Tales of Valor: A New Pony in Ponyville

by NobleValor

Chapter 7

"Spike! Would you come into the kitchen for a minute?" Twilight called from downstairs.

"Coming!" Spike replied with a roll of his eyes. Without any ado, he hopped from the stepladder he was standing on and tossed his feather duster to the side.

"I swear that mare can't do a thing without me!" Spike muttered audibly.

"You know you love being needed, Spike," Noble replied, looking from his task with a small, knowing smile on his face.

"Yeah," Spike replied grudgingly, "but still, you'd think that anypony who eats as much as she does would be able to navigate through a kitchen."

Noble chuckled at the dragon's wit and returned his attention to his work. Before he could get started again, he heard the library door open. "I've got it!" Noble replied, tossing his tasks aside and going to meet the visitors.

Upon returning from his "excursion" yesterday, he decided to assist Twilight and Spike with their duties as town librarians. After about ten minutes, he discovered he was a poor librarian. While he could clean, carry and organize books with the best of ponies, he lacked the intimate knowledge that Spike and Twilight had with their library. However, he was determined to help out as best he could during his stay, however long that would be.

'Why is it so dark in here?' was the first thought to enter Noble's mind upon entering the lobby. Either a fuse was out or somepony was pulling a prank on him. With that in mind, he began his slow journey into the dark.

Noble began cursing himself for not memorizing the positions of the light switches when he had the chance. The best he could do in this circumstance was to grope around in the dark until he found a window to open.

He took several tentative steps down the stairs, hoping he didn't stumble on something in the dark. When he reached the bottom, the lights all came on at once. Shortly following it was the sound of several voices yelling one word in a rain of confetti: "SURPRISE!"

For a second, Noble thought he was in the wrong place. The lobby walls covered with balloons, streamers, and just about every kind of party decoration a pony could ask for. It wasn't until Twilight and her friends arrived that Noble's thoughts finally slowed down enough to sort them out.

"What is all this?" Noble asked, grabbing onto the first thought that popped into his head.

"It's your 'Welcome to Ponyville Party,' silly!" Pinkie exclaimed with a bounce. "Were you surprised? Were you? Huh, huh, huh?"

"Yeah, I was surprised alright," Noble replied, calming himself. "Welcome to Ponyville Party?"

"It's a tradition that whenever a new pony comes to town, Pinkie throws a party for them," Twilight explained.

"This party is for me?" Noble asked genuinely confused.

"Eeyup," Applejack replied, "it sure is."

Noble sat heavily on his haunches, shocked at this bit of news. Before he had a chance to respond to that statement, a grey unicorn stallion with an ink black mane and tail approached the group.

"Excuse me, Mr. Valor? Might I have a word with you?"

"Yes," he replied, gathering himself once more.

The stallion approached, clearing his throat. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Printing Press and I'm with the Ponyville Express."

"Ain't you the fella that runs the newsstand in town?" Applejack asked, a small knowing smirk on her face.

Printing Press immediately began to blush a little and rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. "Well, uh...Technically, yes. But I really am with the Ponyville Express."

"In what?" Rainbow Dash asked, "The editing department?"

With that remark, Printing's blush deepened in hue and his eyes widened a bit. "Th-that's not important," he stammered out, "What is important is that we are in the presence of the story of the year."

"And who, pray tell, might that be?" Rarity replied with a flick of her perfectly coifed mane.

"Mr. Valor, of course," Printing replied, much to the chagrin of Rarity, Rainbow, and Noble.

"Look, Printing, was it?" Noble asked, receiving a nod of confirmation. "I don't know what you think, but I assure you there isn't anything interesting about me."

"I beg to differ, Mr. Valor," Printing replied, his enthusiasm undiminished. "I heard that you managed to fight off a pack of ten timberwolves."

'The number has gone up,' Noble thought, mentally facehoofing himself.

"There were only five," he replied, "and I only fought two of them."

"Be that as it may, Mr. Valor, I also know personally that you also managed to save an infant's life and the entire town from a manticore attack single-hoofedly."

"HE DID WHAT?!?" the six mares replied in shock. Noble actually did facehoof himself this time.

"It wasn't nearly as impressive as he described it," he replied, more to himself than to anypony else.

"How so?" Twilight asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, for starters it was two separate events not one."

