Improperly Wiped Hard Drive

by Carmine Craft

Chapter 5: Moving Day

[18 years, 4 months, 3 days since the reboot]

I was pawing at the train seating underneath me in anticipation, any moment now we would pull into the station, and I would wander around town till I found my new house. This was going to be my first attempt at living on my own, that I could remember, and it made me a bit nervous. Of course, I knew the town I was moving to, in theory, as I had yet to visit, but knowing where you're moving to is potentially the most dangerous location in Equestria, doesn't help even a little.

The train stopped, and the conductor made his announcement. "All those bound for Ponyville, This is your stop!"

I sucked in a breath and made my way to the door, but I couldn't make my wings stop twitching for the life of me.

I hopped down onto the platform, the only things I had on me were my bit purse, new camera, and the keys to my new place. The rest of my belongings were being shipped over in a day or two, but the pad came with some sparse furniture, and I could always nab a cloud to make a proper bed. But none of that mattered as something zipped through the crowd towards me.

It was on me in an instant. I didn't even have time to react to its unmistakable sounds of approach. I stopped. sighed, and turned around to face this new challenge.

She was about two hooves taller than I was, which roughly translated to eight inches, but I was kinda short at just three feet seven inches, so it's kinda normal for those I meet to be taller than I am. Her curly pink mane was just a few shades darker than my coat, while her own fur was a shade or two lighter than mine. Her blue eyes were already shrinking into pin pricks at the sight of me, and her cutie mark was of a yellow balloon, flanked on either side by blue ones. She had a small bit of fat on her, but it was in all the right places to accentuate her figure, so it was actually a boon to her appearance, rather than a hindrance.

No matter what I did, this was going to happen whether I liked it or not, so I might as well get a little fun out of it.

The pink blur sprang into the air, but I interrupted her mid gasp. "Hello Pinkie Pie."

She froze, mid motion, three feet off the ground, and got three seconds of air as she adjusted to the information. "You know who I am?"

"Yes, I have seen this coming for a long time..." I said in a somber tone, the pink mare took on an air of confusion. "I knew one day, that you and I would meet, and life would never be the same, because..."

"Because what?" She leaned closer, caught off guard and worried as to why I sounded sad about our meeting.

"Because I'm moving here, and if your reputation is to be believed, you throw the best parties in Equestria hooves-down!"

She stopped, took half a second to think, and then immediately brightened up to casual Pinkie Pie levels of happiness. "Yesiree! No party is like a Pinkie Party!" she proclaimed.

"So I've heard! I'm looking forward to it, my name is Glitter Drops by the way." I introduced myself, holding out a hoof.

Pinkie bumped her hoof into mine. "I'm Pinkie Pie! But you already knew that! I gotta go, even I can only set up a party so fast! And yours is already two minutes behind schedule! I'll come by your place to pick you up in exactly fifty seven minutes, so be ready!" With that, she disappeared, not ran off at impossible speeds, just disappeared, and I expected no less.

'Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.'

Don't jinx yourself yet, you've only got most of an hour to find your house and get set up before you're zipped off to party land.

'Yeah yeah, which way from the train station was it?'

You go straight for two blocks, then turn left, head past town hall and you'll find the new residential district. It's the fifth building on the right at the back row.

'Thank you~'

I opened up my wings and gave them a quick stretch as warm up before taking off, letting the warm rising air carry me higher into the air. I lazily glided past town hall and banked toward the newly constructed houses, Ponyville's first expansion in a generation. Yet, looking at it from above, nothing seemed any bigger than it was on the show, so I supposed that things hadn't changed too much. I counted out rooftops till I found the house that I undoubtedly owned, as it was the only one that didn't have a garden or any decoration of any kind.

I alighted down to get a good look at the face of the two story structure. White stained, stone walls, held together by wooden beams, and a brown shingle roof. Unlike my neighbors houses, it didn't have a touch of personality. Where the wood beams on theirs had designs carved into them, or been painted, mine had nothing but the absolute basics, the walls were bare of any paint, and I personally found the shingles ugly.

