A Strange New Pony in Town

by Dark Dienen

Chapter 2

“Well, that went about a thousand times better than I expected it to,” Xarzith sighed to himself, allowing his gaze to lazily drift about as he trotted down the street, though keeping most of his face concealed beneath his cloak’s hood.

As one might’ve- no, probably should’ve expected, the sight of a mysterious, black cloaked stallion parading down the street, and rather casually at that, was met with more than a few odd looks and murmured glances from the locals….

But then again, this was the town of Ponyville; hundred hoof tall dragons and annoyed bear cubs the size of small mountains were apparently, if the stories were anything to go by, considered the ordinary, every-other day visitor. Suffice to say, they generally all just muttered a few words, and then went back to their business.

“Kinda wish there were more towns like this one.” Xarzith huffed with a slight flick of his blue tail.

It was kind of like something out of a foal’s storybook really. Nopony seemed to have a bad word to say to their neighbor, nopony seemed to act aggressively towards others, or acted with their own interest solely in mind, they all just seemed to get along like everypony was best friends with everypony else. The marketplace bustled with ponies aged anywhere from fillies and colts to older stallions and mares, no one minding the other, but rather embracing the presence and atmosphere that each brought with them, joyful shrieks and amused chuckles echoing to prove so.

It was like… harmony.

If this was proving to be the average day in Ponyville, then living here was becoming a more and more attractive prospect.

Given Ponyville’s middle-of-no-where location, and his subsequent expectation of it being like a green midland version of Appleloosa, the stallion had to admit that this town was so far proving to be a rather pleasant surprise. It was far from the backwoods backwards town he’d initially expected it be, as were to town’s ponies, if he was being honest.

Still, that may be subject to change. He thought sourly, a snort and a tiny bit of mist escaping his nostrils. He quickly stopped and shook his head of the unpleasant thoughts. No need to go there… hmmf, what to do? What to do?

As if on cue, Xarzith’s stomach growled like an agitated manticore whose tail had just been stepped on, the sound earning him a few looks from a couple of passing ponies due to its volume.

“Hehe, alright, alright, no need to get noisy on me. I can take a hint,” He chuckled, patting his barrel before heading off again. “Find some lunch, I guess.”

The stallion’s subsequent quest for food, as well as his keen nose, led him on a winding hunt through the gravel streets of Ponyville, his cloaked appearance drawing the occasional murmur or whisper, but nothing more… he was pretty sure somepony even mentioned the name ‘Trixie’… just who in the hay was that?

Said hunt, eventually, brought him before perhaps the oddest looking building he’d ever seen, though the description of ‘oddest’ didn’t mean it was an unpleasant sight. If anything, the sight caused his tail to flick in excitement as he stared up at it, barely noticing the other ponies who walked passed him.

Brown walls resembling layers of chocolate, white trimmings giving the impression of icing and frosting, and even what were apparently supposed to be mock cherries and sweets for decoration. It literally looked like some kind of giant desert. From within came a thousand different telltale scents and smells of various freshly made baked goods, all of which wafted into his flaring nostrils as they drifted out into the street, and prompted a few drops of drool to fall unceremoniously from his maw.

“Sugarcube Corner huh?” He grinned at the apparent name, marching up and pushing the door open. “Tch, I wonder if they do gem cakes.”

It ended up being a stupid question, as the stallion quickly discovered upon entering the establishment, dropping his hood, and admiring what was on hoof. There was a wide- no huge variety of displays of sweets all over the place, including gem decorated desserts, literally in every direction he looked. Most of them he didn’t even recognize the type of.

What he did recognize, however, and subsequently rolled his red eyes at, were the odd looks he was getting from the other customers… of which there were virtually none, thankfully. Said other customers consisted of two ponies, one a purple unicorn with a streaked mane, and the other a pink, pink, and more pink Earth pony, as well as young, pale-purple dragon.

All of whom were presently sitting at a window table in the corner of the room, having apparently been sharing treats and talking amongst one another before he’d come in and caught their attention… or more than likely either his concealing cloak or his unusual horn. He just ignored them and went about examining what was available.

