Stuck

by NickyD

Mares of the Stage

1:10 P.M.

After our lunch at the cafe, Dash and I make our way to Fluttershy's house. As of now, Rainbow Dash is telling me a little about Fluttershy and her home. The other night was just mostly about me and I sort of got to know the others. So I'm going to use the time remaining of the tour to have a better insight on who these ponies are. "...It is almost a zoo there," Rainbow Dash says, finishing her statement.

"That many animals?" I ask.

"Yeup. She has everything from small bugs, to rabbits to various birds and even more than that."

"She must really like animals."

"Well, her cutie mark tells her that her she is the one that's good with animals." A what tells her to be good with animals?

"Cutie-what now?"

"Her cutie mark." I stare at Rainbow Dash confused and blankly. What the heck is a cutie mark? "You know." She points to the 'rainbow-bolted-storm-cloud' tattoo on her thigh. I point at it with a quizzical look on my face and she nods.

"That's this 'cutie mark' thing?" She nods again. I have noticed almost all the ponies in town have one on their thighs. I just thought that it's a weird (and silly) fashion statement. Boy was I wrong. "And it tells her what to do?"

"Well, that's not the right choice of words I should have used. A cutie mark is a special marking somepony gets on their flank when they find their special talent."

"So you get this mark when you find out what you're good at?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Mine tells me I was born to be the fastest flyer I can be. What about you? Do you humans get cutie marks?"

"No. Well, actually there are these things called tramp stamps that tells other people you're a prosti-actually, I shouldn't tell you about that!" Nice save there Nick. You almost brought in something R-rated in a TV-Y seven show. Great going. Think before you speak man. Think before you speak.

"Why?" Rainbow asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Trust me. Ignorance is bliss. But to answer you're question, us humans don't get cutie marks."

"Then how do you know what you're good at?"

"Just through life experiences. I found out I was good at acting when I actually tried it. Same thing with singing, except that one took some practice. A lot of practice." Seriously, two years ago, I couldn't sing to save my life. It was worse than IceJJFish's singing. I didn't take any lessons, I just sang the music I liked and just got better at it.

"That's interesting."

"But how does it get there?" If it is not a tattoo, does it just appear there? Oh come on! That would be the most redicu-

"It just appears when somepony finds out their special talent." ...No comment.

Three Minutes Later

We have reached our destination: Fluttershy's house. Actually, it's more of a cottage. It sort of looks like it was made from a tree, kind of like the library. Except that this one does look more like a house and someone just added a big ass bush on the top.

One thing that I notice about Fluttershy's cottage is that it is very secluded from the rest of town. I have picked up on the fact that Fluttershy is a bit, well, shy and she sort of strikes me as a pony who does not go out in public that often (This is all based on first impressions). So maybe her shyness is in reasoning of buying this house in the first place. Secluded and doesn't have to worry about facing the crowd where hundreds eyes are on her.

As we get closer to the house, I hear something. It's very rhythmic, angelic and very pretty. It kind of sounds like singing. Well, I'm pretty sure it is singing. Whoever it is, they have a really good voice. "Is that singing I hear?" I ask Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah. It sounds like it's coming from the back yard," she says. "It might be Fluttershy feeding some of the animals. She sings when she feeds at times." The two of us make our way up to the front of cottage and hide behind a corner. We slowly make our way to the side of the house, still undetected. That singing voice is really good! It's light, but very pleasant to the ears.

"Move over Beyoncé, you got competition," I think. Wait, WHAT?! NO! One does not compare the goddess-like voice of Beyonce to anyone! You just can't! I deserve to be thrown out a window for even thinking that.

The two of us keep slowly sneaking around the house se can detect where the voice is coming from. Rainbow Dash's suspicious are right as the yellow mare is indeed feeding animals and singing while doing so. Just taking a look at her backyard, she has a lot of animals. It practically IS a zoo here! I see birds, chickens, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, beavers, ducks, a bear, some insec-wait, A BEAR!?

