Fading Into The Background

by Dr Equinox

These Ponies Are Loud

Heyo! I'm back! JK, this chapter will have come out the same time as the first, so whatever. I don't own jack shit besides my own characters and ideas. Gazinga.

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(1st Person)

These horse's are very loud.

This was my first and immediate thought when they started screaming. My second was;

HOLY SHIT MY FUCKING EARS!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"

"Whoa, wait, stop!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"

"JUST WAIT A-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH-"

"YOU'RE REALLY STARTING TO-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"WOULD YOU KINDLY SHUT THE FUCK UP AND BE QUIET?!"

My voice echoed off into the distance. Then, as if by a switch, everything became quiet. The horses stopped screaming and froze, their mouths closed tighter than a piglits- anyway. They almost seemed to actually freeze in place, as some were contoured in strange positions, and I'm pretty sure one of them was floating.

What the hell did I walk up on, and how is that one floating?

Deciding to ignore my inner monologue I addressed the situation. I was breathing heavier than I should have been 'cause I was angry and I had hunched down at some point, glaring at the horse things in front of me. Probably not the best way to calm down a situation, but I couldn't give less of a fuck right now, they made me mad. My ears are sensitive.

"All right! Now that we're calm and orderly, how about we talk to each other like civilized people,hmmm?" I asked, placing extra emphasis on certain parts.

All I got back were stares. Blank stares. Almost like they didn't understand me.

Don't be pullin' that bullshit now, I heard yall talkin'!

"Oh yeah? We doin' this now? The no talkin' thing? Are we? Cause I know you were all talking up a storm before I got here! Huh?!"

"Y-You can talk?!" I didn't really catch who said that, but I gave my opinion anyway.

"Of course I can fucking talk you imbeciles! How are you talking?!" I asked, straining to keep my sanity.

"Hey! That there is no way to talk to somepony jus' cause they was askin' a question!" This time It was clear that the orange horse had talked, her fearful stare having been replaced by an angry glare.

"Well excuuuuuse me sweetheart, this kinda thing just aint fuckin natural!"

"Sweetheart?! OH you don did it now-"

"Applejack! Stop!"

As the orange one, now know as 'Applejack', was making her way towards me she had suddenly sprouted a purple-ish aura that pulled her away from me. I stared on in bewilderment and followed a sound being made nearby, only to find the purple horse, whom was a Unicorn, had a matching aura glow around her horn. Before I could ponder on this literal feat of magic more, she turned towards me and leveled me with a wavering stare.

I looked around and huffed before meeting her stare with a glare. Seems everybody was on edge right now, though it seemed to me that they had some special particular reason to be so scared. Of course I didn't know what that reason was, but I knew it was there. Maybe.

"Listen, um, w-whoever you are! We don't want any trouble! J-just let us pass and we'll be on our way!" She said her speech starting strong, but her eyes started to dart around and when they met mine she stuttered.

"Excuse me?" I asked condescendingly. Probably didn't help.

I'm not even in front of them. They could easily pass me by.

"Um, please?"

"Wait a minute Twilight! It could be a minion of Nightmare Moon!" Spoke the Rainbow one, glaring at me as she hovered.

"Well fuck you too."

*Collective gasp*

"Oh come on!" I practically shouted, throwing my hands in the air. "It's not like you've never heard a curse before! I just yelled at you, like, a minute ago! Also, totally don't know who you're talking about." This served only for the Rainbow one to fly a little closer to me, while still being a ways away.

"Oh yeah? Prove it!" She said smugly, crossing her arms, or, I guess they would be forelimbs, against her chest, still hovering.

"How am I supposed to prove that I don't know who you're talking about?"

"Hmm..." She hummed, rubbing a hoof against her chin, while I stood there unamused.

Is she serious?

"I... got nothin'. But I'm sure you're lying!" She accused, pointing a hoof at me.

"Yeah, get back to me on that would ya? Anyways, since it's clear I have no idea who we're talking about, not to mention I don't know who you guys are, can we agree to disagree and go our separate ways? Because as soon as you point me to some populated area, I will gladly leave y'all alone."

