//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Just Dropping In // by Gunsmith //------------------------------// We first come across another cobblestone bridge, like the one we crossed when first entering Ponyville on the opposite side of town. The sound of hoofsteps changes from a muffled thump of hooves on snow-covered dirt to a clip-clop of hooves on snow-covered stone. I look over the side of the bridge as we trot over it, seeing that the river beneath it, which seems to stretch across the outskirts of Ponyville, is frozen over, glistening as it refracts the sun's light. I see a few other bridges crossing over the same river, a few hundred yards apart. The sound my hooves generate returns to the thump of the dirt road leading back into Ponyville from Sweet Apple Acres. The amount of houses continues to increase as we slowly trot along. There are significantly less ponies filling the roads now; I'm guessing they're joining their own families to spend Hearth's Warming Eve together. I look down a little, seeing more of the white snow on the ground, distorted by hoof-shaped prints in it. My thoughts drift to my own family. My mind attempts to push these thoughts away, as I have been, but they continue to persist. I wish I could have spent more time with them. A part of me tells me that I couldn't have known what would happen, no one could have, and that I bore no fault. My family had known I loved them, and I know they loved me, too. I still can't help feeling guilty, though. It would have been nice to spend my last moments on Earth with them. I don't like moping around, I never have. Being depressed sucks, and makes everyone else depressed, too. At least you couldn't have ended up in a better place, I tell myself. I agree with my conscience, because I know it is right. Despite my family being gone, at least to my knowledge, I'm in a place I'd never dreamed I would end up in. Not a perfect world, though it sure seems like it, it is most definitely better than Earth. The world itself seems kinder, untouched by war, death, plagues, the things that made Earth a hard place to live. I am fine with the pain that still exists, and am in fact grateful for it; pain is how I know I really exist. Physical or mental pain, it doesn't matter, pain lets me know that I'm still a being, still existing, that I still have a soul. And to help you get through any pain you find are a generally very nice bunch of ponies. I hope that my family, my friends, every other soul that I cared about, and those that were good souls, are in as good a place as I am. I don't know if I'm alone or not here, unlike anyone else in this world or one of many. Maybe I would find out in time. With this thought I feel somewhat empty; I don't want to be alone. I know that I am not, not really. I think that I mean I want to have someone else who understands. Something like that. I really can't tell. My thoughts are interrupted by a feeling on my back, near my where my right wing connects to it. I look up, surprised at the new feeling. I look over to my right and see Rainbow Dash looking at me with a worried look on her face. I notice we aren't moving anymore, but we've somehow reached the town square again. Only a few ponies mill around. I notice the sky is now beginning to turn orange. How long have we been walk--trotting? My eyes return to Rainbow, and I see now in my field of view that her left foreleg is outstretched, disappearing from my vision near my own body. I can feel the area on my back again, and realize Dash's foreleg is on my back. Her leg feels warm on my fur; maybe I'm just cold. Her own fur feels soft against my own. I realize that I do actually feel cold at the moment, and resist the urge to shiver. I feel like putting her warm hoof all over my face, absorbing the warmth. "You okay, Ferrum?" she asks quietly. I feel a little embarrassed. I didn't intend to display my feelings, but I assume I must look distressed or something. I attempt a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just...thinking," I respond. She frowns a little. "Alright," she says, still quiet. She smiles a little before continuing. "We're here, at Sugarcube Corner. We might be a bit early." The thought of the dinner distracts me. I smile, for real this time. "Oh, Okay. We going in?" "Yeah, come on," she replies, trotting towards the extravagant looking building. As we approach it, I can see various cakes, cupcakes, pies, and other colorful desserts sitting in the shop windows. They look delicious; and ridiculously sweet. Rainbow Dash reaches the door and pushes it open with her nose, and I follow in behind her. I feel a blast of warm air as I enter the shop; it feels excellent, and I realize just how cold it actually is outside. The interior of Sugarcube Corner is fairly open. A few doorways lead to other portions of the store/house combination. A counter sits near the middle of the room; it is also a glass display case, holding many cupcakes of all colors inside, a few cakes with various things written on them (most of those in the display case read "Happy Hearth's Warming Eve" in icing), and other desserts I cannot name but look tasty. I spot a few tables off to the side of the room. One appears to be a few small tables joined together to form a larger one. A multitude of stools surround the larger table. The room in general and all of its furniture and fillings are almost obnoxious from how much pink, green, blue, and other light Easter-egg-hued colors fill it. I hear some hoofsteps from a room that seems to be behind the counter. Out