It was the most basic house you can imagine, that still had a spark of small town rustic charm.

I loved it.

A brand new, perfect canvas for me to etch endless details upon, till it was scarcely recognizable from the original structure.

But that would have to wait till tomorrow, as I had a party to attend. I skipped up to the front door and manipulated the keys with my wing, then swung the door open. A single faux-leather chair was all that could be found inside for furniture, aside from the fireplace.

I sqeed.

Geez, I know you're excited and all but-

'It's like a dream come true for a decorator! I specifically asked that they give me the most basic house they could build, and look at it! there's so much potential I might faint!'

One, you're not a decorator.

'Bull! I like making things pretty! That includes exterior, and interior design!'

And two, since we don't have a fainting couch on hand, nor have we met the mare who does, I suggest you take a few deep breaths, who knows what Pinkie would do if she found you passed out on the floor of an empty house.

I did as I was instructed, and looked around my shell of a future home a bit more. There was an unfinished basement, and I nearly keeled over, again. A few more warnings from my brain got me to keep moving.

The bathroom was devoid of all color, and the mirror was a simple rectangle, the shower was one built for earth ponies and the like, so a long repositionable handle with several hoofholds on it so one can rinse off even the hardest to reach places. The kitchen had a stove, a sink, counters, and a simple boxy table to eat meals on. Next up on the tour was the bedroom, and that’s all it was, a twin bed, unpainted wood walls, and an empty room.

I couldn't help but fantasize about all the different looks I could give my room. Pink walls with a few low couches and throw pillows sounded good, but I also wanted to add in rich hardwood flooring, perhaps also paint the ceiling white, just so it would have that homey feel.

On the other hoof, I could paint a mural of the night sky, get some nice green leaf patterned wallpaper, and tile the floor. A recliner and loveseat set out around a circular coffee table for reading and chatting with others in a more private location.

There was also the option to carpet the floors, go with a deep fecha that fades to light blue on the walls, and a stained wood ceiling. And I hadn't even thought about what to do to the bed, or what posters to put up yet!

My wings fluttered as I thought about the multitude of options I had, and I was giggling absentmindedly. I flopped onto the box spring bed and stared at the ceiling.

'Definitely a mural, but what kind? I could do a nice landscape, or a picture of my family! Oh! maybe I should do something weird like countless balloons, so when I wake up every morning, it's just an explosion of colour that puts me in a bright mood for the rest of the day! what do you think?'

I liked the idea of the night sky, but it's ultimately up to you, since it's your house.

'Pah! I know! and it's sooooo exciting! but I need help, and who better to ask than yourself?'

That kinda makes my opinion mute doesn't it? since it's just what you thought anyway?

'Nah! It's always good to get a second opinion, and I know I couldn't have passed high school without you, so you get a lot of influence here!'

...I'll think about it, but just so you know, Pinkie will be here in three minutes.

'Huh? Where did all the time go?'

It went into staring at blank walls and thinking of so many colours I'm surprised they didn't start glowing like a rainbow rave.

'Hah! I could totally do that! it'd just be temporary.'

I got up and headed back downstairs, resting in the sole chair of the house as I went over my wings, making sure I didn't have any feathers out of place.

You're supposed to do that in the bathroom! now dispose of those before someone sees!

I rolled my eyes and carried a mouth full of old feathers to the bathroom, spitting them out in the waste bin and then started fixing my hair in the mirror, adjusting the hairbands that held my mane in place over my shoulders. Then I checked my tail, and brushed out a few knots, before replacing it's band.

You are such a mare.

'You act like I've been anything else my whole life.' I giggled, swapping brushes and smoothing out my coat.

You coulda been! You might have been a dude before the reboot.

'I also could have been a girl, or a non-binary, or a random hunk of the internet that Discord grabbed and shoved into the head of a filly, that last one would actually explain some of the more random things I know.'

And the amount of 'personal videos' you've got up here.

'Hey! It's not my fault I can't remove any of that stuff! You think I want some of that crap swimming around in my head, waiting for me to drop my guard, so it can flash to the front of my mind and make my wings go stiff?'

