Chapter 2- Welcome to Ponyville
Twilight was sleeping peacefully when Celestia's sun broke the horizon, shining through the window and directly into her face. Annoyed by the bright light, she rolled over to her other side and tried to go back to sleep.
"Five more minutes, Princess," Twilight groaned, not quite ready to get up yet.
But despite her efforts, she couldn't get herself back to sleep and decided to just go with it and get herself ready for the day. She walked over to her makeup desk and levitated her brush to comb the bed hair back down. With herself looking more presentable, she opened her door to catch Spike just leaving his room.
"Good morning, Spike," she greeted him.
"Hey, Twilight, how'd you sleep last night?" he asked.
"I slept well for the most part, but was a little distracted by hearing Dark trying to adjust to his new wings," she replied.
"So he's what was making all that noise? Jeeze, even you weren't that annoying during your whole first week of having wings."
Twilight glared down to Spike like a mother would to her child. "Spike, that's not something you should be saying out loud. Especially since he's going to be staying with us and has offered to make us breakfast on his own."
"Sorry, Twilight," Spike apologized before sniffing the air. "Speaking of which, it actually does smell pretty good from here."
"Then let's stop standing around and go get something to eat," she suggested, her stomach rumbling in agreement.
Twilight and Spike soon walked into the kitchen to see Dark walking on his back legs, finishing setting out their meals. Two plates of omelets with one marked with a gem on top, and some hash browns and toast were already sitting on the small table in the middle of the kitchen, with a glass of milk at each setting. Though it looked and smelled delicious, Twilight just looked Dark, wondering why he was standing on his hind legs and using his claws to cook and carry the food, instead of using his magic.
Dark turned around with his breakfast plate in claw and looked at his hosts. "Good morning," he greeted groggily with bags under his eyes.
"Yikes dude, didn't you get any sleep last night or what?" Spike asked while taking his seat beside Twilight.
"Yeah I did, but it wasn't till a few hours later that I actually fell asleep." He looked to Twilight. "How do you deal with these darn things when you sleep? I feel like I have no control over them and they keep opening up."
Twilight looked up from her meal and swallowed a bite before answering him. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. It took me a while as well before I was finally able to sleep without my wings waking me up."
Dark set his plate down across from Twilight and Spike, confused by her answer. "What do you mean? Weren't you born an alicorn like the princesses were?" he asked before grabbing his fork and plopping a piece of omelet into his mouth.
She shook her head. "I was born a unicorn and was turned into an alicorn. I'm kinda surprised you didn't know about that."
"Sorry, but it's a little hard to learn about what happens in the outside world when your village is isolated from everypony else," he chuckled, until a thought came to mind. "If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me a little bit about yourself and Spike? It would be nice to know a bit about the pony and dragon who are letting me stay with them, since I know little to nothing about you two."
Twilight though for a moment before coming up with a proposal. "Tell you what. I'll tell you about Spike and I, but first, I have a question for you."
"Okay, shoot."
"Why were you standing on back legs like that, and why aren't you using your magic to levitate everything instead of using your claws to hold them?" Twilight asked.
"It's more out of habit than anything," He answered. "When I was working the forge, I would use my fire magic to stoke the flames and stand on my back legs while I would use my front ones to swing my hammer and hold the metal down on the anvil. Although, the wings and tail make for a great counterbalance, and I can now walk as both a bipedal and quadruped, though I prefer quad. That, and I was a bit self-conscious about using my magic around my family. Being the only unicorn in the family made things complicated at times. Though my parents and sister were supportive and proud of me, Light wasn't. It was painfully obvious that he was jealous of my magic, and so I started using it around them less and less, hoping that he'll lighten up about it. Pun not intentional."
"That's too bad," she replied. "It's actually not very fair that you felt like you had to completely stop using your magic around your brother just to make him feel better."
"Heh, that's exactly what my mom would say. But regardless, he was my brother, and I loved the guy. Besides, I always admired his flying and seeing how his wings would literally shine when he opened them. Actually, part of the reason he wanted to go on that mission for the village was because they could blind the dragons, and while the dragons were blinded, they would fly past." Dark shook his head. "Never could understand why that plan didn't work."
Silence reigned for a few moments until Spike's cheeks puffed out and he let out a mighty belch which manifested a scroll bearing the royal seal.
"A letter from Princess Celestia? What's it say, Spike?" Twilight asked before Spike started to read the letter out loud.
Dear Twilight,
I wanted to write to you and inform you that I will be coming to Ponyville today for a visit. It's been a while since I've last seen you and would also like to meet this stallion that you mentioned in your letter to me. I will be arriving at the train station this afternoon and will be looking forward to seeing you and your new friend. Also, please try not to freak out about this, everything is fine my dear.
Love,
Aunt Sunshine.