"This ain't no Winnie the Pooh bulls##t here, a f##cking full grown bear! Dear God, how has that thing not mauled her to shreds yet?!" Must be one of her pets I guess. I never have seen a full out bear before unless it was something in a movie.

"Nick, you okay?" Dashie whispers. I shake my head, sort of erasing the shocked look from my face.

"I'm good, it's just the fact that Fluttershy is taking care of such a ferocious beast," I say, still undetected by Fluttershy and still sort of shocked.

"A ferocious be-oh, you're talking about the bear?" I nod. "He ain't ferocious, quite the opposite really. Fluttershy is great with animal obedience. She has this ice-cold stare she gives to animals and they obey her when she gives that stare."

"Really, that sounds like something I-" I am cut off by a third voice.

"What are you two doing?" Fluttershy asks right in front of me, scaring me and taking the air out my lungs. Damn, is today give Nick a heart attack day? First, it was Rainbow Dash when she bust through Rarity's boutique; then Pinkie Pie in the bakery, the waiter from the cafe, and now Fluttershy too? If it is 'Give Nick a Heart Attack Day', everybo-everypony is doing their fair share. I really need to get that phrasing down.

"Geez Fluttershy," I say slightly catching my breath, "you scared me."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she saysvery timidly and very scared like.

"It's fine, you just caught me off guard. That's all." I'm trying to play this off and not be so rattled. The last thing I want to do is make her feel bad for unintentionally scaring me. She's pretty fragile and I don't want to hurt a delicate pony like her.

"Um...if I may ask, why are you guys here?" she asks very quietly. Did she seriously ask for permission to ask a question? I know she's timid, but seriously? She lives up to her name, that's for sure.

"Well, Rainbow Dash is giving me a tour of Ponyville and we just wanted to stop by to say hi. Then after that, she's going to introduce me to Zecora." At the mention of her name, Fluttershy gasps. "What? Is there something bad about Zecora I need to know about?"

"No, it's not that. Zecora is a good and nice mare, it's just that she lives in the Everfree Forest." She points her hoof to the forestation next to her house. It just looks like any other forest, just a shade or two of a deeper green.

"So what? It's just a forest."

"It's not just a forest. It's a forest that has some of the most dangerous creatures you would ever encounter." Dangerous creatures in a kids show?

"What, is it some sort of lollipop monster?" I think.

"There's cockatrices, timberwolves, ursas, hydras, manticores and other dangerous creatures that live there." And forget what I just thought. I remember hearing about creatures like these in fairy tales back home. But they're just fairy tales, right? Then again, I thought pegasi and unicorns, along with the My Little Pony TV show, were fictional, so I'm wrong there. This place really isn't all sunshine and lollipops, is it? When it comes to creatures like manticores and cockatrices, I guess not.

"Really, well...wait, why would Zecora live in a forest that is home to these dangerous creatures?"

"Because the forest also has special herbs she needs to make potions and medicines. She lives in a hut that is close to all those herbs."

"She's a potion maker? Well I guess that sort of makes sense. Living near the ingredients she needs and all." I still feel a little skeptical about going into that forest though. I'm also pondering on how she could live in a forest with the creatures that Fluttershy just described? Maybe she lives in a certain part of the forest to where she doesn't have to worry about being harmed by those things."

"Don't worry Fluttershy, I'll keep Nick safe and sound," Rainbow Dash says, trying to be heroic. "And you don't have to worry about running into those creatures either Nick. Zecora isn't too deep into the Everfree Forest, it's less than a ten minute walk from here really."

"That makes me feel a little better. But come to think of it," I turn my attention back to Fluttershy, "why would you live near an area that has those dangerous creatures?"

"Well, for one thing, the creatures and critters in the forest don't really go into Ponyville…"

"Except for that one time with the Parasprites," Rainbow Dash interrupts. "And the other time when Snips and Snails brought in the Ursa Minor into Ponyville."

"...as for why," Fluttershy continues, "it's just that I like living close to and with nature." She does seem to prove her point with the way her home is. I mean, living with a ton of animals, she'd be lying if she said she didn't live close to, maybe even with, nature. Come to think of it, if she can handle most of these creatures she takes care of, including that frickin' bear, I bet you anything she can handle anything the Everfree Forest can throw at her.

