Starting Over As A Friendship Bomb

by Carmine Craft

Chapter 3: Introductions and Discharge

I idly pawed at the cushion under my hooves, much like a contented kitten, as I slowly came back to reality.

After the nurse had chewed out the half dozen ponies, she had them ushered out into the hall, towards some room that would serve as a proper place to meet them all. Which is where I found myself now, toying with the weird grip ability my new limbs really shouldn't have been capable of.

Applejack sat on a rather plush looking couch on one side of a low coffee table, flanked by the purple coated mare and the rainbow haired pegasus. Across from them sat the literally vibrating pink one in a folding chair, the butter yellow mare on some long backless lay down chair – not quite a bed, not quite a chair, and it somewhat resembled an ottoman –, and the stereotypically white unicorn was sat in a comfy armchair.

Rainbows-for-hair sat on the receiving end of a glare, courtesy of the fair coated mare across from her – 'looks like those two were fighting for some reason' – , while the pinkette pegasus sat nearest to the door, and by extension me.

I was sitting on a smaller chair, armless but with a very plush seat and back that I'm pretty sure I could sink into if I tried.

I looked up from my hooves, and suppressed a groan of annoyance as I brushed my new, annoyingly long mane out of my face. My hair was still a little messy, apparently it was rather adamant about not laying flat, much to the unicorn's initial disappointment.

I cleared my throat, and threw together something to say. "Uhh… Hi there, I heard that you're the ones who… uhm, know how I got here?" 'Let's just leave it vague for now, and see how specific they get.'

"Yupperoonie!" Bounced the pink one. "When a mommy and a daddy--"

"Pinkie, darling, I think she was asking about more recent events." The purple maned unicorn attempted, one hoof resting on the energetic pony's shoulder.

'She!? Crap, is that what filly means?!'

The thusly named Pinkie continued on, as if she hadn't heard. "-- got sent to a little school while the mommy went back to big school, isn't that funny? Anyway, meanwhile in an alternate--"

"So, while Pinkie is being Pinkie, why don't we try moving things along. Hey, I'm Rainbow Dash, the most awesome pegasus in all of Equestria."

I belatedly nodded in acknowledgement, trying to not let my thoughts show on my expression. 'Your parents must have gotten number one on creativity there, the fast pony with the visible spectrum for hair? But seriously… I'm',' I shook my head, throwing those thoughts onto the pile labeled 'shit to worry about later' and turned to look at the next pony, going counter clockwise.

"-- the moon! It's all sandy and quiety--"

"I'm Rarity, dear, and it's lovely to see you out of that mucky castle. And might I add, the feathered style suits your mane, it really emphasizes your highlights."

I looked at the hair framing my field of vision, and gave a mental shrug. "Thank you?"

"-- eenie meanie cults had weakened the barrier over the years, so she had to change what all the books said--"

"Th' names Applejack," the orange mare reintroduced herself, this time mercifully without the hoof shake, and a tip of the hat. "But you knew that already. I work over at Sweet Apple Acres, largest farm this side o' Canterlot."

"Impressive." I nodded. 'I'd laugh so hard if Applejack and her farm specialized in potatoes.'

"--went away, and they didn't smile much after that, but they made friends again around high--"

I turned to look at the purple coated unicorn, but she seemed to be double taking whatever Pinkie was saying. Seeing as she was busy, I turned an expectant look on the remaining pegasus.

"--about ponies who traveled through time, and ones who looked a little buggy, and had stars in their hair--"

The mare blinked at me, her one visible eye widening for a moment in understanding. She looked down at the cushion underneath her, playing with a lock of her hair between her hooves. "I-I'm Fluttershy, it's lovely to see you up and about." She gave a shy smile. "I take care of a lot of the animals around the town." Her voice was quiet as a church mouse, but with her being so close by I was able to just hear her when my ears were pointed at her.

'Which is very weird to experience after having largely stationary ears for all my life. Also, is she just quiet all the time, or do I somehow make the being over twice as big as me nervous?'

"-- and then everypony was getting ready for the celebration, and I had to hunt down some macaroons, you wouldn't believe how good baked goods are at hiding--" the embodiment of pink exclaimed with her hooves thrown wide.

The apple farmer gave the last pony a nudge, breaking her out of staring at Pinkie. She quickly glanced around, as if she had forgotten where she was. She had the decency to blush when she gathered her bearings, one hoof rubbing the opposite sheepishly as her ears fell back. "Ah, yes. Well, My name is Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia. I just moved into town and I'm studying friendship."

'That… okay, so monarchy, wonder who the king and or queen are, this one is obviously important since she studies under royalty… but also…' "How exactly does one study friendship of all things? Is that a thing you can get a degree in, or is it more of an elective?" I wondered at her, aloud.