of a doorway behind the counter comes one pony, a stout, yellow mare, who I recognize as Mrs. Cake, co-owner of the shop Rainbow Dash and I stand in. The other co-owner and her husband, Mr. Cake, comes out of the same doorway a moment later. Both smile upon seeing Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash, how nice to see you!" says Mrs. Cake cheerfully. "You're a wee bit early, but I bet your other friends will be here soon. Pinkie is upstairs getting ready." Her eyes move over to me, still holding a cheerful look. "Who's your friend?" she asks. "Hey Missus Cake! This is my friend, Ferrum. He'll be joining us for dinner tonight, if that's okay with you guys." I smile a friendly smile towards the Cakes. I also smile inwardly. I'm Rainbow Dash's friend; awesome! The "forever alone" meme pops into my head, and I nearly laugh at my own thoughts. Mr. Cake pipes up this time. "He is most certainly welcome to stay, as long as he has a sweet tooth!" he jokes, chuckling afterward. His wife adds, "It's nice to meet you, Ferrum." I remember my manners and take a few steps towards the counter. I reach my right foreleg over top of the counter, outstretched in my intention to shake...hooves. I nearly pull my arm back in, wondering if ponies greet each other by shaking hooves, when I see the Cakes also moving forward, their intentions appearing to match mine. "It's nice to meet you, too, Mister and Missus Cake," I say as I grasp first Mrs. Cake's hoof, lightly, then Mr. Cake's, more firmly; there is a proper etiquette for shaking hands, and hooves, gently and kindly with females, and firmly and confidently with males, but not too much so, or so I learned as a kid. Hoofshakes seem somewhat odd to me, being that it's more wrapping one's hoof around the others' and then shaking up and down, since you can't really grip their hoof. After I pull my foreleg back in, I back up to my previous place beside Dash. "Well, I'll go get Pinkie Pie for you two. She should be ready by now..." says Mrs. Cake, trailing off as she turns back into the doorway and disappearing. Mr. Cake smiles and nods to us, then follows his spouse out of the room. I glance over at Rainbow and smile to her, not really for any reason. She smiles back. I turn away, glancing around the room idly while waiting for Pinkie. Wait...I'm meeting Pinkie for the first time and...oh, God... As if on cue, a pink earth pony comes bouncing, literally bouncing, through the doorway that the Cakes exited out of. Her hair is frizzy and wild-looking, and is also pink, and her cutie mark shows three multicolored balloons. A smile seems locked on to her face, and she seems to glow with happiness and energy. I wonder if she's ever experienced lockjaw from too much smiling before. She spots Rainbow Dash immediately and jumps cleanly over the counter, not bothering to use the door that opens the counter into the rest of the room. Pinkie Pie hops up to her and squeezes her around the neck. "Dashie!" she cries in glee. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here! Happy Hearth's Warming Eve! You're kind of early, but everyone else should get here soon! Oh, this party is going to be great! I love Hearth's Warming Eve!" She is squeezing Dash's neck tighter and tighter as she talks rapidly; I can see Rainbow turning a shade of purple. "Pinkie...can't...breathe!" she manages to gasp. Pinkie Pie releases her constrictive grip on Rainbow Dash's neck, and Dash gasps for breath. "Sorry, Dashie!" she says, still grinning ear-to-ear. I get the feeling she isn't apologetic at all. Pinkie then turns and sees me, standing to the side of Dash. Her eyes begin to widen, along with her pupils. I'm a little scared, because I'm pretty sure that only happens to people on drugs or when the light changes; and I don't think Pinkie is experiencing either. Maybe the former, if one could consider sugar a drug. Suddenly her mouth opens wide and she gasps. I wonder how big her lungs must be to create that big of a gasp. Deciding to stop what I know will come next, I hold up a hoof. "Pinkie, wait!" I say. She stops gasping, but her face remains that same, quite comically in fact. "Don't freak out," I tell her, hoping she'll calm down. Her face seems to mimic that painting where the guy is screaming for a moment longer. Then, it is replaced by a cheerful smile. "Okie dokie lokie!" I'm a little surprised she actually calmed down. I hold out my right foreleg towards her. "I'm Ferrum. It's nice to meet you, Pinkie Pie," I say, a little cautiously. She stares at me, continuing to wear a huge smile, then, fast as a snake, grabs my outstretched leg with both her own forelegs and begins wildly shaking it up and down. My arm feel like it's about to be ripped from its socket, and my head is bobbing from how hard she is shaking my hoof. "Hi, Ferrum! You're new in Ponyville! I haven't seen you around, and I'm friends with everyone in Ponyville!" She pauses only to gasp again. "I need to throw you a "Welcome-to-Ponyville-Ferrum party! What kind of cupcakes do you like? And music? And decorations? And--" "Pinkie," I cut her off. "I'm honored, but we can figure out a "Welcome-to-Ponyville-Ferrum party another time. Tonight is the Hearth's Warming Eve party, okay?" "Okay!" Pinkie says, then turns back to Rainbow Dash, who has been watching in some degree of amusement this whole time. I notice that her scarf is gone, now lying in a pile in the corner of the room. "Oh, Dashie, this is going to be great! We've got cake, and cupcakes, and these chocolately-choco-chocolate brownies I