"Woah there critter-"

Critter?

"- now ahm' afraid we can't do that. We don't know wat' ya are, and you haven't been the nicest fella since we met, so there's no way we're gonna lead ya to Ponyville. Heck, we don't even know your name!"

"Well, I don't know yours either, so that's a negative on both our parts. Hell, you know what?" I asked, giving a huff and throwing my hands in the air. "I feel like we got off on the wrong foot here guys. Ya see, I'm not from around here. I don't even know where here is. I just need some help gettin' back home and then I'll be out of your hair. Okay?" I asked, resigning to sit down cross legged and lean my head on my hands, and sighing.

The atmosphere changed with my admission. What was once terse and tense turned to cautionary curiosity. We collectively didn't say anything for a good minute, just standing there. I'll admit, it was getting kind of awkward. After a few more minutes of awkward silence, the purple one, whom was still yet to be named, spoke up.

"I'm sorry to hear about your story, sir. I really am. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and right now I'm on a mission with my friends to stop an evil mare named Nightmare Moon from cursing the world with eternal night. I need to know if you're going to try and stop us or not." She said, with a surprising amount of conviction.

Well she's certainly changed. Took about a minute too. Not bad Sparkly, not bad.

"Well, you don't have to worry about me doing anything to ya. I'm just here out of coincidence really. I don't know where I am or how there's talking horses here, but honestly, I don't really care about that. I just need to find a way to get home. Oh, and my name is Patrick. Patrick J McNally. I would say it's nice to meet you, but I think we're a little past that stage, huh?" I said, offering her a weak smile.

She smiled in return and said "I guess so. Now, these are my friends Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. We're ponies by the way, not horses." For each name she gestured towards the specific person, or rather pony, letting me learn their names.

"Yes, yes, it's wonderful that we all know each other, but must I remind you all that we have a job to do?" Spoke Rarity, gesturing towards one end of the path.

"Ahm afraid she's right sugarcube. We best git' goin' if we want to reach the elements first." Agreed Applejack, offering me a sympathetic look.

The elements? Wait, sugarcube?

"Uh, what are these elements you speak of?"

"They're the elements of harmony. They are the only weapon we can use against Nightmare Moon, and are what originally banished her to the moon in the first place."

"The Moon?"

"I'm sorry Patrick, but we have to go. Come on girls!"

"Wait!" I shouted, causing them to turn back to me.

"What is it?"

"Uh... mind if I join you?"

"Why? So you can spy on us?" Said Rainbow, narrowing her eyes.

"Well, no. I just- I don't really know what's going on and you guys are the first people I've met today, so I figured, if there's any chance at surviving then why not ...stick together?" I offered weakly, shrugging my shoulders.

Plus I'm half sure this is a dream anyway.

"Does that mean you'd be willing to fight Nightmare Moon with us?"

"Uh, sure. I aint got much to lose, so why not?"

"Ok, then lets get moving!"

And they were off, living up to their horse genes as they sprinted away from me. I got caught off guard so I lagged behind, but I was just fast enough to see them constantly. Seriously though, they just sprinted off like dam rockets! At least it helps reassure their seriousness about the situation. I just hoped we could have a little bit of smooth sailing.

---

I was wrong to hope. Oh so wrong.

We encountered a... Manticore, I think? Let me tell ya, that thing, uh, kinda scared the shit out of me.

"... and once Pinkie and Rarity were safe, whoosh! Me and Fluttershy loop-de-loop around and WHAM. Caught her right in the nick of time." The Rainbow one, Rainbow, bragged on. I didn't really know what to believe about the scenario she described, but the others seemed to know exactly what she boasted about.

"That... is an interesting story. Seems we have you to thank for, uh, Twilights continued existence." I say, my paranoia getting the best of me, forcing me to constantly look around.

"Heh, yeah. I am pretty awesome." She continued, head probably held up high or whatever.

"You're something Rainbow. You're somethin'."

I could have sworn I just saw some moving purple mist right there.

"Wait, what does that-"

*Collective Gasp!*

Huh?