"-- funny being all floaty, and then it was all Bewm! woosh! Schloooorp~!" She popped the 'P' on that word. "Vv. Vvv. Vvvveeerrrwwuuhm! And then we all passed out and I dreamt about cake and moons and streamers and my friends and then we woke up and I bounced out of frame and the princesses had a touching reunion and we brought you back to Ponyville and eventually you woke up and we all introduced ourselves and then you looked at me funny as I finished my story before saying your name was--" Pinkie clapped her hooves over her mouth as if to stop herself from spilling some big secret. "Which was what exactly?" She finished, rolling a hoof at me in a "go on" kind of gesture.

I stared at her for a moment. "...did you do that all in one breath?" I finally asked.

"Yep!" She beamed, apparently still not winded, somehow.

"How?" I pleaded for an answer.

"I'm a baker silly~ oh wait! I missed my turn! I'm Pinkie Pie, and I'm a baker, I live at sugar cube corner, which is where I work and it's also where Mr Cake lives and Mrs Cake and Gummy, he's my pet alligator, we all make yummy pastries and candy and other things there! Well, not Gummy, he's an alligator, but sometimes he helps me out, anyway. Thats me, how about you, what's your name?" Again, she had yet to take any major intake of air compared to the volume of words she spewed.

'How is that even physically… nevermind. A name huh? Well, given the ones I've heard and the whole she thing going on, I don't think Peter would sound right… hmm. Most names here seem to be made of a pair of 'regular' words, but then there is 'Celestia' with something that sounds halfway proper, so maybe I could get away with something like that?' I thought over several potential aliases ranging from 'Patricia' to something along the lines of 'Morning Glory,' or 'Aurora.' None of them felt right, or like something I could remember to answer to.

I rubbed my right hoof irritably, trying and failing to banish the distracting itch that had rooted itself in the limb while I came up with a worthy pseudonym. "Something to match how I look? Rainbow is a little on the nose, not to mention taken, but on the nose names seem to be the norm, what with Pinkie and Twilight. Hmm... something… bright… Bright?' I grumbled, grinding my hoof into the cushion, but it was too plush to offer any kind of relief.

While I seriously considered chewing on the offending appendage, everyone else in the room had started giving me odd looks. 'Oops, must have been quiet too long! Synonyms go! Light, Incandescent… too long, Shimmer, Twinkle! Ew, no.'

"Argent." I muttered, not even really aware as everyone stopped whispering amongst themselves. "I'm Argent Accord."

'Now where did that come from?' I wondered, but the question was quickly swept away by the itch in my forelomb dying away and the smiles I got from everyone.

"Its a pleasure to meet you, darling."

^

< ◇ >

v

I was back in my room, just laying on the bed staring at the ceiling, my tail curled up over my belly to my chin. "Argent huh?" I mused, running a blue hoof over my tail idly.

'It feels strangely right, and I don't think I'll forget it easily. Plus it isn't overtly girly like… I dunno, Morning Glory was, so, good?'

"Argent Accord." I repeated. I hadn't thought about what my last name would be, I had planned on introducing myself only by first name, like Applejack did… 'at least I think that was a single word…' again, It felt right, but while I had been actively searching for a first name, the second one came out of nowhere, Kinda just naturally flowing after 'Argent.'

"This is my name now, for now… It'll do, until I get home." I nodded to myself, rolling up onto my haunches to look out the window. The sky was very orange now, the sun half hidden behind a mountain that looked placed rather than the result of plate tectonics.

I was waiting on Nurse Redheart, or someone – 'somepony apparently, eugh, what a weird word, but I suppose it makes sense if the intelligent species on this world are ponies…' – to come collect me.

Because I was a child.

Apparently, since I hit it off so well with the six mares, the hospital staff and a cream furred unicorn whose wardrobe screamed social worker were talking to them about me staying at one of their places, which I was grateful for, and had agreed to.

Now it was just a matter of waiting.

Oh, and thinking to pass the time.

'Pinkie lives with another family in a work/home combo place, so I doubt they have room for me, and since the Cakes own it, they would have to talk to them about me staying, not Pinkie.'

In the same vein, Rarity was also probably a non-option, as she also lived where she worked – a boutique, apparently – and sounded like she was incredibly busy at most hours, and didn't need the added challenge of looking after a child. None of these were her arguments, she seemed more than happy to host me, it was everyone else in her group of friends pointing things out.

So while details of where I would be staying – until they could 'find my family,' good luck with that – I had been taken back here and had a few things explained to me.

Apparently, I was something called an 'Earth-Pony' which only made me sputter for a few minutes. Turns out, no relation, just means essentially I'm one of a "hearty tribe", commonly finding their talents in farming and the most physically strong of the three types making up the population.

Only I wasn't.