"Well, whatever floats your boat Fluttershy."

"Um...I don't own a boat." ...Is she seriously this naive too?

"No, it's a figure of speech Fluttershy. It means 'whatever works for you'."

"Ohh...never heard that one used." The yellow pegasus cutely blushes, being embarrassed not knowing the phrase. "I might have to use that at some point."

"Well Fluttershy," Dash says, "I think I'm going to introduce Nick to Zecora now. You ready?" she asks me.

"I guess so. I'll see you around Fluttershy," I say.

"Okay Nick, just be careful," the yellow mare says. Geez, she sounds like my mother every time I go out for a drive. But, I probably should be careful. The last thing I want is to face a manticore and tear me up into bite sized pieces (And not to mention, ruin these sweet ass threads Rarity made for me).

Rainbow and I walk on a pathway to, what appears to be, the entrance of the dreaded Everfree Forest. I let out a quick yet deep breath. "Ya' good?" Dash asks.

"Yeah," I say. "Lets go." So the two of us make our way into this forest.

Now, it's the beginning of the afternoon and the sun is shining as brightly as it can. However, the deeper Rainbow Dash and I tread into this forest, the darker it gets. The sun doesn't shine too well here. It's not so dark to where it's the point I can't see six inches in front of me, but it is very difficult to see. The bark of the trees are a very dark brown from what I can tell and the leaves are a very dark shade of green. It's not really spooky, but I do feel that if something were to jump out in this forest, it would scare the daylights out of me.

"How ya' holding up buddy?" My rainbow-maned friend asks.

"Doin' good," I reply. But suddenly, something brushes against my hand, causing me to jump in fright and give off a holler.

"What's wrong?"

"Something just brushed against my hand."

"...Nick, that was just my ear," RD says, flatly.

"Oh, hehe, sorry."

"It's fine, don't worry about it. Just try not to get spooked so easily. It seems like you're the type that gets scared easily."

"When it comes from nowhere I do." Jump scares are usually what get me.

Seven Minutes Later

Okay seriously, do one-third of the Ponyville residents live in trees? Because this hut is made from a tree. But the weird thing that sticks out about this hut, is that there's a yellow and red wagon that is parked outside of the hut. And attached to the top of that wagon is a sign with a light-blue crescent moon. "Oh no," Rainbow Dash says, sounding like she regrets coming here.

"What's wrong?" I ask, wondering what has her like this.

"Trixie's here," she says this so bluntly, that is sounds like she isn't too fond of this 'Trixie' pony.

"Whose Trixie?" Rainbow Dash lets out a sigh, sounding a little annoyed.

"Just traveling performer who thinks she's the best around."

"Did you say performer?" She nods her head. "Yes, someone I can talk to about the fine arts of the stage!"

"But did you hear the last part? She thinks she's the big cheese when she really isn't."

"So she's one of those types of peo-ponies with the big ego?" Dash nods again. None of my fellow performers I have worked with have had big egos, so I have no idea what people like that are like. But I do want to get to know this Trixie. "Why is she at Zecora's hut come to think of it?" I ask curiously.

"I don't know. Let's find out." The two of us walk up to the door and Rainbow Dash gives it a couple of knocks. After just a couple of seconds, the door opens to reveal a zebra about the same height and size as Rainbow. She has a mohawk mane, two gold earrings on each ear, a set of rings wrapped around her neck, and a some wrapped around her right foreleg.

"Rainbow Dash! The pony of loyalty! Why have you stoped by to see me?" The zebra says. Heh, that ryhmed.

"I have a new friend I want you to meet." Rainbow Dash gestures her hoof to me. Zecora takes notice of my being and her facial expression is a little weird. I can't tell if it's pure awe, curiosity or nervousness.