Spike just finished reading the letter when it was promptly snatched from his grip by Twilight, who began reading over it to make sure Spike didn't accidentally read it wrong.
Why would the princess do something like this?! Twilight though in worry while hiding her face behind the letter sent by her 'Aunt'. She almost never uses that disguise unless it's something she wants to look into personally and doesn't want anypony knowing about it!
Fortunately, Spike broke her out of her mental worry session before it got out of control.
"Everything alright, Twilight?" he asked.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Twilight put on a calm face and looked back to him. "Yeah, just a bit surprised is all." She then turned to Dark. "Sorry about that. Now, I believe I said that I would tell you a bit about Spike and I?" Dark nodded. "Alright, but you might wanna get comfortable, this could take a while."
"Alright, but first, why would you tell your Aunt about me? Also, why did you think it was from Princess Celestia?" he asked.
Feeling like she was being backed into a corner, Twilight quickly thought of an acceptable excuse. "I like to keep in touch with her regardless of what it may be, and I just assumed it was Princess Celestia since she's usually the one to send letters back through Spike. Now back to that story you wanted."
And so, she began telling him about basically everything. She told Dark about her family, when she was taken in as Celestia's personal student after her entrance exam, raising Spike after she hatched him, how she met her friends, the adventures they shared, her transformation to an alicorn, and all the villains that they've faced. It took a few hours to tell her story, and while most ponies would be board out of their minds by now, Dark wasn't. He sat through it without so much as a yawn while he and Spike finished off their breakfast.
"Wow, and I thought I was a busy pony," Dark joked. "Out of curiosity, though, of these villains, which one would you consider the most dangerous at the time?"
Twilight thought about for a moment while finishing off the rest of her milk. "I'm not sure exactly. Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Tirek were all rather straight forward in their goals, and we would've stopped Tirek immediately if not for an unforeseen hiccup in the plan from our end. Starlight Glimmer was dangerous with her manipulation, but lost it all when she was founded out and fled into the local mountain caves. So, I guess it would have to either be Queen Chrysalis with her deception and her changeling armies, or King Sombra and his intellect, planning, and dark powers."
Spike was about to comment when he was cut short by a forth voice. "What about the time when I found out that I was related to Applejack and the trip we went on, or when Trixie returned to Ponyville and conquered it after beating you in a magic duel?"
There was a collection of surprised yelps as everyone turned to see Pinkie Pie sitting at the head of the table, eating an omelet of her own that she got from who knows where.
"Pinkie," Twilight sighed, resisting the urge to facehoof. "How long have you been there.. and why didn't you knock before coming in? We could have been asleep."
"When you were talking about the time that Discord was sent to capture Tirek and decided to betray us to him instead," Pinkie answered in a chipper tone. "And I did knock on the door a few times, but nopony was answering. Besides, if you were still sleeping and I was about to wake you, then my Pinkie Sense would have told me."
"What's a 'Pinkie Sense'?" Dark asked.
It was Twilight though that explained it to him. "It's a sort of special ability that Pinkie possesses. In short, parts of her body will involuntary twitch, each with it's own indication of something happening, like if somepony is hiding from her, or if something is about to fall." She began massaging her temples. "I spend a whole day trying to figure it out, but in the end I just couldn't come up with anything, so now I just leave it be and go with it."
Dark cocked an eyebrow. "I actually understand in a way. I myself have a special ability called Amplify."
Twilight looked back to Dark, curiosity in her eyes. "Really? What does it do?" she asked.
"Basically, I can increase the magical output of an element I specialize in by drawing in the surrounding element into my body. That's actually the biggest reason why I was able to stand up against those dragons, since I would add their firepower to my own and then essentially overwhelm them with it. Kinda ironic when I think about it, considering dragons are suppose to represent power. Though I haven't had a chance to test it with shadows and darkness yet, it's kinda exciting when I begin to think of the implications."
"So you pretty much just absorb it?" Twilight guessed.
Dark nodded. "I suppose that's one way to put it. And no, it doesn't burn or even emanate any heat when I'm absorbing the fires unless I will it."
Twilight and Spike were surprised to learn of his unique ability while Pinkie just looked at the wall clock and spoke, "As fun as that sounds, we should probably cut the chit-chat and begin your tour of Ponyville before it gets any later."
They looked at the clock as well to see that it was already 11:15 a.m.
"So!" she said while standing up on her hind legs, her front hooves on her hips in a pose while wearing a green tunic and hat with a red quail feather, and white tights that she somehow acquired. "Lets us go! We have much to do and... less time to do it in."
"Welcome to Ponyville!" Pinkie announced, no longer wearing her outfit as she, Dark, Twilight and Spike walked through the town. "Our first stop will be Carousel Boutique, which is also where Rarity lives. Come on!"
