That Strange Stallion
The Strange After-Party
While some would try and catch him alone when he's off for a walk or resting in the park, Pinkie Pie however, would throw him a party with plenty of guests and plenty of cake inside of Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie had finally gotten around to giving Martin his 'Welcome to Ponyville' party the next morning. Much like Twilight's party, it had cake, punch, games, general party things. Pinkie had invited anypony who could come, but since it was the day after a festival, not as many had as much free time.
"Pinkie, exactly how is this getting him alone? We DON'T want to unsettle everypony else with who he might be," Twilight whispered to the pink party pony. Said pony bounced on her hooves watching Martin enjoy the party, which brought a happy smile to her face.
"Don't worry Twilight, I have a plan, this is just the start of it," Pinkie reassured her. She had this big plan that involved the surprise party, some bits, and the bulletin board. Not in that order.
Twilight sighed, "Alright Pinkie, I'll trust you with this," Twilight went out to also enjoy the party. Pinkie's smile grew knowing that Twilight will finally get to truly experience one of her party's since she skipped out on the first one. Now, all she had to do was wait for the party to finish.
After the party ended and the guests left, the only ponies still in the building and mess was Pinkie and Martin. The after-party was the crux of her plan and nopony could interrupt it, meaning Pinkie had to wade off anypony who wanted to assist in the clean up. Twilight had made it a point for them to be alone with Martin during the questioning for everypony's safety. She would at least honor that part of the plan.
"That was a great party Pinkie, thank you," Martin complimented. He had some cake on his face and confetti in his mane. When he enjoyed a party, he enjoyed a party. He shook his head to get said items off.
"You're welcome Martin, I'm just sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner," she admitted with a sad smile. Pinkie had wanted to give it to him yesterday but it didn't feel right when some of her friends were suspicious of him. But now that they were giving him a chance, she could bring them together for the party. It seemed to help a little but they still gave him unsure glances. Luckily, he hadn't noticed.
His smile only grew, "Well it was definitely worth the wait. That was the second best party I've ever been to." What?
"Second best?" she wondered. Had she done something wrong in the party? Was there another party planner out there that he preferred?
He waved a hoof to dismiss her worries, "No, no, I say it's second best because the best party I ever got has a sentimental value to me." Oh, then that's ok. Having a fun party is one thing but one with a super special meaning will always come out on top.
"Oh, I getcha. Can I ask what it was about?" She was curious what kind of party it was.
He gave small happy smile. It wasn't a giant one he usually had when he was especially happy, but one that just screamed his heart was smiling along with him. "Most of my closest friends banded together to give me a small but personal party that showed how much they appreciated me." Aw that's so nice, but did he say 'most'?
"Did not all of them come?" Pinkie asked. Maybe they were busy?
Martin's smile grew in laughter, "Not all of my friends enjoy parties or socializing in general, but they each sent a message in their stead. I was actually amazed and touched that Carlos bothered to write me a message. I could just feel his sentiment in the chewing out he gave me." Pinkie blinked at that. This pony chewed him out and he was Martin's friend?
"You felt his care from him saying mean things to you?" That sounded kinda backwards.
"Well Carlos is kinda the opposite of me, he loves to make others miserable," that got a wide eyed stare out of Pinkie. A pony who makes others miserable, why would he do that? "So when he was chewing me out, he was expressing he was enjoying himself and that I should too... I think?" he scratched his head not entirely sure.
"Why would you be friends with somepony so mean?" Pinkie asked. He had to have a good reason.
Martin's smile dropped a little in sadness, "He doesn't have any friends," he explained, "I have hope that by showing him what real friends are, one day he'll give kindness back. We've made progress, but we still have a long way to go." Wow, that was swell of him, trying to help a mean pony by using friendship. She wanted to know more, but for now, they had a job to do and hers was to find out about his so called 'tall tales'.
"Well, we should probably get started on the clean up," Pinkie suggested.
"Ya, when I came over to help clean up after a party, I didn't think it'd be for my OWN surprise party," he gave a chuckle.
"Yep, I heard from other ponies that you were doing odd jobs to earn small amounts of bits. So I thought I could both throw you a party AND help you earn some bits," she explained. Her plan worked out great. She got what she wanted in giving Martin his welcome party, Martin will get what he wanted in getting bits to spend, and Twilight will get what she wanted in some answers to her questions. It was the greatest of plans.