"Zecora, what about Tri-" Another voice says approaching us. Another mare has appeared from the hut and she takes notice of me. This mare is a shade or two of a deeper blue than Rainbow Dash. And she has this purple wizard hat and cloak on with yellow and white stars printed on the articles. Seems to me that she's auditioning for the Sorcerer's Apprentice. I'm just gonna' go out on a limb and say that this must be Trixie. "Uhhh…" She's speechless. Zecora clears her throat so she can start speaking.

"This is a creature I have never met. Rainbow Dash, is this your new pet?" Zecora asks. Does she speak in rhyme? That's kind of... wait, did she call me a pet? Seriously? Rainbow Dash just lets out a light chuckle because of the zebra's reaction to me.

"No, this my new friend Nick. He's from from a different world and he's a really cool guy." Why thank you for vouching for my character Rainbow Dash.

"Another world?" The other blue mare asks Rainbow Dash. She then turns her attention back to me. She is looking at me as if she is studying me. "Well, Rainbow Trash, tell the Great and Powerful Trixie why it came here to Equestria." She now directs her attention back Rainbow Dash. Trash?

"I got this one Dash," I say, causing Zecora and Trixie to gasp.

"It speaks?!"

"Yes." Their facial expressions are a bit more clear now. They're in pure awe. "The reason why I'm here is because my friend Twilight accidentally combined two spells and I ended up in this world. To put it in a nutshell." At mention of Twilight's name, Trixie lets out a low grumble. I decide to change the subject. I don't think she is fond of Twilight and I don't think I want to hear why. "Uh, like what Rainbow Dash said, my name is Nick. What about you two?"

"I am known as the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She says projecting her voice and rolling the 'R's in 'Great' and 'Trixie'.

"My name is Zecora. May I ask why you have come over?" Zecora pleasantly askss

"Well Rainbow Dash is giving me a tour of Ponyville and she thought it would be a good idea to introduce me to you."

"Ah, I see logic in Rainbow's action. Two outsiders meet, so they can have a friendly attraction." That would make sense. I stick out like a sore thumb, err hoof, in this town, and with the conversation I had with the mayor earlier, Zecora seemed to have trouble fitting in as well. So I guess Rainbow Dash wanted us to set up some sort of common ground.

"So Trixie," Rainbow Dash says, "what are you doing here?" She asks with a point of view of not being too happy around her.

"Well, if you must know, Trixie came here to Zecora's hut to get some medical supply. You know, medicine and some raw herbs before I resume my travels." Is she referring to herself self in the third person, or pony? Who is she, The Rock?

"You travel?" I ask.

"Trixie is a traveling performer. Trixie must have enough medical supply in case I get ill."

"Makes sense. You know, I'm a performer too, I'm no stranger to the stage."

"Really?" For a brief second, I could see a twinkle in her eye. She seems interested.

"Yeah. I'm an actor from where I am from and I do a lot of stage work. What about you? What do you do in the performing arts?"

"Well, I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, (still rolling the Rs) am a world class magician. I can perform magic tricks like no other. They don't call me the Great and Powerful Trixie for nothing." Sounds like she has a bigger ego than Kanye's. That or too much confidence in her self, one or the other. Or would that considered the same-forget it. I'll figure that out later.

"Except that Twilight showed you up twice," Rainbow Dash mumbles. I give Rainbow Dash a jab with my elbow as a way to tell her to keep her quiet.

"You know, I am more of a play and musical person, but I am curious to see some of your magic tricks." I have heard of a few great magicians from my planet: Penn and Teller, Houdini and David Copperfield are the big ones, but I have not become avid fans of them. I'm more of a music, movie and TV show guy.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Actually, I would love to see a performance of yours at somepoint."

"Nick, she's nothing but a fake," Rainbow Dash says with a warning tone.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for one thing, she claimed to have taken down an ursa major with her magic once before. And when she faced one here in Ponyville, she fled."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Snips and Snails, who are two young colts, brought in what they thought was, an ursa major so she can take it down. But she just ran for her life. Then Twilight showed her up by sending the that ursa back into the Everfree Forest. And it turns out, it was only an ursa minor, not even an ursa major." As Rainbow Dash tells this story, Trixie grumbles even more. She even looks like she's on the borderline of being pissed off.

