulling them out. He had a large pile of roots tossed to the side but he wasn't sweating at all, he was only covered in dirt. "Hello Mister Martin," Applebloom greeted him. 
He looked over and smiled at the young filly, "Hello Applebloom, come to check on my progress?" she gave him a nod, "Well I think I'm done, but I'm going to give the area another once over just to be sure. Would you like to walk with me?" he asked her.
She gave the offer a thought and decided to go along with it. She needed to tell him what to do anyway. "Sure thing," she agreed. Applebloom followed after his long strides with her own little quick steps. She looked up at him and blinked in surprise when he was walking with his eyes closed. Looking down at his hooves, she saw each one with a white glow to it. She'd never seen an earth pony do that before. "Mister Martin? Can ah ask what you're doing?" she asked him.
"I'm trying to sense for any other dead wood in the ground," he answered without opening his eyes.
"Can all earth pony's where you're from do that?" she questioned further. That'd be pretty cool, maybe he could teach them how to do it.
"I think that's very unlikely," he chuckled, "This power I have is exclusive to me, as far as I know." 
She tilted her head at that, was Martin some unique pony? Darn, she hoped she could have shown off some neat glowy hoof trick. "What do ya mean?" she asked.
"I wasn't born with this power, it was given to me by a higher being," he explained. 
"Like the Princesses?" she guessed. She wondered if the Princesses could give a pony that kind of power. Maybe she'd get her cutie mark from a gifted power. Although, she couldn't imagine what that kind of mark would look like. Taking a glance at his own mark, she wondered if that was how he got his.
"Eh," he hesitated, "I'm not entirely sure how their standing compares to the being, but they move the sun and moon so I'll give you a definite 'maybe'."
"So what'd that power give you?" she asked curiously. Maybe he was secretly a super hero? Maybe she could get a cutie mark in being a sidekick. Fighting off forces of evil and saving the world. That would be cool.
"Well primarily it let's me use the energy it's comprised of to manifest as a physical object in any shape I want," he explained, but it went right over Applebloom's head. She had no idea on what he just said. Turn energy into an object? What did that even mean? "That's it then, no more roots," he suddenly declared. 
She looked around in surprise and saw that they did walk the entire length. Glancing at his hooves, she noticed they weren't glowing anymore. Well if he was done, she'd better let him go. "Thank you for your help Mister Martin, but there's nothing else for you to do. So you should go home now," she told him.
He nodded, "Alrighty then, you 4 have a good evening. Tell Granny Smith I'd love to hear more of her stories later." He was talking about the time they went inside to get a glass of water. Granny Smith had immediately taken a shine to the polite young stallion. Always glad to have a new ear to talk into.
Applebloom waved to the stallion as he left and he gave a smile in return. She'd ask Applejack what he meant later at dinner. Maybe she'll know something about it.