made! And everyone's going to come, you, me, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, even Spike, and now Ferrum, too! This will be, like, the best Hearth's Warming Eve yet!" Rainbow chuckles and smiles at Pinkie Pie. "Yeah, it's going to be awesome," she agrees. "Ooh!" cries Pinkie. "I'm going to go get the cake, and the cookies, and the brownies! Be right back!" And with that, she quickly hops out of the room. I glance over at Rainbow Dash and grin, amused at Pinkie Pie's antics. She returns the grin, equally humored. I hear the door open behind us and turn around. In trots an orange earth pony with a blond mane and a cowboy hat. Her cutie mark is of three apples. She holds her hat with one foreleg, resisting the cold wind that threatens to blow it off. "Whoo-ee!" she says, to no one in particular, closing the door behind her and closing off the current of cold air. A Southern U.S. accent heavily influences her voice. "It's a mite chilly out there, I reckon." She spots Rainbow Dash first. What, do I blend in with the shadows in the room? "Hey there, Rainbow Dash, Happy Hearth's Warmin' Eve to yah." She turns to me. "Ah haven't seen you 'round here before, what's yer name?" "I'm Ferrum. It's nice to meet you, Miss...?" I hold out my foreleg again. I'm trying to sound polite, but I know Applejack probably won't take well to being called "miss", and smile a little inwardly. "Applejack," she states, grabbing my hoof and shaking it firmly. "Ain't no 'miss', either, just Applejack," she says, smiling. She eyes me up and down for a moment, then asks, "So, why're yah joinin' us tonight?" she asks, not in a mean way, but in a truly questioning way. I go to open my mouth to reply, but Rainbow does so for me. "He's been hanging out with me, and he didn't have any place to go for Hearth's Warming Eve, so I invited him to come along with me. Cool with you?" she asks Applejack. "That's fine by me," replies Applejack, smiling at me. "Nice tah meet yah, too, Ferrum." I return the smile, and Applejack turns back to Dash. They begin to chat idly, and I trot slowly around the room. A few minutes later, as I am staring at my hooves, tapping them to music I hear only in my head, the door swings open yet again. My fur stands on end at the rush of cold air that flows into the warm room. I hear a small squeaking kind of noise and look up at the door. The pony who just entered is now removing her light pink scarf, tentatively placing it on the floor next to Rainbow Dash's multicolored scarf. She is a pale yellow pony, a pegasus, like Dash and I, with a light pink mane that curls around a little. A picture of three butterflies of various colors marks her flank. She sees Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and gives a small smile. "Hello, Rainbow Dash, hello, Applejack. Happy Hearth's Warming Eve," says Fluttershy in a soft voice. She notices me fairly quickly, and seems to shrink back a little. "Oh...h-hello..." she whispers at me. "Hi, my name's Ferrum," I introduce myself, taking a few steps towards her and holding out my right foreleg, smiling as non-menacingly as I can. "I'm....Fluttershy..." she squeaks. I'm hardly sure she's even talking. She lifts her own foreleg and gently brushes it against mine, moving her leg a fraction of an inch up and down before retreating. I can't help but smile at her shyness. I hear a semi-distant springing noise, and in bounds Pinkie Pie. I turn and see she has all sorts of desserts balanced on her head, nose, and back, various platters filled with cookies, cakes, and some brownies. "Hiya Fluttershy, hiya Applejack! Did you meet Ferrum? He's Dashie's friend, and he's new in Ponyville! He's going to spend Hearth's Warming Eve with us! Isn't it great?" she says in one breath. I don't understand how she can balance the platters she carries while bouncing up and down like a jackhammer, but she does, and sets them all on the large table in the room in one swift motion. Fluttershy seems to shrink down more. It's making me feel very tall, too tall in fact. I think I can hear her whisper "Oh, my..." but I decide to leave her be and smile, turning away and giving her some space. I hope I haven't intimidated her by being a tall pony. Pinkie Pie carries on, bounding over to where Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and I stand, and where Fluttershy half-lies on the floor. "Now we're just missing Rarity and--" A noise outside the door cuts her off. It sounds like something from a sci-fi movie. A second later, a tired-looking purple unicorn, who has a similarly purple mane with a pink stripe and a star-sparkle-thing cutie mark, trots in, followed by a short purple-and-green baby dragon. He looks more like a kid dragon, actually. The unicorn's horn glows a slowly-fading purple. "Spike, remind me just to trot next time," says Twilight Sparkle as the door to Sugarcube Corner swings closed behind her. She looks up, noticing her cluster of all but one friend, and cheerfully says, "Hello, everypony! Happy Hearth's Warming Eve!" She hugs each of her friends, nearly suffering the same fate as Rainbow Dash when she hugs Pinkie Pie. Her friends greet her, as well as Spike, who happily returns their greetings. She then turns to me, as does Spike; I think she actually noticed me first when she arrived. It's hard not to, or at least, it should be. Black pony, not-black surroundings, you get the picture. "I haven't seen you before. Are you new in Ponyville?" Twilight inquires. "Yeah," I reply. "My name's Ferrum. It's nice to meet you." I stick out my leg again; it's getting a little tired from hoofshakes. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and it's very nice to meet you, too. Welcome to Ponyville!" she says, taking my outstretched hoof and shaking it. Her hoofshake is very precise; she maintains the same pressure and pull on my hoof, which is fairly light, and moves her leg up and down at equal angles. "Thanks," I reply. I withdraw my hoof and step back a little, allowing her to join her friends. I turn and look farther downward to the purple and green kid dragon below me. He stretches out his small claw towards me. As I move my hoof to take it, he says, "Hi, I'm Spike. It's nice to meet you, Ferrum." Happy to actually be conversing with a male for a change, I respond, "Nice to meet you, too, Spike." His claw digs in a little to my hoof as he grips it. I half-smile, half-wince at him. He smiles back, probably also glad to have a fellow male at the party. I feel a little sorry for the guy, but also envy his swag. Yeah, Spike has swag, don't deny it. Spike begins to say to the general audience, "Where is Rar--", but like Pinkie Pie, he is interrupted by the sound of the pony he was about to mention arriving. The door swings open and in trots a white unicorn, who has a purple mane, which she flips to one side, and a cutie mark showing three diamond-shaped diamonds. She daintily removes her purple scarf and folds in neatly next to the other scarfs in the corner of Sugarcube Corner's main room. "Hello, darlings!" cries Rarity. She trots further into the room, seeing Spike first. "Oh, Spikey-wikey, you're here!" she says, hugging him. His eyes seem to glaze over in a trance as she does, and he sighs loudly. I chuckle a little to myself at the lovestruck dragon. She continues on to her five friends, who greet her back and smile at her. She then turns, like the rest of the ponies had, noticing me finally. "Oh, hello, sir! And who might you be?" she asks me. "I'm Ferrum. It's nice to meet you," I say for the last time that evening. I extend a hoof towards her, and she goes to do the same, but stops near my hoof, letting her own go limp. I recall she takes on a more fancy type of thinking, and understand. I wrap my hoof around her limp hoof, and instead of shaking it, tilt my head towards her. I then withdraw my hoof and return to my full height. "Oh, such a gentlecolt!" says Rarity dramatically. She eyes me a little, as Applejack seemed to do, and then says, "Darling, your coat is simply fabulous! Never have I seen such a magnificent color of black on a pony!" I'm taken a little aback by the comment. No other entirely black ponies? That's kind of odd. "Uhh...thanks." I'm not really sure what else to say. She turns back to her friends, as do Spike and I. I think I hear her mumble to herself about how tall I am, too, but I'm unsure. Pinkie Pie is the first to say something. "Now that everypony's here, let's eat!" she says, hopping over to the table full of sweets. The small mob of mares follow suit, taking seats on the stools around the table, with me and Spike at the rear. I push myself up onto the stool and attempt to get comfortable. The stools actually seem over-sized, likely to accommodate for how ponies sit. After I've situated myself I take a look at what sits atop the large table created from a few smaller tables. The platter full of what Pinkie called "chocolatey-choco-chocolate" brownies sits closest to me; they appear to be just as chocolate as their name indicates. There seem to be around fifty of them, piled neatly in a pyramid on the plate. All of them are a deep brown color, and look moist. I can see small chocolate chips embedded within each of the brownies, and to top it off, there is chocolate syrup covering every one of the square desserts. It looks both delicious and sickening at the same time. In the middle of the table is a platter with a large cake on it. It's almost like a wedding cake in size, actually. It has four different tiers, each positioned a little higher than the last on small pedestals arranged on the platter. From left to right, top to bottom, highest to lowest cake, the cakes read "Happy Hearth's Warming Eve", one word written with red icing on each cake. The cakes seem to vary in flavor; I see one is a vanilla cake, another is chocolate, another is red velvet cake, and the last is a darker chocolate color than the other, possibly a semi-sweet chocolate flavor. Dark brown icing and various green stencils on each of the cakes compliment the red writing atop them. Farthest from me is a platter full of cookies. There is probably around a hundred of these cookies, though they are relatively small in size. I can see that the cookies have been cut into three semi-distinctive shapes; there are cookies shaped like flowers, those shaped like a unicorn's head from the side, and those shaped like a pair of wings, connected together. All are iced in various colors, making the platter very colorful. My brain informs me that the three cookie designs are likely a reference to the three factions of ponies that joined together to create Hearth's Warming Eve: the earth ponies, the unicorns, and the pegasi. I have a feeling they are sugar cookies, remembering those were popularly used as Christmas cookies on Earth. Extra sugary sugar cookies, if I know Pinkie Pie as well I as I think I do. Movement in the corner of my eye distracts me from the baked goods on the table in front of me. I glance to my right and see Pinkie standing from her stool, crying, "Oh!" as if she had just remembered something that was forgotten. She disappears