stranded

by johntheanimefan

chapter 3: out of sight, out of mind

Chapter 3
Out of sight, out of mind

It had been about a week since Grey had decided to stay among the apple family. He’d kept true to his word and started work on the farm almost immediately. None of the apple family complained about their new volunteer worker, as his dedication gave them all some much needed time to themselves. Once the weekend rolled around, Applejack decided it was high time for Grey to meet her friends. So Applejack went out and gathered her merry menagerie of misfits and returned to sweet apple acres with them in tow.

Grey was on the porch, taking a break with a bottle of cola after a long morning of work. He perked up when he saw Applejack’s car come down the driveway. He set the cola off to the side and stood from his rocking chair as the car pulled to a stop and its inhabitants stepped out. There were about seven, including applejack, all around her age. All of their attentions seemed drawn instantly to him. Either his form was more attractive than he realized, or they were here to see their friends newest house guest. More than likely the latter, but he was open to options. “Morning Applejack,” he called out. “I’m guessing these are your friends I hear so much about?”

“None other,” said Applejack with a smile. “This is Twilight, Sunset, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity.”

By now, Grey had gotten used to the odd naming scheme, and just walked over to shake each of their hands with a smile. “Well, it’s nice to actually meet all of you,” he said. “Applejack has told me a lot about each of you, but it’s nice to have faces to put with those descriptions.” Grey always believed that you could tell a lot about a person by the way they shook hands, and that was no different here. Sunset shook his hand firmly, giving him a kind smile. Twilight never took her eyes off of him while they shook, thoroughly analyzing him in those few seconds. Pinkie shook his hand so furiously and with such energy that she practically shook the rest of him as well. Rarity offered her hand with the elegance of a fine noble, but he got the distinct impression that she was undressing him with her eyes. After flashing her a wink, he moved onto the next one. Rainbow grabbed his hand tight and shook it roughly, flashing him a confident smirk. Finally, Fluttershy was very hesitant to take his hand, but ultimately clasped the ends of his fingers and gently moved them up and down, while averting her eyes. Grey stepped back and looked to Applejack. “Well, my work is finished, I think I’ll head inside. You’re all welcome to join me, I’d love to get to know you all some more.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” said Applejack. With that, the eight walked into the house to have lunch and shoot the breeze.

---

His magic was gone

Silver didn’t know why, but ever since the night he had come to this blasted world, he had lost control of his magic. Technically speaking, it was still there, but he couldn’t access it. If he had to guess, it was probably due to his unfamiliarity with this new body’s anatomy. But then, if that was the case, how did he access it when he arrived? So many questions, no way to get the answers, at least, not safely.

In any case, he still needed to get out of the city. He had decided to travel as far as he could using the city’s expansive sewer system. The minute he hit a pipe that led out into an area away from the city, he’d bolt for the hills. Easier said than done, unfortunately, as the sewers being so expansive meant he was traversing an underground maze. A week was spent wandering, scavenging, and searching for a way out that wouldn’t lead him right into police custody. But finally his search bore fruit, as one pipe just large enough for him to slip through led him right into the hillside outside of town. Just far enough away for him to make his getaway.

However, once he was able to squeeze his head out of the pipe, he was greeted by about a dozen rifles pointed right at his head. The police had found him. Silver tried to shimmy his way back inside the tunnel, but one of the officers took exception to that, and grabbed him by his hair to pull him the rest of the way out of the pipe and into the muddy ground. Silver had gone so long without proper rest and food that he was easy to cuff and detain. Silver looked up from the mud to see Officer Bolt standing next to captain Armor glaring down at him. “Nice try, buddy,” said Captain Armor. “But we have a few questions for you.”

Silver grunted in frustration, but let the police take him anyway. Nothing he could do now, after all. It didn’t matter anyway, he had broken out of worse prisons than these people could put him into. This was nothing more than a minor setback.

---

“So, where in Equestria are you from?” asked Sunset. The group was gathered in the living room around the coffee table, each enjoying a can of soda.

“Not really from anywhere,” Grey replied with a shrug. “Me and my family travelled a lot. Thankfully so, because judging by what my folks had to say about what their home was like, it doesn’t sound like a place I’d like to stay.” Though much of his story was misdirection or outright lies, that last part was true. Grey could remember vividly the shivers that ran down his parent’s spines as they recounted their lives in the badlands. The harsh winds, the searing heat of day, the choking cold of night, and the monstrous beasts that dwelled beneath the desert floor. The changelings’ punishment for their defiance was to live in a land all others would deem unlivable. “Besides, if I stayed there, I wouldn’t have gotten to see equestria. As well as several of the surrounding countries and kingdoms.”

“Can you tell us anything about the places you’ve been to?” asked Twilight. The violet haired girl was perhaps the most intent listener of the group, leaning in to hear every possible detail. Good thing Grey remembered to brush this morning.

“Certainly,” he said. “Now, where to begin…?”

“Hey guys,” said Rainbow, who was watching T.V. “Check this out!”

Grey watched the television with the rest of the girls. It was the news, and the anchor was reporting that the terrorist responsible for all of the property damage two weeks ago had just been apprehended. A picture of Silver’s face appeared on the screen, which made Grey freeze. Applejack noticed this and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Grey, you alright?” she asked. She looked back at the screen and glared at the picture of Silver. “He’s the one that attacked you, ain’t he?”

Grey let out a breath, calming his nerves. “Yeah,” he said. “I was wandering through the city after I came through when he attacked me. I never got his name, never got the chance. He just blasted me with one of his explosives, and I fell into the river.” Grey turned to Applejack. “Though in some ways, maybe I should be thanking him. He’s the reason I met you, after all.”

Applejack’s face went bright red and she cast her eyes to the side. “u-uh, yeah. I guess that is true, ain’t it?” she sputtered. The others chuckled at the exchange, while Rainbow just gave a thumbs up and a wink to Grey. “A-anyway, Twi, don’t you wanna hear the rest of Grey’s stories?”

“Oh, right!” Said Twilight, placing her chin on her hands, focused on Grey. Applejack sighed, having successfully gotten attention off of her.

“Alright then,” said Grey. “Where was I? Oh yes…” Grey continued to tell the tales of his travels, forging the circumstances of why he visited these lands in the first place. During which, he looked at the news broadcast still talking about Silver, and calmly changed the channel.

Out of sight, out of mind…

Author's Note:

Guess who's back?! Sorry about the long wait, college is a b*tch, and I've just been too tired or busy recently to focus on this. Which is why this chapter is so short. I promise, though, that we'll return to the 2000 word norm next time around.

see you next chapter!