The Other Earth

by hunterz263

Chapter 7: Labyrinth

A cold little chill woke you up in the middle of the night. No dreams were happening, just a shivering movement of air. Your eyes open up to reveal the darkness within your room. A blanket was over you, providing little warmth, but still enough to keep you cozy through your slumber. Getting up and stretching out your arms and legs, you knew you weren’t going to fall back asleep, so might as well do something while you can. The clock on your nightstand indicated it was in the wee hours of the morning, 4:00 AM. Two hours before you went to work; this was pointless according to Java.

Nevertheless, it was work and you needed it. Going into the bathroom, your hands and fingers turn on the shower. After a minute, hot, steamy water was pouring out. Your thoughts kept drifting as to why there was hot water here. Maybe it was some hot stones in a spring. Not like it mattered, but curiosity can be painful to hold in the back of your head. You knew this ever since you first saw the ponies back on Earth. Simple little things that you tried to ignore, but could not any longer.

Now you were here in their world; a world thought impossible, but it is real. You smile slightly at the thought of a rare chance in the history of humanity and equinity, two species living together in harmony. Sure, your side of the spectrum was fragmented due to the riot back in District 9, but it was still two species getting along, sharing stories, discovering new ideas, and bringing friendships never thought possible.

Yes, it was a glorious moment for life.

Exiting the shower, you got a towel off the rack and dried off. The cool breeze was still present, sending shivers, but at least you were clean. Putting on fresh clothing, you realize that you still need an outfit for work. Back on Earth they had them. Another thing to do on the long list of accomplishments you had ever since you left that precious, smooth grass of your home planet. Perhaps meeting Rarity would help you check off that item; she is generous after all.

Stepping out of the bathroom, you are greeted to the breeze that is no longer affecting your smooth, baby-like skin. As you walk towards Zach’s room to check on his condition, you wonder what can possibly be accomplished in under two hours before your work shift resumed. Walks were a norm to you, but how far could you journey at morning until you explored all of Ponyville? Opening Zach’s door with its creaky sounds make you wince, shudder, and panic a little. You didn’t want to wake him out of his sleep. Thankfully, when your eyes adjusted to the darkness, you could see him under a blanket much like your own, peacefully asleep with regular, shallow breaths that were silent. Closing the door with minimal creaks, you turn your body around and head out into the hallway.

Trotting down the halls was lonesome but far from the worst thing imaginable. The decorations kept you company with the red paint that displayed formality keeping you calm and collective. The carpet contained patterns (flowers) of complimentary colors that glistened with peace and happiness. Everything in the hall was of calming architecture, promoting more ideals of unity the equines share; ideals that your species is going to share now that your dreams are true.

Looking at the glorious décor distracted you from seeing a unicorn mare trot out of a room, a dim smile on her lips as she entered the lit walkway. Turing her head towards your position makes her grin enlarge. “Hello there, human.” Her coat was of a light purple, with her moderately long mane being of a cool violet and a blue that matched the dawn of a new day. The eyes she had glowed with a soothing purple. The unicorn’s voice was a soft one, but audible enough to be clearly distinguished among the quiet halls.

“Hey there,” you reply a lot softer than anticipated, “what’s your name?”

“I’m Purple Sire. It’s nice to meet you…”

You fill her in quickly of your name. With lips open, you reply, “Nice to meet you too, Purple Sire.” Your shy nature was still prevalent despite already meeting numerous other ponies in the town. Surely their friendly nature would make you less shy, but it was not showing just yet. For seconds you and Purple walk in a bit of a nerve-wracking silence, but it is shattered by her question.

“What has got you up so early?” She questions, turning her head towards yours.

“I must have gone to bed early,” you reply gently, keeping your eye contact on the mare, yet also taking the occasional glance to ensure you would not crash into a random object.

“Quite peculiar seeing another pony out and up this early in the morning. Normally the Pegasi are, but most other ponies sleep until seven.” She adds, giving you a little bit more on how this place works. Then an idea floats in to your cranium about trying to find Rainbow Dash early in the morning. But, that one is a bit risky due to your uncertainty that she would be up and working this early in the morning.

Pushing aside your plans to concentrate on this acquaintance, you wonder why she is up. You express your thoughts to her, to which Purple answers, “I always come out early in the morning to get ideas for a painting or two. It is really inspiring to see the sunrise as the stars dim out one by one.” You could not deny that since you saw an Equestrian sunrise just days ago back at District 9. The mere thought of that place made you quiver in your mind. The violence, the punishment. The place was a horrible, recent memory that felt like it happened years ago. “I always do get the best of ideas from seeing the stars at night, as well.” Hearing her continue made you forget about that place.