from the room momentarily, then returns with plates on her back and a cake knife in her mouth a second later. I watch the knife the whole time as she returns to the table; I had read "Cupcakes". She drops the knife on the table and distributes eight plates from her back, one at each of our places at the table. I watch as she does so, noting the order of the ponies (and dragon) sitting around me. Spike sits opposite me, at the other end of the table. His chin barely makes it over the table top while he sits on the stool. His eyes follow the plate as Pinkie Pie releases it from her mouth, saying, "Thanks!" to her. Continuing in a counter-clockwise fashion, Pinkie continues to quickly lay plates on the table in front of her guests. She places a white plate in front of Twilight Sparkle, who sits to Spike's right. Twilight says a thank you to Pinkie Pie and smiles at her after the plate settles in front of her. Next to receive a plate is Fluttershy, who whispers a thanks to Pinkie for the plate. Beside Fluttershy, and to my left, sits Applejack. She tips her hat to Pinkie as thanks her plate. Pinkie comes around the table to me. Her head darts out in front of me and from my left, setting a white plate in front of where I sit. I nod to Pinkie and smile. "Thanks," I say as she continues around the table at a continuous speed. To my right is Rainbow Dash. She seems entranced by the piles of sweets in front of her, and snaps out of her stare when the plate lands in front of her. "Thanks, Pinks," she says to Pinkie Pie, who is still continuing around the table. She skips the spot where she is sitting, next to Dash, and places a plate in front of Rarity. Rarity looks back at her and flashes a smile. "Thank you, darling," says Rarity. Her manner of speaking is starting to annoy me a little. One can only take so much properness. Pinkie returns to her own stool, setting the final plate in front of her own spot. She grins and looks around the table. "Dig in, everypony!" Pinkie Pie says. Spike and Rainbow Dash are the first to begin filling their plates with various desserts. I watch for a moment as Rainbow Dash scoops a plethora of the ultra-sweet-looking brownies onto her plate. She begins devouring them fairly quickly, like a cyan blue vacuum. She glances up at me, pausing mid-brownie, seeing that I'm staring a little. She gives me a look that asks, What?, then continues to eat her brownies. I shrug and move to grab my own brownies. I use my foreleg like a backhoe, scooping up brownies or shoving them onto my plate instead of picking them up with my mouth, as I have been doing with food. Wouldn't want to look uncouth now, would I? I think, mimicking Rarity's voice in my head and smiling to myself. I take only two brownies, for now, knowing even that might be the limit on sweetness for me. I glance up from the brownies, and see the other ponies (and dragon) passing around the cookie platter. Pinkie Pie is leaning over the table, slicing the various cakes in the middle of it. The cookies reach me, and I balance the platter on one hoof, taking a couple of cookies off of it with my free hoof before passing it to my right, to Rainbow, who is still tearing into brownies. She pauses momentarily, taking the platter and tilting it towards her plate, dumping a few cookies onto it before passing it off to Pinkie and resuming her hoovering. I snort a little in humor at Dash, then turn back to my plate full of what has to be at least ninety-nine percent sugar. I eye one of the brownies, deciding to taste it first. I lean down to my plate and bite off a chunk of the brownie. It's moist, as I had thought, and has a nice texture. But god damn, it's rich. It's like eating cocoa beans and a bag of sugar. Tasty, nonetheless, but I know I won't be able to eat more than two, maybe even just one. I take another bite, finding it is as sweet and chocolate-loaded as the last. Pinkie Pie wasn't kidding when she said "chocolatey-choco-chocolate" flavored... I finish off one of the brownies, and get around halfway through the second before the taste becomes too sweet for me. I look over from the half-eaten brownie on my plate to the untouched cookies. I see that I have acquired two hoof-sized sugar cookies. One is a blue wing-shaped cookie, the other is a yellow unicorn-shaped cookie. I bite off the top half of the unicorn cookie, smiling to myself. It was more fun to do that with gingerbread men. I wonder if they suffered. The cookie is indeed a sugar cookie. The cookie itself is quite delicious, a perfect sugar cookie, in fact; the icing is extremely sweet, though, almost as much so as the brownies. I swallow my bite of yellow cookie and eat the rest of it with another bite. I eat the blue wing-shaped cookie next, first the right wing, then the left. I nearly call it quits when I glance up and spot the red velvet cake, sliced and ready for action. "Could you pass a piece of red velvet cake, Pinkie?" I ask her. She smiles, furiously nodding, then deposits a piece of the red cake on my plate. The cake looks odd; I realize this is because it lacks distinguishing detail from its cartoon appearance. It just looks like a red triangular prism covered in brown icing and a clipped piece of red lettering. It looks good anyways, though. I lean down and take a large bite of the cake. It is sweet and moist, and the icing, like that of the sugar cookies, is overly sugary. The cake is excellent, though. I hate to admit it, but my own mother couldn't have made it better. I see that my thoughts are about to drift again, and I quickly snatch up