Settling In

by A Wild Magikarp

Chapter 7

Author's Note:

And so it begins, the potential making or breaking of this story... Writing the dialog of actual characters from the show. Discounting Luna because her lack of screen-time. Here's hoping I don't COMPLETELY buck up... *gulp*

Sorry this took so long guys, I meant to have this out WEEKS ago, and even after missing that deadline, I went about thinking the holidays would allow me to write more, when in fact, they did quite the opposite. But I'm back, and hopefully for a while longer before more distractions arise...

In the event that you end up reading this Pen Stroke, know that I both tried my hardest, and would love to hear your opinion on her character. She's perfect the way you write her and I want to keep her as close to the original as possible.

As always, thanks to The Great Derpsby for making this stuff more bearable, and please comment and critique, I want to know what I'm doing, whether it's right or wrong. Enjoy!

Roseluck had been having a good day. This in itself was nothing unusual, as she was normally a happy pony. She loved her job, had friends that cared about her, and she couldn't have asked for a more beautiful place to call home. But something about today, from the very moment she had woken up, had just felt special. She had gotten out of bed smiling, and she had continued to do so through the rest of her morning, all the way out to her stall. Then she had made a new friend! An unexpected, but never unwelcome event.

While what had drawn them into conversation was his adventurous cat, and what kept them together at first was her pity for his situation, Sky had shown to be an interesting pony on his own. He didn't seem to be the funniest pony around, at least not on purpose. He didn't say anything extremely profound, and while he wasn't sore on the eyes, he wasn't much to look at either. In fact, he seemed a bit of a goof at times, occasionally tripping over his own words like he didn't know what he wanted to say. But all things considered, he had a sort of... effortless charm. He was one of those ponies that you couldn't help but like, even if you didn't know why sometimes. It very much reminded her of the element of kindness herself.

They had talked about his work while they waited for their meals, and while it certainly wasn't what she would do with her life, it was interesting enough to hear about what life as a scientist was like. She wouldn't trade what she did for anything in the world, but she had to admit, he made his job sound much cooler than hers. Despite this, he had listened intently to her once the food arrived. Though, that may have been due to the copious amount of food in his mouth, as he ate like it would disappear on him if he took a break from chewing. He certainly didn't EAT like the Canterlot elite... Still it was nice to just sit down and have someone listen for a little while. She could never get a word in with Daisy. All in all, it had been a lovely way to spend the day. Then the Crusaders struck, and suddenly, it became a very different story. Now, Roseluck was on the verge of panicking.

Yes, she understood that the general consensus around Ponyville was that she and her friends did that frequently, but in her defense, they where always legitimate moments of danger and or disaster. Well, except perhaps the mishap with Zecora. And the bunny stampede. And that time Pinkie covered all of her roses in polka-dots. And then there was the time that she had found a spider in the bouquet she was about to hoof over to a customer...

Ok, so perhaps she WAS quick to worry, but it was hardly as if anypony could blame her. That spider had been huge! And now was as good a time as any to be concerned.

Night Sky was currently under a large pile of wood and polyester that had apparently once been a glider. All that remained visible of the stallion was his strewn saddlebags, thrown from his back in the impact, and his tail, its tip barely visible as it poked out from the bottom of the pile. It was an almost comical sight, just the last few inches of his maple and amber colored tail poking out of the bottom of the wreck.

The remains of the flying craft were strewn about, bent and broken at odd angles, in an strange, exaggeratedly devastating manner. Rarity's younger sister, Sweetie Belle, was somehow on the top of the pile, despite the fact she would have been originally located underneath the flying machine. She had a dazed look on her face, eyes rolling around in her skull as she was apparently seeing stars. Scootaloo was located off to the side of the glider, having bailed out. Or perhaps just fallen out, it was unclear at the moment. She too had a ditsy look about her, eyes spinning circles. As for the other two, Roseluck had no direct line of sight. She thought maybe she saw a pink bow in the mess, but perhaps not. And no sign of the fourth. Perhaps she had helped launch them from... from...