While walking to their first destination, Dark was able to get a good look at the town now that it was covered in sunlight. The buildings were all of different colors, the air was fresh and clean with no ash or smoke, and the ponies who were walking past the group would warmly greet them... until they saw Dark. When a pony saw him, they would immediately back away and run in a different direction.
Dark sighed knowing of why they would run like that. "Guess I should have thought of wearing something to cover myself with. Perhaps that cloak in my bag?" he pondered out loud.
"Don't worry," Pinkie told him. "Everypony will warm up to you once they meet you at the party tonight."
"You sure about that?" he questioned. "Because I'm beginning to doubt it a little bit."
Twilight gave him a reassuring smile. "Like Pinkie said, you don't need to worry about it. We had a similar problem with Zecora, the local Zebra and apothecary, but she was quickly welcomed by everypony once we talked to them and they got to know her. So trust me when I say that you will be welcomed here as well."
Her words got to Dark as he released a sigh in knowing that things will get better soon. They quickly came upon the Boutique's door, which Pinkie knocked on and immediately heard a voice telling them to come in. One by one they filed through the door into the main room with a couch, coffee table, and mannequins which were displaying dresses in the windows. Soon after they closed the door behind them, Rarity walked into the room.
"Welcome to Carousel Bout- oh, hello everypony," she greeted them. "What brings you here today?"
"I was just giving Darky here my tour of Ponyville before tonight so he can get familiar with the town," Pinkie explained.
"Well then, allow me to properly welcome you to our little village. As you know, my name is Rarity, and I am Ponyville's fashionista. So, if you need a suit or something made, just give me a call okay?" Rarity welcomed and offered Dark.
"Thank you, Miss Rarity," he thanked. "I'll be sure to come straight to you if I need one."
"Your most welcome, Mr. Dark," she replied.
"Just Dark please. I'm not really one for formalities. That, and it kinda makes me feel old."
"Alright, Dark, but a quick suggestion if you would. Have you thought about dyeing your dragon parts from that black color to one that would match your coat?" she asked.
He looked down at the thin layered coat that covered his arms and claws as he thought about changing it's color.
"I hadn't thought about that, but I'll keep it in mind," he answered. "I'll have to think about it for a little bit, though. I may keep it the way it is and use it as a reminder of home and everypony who lived there." There was a moment of silence before Dark spoke up again. "Is there something on my tail?" he asked, getting the feeling like something was trying to poke it. He lifted up his tail and brought it around in front of him to see a white cat firmly latched onto the end.
"Opal!" Rarity shouted in alarm, quickly engulfing the cat in her magical aura and prying her off Dark's tail. "You should know better than to play with somepony's tail like that!" she scolded the cat, receiving a hiss in return.
Rarity looked back over to Dark with an apologetic frown. "I'm terribly sorry about that, Dark. I don't know why Opal would do something like that. She didn't scratch you did she?"
Dark just laughed at the cat, who was now glaring daggers at him. "Don't worry about it," he said waving a claw off. "Didn't feel a thing. Think being turned into a kirin has also made me more durable."
The girls, Dark, and Spike soon said goodbye to Rarity and started making their way to their next stop with Pinkie hopping ahead of them.
"Next, we'll be heading to Sweet Apple Acres, home of the Apple Family!" she announced.
It took a while, but when they finally arrived at the entrance to the apple orchard, Dark's eyes went wide.
"That's a lot of apple trees," he observed as they walked down the dirt road looking for the owners.
Soon enough they heard the sound of bucking off to their left and turned to track it's source. After a minute of looking they found Applejack hard at work who quickly spotted them.
"Howdy there," she greeted them. "What brings y'all out here today?"
Pinkie went to explain their reason for coming out to visit and the plans for tonight while Applejack listened and continued to buck the trees.
"Well thanks for comin' out here ta see the farm. Big Mac and Ah were just about ta finish up here for the day," Applejack said, and then paused from bucking another tree, looking over to Dark. "Say, Dark, you wanna give a try at applebuckin'?"
Dark shrugged, seeing no harm in trying it at least. "Sure, I'll give it a shot," he answered while taking his position in front of the tree, Applejack guiding his stance a little bit. Since he no longer had any front hooves to hold himself in place, he instead flexed his claws and planted them into the ground to anchor himself. He then brought back his hind legs and with a powerful thrust, kicked out at the tree... only to hit something squishy.
"AAHHH, son of a biscuit!" he shouted while rolling on the ground, holding onto his tail that got caught between the tree and his hooves.
While Dark was rolling on the ground, the others were laughing out loud, Spike on his back holding his sides. It took a few minutes for them to all calmed down until Applejack could ask him.
"You alright there, sugarcube?" Dark nodded while massaging the sore spot on his tail. "Alright then, you feelin' up ta givin' it another go?"
"Okay," he answered.