another bite of cake. After finishing my piece of cake, I am tempted to ask for another, but decide to slow down and let my stomach and brain catch up to each other. "So, Ferrum." I glance up in the direction of which my name was called. I see Twilight Sparkle is the source; I lift my chin a little and raise my eyebrows in acknowledgment. "If you don't mind my asking, why aren't you spending tonight with your family?" I nearly frown, but command myself to instead smile a little. I notice that every pony (and kid dragon) is looking towards me, anticipating an answer. I can see Rainbow Dash giving me a look in my peripheral, though she continues to eat brownies. "Well," I begin, formulating a lie as best I can and as quickly as I can. "I came to Ponyville, but got...delayed...by an injury, before I was about to head back." Back to where, I didn't specify. North, I came from up north if anyone asks. I'm a little surprised when Fluttershy pops in, more confidently than usual. "Oh my, an injury, you say? Are you alright?" she questions, obviously getting a little worried. "Yes, I'm fine now," I tell her. I decide to add, maybe a little slyly, "Thanks to Rainbow Dash, here," I finish, nodding in Rainbow's direction and smiling. Dash freezes, halfway through chewing the last brownie that was on her plate. After a moment of surprise at her name being mentioned, her eyes dart to mine for a fraction of a second. She gives me a little glare, and I smile back at her. Most of the ponies sitting around the table recoil a little; Pinkie is devouring a cookie-and-brownie sandwich, and Spike is swallowing a piece of cake in one bite. "Rainbow Dash, you helped heal Ferrum?" Fluttershy asks; I wonder if she's jealous that she didn't get to heal me instead. Dash stares a few more daggers at me, then swallows her brownie. "Uh, yeah, it was no big deal, though. Just kinda wrapped up his wing. I didn't even really do a good job," she adds, her cheeks starting to turn a faint pink. It's sort of fun watching Rainbow squirm a little in trying to recover her dignity, honor, whatever it is she's attempting to save face for. I continue to smile at her. "Rainbow, that was very kind of you," Twilight says. "I agree," I chime in, grinning at Dash now. I can see she's fighting to keep her embarrassment from showing, but her reddening cheeks show she is losing that battle. I decide to take pity on her, and change the subject. "Pinkie Pie, these desserts are excellent," I say, turning my focus to Pinkie. "Thanks, Ferrum! Oh, wow, I was like, what should I make for Hearth's Warming Eve? And then Mrs. Cake was like, 'What if you make some cookies?' And then I was like, cookies are boring, but also really good, so I made some! Then I got an idea to make some cake, and I made some cakes and wrote 'Happy Hearth's Warming Eve' on them! And then..." My eyes go unfocused, and my hearing begins to distort. I let myself zone out, because if I don't, Pinkie's going to drive me insane. After a few more minutes that pass somewhat slowly, I hear Pinkie Pie take a breath. I refocus, hearing, "And that's why I think zebras are white with black stripes!" Wha--? I shake my head a little, smiling and nodding to Pinkie. I look around at the other ponies. Spike seems to have finished eating and is holding his stomach, which seems a little swollen. He's quietly groaning in his seat opposite mine. Rarity is holding a cookie to her mouth with her magic. The cookie has a blue aura around it, which shifts a little as she takes a dainty bite from it. Twilight is eating a brownie, also using her magic to hold the dessert in place. She seems to be eating it very methodically, taking bites that are identical in size. She is chatting quietly with Rarity; I am slightly curious as to if I am involved in the conversation. Fluttershy is nibbling on a piece of vanilla cake, somewhat hunched over and shrunken down on her stool. Life of the party, my mind jokes. Pinkie is now consuming a multitude of cookies. She seems to be biting the heads off of every unicorn cookie she has, making little screams of terror before she does so to a cookie. To my left and right, Applejack and Rainbow Dash seem to be staring each other down. "Ah bet I kin eat more cookies than yah," Applejack challenges Dash. "You're on!" replies Rainbow enthusiastically. I watch in amusement as she grabs the platter of cookies and sets it down near them and me. They begin to eat cookies rapidly. This will turn out well... I inhale deeply, sighing and puffing out my cheeks as I do so. "Well, I'm a little sore. I think I'll leave you mares to your own devices." I glance at Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, mind if I look around?" "Mmph mmgh!" she replies, nodding her head. I smile and nod to her in thanks. I watch the epic battle going on in front of me for a moment longer. Both Rainbow and Applejack continue staring each other down, stuffing cookies into their faces. I chuckle a little, then hop down off the stool. I stretch my legs a little, careful not to flare my wings yet. I begin walking towards the opening in the counter, which will allow me to get behind it and exit into another room. "I think I'll join him, okay Twilight?" Spike half-asks, half-states while hopping off his stool as well. She nods to him and smiles, glancing back at me before returning her attention to Rarity. I stop and wait for Spike to catch up to me before maneuvering around the counter and into the next room. The next room Is much more plain than the last, and looks more like a house than a store. There are two couches in the room that sit in front of a lit fireplace. I can feel the warmth of the fire in the room, hearing the occasional pop of a spark and smelling a fresh, smoky smell as well. Some stairs are positioned at the back of the room. Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Cake, Pinkie Pie, and the Cake foals line the walls of the room. I trot over to one of the couches, moving around to its front and sprawling out on it. I lay on my back, wings outstretched, slumped against one of the arms of the couch. I sigh, and see Spike clamber up on the remaining open portion of the couch I lay on, his small form also sprawling out similarly to how I do. "Hey, Spike, how you doin'?" I ask him casually. "Pretty good, thanks. How are you, Ferrum?" "I'm good as well. Pretty full. Pinkie Pie makes some good desserts." "Yeah, hers are the best. If only she put gemstones in some of them..." he trails off. I chuckle a little, then sigh. "I figured I'd let them have some girl time, know what I mean?" He laughs. "Yeah, I know what you mean." He pauses for a moment. "So, uh, what's your name mean, Ferrum?" My eyebrows raise a little at the question. It's an understandable one, though. "It means 'iron' in another language. I'm a blacksmith, I make things out of metal, like horseshoes," I reply. "Cool," he says, pausing again. "So how are you liking Ponyville, since you're new here and all?" I smile at him. "I like it a lot. There are some pretty great ponies here. And dragons," I add, chuckling a little. Spike laughs, then sighs, sounding bored. I can hear some giggling and whispering coming from the main room of Sugarcube Corner, again wondering if it's directed at something related to me. I decide to keep up the conversation with Spike; I enjoyed talking to kids, always had. They could be pretty funny and didn't usually get sarcasm, which was even funnier. "So, how old are you, Spike?" I ask. His face lights up a little. "I'm ten years old," he replies. "What do you like to do?" I continue. Conversations are easy with kids, another aspect I enjoyed about talking to them. "Well, I usually help Twilight out a lot, move books around and stuff. And I mail letters for Twilight and Princess Celestia. I like gems a lot, they're pretty cool and really tasty. Fire is pretty cool, too, but Twilight says I could get hurt if I play with fire," Spike says, sounding a little downtrodden by his last sentence. I smile at him. "I agree, fire is cool, but it is dangerous, too. It's pretty cool that you can breathe fire." "Thanks!" he replies, beaming. I smile as well, pleased I've cheered him up. It's quiet for a moment, then I hear a hiss to my side. I turn, seeing Spike leaned over towards me. He glances around nervously. "Hey, Ferrum?" he whispers. I raise an eyebrow in question, then lean towards him a little. "Yeah?" "Can I tell you a secret? You can't tell anypony, okay?" I smile, nodding. "Okay. I won't, I promise." Seemingly satisfied with my promise, he glances around again, then moves close to my ear, cupping his claws around his mouth. "I've got a crush on Rarity," he says quickly. "Really?" I ask in a whisper, with feigned surprise. He nods, showing a small smile. "You can't tell anypony," he repeats. "I think I'd die if Rarity found out." I chuckle, smiling to him. "You're secret's safe with me," I assure him. I turn as I hear a noise coming from the back of the room, from the doorway; a purple unicorn takes a few steps into the warm room. "Hey, you two," says Twilight Sparkle. "Spike, it's getting late. We should probably get going. Sorry," she adds, looking apologetic to Spike. "Awww, okay. Bye, Ferrum!" Spike hops off of the couch, walking towards the main lobby again. I roll off the couch and do the same, following a few feet behind him. I re-enter the previous room and get around the counter/display case. I look around and see the group of six friends a little more dispersed now. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are laughing, but both look a little in pain, their bellies slightly swollen with what I'm guessing is cookies. Fluttershy is picking up her scarf off the floor, as is Rarity, who uses her magic to wrap it tightly around her neck. Pinkie Pie stands near Twilight as Spike climbs onto Twilight's back, holding onto her neck. "Bye, everypony! Happy Hearth's Warming Eve!" Twilight says to the ponies in the room. She looks over at me as I clear the counter area. "It was nice to meet you, Ferrum," she says, smiling. I return the smile, saying, "Thank you, it was nice to meet you as well, Twilight." "Thanks again, Pinkie!" she says. Her horn begins to glow a bright purple, and an aura begins to envelop her and Spike. I take a few precautionary steps backwards. After a few seconds of the aura glowing brighter and brighter, Twilight Sparkle and Spike disappear from the room with a pop. I blink a little, a bit stunned from seeing Twilight's teleportation firsthand. I turn back to the other ponies. Rarity and Fluttershy are at the door leading outside. "Oh, Pinkie, this Hearth's Warming Eve party was simply marvelous!" Rarity says. "Thank you so much." "Oh, yes, thank you, Pinkie," Fluttershy adds quietly. "No problem, guys!" Pinkie Pie responds cheerfully. "Don't forget, we're having a party for Ferrum soon, too!" Rarity and Fluttershy both turn to me, now. Rarity glances at Fluttershy and decides to speak for the both of them. "It was very nice meeting you, Ferrum," she says, and Fluttershy smiles and nods a little. "It was nice to meet you, too, Rarity, and