It was well into the evening before the residents of the Golden Oaks Library finished eating their dinner. With all leftovers placed in the refrigerator, Spike and Twilight went their separate ways to do their own activities. Twilight decided to do a little late studying and Spike went off to sift through his comic book collection. Each of them were waiting for Martin's arrival that he promised.
No sooner had they started, they heard a strange noise, "Wha-cha!" it yelled, "Hoo!" Whatever it was, it was making exaggerated kung-fu noises. Well Twilight wasn't going to have any of this non-sense.
She opened the door quickly, "Who's there?!" She was greeted by a loud 'thunk'. She looked down and saw Martin laying on his back with swirly eyes and his tongue sticking out. "Oh my gosh, Martin. I'm so sorry," she went up to him, helping him to his hooves. "Are you ok?" she asked. He didn't look injured but his eyes were still spinning.
"The library just checked me out," he slurred. What? Oh no, did she really hurt him? He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked at her. "Oh hi Twilight, how are you this evening," he greeted.
"I'm fine, but really, are you ok? Did I hurt you?" she asked him. He seemed alright now. The doctors were right about the endurance thing, thankfully.
"Nah, I'm fine," he denied, "I'm here like I said. Even finished Spike's comic book. I'm still not quite done with the geography book but I brought it anyway in case you wanted it back."
Twilight shook her head in the negative, "It's fine, you can keep it longer. But I have to ask, why did you make Kung-fu noises at my door?" 
"I was trying to intimidate it," he answered, "Didn't work."
She stared at him, waiting for some kind of 'gotcha' or further explanation. When he gave neither she decided to drop the subject. "Come on in," she gestured for him to enter after her, "Spike! Martin's here." There was some noise upstairs as Spike come down.
"Hey Martin, you came," he greeted the green stallion.
"Yep, I also got the comic book to give back to you," he said as he pulled it out and gave it to Spike, "I was impressed by the story, my favorite part was Bright's own robotic suit. It looked so interesting, but the flaw he overlooked kinda ruined it. Being durable is important, but if you can't move when it runs out of power, then it's not going to help." 
"Ya, he tries to fix the problem in later issues but ultimately he can't find an energy source that will last long enough," Spike explained. "But there's a rumor going around that Pace Maker and Bright Light were going to work together to make a mech that ran on Pace's electric charge. I hope they do because that sounds awesome!" Twilight just rolled her eyes and decided to go back to studying while the boys talked about their topics.
However, her mind wasn't in the book. It was calculating the next part in dealing with Martin. She had so many questions about his home and the ponies he knew. But two things stopped her from asking them. Firstly, it was Fluttershy's turn to interrogate. How that was going to work out, she could only guess. Somehow Twilight drew the shortest straw in that regard and was to be last. Secondly, Pinkie had mentioned in passing that none of the girls knew a thing about Martin himself. She knew his favorite color, his favorite flavor, even his favorite season. And she was right, the entire purpose of this was to figure out who he was. The questioning had shifted to about Broken Depths when they were trying to figure out if he was a liar or not. This wasn't about his home. This was about him and if they should be worried about what he could do. She took a breath to ready herself. Tonight, they were just going to talk as friends. No fear, suspicion, or otherwise. With that thought, she closed the book and went back to the boys.
"-And the ball just went all the way! It was amazing! Crazy Legs is such a good hoofball player," Spike gushed. It seemed they shifted their conversation from comic books to hoofball.
Martin chuckled, "I can imagine. It sounds like a fun game but I don't think my friends back home could play it." 
"What? Why not?" Spike asked. He couldn't imagine what would stop somepony from playing unless they were disabled. Even if you were bad at it, you can still have fun.
"Well," he looked up in thought, "Jordan's banned from any type of sport for being too strong and just generally doesn't play games, Triple B would do too many illegal maneuvers, Director prefers games of the mind, Stranger cheats by transforming into opposing players and have them do illegal actions, Carlos doesn't like anything, Theo's not big on physical activities, Neph is a sore loser, Lydia prefers more refined competitions, and Voodoo Man would only play if you payed him, even then he'd cheat." Martin looked back towards Spike, "I think Tria is the only one who I could play with, so we'd probably just toss the ball back and forth." Well, there's another couple of names to add to the list, Lydia and Neph.
"I've been meaning to ask, what kind of name is Voodoo Man? It doesn't really fit with the other names," Spike pointed out. Although, only Director and Stranger seemed like normal pony names.
"It's not actually his name. Neither is Stranger, Triple B, Director, or even Theo. They're nicknames we gave them because we either don't know their real names or it's too hard to pronounce," he explained.
"You don't know your friend's names?" Spike asked a little surprised. You'd think a name would be the first thing you know about a friend.
"Some friends want to have their secrets. A good friend will let them keep that secret," Martin said with a distant look in his eyes. Twilight and Spike exchanged glances, both wondering what he could be thinking about. He shook his head, "But enough about that. I actually wanted to ask you something Twilight," he tilted his head to look at her. "You're Princess Celestia's student right?" he asked.
"Yes?" she said hesitantly, where was he going with this?
"Are you still in contact with her?" he asked further.
"Of course," she answered, "Every so often when I learn a new thing about friendship, I write her a letter and have Spike here send it by dragon mail." 
Martin looked at Spike weirdly, "But he doesn't have wings. How would he get it there?" Spike crossed his arms with a frown on his face, not liking that it was pointed out. 
Twilight shook her head, "He doesn't physically take it to her. Spike can produce a magic flame that will turn a letter to ashes and send the ashes directly to the Princess, reforming into the letter again in front of her."
"Woah!" Martin exclaimed, "That sounds much cooler then using snail mail." Spike smiled proudly at the compliment but Twilight raised an eyebrow at the comment.
"Snail mail?" she asked. She could take a guess on what it meant, but when dealing with Martin, it wasn't smart to assume too much.
"It's not literally delivered by snail. It's just a bit of slang that means that the mailing process takes too long for our liking," Martin explained. 
Internally Twilight sighed in relief, glad he didn't add onto the weirdness of his town by having snails, of all things, do it. It was kinda sad that that she would assume that it was in the realm of possibilities. But she needed to get back on topic, "Why do you ask?"
"Well I wanted to ask for a favor. I'd like it if I could send a letter to the Princess, but if it's instantaneous then it can wait," he said with a shrug. 
"What kind of letter?" Spike asked for the both of them. 
"Well a thank you letter along with a joke," he answered with a big smile. That got some raised eyebrows out of the both of them. He wanted to send a joke to the Princess?
"What kind of joke?" Spike inquired.
Martin smiled mischievously and started spouting in a foreign language, "J'ai été mettre une lettre à la poste, et puis j'ai pris un mauvais tournant. Vous voyez, mon Princess, quand on tourne au coin pour aller à la Dragon, c'est un angle oblique!"
Spike and Twilight blinked in unison in utter bafflement. What in the world did he just say? Twilight thought he told Time Turner that he couldn't speak foreign languages. Did he lie? "What was that?" she finally asked. 
"It's a funny story in a foreign language. But ultimately, it was a quote from something I saw years ago," he explained, chuckling. Was he saying he saw a play or movie in a foreign language, found the one line that happened to be a funny story, memorized it, and learned to pronounce it perfectly? She was both surprised and impressed. Pinkie was right, there was more they should learn about Martin himself. "Do you have any stories about your time as the Princess's student?" he asked. She smiled kindly at him, seemed he was eager to learn about her as well.
For the rest of their evening, they each exchanged stories about themselves. Twilight told him about her and newly the hatched Spike and Martin told her about himself and the things he enjoyed. All in all, it was a successful evening for friends.



