Keys of My Destiny

by RageLokiCat

Chapter 6: Party Rock Is In The House Tonight

After a long time of restless tossing and turning, around one in the morning I finally fell into a deep sleep. Several hours later, which I decided was not enough time, I was slowly awoken to the sound of Fluttershy packing. I lay in the bed for a few minutes, dreading the end of my chance to sleep, before finally I opened my eyes and sat up. Fluttershy had almost finished with the room; there was only a few pieces of clothing left is the dresser, and one empty bag. As she walked over to grab the bag, she noticed I was awake.

"Oh, um, I hope I didn't wake you up." She said apologetically. I blinked a few times, then yawned and stretched before responding.

"Nah, it was about time for me to get up anyway." I said with a smile, clambering carefully off the bed. She smiled back as she grabbed the bag and walked over to the dresser to begin packing its contents up.

"The truth is, I'm glad you're up. I'd hate to have to be the one to wake you up, but it's almost time to go if we don't want to be late for the train." She said as she gathered everything up and stuffed it haphazardly into the bag. My smile faded as I thought about what I was going to say next to her.

"Well, you see, the thing is..." I trailed off, not sure how to word what I wanted to say next. She looked over at me happily, but when she saw the look on my face, hers was replaced by one of worry.

"What's wrong, Blaze?" She asked, coming over to me. I opened my mouth, about to speak, but then I stopped to think again. Why am I giving up a friend like her, just for a chance at a sophisticated life, and the ability to learn about magic? Why, when the best part of this world is the ponies that live in it, am I choosing something other than the ponies? Suddenly, I made up my mind and looked confidently up at Fluttershy, much to her confusion.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm glad I got up on time. Need any help?" I said cheerfully, causing her to blink a few times and continue to stare worriedly.

"Are you sure? I mean... I guess you don't know me super well, but I'd be happy to listen if you have a problem you want to talk about. She said caringly.

"I just wasn't sure I wanted to go to Ponyville, but, when I thought about it, I just couldn't leave you." I said, looking into her eyes. She blushed a deep red and looked away quickly, but with a small smile on her face.

"Well, I, Uh... I'm glad you're coming." She said, still looking away. I laughed and looked around the room. There were four bags total, including the one that Fluttershy had left at the dresser. As I looked back over at Fluttershy, who had at this point headed back over to the dresser in question and grabbed the bag.

"Do we need to stop anywhere else, or is it straight to the train?" I asked following her over to the bags.

"I didn't have anywhere else planned, but if there's somewhere you'd like to stop first, that's certainly fine as long as it's quick, we don't have a ton of spare time." She said, trying to grab all of the bags unsuccessfully. I coughed conspicuously, but when she failed to notice I was forced to speak up.

"You know, there are two of us." I said with a chuckle. She continued to try to balance all the bags in her hooves, but to no avail.

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to carry my luggage, that wouldn't be fair." She said as she finally got them all stacked up. I watched the stack slowly tip over, and right as it was about to fall I grabbed the smaller bag with my magic and the larger one with my front legs.

"Well then it's a good thing I'm not waiting for you to ask. And besides, I wouldn't be a very good friend if I made you struggle all on your own." I said, settling the big bag on my back. She smiled as she grabbed the two remaining bags.

"Thanks Blaze, I don't know where I'd be without you." She said with a short laugh.

"Since you probably would have left yesterday, I'd say back in Ponyville!" I said as we headed out the door. She chuckled as we made our way down the stairs and out into the courtyard, where it was significantly drier then when I that saw it. The train station wasn't too far from the castle, about a two minute walk from the gate. As we were nearing the station, a stallion that I soon recognized as the guard from last night, now off-duty, approached us.

"Hey, so I rushed out as soon as I could last night after I talked with you, and I actually caught DJPon3 right as she was heading back to the club, and I even got her autograph!" He said as he held up a record with 'To my #1 fan - DJPon3' scrawled across the label.

"Awesome! I'm glad you were able to get there in time!" I said with a grin. Fluttershy laughed as the guard and I started chatting away about music. After a few minutes though, she quietly interrupted.

"I uh... I don't want to be rude, but we should really be heading for the train, Blaze." She said, looking over at the train sitting in the station. I nodded and waved goodbye to the guard as we walked over.

"All aboard the train for Ponyville! Have your tickets ready please!" A stallion shouted from the platform.