She gave Martin a broom to sweep up confetti, streamers, and other objects on the ground while Pinkie picked up platters, plates, bowls, and cups. They talked while doing it.
"So how did that meeting go, Pinkie?" Martin asked right off surprising her with it's abrupt arrival. She hesitated in her answer, not sure if she wanted him to know that they all briefly thought he was a liar. But that's why she was there, to prove he wasn't.
"Oh, it went great, dinner was delicious too," she answered, "But something Fluttershy told us confused me. She said you fell out of nothing when you arrived." Straight to the question then, she had hoped to bring it up a little easier.
"Well that's not exactly true, if she did see my entrance, then it was just because she couldn't perceive it," he told her. Good, he didn't even twitch when asked. That means he doesn't consider it that big a deal. So no worries on accidental KAPLOWY.
"What do you mean? Was it invisible?" she asked.
"Ehhh," he hesitated, "Not in the conventional sense. You see when the teleport spell messed up. Ponyville wasn't the first place I arrived in." Oh, that was interesting. "You see, I had accidentally been dropped in an... Ethereal world I think Theo called it. I might be wrong on that." Ethereal? Pinkie had never heard of that.
"What's an ethereal world?" she asked.
"Well imagine a realm made ENTIRELY of magic. No physical anything. I fell out of the portal into that realm and the portal absorbed it's ambient energy. That caused the portal to reactivate but changed destination. When I went back through it, because the portal was made by a non-physical force, when it opened up in the physical world, Fluttershy didn't see anything. Assuming anyway, I've got no knowledge on how magic or that realm works so I just figured that this made the most sense," Martin finished this explanation.
Martin may not have been sure, but by the way it sounded, it was good enough. She could give the info to Twilight to work out and then they'd have proof that he wasn't lying about how he got there. Pinkie was giddy with excitement. She had gotten the answer to the big question from Rainbow Dash. Now she could sate her own curiosity.
"What's your favorite color? What's your favorite flavor of cake? How many close friends do you have? Do you like to swim? Do you like pranks? Who's your favorite pony? What's your favorite season? Do you plan to come back after you leave?" Pinkie asked him in a rapid fire fashion.
He smiled kindly, not pausing his sweeping, "Blue, Vanilla, I have 8 I consider close, I love swimming, pranks are fun for both parties involved, I love all you ponies equally, Spring is my favorite season," he finally paused at the last question. He looked over at her with a bright smile, "If it's at all possible, I will definitely visit. I'll even bring some of my friends with me."
Pinkie smiled back at him, "I definitely want to meet them, especially Tim, he sounds super fun." A pony who could be everywhere at once? That sounded awesome, even with the limitation of cash registers.
Martin chuckled, "He'll be easy to bring over," suddenly his smile dropped a little, "Hey Pinkie?" his tone dipped. She looked over at him because of his lowered enthusiasm. Was something wrong?
"Ya?" she urged him to continue.
"On the off chance that my friends don't like you girls or the rest of Ponyville, I just want you to know that you're all still my friends no matter what happens," he said with honesty. Those words made her think of her own friends and their indecision about him, what if they decided he wasn't trustworthy and stopped being his friend? Would she have to stop being his friend too? No that would never happen, she was going to make sure of it, even if she had to do it alone.
She gave him a reassuring smile, "Hey, don't worry about it. Any friends of yours are friends of ours. And if we have any troubles, then we'll work them out. Because that's what friends do."
His smile raised in relief, "Thank you, Pinkie. Truly, that means a lot to me."
"You're welcome," she threw on her best smile, "Now let's get this job done," she raised a hoof towards him.
He gave her his biggest smile in return, "You got it," he raised his own hoof and they gave each other the official hoof bump. A true sign of friendship.
With renewed vigor, they cleaned up the mess in no time. Martin soon left Sugarcube Corner with a lifted spirit, a heavier bit bag, and a hearty farewell. Pinkie got her answer for how he arrived, but a new question occurred to her. Why would Martin think his old friends wouldn't like his new friends?