"Maybe you better start at the beginning," Twilight stated.

"This is going to be good," Pinkie replied, sitting in a chair with a box of popcorn, pulled from who knows where.

Noble looked about seeing the six mares staring at him expectantly. He could probably fight his way out, but he hated to take things that far. "I don't suppose there's a way out of this, is there?" he sighed half-heartedly.

"Nope," replied Applejack stubbornly.

Noble sighed once again. "Well, after I left Rarity's boutique..."

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"...And when I came back to town, I helped Twilight and Spike put the library in order and that's all to tell."

He decided to leave out the parts about having the knives and the manticore's eyes. The former he left out because he wasn't in the mood to tell the story behind those and the latter because he didn't want to worry anypony unnecessarily.

"You not only managed to outrun a manticore, but also jumped over it in a single bound?!" Rainbow Dash asked incredulously, her eyes wide as the story was told.

Noble nodded his reply slowly, expecting not to be believed.

"So...awesome!" she squealed, placing her hooves on her cheeks. Noble blushed and shook his head at the outburst of his fan.

"I hope that poor manticore is okay," Fluttershy replied worriedly.

"He was fine," Noble replied, trying to console her, "Probably nursing a headache I don't even want to think about with a knot on his head the size of Spike."

"Who has a knot the size of me?" Spike asked walking up, carrying platter stacked with cupcakes.

"A manticore that Noble outran," Pinkie answered, swallowing three cupcakes in a bite.

"COOL!" Spike replied with wide-eyed enthusiasm.

"This story is even better than I imagined," Printing replied, finishing jotting notes down with a pencil and a pad, "When can I set up an interview?"

"There isn't going to be an interview," Noble replied in a matter of fact tone.

"Why not?" Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Printing asked, their voice almost harmonized.

Noble tried to find words that they could understand, but only came up with three. "It feels wrong."

This earned confused looks from everyone there. Noble sighed, deciding to continue from there.

"I didn't perform my actions for any sort of recognition or reward for doing them. I did them for the knowledge that they were right thing to do. Getting any sort of benefit from my deeds just cheapens their worth."

Everyone nodded their understanding at his statement. However, when Printing Press did, he began to walk away dejectedly. Noble saw this, feeling a twinge of guilt. "Hold on a second there, Printing."

Printing looked back as Noble approached him. "Is getting my story really all that important?"

"More than anything," he answered.

"why?"

"Does it matter?"

"It might," Noble replied honestly.

"Since I was a colt, I was always fascinated by the written word. I always dreamed of one day seeing my name in that glorious black-and-white. The day I found out about the newspaper game, I knew that I was meant to be a journalist. However, due to circumstances, I got stuck being a vendor, but I know I could be a journalist if given the chance. And that's where you come in, Noble."

Noble raised his eyebrow, questioningly.

"Well, your something of an oddity. There aren't a lot of ponies who can do what you did. And, as crazy as this town is at times, ponies like you don't come along everyday. You are, perhaps, the only chance I got left to realize my destiny."

Noble could sympathize with the stallion. He knew what it was like, trying to live up to your potential and finding yourself falling short due to conditions beyond one's control. It was like having a piece of yourself missing, never being able to feel whole. He knew just how devastating that could be; he lived with that feeling everyday.

However, as much Noble could sympathize with Printing Press, he did have his principles to uphold. However, one thing still bothered him. "How did you find out about the manticore?" Noble asked.

"I saw the rescue in town and followed you to the outskirts of town at a distance," Printing answered quickly, "Before I had a chance to talk to you, I saw you kick the manticore and run off with it at your heels. Following your path, I found the dazed manticore and you gone."

Noble lifted his eyebrows at the response. "Alright Printing," Noble replied with a sigh, "if I do this story, I want to make one thing clear: certain parts of my life will remain private."

"Really?!" Printing asked excitedly, "you'll do the interview?!"

"Anypony that can follow me without me knowing about it has earned it."

Printing's face lit up in foalish glee. "I cannot thank you enough, Mr. Valor," he replied, taking Noble's hoof and shaking it vigorously.

"Just make it Noble," he managed to stammer out.

"Can we start right away?"

"Don't you think this is the wrong venue for an interview?" Noble replied, getting his hoof back and shaking the circulation back into it.

Printing looked about a moment and smiled sheepishly. "First thing in the morning then?"

