Ch 2: On Your Mark
Chapter 2
On Your Mark
Sometimes, the road of life is one-way. Sometimes, the only way home is forward. Sometimes, you just have to put one foot in front of the other.
And sometimes, I choose to procrastinate.
I stood on the top of a grassy knoll. A cold breeze playfully tugged at my shirt and caused the grass around my legs to ripple like water. Above me, a golden white sun warmed my shoulders and lit up the world with a rainbow of pastel colors. Beneath my feet, Ponyville was spread out like a painting. I knew I had to go there, wanted it more than anything, but I was procrastinating.
“Pshh!” My pent-up emotions came out as an angry sigh. I hissed like a giant brony aerosol can and slumped into a sitting position.
“Don’t you want to go down there?” Here I was, talking to myself again.
“I have to.”
“Then why not go?” This was about the fifth time I’d had this same conversation that morning. I was never a fan of reruns, and this was getting ridiculous.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Three out of five “human in Equestria” stories don’t turn out so well for the human.” (And out of those three, one portrays the ponies as xenophobic and the others are X-rated.)
I had wandered out of the Everfree a couple hours ago, following the six hero’s’ triumphant victory over Nightmare Moon. The ponies had seemed to return to their normal routine easily enough. From my vantage point, I could see Rose and Carrot Top tending their respective gardens. The Mayor (Mare) was walking up and down the streets and the pegasi on patrol were keeping the day as sunny and clear as possible.
Me? I had spent the day tying my brain in knots.
I was the epitome of a stranger in a strange land. I was (possibly) the only one of my kind in a magical world of sentient horses. I had no home or way back home, no possessions besides my Pjs and no talents besides my striking good looks. I thoughtfully passed my hand over the sandpaper stubble that was sprouting on my chin. I needed food and shelter and help.
“And food!” My stomach reminded me.
But I still couldn’t bring myself to walk into Ponyville. I loved MLP:FIM and that’s why I both wanted to prance into Ponyville and avoid it like the plague at the same time. It had a great story, fun characters, and, most importantly, a happy ending. If I interfered with that, even a little, I could easily change things for the worse. I didn’t belong in the story.
“Kind of late for that.” I muttered, remembering my experience only a couple hours ago. How the story had taken a decidedly darker turn. I could still feel the weight of Nightmare Moon’s cold malice in my chest.
“Besides,” One final thought took the podium and cleared its throat, “What I need most of all is help, and these ponies are the closest thing I have to friends… Even if they don’t know it yet.”
“Allright, then! I’ll just introduce myself and…” I leapt to my feet, but I couldn’t force them to move forward. I was nervous, ok? It’s not every day you get to meet people (or ponies) who shouldn’t exist. I was afraid of fangirling, even though I’m a guy. Finally, I made a compromise; I began walking, but it was towards Sweet Apple Acres. My stomach was the one steering.
My path orbited the little hamlet beneath me until I found myself surrounded by wave-upon-wave of bountiful apple trees. Despite how the sunlight shone through the branches, or how quiet and peaceful the air was, the first thing that struck me about Sweet Apple Acres was the smell. The only experience I had with real apple trees back on Earth was a half-dead snag that my family had tenderly nurtured back to life. Sure, it blossomed in the spring like it was supposed to, but I never would have imagined that a plant could radiate with life like these trees did. The air tasted sweet with the smell of their fruit, and the apples hung from the boughs so invitingly. I barely gave a thought to whether it was right or wrong when I reached out and plucked a glistening red delicious off the tree and took a bite.
Never in my life had I tasted an apple until that moment, and it wasn’t just because of that, “hunger is the best spice” saying. Everything I had ever bought from the supermarket might as well have been green and immature compared to this flavor. With the way the aroma charged up my nose and the way the juice burst out over my chin, I might as well have taken a big bite of a fruit grenade. All this overwhelming sensation and Apples weren’t even my favorite fruit! I devoured three of them before I realized I wasn’t hungry anymore.
“So good.” A heavy feeling hit my gut. I felt guilty, of course. I hadn’t just taken a quick snack, I had stolen something that somepony worked hard to grow and nurture. Even if it was just three out of an orchard of thousands, I promised that I would find a way to repay the Apple family.
“First day in Ponyville, and you’ve already stolen from the element of Honesty!” I tried to laugh at the irony, tried to tell myself that it was a small matter and nopony would care, but as soon as I started walking towards Ponyville, I knew. I cared.
I hadn’t even stolen a candy bar back on Earth. What justified my little snack just now? I wasn’t desperate for food, was I? Was I not as honest of a person as I thought I was?