This day had taken a turn for the worse. Twilight had been helping her friend Applejack win a bet and she had gotten an invitation from Princess Celestia to go to the Grand Galloping Gala. She could even take a friend with her. Hearing this, Applejack had immediately asked to come so she could sell her products and earn money for her family. Twilight had at first agreed, thinking that it was a good reason, but Rainbow Dash, who had been napping nearby, also heard about the invitation and wanted it for herself. She wanted it so she could meet the Wonderbolts and possibly be able to join them. From there the situation just went down hill. Through out the day the rest of her friends had heard about the invitation and they each had their own reasons for going. Pinkie Pie wanted to go to the most famous party in Equestria, Rarity wanted to meet Prince Blueblood, and Fluttershy wanted to get to see the exotic animals that they had in the garden area. Even when Twilight had said she would come to a decision later, and that they should wait, they were only deterred for a few minutes before they resorted to bribery and flattery. If that wasn't enough, Pinkie had blabbed to a large group of ponies that there was an extra unused ticket and now she was being chased by a mob of ponies all seeking the same thing. Poor Spike had taken some of the punishment with her and now held onto her neck for dear life.
They passed by Martin who was slowly walking up the path. "Hi Twilight, Hi Spike," he greeted them. They didn't bother to greet him back. Then the mob of ponies passed him. "Hi excited mob," he greeted the ponies chasing them. Funny enough, some of them actually responded with a "Hi Martin." Twilight ran around the corner out of sight. She had to think fast. She noticed an earth pony mother with a pink coat and an amber mane and tail that was combed backwards curled at the end. Her cutie mark was a microphone with several musical notes coming from it. She was playing with her unicorn foal who had a dark blue coat and amber mane and tail. Next to them was an abandoned blanket and empty stroller. Perfect.
Twilight ran by using magic to take the blanket and stroller, "I'm sorry but I really need to use this!" She didn't bother looking back when the mother cried out 'Hey!' in anger. When she put Spike in the stroller, he gave out his own indignant 'Hey!' in anger, but Twilight quickly shushed him. "Do you want those ponies to find us?" Twilight hissed quietly. Reluctantly he sat back and even put the pacifier in his mouth. Twilight quickly wrapped the blanket around her in a cloak like fashion and slowly stalked back towards the crowd, keeping her head low and praying they wouldn't notice. Luckily the crowd stampeded past them without so much of a glance. She didn't risk a glance until after the noise had stopped. When she did look the mob was out of sight. They both gave a sigh of relief. They were in the clear for now.
"Hey Twilight," she was suddenly greeted. Both her and Spike froze looking over at the green stallion. Apparently her disguise wasn't good enough to fool him. "Where'd Spike go?" he continued looking around. Spike sunk back into the stroller trying to make himself look smaller with an embarrassed blush on his face. Unfortunately that didn't help, as Martin looked in the stroller and blinked in astonishment. He looked back at the mare, "Twilight, I know Spike is a baby dragon, but don't you think this is a little far?"
Twilight quickly shook her head, "No it's nothing like that. We're in disguise."
Martin gave a knowing smirk, "What did you do?"
The insinuation that she was at fault here made her stress levels skyrocket, "I haven't done anything wrong! All I want to do is go home, get something to eat and quietly decide at my own pace who I want to go to the gala with!" Twilight quickly placed a hoof on her mouth. Oh no, she had told Martin about it, now he would want to go too.
"A gala? Isn't that like a fancy party?" he smiled, "That sounds awesome." Twilight drew in a breath to give him the same answer she gave everypony else, but his next words stopped her. "Too bad I can't go."
"What, really?" Spike said finally getting out of the stroller and throwing the pacifier back inside it.
"Ya, I gotta wait for my friend to come get me, remember? I can't leave town," he explained. That's right, he needed to stay in Ponyville so his friends could find him and when they do find him, he'll go home. He CAN'T go to the gala. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. She could use this.
"Martin, I'd like to ask you for a favor," she knew that he liked helping others and she could definitely use his help right now.
His smile grew in size, "Sure, whatcha need?"
Twilight unwrapped the cloak around her, folded it, and put it in the stroller, "First of all, I'd very much appreciate it if you gave this back to the mother around the corner."
He blinked in surprise at her, "Twilight, you STOLE this from a mother and her child?"
Her ears lowered in guilt, "W-well I wouldn't say stole, more like borrowed," was her excuse. When she really thought about it, she felt horrible. That mother was probably having a hard time right now.
