The Element of Hope

by Shootingstar212

Chapter 8: Information Overload

"So let me get this straight..." Applejack began, "You're tellin us that you've been able to able to use magic for years, and you still don't know why you're able to?"

I've spent the past few minutes telling the girls all I know about my magic powers, which honestly wasn't much information to tell.

"Yeah, I've been able to at least access it for years. My grandpa told me that when I was younger I almost tore the living room apart with my wind magic when I was upset about something," I scratch the back of my neck in embarrassment.

"And is your Grandpa also one of your kind?"

I shake my head, "He's a Unicorn. I've been living with him since I was an infant," This is starting to feel similar to the conversation I had with Twilight when I first met her. No wonder why these two get along... "But enough about me," I attempt to change the subject, "I believe we haven't been formally introduced yet."

Applejack's ear perks up, "Sorry about that, partner," Applejack adjusts her hat on her head and trots up in front of me, "The name's Applejack," Applejack gives me a friendly wink and shakes my right hand fast and hard with her hoof. Her muscle strength is certainly up there; it feels like she's trying to rip my arm off. When she releases, I feel the entire hand pulsing in pain.

"Uhh... nice to meet you too," I say while fanning my hand up and down trying to distract myself from the pain. Applejack starts to snicker to herself, "What's so funny?"

"It's nothin... It's just that Twilight made the same face you're makin now when she and I first met," Applejack sits on her haunches so she doesn't fall over.

Twilight's face lights up in a bright pink, "hey, I was really busy that day. I needed everything to be perfect for the celebration..."

I look over at Twilight and laugh to myself. It's really adorable to see her embarrassed if I'm being honest. My thoughts are interrupted by Pinkie Pie jumping in place. She's waving her hoof in the air; most likely trying to get my attention, "oh, oh, pick me next! I want to go next!" Pinkie Pie begs.

"Pinkie Pie, we already met. That's why you threw this party, remember?" I remind Pinkie Pie of the previous night's events.

"I know, I know. It's just really fun to meet new ponies! I really want to meet more of them and throw more parties!" Pinkie Pie is bouncing all over the room announcing her future plans if anypony else decides to move into this town. My eyes are locked on her jumping around the room until Rarity enters my vision. Her eyes seem like she's analyzing my body. Rarity takes the initiative and begins to elegantly trot over towards me, but instead of stopping, she begins to circle me. I think she's trying to get a good view of everything, it's a bit off-putting, "May I... Help you?" I turn my shoulder so I can look at her.

"Don't move!" Rarity aggressively demands. This causes me to practically freeze in place. She sounded really serious, almost as serious as Rainbow Dash was earlier.

Rainbow Dash groans and rolls her eyes," Great. She's at it again..."

"At what again?" I ask Rainbow Dash; still trying not to move a muscle. Rarity has begun to use her magic to manipulate my limbs for her viewing.

"She's going through her fashion phase. You're gonna be there for a while." Rainbow Dash says bluntly.

Twilight clears her throat to get my attention, "You see, Rarity owns a boutique stationed in this town. Sometimes she gets this spark of inspiration and goes a little..."

Rarity grabs my face with her hoofs and pulls me towards her face incredibly fast, "You will be my magnum opus!" Rarity shouts excitedly. We're uncomfortably close to each other right now, so I pull away with all my might.

"Your magnum opus?" I ask out of confusion.

"My masterpiece, darling," Rarity batters her eyelashes at me, "Working on pony clothes can become so dreadfully boring, no challenge has come from it in such a long time. But, you," Rarity starts to hop around kind of like Pinkie Pie," You're entire physique is so different than the other ponies; it will offer the greatest challenge of any fashionista's career. And I, Rarity, will be taking that challenge!" Rarity boldly states, "Plus, you're body sort of reminds me of Spikey-Wikey's. I've always wanted to make clothes for him, but he's always so stubborn." I'm sorry, did Rarity just refer to him as Spikey-Wikey?

"What'd you just call him?" I start to laugh out loud, "Spikey-Wikey?" I'm never going to let him live that one down.

"I'll have you know that my little Spikey-Wikey loves to be called that, thank you very much." Rarity huffs. This is just too good, I can't help but laugh a little harder than before. Rarity clears her throat, "Anyways, Travis. How does coming by at 12:00 sound?" Rarity leans in and her eyes glisten. She really wants me to help her out with this, huh? I can't really just say no... I'm not sure if that'll make her upset or not...

"Y-Yeah. I'll come by and help you..." I begrudgingly accept her offer.

Rarity claps her hoofs together in delight, "Thank you very much! I'll be right back with the address." Rarity trots out of the room, probably to go get a quill and parchment.

Applejack walks up to me and raises an eyebrow, "You sure you want to do that kind of stuff and Rarity isn't just forcing you?" Damnit, Applejack is catching on to me already, "Y'know, you can always just say no..."

"Of course I want to do that stuff... I'm always willing to lend out a hoof to anypony who asks for it." I try to play this off cooly.

Applejack smirks, "Willin to lend out a hoof, huh? Then I hope you don't mind getting a little dirty. The apple season is just around the corner, and we're looking for some volunteers to help buck some trees. If you can, just come to Sweet Apple Acres after your little froo froo thing with Rarity."