"Oh no, I totally forgot, I don't even have a ticket! What am I gonna do?!" I said, panicking. Fluttershy smiled and rolled her eyes, reaching into her bag. She pulled out two tickets and waved them in front of me. I blushed a little and grinned in embarrassment.

"I probably should have known you would have taken care of that." I said. She nodded as we walked up to the stallion that was checking tickets. Fluttershy handed him the tickets, and he glanced quickly at them.

"Yup, looks all set. Have a nice trip!" He said, handing them back.

"Thanks!" Fluttershy said as we boarded the train. We headed towards the back, to a quieter part of the train and sat down. A few minutes later, we were on our way. Unfortunately, for most of the trip we were on the wrong side to see much of a view other than the cliff face. After about half an hour, we came out onto a bridge-like path that we could see out of. It wasn't as high up as the castle had been, but the view was still impressive. We quickly descended to ground level, before coming into the Ponyville station.

"How are you with parties, and surprises?" Fluttershy asked as we gathered up her bags again and worked our way towards the exit.

"Well, surprises are fine, and I don't really know about parties, I was never invited to one back in the human world." I said sadly. A thought then occurred to me.

"Why?" I asked in reference to her question. I put on a face of mild disbelief as we exited the train. When we got outside, I took a quick glance around. What I saw shocked me. I had expected a sparse collection of small, boring buildings. What I actually saw were tightly packed streets filled with ponies, and almost every building was different, built in its own style, but all melding together as a cohesive whole. Focusing on closer objects, I noticed something bright pink out of the corner of my eye. I looked over to see a pony with seriously curly mane and tail, which sported a very similar color to her body, bouncing happily on the station, looking around as though waiting for someone. When she spotted us, or as I later decided, Fluttershy, she ran over, and in the blink of an eye, she had Fluttershy in a death grip hug.

"Oh my goodness, I missed you so much Fluttershy! I know it was only, like, five days, but it just felt like forever without my bestest buddy around!" She said, almost too quickly for me to understand. When she saw me, she gasped and let go of Fluttershy, and I got the feeling I would need to pay attention again.

"Oh my gosh, I don't think I've ever met you before! Are you a friend of Fluttershy's? If I never met you before, that means I don't know you. And if I don't know you, that means I've never seen you before! And that means you surely haven't had a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party yet! Which means... PARTY!" She said, dashing back off into town. I was going to point out that she could have skipped a few steps, but she was gone long before I could say it. Instead, I looked over at Fluttershy, shook my head, and laughed.

"I guess I understand now." I said. She smiled and headed into town.

"I'm sure we'll get our invitations in a few hours. For now, we should start by dropping off this stuff at my house. We'll figure out what to do after that, well, after that!" She said with a chuckle. I smiled and followed her through town. Her house was a little cottage in the woods, set a small distance away from Ponyville, likely because of the animals. She grabbed the house key out of her bag and unlocked the door. Immediately she was greeted by a variety of happy animals, who chattered, squawked, and meowed at her, and to whom she responded readily. She disappeared inside her house, leaving me standing outside with her other bags, slightly confused. A few seconds later, her head poked back around the door, looking at me curiously.

"Aren't you going to come inside, Blaze? I mean, I'm sure all these critters will be extra nice, since you're a new guest." She said, with the last part more directed to the animals then to me.

"Oh, well, uh, I didn't just want to enter your house without asking, and you left before I could ask..." I mumbled as I walked inside. To my amazement, it was actually really nice inside, not a mess of animal habitation as I had expected. Sure, there were animals everywhere, but I expected that. Looking over at Fluttershy, I saw that she had put her bags next to the doorway to the kitchen, and I put the two I had there as well.

"So you really live here? I imagine it's difficult to do things like, I dunno, sleep with all this chaos." I said with a laugh. Suddenly, a tiny white rabbit hopped up and sat in front of me with a glare. I scowled back at him, then laughed.

"You can't deny it; even you see how it's pretty crazy in here." I said to him, not thinking about it. He rolled his eyes and hopped off, clearly not content with my answer but too lazy to persist. I live looked over at Fluttershy again, whose jaw was almost on the floor.

"What did I do? Did I step on somepony?" I said, checking the bottoms of my hooves.

"No! It's just... You can understand them? You know what they're saying?" She asked, obviously infatuated with my newfound ability.

"I mean, I guess. I don't really hear words, just... Ideas. Emotions, expressions, basic stuff, just enough that I could tell I insulted him." I said apologetically. She shook her head quickly.