He raised an eyebrow at her, "You probably have a good reason, but I'd like you to do ME a favor and not do that again. That mother probably needs the items in this stroller right about now. Even if it's for your own immediate benefit, stealing should never be your go to plan." Twilight blinked in astonishment. She never imagined Martin would have a strong sense of justice like this.
But he was right, "I'm sorry, I promise to never do it again. And when you give the stroller back to her, can you please apologize for me?" This was just not her day. The lack of food probably didn't help in her decision making.
He smiled kindly at her, "Of course," he forgave her easily, "Now you said 'first of all' was there something else you needed?" Right, the second part of her plan. Hopefully with his help she could make it home.
"Oh yes, could you possibly distract the crowd of ponies that were chasing me? I know they all want to go to the gala, but I'd really like to take my close friends with me," she told of him.
He looked in the direction the crowd went, "Distract? Ya I can do that," he looked back at her, "Don't worry, I can handle this."
Twilight gave him a grateful smile as he pushed the stroller down where she came from. Spike jumped onto her back, "Well at least we don't have to worry about them anymore," Spike said thoroughly convinced Martin will live up to what he said.
Twilight made her way back to the library with a renewed certainty that Martin was a good stallion. This didn't count as her turn to question him, but it did convince her that everything would work out when it was.
Sweet Melody was not having a good time. Her stroller and blanket were stolen, her poor baby Lullaby was without her pacifier and crying up a storm, and now there were ponies everywhere looking for some mare named Twilight Sparkle. Some had asked her if she had seen somepony with that name, but she didn't answer. She had much more pressing matters to take care of. Perhaps she should go home to her husband, Broken Record. Her nice time out had been ruined.
"Excuse me, Ma'am?" somepony asked for her attention. She turned to tell him off but she stopped when she saw her stroller resting next to a green stallion. "I believe this is yours?" he asked her, nudging the stroller closer to her. Wasting no time, she reached into the stroller and quickly found the pacifier. She gave it to her foal, who quickly quieted down and sucked on it contently.
Melody sighed in relief and turned to the kind stallion, "Thank you so much, my poor little Lula was having a fit," an understatement but it was over and done with, "But, who are you? I'm Sweet Melody," she introduced herself.
He smiled widely at her, "I'm Martin," weird name but ok, "I just came to return the stroller to you and give you a message." A message? Melody wondered from who. "From the girl who took the stroller," oh, her. She frowned, remembering the lavender unicorn. "She's REALLY sorry for what she did, and she hopes you can forgive her," he told her. Oh really? Didn't look like she tried very hard to express her guilt.
"If she was really sorry, she would be here telling me it herself," she said bitterly. When she saw that unicorn again, she'd have some choice words for her.
"She definitely would be here but she can't because of them," he waved towards the ponies still searching. Oh so that's it, the mare named Twilight had been the one to steal her stroller. Well that just made it worse.
"Them, yes," she glared at them, "They've been nothing but a bother since they got here. I haven't had a moment to rest in peace with all the searching they're doing," she just wished they'd leave.
"Don't worry, I got this," he said before going out into the middle of them. What was he doing?
Daisy was searching for Twilight along with the rest of the ponies. Her reason for wanting to go was that she wanted to go and see the famous Canterlot garden. It probably had some amazing species of flowers. Ones you could never find in the entirety of Equestria. Her train of thought was interrupted by a familiar voice, "Hey Daisy, whatcha doin?" She looked over and there was Martin slowly walking by.
"Hi Martin," she greeted politely, "Me and some other ponies were looking for Twilight. Have you seen her?" Daisy asked. She had passed by him earlier in their chase for Twilight. Perhaps he had insight on her location?
"Not really, she was being chased by this excited mob and I lost sight of her," Daisy turned away losing interest quickly. They had to find her before she gave the ticket away. "But I do know where she went," he continued but noticed she wasn't paying attention, "Oh I guess you didn't want to know." What?
Everypony in the immediate area turned towards Martin as he walked away and scrambled after him. They needed to interrogate the stallion immediately. Martin didn't seem to notice the crowd following him and continued walking forward with his eyes closed his head bouncing to an unheard song. Daisy reached over and tapped him on the shoulder. His eyes opened and blinked in confusion before turning around to face the large group of ponies following him. He smiled at them, "Hey the excited mob's back. Hi Daisy."