Roseluck blinked and briefly looked about. The tallest building in the area was town hall, and that was still quite a walk away. They were currently surrounded on three sides by one story shops and businesses.

'Where the hay did they launch from?'

As Roseluck was considering the possible site of departure for the ill fated aircraft, the previously mentioned pink bow shifted briefly in the pile before bursting upwards and out of the pile of wood and cloth. Attached to it was a young filly with a messy red mane and a light yellow coat. Apple Bloom took a moment to pull a stray piece of wood out of her mane before she shook her head in an attempt to clear it. With some degree of success, she turned her eyes to her friends and the end result of their latest cutie mark attempt. Wood and tattered cloth was all that was left of the glider, but she was happy to see that her friends, while obviously still a little out of sorts, where in much better condition then their previous mode of transportation.

Then she noticed the pony in front of her, staring of into space. She had a blank look on her face, the kind that comes with either deep thought or shock. Given the situation, it could have been either one, but she was leaning towards the later option. Sill, despite how much she may want to deny it, things like this were more common than this pony's reaction would suggest. So what was the big deal? Then she saw the bag, one of its flaps flung open, and its content littering the immediate vicinity of the crash site. She froze when she realized the implications.

"Umm, girls? Did we hit somepony? Ah can't tell through all this mess..."

Scootaloo responded with an intelligent "Whu-huh?" continuing to stare off into space. Sweetie Belle failed to respond at all, as she was still pulling herself together. But for Roseluck, it was just the wake-up call she needed. Her friend was currently buried, possibly hurt, under a wrecked glider, and she was busy considering possible launch sites! She moved to help, galloping forwards and removing the two recovering crusaders from the pile before turning her attention to the pile itself. "Sky?! Sky, are you ok? Oh please be ok. Applebloom, help me, quick!" She began using her mouth to remove large pieces of wood from the pile, and a moment later, Apple Bloom, still located at its top, began to do likewise for the smaller pieces.

Soon enough, the heap had been cleared enough that the unfortunate stallion was clearly visible. Sky looked healthy for the most part, the only exception being a light scrape here or there scattered across his body. He remained motionless however, except for the slight movement of his barrel as he breathed shallowly, indicating a state of unconsciousness.

Roseluck gave a silent sigh of relief 'Good, it doesn't look like there are any broken bones. He seems alright, except for being asleep.' She turned to a waiting Apple Bloom, who was looking at her nervously, waiting for something, whether it was a report on the stallion's condition, reprimanding, or a question as to how they got their hooves on a glider in the first place. That last one she had promise Sweetie Belle to take to the grave, but after hitting somepony with the stunt they used it in, she may have felt guilty enough to spill it. Roseluck simply nodded lightly, and Apple Bloom sagged in relief and gave a sigh as well, this one audible.

Her friends, though, where oblivious to this quite exchange, and continued to stare at the downed pony. Sweetie Belle's face was a visage of pure horror and fear, while Scootaloo was wearing a look that implied curiosity.

"Uhh... He isn't dead... Right?" She asked.

Sweetie Belle's head shot over to face her pegasus friend, face going paler, if it where even possible for the small alabaster unicorn. "DEAD?!" she shrieked. She bolted over to the prone form of the sleeping Sky, and began pushing and pulling him in an attempt to wake him. "No-no-no-no, pleeease don't be dead mister! I don't WANT to know what Rarity will do to me if I accidental killed somepony! Please wake up, please!"

---

Sky regained consciousness, but not necessarily lucidity, in a world of pain. While not awake enough to form a coherent thought, he was most certainly positive about the fact that he couldn't remember a time that he had been in as much pain as now. Most likely due to a cushy Canterlot life. It's hard to hurt yourself as a foal when there's no room to do it in the first place. Still, as this single idea swam about in his head, he began to notice something. A noise, not unlike the soft sound of Hearth's Warming bells in the distance. Such a lovely noise. The memory of the Hearth's Warming year he had received Selene floated to the top of his head, and elicited a response.