I shook my head and kept walking. I couldn’t let my doubts come back or else I’d knock myself back to paragraph one; procrastinating. I still needed to introduce myself to Ponyville, but I needed a strategy.
Waltzing in would probably be a bad idea. A mysterious creature crawling (ok, walking, even freakier) out of the Everfree forest would probably cause more problems than I’d care to deal with. Plus, I couldn’t waltz.
“I know! I could go meet Zecora first! She’s pretty nice and-”
“Nope!” I immediately dropped that idea. Zecora was nice, but she was like me: a strange creature from a strange land. I guess her episode applied to me more than I thought. If the ponies were wary of a creature that almost looked like a horse visiting them, what would they think of me!? I didn’t want to be alienated or treated like a monster. (There’s already a wing in the fanfiction library devoted to that) And teaming up with Zecora would only create more of a separation between me and the ponies.
My best bet would be to meet Pinky Pie first. Assuming she doesn’t just gasp and run away, I might get a “Cranky Doodle Donkey” scenario. If all went well, she would go through her checklist:
Meet somepony new-
Introduce myself-
Sing random song out of nowhere-
Become instant best friends-
And with her seal of approval, the other ponies in town should follow suit. However, I just hoped she didn’t put the cake batter in the confetti cannon… again. Still, now that I had some kind of plan of action, there was nothing left but to do it. I took a deep breath and began walking toward Ponyville.
However, on that day, I received a grim reminder; life rarely goes according to plan.
Before I even got to the edge of the apple orchard, my plan began to fall through. There was no breeze blowing, yet a couple leaves, like emerald feathers, floated down from the branches above and brushed against my forehead. I looked up to see none other than Rainbow Dash staring down at me. My foot froze where it fell.
I tried to appear calm and unthreatening, but the cocktail of emotions welling up in me make my heart beat like the wings of a hummingbird that just snorted caffeine.
In case you’re wondering, the cocktail was 5% “oh, look, it’s Rainbow Dash”, 20% “what’s she going to do?”, 10% “what am I going to do?”, 5% “snap! I wasn’t ready for this!”, and 160% “ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!!!!!1!”. Scientifically speaking, of course.
“Hey!” I tried to smile.
“Hey…” The cyan pegasus answered automatically, her pink eyes pulled into a confused frown. At least, I hoped it was confusion. Rainbow Dash may be a fan favorite, but I always thought she was the second most impulsive pony of the M6 (I shouldn’t have to tell you who took 1st place). She was the one most likely to face danger head-on, most likely to act rashly, and most likely to jump to conclusions. As of that moment, she could either consider me an oddity or a threat. God save me if it was the latter.
“Um…” She tilted her head, “So… What ARE you?”
“Me?” I smiled, tickled to be having this conversation. “I’m fortunate to meet you, that’s what I am.”
“Well, but that’s not what I meant!” She lifted her wings, agitated.
“If you meant my species, I’m a human. Though, that probably doesn’t mean much.”
“No, not really.”
“Then, let me introduce myself,” I paused to collect my thoughts. This was the first moment when I could make things easier or harder on myself. I had to get Rainbow Dash’s trust, but I also wanted to remain as detached from the world as possible. I was an observer, first and foremost, and could not afford to get too involved with anything.
“I’m a traveler, but I’m kind of lost.” Technically true. “I just came through the Everfree forest,” also technically true, “and I need a place to stay until I know where I am and what’s going on.” Still true, though I probably had a better idea of where and when I was than RD herself right now.
“Oh, well that’s easy enough!” Rainbow Dash leapt back off her branch and hung in the air. “You see that little town down there? That’s Ponyville!”
“You don’t say?” I tried not to sound condescending.
“And you’re right! You are fortunate to meet me, ‘cause I know this town better than anypony else!”
“And why’s that?”
“Duh!” The pegasus smiled at her wings with pride.
“Oh, right.” I couldn’t keep the smile from breaking across my face. “You’re probably the best flyer in Ponyville!”
“Uh-huh! You know it! I’m Rainbow Dash! Nice to meet ya,… um…”
“Uh!... I’m Mark.” Also technically true. I don’t know why I gave her my middle name instead of my first name. Perhaps I was already in the habbit of half-truths and hiding information. Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to notice either way.
“Well, try and keep up, Mark! I’ll show you around.” The pegasus twisted in the air, lifted her wings, and shot off through the low branches of the trees, scattering leaves in her shimmering wake.