Sometimes, I can never tell what you're into, and the wings don't go rigid or stiff, good old instincts just make you display them to a potential mate when you think naughty things.

'I am not into that kind of thing! and I know that, it's just faster to say wingies, wing boners, and the like.'

The doorbell rang, which is odd since I don't have one. Moving back into the living room, I could see Pinkie bouncing up and down outside the window. I smiled at her as I went and opened the front door, which she was already standing at as if I hadn't seen her halfway across the house.

"Hey Glitter! We're ready to go! Normally I'd throw you a surprise party, but since you already knew about it, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, so this is just going to be a Welcome-To-Ponyville Party! but the next party I throw you is going to be a surprise party! Or is it? You won't know until you get there! Anyway, there is just one more thing I need to grab for the party"

I laughed and stepped out onto the porch with her, locking the door quickly and then following her out. "And what would that be? Extra balloons?"

"Nope!" She bounced down the road, making sproinging noses as she went.

"Cake?"

"Nu-uh!"

"The guest of honor?" I guessed, and Pinkie shot me a smile, then again she had been smiling the entire time, so she might have just turned to look at me.

"No, but that's important too! I just have to head back to Sugarcube Corner and grab one last tray of cupcakes, then we're off to par~tay!"

I rolled my eyes and smiled at her. "Y'know, I think this is the start of something great."

"Well of course it is! Why else would we be here, instead of back there? I just couldn't wait any longer, I had to get this done right away, or I felt like it would never happen!"

"What do you mean?" I felt like I was missing something, but it probably wasn't important.

"Okay! I got the cupcakes, now we can head on over and I can introduce you to all the ponies I know!" She shoved a full tray of chocolate dipped vanilla cupcakes into her mane and started bouncing away from the pastry and sweets themed shop.

'Odd, I don't remember when we got here, I thought it would take a few minutes longer than that.'

Don't question it, it's Pinkie, down that road leads to headaches and more voices in your head.

"That's not right, it's this road over here, silly filly," she giggled.

Before I could question whether or not she could hear me discuss things with my brain, the much more logical option appeared, I had gotten lost in thought and she had turned a corner I hadn't seen her take.

'That makes more sense, and I refuse to believe other options at this current time.'

I caught back up with Pinkie as she pronked down another street. "So, where is this party at?"

"You'll see!"

I frowned at her. "I thought you said this wasn't a surprise party."

"It's not! You know about the party, so it can't be a surprise, but it can be a surprise where it is!"

"I can't really argue with that, fair enough. So, are we almost there?"

"Yuppers!" She turned left and bounced down one final street before coming to a stop, turned around and waved to the building on my right. I looked at it with confusion, as it was my house, only now it had balloons, streamers, games, and ponies all over!

"Okay, how did you do that? we were only gone for three minutes, there's no way you could get this set up that fast."

"Surprise! It's also a house-warming party!" Pinkie cheered, jumping into the air, a burst of confetti shot out of each of her hooves.

Don't question it, just have fun.

I followed her into my front yard, where a game of twister was being set up. "Thanks Pinkie, it really means a lot."

"No problem, I'm always happy to throw a party for one of my friends, speaking of, I'd like to introduce you to a few!" She bounced to the side, revealing three mares.

The one on the left was an orange earth pony with a blonde mane, she had green eyes and wore a stetson. Her cutie mark was of three apples. She was easily three inches taller than Pinkie, and the well toned curves of her figure spoke of how she could split a boulder in half with one hoof, not to mention she looked plain amazing in that "farmer’s gorgeous daughter" kinda way.

In the middle was a Snow white Noctis - a variant of unicorn with a downswept horn, kinda like a reverse Sombra, and superior magic control - She had a perfectly curled purple mane and gorgeous blue eyes. Her cutie mark was of three blue diamonds. she was a bit on the taller side for unicorns, which is a highly sought after trait, as it makes them appear more regal or important, all I really knew was that taller unicorns looked really good. Did I mention that there wasn't an ounce of fat on her? there wasn't much muscle either but she simply glowed with elegance and beauty.