"No... cats got it with... with the salad... Come back Tuesday."

There was a brief pause in the noise, before it once again continued. This time he could tell what it was. A voice, a small, filly-esque voice, apparently calling out to him. It was accompanied by the sensation of motion, which he was now aware of. He knew very few fillies, and of the ones he did know, only one would be so bold to shove him awake. Despite the pain, he couldn't help but smile, and let loose a light chuckle. His brain did not yet remember where he was, and that such a pony calling out to him would not be possible.

"-ight, alright Sunny, I'm up, I'm gett'n up," He mumbled before rolling over to try and block out the noise, and the pain, and the world in general. Why did he have to get up now? He decided that Sunny could wait, and began his attempts to fall back asleep.

---

"No... cats got it with... with the salad... Come back Tuesday," Sky groaned. Roseluck blinked. That was... weird. Where in the hay had that come from? The others where just as confused as she was. Apple Bloom scratched her head.

"I think we broke em' girls..." She said with a tone that displayed the levels of bewilderment she was experiencing.

"Ya, that sounded pretty broken to me to," Scootaloo added with a nod.

Sweetie Belle redoubled her efforts to wake the semi-conscious stallion at her hooves. "Come on mister, you aren't broken are you? Wake up already, come on!"

Sky, rather than open his eyes to her request, oddly enough, he smiled, then laughed, and began to speak.

"-ight, alright Sunny, I'm up, I'm gett'n up," He mumbled before turning his back to her and laying still once again.

There was a moment of silence, before Roseluck chucked at her friends display. Sweetie Belle stopped her attempts to wake him and looked to her in an attempt to find answers. "Um, is he talking to you miss? Are you Sunny?"

Roseluck shook her head no. "No, I'm not Sunny, I'm Rose. In fact, I have no idea who Sunny is. I only just meet him a couple of hours ago, so I don't know who he could be referring to."

"Maybe his marefriend, or a special somepony?" Applebloom asked.

Scootaloo, as was necessary to maintain her 'tough filly' image, made a gagging motion with her hoof, accompanied by noise.

This was the scene that a small, royal black alicorn with a dark purple mane came in on. She rounded the corner quickly, having heard her fellow crusaders' voices, and came across the picture of Sweetie Belle, standing over an unmoving pony, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom standing next to one of the flower ponies, and what looked like their glider scattered around the area. She took a moment to scan the area with her turquoise eyes before she developed a proper response to the chaos she was witness to. She galloped over to Sweetie Belle, scaring both her and the flower pony, before lightly pushing Sweetie out of the way and going over the fallen pony with both eyes and hooves. "What did you girls DO?!"

"Nyx! Where have you been girl?" Scootaloo asked apparently oblivious to her friend's question.

"What? Looking for you! I lost sight of you once you passed the Quills and Sofas, and went looking around the area for you! What happened? You didn't hit him did you?" She asked as she prodded Sky with her hoof.

"Maybe..." Sweetie Belle replied.

"D-don't worry girls. I thing h-he's going to be just fine. He's probably just a little out of it at the moment." Roseluck said with only a hint of fear as she looked at Nyx out of the corner of her eye. The filly pretended not to notice, but couldn't help but feel a bit stung at the look the older pony gave her. She should have been used to it at this point. There were quite a few ponies like that in Ponyville nowadays. If they weren't scared of her, they were sending hateful glances her way. As if she needed any further reminder of what she had done...

Then the prone pony she was currently standing on stirred and gave a quiet grunt, and all eyes went to him. He shifted to lay on his stomach, forcing Nyx off of him, as she stood next to her friends, perhaps a little too close to the waking stallion's face. He sat there for a moment wincing, until attempting to open his eyes for the first time since the crash. He was greeted by the sight of four pairs of eyes staring at him intently, and much to closely. One of the pairs looked unsettlingly like those of a dragons.