Even if I wanted to correct her about my name, she was long gone. All I could do was pick up my bare feet and try to follow the speeding mare as best as I could. It wasn’t how I expected events to turn out, but I was now entering Ponyville whether I wanted to or not.
“Haha! You’re going to need more legs than that to keep up!” Rainbow Dash playfully veered around and somersaulted overhead. I was just glad she wasn’t telling me to “grow a pair”. Within moments, my soft feet went from velvety grass to packed-dirt roads, to the cobblestone streets of the town. From a bystander’s perspective, my grand entrance to this brony’s “promised land” was less than dignified.
“There’s Bon Bon’s house! And there’s the School! This is the market place! There’s the spa, joke shop, Quills and Sofas,-” Rainbow Dash fired off the names of the buildings like bullets from an Uzi. All around me, the quaint houses and humble cottages rose up around me like giant mushrooms, squat and wide or tall and twisted, each with their pointed cap of a thatched roof. Little frosted windows glistened like sugar candy with rows of perfumed flowers crowding every sill.
Interestingly enough, Ponyville smelled like horses, and yet at the same time, not. Whenever I thought of equines, I would picture a stable or some field, a combination of hide, hay, and manure. In a world of sentient sanitary equines, though, the last smell was completely absent, giving the whole place a rustic, yet fresh scent.
“Hey!? Can we slow down?” I panted. All around me, candy-colored ponies were turning wide eyes on the strange creature barreling through their streets. The sight of a lanky alien monkey invading their town was bad enough; it didn’t have to be running like an ostrich too.
“Pardon me! Hello! Sorry!” I tried to wave at as many of the villagers as possible, but it did nothing to reassure them that I wasn’t bonkers. I left more than one pony glancing at their friends with a “da hek did I jus see?” look on their face.
“This way!” Rainbow Dash suddenly shot off to the right toward the center of town. I did my best to follow, but the instant I turned the corner, a new obstacle blocked my way. It took the form of a pony with wings, a yellowish hide and a flowing pink mane.
“Gah!”
“Eep!”
I couldn’t stop myself fast enough, leaving me no choice but to jump. As a representative of the whole human race to Equestria, I want to take this moment to apologize for my sub-standard display of agility. I think a drunken squid could have jumped better than me in that moment.
As a charging ball of ungainly limbs and awkwardly-twisting ankles, I half-tripped, half-leapt over the cowering figure of Fluttershy. And hey, bonus points: Rarity was there to witness this too! I didn’t realize the white unicorn had been walking with her friend until I was already three feet in the air and half upside-down. It probably wasn’t a good first impression for either of the ponies, but at that moment, all I could think about was,
“This is gonna sting.” And just like that, I hit the ground. I think I landed on my hip, but my momentum threw me into a nearby barrel as well, so I pretty much hurt my everything.
“Oww…” I sat motionless for a while, the skin on my back tingling as if it had red ants crawling under it.
“Oh dear! Are you alright?” A familiar voice, laced with refined culture, brought me back to the present. Rarity stepped forward, her sapphire eyes filled with concern. Everything about her, from her silken mane to her polished hooves was spotless and radiant.
“I think so.” I tried to sit up, but the fire ants didn’t like that. “Ouch!”
“Here, darling.” The unicorn’s horn lit up and the saddlebag on her flank opened to reveal a pink feather duster. Of course, being free from the curse of dust was far more important than being able to get up off the ground, but I appreciated the gesture all the same.
“Oh my… Are you hurt?” Fluttershy whimpered from behind the cover of her mane. “I… I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.” Her voice cracked and I thought I saw her eyes grow watery.
“No! I’m fine! I promise! See?” Fire ants be damned! I wasn’t going to be the one to make Fluttershy cry even if it killed me. Then again, if I did make her cry, the Flutterfans would kill me anyways. I tried to smile, but it may have come off as a wince instead.
“Oh my! Well you certainly took a tumble.” Rarity continued to try and dust me off while I tested my limbs to find out what specifically was hurt.
A part of me was interested in the fact that the unicorn was only as tall as my shoulder. I know that a lot of fan art portrays the ponies as dog-sized or even cat sized (I’ll exclude chibi hand-sized for now, even though that would soon describe Apple Teeny), but these ponies were, big surprise, pony-sized. Too small for a 6’ guy like me to ride, yet not too short that I had to look down on them very much. (Fine! I’m 5’ 11”! Happy now?) Not that I wanted to ride them, of course…
“I’m sorry I was in your way.” Fluttershy continued apologizing.