“Can I help you there, dear?”

He glanced up to the counter at the vocal intrusion. A blue pony with a two toned pink mane was presently looking his way, an empty cake dish and a cleaning cloth grasped in her hooves; a bit on the heavy side perhaps, or possessing ‘curves in all the right places’ as one might otherwise say, but a seemingly nice enough pony nonetheless.

“Just browsing for now…” He answered, aware that the previous three onlookers were still staring in his direction. “Um, you wouldn’t happen to take gems as payment, would you? Kinda all I got at the moment.”

The older mare just smiled and nodded. “As long as they’re authentic, my dear, then yes; we happen to have a customer who quite enjoys them on his sweets, isn’t that right, Spike?”

With a glance over his shoulder, as well as a raised eyebrow, Xarzith noted the dragon in question was blushing and nodding at his mention; so this was supposed to be the dragon that’d gone on a greed-fueled rampaged through Ponyville? With said rampage subsequently resulting in his block being vacant?

Really?

“Oh my! Where are my manners? I’m Mrs. Cake, dear, and welcome to Sugarcube Corner."

"Xarzith, and, hmmm, can I get two pieces of that savory roll?"

Mrs. Cake momentarily stopped. "That’s… quite an interesting name,” she said as she eventually went for the confectionary in question, a slight tone of curiosity coming through in her words; he could tell she was now staring at his horn. “That will be four bits, and would that be for here or to go?"

“Hehe, you’re not the first to say that,” Xarzith smirked somewhat awkwardly, going for his saddle bag. “And for her, plea-BWAH!”

Now, Xarzith often liked to think he didn’t scare that easily, a fact he based on his… not exactly normal upbringing, amongst other life experiences; but he couldn’t help but yelp as he suddenly found a pink face and a pair of sapphire blue eyes, and unnaturally wide ones at that, staring squarely back at him barely an inch from his face… from the inside his saddle bag?

“Hi!”

The stallion blinked. “Um… hi?” He replied tentatively, taking a nervous step back as an entire pony, somehow, jumped out… the same pony who’d previously been sitting beside the window…

What?

The pink mare apparently found his utter confusion amusing, as she just burst out into giggles while proceeding to bounce… literally, bounce… circles around him.

"You silly, hi isn’t a question, it’s a greeting!” She giggled. “Aaannnnyyy way, I don't know you! Which means you must be new! But if you’re new then you probably don't know anypony and that’s so sad so I'm here to say ‘hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!’ and be your friend! Sooooo, what’s your name?"

"I'm… Xarzith… Xarzith Ixen," The stallion managed, barely, to sputter out, silently feeling that he should’ve been looking for the nearest point of escape.

“Heehee, that’s a funny name! Silly authors and their OC’s…” She giggled, still cheerfully bouncing in circles. “Hmmm, Oh! Oh! I know! I should call you Xarzy. Now come on, you should come and meet two of my bestest friends!”

Xarzith only had a second, during which he could only blink, and momentarily look for something of an explanation from a now grinning Mrs. Cake, before he was forcefully dragged across the room by his tail, savory roll still grasped in his teeth… and then literally, and rather unceremoniously at that, shoved before the obviously confused purple mare and dragonling, the stallion quickly finding himself sprawled across the floor like a doormat.

Ok… just… what had just happened?

“Spike! Twi!” The pink mare bubbled, apparently oblivious. “I want you to meet Xarzith Ixen, but I think we should call him Xarzy! Xarzy, these are two of my best and closest friends, Spike and Twilight!”

“Pinkie! You could have least been gentle with him,” The mare, apparently named Twilight, snorted in her friends direction, the stallion feeling one of her hooves prop him up. “My sincerest apologies; Pinkie Pie tends to get a little excitable around new ponies.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” "Note to self, this ‘Pinkie Pie’ is a Faust damned crazy mare!" Xarzith muttered as he got to his hooves and glared at her, thanking Celestia his roll was still in once piece.