The image she described made you smile towards her. “That really does sound beautiful,” you respond, “are you a painter?”

“Yes I am. I make any request for a fair amount of bits,” She says, smile widening to new proportions on her purple face “and my clients always say they are ‘spectacularly spectacular’.” She finishes it off with a bit of a giggle. “At least, that’s what one mare said when she saw the work I made.” You couldn’t help but join in on the giggle and wonder about the strange words she said about a client’s review, but your mind had a pretty fair guess who it was.

You were already at the door out of the apartment complex, Purple apprehending it as well with a portion of disbelief. Purple turns her face to you. “It is certainly a pleasure to meet you. Feel free to stop by my room soon. It’s number 304.” The door rings open and her form vanishes into the darkness while you stand there smiling. Another new friend made. After a few seconds of getting the number memorized, you push open the door. The bell on top of it rings and the receptionist waves you goodbye with a happy smile.

. . . . .

Walking around Ponyville was becoming a habit now. While you were never trying to, it just kept happening -- might as well be in your schedule. With that, you find yourself careening down roads that led to houses, businesses, and more places that still have to open up their wares to the general public. Ponyville was never expected to be this large, but you were glad it was; so many places to meet friends and explore.

“Hey, dude!” So focused you were on your walk, you actually stopped seeing anything but the buildings. To hear this unknown voice calling specifically at you -- nopony was out walking since you departed Purple Sire -- caused you to stop from a minor startle attack. Focusing on the epicenter of the voice, you see it is that of another human. A male to be precise and he was walking towards you in the evaporating darkness of the night. “Isn’t this place great? Finally get to live the dream of being in Equestria!” This particular male appeared to be around his early twenties, indicated by his more rich features that spell experience without any missing letters. His hair color cannot be distinguished, but it is of a darker shade of brown from what you can tell.

“Uh... yeah, it is a gre--” Even before finishing your word, he seems to burst into the air with a jump. Not only that, but his jump seemed to mimic that of a party pony or someone that just found nothing but joy in life. Either way, that free-spirited attitude only made you recluse back into a shell.

“I have so many things I have to do! I have to meet my idol Pinkie Pie today and then go party on with her! You want to come?” You open your mouth to kindly reject, but he already had the answer. “Perfect! I’ll be sure to let Pinkie know you want to come!” As you open your lips again he runs off sprinting, and as your first word escapes, he is already rounding a corner. Closing your mouth, you stand there bewildered beyond your belief. If that was Pinkie Pie, you maybe would not have minded as much, but for some random person to run up and invite you like that is just...

Focusing instead on your day ahead, you try to veer off the course of thinking about a party. Walking again, you remember that you need to get to work. Changing the direction of your form, you re-align to the path of work. Silver Java said it was going to be an easy day, so maybe you can have some time to actually think of a way to meet Rainbow Dash again. Maybe she will trot into the shop like she did yesterday. Now you were sprinting off to your work.

. . . . .

The bell above the door dings as you enter the shop. Silver Java looks up and smiles at you; her dark blue eyes beaming with joy to see you again. You look at her light-grey coat and notice it is still a little wet. “Hello, Silver Java.” You say with a smile, walking behind the counter and then getting behind your register.

“Good morning. You ready for a day of leisure and relaxation? On weekends I say I only get about forty ponies on average.” You cannot help but smile at the news of a relaxing day with Silver Java. You could talk to her, discuss ideas about drink recipes, play a few games, and talk about Rainbow Dash. It was going to be perfect and spectacular!

As if reading your mind and facial expression, Silver Java turns her attention straight to you, giving you a lopsided smile. “It’s not all fun and games like you think it is. We still need to do quite a bit of work: cleaning the tables, sweeping the floor, counting the bits earned and more.” She made a giggle, turning around and heading into her office. You stand there for a few moments waiting for a customer to pop in and greet you. Not a single one came waltzing through the door and taking you away from having to perform mundane tasks. With a sigh you head to the corner, grab the broom – the broom was shockingly small and light – and begin to sweep. You could have sworn you heard Silver Java giggling.

. . . . .

You and Silver Java were at a table enjoying a breakfast break. She had a cup of coffee while you had water. She tried to persuade you to try your own product, but you kindly refused since you disliked the taste of anything caffeinated besides sweet sodas. “I must say you did a fine job at polishing this table. I can sort of see my reflection in it.” Silver Java says while looking down at the table. You blush and look down as well to see her statement was true. “I am so glad I hired you. You are a far better worker than that flirtatious stallion.”