you, Fluttershy," I reply, nodding and smiling at them. "Goodbye, everypony!" Rarity says before trotting out the door. Fluttershy follows her out. I can feel a gust of cold air wash over my face before dissipating in the warm building. I see Applejack press a foreleg to her head, shoving her hat down atop it. "Well, ah think I best git goin', too," she drawls. "Thank yah, Pinkie, yer cookies were extra delicious tonight. It was nice tah meet yer acquaintance, Ferrum," she finishes, turned to me now. "Thanks, Applejack, it was nice meeting you," I reply, hoping I don't sound repetitive. The orange pony glances around at Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and I. "Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, ya'll!" Applejack says, smiling before pushing open the door and trotting out. Rainbow Dash turns to me after Applejack leaves. "Well, you ready to go?" she asks, smiling tiredly. "Yep, I'm ready," I answer, smiling back the same way. I am actually feeling pretty tired, now that I think about it. Sugar high is wearing off. Rainbow turns to Pinkie Pie, and moves in to give her friend a one-legged hug. "Thanks, Pinks. Happy Hearth's Warming Eve." "Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, Dashie! Thanks for coming. And thanks for bringing Ferrum, too!" says Pinkie, turning to me. "I'm glad I could come, and it was nice meeting you, Pinkie. We'll have to work out a welcoming party sometime, okay?" I tell her. "Okie dokie lokie!" she responds cheerfully. "See you ponies later!" "See yah," Dash and I reply in unison. I glance over at her and smile, nodding towards the door. She smiles back, and we trot to the door. I speed up a little and push open the door first, holding it for her as she exits into the cold nighttime air. I see that it's completely dark out. The mass of stars and the shining moon in the sky are a shock; one who lives in a city normally doesn't get to see such things because the light from the city overtakes the starlight. I stare up at the stars for a moment, scanning around them. I think I recognize a few constellations, but I'm starting to feel tired and can't remember their names. I look over at Rainbow Dash. "Have fun?" I ask her. "Yeah...shouldn't have ate so many cookies, though..." She groans. "You have fun? Getting to meet all my friends and stuff?" I nod, closing my eyes. "Oh yeah. Your friends are really cool, it was nice to be able to meet them." "Good..." she says quietly. I can tell Rainbow is getting tired quickly. Damn, her sugar crash is going to be massive... "Ready to go?" I ask, tilting my head towards the direction of her cloud house. I can see it in the distance, a single white cloud amidst an empty winter sky. She groans again and laughs. "Not really." I smile at her. "Come on," I say, then jump into the air, pumping my wings to hover a few feet above her. She looks up at me, then does the same, and we begin to fly upward. I watch her most of the time, glancing at her house every so often to make sure we're still headed the right way. Dash looks more and more tired by the second; I'm watching her in anticipation she'll fall asleep. She doesn't though, and we make it to her house after a few minutes of steady flying. We land outside her front door. I nudge it open with my nose. Inside her kitchen, Tank greets me by hovering up to my face. I smile at him, then turn back, waiting for Rainbow Dash to come into her house all the way so I can let the door swing shut. She trots in tiredly, already looking half-asleep. I move my rear leg and release the door, starting to head for the stairs. Tank hovers in front of me, traveling up the stairs until I can only hear a faint whirring coming from the top floor. As I'm about to begin climbing the stairs, I feel a warm presence on my left shoulder. I glance down to see what is on me. I see the top of a rainbow colored mane. Rainbow Dash leans her head against my shoulder, falling asleep. I see her eyelids flickering as they struggle to stay awake. I'm surprised at how warm she feels against me. I carefully stretch out my left wing, moving it over top of her back, then letting it settle gently upon it. I can feel her wings begin to spread a little, as if questioning my own wing's presence, then they relax again. I begin to trot forward, up the stairs, using my wing to help propel her along. We slowly ascend the staircase. I pass the living room, continuing upward until we reach Rainbow's room on the third floor. As I enter the room, Dash's warm presence still beneath my wing and on my shoulder, I see Tank has settled down to sleep on the leftmost bedside table, atop the Daring Do book Rainbow Dash is reading. I trot with her to the side of her bed, then pull in my left wing, though I don't want to do so. Her warmth is comforting, but I have to pull away. I bite the blankets atop her bed and pull them back, then step back a little. She trots forward and climbs into her bed, eyes completely closed. Dash flops onto her pillow, likely falling asleep instantly. I grab the blankets in my teeth again and slowly pull them back up the bed, covering her up to the neck. I step away, turning for the stairs. Before I descend, I turn and look at Rainbow a last time in her bed; she is snoring softly, and the covers rise and fall with her breathing. I smile and begin to trot down the stairs. Feeling tired, I make a beeline for the couch I have overtaken. I flop down on it and sigh, closing my eyes. They burn a little as I do so, but it feels good to close them. I smile and let myself drift off to sleep.