A Strange New Pony in Town

by Dark Dienen

Chapter 5

Applejack huffed as she wiped the sweat from her brow, her green eyes looking out across the acres as she momentarily enjoyed the shade of the Acre’s porch.

It was a sight that brought with it so many memories. Memories of times spent with her family, with her friends, or just out having fun by herself, running between the rows of apple trees without a care, apple-scented air filling her nostrils as she cried out in delight.

There were painful ones mixed in as well, ones the farmpony seldom thought about, much less spoke of, but they were there too all the same. Those she refused to dwell on, and instead preferred to keep them stowed away in mind as deeply as possible.

She smiled as she admired the vast expanse of green, her gaze eventually drifting over the working pair of Twilight and Spike, the alicorn lifting buckets of apples into Mac’s cart with her magic, whilst the dragon skittered amongst the highest branches, sniffing out any hidden apples like the predator that he was.

There was no doubt in Applejack’s mind that if anypony in Canterlot somehow found out, then both the nobility and the press would have a field day with the new princess’s image, but even that knowledge hadn’t seemed to sway Twilight’s resolve in the slightest; she might’ve now been a princess, but she seemed content to stay a working friend of the Apple family despite her title.

Thus was the nature of the farm and her friends. Every day brought with it the ability to make new memories, good ones and the occasional bad ones, just like the apples that hung from the Acre’s trees.

Then, however, her eyes settled on Xarzith, and an uneasy line made itself present on her face as she watched the white stallion applebuck.

He’d come back from the forest roughly an hour prior, and had since put himself to work beside her brother, as was their boarding agreement. What concerned her, however, was that he’d returned from the Everfree dragging half a tree trunk, and had simply said that he was going to plank it as an explanation.

Yet another question sidestepped.

Such strength was in no way beyond a pony, Applejack knew for a fact that Macintosh could pull such a load, and probably a bit more, when he wanted to… but he was an Earth pony, and a darn big Earth pony at that.

So for a unicorn to be doing so...

She sighed. Xarzith was… something of an anomaly in her mind; not so much as something to be feared, but rather something curious.

He was so open and yet so mysterious at the same time, a pony who came across as being good and honest, but seemed to hold so much back, and those things, despite him being nice enough, weighed down a little on her conscience.

The weight beneath her hat brim seemed to suddenly become more noticeable.

She groaned and rubbed her temple. “Ah’m just getting ahead of ma’self again.” she muttered, leaving the comfort of the porch to return to work. Apples didn’t make a habit of bucking themselves.

Perhaps fortune was just looking to make her day as interesting as possible, or maybe it was just chance looking to amuse itself, but about halfway along her venture between the trees and her home, Applejack found herself forced to stop. Three rapidly approaching specks had made themselves visible in the sky towards Ponyville, prompting Applejack to pause and blink. “Just what’n tarnation?”

Soon enough, every pony and dragon else had stopped working to investigate the oncoming objects, which were quickly revealed to be three of the local pegasus ponies, their flight paths lining them straight up with Sweet Apple Acres. Each of them, for some reason, was pushing a lump of grey raincloud towards the farm.

The first of the three, made rather obvious by the rainbow trail that followed behind her, was Rainbow Dash, sporting her usual trademark grin as she noticed her friends standing below. The other two though proved to be a mystery right up until they were directly overhead.

Applejack would admit to not knowing everypony in Ponyville particularly well, but days spent at her family’s stall at the market meant that she’d at very least met nearly all of them, and learned their names. This pair of ponies was no exception to that fact; one was the spunky and rather forward mare Cloudchaser, while the other was her near identical younger sister, Flitter, by far the more gentle of the two.

Applejack huffed as she approached the three, sporting an arched eyebrow at their presence. “Not that ah’ ain’t glad to see ya’ll here, but what’s the deal RD? And what’s with all the clouds?”

The pegasus in question just shrugged. “Eh, Scoot’s said the Crusaders needed some rain for this afternoon,” Rainbow Dash replied as she landed, flapping her wings to scatter any dust she’d kicking up. Applejack gave her a flat look. “Hey, they said it wasn’t for anything dangerous.”