With a little less enthusiasm, he got back into position, but this time with his long draconic tail tucked between his legs. Drawing his back legs in, he again launched them out, this time hitting the tree. The buck, though while lacking technique, had a lot of power behind them, which emptied out half the apples in the tree.
I wasn't this strong before, Dark thought to himself. Must be another side effect of being a kirin.
The sound of clapping hit his ears and he turned to look at the others who were applauding his success.
"That was some nice apple buckin' for a beginner," said a low voice as a stallion walked over to join the others. He was a red earth pony with green eyes, and a short orange-blond mane.
"Hey there, Big Mac," Applejack greeted him. "Dark, this here is my big brother, Big Macintosh. He and Ah both run things here at Sweet Apple Acres," she said with a hint of pride in her voice.
Dark walked over to the big red stallion and extended a claw for a shake.
"Hello Big Mac, I'm Dark Flame," he greeted before getting a good look at him. Sweet Celestia, he's the biggest stallion I've ever seen! He's even bigger than cousin Big Beard, and he was the biggest stallion in Stonewall.
Big Mac extended his hoof and returned the shake. "Likewise. Nice kick ya got there, good and strong. AJ told me about what happened ta ya, nopony should have ta go through somethin' like that."
Dark just smiled sadly and nodded. "There's nothing that can be done about it now. And besides, it could have been a lot worse."
Big Mac returned the nod. "Suppose that's true. Now, Ah heard that you're lookin' for work, now that you're stayin' here in Ponyville."
Dark looked over to Applejack, her mouth turning to a grin. "You told him?" he asked.
"Eeyup," she answered.
Dark thought about that for a moment before something clicked. "Did you tell me not to go job hunting yesterday because you were thinking about asking me to help you guys on the farm?"
Applejack turned her head away, never losing eye contact or that smirk and answered, "Maybe."
Dark turned back to Big Mac who just nodded and gave them a heartfelt smile.
"Thank you both so much for letting me do this," he thanked. "So, when do you want me to start?"
"Don't worry about that none, sugarcube," Applejack spoke up. "Tomorrow you should just try ta relax and get settled in. Your first day of work won't be till Monday mornin' at sunrise."
"Alright," he said, happiness nearly boiling over. "Thank you again, and I'll make sure to be here on time."
After talking with Dark about some of the things he'll be doing on the farm and learning a little bit about the Apple Family, they said their goodbyes and made their way out of the orchard, leaving the two siblings to finish up their work while the others went back towards town.
"Can we get something to eat yet?" Spike asked. "It's past lunch time and we haven't eaten since this morning."
Pinkie had the perfect place in mind. "Sure, we can go to Sugarcube Corner. It was on the list of stops anyway, and this is the perfect time to go," she said with an extra bounce in her hop.
It was well past 3 p.m. by the time they got to the front doors of the giant gingerbread house that was Sugarcube Corner. "Here we are!" Pinkie announced.
"Finally, I'm so hungry I could eat this place," Dark said as he poked the side of the building. "If it weren't made of wood that is."
Pinkie laughed at his comment. "Silly-willy, if it was made out of candy, then I would have already eaten it!" she proclaimed.
Dark chuckled and went to hold the door open for the others, but stopped when three little fillies bumped into his side. He looked down to see a dark-orange pegasus with purple mane and eyes, a white unicorn with light-green eyes and a curly light-pink and light-purple mane, and an yellow earth pony with orange eyes and a red mane held back with a pink bow. All of whom were looking up at Dark with wide eyes.
"See, Ah told ya he was real," the yellow earth pony told the others.
"Wow, cool!" the pegasus proclaimed.
"Why is his coat two different colors?" the unicorn asked.
Twilight walked up to Dark and the three fillies. "Dark, this is Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo. They're Applejack's and Rarity's sisters, and Rainbow Dash's surrogate sister respectively. Girls, this is Dark Flame. He's new to Ponyville and will be staying here with us," Twilight explained.
"Yeah, yeah, can we go in and eat now? I'm starving here!" Spike complained, earning him a glance from Twilight.
"Mind if we join y'all?" Applebloom asked.
Before Spike could object, Dark spoke up. "Sure, if it's alright with everyone else," he said while looking to Twilight, Pinkie and Spike who all nodded, though Spike was reluctant to, earning a cheer from the three fillies as they all headed in to eat.
The inside was just like the outside with wall decoration and design, except for the wood floors, tables, and counter. They walked over and took a seat at one of the tables and waited for somepony to take their order. Soon, a short pudgy, light-blue earth pony with a bubblegum-pink mane walked over, smiling at her guests.
"Hello, dearies," she greeted them, then she looked to Dark and her eyes lit up. "I take it that you're the new pony that Pinkie was talking about?"