"That's still amazing! I... I've never seen another pony with ability even close to either of us. And that fact that we happened to meet, by chance... That's pretty impressive. I know you're going to fit in just fine around here." She said, blushing a little at the end.

"I take it you wouldn't mind having me around then?" I asked teasingly. She blushed even more, and I laughed a little. I knew it was kinda mean, but she was just so adorable when she blushed, and the way she smiled, I wasn't sure she really minded.

"So, uh, speaking of which... Did you guys happen to plan where I can stay until I find a job and can get an apartment?" I asked, wondering if such a thing was even available here in Ponyville. She had almost turned back to a normal color, but when she heard my question, she turned bright red again.

"Well, I, Uh... I have a, um, an extra bedroom. You could, uh, stay... With... Me?" She said quietly, stumbling over some of the words. I blushed too, at the thought of living with another pony, let alone a mare, LET ALONE Fluttershy. I mean, I was rather fond of the idea, but...

"Are... Are you sure? I wouldn't want to invade your privacy even more than I have been recently." I said, looking away.

"Well... I, uh, I really enjoy your company, and if you can understand animals, at least a little, then maybe you can help me with some of my animal things, and maybe discover your special talent." She said, nodding at my blank flank.

"Sure you won't die of awkwardness?" I asked with a giggle, trying to lighten the mood. She smiled and laughed.

"I won't if you don't." She said confidently.

"Well then I guess it's settled. Fluttershy, I would be most grateful to accept your offer. Thank you." I said happily. She smiled warmly, and I realized she really did enjoy my company.

"So, uh, when do you think that bouncy pink pony is planning the party for? And come to think of it, who is she?" I asked, since she had come and gone so fast I never got to ask.

"Oh! That's my friend Pinkie Pie. She's pretty much in charge of Ponyville's happiness. She throws parties, surprises, and general cheerfulness. She lives in a bakery in town, called Sugarcube Corner. I know she seems weird right now, but I think she's a really nice pony." She said, defending her friend.

"Nah, it's cool, I was just wondering, since she sorta failed to tell me." I said apologetically.

"Oh, ok. Well if I know Pinkie, she's going to try to have it ready as soon as possible. So I suspect she'll be by in an hour or so, and the party will probably start early this evening. Don't worry about it though; Pinkie never forgets to tell people in a timely fashion." Fluttershy said, heading towards the kitchen.

"Are you hungry? I usually don't eat much in the morning, but I know not everypony is like me." She said.

"Actually, I'm the same way. But thanks!" I said with a smile. I glanced over at the clock, which I had been sure to locate quickly this time, for fear of appearing incapable. It showed 10:37, and that meant that we still had most of the day before the party. I looked over at Fluttershy, who at this point was playing with the white bunny from earlier. Not wanting to interrupt, for fear of facing bunny-wrath, I simply sat down where I was and listened to all the animals nearby. To the ear, nothing could be discerned amongst the endless chatter. In my mind though, I could tell that they were all very happy that Fluttershy was back, as that seemed to mean the food quality would go back up, but they were also fairly apprehensive of me, as was evident by the fact that they all avoided me, discounting the one bunny. Suddenly, a few minds got much louder than the others, and I opened my eyes to see a family of mice standing in front of me. I could tell that they were worried they wouldn't get Fluttershy's full attention anymore, and they were coming to see how much trouble I would cause. They didn't; however, seem to know that I could understand their rudimentary thoughts. I slowly reached out my hoof, while talking to them.

"Hey little ones. I promise I won't steal her away, she's still all yours. She's just giving me a place to stay, for now." I said. The mice looked at me in shock, and I felt their surprise in my mind. The largest of the bunch sniffed my hoof, then scampered up onto my leg, worked his way up, and sat on my shoulder. I could tell he was pleased with his achievement. The others looked at each other, then suddenly ran off. I looked over at the mouse on my shoulder.

"I wonder where they're off to in such a hurry." I said. I got an image of a group of animals around me, which I assumed meant that they were telling the others I was ok. I laughed to myself as suddenly the mice came back, this time with many other animals following. I smiled and thought: Ya, I can definitely see myself fitting in around here.

---

It was almost two hours later when Fluttershy came back into the main room from her chores. She had been getting everything back in order, cleaned, and organized, while I entertained the animals. My buddy the mouse was still on my shoulder, although I could tell he was getting bored.