"Yes, hello again Martin, could you-" but Martin interrupted her.
"Hi Lily."
"Could you please tell us-" but she was interrupted again.
"Hi Roseluck."
"You may as well let him finish, it'll be faster that way," Lily suggested. Daisy sighed and conceded, waiting for Martin to call out his friends.
"Hi Clear Skies, hi Open Skies, hi Cloudchaser, hi Flitter, hi Thunderlane, hi Bulk Biceps," at that name he stretched an ear out and waited.
Near the back, Bulk had realized he missed his cue, "Oh, uh," he flexed, "YEAH!"
Martin's smile grew and he nodded, "Hi Bon-bon, hi Lyra, hi didgeridoo pony," there was a sound of an instrument being played, "hi Screwball, and HELLO to every other member of the group," he finished and waved at the crowd.
"You done?" Daisy asked.
Martin tapped his chin in thought then used the same hoof to point at different ponies counting them off in his head. He nodded, finishing his count, "Yep."
"Good, you said you know where Twilight is?" she asked him.
He nodded again, "Ya huh."
"Can you tell us where she is?"
"Sure, she's somewhere in that direction," he pointed a hoof in the direction of the rest of the town.
That wasn't helpful, "Do you know where specifically?"
"Yes," he answered simply. She was starting to suspect he was doing this on purpose.
"What does it look like where she is?" she asked a bit more specifically.
"Like a building," yep, he was doing it on purpose. "I can take you there, just follow me," he turned and walked in the direction he pointed. The crowd followed after him but were quickly losing patiences as they realized he was moving only at a casual walking pace.
Those who were impatient didn't wait long before they broke off and searched by themselves. Those that stayed, however, noticed that Martin was humming a tune.
"What's that you're humming?" asked Lily. There was still quite a few of them left following Martin but the number decreased every minute. It probably didn't help that the sun was starting to set.
"It's a song called Good Company," he looked towards the sky, "Something I haven't been to you for this whole shenanigan."
"What do you mean?" asked Roseluck.
He stopped in front of them, "Attention on me please," although he already had it, "I have not been honest with you. I have been leading you on a wild goose chase." Did they hear him right?
"WHAT?!" they cried in panic together. He'd been lying to them?
"I DO know where Twilight is but I had no intention of leading you to her," he explained, "She had asked me to distract you, likely because you were suffocating her with your demands to go to this gala."
"Then what happened to the ticket?" Daisy asked.
"Most likely by now, Twilight has already decided to take one of her close friends with her. I'm sorry you couldn't go, and I hope you can forgive her for her choice," Martin told them. They still groaned in disappointment though. "No hard feelings?" he asked them as they dispersed. They might forgive him after a good night's rest even though it was really mean to get their hopes up. "Sleep well!" he called after them.
But Martin's day wasn't over yet. "Bulk! Hey Bulk, can you spare a minute?" he called towards the large white pegasus.
Said pony did stop and looked down at the smaller stallion as he trotted up to him. Did he need something? "Yeah?" he questioned loudly but not quite yelling.
"There's a gym in Ponyville right?" he asked. Was he interested in building some muscle?
"Yeah!" this time he did yell while flexing his bulging muscles. Bulk went there often himself. It's where he got all of his mass.
Martin smiled up at him, "Cool, I'm gonna head over there right now. I want to see how good their equipment is. Wanna come with me? I could use a guide."
Bulk tapped his chin in thought before shrugging. He could use a workout right now, burn some of the rage he had in him for missing a chance to the gala. He walked towards the gym with Martin following close behind humming the song again.
When they entered the gym they were immediately greeted with a loud voice, "BACK OF THE LINE, ROOKIES!" somepony yelled. They were shoved into a single file line that ran across the room. Inside the room were several sets of exercise equipment, such as dumbbells, treadmills, bench press, etc. Pacing in front of the line was a large red stallion with a short orange mane and wearing a camouflage vest. His cutie mark was a flexing muscle. "So I hear you sad sacs want to exercise. Well I happen to be here to give you tips on how to improve. And by the looks of you, YOU'RE GOING TO NEED IT!" he told them, "I am Heavy Weight, but you all will call me Sir! You got that?!"
"Yes, sir!" most of them called, but there was one cheerful 'ok' from the back of the line.