"Yep," he answered. "My name is Dark Flame, and I'm a Kirin. Nice to meet you ma'am. I just got here yesterday, so Pinkie is giving me a tour of the town right now. And since we haven't had any lunch yet, she suggested we come here to eat."
"Well, thank you for picking Sugarcube Corner as your first choice," she thanked him. "I am Cup Cake, my husband Carrot Cake and I own the store, and Pinkie Pie is our employee and foalsitter."
This got Dark's attention. "There are foals here?" he asked with a growing smile. "How many and how old are they?"
Mrs. Cake smiled and him. "Twins, a pegasus colt and a unicorn filly, both a little over a year old," she answered, causing Dark to coo at the thought of the two little ones. "I take it you like foals?"
Dark nodded. "Yeah, I do. Always had a soft spot for the little ones and would help my mom foalsit whenever I had free time."
"Ever think of having foals of your own?" she asked with a soft smile.
If I had a bit for every time I was asked that question, he thought to himself with a chuckle before turned back to Mrs. Cake. "I'll admit that the thought has crossed my mind quite a few times, but I haven't meet the right mare yet. Though with my luck, I wouldn't hold my breath."
There was a moment of silence before Mrs. Cake spoke up. "Anyway, what can I get you dearies today?" she asked them.
They each placed their order and waited as Mrs. Cake fetched their food. A few minutes later she returned with their orders. While Twilight and Spike got some cupcakes, Pinkie got a large cake slice, the three fillies had a big plate of cookies, and Dark order a few doughnuts. They ate for a moment until Sweetie Bell broke the silence.
"So what kind of things do you look for in a mare?" she asked Dark.
Dark started choking on a piece of doughnut at hearing the question. After getting his coughing fit under control, he looked down to Sweetie Bell who just innocently looked back at him with big eyes.
Okay, that's cute, he thought to himself before trying to answer. "I'm not really sure, actually. I've been so busy with my old jobs that I didn't think too much about it." He pondered her question for a moment before answering, "I suppose it would be somepony who is kind and caring, has a good sense of humor, smart, responsible, understanding, and can handle herself if something happens and I'm not around to help."
"Yeah, good luck finding somepony like that," Spike commented.
Everyone looked to Spike for the comment he made, but Dark didn't look upset. No, instead of a look of being upset, he had a sly grin on is lips.
Alright little guy, two can play this game, he thought to himself before starting on the little dragon. "Alright then, Spike. Since I told everypony my thoughts, why don't we hear yours?"
Spike paused in mid bite. "Say what now?" he asked, not liking where this was going.
Dark just lowered his head to meet Spike at eye level. "Same question she asked me," he said, his grin growing. "What kind of things do you look for in a filly?"
Spike was completely frozen by this question and shifted his gaze away from Dark. Eventually, his sights fell over the three fillies across the table who were looking at him questionably, and quickly turned away. This action didn't go unnoticed by the three adults, though, as Twilight let out a light squee.
"Ooh, Spike! You have a crush on somepony and it's not Rarity? Who is it?" Twilight urged.
Spike, now blushing furiously, turned around and faced away from everyone. "Nope, not saying a word," he declared.
There was a collection of disappointed 'awws' coming from the three fillies which caused Spike to glance back, but quickly returning to his stubborn position.
"So, are we all done eating yet?" he quickly asked, trying to escape the embarrassing conversation.
Everyone looked around to see that their food was indeed finished and began to get ready to leave, but were stopped by the three fillies.
"Excuse me, Mister Dark?" Applebloom called.
"Just Dark is alright," he chuckled back.
"Okay, we just wanted ta ask if we could come and see ya tomorrow?" she asked.
"I suppose you could since I don't work tomorrow, but you'll to ask Twilight if it's okay first," he answered them.
The three little fillies quickly turned to Twilight, put on their biggest puppy dog eyes and asked in unison, "Please?"
Twilight giggled at their attempt to convince her to let them visit Dark. "Sure you can," she answered them, eliciting a chorus of 'yays' as the three ran off to do whatever they were going to do.
After paying for their food, they left the store and headed to their next location with Dark trotting over besides Twilight.
"You know," he began. "I know I said that my cats were cute, but the kind of cuteness those three showed was just ridiculous. I mean, it's so cute it should be illegal." This caused Pinkie and Twilight to start laughing while Spike rolled his eyes.
"Yea, no kiddin-" He slapped his claws over his mouth, but the damage was already done.
Dark, with a triumphant grin on his face again, looked down to Spike and pointed a claw at him.
"I knew it!" he exclaimed as they made their way to Fluttershy's cottage.
"Aww, come on, Spike, I'll even Pinkie Promised to not tell anypony," Twilight tried persuading Spike for the umpteenth time.
"For the last time, Twilight, I'm not telling," Spike answered, crossing his arms while glaring at Dark who had a not so innocent smile.
Twilight sigh in defeat, knowing that when Spike gets stubborn like this that there's no convincing him.