“Should’a seen that one coming,” Applejack groaned and face-hoofed. “And ya just went and believed ‘em? RD, we’re talkin’ about the Crusaders here,” she said, snorting. “Ugh, ah’ swear Rainbow…”

“Wait, so we pushed these all the way here for those fillies to use?” Cloudchaser asked as she landed, apparently having been previously left out of the loop. “Captain, are you sure that that’s a good idea? We still haven’t fully repaired the fire station after the girls tried to get firefighter cutie marks.”

Applejack nodded. “Ya’ll see ma’ point?”

“Well… what kind of dangerous things can they get up to with rainclouds?” Rainbow replied sharply, ignoring the other pegasus’s argument. “Huh?”

“Part ah’ me is hoping that’s a trick question.”

Xarzith just watched on whilst the two mares exchanged semi-heated words, the stallion’s ears flicking back and forth in a combination of curiosity and amusement as the conversation got more and more intense.

Applebloom had mentioned her and her two best friends’ group in passing the night before with great enthusiasm, while her older siblings seemed to find it… a little less enjoyable topic to talk about, much to his initial confusion. Until Applebloom had mentioned something about trying to get a powder monkey cutie mark… yeah, after that it kind of made sense as to why her siblings found it an unsettling topic; fillies and explosives were not a good combination. Ever.

“Just when I thought this town couldn’t get any crazier,” he sniggered inwardly, flicking his tail as he turned away from the conversation…

…Only to step back again as he came, literally, face to face with the other of the two new pegasus ponies.

She was the smallest of the three winged ponies, although smallest perhaps only by half an inch or so, with a light purple-grey coat, and a pale green mane which lay secured with a pink bow, much like Applebloom’s was.

At that moment, her rose coloured eyes were glued on him, with her brow furrowed and her head tilted in a questioning manner.

“You must be pretty light on your hooves,” the stallion commented, quickly recomposing himself of his initial shock. “I didn’t even hear you land there.”

A small, but still evident smile spread across the young mare’s muzzle. “Well, my name is Flitter,” she replied bashfully, a small giggle accompanying the words as her wings twitched. She seemed to relax a little as she continued to eye him. “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but who are you? You don’t really look like one of Applejack’s relatives, and I’ve never seen you around town before either.”

“Name’s Xarzith, and no, heh, I’m not one of Applejack’s family. I’ve just moved here from up North, the mountains of the Crystal Empire to be exact… you don’t seem surprised by that.”

Flitter giggled and bit her lip in reply. “Don’t worry. I was at Sugarcube Corner this morning and Pinkie Pie was acting strange… well, a bit more strange than usual. I guess you’re the reason why.”

Despite knowing that she was a good pony at heart, and practically harmless, Xarzith couldn’t help but shudder at the memory of his initial meeting of the bright pink pony-demon; anything that had the ability to defy the established laws of physics and the universe was not natural, nor normal.

“Ugh… because I know plenty about being normal, right?”

“Let me guess, she wants to throw me a party, but she’s annoyed at having to wait?” Xarzith said, huffing and rubbing his brow with a hoof. “Doesn’t she understand the concept of priority? She can throw me one once I get settled in.”

Flitter just shook her head, her bow bobbing from side to side as she did. “Pinkie’s special talent is throwing celebrations and making ponies smile, so for her to have to wait is… frustrating for her, I guess,” she offered. Her eyes then drifted upwards. “You know, your horn’s different than that of any other unicorn that I’ve ever seen. Is that a family trait or something?”

“Eh, pretty much,” he shrugged, tentatively poking it with a hoof. “It’s a part of me that I find annoying more than anything. A lot of ponies up North didn’t trust me because of it since… well, let’s just say old King Sombra’s was pretty much the same shape, and everypony in the Empire remembers him for all the wrong reasons.”

“I think it’s kind of neat.”

It took all of Xarzith’s willpower not to back pedal in surprise, even more so when the mare he’d been talking to suddenly looked at her hooves, a light tint of red in her cheeks at having apparently said something that she’d been thinking out loud.

Well… that was truly a first.

“Heh, well, um… thanks,” he managed to sputter out eventually, rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s honestly the first time anypony’s said something positive like that… most usually shout ‘Sombra’s back!’ and then make a run for it.”

It was a terrible attempt at humour, even Xarzith would openly admit that, but it still managed to draw a laugh from the green-maned mare.