I had a whole laundry list of medical problems. Fortunately they all seemed easy enough to fix.

Apparently, I had a severely underdeveloped "Gaean duct" which is the special organ only Earth ponies have in their hooves. I also had "under developed mana conductive pathways" which connected poorly to the earth pony thing. I was also underweight, more in line with what they would expect from a Unicorn or a Pegasus my age.

So yeah, there's all that.

I kinda latched onto the word "Mana" and lost focus for a bit of the explanation. Because potential magic?

So I was being given a prescription to encourage development and connectivity, as well as mana production. On top of that, I was assigned a workout routine to help me get "more intune with nature" to aid in my development and a specialized diet to help with the weight thing.

'Everything is complicated, but I doubt being sickly would help me in… well anything while I'm here. To think, I traded in glasses for all this bs, I'll gladly take my astigmatism back, please, I want a refund!'

Oh! Speaking of money, I wasn't being stuck with the bill for my hospital stay, so that was one less reason to panic.

I turned back to the mirror, frowning lightly at the thistle purple pony staring back. "Still, Argent, huh?"

^

< ◇ >

v

I stared out the doors of the hospital, one hoof resting on the glass.

I was a little hesitant to leave. The hospital had been basically the only place I knew since waking up, and out these doors, an entire alien world waited.

It was a little intimidating.

I backed up a few steps glancing behind me at the open lobby. No one was there. Oh sure, the receptionist was there, but she had stopped paying attention after seeing me head for the doors.

I knew I couldn't stay here, it wasn't like I needed the bed more than the next potential patient anymore, so trying to stay here would be wrong. I knew I was going to be staying with one of the mares, and they all seemed genuinely nice and friendly, but still…

I scowled at myself. 'Alright Peter, that's enough. You're acting like a child! You're not some easily frightened eight year old, you're a grown ass man! Chin up, shoulders back, and go… do… the thing. Damnit, I ran out of steam. And that second one doesn't really apply…'

Shaking my head, I took a deep breath to settle my nerves, picked up the brown paper bag the hospital had given me in my teeth, and pushed my way through the doors into the greater world.

I hopped down the stairs towards the mare who would be putting me up.

Author's Note:

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasp!

A bit shorter this time, but the chapter wanted to end here, so what can ya do.

Also I just realized I have not been giving credit to amazing editor, who is awesome, and was also involved in the original version of this story, Gerandakis!

I dont know thus slipped my mind, but I feel pretty bad about it, so heres the first mention, even though you should have gotten more!

This story would be so, so very much worse if it weren't for their help, so thank you!

Comments

[Asolem2]

"--went away, and they didn't smile much after that, but they made friends again around high--"

--Noon

[Neece]

Curious to see how those treatments will interact with her gifts...

I'm still waiting to see one of these stories whose first reaction to Fluttershy is calling her adorable.

[Chrome Masquerade]

"So, while Pinkie is being Pinkie, why don't we try moving things along. Hey, I'm Rainbow Dash, the most awesome pegasus in all of Equestria."

The fastest, anyway.

[Chrome Masquerade]

"Argent." I muttered, not even really aware as everyone stopped whispering amongst themselves. "I'm Argent Accord."

[Witchery]

Can't wait for the next chapter!

[techyhalo]

Another chapter yay

[Vaguely Demented]

11116008
I was using they as a gender neutral given that the main character is a male who has become female. So I was wondering if Peter will inform them about it.

[Herald of Opera]

Ponies who look a little buggy, huh?

[Vaguely Demented]

Brown paper bags are a real rarity these days.

[Greenhorn]

" How ?" I pleaded for an answer.

Argent was administered half dose of Pinkie Pie. It was partial effective.

[tsaukpaetra]

Hehe, forgot what color that hoof was. Honesty?
If she's not expressing any traits it would make sense that tests would show deficiency in everything.

[Hyan]

Oh hey, Pinkie's back in the author notes.

[SethFilms]

keep up the work!

[MidnightTwinkle]

I haven't read to the end yet, but I can't wait for your next update

[Starkiler]

continue with this story please it's really cool I really loved this story please :)

[Rubae]

Nice, we’re going to get into the bigger parts of the story if the last one is anything to go by. Spoiler Alert I’m especially excited for the way Argent switches races.

[lainverse]

Plus it isn't overtly girly like… I dunno, Morning Glory was, so, good?

Oh, I dunno, rather stalliony name, from my point of view.

[uis]

eenie meanie cults had weakened the barrier over the years, so she had to change what all the books said

Pinkie knows surprisingly alot.

[uis]

Shimmer, Twinkle!

Nice.

[Pinklestia]

A sick Earth pony?

Eh still better than being blind or having magic allergy.

[Status L]

Pinkie knows all

[Aiwhisper]

Really hope you didn’t give up on this rewrite.