---

The sensation of hooves grinding into his side had finally brought Sky out of his impromptu nap and back to reality. He realized were he was and more importantly, just how much his world hurt at the moment. 'Why does it feel like the universe it trying to tell me something?There has to be a limit on how unlucky one pony can get...' With a pained sound, he made to stand, rolling off of his side and lay flat on his stomach. A step in the right direction, but he needed a moment after that. So much pain... he would definitely be asking Roseluck to lead him to his new home first. Leave all that grand tour stuff and... walking, for later.

'Grow up you foal, tis' just a flesh wound,' the voice in his head said. Oh joy, that was back as well. He had been hoping to keep arguments with himself to a minimum today after meeting Roseluck. Still, he couldn't argue with the voice, he had to get up sooner or later. With that in mind, Sky braced himself for the light and opened his eyes. It wasn't as painfully bright as he thought it would be, but that wasn't to say he wasn't in for a shock.

In his immediate vision, four pairs of eyes stared back at him with the unwavering curiosity of children. So, that explained the Sunny sound-alike. All of them where unblinking, unmoving, and very, VERY close. But the most unsettling part was the pair to the right. They were slitted, like a cat's eyes. As he was going over all of them, his gaze quickly returned to the reptilian pair as he began to stare. To his credit, he didn't scream, but only because at the moment, he was to stunned to panic. He and the owner of the other set of eyes stared at each other for a long period of time, one in a state of shock, the other with concern. Then, the unicorn filly located between her earth pony and pegasus counterparts, spoke.

"Umm... are you ok mister? You're not hurt are you?"

"Ya, nothin's broken or anything right?" the yellow earth pony inquired.

The orange pegasus filly turned to her two companions. "Oh please, we didn't hit him THAT hard!"

"Hey, YOU were the one who thought he was dead!" The yellow one retaliated.

"Girls? I don't think-" the white one tried.

"He looked dead then! For all I knew, maybe he was, I don't know, really really sick or something."

"He looks fine to me, except for the bangs and bruises we gave em'. How could you think he was so sick he would die?"

"Actually, he could have had something like osteoporosis and we wouldn't have been able to tell," the white one finally managed.

The other two stopped and turned to look at her, obviously befuddled.

"... What?" she asked, a little self conscious. They gave no response, as they kept staring. "WHAT?" she asked shrilly.

"Do you just read whatever your sister puts in front of you?" the pegasus filly asked.

The white ones face lit up a light pink. "One time! She wasn't even looking at what it was and I was bored out of my mind at the time, ok?"

"Ya, but... a dictionary? I mean, really? Who sits down and reads and entire dictionary?"

"ONE TIME!"

As the three were going at it, Sky was only paying half a mind. Both he and the small black filly where still staring at one another. He had shifted to a sitting position to get a better look at the owner of the strange set of lenses. Taking note of her cutie mark, a embroidered blue kite shield with what looked like a waning crescent moon in the center, and her wings and horn, he was thoroughly confused. Another alicorn? How? The only alicorns he could think of where the princesses back in Canterlot. Well, them and Nightmare... Moon...

Sky was suddenly struck dumb, the knowledge of who he was talking to blindsiding him. He was talking to Nightmare Moon. THE Nightmare Moon! He had seen Celestia at the Summer Sun Celebration before, and had personally met Luna. But this was Nightmare Moon! She had defeated both of the princesses, and blanketed Equestria in eternal night for months! He wasn't sure what reaction was appropriate at the moment; recoiling in fear, a demand as to how she got here, or the surprisingly powerful urge to give the adorable fillified terror a big hug. The latter would likely end badly, no matter how she interpreted it, so he would refrain from doing so. And the other two options didn't seem right at all either, as she wasn't really all that threatening. Still, he wasn't sure what to do next. Should he bow? She wasn't his ruler any more, and a foal at that. Maybe just act casual? As if, it was bucking Nightmare Moon, no matter how small she may be at the moment! What could he do then?