"Come on little ones, it's lunch time! Since I was gone so long, I made you an extra special meal." Fluttershy said, hooves full of various serving containers. She put down the food dishes, each one in front of their respective animal groups, until she had only one left. She looked around, trying to find its owner.

"Angel! I have your lunch!" She yelled, when suddenly the bunny from earlier showed up. She handed him the bowl, which he began to scrutinize very carefully.

"They had one bag left of the special jungle lettuce you wanted in Canterlot, and I got it for you, so that I could make this exactly as you wanted. So won't you please eat it?" She begged. Angel continued inspecting it for a few more moments before briskly nodding and sitting down to eat. I heard a long, satisfied sigh from Fluttershy as she walked over.

"That one's fussy I take it?" I asked, chuckling. She rolled her eyes.

"Goodness, I love him to bits, but sometimes... His food has to be exactly perfect or he won't eat it." She said with a tense laugh.

"Then it's a good thing he has you! I'd probably never get it right..." I said, looking at the finely crafted salad Angel was eating.

"I'm sure you'd do fine. Now that I'm done here, how about we go see the rest of Ponyville? I can give you a tour like I did in Canterlot." She offered her hoof to help me up. With a grin, I grabbed her hoof and she helped pull me up onto my legs.

"Sounds good!" I said enthusiastically. We headed out of her house, careful not to attract too much attention from the animals, and quietly closed the door behind us. When we turned away from the house, we both nearly died of surprise, because where there was not perhaps five seconds ago, there was now a Pinkie Pie.

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry I scared you; I was just coming to say hi! Have I said it yet? Hi! Oh, right, and I also wanted to tell you that there's gonna be the most awesomest 'Welcome to Ponyville' Party EVER for Blaze here at Sugarcube corner at 8:00 sharp, and I was hoping you could attend! 'Cause it'd be a super silly 'Welcome to Ponyville' party if the pony we wanted to welcome wasn't there!" She said, bouncing the whole time. I watched her in concern.

"Oh! Of course we'll be there Pinkie! We wouldn't miss one of your 'Welcome to Ponyville' parties; we wouldn't be very welcoming then!" Fluttershy said happily. I had a burning question for Pinkie though.

"I have to ask, how did you know my name? Because I don't think I ever told you..." I said, looking at her in doubt.

"Uh... Lucky guess?" She said, with a look that suggested she had no clue herself. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Ya, we'll be there. I can't wait to see one of the legendary Pinkie Pie Parties!" I said, and she looked like she was about to explode with pride.

"I won't let you down! Now I got a party to go set up!" She said, before bouncing back down the road.

"Nice alliteration." Fluttershy said, causing me to look over in confusion. I then remembered the incident at the pizza place, and I burst out laughing. She jumped in surprise, but then she started giggling too. After a few seconds, the moment passed, and we started our trip back into Ponyville. It didn't take long before we entered the outskirts of the town. The first place we stopped was the library, where Twilight lived before she moved back to Canterlot. It was tiny compared to the one in Canterlot, but it felt far more inviting and homely. It was, however, in a bit of a mess, which Fluttershy explained was because the town hasn't found a replacement for Twilight to run the library yet. We stayed there for a few minutes while I looked through some of the books, then we moved on.

"Where to next?" I asked as we exited the library.

"Well, the next closest place is the boutique, where my friend Rarity works. Although I should warn you now, she may try, and probably succeed in getting us to model for her clothing making. Especially you though, she doesn't get as many male... Subjects for working from, as fewer come in her store." She said.

"I'll keep that in mind." I said as we walked off to the boutique. It was only a few minutes away, closer to the center of Ponyville. As we approached, I took note of the building's radically different architecture, which is probably why it stood alone from other buildings. As Fluttershy pushed open the door, a small bell rang at the top of the door.

"Be right with you, darling!" Somepony said, their voice floating down from the upper level.

"Don't worry about it! It's just us!" Fluttershy called back. We heard the pony above pause, then hurriedly finish what they were doing and come trotting quickly down. The mare in question was perfectly white, with a finely groomed purple mane and tail. She was, by usual standards, beautiful. A simple, refined beauty, but beautiful all the same. She looked over at me in surprise, by then changed her attention back to Fluttershy, hugging her tightly.