Soon enough, they came upon a small tree cottage with a group of critters running around the yard. They crossed the bridge running over the little creek and saw Rainbow talking to Fluttershy, who was getting ready to feed the animals. Fluttershy was the first to notice and welcomed them.
"Hello everyone," she greeted warmly. "What can I do for you?"
Dark was the one to answer. "Pinkie has been giving me her tour of Ponyville and this was on the list. I must admit that when I heard that you ran the animal shelter, I was looking forward to coming here."
Fluttershy smiled. "Oh yes, I always enjoy taking care of the animals, and they always keep me company," she answered while filling up another bowl of food for her animal friends.
She let out a low whistle and before anyone knew it, a stampede of little critters came running over. While most ate from a bowl, Fluttershy was going around feeding a few of them herself and noticed Dark paying extra attention as she did.
"Would you like to feed them?" she asked Dark who slowly nodded and stepped forwards.
"Seriously?" Rainbow asked. "You're wanting to hoof- I mean, claw-feed a bunch of random animals?"
Dark just shrugged it off. "Like I said yesterday, I have a soft spot for small animals. Doesn't matter if I know them or not," he said while Fluttershy poured some feed into his open claw.
Though it took a bit of coaxing from Fluttershy, she was able to convince two of them to give Dark a chance. Soon, a little brown bunny and a jackalope cautiously hopped over to his claw and took a quick nibble of the food he held. Satisfied, they gradually started to dig in, gaining the attention of some of the others and causing them to stop eating and meet this new creature.
Now sitting on his haunches, Fluttershy filled up Dark's other claw for him to feed, and soon found himself in a position he would only imagine. Bunny rabbits and a jackalope were eating out of his claws, some squirrels and a cat were using him like a jungle gym, and a pair of blue jays perched on top of his head. Even a certain white rabbit was taking a curious interest in him, though he didn't leave Fluttershy's side.
Seeing their new friend covered like that was something they wouldn't have expected, especially given his past life. Then they began to laugh at him when the critters crawling on him started to accidentally tickle him, causing Dark to roll on his side while they attacked him with now deliberate tickle tortures with Angel leading the charge.
Looking at him now, it's hard to believed that he used to live a life of fighting dragons single hoofed and living in a village that was constantly being threatened, Twilight thought as she watched Dark struggle and lose against the furry assault.
Mercifully enough, the army of critters soon ceased their attack, laughing and cheering with their joy of victory while leaving Dark sprawled out on his back panting for air, revealing a mouthful of white draconic fangs. Fluttershy trotted over by Dark and looked to the critters.
"Did you all have fun?" she asked her animal friends, who all answered with a chorus of happy squeaks, chirps, and other noises. She then looked down to Dark. "Are you okay? They didn't hurt you did they?" she asked Dark, who just chuckled and shook his head in return.
"So, how are you liking Ponyville so far?" Fluttershy asked while helping Dark back up.
"So far I'm having a really good time here," he said earning a smile from the yellow pegasus. "Besides a few ponies that we passed earlier, everypony else has been very friendly and accepting with me. Don't think I've ever had so many friends before in my life, let alone ponies that liked or respected me for who I am."
Fluttershy smiled, happy that he was enjoying their village. Then Rainbow hovered over by Dark looking a little nervous, like she wanted to ask something, but didn't know how to go about it.
Dark took notice and asked, "Something on your mind, Rainbow?"
She faintly nodded and finally asked him, "If it's alright with you, could I look at your wings?"
Twilight and Fluttershy immediately went wide eyed, knowing how personal of a question that was to anypony with wings. Dark on the other hoof, didn't know about such things.
"Knock yourself out," he answered with a shrug and fully extended his left wing out for Rainbow to take a look at.
With a blush that she managed to keep hidden from everyone, Rainbow started looking over Dark's furred, draconic wings. She ran a hoof over them, feeling and gauging the strength of his wing muscles while eyeing out anything that might cause problems with his flying.
"So, Rainbow, what do you do here in Ponyville?" Dark asked her as she continued her wing inspection.
"I'm the head of the Ponyville Weather Team. It's my job to make sure that the weather is kept up with the schedule we're given. Plus, I'm also in the Wonderbolts Reserves, so I can be called at any time to help them with a performance if they have a pony down, or if a threat arises and they need extra help kicking their flank," she answered, now shifting her attention to the furred membrane of his wings.
"Okay, that's pretty cool," he replied before a concern came to him. "I just thought of something, am I at risk of catching the Feather Flu now that I have wings?"
This was a legit question that brought everyone's attention over to Rainbow Dash.
"I doubt it," she answered, hovering over to his other wing. "You see, it's a flu that targets only pegasi, and maybe alicorns, but nopony has seen the Princesses or Twilight catching it, so I have no idea there. Beside that, you don't have feathers, and you're part dragon, not pegasus, so I wouldn't worry about it."