“Don’t be! It was completely my fault, my dear. I’m just glad I didn’t actually run into you.” Ankles? Check. Knees? Check. Butt? Bruised. Etc…
“That’s very polite of you, but you should still get this tended to.” Rarity spoke up from behind me. She gestured at a long scratch reaching up over my right shoulder blade. It was covered in dust and small rocks and had a tiny spot of red in the middle. “And I’m so sorry about your clothes as well! I’d gladly clean them for you.”
“That won’t be-”
“What is this weave, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Um… I don’t know, to be honest.” I twisted my neck around to see what remained of the shirt’s tag. However, it was an old shirt, and whatever used to be used to identify that piece of cloth was erased a couple dozen washes ago. “I think it’s cotton, if that’s a clue.”
“Do you have anything to change into?”
“Actually, these are all I own.” I admitted.
“Wha!?” I should have been more subtle. The shock that spread across Rarity’s face almost caused her to drop the duster.
“There you are!” Rainbow Dash darted up and over the summit of a nearby rooftop. “Hey girls! Look what I found!”
“Yes, we’ve… met.” Fluttershy admitted.
“What did you say your name was, darling?” The unicorn smiled and looked up politely.
“I’m-”
“He’s Mark! And he’s a human from beyond the Everfree forest!”
“Really?” I could almost feel the breeze coming off Rarity’s flickering eyelashes. “And does everyone wear clothes where you’re from?”
“Uhh… Exclusively.” (Please don’t comment about technicalities.)
“Ah!” Even a day as sunny as that one was made brighter by the smile Rarity gave when I said that. “Well, I DO hope you tarry here in Ponyville. I feel that you and I will get along just fine!”
“She owns a clothes shop.” Rainbow Dash sounded less than impressed.
“The Carousel Boutique! Oh, you MUST stop by sometime!”
“I think I must.” I tried not to let my smile give too much away.
“A human?” Fluttershy suddenly trotted forward, a tiny smile beneath her wide eyes. “I’ve never met a human before! What do you do?”
“Do?”
“Well, he’s not very good at keeping up with me!” Dash hovered above the conversation.
“I, uh… I can’t think of anything special about humans. I mean, I’ve got fingers. Does that count?”
“Oh, yes!” The yellow pegasus stretched her muzzle out for a closer look.
“Big deal! You’ve seen claws before, right?” Rainbow Dash huffed.
“And you’re standing so well!” Fluttershy complimented.
“Well, that’s not special either. Spi-aye-yei… Spine’s specially designed to let me do this.” I wanted to say that Spike was always walking on two feet, but I remembered that I hadn’t ‘met’ Spike yet.
“What do humans eat? If you don’t mind me asking?”
“Not at all.” I lied. This moment had to come sooner or later. “We can eat pretty much anything. You know… fruits… vegetables… grains… mushrooms?” Certainly not critters, farm animals, or horses.
“Oh, how interesting.”
“Hey, Lyra! Wanna see the human?” Rainbow Dash waved over to a pale-mint unicorn that was passing by. However, a thousand fan fictions were shattered in that moment when Lyra Heartstrings glanced at me and then continued trotting as if she hadn’t heard Dash.
“What’s with her?” Rainbow Dash folded her hooves.
“I guess some fannons just aren’t cannon.” I muttered.
“What?”
“What?” I hastily looked away.
“So is this where y’all been hidin’?” I turned around to see a lean and sinewy mare with a Stetson on her blond head. The orange Apple was smiling, apparently un-phased by my presence.
“Hey, AJ!”
“Hello, darling.”
“… Hi…”
“G’day, ma’am!” I greeted Apple Jack enthusiastically.
“Who’s this?” She stepped forward.
“An adventurer!”
“A foreigner.”
“A human.”
“… I’m Mark. Nice to meet you.”
“Well, howdy, Mark! Pleased to meet ya! I’m Apple Jack.” I just nodded knowingly, “But y’all can just call me AJ. What brings ya to Ponyville, partner?”
“Well, I found myself wandering through the forest, but soon realized- is that pie I smell!?” I was going to answer Apple Jack with some story about getting lost in the Everfree, but the sudden scent of cinnamon and fruit pastries blotted out everything else. It was like experiencing those apples all over again, but this time with fresh pie.
“Pie? Oh, that’s right! I’ve got ‘em here.” The earth pony gestured at a package wrapped in a handkerchief on her back.
“And why, may I ask, are you toting pie through the streets?” Rarity looked down her muzzle critically.