“I try my best,” you reply modestly while a dark crimson blush rushes through your cheeks. Her compliments made you smile as well. “So Silver… what do you think of my species?” The question made Silver look up and her lips were flat.

“Well I did read numerous reports in the Ponyville Express during the initial weeks when our species met. I must say most of your kind is barbaric, intolerant, and nothing but warmongers.” Silver Java replies while her shoulders fall flat. “I personally disliked your species and was against any negotiations for any of you to come here. But the Princesses said everything was going to be okay. Then that whole District 9 incident made me skeptical.” You got this itch in the back of your head that Silver Java might not trust you at all. She takes a deep breath and finally puts on a beautiful smile and opens her eyes up to show their spectacular shades of dark blue. “But now that I got to know you personally, I can say you are a marvelous species.”

Your own smile grows as you look into her eyes. Something about them entranced you into a labyrinth of mysterious thoughts. One certainly was clear though: Why did she act so seductive if she did not trust your species and despised it? You wanted to question her about it, but your better half knew it was too early for personal questions of that nature.

You looked towards the clock and see it was 9:00. The day was about halfway over and you still had no customers come waltzing in through the door for a nice cup of energizing coffee. “What do you do when you have no customers, Silver?” You asked, feeling a sense of boredom overcome you with the lack of activity in the store.

“Back when I had Brimstone me and him played various games in the back. A little bit of ‘Goldfish’, sometimes ‘20 Questions’, and my personal favorite, ‘Unique’.” You raise and eyebrow at the last game and ask what it is. “Unique is a game we made over the weekend. There is no winner, but what we do is basically make the strangest drinks we can. Adding pepper and sugar and some foods into drinks. Then we give them to each other and see which one of us would get sick first. Haha.” Silver smiles at the silly and ridiculous game idea she thought up. You honestly believed she was joking and making up silly concepts for a moment, but that smile was genuine.

You were not sure how to react to the absolutely absurd and ridiculous game, but you had to admit you were growing bored with the lack of activity. “Want to play a round of 20 Questions?”

“You’re on, human!”

. . . . .

“Is it a bird?” You asked, generally frustrated at what Silver’s item was.

“No. That’s 18 out of 20 questions!” She says while beaming a lopsided grin your way that made you even more furious inside.

“Is it a…giant hippopotamus that has wings and can fly around shooting laser beams at everything?”

“Nope. Hehe. 19 out of 20.” She says in a high-pitched, playful accent. You two had been playing for an hour and you still have not guessed a single item she has thought of.

“It is a-“

Ding.

You and Silver look at each other straight in the eye and rush out to greet who would be the first customer of the day. It was a unicorn mare, with a lavender coat and rich purple eyes. You already knew who it was and couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey, another human!” Twilight Sparkle remarks as she struts up towards your register. “Oh your species is simply fascinating!” Twilight the turns her head to greet Silver Java. “Hey Silver! Could I get two cups of coffee? Spike is asleep and I’m afraid my assistant librarian didn’t get enough sleep last night. Hehe. You humans and your arrogance for staying up late.” You smile at her comment and inside you cannot help but feel a little pride in your species – it was the first time you ever felt pride for your species.

“Sure thing, Twilight. Who’s your new assistant? You sure Spike isn’t going to get jealous?” Silver Java asked while beginning to set the cups under the coffee machine.

“Oh, don’t be silly, Silver. Spike is still my number one assistant, but I don’t think he’s old enough to handle currency and keep up to date with return dates for my library’s books. Zach is there to make sure I have more time with Spike duties, along with learning about friendship. Speaking of which,” Twilight focuses her attention on you again, “do you have any friends?”

“Yeah…” you reply a little bit awkward at the invasive nature of the bookworm. “His name’s Zach. Had another one, but he left to go back to Earth.” You say, feeling uncomfortable.

“Oh wow. A human left already?” She says, a bit baffled at the idea like you were when Fox revealed he was leaving Equestria to go back to Earth. “I’m shocked by that.” Silver had miraculously completed the order and now the drinks were on the polished counter. Twilight smiles at you and Silver and pays the four bits she owes. “Thank you, Silver. And it was nice meeting you too, human!” Twilight happily takes the drinks into her mouth and walks out the shop, humming a tune that you recognized instantly. Your mind aches at the strange idea every single pony knows that particular tune by memory. But then an idea popped up in your head that made you grin. You turn to Silver Java and reply.

“Is it Rainbow Dash?”

Silver Java stood there for a moment, smiled, and then you two proceeded to giggle and laugh on the floor.

. . . . .