"Yeah, that'll be no problem," I say confidently. I should really stop being such a pushover now that I think about it... This is one of those situations where I just accepted without really thinking about what I was agreeing to, "So, Sweet Apple Acres, huh? Where is it exactly?"

"It's not too far away. Just take the bridge out of town and follow the picket fences going along the side of the Apple trees. You'll find our place pretty easily," Applejack answers. It shouldn't take me too long to get there from Rarity's boutique. It really only depends on how long I'm going to have to spend there...

Rarity bursts into the door with a slip of paper in her magical grasp, "I'm here," she announces, "I've got my address written on the top and some simple directions on the bottom in case you get lost," Rarity levitates the slip of paper into my pants pocket without giving me a chance to read it.

"Right, thanks." I'll try to be polite to Rarity, she seems nice. I look over to my left and see a butter coloured Pegasus fiddling with her hooves; her eyes are fixed on the floor. Her left eye is covered by her light pink mane. I feel a little bad, she hasn't said a word at all. Is it because we never gave her a chance to speak? Or maybe she's still scared of me? "Uh... Hi" I try to greet the mare as friendly as possible. The mare looks up at me, but at the same time trying to avoid eye contact.

"Um..." She says something that's a little too quiet for me to hear. We both just sit there in an awkward silence. The mare is dragging her hoof across the floor as a nervous fidget. Rainbow Dash lands next to the mare quickly, which causes the mare to jump a bit.

"This is Fluttershy. If you can't tell already, she's not really good with new ponies," Rainbow Dash wraps her hoof around the mare while she introduces her. So this is Fluttershy? I don't know why I was expecting somepony a little more talkative with their name having the word "Shy" in it...

"You're Fluttershy? Spike told me about you," I begin. Fluttershy looks up at me, still silent, "He said that you live outside of town too. I used to live in Manehattan, and it got pretty noisy on the streets. So I understand why you live outside of Ponyville. I do enjoy this change of volume."

I hear an audible gasp, not from Fluttershy, but from Rarity, "You used to live in Manehattan!?" Rarity yelled with excitement and curiosity, "You simply must tell me all about it," Rarity's hoofs were stamping on the floor at a rapid pace. Everypony, including me, just glare at her in disappointment, "L-Later, of course," Rarity's face turns red.

"So, what I'm trying to say it... I guess I'm your new neighbour." I smile at Fluttershy. I feel like I understand her a little bit, I'm not exactly the most open person in Equestria. Hell, if I didn't already know Twilight, Pinkie Pie, even Rainbow Dash a little, I would've probably run out like I did earlier in the night. Fluttershy shifts a little bit and loses eye contact with me. We continue to sit in silence for a few more seconds. It looks like I didn't connect with her like I thought I would, "Is she always like this?" I ask out loud.

"To most ponies, yes," Twilight answers my question, "But you should've seen her when she met Spike. Fluttershy was going on and on about how cute he was and wanted to know everything about him. She really comes out of her shell when she's comfortable," This somewhat makes me feel better. Does this mean ponies didn't like me because I'm not as cute as Spike is...

"She'll warm up to ya eventually," Applejack hits my side with her hoof.

"If you say so..." I reply. I take a step back and look at the sight right now. I look over all of the ponies in the room with me right now. Rarity's beauty that overtakes everypony's else, Pinkie Pie's bubbly personality, Rainbow Dash's smug and cocky attitude, Applejack's strong and unbreakable stance, Fluttershy's quiet deminer, and Twilight's friendly smile. These are all the Elements of Harmony that I've looked up to since I was a kid. Hell, I even envied their bond because it was something that I lacked in my life. This is a literal dream come true, my 9-year-old self would explode if he was in here. Just seeing all of these mares together motivates me to want to achieve a kind of friendship like the one they have together. Twilight was right, this is a new start for me if all I do is put my faith in others. I let out a small laugh.

"What's so funny?" Rainbow Dash questions.

"I was just thinking about something... Don't worry about it." I place my hands in my pocket.

"You better not be planning something. Remember, I've got my eye on you," Rainbow Dash says with a serious tone. The chill from earlier comes back. Rainbow Dash really is scary when she wants to be... Speaking of which, what time is it? I forgot my pocket watch in my bag and it's still at home...

"Hey, does anypony have the time?"

Pinkie Pie waves her hoof in the air, "It's currently 11:23 and 24 seconds. make that 25, 26, 27," Pinkie Pie continues to count upward. Seriously? Is it that late already?

"Well, a mare must get her beauty sleep," Rarity announces, "You'll be at the boutique tomorrow?"

"You know it." I nod. The rest of us all say goodbye and we begin to go our separate ways.

I'm walking through the almost empty SurgarCube Corner dining area that was used for the party. It's almost a complete mess and most ponies already left the party. I look over to see the DJ cleaning up her gear. She has a wild mane and tail style, the colours are a dark blue and a light blue going in a pattern, and she has purple shades that completely cover her eyes. Maybe I should thank her for playing music tonight, even though I didn't really like one of the songs that she played. I begin to walk over to the Unicorn, but before I can reach her, a mare steps in front of me. The mare is an Earth pony with a seafoam green coat. Her mane and tail are shorter than the average mares. They're both complemented by a light shade of pink.