“Well, I was goin’ to give this to Twilight. Help her get settled in an’ all, but she ain’t there. No sign or nothin’.”
“Not at the library?” I coughed. Having Twilight not in her library was like having doughnuts without coffee. Something was seriously wrong.
“Oh, I hope she’s ok.” Fluttershy seemed to be thinking the same thing. Rainbow Dash still seemed bored,
“She’s probably just-”
“Somepony said pie!!” A radiant pink bolt of lightning fell from the sky, knocking the rainbow pegasus right out of the air and pinning her to the ground. “I know there’s pie!”
“Pinkie!?” Rainbow Dash winced under the mass of cotton-candy-like hair that engulfed her as Pinkie Pie smiled at her nose-to-nose and eye-to-eye. “What are you doing here?”
“My molar was ringing, and you know what that means!”
“How am I supposed to know!?”
“Somepony was talking about pie!!” The crazed earth pony gave a smile that rivaled the Cheshire cat.
“Well, it wasn’t me! It was Apple Jack. She and I sound nothing alike!”
“Cough!” I suddenly had some irony stuck in my throat.
“Hey! Who’s this?”
“Our new friend, Mark.” Rainbow Dash explained, trying to wriggle her way free of the pink beartrap. She was immediately released when Pinkie Pie leapt into the air,
“New friend!? Where was I??”
“That’s what I wanted to know…” I muttered to myself.
“Hi new friend! I’m Pinkie Pie! I’ve never seen anypony like you before!”
“That’s ‘cause he’s not a pony…” Apple Jack rolled her eyes.
“Oh, silly me! The mane threw me off.” The pink mare stretched out a hoof like a giant bungee and ruffled the mess of hair crowning my head.
“I don’t have a- well, yeah, I guess I do.” I tried desperately to comb down my dark-blond tangle of bed head. I probably looked like a lion that had licked an electrical outlet what with my adventures and all.
“Let me get that for you, darling.” Rarity’s bag opened again to reveal a large hairbrush.
“Or, you can always do what Dashie and I do and just shake your head really hard! Works every time!” Pinkie Pie whipped her mane back and forth like a spastic terrier’s tail. When she stopped, her head was nothing but a massive fluffy pink cloud. “Easy as eating pie! If anypony will tell me where it is!” Blinded by her own hair, Pinkie Pie promptly spun on her hoof and ran face-first into a wall.
“Ouch…” We all said at once.
“Ahem!” A stern voice cut into the conversation like a knife. When I looked up, the princess of friendship herself was staring at me. Interestingly enough, she didn't look friendly.
“Hello…” I waved in tentative greeting. Out of all the ponies, Twilight Sparkle was the one that made me the most nervous. Here was Celestia’s personal student, the wielder of the most elusive of the Elements of Harmony, a genius in the arcane arts and the world’s hero many times over. Not to be pun-y, but I could only say I was star struck to see her standing there. (See what I did there? Because she’s Twilight and her cutiemark is a bunch of… You know what? I’m done.) Of course, no matter how much I knew about her, she knew nothing about me. Her critical frown showed that quite plainly.
Oh yeah, and Spike was with her. The little guy was looking me up and down with large eyes filled with wonder.
“Horary… now it’s a party!” Rainbow Dash shrugged.
“Yay!” Pinkie Pie didn’t catch the sarcasm.
“There ya are, Twilight! I was lookin’ for you at the Golden Oak Library. Something come up?” Apple Jack asked.
“In a way…” The purple unicorn (not alicorn, mind you) kept looking at me with suspicion. It was as if she was surprised to see me standing there and I couldn’t figure out why at first. Then it hit me; this wasn’t the first time we had seen each other. Our first encounter was last night, in a throne room during a pitched battle against an embodiment of terror and darkness. Probably not my best first impression. “Mayor Mare said there was a crazy beast charging through the town and upsetting everypony. I guess you all found it.”
“It wasn’t too hard.” I shrugged. “Her molar was ringing, so she came to us.”
“What?” Twilight shook her head.
“What?” I smirked back.
“Twilight! Spike! This is Human! He’s an Everfree from the Mark forest!” Pinkie explained.
“Pleased to meet you.”
“… Likewise. I’m sorry, but I can’t follow Pinkie’s logic this early in the day. Who are you?” The purple unicorn asked pointedly.
“But it’s five in the afternoon…” Pinkie Pie consulted her watch.
“I’m Mark.” By now, it felt natural. “And I’m a human.”
“And why’s a human here in Ponyville?”
“Good question.” I thought to myself.