Always learning something new it seems, Dark thought to himself, knowing that he won't be at risk of catching that nasty flu. He remembered very clearly how his mom and brother were when they caught the Feather Flu, and it wasn't pretty. Then again, they didn't have the medicine to treat it, so that only made it worse for them to go through.
"Alright, all done," Rainbow announced.
"So how are they? Are they safe to use?" he asked curiously.
"Yeah, your wings are perfectly fine. Though I still don't know why they're so big," she answered.
"Well, even though I am- was a unicorn, I had also inherited my dad's earth pony genes, so my body-build was that of an earth pony," Dark explained.
Rainbow took a moment to think about it then nodded, now understanding why. "If you inherited your dad's earth pony genes, that probably means that your bones aren't hollow like a pegasus' would be. So, to compensate for your dense bone mass and frame, you would need larger wings for taking off from the ground and maintain flight," she concluded.
Impressed with Rainbow's knowledge on the subject, Twilight had to do a double take. "That was rather impressive, Rainbow," she praised. "I didn't know you knew that. I thought that I was going to come up with an explanation for it."
Rainbow smirked back at her. "Well, if it involves flying, then I would know about it. That, and they went over this at the Wonderbolts Academy."
Twilight couldn't resist anymore and facehoofed, knowing that she should have seen something like this coming. She looked back up to the others and noticed the sun starting to set behind them.
"I think it's about time we got going," she suggested, earning a nod from Dark and Spike (not noticing a certain pink pony missing) as they turned around to head back. However, they were stopped by Fluttershy.
"Um, excuse me, Dark?" she called out causing them to stop and look back to her. "What's that on your back?"
Taking a peek, he saw what Fluttershy was referring to as he noticed a piece of paper taped to the middle of his back. Unable to reach it with his claws, Twilight levitated it off of him and began reading it out loud.
Dear Darky,
Be sure you and the others come to Sugarcube Corner when you're done at Fluttershy's place. See you there in a little bit.
Your friend,
Pinkie Pie.
The four just stood in place while Rainbow hovered, quietly looking over the letter until Dark broke the silence.
"When the hay did she put that there!?"
"I swear, I will never understand that pink pony," Dark sighed as he, Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy, and Rainbow made their way through the town with Sugarcube Corner now within his sights. Though it surprised him at first, Dark learned his draconic eyes had night vision that allowed him see perfectly fine in the dark.
"Welcome to the club," Rainbow remarked.
During their walk back, the girls and Spike were telling Dark about the adventures and misadventures involving Pinkie. Most of which were harmless, but some he seriously questioned. For example, when they told him of the day Twilight tried to research and understand Pinkie's Pinkie Sense, or how she used her mane and tail as a drill to dig away under ground during the Flutterbat incident (which Dark took extra interest in), or during the Changeling Invasion at Canterlot when Pinkie used Twilight as a magical gatling gun.
Okay, that actually sounds pretty funny, he thought to himself, trying to picture a battle raging on with Pinkie wielding a weaponized Twilight Sparkle.
They also told him about the dangerous Everfree Forest and the creatures that dwelled within, and about the three fillies that bumped into him earlier and the trouble they used to cause. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, or CMC for short, where constantly doing random activities before they found their cutie marks, from apple selling to zip-lining and everything between. Though he was sure they were exaggerating a little bit, he still shuddered in wondering what he got himself into by agreeing to hang out with them tomorrow.
It's going to be alright, he thought to himself as they started crossing the road to Sugarcube Corner. They're just three little fillies, and I'm good with kids anyway, so I shouldn't have any worries... I hope.
"Anyone feel like we're forgetting something important?" Twilight asked, a sudden nagging eating at her in the back of her mind.
"Sorry, Twilight, but I can't think of anything," Spike answered.
"Yeah, what he said," Dark chimed in.
They made it to the door, but noticed that all the lights were off. Looking back to the others behind him, Twilight waved a hoof, telling him to go ahead as he grabbed the handle and pushed the door open into the pitch black room. After they all followed in, the door suddenly slammed shut behind them, blocking out the moonlight and covering them in total darkness.
"Is this normal for one of Pinkie's parties?" Dark asked, immediately facepalming at answering his own question of referring something involving Pinkie to being normal. This was quickly forgotten when all the lights suddenly flashed on and a chorus of voices all shouted, "SURPRISE!"
After his eyes readjusted to the blinding light, Dark could finally make out his surroundings. The store was covered in decorations, streamers, balloons, colorful table sheets, and a banner with 'Welcome to Ponyville Dark Flame' written across it. There were also a few punch bowls, a row of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, and other treats. And surrounding him were dozens of ponies and a few crystal ponies who Dark had never seen before, save for a few ponies he could make out. Applejack, Big Mac, Rarity, the CMC, Mr. and Mrs. Cake with a foal sitting on each their backs, and Pinkie, who stood in the middle of them all with the biggest smile Dark had ever seen.