Sky hadn't moved since his internal debate began, and as such, the object of his fascination began to feel uncomfortable. Nyx began to shift her weight nervously from side to side. She wasn't wearing her disguise out, so he almost definitely recognized her. This was normally the part where ponies who didn't know her before her transformation ran in fear or attempted a 'citizens arrest'. She couldn't recall a time that a pony had stared at her quite like this pony was. She summoned what courage she had before making an attempt at breaking the ice.

"Umm... Hi?" She said, grabbing his attention. He simply cocked his head to the side, eyebrow raised in a quizzical expression, another first. She continued.

"S-sorry my friends hit you and... you know, knocked you unconscious. W-we weren't aiming for you, I promise." She explained quietly. She looked around at him and noticed the large amount of small scrapes and cuts that littered his body. "You're not hurt are you? W-well, I mean you ARE, but, I mean... What I mean is..."

Sky looked back at himself and the source of his discomfort, and winced. It wasn't that bad anywhere, but what it was was everywhere. It was going to be an ordeal moving around for sure. And he wasn't looking forward to cleaning those later.

"Oh, I'll live, no permanent damage far as I can tell. Thanks though." He looked back to Nyx and frowned. "So the rumors where true... You ARE just running about in Ponyville? I thought it was all a bunch of conspiracy theorists looking for something to panic about. And you're small... no offense."

That last part almost got Nyx to smile. Of all the things for a pony to say, THAT was his final thought? This pony was just full of surprises. She opted for a small, barely noteworthy grin instead.

"Ya, I guess when ponies heard I was with 'somepony the Princess trusted completely', they expected me to be locked up or something... I get ponies who visit town running away yelling that I 'escaped' a lot. That's why I still have to wear a disguise out every once in a while."

"Hah! Really? And the fact that Nightmare Moon is half their size doesn't matter at all?"

She shrugged. "Guess not." She looked up at him, now sporting the smile that she had failed to muster up previously. This was a rarity for her, to find somepony who didn't run the moment the set eyes on her. The ice sufficiently broken, She decided to properly introduce herself. "And I'm Nyx by the way, not Nightmare Moon. I kinda hate it being called that." She frowned a bit and looked beyond Sky, towards the direction of her old castle. "It's not something I like to remember... a lot of ponies don't realize I hated my time as Queen almost as much as they did."

Sky raised an eyebrow at that, before grinning and giving an exaggerated bow. "Really? Then my apologies, Nyx, from the bottom of my heart. Please do forgive my trespasses." His looked up, expecting to see a smile, or perhaps a laugh, or maybe even for her to begin playing along. Instead he was treated to the sight of the previous ruler of Equestria, now a youth of Ponyville, eyeing him with cautious confusion. She had not been spoken to that way since the removal of her 'blessing' on the Children of Nightmare. Nyx was fairly sure he was joking, but even so, she could not fathom why this pony would not only take her freedom as well as he had, but make jokes about it as well. Perhaps he was mocking her? He didn't SEEM to mean it that way. Or maybe he didn't even know what he was talking about in the first place?

"Are you sure you're alright mister? We didn't hit you to hard on the head did we?"

"Hmm? No, I feel fine in the head, no concussions or anything if that's what you mean. Why do you ask?"

"W-well, its just that your taking this... Really, REALLY well. In fact better than I think anypony else has, besides maybe my friends. I just don't know why."

"Ya, why is that anyways?" Sky heard another voice ask. He turned to see that the other three fillies had finished their argument over preference of literary entertainment, and were now looking to him and his alicorn counterpart.