“You’re not dangerous, are you?”
“Twilight Sparkle! This poor creature came to our town for help. Look at him, no shoes and covered head to toe in rags and blisters! He’s clearly endured a long journey, at least show some hospitality.” Rarity scolded.
“Well, but if you’ve never met a human before… I understand why she’s cautious.”
“I’d never met a dragon before yesterday…” Fluttershy piped up. “But Spike turned out to be a real sweetie.”
“Sweetie?” The dragon frowned.
“An’ we’re always happy to make new friends!” Apple Jack added. “Welcome to Ponyville, Mark.”
“Thanks, girls.” My chest felt like it was going to burst from all the warm fuzziness rising up in it.
“Hey! Do you know what this sounds like an excuse for!?” Pinkie Pie grinned.
“A tour?” Rainbow Dash smirked.
“A tour!!” The pink pony threw confetti in the air. “Wait, what?”
“C’mon, Mark, we haven’t even gotten to Sugarcube Corner.” Dash leapt into the air and swept low over the street, vanishing around the corner of a cottage.
All together, the group began to follow. Rarity was still trying to brush my hair down, Apple Jack was asking me about the things I’d seen in the Everfree forest and Pinkie Pie bounced along happily behind. Fluttershy kept close beside me, but said nothing while Spike enthusiastically leapt off Twilight’s back to introduce himself. I have the little dragon the first proper handshake he’d probably ever experienced. As we passed the place where Twilight Sparkle was standing, there was a fleeting moment when my eyes locked with hers. The deep purple orbs were still calculating and stern. I gave her a short nod. It’s all I could do, but it seemed to satisfy her for the moment. She followed behind, but remained standoffish throughout the rest of the tour.
Our circuit through the town took us past the fountain that Philomena would turn to ash next to, around the gazebo that Derpy would destroy, alongside the theatre that Hoity Toity would criticize Rarity’s dresses at, and through the streets that the parasprites would gnaw on. Ponyville was everything I dreamed it would be, cute, clean, and magical, but it seemed that everywhere I looked, another memory would rise to the surface. Some were good memories, like the train station that Discord would fly into when he had the “blue flu”, while others were more upsetting, like the water tower that Twilight would use to pacify the ursa minor. The burden of knowing the events of the show was a blessing, even if just for the tourism, but I also couldn’t enjoy it as if I were here for the first time.
“And here’s where we usually hang out! Sugarcube Corner!” Rainbow Dash announced. “It’s pretty awesome. ‘Course, it would have to be if we hang out here!”
“Wee! I know this one! I know this one!” Pinkie Pie danced on the tips of her hooves.
“Wow… So it actually looks like a giant pastry.” I stared up at the gingerbread roof adorned with glistening frosting that looked like it could drip at any moment. It was all fake, of course, but that somehow didn’t diminish the charm of the building.
“Pies are great an’ all, but if you’re hankerin’ for some fancy sweets, ‘tain’t nopony better than Mr. Carrot Cake and Ms. Cup Cake.” Apple Jack tilted her head at the building. “Not to mention, Pinkie here’s got a knack for baking as well! Y’all should try her cupcakes sometime!”
“Cupcakes!?” Curse you, Pavlov! At the mention of that word, a thousand creepypasta posts shot through my head.
“What’s wrong? Can you not eat cupcakes?” Fluttershy asked. I blinked a couple times to clear my thoughts.
“My dear, cupcakes are the single happiest food I’ve ever encountered. I love cupcakes.” They’re also the most powerful antidepressant I’ve ever encountered.
“Oh, me too.”
“Me three!” RD cheered.
“Me pi! Now let’s get some cakes of the cup type!” Pinkie Pie flew through the building’s swinging doors like an artillery round. Rainbow Dash was right on her tail.
“Actually, it is about time for dinner.” Twilight Sparkle spoke up for the first time since the tour resumed. “Mark, do you have anyplace you’re staying?”
“Um…” I looked at the sky in surprise. The sun was already sinking low and I hadn’t found any place to lodge for the night. Not to mention food. Those three apples had evaporated pretty quickly and now I felt hollow inside. “That’s an excellent question, Twilight.”
“Well, why don’t you stay at the Golden Oaks Library tonight? There’s plenty of room and we can find you something to eat if you’re hungry.” I was, but I hesitated.
“That’s pretty generous of you, Twilight.”
“I was going to offer the same. You’re welcome to stay at the Carousel Boutique until you get your… um… feet… under you, dear.” Rarity offered.