The last mare was one that I had actually had the pleasure of meeting before. As usual, she was two inches taller than I was, her butter yellow fur was complimented perfectly by her long sweeping pink mane, and one of her gentle cyan eyes was hidden behind it. Her wings were large, as an Imperial's usually are, and her cutie mark was of three butterflies. She was the kind of lucky mare who didn't even have to try to look like the epitome of equine beauty, I was still a little jealous of that fact, but I'd never tell anypony.

"Howdy, th' name’s Applejack." The orange mare tipped her hat to me, I nodded back to her with a smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, darling, my name is Rarity." she held out a hoof, but it wasn't held straight out, it was left to hang ever so slightly from the wrist. most non unicorns, and even quite a few of them as well, likely wouldn't have noticed that it was a different gesture than normal, and I was suddenly thankful Granny Red Strings had taken me over to Canterlot so many times, as I was able to recognize the slight change and gave her the traditional unicorn greeting.

It's a simple move really, you take the offered hoof with your own overturned, then you both bow over, for a mare their right, stallion the left shoulder, out of respect for the other individual. Going by her reaction, I assume she wasn't expecting to actually receive the proper greeting, and likely held her hoof like that more out of practiced habit than expectancy, but she hid her surprise at receiving it rather well.

"Oh, hi Glitter, it's been a while." the yellow mare greeted softly.

I held out a wing and she timidly placed her own over it, and I nodded. "Indeed it has, Flutters, I trust you've been well since we last saw each other? You look good."

She smiled warmly at the compliment and the friendly face, although her cheeks gained the slightest hint of embarrassment, which she hid well by tilting her head, causing her mane to cover a bit more of her face. "It's going to be nice having you around town, it'll be like old times, I'm glad you decided to move here." She retracted her wing, and I did the same.

"It's nice to know I'll have someone I was friends with back home at my new home, will make settling in easier."

"You two were already friends? That's great! Come on, there are a lot more ponies for you to meet!" Pinkie bounced over to a mint green mare and waved at me excitedly.

I chuckled and turned back to Fluttershy, Rarity, And Applejack. "Well, I guess I gotta go, I'll meet you over by the punch bowl after I'm done burning the names of all the towns ponies into my mind."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement, with a whispered "Okay."

"I would be delighted to speak with you further." Rarity said, looking at the drab exterior of my house. "To be honest, and I mean no offence darling, I was hoping we could talk decorating."

"Sounds like a plan t' me." Applejack held out her hoof to me, and I gave it a good knock, the sound got drowned out by the party, but still reached my ears.

'I fricken love that sound.'

I still don't know why.

'Neither do I, just do.'

Ah, well that explains it.

I then turned and trotted off towards Pinkie. "Alright, this is Lyra..."

"-and now you know everypony in town!"

'Brain, did we get all of that? I think she went a bit too fast for me to properly memorize all those names.'

We got most of it, I'm trying to keep a few names from slipping away, but it's kinda hard to focus on all of them at the same time.

I nodded and smiled at the pink mare."It was really nice of you to introduce me to everyone, a party like this seems like a good place for first impressions, since everyone is all smiles."

"I know, right? Anyway, I gotta go drop off the extra goodies before the snack table runs out." she pulled me into a brief hug, then bounced away. I shook my head slightly, which alerted me to an odd weight that had found its way up there.

it was one of the chocolate dipped vanilla cupcakes from earlier, biting into the center revealed strawberry filling. "My favorite, of course." I tossed the rest of the confection into my mouth and enjoyed the perfect blending of flavours. I then leapt up into a hover, scanning the yard for my target, and then glided over. "Hello again."

"Howdy."
"Welcome back darling."
"How did it go? Uhm, if you don't mind me asking. "

"It went fine, I'm not sure I properly filed away all the names in my noggin, but everypony was really nice."

"Oh that's wonderful to hear!" The yellow mare's smile brightened, before she ducked back behind her mane to hide it. I laughed good naturedly.