"Any time after six works."

Printing went to rejoin the party with a bit more of a spring in his step than he had before. Noble smiled reluctantly and turned to find that the mares were looking at him with warm expressions.

"What was I going to do?" Noble asked, "Say no to the guy?"

"It was really nice of you," Fluttershy replied, smiling a bit more pleasantly than usual.

"Enough chatting," Pinkie snapped, unable to contain herself any longer, "Let's party!"

"You go ahead," Noble replied, leaning against the wall, "I'm fine right here."

"Shoot, we can't leave you here by your lonesome," Applejack replied, throwing a foreleg around his shoulder.

"You'd probably have more fun if you did."

"Whatever do you mean, darling?" Rarity asked concernedly.

"I'd feel...awkward."

"Geez, dude," Rainbow dash replied with a chuckle, "you'd think you never been to a party before."

When Noble didn't say anything, Pinkie was the first to speak up. "SERIOUSLY?!"

"Afraid so."

"How?" Fluttershy asked.

"Never had a reason to celebrate, I guess," Noble replied with a shrug.

"Well, you do now," Twilight replied smiling.

"I'll probably spoil your good time," Noble warned.

"Nonsense!" Rarity replied, her voice exaggerating her emotions, "You are attending this party and we are not taking no for an answer."

"But I don't even know what to do at these things." Noble replied, waving his hoof across the room.

"Don't worry, Nobie," Pinkie replied, pushing him towards the gathering, "We'll show you!"

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"How are you feeling?" Fluttershy asked.

"Better," Noble answered, lying in his bed rubbing his sides.

"I told you that the cupcake eating contest was a bad idea," Twilight replied.

"Can I help?" Pinkie asked.

"I believe you have done more than enough," Rarity chided.

"I'd like to know where she puts it all," Noble replied, shocked that Pinkie had bested him.

"I really thought you had her at seventy," Rainbow replied.

"It feels like my stomach doesn't want to stay where it is," Noble replied, his stomach churning about for the umpteenth time since the contest.

"Don't you worry about it," Applejack said consolingly, "In the meantime, you just rest up until you feel better."

"Ooh," Rarity exclaimed, "before I forget..."

Her horn lit up in an aura of sapphire magic, causing a package to levitate in front of Noble. He sat up, letting go of his stomach, and took the package from Rarity. He opened it carefully as to not make a mess.

Noble lifted his cloak from the box, looking over it with the fondness of familiarity. He began to examine the area that had been torn, unable to find any evidence that it had been damaged in the first place.

"I took the time to fix all those ghastly little nicks and loose threads. Do you approve?" she asked, batting her lashes expectantly.

The cloak looked as it did when it was new. Better even. 'I can't believe that anypony would go to this much trouble,' he thought. upon finishing that thought, he lowered the cloak, his face dropping with it.

"Oh, my," Rarity replied, her voice slightly panicked, "Is something wrong? Did I miss something?"

"No, Ms. Rarity," Noble replied unenthusiastically, "you didn't miss a thing. The cloak looks perfect."

"Is something else wrong?" Twilight asked, approaching.

"Why did all of you throw me a welcome party?"

"Well if we didn't throw you a party," Pinkie started, her voice going faster than usual, "then you wouldn't feel welcome, and if you didn't feel welcome, then you'd be all sad. And we don't want our newest friend to feel sad."

Noble shook his head, surprised she managed to say that much that fast in one breath. Then what she said hit him. "Wait a minute. You... consider me a friend?"

They all gave affirmative answers, smiling sincerely as they did. Noble fell quiet, unsure of what to say to that.

"Oh," Rarity started, "but do listen to us ramble on. I'm certain you must feel exhausted. Come along, girls. You too, Spike."

"Coming, Rarity," Spike replied dreamily, jogging after them as they left the room.

Noble sat in the dark noiseless room, wrapped in his own thoughts. These mares, all of whom he barely knew, welcomed him into their town and their lives. He bit his lip, feeling ashamed of himself. He laid down on his bed, waiting for sleep to overtake him.

Author's Note:

To all my readers, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this (amateurish though it is)

Comments

[NobleValor]

4541387 That was the idea. I had hoped it would encourage people to read further to find out. Given my view count, you can see how well that worked.
However there are quite a few reasons why he is the way he is.