Apparently taking no notice of him, Xarzith looked away from Pinkie to find the dragon, apparently named Spike, staring up at him with an arched eyebrow, a small claw all the while rubbing at his chin like he was presently pondering one of the universe’s great many unknowns.

"Why exactly is your name Ice Fire?" he asked flatly.

Almost as soon as the words had left his mouth though, and before the stallion had a chance to answer the question in any way, a pink-purple aura grabbed onto his ear fin and pulled it, prompting the dragon to yelp.

"SPIKE! Where are your manners? His name is Xarzith." The purple mare snorted, drawing the drake alongside and scolding him like a pupil; Xarzith couldn’t help but blink at the sight of her horn… and wings! An alicorn?! "Once again, my apologies for what just happened. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, and this is my number one assistant, Spike."

Should I… be bowing or something?

"Well… umm, wow… nice too meet you, Princess Twilight,” He replied uneasily, surprised that any words at all managed to come out. “Name’s Xarzith, Xarzith Ixen.”

“Which just so happens to mean Ice Fire…” Spike muttered.

“SPIKE!”

Xarzith just chuckled at the squabbling pair. “Heh, I wouldn’t go flaming Spike here too much with my name, princess; he’s… technically right.”

The mare blinked in surprise, apparently not even hearing the snarky ‘told you so’ from the dragon beside her. "He is? How?"

Oh boy.

"Well… long story short, my name happens to be draconic in nature, and when a dragon hears me speak my name, or any other word in their tongue, they understand what the word really means… kind of like you would with a translation spell. In dragon-tongue, Xarzith means water-stone, or ice, and Ixen means fire."

"Oh, wowie zowie! That’s pretty neat!" Pinkie giggled, still happily bouncing in circles; Xarzith just shot her a glare.

Twilight, on the other hoof, just frowned. "I didn't even know dragons had a language of their own, or that Spike knew draconic for that matter… and just where and how the hay did you learn it?"

“It’s… something of a secret that dragonkind guard pretty jealously… heh, as crazy as it sounds though, my mother actually taught me. As for Spike knowing it... well, like I said, all dragons can understand their native tongue from the time they hatch... hmm, kiiinnnd of like how us ponies can understand what different neighs and whinnies mean by nature; here, I’ll give you a demonstration," He looked back at Spike, his heart rate now thankfully somewhat under control.

"Zyak moxt ir dout ominak ui Spike bensvelk ominak ihk vi darastrix. Si clax coi wux re pony jimosa?"

The dragon just smiled and laughed. "Yeah, I like to think Spike’s a good name, and yeah, I am; Twilight’s like my big sister in that regard."

Xarzith grinned and went on. "Zyak svabol ui dout fayivor gemstone? Si itov xarzith diamonds wer throdenilti astahii re zyak vorel."

"I like emeralds the most, I've never had a Ice Diamond before so I wouldn't know." Spike grinned, quickly turning to a stunned looking Twilight. “He asked what my favorite gemstone was, and said that he liked ice diamonds the most, because he thinks that they’re the most beautiful gemstone.”

Still smirking at the purple mare’s utterly bewildered expression, Xarzith dug out one of his remaining ice diamonds and then tossed it to Spike, the drake looking back and forth between the gem and its former owner. "Tenpiswo sone svern moxt ir coi ui vi regipre de ve ekess wux."

"Really, I can have this?" Spike asked, his reptilian tongue drawing across his lips at the gem in his claws. “You know… you’re actually a pretty alright guy… and by the way, Twi’s single, if you’re interested.”

“SPIKE!”

It probably wasn’t the right thing to do to a princess, but the two males, along with a still happily bouncing Pinkie Pie, still broke down in simultaneous laughter as the mare’s formerly purple cheeks suddenly turned bright crimson, Twilight herself shying away at the mild taunt of her lackluster love-life.

Eventually, and although he was still a little disturbed by the physical phenomenon known as Pinkie Pie, Xarzith found himself drawn into the small group, the stallion taking a seat beside Spike as he finally managed to enjoy his roll… in between bouts of casual chit-chat, of course.