"A Manticore!" I hear Twilight scream, my body being turned around at this point.

"I'm sorry, a what?" I ask, walking back to the group and turning only to find...

"Holy fuck that's a big ass cat." I whispered, the massive mammal mere feet away from us.

*RAWR*

"HOO, fuck that!""

I'll be the first to admit, I acted cowardly. I immediately set off behind a tree and pushed my back against it. I could hear them fighting the beast behind me, or at least hoping they fought. After all, a battle is between two sides that can actually fight each other. If not, then...

Then they just invited themselves to a massacre.

"And I ran away. God... dammit."

I closed my eyes tightly and tried to block out the noises. I think at some point some screamed and then everything got quiet. After getting my breathing back in order I forced away the ringing in my ears, managing to hear my name being called out.

"Patrick! Where are you? Everything fine, you can come out!"

Oh, but I couldn't. I couldn't be such a coward and face them. I mean, they're fucking multi-color ponies for crying out loud! Fucking ponies! And you managed to be a coward compared to them. Great. Fucking. Jo-

"He's over here!" I heard Rainbow call out, finding her hovering a few feet away from me. "Not cool dude."

"What?" I whispered, staring at her with what was undoubtedly a stupid look on my face.

"You just leave us hanging when a Manticore attacks? Who does that?!" She cried out, swinging her forelegs around in exasperation.

"I do, apparently."

"Yeah, I can tell." She huffed, flying away to her group of friends. The Manticore, previously attacking, was licking both its paw and Fluttershy, who seemed to be consoling the creature.

"Uh..." As I spoke all eyes turned towards me, causing me to fidget. "Sorry about that. The whole, uh, running away thing. Where I'm from we don't really, uh, see things like that. Like, ever. A bit of a shock."

"Have you ever even heard of a Manticore?" Asked Twilight, trotting closer to me with a concerned look on her face.

Thanks for caring. Don't know if I deserve it, but it's appreciated anyways.

"Well, yeah! It's just, they were never supposed to exists, ya know? Where I'm from, pretty much everything currently around me are supposed to be myths. Unicorns, Pegasai, talking animals, all that isn't supposed to be real… ya know?" After my little outburst I stood there awkwardly, hoping someone would speak up. I really didn't like awkward silences.

"It's ahlright' that you were scared, Mr. Patrick."

"Huh?" I saw Applejack had been the next to approach me, taking off her hat as she spoke.

"Tha' Everfree aint no place for tha' faint of heart, especially fer' somepony who never heard of what's inside. You don't have to feel bad cause ya ran. It's all you could do an' you shouldn't feel sorry fer' followin' yer' instincts. Celestia knows I follow mine too much sometimes too." She finished, smiling up at me. During her speech the others gathered round, all giving me reassuring smiles, except for Rainbow, who leveled me with a concerned-friend stare.

"That's... thanks. I think I needed that. I'm really sorry, but I kinda forgot ya name."

"Oh shucks, aint no thang! It's Applejack! Now, lets get back on track girls, we got elements to find!" Wow, you could really hear the country in that one huh? Suppose I might spend some more time around this Applejack. She just might do me some good.

As long as she's honest. Although, for some reason, I can't help but feel that won't be a problem.

As the group continued on I paused for a second, looking towards the trees. It was there, just now. I saw it whish just out of view.

You're watching me aren't you?

I'd have to deal with that later. Currently, my new friends were rushing ahead to meet even more dangers as I stood still. Now was the times for movement. For change. For action.

I'm not gonna be that coward again.

"Never again." I whispered as I sprinted, hoping to catch up in time.

Unfortunately, sayin' something is much easier than doing it. I could only hope that when it came down to it, I could stand up for them.

Maybe, just maybe, I could be a hero.

One day.

---

? POV

Hmm. How very interesting. First I must deal with these foals, and now an unknown creature that has the body of a predator but the mind of a coward? I do hope it stays consistent.

It will be much easier to deal with that way.

Author's Note:

Really hoped you liked it. Any comments, questions, or concerns, can be voiced bellow! Have a good night.