Your shift was done with and you were returning home. The day was still young, but being frustrated and bored wore out your mind and body. You yawned for a moment while walking and when you opened your eyes, you wanted to run away form what you saw. At stand that sold oranges, you saw Rainbow Dash bargaining with a stallion. You gulp and begin to sweat, wondering what to do. Should you go home, walk up to her and say hi, or just stand there like an idiot and hope she sees you?

Rainbow Dash finished her purchased and just happened to look your way and notice you. She gives a big, toothy smile that made you blush and waves at you. “Hey dude!” Next thing she is walking towards you quickly. “You’re that thing that gave me coffee yesterday!” You weren’t sure if you felt offended or not since your mind was racing and your heart was thumping. You try to say something, but every time the cerulean pegasus took a step, you simply marveled at her beauty. Before you realized it, Rainbow was about four feet away from you and smiling. “Man, you make some great coffee. What’s your name?”

You gulp audibly while you answer her question nervously. “Sweet name! Name’s Rainbow Dash! You just get off your shift?”

You nod while you take a subtle, deep breath to calm your nerves. “Yeah. You just get off of yours?” Your entire body felt like it got zapped with lighting ten times; you were energized and eager to run. You were willing to do anything to escape this awkward situation.

“You betcha! Whenever it’s supposed to be a clear day, there’s not much to do so I just send the entire Weather Team home early.” You nod, paying attention to every single word she says. “Hey, you going to that big party Pinkie Pie is hosting along with some human?” You remember getting the invitation earlier today and nod your head. Might as well go and see what the parties are like here when you mix two hyperactive partiers together. “Sweet! Me too! Pinkie Pie throws the best parties! You’ll love them!” Rainbow’s unusually friendly demeanor made you more relaxed now. But one thing that made your heart want to break out of your chest and fly away was Rainbow going to the party.

“That’s good, Rainbow Dash. I hope to see you there.” You reply, more nervous than when you initially met the pegasus. Your mind did have one question though. “Uhm… when’s the party?”

“Oh, it’s tomorrow night in the plaza. I think it starts at seven. It’s going to be so awesome!” Rainbow says while opening her wings and hovering in the air while excitement rushes through her beautiful and strong body.

“Cool… I’ll be there definitely.” You reply, feeling more nervous from her excitement.

“You should bring some of your awesome coffee, dude! That stuff tastes great! I’m sure everyone would love to have some.” The flattery from the mare you always dreamed about caused your cheeks to combust into a fiery red that could be seen from miles away. Rainbow failed to notice and simply waited for you to reply.

“Thanks Rainbow Dash. I’ll see if I can bring some.” You reply sheepishly while your face continues to burn with the energy of a 1000 forest fires combined.

“Great! I got to get going. I’ll see you at the party tomorrow!” Rainbow says enthusiastically while she soars off towards some random direction, making your hair waft a little as she flew over you. You turn around to watch her fly away.

If you were alone, you would have fainted at all the compliments your long-time crush gave you, but you gulped down that energy and continued to walk towards your home.

Once you got home, you went straight to your room and snuggled under your blankets and into your pillows. This encounter with Rainbow Dash made your heart flutter with appreciation, but also made you extremely apprehensive about talking to the mare. You hardly said anything to her besides short replies. How would you act if you two were alone at the party? How would you react if she wanted to dance with you?

The hundreds of questions that floated in your mind fed your worry and caused you to curl into the pillow and close your eyes. So many things were happening in your life that you simply wanted to sleep off the thoughts and situations. Your thoughts drift to cuddling up to Rainbow Dash and you fall asleep quickly.

Comments

[hunterz263]

Ooh my gosh! It is finally out to the public! Phew!

Thank you all for being patient with my delays and various other circumstances that prevented me from writing this chapter! I hope it was worth the wait.

Anyway, I finally got the ideas flowing again and I have enough elements to continue writing at least two more chapters. After that, it is back to trying to figure out how to write and continue the story. It may seem a bit unplanned, but that's because it is! I haven't outlined anything! I probably should, but I get the best ideas when I improv! Don't you all agree?

As always feel free to comment and thank you all for supporting the story! It really means a lot to me when is see someone favorite this story.

I need a nap...

Until next time everypony

--hunterz263

[Straightjacket]

A new chapter?

[hunterz263]

3544009

It's nothing...

[DoubleT4596]

duuuuuuude MOOOOAAAARRRRR.
loved every word, please keep flowing with these chapters!

[hunterz263]

2841284

The next chapter is up by the way... I-I hope you like it. I plan on writing chapter 8 once I get back from my guitar lessons.

[The_Dark_Requiem]

I can't believe how you capture the (your) readers with a enticing and invigorating story. Can't even stop reading it.