"Rainbow Dash, you may want to stop, it looks like Trixie's blood vessels are about to pop," Zecora points out, probably feeling uncomfortable with the situation. Scrach off what I thought earlier,Trixie does look like she's really pissed, but then takes a deep breath to calm down.

"She is right though, I have lied about some of my past achievements. But I can proudly and honestly say that I have graduated from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, at least."

"There you go. That's an achievement to be proud of." Sounds like a very prestigious school. Attending a school for the gifted under her majesty must be a huge honor.

"Indeed. Only the best of the best can get in."

"I bet." There is an awkward pause after that. What else is there more to say?

"Well, the Great and Powerful Trixie must be on her way now. Trixie must resume her travels. Zecora, may Trixie have her medicine, please?" Zecora retreats to her hut for a moment and comes back out with a semi-large sack that makes some light clinking sounds. The medicine must be in glass jars. Trixie magically levitates the sack and stows it inside of her wagon. And in return for Zecora's services, Trixie presents to her ten gold coins. What were they called again? Bits? I remember hearing Mrs. Cake call the coins bits at Sugar Cube Corner.

Trixie trots to her wagon with her head held high and her eyes closed proudly. She attaches the yoke like thing on her back and makes her way out of the Everfree Forest.

"So what do you think Nick, of the mare who performs tricks?" Zecora asks.

"Well...she seems...different," I say. "She seems to have a personality that I am not used to. However, I still may want to see a show of her's before I leave this up and coming Sunday."

"She's a fake Nick," I hear Rainbow Dash mumble. I just ignore it. Fake or not, this dark blue mare has caught my curiosity. It sucks that I did ask to see a couple of examples, but we got too enticed into a different subject, that we got side tracked. It's almost like a terribly written story...

"Well, our time together has to stop, I need to get back to brewing the crops," Zecora says politely.

"Oh, okay," I say. "It was really nice meeting you Zecora. I would like to meet up with you again some time." The mare of grey and black stripes smiles, bids us good day in rhyme and retreats to her hut. "She does seem like a nice gal."

"Told ya," Rainbow Dash says. "Ready to head back?"

"Sure."

Town Square
(15 Minutes later.
Time now is 1:52 PM)

"Well, I think that's about it," Rainbow Dash says.

"Well, thank you very much Rainbow Dash for the-" I was cut off by a loud, and I mean loud, bass drop! It caught me off guard and almost gave me...a heart attack. I'm starting to get the idea that everyone in this town is trying to kill me through the element of surprise. "Where is that coming from?" I ask over the loud noise, trying to figure out where its source is.

After taking a couple of seconds to collect ourselves from the surprise, the two of us find the source of this music, and it is coming from a house. Someone must be turnin' up.

Almost thirty seconds after that bass drop, a grey pony with black hair and a small-pink bow tie walks out of the house, rubbing a hoof on her forehead. She doesn't look too good. "Are you okay?" I ask the grey mare.

"Yes I'm-" She doesn't finish at the sight of me. I'm kind of used to it by this point. "You're that human creature I have heard about, aren't you?" Her voice kind of reminds me of Rarity. It's sophisticated and has a hint of an English accent. But her's is a little thicker.

"Umm...yeah. The name's Nick. You?"

"My name is Octavia, first chair cellist for the Royal Canterlot Symphony." Awesome! Another performer who's no stranger to the stage.

"First chair?" She nods. "That's a pretty big deal. Congrats."

"Oh, why thank you."

"So do you live in the house where that loud music is coming from?"

"Yes. My roommate, Vinyl Scratch, is the one playing that so called music."

"I hate to assume, but I'm just gonna' go out on a limb and say you're more into sophisticated music while your roommate is more into party music."

"Right on the dot. I just want to get away from that noise for five minutes."

"I can relate." I'm not too into whatever noise is coming from that house. Sure, hip-hop music can be like that at times, but sometimes, there are just some songs that are just plain up obnoxious. This Octavia seems to be more into classical music. Not really my cup of tea, but its way better than most electronic music (Daft Punk I can tolerate though). After a couple of moments, the music stops playing.