It was the next morning and Angel was not happy. His owner Fluttershy had told him and the other animals that some new stallion was going to be coming by to assist them with their bath time. Seriously? Ugh, it was the stupid cats fault. A couple of freak outs and apparently she needs a helper. She really needs to learn to put her hoof down a bit more when it comes to the other animals. Not him of course.
Angel looked down the path and saw some stallion he'd never seen before walk up it with his eyes closed. This must be the guy. He had this grin on his face that just screamed 'dim'. Angel crossed his arms and glared at the stallion as he passed by and up to the door to the cottage. He raised an eyebrow when the stallion crashed right into the door. The green pony was more then dim, apparently.
Soon after Fluttershy opened the door and greeted the dizzy stallion, "oh Martin, are you ok?" she asked him.
Martin shook his head to right his thoughts, "I'm ok. You have nice place here, Fluttershy," he complimented while looking around at the cottage.
Fluttershy blushed a little at the compliment, "Thank you. I wasn't expecting you so early. I was still getting breakfast ready for the animals. Um, if you'd like, you can get started. The tubs are around back." 
Angel watched as the weird stallion agreed and Fluttershy led him around back. He hopped after them, keeping a close eye on this 'Martin'. She showed him the tubs, what needs to be done with each animal, how to deal with them when they get out of hoof, basic stuff. He reassured her that he could handle everything and that she should finish her task so she could come join him. She agreed and went back inside. 
Martin turned to the expectant animals with another smile, "Alright all of you, we want to ease the work load for Fluttershy so I would really appreciate it if you cooperated." Angel snorted in contempt. That was never going to happen. He'd probably get 2 or three to go along with him but the rest only listened to his owner. "I would like to do this quickly so I'll use a little something to assist in the process," he stated as he walked over to Harry the Bear, who had already gotten into the large tub. Angel raised an eyebrow at that statement. What was he talking about?
His mouth fell open as particles of white light seemed to come together and merge at two points above his back. As the lights came together a white translucent mass began to take form, lengthening upwards from the spot. Several animals already ran away in terror while others stayed, transfixed by the event. When the lights finally stopped merging into the mass, the completed object was two translucent, white, featureless tentacles that floated an inch off his back. The tentacles reached down and grabbed the soap and brush and began to clean Harry. Angel had seen enough and immediately ran towards the nearby window of the cottage to try and get Fluttershy's attention. He hopped into the windowsill saw her immediately, waving frantically to get her attention. 
She eventually noticed him and trotted up to him, "Angel? What's wrong?" she asked. He began to do charades to convey his message. He started by pointing at his eye. "I," she guessed. He nodded and made a motion of gripping something and shoving it forwards and backwards. "Saw," he nodded again but paused as he came up with how to convey the next word. He hopped down and grabbed some dirt and a paw full of grass. He put the dirt on his head and the grass against his chest. "Dirty?" she guessed but he shook his head. She tapped her hoof in thought, "Martin?" Angel nodded at that. He looked around briefly and pointed towards some honey bees pollinating flowers. "Be," once again nodding, he opened his mouth wide and pointed towards himself. "Ah," confirming it was correct, Angel started making growling and roaring noises as best he could while standing up tall with his arms high in the air. "Monster?" Angel crossed his arms and nodded at the final word.
"You saw Martin be a monster?" she guessed the sentence. At his confirmation, she gave a gasp. Good, she would kick out the freak and things would get back to normal. "Angel, you shouldn't call ponies a monster just because you don't want a bath right now," she scolded him. He could only stare at her in disbelief. "I'll be out in a bit, I just need to finish making breakfast," she told him. She walked back into the kitchen leaving the stunned rabbit. 
Eventually he broke out of his stupor and crossed his arms with an especially grumpy look on his face, but did accept his fate. "Alright bunny, it's your turn," he heard as one of the tentacles wrapped around his middle. He didn't even flinch as he was pulled towards the tub. He'll accept the bath but that stallion had better get his tail right!