"Who said that?!" Heavy called towards the end of the line. Somepony dared to ignore his ground rules right off the bat?
Surprisingly, the guilty pony waved his hoof and gave a bright smile. He was easily the scrawniest pony of the whole gym and looked like a shade of puke green. "Hi I'm Martin, nice to meet you sir," he said.
Heavy stomped over to Martin, "Did I ask for your name, Maggot?!" he yelled at him, the power of his voice pushing Martin's mane back.
"Martin," he corrected, "and yep. You said 'Who'? and I answered with my name," the little smart alec answered.
He wasn't going to let this disrespect slide, "It looks like we have a volunteer for Heavy Weight's Grueling Grilling," he looked towards the rest of the stallions, "The rest of you, go to your preferred equipment. I'll coach you on it soon enough." The assembled ponies walked over to several different exercise equipment, Bulk Biceps picking the bench press. "As for you," Heavy glared down on Martin, who simply smiled, "I want you on the Bridle Pull until your sweat starts sweating!" he pointed towards device where a bridle piece was attached to a pulley system that raised some heavy weights. Somepony as scrawny as him wouldn't last 2 seconds on it.
Martin looked the system over to see how it works and gave a shrug, "Sure, seems like fun." He walked over to the bridle piece and stuck it in his mouth. He tested the cables with a few quick tugs before walking forwards and lifting the weights on the end with ease. Heavy blinked in surprise at the display of unseen muscle. Coincidentally, Bulk Biceps bench was near the fully drawn cables so Martin decided to chat with him, finding the bridle not too damaging of his speech. "Hey Bulk, can I ask you something?" he asked. When he couldn't walk forwards anymore, he stepped backwards letting the weights fall. After a few steps back, he went forwards again and repeated this process.
"Yeah?" Bulk asked. He noticed that Martin was having no trouble moving the weights. How strong was this little guy?
"What's it like to fly?" he asked in wonderment. Bulk blinked in surprise, he wasn't usually the first pony you'd ask about flying, his tiny wings not really being the best suited for it. But he still loved flying none the less even with the disability.
"It's an exhilarating experience! Nothing like it!" Bulk answered with gusto. Bulk noticed, behind Martin, Heavy Weight was adding more weights to the equipment but Martin didn't even twitch at the sudden added weight. That only seemed to anger Heavy more.
"Huh, is that so? I've never actually flown before," Martin admitted, which wasn't surprising. You didn't exactly see that many earth ponies flying through the air. "I bet it's nice, being able to fly through the air like that," Martin smiled as he imagined that.
Several ponies paused in their work out as they watched Heavy try and make Martin falter with more weights and him personally trying to push them down, but Martin didn't even seem to notice. Finally, Heavy had enough and marched over to the day dreaming stallion. "I don't know how you're doing it, but I don't tolerate cheaters!" he yelled.
Martin blinked at him confused and used a hoof to pull the bridle out of his mouth, the cable still being pulled to it's full length. "I'm not cheating, sir." Oh so he's mocking now. Well, Heavy will show everypony he was, in fact, cheating.
"Give me that bridle," he demanded with a hoof extended. The smaller pony shook his head in the negative.
"You don't want to grab it here, sir. It's really heavy," Martin told him. Heavy wouldn't have any of that though and snatched it out of his hoof. As soon as it was free from Martin, the weights dropped and the cable pulled Heavy into the equipment smashing it to pieces. One piece arched into the air and landed squarely on Martin's head in a bit of karma. Everypony rushed towards the downed Heavy, who groaned in pain. Bulk however looked over his friend to make sure he was alright. "Bulk, I don't think I'm cut out for gym, it's dangerous when the equipment is conspiring with the doors," Martin's voice slurred. He quickly shook his head to right his thoughts, "Oh no, Heavy's hurt." Martin quickly went to the red stallions side, "Don't worry, I'll get him to Nurse Redheart in a hurry."
He lifted the larger pony onto his back and ran towards the entrance door. He almost ran into it but he slid to a halt just before it, "Ah ha! You won't get me this time door." As if to mock him, the door swung open and nailed him in the face.
The pony that opened the door was none other then Melody, who happened to be wearing a pair of saddlebags, "Is everypony ok? I heard a crash," she called into the room of stunned stallions. She had gone home and left her foal with her husband. Afterwards she went out to get groceries but heard the crash and came to investigate.