"Oh, I missed you so much Fluttershy! Going out for tea isn't nearly as much fun when one is by one's self. However, you must tell me, who is this dashing young stallion? A 'Friend' of yours?" The mare asked, with a wink and a playful nudge. Both Fluttershy and I turned a deep shade of red, and she stammered out introductions.

"N- No! He's j- just a friend! Rarity, this is Blazing Star. Blaze, this is my friend Rarity." She said, and I swallowed awkwardly and tried shake away my embarrassment.

"Nice to meet you, Rarity." I said, holding out my hoof to shake hers.

"Oh, you're too much like Applejack. A friend of Fluttershy's is a friend of mine." She said, hugging me too. I struggled with whether or not to reciprocate, but fortunately, she let go quickly. She took a step back and faced us both.

"So, what brings you two to my fabulous Boutique today? Need outfits for something?" She asked, suggestively but not outwardly so. Fluttershy didn't seem to pick up on it, so I let it go.

"I was just giving Blaze a tour of Ponyville, and I figured this was an important place to visit." Fluttershy said with a smile. Rarity nodded, and gestured to the various displays around the lower level.

"Please, feel free to browse around; I've developed some wonderful new lines recently. Please, do excuse me though, I have a large order that I should be finishing." She said, bowing her head apologetically.

"Oh, please do! We wouldn't want you being late!" Fluttershy said, and I nodded in agreement. Rarity said her thanks and headed back upstairs to finish her work.

"I guess we're safe today." Fluttershy said with a small laugh. I grinned in response and looked around. There were several racks, and a handful of mannequins with outfits on them for more realistic display. One common theme that stood out though, was that nearly all of the clothing had gems on it.

"I take it the gems are the reason for her cutie mark, then." I said, making the connection.

"That's right. She does beautiful work without them, but they're her specialty." Fluttershy said, inspecting one of the simpler looking dresses. A few moments later, she walked back over to me.

"Sorry, we can head back out, if you'd like." Fluttershy said.

"No rush, I'm just not the fancy clothing type. If you want to stay and look at things, I'll be fine." I responded.

"I can look some other time." She said, and we headed back out of the Boutique. We only walked a few more blocks before Fluttershy halted again. She pointed across the street, to a brightly colored building that looked like it was inspired by a gingerbread house.

"Let me guess, Sugarcube Corner?" I asked with a smile and Fluttershy nodded. There were already signs of a party being set up.

"I think we can probably skip there for now, after all we're going to see plenty of it later. I was thinking we should go Sweet Apple Acres next. Unless you really want to stop here, that's fine too." She said, looking over at me.

"No, that makes sense. Lead the way to Sweet Apple Acres!" I said, looking at back at her with a smile. She nodded and we were on our way again. This time, we were walking for a fair amount longer, as the farm was a distance away from the town. As we approached, I could smell the apples, and my mouth started watering. Swallowing and keeping my mouth shut tightly, we walked through the gate and into the farm. There were rows and rows of apple trees, spanning out as far as the eye could see in almost every direction. Not far from the gate, there was a large, classic style red barn. Suddenly, a bright orange mare towing a cart of apples turned the corner. She appeared not to see us, and she parked next to two large bulkhead doors in the ground, opened them, and began carrying crates of apples down the stairs to put into storage. A few seconds later she appeared again, grabbed another crate, and disappeared into the ground again. Fluttershy and I walked up and watched her unload all the apple crates. After her last trip, she finally took notice of us.

"Howdy Fluttershy; Sir." She said, tipping her hat in greeting.

"Hello Applejack. I hope we're not slowing you down, I was just showing Blaze around Ponyville, and there was no way we were skipping Sweet Apple Acres." Fluttershy said happily. Applejack nodded, then she suddenly recognized me.

"Wait... Y'all're that stallion that fell out of the sky a few days ago, aren't ya?" I smiled and nodded, holding out my hoof. To my satisfaction, Applejack actually shook it.

"Yes, my name is Blazing Star. I hear you and your sister Applebloom are pretty much the reason I'm alive today. Thank you. I will forever be in your debt." I said, bowing slightly. She waved it off.

"Don't ya fret about it none, anypony would have done the same, mah sis' and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, mainly because ya nearly hit the farm." Applejack said. I picked my head up in surprise.

"If... If you're not too busy, do you think... You could show me where I landed? I mean, if not, that's fine." I asked slowly. She thought about it for a second, then nodded.

"I was just about to go on mah lunch break; I think I can manage a quick detour." Applejack said, turning towards the rows of apple trees. I paused for a moment, looking at Fluttershy.