"Octy, come back insi-" A voice shouts from the house. The owner of the voice has her words cut short when she peaks her head out the door and notices Rainbow, Octavia and I. The voice's owner is a white unicorn with a two-shaded blue mane and purple sunglasses. "Oh hey, it's the human guy I heard of!" She trots up to the the three of us. I'm not offended by her calling me 'human', she doesn't really know my name. Doesn't bother me anyway. "I've been waiting to chat with you, just never found the time." Her voice sounds really familiar. I think I've heard it on the internet somewhere. "I was talking to Lyra and Bon Bon earlier today and they mentioned meeting you. Nick, right?"

"Yeup, and your rommie, Octavia, mentioned that you're Vinyl, right?"

"Corecto-mondo bro! But, my stage name is DJ-Pon-3."

"Stage name?"

"She's a DJ," Rainbow Dash and Octavia say in unison, except Octavia sounds a little more annoyed with mentioning it. Wait, another performer?! Does everyone in Ponyville share a liking for the stage as much as I do? Well, that's three in one day: Octavia, Trixie and Vinyl!

"Really? Well, I got a stage name too. It's NickyD. I mean, I'm a performer from where I'm from." The grey and white mares share a gasp of appreciation.

"What do you do?" The two ask at the same time, sounding eager to know.

"Act, cover sing and cover rap." Vinyl gets all jumpy at the mention of rap.

"You're a rapper? That is SO cool!"

"Ehh…" Octavia lets out. I can tell from the second I laid eyes on her, she isn't into hip-hop, or anything modern for that matter.

"But I do enjoy a good classical piece once in a while." Octavia's face brightens up a little at mention of a slight appreciation for classical music.

"How good are you?" Vinyl asks.

"He says he's decent, but I think he's pretty good," Dash says, putting in her two sense and patting my back.

"Hmm, you know, there's a block party next Tuesday. If you want, you and I could do somethin'. Ya know what I mean?"

"I'm getting what you're putting down, but I'll be gone by then. My friend, Twilight, is working on a way to send me back to my home planet. I'll probably be gone this coming Sunday." Speaking of which, Luna's words echos in my mind again. Greatest fear coming by the end of the week. I'm still paranoid at this and it still gives me a bit of a shiver.

"Um, you okay?" The disk-jockey asks. I shake my head to get back to my senses.

"Yeah, I'm good. But back to what you're saying, sorry about not being there next Tuseday."

"Ah, it's cool man. Don't worry about it." She puts her hoof up and I give her a fist-to-hoof bump. "Ya' know, you seem alright. Shame we don't have much time to get to know each other."

"You and I may not share the same taste in music," Octavia starts off, "but I can tell you are a nice colt and very understanding for other's tastes." I smile at her statement. I can be a very understanding person. (Modest, aren't I?)

"How about this. Stop by my place tomorrow during lunch, and we can talk about our music and you can maybe lay down something if you feel like it. Sound good?" Come to think about it, it would be interesting to see the differences between Equestrian music and music back on earth. And I do want get to know this mare and her friend better.

"You know what, that does sound good. I'll stop by tomorrow."

"Alright! See ya later bro!" She turns around and retreats to her home.

"Later home girl!" I sort of shout back. Octavia gives a light chuckle at my remark back to Vinyl.

"I'm going to go for a little stroll through Ponyville," Octavia says."I'll see you two around." The cellist mare makes her way to wherever she chooses to in town.

"Now, where were we?" I ask Rainbow Dash.

"About to thank me for the awesome tour of Ponyville," she answers.

"Right. Thank you very much for the tour Rainbow Dash. It was fun."

"Don't sweat it. It's the least I can do for a new friend. Well, I should get going now."

"Okay, fly safely Rainbow." And with a mighty lift off, she takes to the skies of Ponyville, looking like a free bird.

Comments

[NickyD]

5155676 Who said I enjoy just junk food. HEALTHY LIVING FOR THE WIN! (Though I do have a bit of a sweet tooth, I just exercise that off no problem)