"Don't worry, Miss, Sir, Ma'am, defeated I am not easily," said Martin, unsteady on his hooves. Amazingly Heavy didn't fall off with all the wobbling.
"Oh Martin, I'm so sorry," the mare said quickly placing a hoof on his shoulder to steady him. She noticed the stallion on his back, "Is your friend there hurt too? Here, I'll lead you to the clinic in town." She gave no pause as she grabbed his hoof and began dragging the two stallions out of the building.
Martin waved his one free foreleg towards Bulk, "Thanks for showing me the gym, Bulk. I had fun." With that, he exited the building with Melody's guidance.
The rest of the stallions in the building blinked in unison. What the hay just happened?
I'm beginning to think the transformation into a pony allowed Martin strength that even an alicorn would be envious of...
10/10.
6816215
Nope, he always had that strength, it's not natural though
Is Broken Depths a city from some other story? Is it like a place in Fallout Equestria or something?
6816281 Heh...I was thinking something along those lines when I wrote that comment...I was implying that the transformation allowed a his power to come out.
6816300
Nope it's completely original from something I dreamed up years ago
6816306
He had ready access to it before the transformation
interesting and funny story, thanks for the good work.
6816395
I've read that story somewhat, some ideas are interesting, but it just confused me after a while. Going back and forth to loops that have multiple chapters, loops that crossover with other stories, loops that make references to other loops. It was too much for me so I stopped reading it.
6816323 so it's not something anybody can guess then. Well, I suppose that's to be expected due to the lack of a crossover tag, but I'm somewhat disappointed nonetheless.
6816464
You can still make assumptions about where he comes from and what kind of place it is, you just won't find anything online about it.
6816471 yeah, but it still takes some of the fun out of it, since I can't figure it out on my own. Nothing against you or your story of course, I was just expecting something else.
Doors... Why did it have to be doors?
6816505
One day
One day, he will learn how to OPEN a door.
And then,
He'll be UNSTOPPABLE
6816323 ahh, and here I thought I needed to do some readings.
I really am enjoying the story!
Do you need a cover art? If so I offer you my pencil!
6816569
That's nice of you to offer, but Mix-Up already offered to give me one. I won't stop you if you still want to draw something about the characters or scenario. I'd be glad to show it in an author's note during a chapter.
6816603 Ahhh, sure thing! I have a few scenes that stand out as being doodle worthy!
33.media.tumblr.com/0e8a7d4c8a2dfff0f3f157070e6a4a55/tumblr_inline_nrgdvvhcVP1qi7jvf_500.gif
P.S. Good chapter.
This series is so fun!
So good So far!
doors seem to hate martian for some reason
Beware the evil conspiracy of the doors and gym equipment! Beware!
So I'm not the only one that gets attacked by doors?
6829557
Yep, I know they refer to ponies at sirs, I think Twilight does in the very first episode. I was mostly referring to the "post haste" line, but maybe Rarity says something similar elsewhere. For some reason that exchange just sound strange to me, but it's probably fine.
6831350
Thank you, I agree, she's a 3 dimensional character who just wants to make everyone happy, not just to joke for the sake of a joke, (several canon scenes that counter this not withstanding), she deserves at least that much respect.
As for her fourth wall stuff, I'm going to treat it like I do with Martin's. To be only used when to address certain things and not to be done for serious moments. Such as when I couldn't decide on Derpy/Ditzy/Muffin's name or when they almost forgot to give Pinkie back her mouth at the end of Magic Duel.
6831573
I think I know when you're talking about with past and present tense. That switch usually happens when the characters are manifesting their thoughts.
"I am here for exposition," he said. He was simply there to bring some understanding.
I know there's a proper way to do it, but this is simply my preferred way.
The added bit was actually so Martin didn't hear it. They're assuming he would already know this and didn't voice the rest of the thoughts. A lot of the story hinges on both Martin's and a pony's level of ignorance.
Twilight IS still curious about it, but she just didn't have the time to address it, plus the conversation was shifted. Wyverns will be addressed again during Twilight's interrogation. Things just happened that she didn't have time to bring it back up and/or forgot.