I then set my wing her her back and pulled her into a side hug. "So, since I already know this wonderful mare, how about the two of you tell me about yourselves?"

"Well, like ah said before, mah' name's Applejack, and me an' mah' family take care of Sweet Apple Acres, biggest apple farm around." The farm mare stated proudly, looking to her left at the massive sprawling fruit trees that lined an entire side of Ponyville, they could even be seen from here. The orchards also created a buffer between most of the town and the Everfree Forest.

"That sounds amazing, Sweet Apple Acres is known Equestria wide for having the best apples there are, not to mention the only farm in Equestria to grow zap apples." I complimented her, and she took the praise without it inflating her ego.

"Always good ta hear ponies are enjoying what me and my family provide."

Rarity cleared her throat politely to get our attention. "I'm positive you've heard of Ponyville's most fabulous designer."

I mentally rolled my eyes. "Indeed, Miss Rarity Belle, proud owner of Carousel Boutique. Your designs are considered the next up and coming thing in several circles, I just wanted to hear you say it."

The Nocits was practically glowing with the praise. "Well, I'm sure one such as yourself knows that a lady mustn't boast."

"Fair enough, but your designs are really quite good, three years ago, my grandmother stumbled upon some of your designs from your fall lineup, and was inspired, she made one of her better lines the following spring. She's not as well known as most designers, but Red Strings says you've got more potential than a lot of other aspiring fashionistas out of Manehattan." While I was just trying to get into her good graces, I wasn't lying. Granny really did like Rarity's designs, they were bold, elegant, and original, and most if not all of them were tastefully accented by gemstones.

"Why, thank you darling, compliments are always appreciated."

"Rumor is you're trying to make a new fabric, any truth in that?" I already knew it was, but there was no reason to bring that up.

"Why I... Oh I suppose there is no harm in telling you, so long as you don't share this with anyone."

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." I recited the motions.

"Hey! You already knew my super special Pinkie Promise? Who showed you it?" Pinkie popped up upon my completion of the ritual, surprising no one.

"Sorry, Pinkie Promised not to tell on them." 'Right brain?'

Yup, it was amusing to watch as well.

"Okay, that makes sense!" She bounced away to make sure everyone was still enjoying themselves.

"Well?" I prompted, Rarity gave me a funny look over the rim of her glass, then her eyes widened in recognition.

She levitated her glass back to the table. "Oh yes, I am indeed trying to make a new type of fabric. It's going to be stretchy, but not clingy, shimmery, but not showy."

"Sounds like something designers have been wanting since forever." I thought aloud as I tried to convert the dresses from the show into what they would look like in real life.

"Oh indeed! I'm still in the testing phases, but I'm getting closer, I can feel it. When I make my first few dresses out of this cloth, it's going to be a major milestone."

"It certainly would!"

Does she even know that she's trying to make Miracle Cloth?

'They never do, it's always something a designer will come up with on their own, and then discover it's something ponies have been trying to make forever.'

Miracle Cloth was first discovered entirely by accident, pre-Discordian era. During his reign, nearly all written information was lost, this included the creation process for Miracle Cloth. After his imprisonment, only seven bolts of the substance remained, and most of it was used to make a pair of dresses for the alicorn sisters, the rest was unfortunately destroyed in attempts to learn it's composition. The dresses themselves were lost with the destruction of the castle of the two sisters. Of course, after NMM's banishment, Celestia had all evidence of her sister removed from the history books in an attempt to hide Luna from ridicule upon her return, and of course, some of the books were hidden away behind secret panels in certain older libraries.

Honestly, it's almost as good as the internet, searching for a particular piece of information? tap the back on thicker or wall mounted bookshelves, the mcguffin panel will have what you need.

'It does not always have what we were looking for, but it was always interesting. You have to admit that it's useful when it does work, plus, most ponies aren't nosey enough to do such a thing.'

Fluttershy shifted underneath my wing, so I looked to her. "Something the matter?"

"Oh, it's nothing, it's just, uhm, there are alot of ponies out here."