And, as Spike had quietly warned, and as he himself had half expected with her curious nature, Xarzith eventually became the center of Twilight’s question time.

"So, why exactly is your name Ice Fire in dragon then?" Twilight asked, apparently content to try to find out anything and everything about the stallion. “No offense or anything, but It's a little odd to find a pony with a name in a different tongue, let alone a dragon’s.”

Xarzith, a little hesitantly, swallowed his previous bite, an uneasy feeling creeping into his gut. “Well, uh, two reasons; firstly, because a dragon, heh, kinda saved my dad’s life once; she let him take shelter from a blizzard in her cave, so he thought he’d honor her by giving me a dragon name… and partly because of my magic’s orientation.”

Twilight’s eyes rose. “Both your parents knew dragons?”

“They knew a dragon,” Xarzith answered uneasily, the stallion now not exactly liking where the conversation was going; thankfully, Pinkie Pie intervened before Twilight could continue.

"Sounds neat! Um... so, what is your magic like them?" Pinkie asked as she tilted her head, a cupcake, for some unexplainable reason, precariously balancing on the end of her muzzle.

“Yeah, I'm with Pinkie on that question,” Spike put in.

“A unicorn’s magic is always attuned to their special talent, so I’ll admit that I’m a little curious as well.” Twilight added, apparently not noticing Spike roll his eyes at the words ‘a little’. “Perhaps we could have a demonstration?"

"Oh! Oh! Can we? Can we? Can we? PLEEASEE with cherries and sprinkles and icing and…?"

"Pffft! Ok, ok!" “Seriously, this mare is something else entirely.” Xarzith muttered.

Letting out a slow breath, and willing it to do so, Xarzith's allowed his eye's to glow with his magic; a heartbeat later, three small bursts of magic, of what could best be visually described as resembling tongues of blue fire, flared into existence in the middle of the table, each dancing and flickering like they were the flames of invisible candles.

"Feel free to touch one if you want, they’re at most barely strong enough to chill a mug of cider."

Pinkie Pie, apparently content to throw all matter caution to the wind, put her hoof straight into the one closest to her. "Heehee! It's cold! Feels like I got my hoof in an ice box or a pile of snow."

After hearing that, Spike too put his hand into one of the flames. "Whoa! Hey Twi, you’ve got to try this, it's so.... so cool, like… literally."

Twilight, on the other hoof, seemed to hesitated for a moment as she carefully looked over her flame, as if she was studying it with uttermost interest and perhaps a little concern. After a long few moments though, she finally reached forward and stuck her hoof in, the mare blinking in surprise as she did so.

"Oh my! That is cold." She said, moving the appendage up and down. “Interesting… this isn’t by chance element based magic, is it?”

“Element based?” Spike asked, glancing between Xarzith and Twilight in his apparent confusion. “Like the Elements of Harmony?”

“No Spike, element based magic is magic linked to an element found in nature… like the passive magic of Earth Pony’s, for example, is linked to the earth, hence as to why they can work the land so easily, and how crystal pony magic is similarly bound to crystal or stone forming.”

“I wouldn’t say it is, Twilight.” Xarzith answered, unable to stop himself from smirking as Spike mouthed the work ‘egghead’. “Hehe… in all honesty though, I’m a little surprised you three aren’t… well… freaking out right now.”

Twilight regarded him oddly. “Why would we?” she asked, her hoof still lingering within the dancing tongue.

The stallion paused and chewed his lip, quietly unsure of whether or not to answer the question. “Heh, well… let’s just say that some ponies I’ve met before found it… a bit unsettling, to say the least… and, heh, well… this thing doesn’t help either.” He motioned to his curved horn with the last few words.

"Hey now, you turn that frown upside down, mister.” Pinkie Pie said firmly, surprisingly so in fact. “There will only be smiles while Auntie Pinkie is around."

"Besides, your magic’s kinda cool, no pun intended. I didn't even know there were different types of fire besides my flames and, well, you know… normal fire."