"You don't have to come, if you don't want to. I'll be quick, I just... I need to see for myself." I said. She looked into my eyes, perhaps searching for something. After a second, she responded.

"No, I'd like to come, if you're ok with that. I want to see as well, and you shouldn't have to remember... That without a friend by your side." Fluttershy said, smiling slightly. I felt tears began to form in my eyes, and I quickly hugged Fluttershy. She was surprised, but hugged me back. It only lasted a few seconds, as I knew Applejack would be waiting, but it was enough.

"Thank you, Fluttershy. I couldn't have asked for a better friend then you." I said as I began to follow Applejack. Fluttershy quickly fell into step just slightly behind me, and before long we were at the edge if a dark, imposing forest. There was a path cut into it, which we entered. In a surprisingly short amount of time, we were at the clearing. It was almost exactly as I remembered it, although a little muddier from the recent rain. Applejack and Fluttershy stayed at the edge, but I walked in to the circle. I looked around, awash with emotions. The trees were burned, broken, and generally destroyed. The ground was torn up; a fair amount of dirt was pushed away from the center. Across the clearing, where the rest if the trail should have been, trees now covered. I collapsed down to my knees when I reached the center, and began to cry foe what felt like the hundredth time that week. This was the closest I would ever be to my mother and father, who had been killed in a world so far away it might as well not exist. I heard Applejack start uneasily over, but Fluttershy quietly stopped her. I heard her murmur something, and Applejack grumbled in reply. A few more minutes, and I heard them talk again, followed by the sound of hoof-falls slowly fading away, then a set getting much closer. Suddenly, Fluttershy appeared next to me, and also settled down on her knees. She nuzzled me caringly, then sat next to me comfortingly while I finished crying.

"I promise I won't do this too many more times." I said with a weak laugh after a long time.

"Don't worry about it. You should never stop feeling, and I will never stop being here when you need me." She said, still sitting so close we were touching when one of us breathed in. We sat there in each other's company for a few more minutes, before I shakily began to get up. Fluttershy quickly followed, and within a moment, we were both on our hooves.

"Well, I think I'm done with this place, so I'll be heading out." I said. Fluttershy nodded and quickly followed me out of the clearing. I remembered the first time I traveled this path, and how gruelingly long it had felt when I was bleeding to death. In reality, it was only a few hundred feet to the edge of the forest. We made our way out and back over to the barn, where Applejack was just reaching with another load of apples. This time, she saw us immediately, and she looked as if she had been waiting for us.

"So ya'll have taken care of your business then?" She asked, in reference to the fact that we were finally back.

"Yes, I'm all done. Sorry about taking your time, but..." I started, looking at my hooves. She held up her hoof, cutting me off.

"Don't worry about it, whatever your reason for going was yours alone, no need to share." She said. I smiled thankfully and stopped talking. Applejack grabbed one of the cases and brought it down into the storage, then came and got another, until she was left with one partial crate.

"Want an apple? I was just going to bring these in to turn into pie, but if you'd like you can have some." She said, gesturing towards the crate. Fluttershy shook her head, but I nodded, realizing how hungry I was. Applejack tossed me an apple, which I gratefully began eating. Applejack grabbed the crate and turned towards the farmhouse, then paused and turned back to us.

"Well, it was nice meeting ya, Blaze. Can't wait to get to know you better. And Fluttershy, good to see you again. Now if ya'll might excuse me, I have to go back to work." She said, before turning away again, and walking off. Fluttershy and I looked at each other.

"Well, it's about 1:30, and we've pretty much seen everything of importance in this town, except maybe the school and the town hall. Any ideas what you want to do now, Blaze?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, I was hoping to find some sort of job, so that I can pay for my own food, else I think I might eat you out of house and home." I said with a laugh. Fluttershy had a thoughtful look, then her face lit up.

"I know! We can stop by town hall and ask the mayor. She'll know if there's anything that needs doing." She said, and I nodded in agreement with her plan. We headed back off to Ponyville, in search of the mayor. It took Fluttershy a little longer to find the town hall, as it wasn't a place that she went to as much, but eventually we were there. We found the mayor outside, talking to a pair of official looking ponies. We stood back and waited while she finished her conversation. When she was done, we walked over.

"Um, Mrs. Mayor? Could we perhaps steal a minute or two of your time?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"Certainly, Fluttershy my dear. What do you need?" The mayor asked, looking from Fluttershy to me and back to her again.