"Hi, there!" She greets me rather happily.

"Uhh... Hi," I respond a little annoyed as this mare just cut me off.

"So, you're the pony that the party was for, right. What's your name?"

"It's Travis," I answer rather slowly while trying to peek behind her. To my disappointment, the DJ is wheeling out the last of her equipment. I let out a sigh, and lean back to the way I was standing before. But on the way back, I noticed something strange. The mare that's trying to talk to me has no cutie mark... She's a blank flank? at her age?

I hear her clear her throat, "My eyes are up here, Travis," The mare teases with her eyes half-lidded.

"Y-yeah, sorry," I apologize to her. Something about this isn't sitting right with me, but it could just be my imagination. at the same time though, she's being a little nice to me... I know that Spike said that Ponyville is friendly, but I don't know about this... "So, is there something you want? I'm kind of..." Before I know it the mare is close, I mean really close, "In a hurry..."

"So, how are you liking Ponyville so far?" She asks me, "You make any friends yet?"

"Something like that..."

The mare begins to walk around me, her tail trailing a bit across my side, "What are you so nervous about? Haven't you ever talked to a mare before?" The mare giggles as her tail brushes past my back, sending chills up my spine. She's right, I am nervous. Not because of talking to a mare, but because of this situation. This seems too good to be true. How is it that this mare that comes out of nowhere is not only acting a little too friendly with me but is also showing interest in me. I feel like a lump is stuck in my throat right now, making it so I can't even say a single word.

"I-I, It's not that, I just..." I try to think of an answer but I can't. I'm completely helpless, at the mercy of this mysterious seductress.

"Say no more," The mare stops and looks me in the eye, "I know it's really late right now, but how about we go and grab a cup of coffee and chat for a bit? Spend a night out on the town? It'd be fun, wouldn't you agree?" The mare's face is close to mine. The alarms in my head are going off on full blast right now, this is the only kind of thing that would happen in the movies. This feels scripted like it's all been planned out to the finest detail.

"I-Um-I" I start to stammer out of nervousness, I need to think of a way to get out of this. My eyes begin to dart around the room looking for something, anything to get me out of this situation. I hear somepony whistling a tune, my eyes dart over to Pinkie Pie who's happily whistling while cleaning up from the party, "I- I can't tonight, sorry."

"Oh? Why not?" The mare looks upset.

"I'm helping my friend over here clean up the party she threw for me. It's only fair that I repay her for her gratitude," My excuse flows off my tongue a little too naturally. I feel my stomach tighten while the mare thinks over my response.

"Really? That's a shame..." The mare walks past me, my head doesn't follow her. My eyes are locked on the confetti-covered floor, "Maybe we can do something another time? When you're not busy."

"I'll think about it," I lie as an attempt to get her off of my back. I let out a huge sigh of relief while I walk over to Pinkie Pie. I crouch down and start to pick up party cups that have been left on the floor, "Thanks for showing up when you did, Pinkie Pie. I wouldn't have been able to get that mare off my back if you didn't" I thank Pinkie Pie.

"You're welcome, for whatever I did!" Pinkie Pie looks around the area, "But I don't see any mare around here." What? She doesn't see the mare. I quickly stand up and look around the room, the mare has vanished. She was just here a second ago, how'd she get out so fast? Now that I think about it, Pinkie Pie would've noticed her if she's from here. Pinkie Pie said that she knows everypony in town. So it would only make sense for Pinkie to greet her... I'm glad I went with my gut feeling on this one. who knows what would've happened if I let her tempt me into what was most likely going to be more than just coffee...

Author's Note:

wow, this got out quickly

That's what you're probably thinking right now. This was originally going to be a short chapter as this was supposed to be apart of chapter 7. I felt like making you guys wait almost 2 months for one chapter would've been too much of a gap, so I split these up into two parts. Thank you very much for reading, once again!

I'd also like to ask if you're enjoying what you're reading to like the story or leave a comment, I need to know what people are liking and what to avoid.

Comments

[xxdeadrose]

(Thought I had this story marked guess not.) don't know if this still applies but what stood out for me was when he said
I'm sorry, did Rarity just refer to him as Spikey-Wikey?
"I'm sorry, what'd you just call him?"
seems unnecessary to say " I'm sorry" to himself and then say it out loud.

[DarkHooves]

"Say no more," The mare stops and looks me in the eye, "I know it's really late right now, but how about we go and grab a cup of coffee and chat for a bit? Spend a night out on the town? It'd be fun, wouldn't you agree?" The mare's face is close to mine. The alarms in my head are going off on full blast right now, this is the only kind of thing that would happen in the movies. This feels scripted like it's all been planned out to the finest detail.

Right... Totally not a changeling...
Then again, if it is a changeling, it has to be the worst one in history.
Which would make a great cover now that I think about it. Hmm...

[bob1234567]

Get the raid. Looks at bug pony... and lots of it