Twilight giggled and nodded. "And I happen to be the princess of magic, so to me magic is just magic, no matter what it looks like. Heehee, besides, I’m sure we run into more weird things in this town than any other part of Equestria… though I would like to study your magic if you’d let me, it’s not a type of magic I’ve encountered before."

“I’d be careful before agreeing to that,” Spike cautioned hurriedly, shuddering. “She did the same thing to me when I started breathing fire… eesh, not pleasant.”

Spike’s warning quickly earned him a mild glare, and a sisterly swat from the alicorn, to which he sniggered and stuck his tongue out in return.

Xarzith just grinned and rolled his eyes; siblings, gotta love them. “Hehe, sure I’ll let you, but maybe some other time than right now, Twilight,” He chuckled. “Anyway, sorry to cut things short, but I need to get going; ponies to see and things to do about having a house built."

“You’re building a house?” Twilight asked, the alicorn sounding genuinely surprised at the statement, “Where exactly?”

“I just bought the vacant block near your library,” Spike cringed a little at the statement. “And before you ask if there’s anything you can do, thanks but no thanks; I’d much rather not be a bother to anypony, and besides, I should be able to manage on my own anyway."

“Oh! Oh! I can plan a ‘welcome-to-Ponyville-party’ and a housewarming party at the same time!”

What was this about a party?

Twilight, apparently ignoring the hyperactive pink mare’s comments, shook her head. “Oh, well, it would be no bother at all… and some of our friends happen to know a thing or two about construction and interior design… well, sort of, at least," the mare smiled sheepishly as he chuckled; if her last attempt was anything to go by, Rainbow Dash's department was apparently more ‘flattening’ then ‘raising’ when it came to buildings. “We were going to meet up and have a picnic in about an hour or so; if you want, you could come along with us and talk a few things over, get some contacts and pointers.”

“Hehe, alright, alright, you win; but I only want advice from your friends, okay? No promise of physical input.”

“Good luck with convincing AJ and Rarity of that,” Twilight simply smiled, nodded, and turned to the other two. "Sounds good… well, are you two ready to head out?"

"Ready when you are, sister,” was Spike’s partly-laughed reply. “And thanks again for the gem, Ice."

"Yuperoonie!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced up and down… now with a picnic basket clasped in her mouth.

Ok… just where’d that come from?

The stallion just shook his head; all want to understand the logic defying entity known as Pinkie Pie was now officially dead, coffin sealed, and buried six feet under.

Comments

[Dragonlover553]

I may be forced to make this guy my new favorite OC.

[Dark Dienen]

3779468
I'm glad you like him I took a whole month to come up with him and his back story for why he acts and does the things he does. I cant wait till you get to that part of the story once I put it out and cant wait to see what you think of him.

[Dragonlover553]

3779626 Cool.

[TheGreatPandaKing]

Same problems with speech in this one as there were in the first chapter but I'm loving the story! mlp.bartstuff.eu/mlp-brohoof.png I can't wait to see where this story actually goes. Also, I wouldn't be surprised ir Rarity found ahis appearance (for lack of a better word) regal, if the pic insert is anything to go by.

[Dark Dienen]

3785228
Well I hope you will be happy to know that I finally managed to get some to agree to proofread/edit my story. they will be working on it tomorrow and I should have the revised version up soon.

[TheGreatPandaKing]

3785369
Cool cool! That should be awesome!

[Dark Dienen]

3834680
we thank you greatly but the credit goes to Freelancer. I just made the skeleton for the story, the writing is all his. Though he has been helping me to do better, once I let out my other story I hope you like it and can see how much I have improved.

[Dimiein]

STOP CRIMINAL SCUM he never paid for his rolls

[amiamera]

I'm liking this story but one comment: remove the 4th wall breaking pinkie pie comment. It serves not purpose other than to pull the reader out of the story by reminding them they are READING a story. If a reader becomes aware, you're not doing something right. The only reason you have for that line is: because it's Pinkie Pie and that is a lousy reason for inputting something into a story like this.

[Red Does Reviewing]

the pinkie break made me actually cringe sorry mate.