“Thank you, girls, really. But wouldn’t it be better if I just found a hotel or something tonight?”
“An inn? Most available rooms are already taken.” Twilight quickly explained. “Relatives were visiting Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration and after Nightmare Moon’s attack, there’s a lot of traffic from Canterlot on official business to look into the incident. The library, on the other hoof, is free.”
“But aren’t you still moving in, sugarcube?”
“Her?” Spike jabbed a thumb at the purple unicorn. “She settled in as soon as Princess Celestia returned to Canterlot. She’s been arranging and rearranging the books all day. Ack!” Twilight Sparkle deftly levitated the little dragon and plopped him on her back.
“This way, Mark.” She spun on her hoof and trotted away. I paused, unsure if I wanted to leave the other ponies so suddenly. So far, they’d seemed a lot warmer than Twilight Sparkle. Then again, free food.
“Thanks girls! For everything! I’ll see you tomorrow.” I waved apologetically over my shoulder and jogged after the retreating unicorn. Behind me, I could hear Rarity snort,
“Augh! And I almost had his measurements, too!”
“Generosity at its finest…” Apple Jack tugged on her hat and vanished into Sugarcube Corner.
“I didn’t hear you offer to help!”The voices died away.
I followed behind Twilight Sparkle for a while in silence. Occasionally, she’d glance behind her to make sure I was still there, but otherwise, she said very little.
“You’re pretty quiet when you walk.” She finally stated.
“Well, I normally have shoes.” I looked down at my blistering soles.
“Why don’t you have some now?”
“I… left them behind.” Technically, not lying.
“Wow! You’re even quieter than me!” Spike was riding the purple pony backwards. “Then again, whenever I walk, my claws make a scratching noise, or even a-”
“We’re here.” Twilight cut him off. We turned down one final street into the shadow of the Golden Oaks Library. It was massive, as far as trees go, and looked even bigger since most cottages were placed a respectable distance away. Its deep grey walls were dotted with round windows and above, the wind whispered through the still-breathing boughs. In the light of the setting sun, it looked nothing short of majestic, but my heart froze at the sight of it. I could see it burning. Exploding. Shattering. The pages of a hundred authors reduced to ash and ruin by one giant red centaur jerk!
“Coming?” Twilight called from the open doorway.
“Of course! I’ve just never seen a living tree being used as a building before.” Not a lie.
“Well, if any building deserves to be beautiful, it’s a library.” I followed Twilight Sparkle into the warm yellow light within. Everything was made of wood, from the echoing floor to the bookshelves, and the whole place smelled musty and soothing. I barely had time to take in the sight, however. As soon as the door closed, Twilight levitated Spike to the ground,
“Spike! Could you please look in my boxes downstairs? I think there might be a few encyclopedias left down there. We need to find out all we can about our guest.”
“Sure thing!” I gave the little dragon a thumbs-up and he, chuckling, returned the gesture. He vanished down the far hallway like a rabbit, but before I could comment, Twilight whirled around on me.
“You!” She pointed her horn accusingly.
“Me!?” I flinched.
“What are you doing here?”
“You said there’s be food-”
“They don’t know you, but I remember! You were there.”
“Oh, is that what this is about?” I didn’t realize that I had backed up against the door.
“You were the creature I saw fighting Nightmare Moon.” I remained frozen where I was. What did she want me to say?
“Um… Yeah? Sorry, but could you point that somewhere else, please?” I gestured at the spiral piece of bone aimed at me.
“Why are you really here? Did you follow us? What do you want?” I dropped my hands and mustered all the sincerity I could,
“I’m here because I have nowhere else to go. Yes, I followed you. And what I want is to stay here.” At least this seemed to work. Perhaps my innocent face was finally paying off. Twilight took a step back and lifted her horn away from my nose.
“You’re a creature from the Everfree forest, correct?”
“Correction; I told everypony I came through the Everfree forest.”
“And you were in the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters. What were you doing there? Were you watching us fight Nightmare Moon?”
“Would you rather I hadn’t?” My voice dropped an octave. I should have been nicer, though, that one sentence seemed to send a shiver down the pony’s spine. “However, your bravery was nothing short of legendary, considering what you were facing. Not many ponies can say they stood up to a nightmare.”
“It was only what anypony would have done.” Twilight blinked.
“But not anypony did…” I looked down at her approvingly.