"Well, I'm going to be honest with you girls, because that's just me. I find it really hard to be scared of something as small and ah... adorable as you four. Thinking about it, I have a younger sister your age, and I know for a fact that she can hardly lift a spoon with that little horn of hers, so I'm not all too certain that there is anything to be afraid of. Not to mention the Princess said you had been drained of your powers, so-" He stop suddenly as what he was voicing hit him. "Wait, you CAN still use magic right? they didn't take that away from you did they? I can't imagine what that would be like not being able to use your wings or horn. Well, I guess I can't really know what it's like to have them either, but I know that none of my sisters would take it very well themselves. Especially Autumn, I'm not sure what she would do if she lost the ability to fly..."

The yellow and white filly of the crew blushed at the 'adorable' part of his rant, while their orange counterpart huffed indignantly to herself and turned away, mumbling something about 'adorable is not cool'. Nyx, though, was unfazed by what she was taking as a compliment, and instead focused on the question he had presented to her.

"No, I can still do magic, and I couldn't fly before anyways, only glide. Well, except for when I was big, but that doesn't count I think. Ponies I ask say that I am just as good at magic as anypony else my age, but I still wish that I could do more. It's annoying, going from lifting books and blankets to lifting feathers..." She said with a frustrated tone in her voice. She attempted to scowl, but rather than appearing intimidating, as it would have on her older face, it simply gave her a cute pouting appearance, forcing Sky once more to resist the urge to wrap the small filly in a hug.

"Wait," Said the unicorn filly, who Sky now realized he had yet to gather the name of. "But you're an earth pony!"

He tilted his head to the side, confused. "...Yyyes, yes I am... Is that a problem, miss...?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Sweetie Belle," She offered politely. She gave a light, slightly sloppy curtsy as she introduced herself, making Sky smile again.

"I'm Scootaloo!" The pegasus beside her said proudly, puffing out her chest as if to impress him. His smile evolved into a smirk of amusement at the bravado.

"And ahm Applebloom," said the yellow earth pony filly that was next in line, simply offering a smile and a nod. "Your friend said yer name was Sky," Applebloom looked past him to the mare in question, who was still attempting to put as much room between herself and Nyx as possible without appearing to do so. "Rose, right?"

The cream colored pony looked up from the ground at her name. "Y-yes, t-that's right. My name is Roseluck, and this is Night Sky," She supplied, obviously uncomfortable with the situation. What Sky didn't understand was what part of it.

"You alright Rose? You don't look so good."

Rose shifted her gaze to Nyx, before looking back to the ground once more. "I-I'm fine Sky, thank you. Look, I-I just remembered I have to get back to my stall, so maybe we could do that grand tour thing some other time? I know Applebloom here lives right next to where you will be staying, so she could take you there if you like. I just really..." She looked back to the fillies. "...really need to go now. You understand, right?"

Sky nodded, keeping a straight face. He understood the reason she had given, but he also understood that there was something else going on here. But he wouldn't pry, he wasn't the kind to get to involved in another pony's life if they didn't offer it.

"Sure, that's fine, as long as these four are alright with it as well. You girls wouldn't mind if I tag along for a while right?"

Applebloom perked up at this. "Course not! We where probably headn' back to the clubhouse to come up with our next plan anyways! It's this way, come on!" She turned and stared running off down the road, towards the edge of town, followed closely by her friends.

"Alright then, see you later-" Sky turned around to see that Roseluck had already left, leaving him alone in the middle of the street. "...Later, Rose. Hmm," He said to himself as he started to follow after the fillies that where to be his guide, before realizing that all his belongings where still strewn about near the pile of wood and cloth that had once been the girls' glider. With a brief sigh, he quickly gathered everything back into his saddlebags, and collected Selene, who had been laying on said saddlebags for the duration of his conversation, before laying her on his back and galloping after the girls, who where now fading into the distance, apparently oblivious to his disappearance. His first day in town was turning out to be an interesting one to be sure.

Comments

[Ephedianroyalty]

Best reaction to nyx