Dark took a moment to take it all in, the feeling of being welcomed on such a large scale becoming overwhelming for him as his eyes began to water.
"Is this really all for me?" he asked, still unable to believe it.
"Yepperoni," Pinkie answered.
"I-I've never had a party like this before," he said, struggling to find his words and keeping his tears held back. "Thank you. Thank you so very much, Pinkie."
Pinkie trotted over and gave Dark one of her signature hugs, though it wasn't bone crushing due to his newfound resilience. Dark nevertheless returned the friendly hug, letting a few tears of happiness flow. After a moment passed, they broke the hug and Pinkie returned to the crowd while Dark wiped his eyes with a claw before looking back upon the ponies that have gathered.
"So, shall we get this party started then?" he asked, loud cheering being his returned answer.
The ponies and dragon standing behind walked up beside Dark, and together they walked further in to start the party. That is, except for Twilight, who stayed back frozen in place upon seeing a pony that she'd completely forgotten about. She was a slender white unicorn mare who stood a little taller than the average mare, with violet eyes, a pink mane, and a Cutie Mark of a sun with two clouds parting. Seeing Twilight standing still, the white mare made her way over to Twilight and stopped a few feet away in front of her.
I knew I forgot something important, Twilight thought to herself, her worry building up.
"Hello, Twilight," she said with a warm motherly tone.
Twilight gulped and returned the greeting. "Hello... Aunt Sunshine."
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I have one thing to say to you. And that is a mistake that occurred quite a few times within this chapter and others before.
Instead of shure it's supposed to be sure without the 'h'. It's somewhat confusing but not mind breaking.
Good chapter non the less and I hope to see an update soon.
Private Derpy signing out!
6515606 Thank you for telling me. I'll be sure to correct this immediately. Also, thanks for the support. You bringing up mistakes like this shows your interest in this story and helps me with continuing and improving it.
Heeeeeeeereeessss Tia!
What is with this characterization!?! Dark killed dragons for a living, that kind of lifestyle doesn't breed gentleness and overt kindness (in other words: shouldn't he be more hardened, rough around the edges??). Also, he just suffered his village being slaughtered, which had all of his friends and family, suffered amputation of several limbs, and then underwent some transformation and woke up in practically a new body that consisted of parts of the creatures he hunted for a living. Where's is the trauma? Why is he seem happy and alright? Why would he not be a bit upset over Applejack's manipulation of him, why would he just instantly to with it like it was nothing? Why in the hell would someone who has experienced massive trauma, both physical and mental, just easily accept the deaths of EVERYONE HE EVER KNEW and then act like its nothing and just proceed with instantly becoming friends with the Mane 6. Surely his character and personality would have clashed with Fluttershy and Spike, has he did kill dragons for a living. Look, I find the premis of this story to be interesting, but you are writing Dark as a character with absolutely no flaws or real depth behind him. I'm sorry if I seem overly rude, but I feel that I needed to let you know that good stories require good characters with depth and flaws that readers can connect to.
7133537 I understand what you mean, and looking back on my earlier chapters, I can see a lot of changes that I could've made to make it better. And while I will take what you said under consideration for future stories, please remember that this is my first one, and even after 45+ chapters that I'm still learning.
Dark gets all the pussy! lol
7453583
I so didn't see that coming, lol. Nice one.
You have two instances of the word 'sure' with an H in it. You've also been mixing up your "there/their/they're"s.
Though it surprised him at first, Dark learned his draconic eyes had night vision that allowed him see perfectly fine in the dark.
"Welcome to the club," Rainbow remarked.
(I am not sure what this is getting at? Is Rainbow's comment out of place? Or is it in regards to something else?)
7606079 Rainbow was commenting on Dark's comment about how he'll never understand Pinkie.
7453801
7453801
7606119 I would suggest you use
instead of
. But that's my personal POV.
7133537 Magic and plot devices...
7133537 PS it's better to space out your main plot points than just making a blob of text...
7934338 Thanks for bringing those typos to my attention.
I can see Twilight, Rainbow , or Fluttershy as potential love interests in the order stated. 1. Twilight 2. Rainbow 3. Fluttershy...
7934742
gutes kapitel mein freund (German) (^_^)
Only a tactical genius could've helped.... CREED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bored
Just remember dragons are really really bad at cooking and or baking anything that even resembles apples so beware
Applejack uses underhanded tactic to get to be the first to select the newest resident as an employee. Pinkie gives a town tour but only stops at the Mane Six’s homes.
MC admits to very few animals in Stonewall but has a soft spot for them, yet they’re not among his list of hobbies.