“If I had the chance, I would love to have a horn of my own no matter what it looked like.” She said with a smile, finally looking up at him again. “Don’t get me wrong, I love being a pegasus pony,” she motioned to her wings. “But unicorns like you can do so much more than fly, the hay, you have spells that let you to fly… I don’t know, I guess I would just enjoy knowing what having magic would be like.”

A white hoof came to rest on her shoulder. “Trust me, magic isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be,” Xarzith explained, noting the mare’s slightly crestfallen expression. “My magic is based solely around manipulating ice, so I can’t cast all those fancy shmancy flying spells, or spells beyond my talent in general, but I get by all the same… my advice, make the absolute best of what you have, and don’t dwell on what you don’t.”

It took a moment, but a smile once again crossed Flitter’s face. “Are you sure you’re not just disguising your age with a spell? Because that sounded like something some old wise pony would say.”

“Now that was uncalled for,” Xarzith said with a mock face-hoof. Flitter just giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. “Hehe, anyway, what’s your role around Ponyville?”

“Half and half really,” Flitter offered, shrugging. “I’m on with the morning weather shift on weekdays, and then foalsit with my sister in the evenings… well, when I can anyway. Not really the most exciting of occupations I know, but the combined pay’s pretty decent… what about you?”

Xarzith motioned to the surrounding orchards. “This is where I’ll be for the time being,” he explained. “Like I said, I’ve only just moved here. I’ve got a vacant lot purchased in town, and Applejack’s housing me between the paperwork getting done and the building part getting started… until then you’ll generally be able to find me out here.”

They both shared a quiet laugh.

Flitter’s head then tilted again. “Why Ponyville anyway?” she asked. “It’s a nice town and all… but you know that we have our fair share of… uh, surprises, right?”

“Honestly, I doubt you could have anything worse than the North,” Xarzith chuckled, his words drawing a surprised and slightly uneasy look from Flitter, her wings quivering to show as such. “Frost dragons, ice wraiths, snow spirits, and the essence of King Sombra to name a few, all of those we have wandering around up North… well, not King Sombra so much anymore.”

Flitter’s lip twitched. “That actually sounds… kind of exciting.”

“Are you two done flirting yet?”

The sudden, and loud, interjection of Rainbow’s voice caused to two ponies to yelp and spin around, each taking an unintentional step away from the other.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Spike were all presently smirking behind their respective hooves and claws, all shying away as the two ponies glared at them. Twilight and Big Macintosh seemed indifferent to the situation, as if having been taking absolutely no notice of the pair the entire time they’d been talking, whilst Cloudchaser was giving her younger sibling a questioning look, one that seemed stuck somewhere between curiosity and confusion.

“Captain, you’re unbearable,” Flitter snorted, her cheeks still a little crimson. “We were just talking.”

“And getting pretty comfortable while you were at it,” Spike threw in, making kissing faces while Twilight glared at him.

Everypony else just grinned as Flitter’s blush deepened a few shades.

Xarzith groaned and shook his head. “Spike, if you ever want another ice diamond from me…” Spike quickly and wisely shut his maw. “Thank you.”

Unfortunately, the threat didn’t work so well on Rainbow or Applejack, who just continued to snigger and grin between themselves.

Eventually, after apparently deciding that her little sister had been subjected to enough torment, Cloudchaser decided to intervene, crossing the distance between them and giving her sibling a shove in the side with her muzzle. “Anyway, as fun as this has been, I think it’s time we kept moving Flitter; you and I still need to get the house tidy and restock the pantry before six. I have to foalsit Rumble for Thunderlane again tonight.”

Flitter, still blushing a little from her prior teasing, nodded and made her way to her sister’s side to take off.

Though not, however, before turning and offering Xarzith a small smile. “It was nice meeting you, Xarzith. If you’re interested and find yourself in Ponyville, I’d like to hang out some time, heehee, you sound like an interesting pony.”

Xarzith nodded, smiling as the two mare’s jumped into the air. “I’ll keep that in mind. Nice meeting you,” he called, watching as the two ponies flew off, and ignorant to the looks he was still receiving.

Well… that had certainly been interesting.

Comments

[shirotora]

Nice little slice of life chapter. Can't wait for more.

[lunashonorguard]

more please

[mikeTpony]

new chapter

[Ziper Ace]

I hope Apple Jack will just please let him finish building his home.