"Well..." Fluttershy looked at me.

"I've just moved into town, and I was hoping that you might know of available jobs that need filling, as I won't last long without a source of income." I said honestly. The mayor put her hoof on her muzzle, looking thoughtful, then suddenly appeared to get an idea.

"How are you with books and organization? Because I don't know if you've seen, but the library is getting out of hand with Princess Twilight no longer living here. I'm afraid I can't offer residence, as we like to keep it free encase she does visit, but you can stop by the town hall here for your weekly paycheck. All we would really need is for you to make sure everything is in order so that everypony can find what they need." She explained. I thought about it for a few seconds, then smiled and held out my hoof. She shook it with a confused look.

"That definitely sounds like something I can manage. I'll start tomorrow!" I said happily. The mayor smiled, and even Fluttershy had a smile on her face.

"I can't wait to see the library back in order; it always was one of my favorite places. Now if you haven't anything else you need me for, I should be back to the monotony of my job..." The mayor said, looking at us both. We both nodded, and she walked off, over to another group of important looking ponies.

"I'm so glad she was able to find a job you liked, Blaze." Fluttershy said. I nodded, thinking about how I was going to organize my time now. I would probably get up fairly early, that had never been a problem for me before, head to the library for several hours, then I would pretty much have the rest of the day to do as I pleased.

"Ya, I can't wait to be able to buy you lunch, instead of the opposite!" I said with a laugh. She blushed slightly, but smiled anyway. We then wandered back off into town, to see if we could find a way to spend the next six hours.

---

It was nearing eight now, and Fluttershy and I were on our way to Sugarcube Corner for the party. It was getting darker, but it was still bright enough out to see without difficulty on the road from Fluttershy's house. Once we got into town, it was easy to find our way again, because the music could be heard a fair distance out, and various colored lights could be seen flashing not long after. We rounded the corner to a very party-fied Sugarcube Corner. There were balloons, streamers, ribbon, lights, everything a pony could want. There was also quite a crowd, as it looked like much of the party was set up outside. We worked our way through the crowd until we found Pinkie, who was mixing something in the punch bowl, or perhaps just mixing it. She jumped in excitement when she saw us, and yelled out to everypony else that was there.

"Ok everypony! Our special guest is here, you know what to do!" She yelled, grinning. She appeared to count something off, and suddenly from every direction ponies yelled out.

"WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!" They yelled, much to my amazement. I waved, and everypony cheered. With a smile on my face, I turned back to Pinkie, who was now drinking punch through a straw, out of a balloon bowl. I shook it off, and decided on a spur-of-the-moment hug, much to her surprise.

"Thanks for making my first party one I'll never forget." I said happily.

"Aww, I'd never plan a boring party, silly! Especially not for one of my new bestest friends!" She said happily, hugging me back. Suddenly she pulled another balloon out of somewhere, and handed it to me.

"Feel free to have some punch, it's extra good tonight!" She said, bouncing off into the crowd to mingle. I shook my head and laughed, turning to look at Fluttershy, who was still partially hiding behind me.

"Well, I guess we should start with that, then." I looked over at the punch table. There were two large bowls of punch, a blue one and a red one. The blue bowl much getting much closer to empty, although I had no doubt Pinkie would refill it. The red bowl, however, was still much closer to full. I decided to help balance them out, and grabbed my punch from the red bowl. Skipping the straw, I slurped it out of the bowl directly. It was really good, but there was some undertone to it that was really potent, something quite strong. Deciding I liked it anyway, I continued to drink out, and Fluttershy followed my example, grabbing a cup-full from the red bowl. The punch table was up higher off the ground, and I could see around quite effectively. I saw a tail that looked a lot like Rarity's disappear inside the bakery, and I decided to head that way first. I topped off my balloon bowl of punch and worked my way off the platform. We finally got inside, and I saw that Rarity was indeed inside, over in the corner with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and floating above them, a blue mare with rainbow colored mane I didn't recognize. We slowly made our way over, then finally broke through the crowd. Fluttershy gasped and ran over to hide behind Applejack instead.

"Not much of a party person then?" I asked with a laugh as I walked over. She peeked out from behind her orange shield, and responded quietly, so I almost didn't hear her.