"That's alright Flutters, you don't have to be afraid to speak your mind you me, we can pick this up inside, I locked the door, so the only pony that could possibly have gotten in there is Pinkie."

I tilted my head towards the front door. "Shall we?"

"Certainly darling."

"Ah got nothing needing doin at the moment."

With everyone in agreement, I lead the three of them through the crowd of ponies and to the front door, unlocked it, and took them upstairs. Passing by the kitchen revealed a cake set on the table, which couldn't have possibly gotten inside here, telling me it was Pinkie.

Rarity seemed displeased to learn that the inside was just as bland as the outside, Applejack didn't seem to mind, and Fluttershy was too shy to make her opinion well known. I opened the door to the bedroom and opened the window. "Alright, I’ma go grab some clouds for some temporary furniture, you three make yourselves comfortable in the meantime." The three of them nodded and I took off.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

What exactly is the "well established" check point?

[Carmine Craft]

10080621
10 chapters~!

[Asolem2]

"What do you mean?" I felt like I was missing something, but it probably wasn't important.

It probably is

Don't question it, it's Pinkie, down that road leads to headaches and more voices in your head.

Sounds like a party

[Alias_The_J]

Rather curious about the purpose of the timeskip. What from the first four chapters will become important later, that had to be shown in infancy, before the rest of the story?

[Carmine Craft]

10081325
We kinda flip back and forth a bit.

I don't actually know why, it was just fun to write!

[tsaukpaetra]

Interesting way to hide her foreknowledge. Pinkie is playing along...

[lainverse]

10080884
Then git to writing will ya?!

I know, I know, I'm not that selfish. Just picked this and Nightmare stories and I like them both. Hope you'll get back to them eventually.

You have replaced RD with OC, haven't you? At the start of this chapter I actually thought she'll replace Rarity and Pinkie or AJ end up secretly unicorn to keep the balance, but this may work even better.

[Carmine Craft]

10274889
Nah, all mane six are still here, this is just pre cannon.

Unfortunetly, this story gas not stood the test of time with me.

I'm okay with the "past" chapters, but ill probably be rewriting the "present" chapters.

My co author is finnaly getting close to finishing retooling his OC, so this story might start moving forward!

[lainverse]

10274926
I just expected Dash to be there since she moved in not much later after Fluttershy in the show as I could recall and they were close friends while they lived in Cloudsdale. So, it surprised me that she wasn't mentioned in "present" chapter at all. You published only one, so it were too early for such guesses.

To be honest I'm more interested in "Time & a half" since I always liked HiE which end up as Nightmare Moon. Shame majority of them are short while long are on hiatus for years. So, I hope you get back to it first. XD

BTW, replace "didn't loose all of my" with "haven't lost all my" in the description when you get back to this story.

[Carmine Craft]

10275195
Time and a Half is being worked on, the main problem is that I just got a job, and I'm only now finding out how little time that leaves me with to write and draw, do enjoyable things like that.

It's above 3k now, and I'm just letting my muse take the chapter as far as it will before editing and posting.

[Copper Cogwheel]

This is very interesting! I look forward to seeing the world you build.
As an odd little aside, "Noctís" is the name I use in my AU to refer to Sombra's tribe, omnivorous unicorns with a slightly curved horn. I never thought about a downturned horn, but it really suits Rarity! As does the unicorn greeting. Formal, yet adorable!

[Carmine Craft]

10287096
Eheh, we've also got Sombra's tribe in here! My co author is using that for their main character, and their kinda uncharted of writing half of the twelve tribes info, so I'll be sure to point them out, as soon as the story it up!

On a side note, this chapter, along with other the two unlisted adult chapters, make me gag, so I'll be overhauling them.

They'll come up when this stories cover art, so, yeah.

[Twilight_the_spy]

Holy hell, eighteen year timeskip...

That kinda killed my enthusiasm for this story.

---

Edit:

We kinda flip back and forth a bit.

( 10081422 )
Ah, alright... Well, guess I'll just wait for more chapters then

[f0st3r21]

I would definitely like this story to keep going!!