“Why were you there that night? Though, I have to admit, I’m glad you were.” She acknowledged. I thought for a moment before saying,
“I think we both needed something that night. You, as a lonely star on the darkest night, and I as a bystander who couldn’t stand by. When it all came down to it, you found hope. And I? I found a purpose. I understand your apprehension, but please believe me when I say that I don’t want any trouble. That’s what harmony’s about, right? Isn’t that what you found in the forest?” Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of Spike returning stopped her.
“I couldn’t find anything else down there.” The dragon huffed.
“No, I suppose I already sorted it.” The unicorn stared at me for a second longer before turning her attention to the library’s shelves. “Spike, could you help Mark find the guest bed? I’ve got some studying to do.”
“What about dinner?” I whimpered.
“There’s a salad on the table. Help yourselves.” Twilight’s horn lit up and a couple dozen books floated up off the shelves and piled themselves on a low writing desk.
“Some studying is an understatement.” I looked up at the towers of bound paper. “That’s almost half of what I have to buy every semester at college!”
“Looks like she’s settling in for the night.” Spike waved at me, “Hungry?”
I was, but not for daisy and dandelion salad. Ever since I discovered the miracle of ranch dressing, I found that I could love salads, but not as a main course, and not covered in milky weeds. Still, I didn’t complain. I was a guest, after all. After the little dragon brought Twilight a portion of the meal, he and I polished off what was left. Leafy greens aren’t very filling, though. I think the most nutrients I got from that meal came from the tomatoes.
“You’ll just have to get used to it.” I told myself. “You’ve eaten your last hamburger… and pepperoni pizza… and BLT… and taco…” My stomach grumbled while Spike and I wrestled the guest bed into position and draped a fresh sheet over it. It was only during this time, and after almost stepping on Spike’s little wicker basket-bed that the thought came to me,
“Hey, Twilight?”
“You’ll have to try harder than that.” Spike glanced down at the unicorn, lost in her fortress of books.
“Can I ask you something?”
No response.
“Thank you for dinner.”
“Mm-Hmm…” The mare muttered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
I glanced at Spike for help, but he just smiled and shrugged. I glanced back down at Twilight Sparkle, set my jaw and declared,
“I need to homework my report on time because books!”
“Wha?” The purple unicorn spun around.
“There. Now that I have your attention.” I tilted my head. “How come you have a guest bed and yet spike sleeps in a basket on the ground?”
“Oh, he prefers to sleep in nest-like places. Honestly, he’s doing much better now. When he was an infant, it was all I could do to keep him from sleeping in the bathtub.”
“And after that, I was always sneaking out of my bed to sleep in the fireplace.” Spike smiled sheepishly.
“Why does it matter?”
“I just didn’t know about his habits, that’s all.”
“Ah… ok. Mark, do you have any sleeping habits I should know about?”
“Um… I sometimes drool in my sleep?”
“Fascinating…” She whispered. Her aura plucked up a billowy feather pen and she scratched down a few words. “But what did you say about a report?” Twilight pressed.
“Nothing. It was just the only way to get your attention. Sorry.”
“Oh. OK.” The mare turned back towards her books and lit up a small lamp. It cast a faint circle of orange light around her while the rest of the room grew darker and darker.
“What do you think she’s doing?” I whispered to Spike as I slid under the sheets. The mattress was a little stiff, but the simple pleasure of getting off my feet after a long day was euphoric.
“Knowing Twilight, she’s probably memorizing everything there is to know about exotic creatures.”
“Oh… Well, good luck to her.”
“And if she doesn’t find anything on humans, she’ll write her own entry.”
“I see…” I closed my eyes and fell asleep to the distant tones of pen scratching on paper. What a day. What a welcome to Ponyville. What a ride.
And the real stories hadn’t even begun.
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I LIEK PIE
Good to see you're back, I cant wait to see what happens next.
6051798 good for you
Why did he say that out loud? Because he did. He opened his mouth and spoke those words with his vocal cords where Spike could hear. Whether you meant for him to doesn't matter, because what you typed was him speaking aloud. You have had all of his internal dialogue spoken aloud. The formatting for spoken dialogue is quotation marks, the formatting for internal dialogue is italics. Combined with your tendency to leave out dialogue tags, which you can do with proper formatting, half the time we can only tell what the buck is going on by whether or not somepony reacts to what he is saying.
Verbal statement:
Internal thought:
*Edited for rating in purple*
6631697 Well, it would be more accurate to say that italics are one of the most common ways to denote thoughts. Single quotes also sometimes figure, and I wouldn't be too surprised if someone had used underlines instead.
That was a whole lot of awkward right there...
You, sir...
You have made me giggle.
not even Tails from Sonic Prime, totally not ;)