"That's not it, there's just so many ponies here..." She said, looking cautiously around. I smiled and laughed, watching her drink almost her entire cup of punch in embarrassment. She made a funny face, but I figured she was just reacting to something somepony was doing behind me. I took another gulp of my punch, noticing the warm feeling it left in my throat. Remembering the ponies in front of me, I lowered my punch away from my face in embarrassment. Rarity smiled warmly, Applejack laughed, and Pinkie Pie did her usual bouncy thing.

"So uh, hi again! Seems like I just saw you all!" I said, then remembered the blue pegasus.

"Oh ya, well, except for you. What's your name?" I asked, noticing how difficult it seemed to be getting to construct sentences.

"Come on; don't tell me you don't know me. I'm like, the fastest, most amazing flyer in Equestria!" She said, sounding slightly annoyed. I thought about it, then realized that I wouldn't know considering I barely knew anything about this world due to my general lack of existence in it. I shook my head. She rolled her eyes before responding.

"I'm Rainbow Dash. Nice to meet you." She said, with a lazy salute. I did my best attempt at returning it, but something about the looks on the faces of the ponies in front of me told me that I failed. I took another gulp of punch to cover my embarrassment, and they looked at each other worriedly.

"Darling, which bowl did you get your punch out of?" Rarity asked. I thought about it, but found it hard to remember.

"I... Uh... I have no idea." I said with a giggle.

"I'm gonna take a guess, it was the red bowl, wasn't it?" Applejack asked. I looked over at Fluttershy to see if she had any idea, but she was just standing there blissfully, her face taking on shades of pink. Suddenly a scrap of insight floated into my head, and I remembered.

"Ya, ya I guess it was. Is that... Is that bad?" I said, stumbling over some of the words. The four ponies in front of me, excluding Fluttershy, looked at each other in amusement.

"Not exactly, darling. Although I'm afraid with as much as you two have consumed, you're both going to have a pretty bad headache in the morning." Rarity explained, just before my memory flickered out.

---

I woke groggily up, face full of something that felt feathery. I opened my eyes, but that didn't help much, as my eyes were still covered. I brushed the thing off my face, and noticed that I was no longer at Sugarcube Corner, but I appeared to be in some sort of wooden cottage. I noticed there was something mildly heavy on top of me, and I looked down to see a sleeping Fluttershy flat out, wings spread, across me. I then realized that this was Fluttershy's cottage, and since this didn't look like the spare room she had lent me, this must be her bed. I flopped back down on the bed, trying to remember what had happened. Suddenly a thought occurred to me, and I blushed redder then I had in a long time. We didn't... Did we? No, no, no! We can't have! I said to myself. I thought for a few more minutes, before I realized that my lower legs were really numb. I carefully shook Fluttershy, trying to get her to wake up. After a few seconds, she groaned, yawned, stretched, sending her wing back into my face, then probably after realizing that she wasn't actually lying on her bed, opened her eyes. We locked eyes, and after a few seconds, I broke the silence.

"Hey, what happened last night?"

Comments

[RageLokiCat]

5471664 I'm afraid I'm unable to determine whether you're asking a genuine question or sarcastically mocking the plot. I'm assuming since that's all you wrote it's an actual question, but I can't be sure. Would you please clarify?

[Seeking Dusk]

5471826 Speculative question based on his flashback, actually. Genuine Question. A fire, two or more gunmen. I suppose the fire makes the robbery aspect a bit less likely... Next question is how he ended up falling through a hole in dimensions, but that we might find out further along in the story.

[RageLokiCat]

5471893 Both the event at his home and his dimensional travel will be explained in a later chapter. As far as his rapid pony-ification, his transport caused sight psychological manipulation, which is also why he doesn't mind being naked, doesn't question the food, and didn't freak out about flight and magic. That, too, will be covered soon.

[Seeking Dusk]

5471964 Figured as much But I'm a rabid fan theorist and love nothing more than to spun ideas and set them out to dry and see if my models match up with fact.

General Story Comment Time: It's pretty good. Honestly can't see why it has so many dislikes. Must be the HiE+Fluttership combo. I suppose you can ignore them. I enjoyed it. It feels more slice of life than adventure to me, but that could just be because the story is building up. I like the steady pacing you have as well. It didn't feel dragged out either. Nice to see that he hasn't gotten over his parents. I know it's easy to loose track of certain plot points as you write. And man you write fast!

I envy Blaze, getting to work in the library. Lucky pony. But I guess this places it somewhere in season 4.