6832338
Ok that one I can agree with but it just felt wrong to leave the space after blank and I couldn't think of anything else. I may eventually go back and make aesthetic changes but for now, I just want to finish the story first.
About that, I'm still debating wether to reveal everything in the last chapter or to leave the rest of Broken Depths to be interpreted any way viewers want or leave it for a possible sequel. I mean, some things will be explained at the last chapter, but not every question. I just don't know what to decide, if I explain, there's closure, if I don't, it's funny. But that's in the far future, for now, I wait until inspiration get's me for next chapter (or until I finish this game I'm playing)
I don't know why, but I'm not getting any notifications to your responses. Are you going into each chapter to respond, or are you doing it from the main page? I leave my comments at the end of each chapter, and apparently if you respond from the main page, then it doesn't actually let me know. It's so confusing.
6831582
Fully agree. Pinkie has such great characterization and a wonderful personality, so it's sad to see her reduced to nothing more than a meme/reference generator in so many stories.
6831631
Ah, see the point I'm making is that you don't really need to do that. The reader can understand the reasoning behind it from the context. What this means is that when it is included anyway, it just looks like the same thing is constantly being repeated every chapter. I understand this isn't your intention, but, in my case at least, that's how it comes across as being.
6832474
That's understandable, but at the same time you should always try to avoid unnecessary padding in a story. You don't always have to add more words when few words will work just as well. There is nothing wrong with ending dialogue with "'blahblah,' he/she said." In fact, it's usually better to do it that way since it helps with the flow of the story.
That is definitely a question many stories struggle with. For what it's worth, if I was in your position, I'd reveal things when the friends show up at the end. While it might be funny not to answer the questions, it would probably not make much sense for simply no explanation to ever be given by him despite plenty of opportunities both while he's there and before leaving. Not to mention how frustrating it would be for the readers. I know one of the reasons I started reading this was because I had the expectation that the questions the story is based on would actually end up answered. Then again, that's probably because I've always preferred stories to have closure, because if they don't they just feel unsatisfying to me.
Although if you do end up doing a sequel where they all come to visit at a later time, then you could avoid answering everything at the end of this one, and just save it for the next story.
Is this a crossover with something else?
6837068
Nope, if it was a crossover, I would have used the appropriate tag
6837222 So it's completely original? I salute you sir.
6816513 that...or his plan to nake doors fear him shall come to pass.
This story is hileraous..
6845261
Easily my second favorite movie we watched in my film class.
Just caught up and I have to say this is a real nice story you have here, I couldn't help the dopey grin I got every time I read through another chapter. Very nice job with all the characterizations and original backstory/universe as well, It's a neat feeling not being able to just google anything I'd like to know about the character and where they're from as opposed to discovering organically as the story itself progresses. Makes the character and stories situation a bit more vivid in my head, like we're along for the ride just as much as the ponies trying to figure him out within. And I guess since nobody else has mentioned it the reference is from spongebob, I'm happy to say I heard the proper sound effect in my head while reading.
6846519
Yay, finally someone pointed out the reference.
Also, thank you, I'm glad someone wants to figure out Martin and his friends even if it can't be researched.
I thought these questions were 4th Wall Breaking ones (MLP-related Questions)! I probably read to many fics involving Pinkie Pie!
oooh Full Metal Jacket
I feel like that question was directed to the ponies that were reading it so...
Fluttershy and season 5
6841664
The nine mustache salute
6926245 Uhhh, I counted 10.
Heheheh
6964785
There's nine.
This reminds me of something from Dave the Barbarian. Where the trainer is putting a crap ton of stuff on Dave's back and claiming him to be cheating... May need to re watch that to be sure how it goes.
Why are you calling Big Mac 'heavy weight'??
I don't mind OC's if they're written well, and I dare say you wrote them well.
7407281 Or just very similar. I mean, there are only a certain amount of colors/ variations and combinations of those. Eventually you have to have pretty similar looking ponies, other than cutie marks I mean...
6964785
oh, i just can't stop posting these clips:
*giggles*
That whole scene was funny.
"pranks are fun for both parties involved" That depends greatly on the personality and current disposition of the person your pranking. I for one hate pranks as I see them as a great way to either make someone hate you or lose all trust.
It's as the old saying goes "Trust is the hardest thing to gain but the easiest thing to lose, and once lost you may never get it back."