"Thank you for your help today Martin," Fluttershy told him as they were passing around food to the now clean animals. She had been surprised that a lot of animals were already clean by the time she came out. So they were able to finish up quickly between the two of them. He mentioned he had to slow down for some of the more skittish animals. While a little upset at possible sloppy work, she was still glad he had eased her burden.
"You're welcome Fluttershy," he smiled kindly at her. She felt kinda bad that she needed to interrogate him, but she promised her friends she would. And she would keep that promise, no matter what.
"Uh, Martin? Would it be ok if I asked you about, uh, um," she stumbled over the rest of her sentence. Oh dear, she had forgotten what she needed to ask him about. She hadn't even started yet and she already failed.
"Fluttershy? Fluttershy," he called for her, seeing her sad look, "Are you ok?" he asked, worried about her.
She shook her head, "I'm alright. But when I try to think about what to ask about Broken Depths, it's just so," she hesitated, having trouble finding the right word.
"Strange?" he guessed for her. She didn't answer verbally and nodded. She felt sheepish for not being able to answer herself. "I don't blame you. Broken Depths is a weird place. But there is a reason for it," he told her.
She tilted her head curiously, "What would that be?" she asked. Maybe this can be her contribution? 
"Um, I can't actually tell you," he denied.
"Oh," she lowered her head. So much for that idea.
"Not that I don't want to," he tried to reassure, "But I'm sworn to secrecy. You see, there's something about Broken Depths that is super important. Something that only a select few know and needs to remain a secret or the entire world could be put in danger." Fluttershy's eyes widened in terror. Something inside Broken Depths could threaten the whole world? That was downright frightening. "Don't worry, the best of the best are guarding the secret, so nothing will happen. Alright?" he tried to comfort her.
She accepted that everything was fine, but she needed to tell Twilight this soon. It was big. Oh, why was she the one that had to find out about it? Could this day get any worse?



This morning had just gotten a lot worse for Spike. They had gotten word from the Princess that a dragon had taken a nearby mountain as a home for him to sleep in. It was up to Twilight and the girls to go up there and convince the dragon to leave. Spike would have wanted to go along and meet a fellow dragon but he agreed with Twilight that he may compromise the negotiation with his presence. So he was to be left behind. He had offered to watch over Fluttershy's animals while she was gone for the afternoon, but she had told him that she had already asked Martin to do it. He couldn't believe it! Possibly the biggest chance for him to prove himself, taken away by somepony he thought he could trust. That's how Spike found himself sulking at the park bench while ponies around him fidgeted because of the black cloud of smoke looming overhead. 
Martin passed by him back towards the cottage with saddlebags full of pet supplies he may need, his head held high not even worried about the smoke. He suddenly stopped with a confused look on his face. He backed up and stood in front of the sulking dragon. "Spike? What's wrong?" he asked. Spike didn't give him an answer and just crossed his arms while turning his head away. "Aw come on Spike, you can tell me. We're friends right?" he urged him to talk.
Spike sighed a little. He stood up so he could be at eye level with Martin, "Martin, I really wanted to be the one to take care of Fluttershy's animals," he finally answered.
Martin raised an eyebrow at him, "Why?" he questioned.
"Some ponies still treat me like I'm too young to do anything important. So I figured, maybe I could finally prove myself by taking on the responsibility of caring for animals. But you got it instead," Spike sighed and slumped back onto the bench, "I'll never get the respect I want."
"Woah, woah, woah," Martin suddenly said in shock, surprising Spike out of his stupor "Did you just say 'never'?" He raised an eyebrow at Martin, confused at his surprise. What was so special about the word? He's said it plenty of times before. "So young and yet you have lost hope," he said as music began to play. "Come on Spike, there's always hope out there if you look for it, if you give up you will never get that respect," he picked up Spike and placed him on his back, taking Spike along for a ride, "So, never say never, say," and then he began to sing.

Never say never, What ever you do
Never say never, my friend

"Martin I," Spike tried to interrupt but Martin just shushed him.

If you believe that, your dreams will come true
They'll come true in the end

"But I," Spike tried again but was equally unsuccessful.

Keep up your courage, don't ever despair
Take heart and then count to ten
Hope for the best, work for the rest
And never say never again

"Aw, but it's impossible. I'll never get the respect I want," Spike crossed his arms and sulked again.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah! Never say never, now say that, go on," Martin urged him to sing along. He looked towards the stallion in thought. Martin gave him a reassuring nod, so Spike decided to give it a try.

Never say never,

Whatever you do, again

Never say never,

to me, see how easy?
If you believe you can come shining through

That's, that's how it's gonna be

"Perfect," Martin cheered with a laugh. As they walked, they passed by the flower sisters who decided to join in the song.

Now don't you go and give up, give out, or give in
When the going's rough, just get tough
and just tell yourself you're gonna win

"Thanks girls!" Martin called to them with a wave. They waved back and went their own way.

Remember to look on the bright side til then
and never say never again.

"Now, are you ready to help me take care of those animals?" Martin suddenly asked of him. 
Spike's mouth opened in surprise, "Really?" Martin was going to let him help?
"Of course Spike, we're friends. We help each other out," he reassured. "I'll especially need your help with all those animals. I'd never be able to finish in time by myself."
Spike gave a chuckle, "Martin, you said 'never'," Spike said, using Martin's own words against him.
"Oh so I did," he chuckled, "Then it's probably a good thing I have your help isn't it?"

Never say never

Never say never                 Never say never

Never say never again                 Never say never again

As the song ended, Spike couldn't help but sigh in relief. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. He looked over at the smiling stallion, glad to be able to call him a friend. Martin listened avidly when he talked about his favorite things, he told his own cool stories, he even told interesting jokes. If nothing else, he was glad to just have another friend who was a guy.
Martin looked back at Spike with a raised eyebrow, "Something wrong?" he asked.
Spike smiled at him, "Nope," he said simply. Everything was alright.
The two of the went towards Fluttershy's cottage at a leisurely pace. Neither of them seemed to notice another set of hooves step onto the path and glare at the back of Martin's head. A member of the Royal Guard had arrived and he was going to do his duty for the crown.