Perspective
Saturday Evening
"Yo, Gabe, I'm home!" Rainbow Dash pushed open her front door, relishing the flow of cool air that washed over her body. It had taken going to work on the weekend, but Rainbow had finally made up the shifts she had missed the day she rescued the colt.
She took off her goggles and hung them on their hook by the door, rubbing her face. They always liked to leave sore spots around her eyes, especially when she was building the frame of a rainstorm. Her muscles ached to the bone and she felt like she'd been drained by a vampire bat. "Gabe?"
"Hey." He sat exactly where Rainbow had left him at noon: at the edge of the foyer, on a cushion, next to his pencils, and hunching over his pad of paper. Tank napped nearby, and it looked like Gabe had even given him his own little cushion. The pad had been bestowed a great deal more scribbles since last she saw it, and its owner was surrounded by a little squadron of crumpled-up balls of paper and a fleet of pencil shavings. Can't wait to see what he drew... right after I hit the shower.
The pegasus mare returned to the atrium fifteen minutes later, rubbing the last of the water out of her damp mane, her spirits higher and her coat fluffier. "So, Gabe," she said, hopping down to the bottom floor in a tiny flight, "how's things? I see you managed not to burn the house down."
He looked up from his paper and tilted his head. "This house can burn down? Isn't it made of clouds?"
"Yeah, um, that was kind of the joke." And it went right over your head. Well, you can't win 'em all.
"Oh, good one," he said with the enthusiasm of a pile of shale before looking back at his paper.
Rainbow huffed a little laugh. "So, how's the drawing goin'? Did you use the, uh, HBs yet?"
Gabe groaned a little, frowning at his hoof, of all things. "It's too hard to hold my pencil. I can't make the lines straight. It's, uh, not what I'm used to."
"Why not just use your mouth?" Rainbow said with a raised eyebrow.
The colt stuck his tongue out at that. "Gross, no thanks. I'd rather just learn how to use my stupid hoof. Urgh."
Rainbow hummed a half-response and trotted up to look over the colt's shoulder. It only took a second to recognize that the countless wobbly, squiggly lines coalesced to form a surprisingly familiar sight. "Hey!" Her head popped up and looked around. "You drew the big room!" And in surprisingly good detail, despite the lines' shivery crookedness. She recognized the pillars next to the front door, her awesome Wonderbolts statue, even the pattern on the floor, all realized in a startlingly accurate yet jittery perspective. Holy crap! It's like the room is boogying down!
"More like tried to draw the big room," he grumbled, scratching the paper a little more with the pencil, "I can't make any of these lines right. My arm moves differently, it's set up all weird."
Arm? Whatever. Rainbow snorted. "You're sellin' yourself short, kid. This looks pretty freakin' good to me."
"Hmm." Gabe traded his pencil for the 'eraser' and used a green hoof to mush it against a part of the drawing that, apparently, did not meet his standard of quality. Lo and behold, when he took the gray mass away, the paper looked a bit less streaked with pencil.
"Hey, how'd it do that?"
The little colt looked up at her and blinked. "Huh?"
Rainbow pointed at the gray blob. "How'd it erase? You didn't even rub it on the paper."
"Oh." Gabe held it up and examined it with one brown eye. "I dunno. It sticks to it, maybe." Then he began stretching and squishing it between his hooves like the world's least appetizing gum.
"Why're you doing that?" Rainbow leaned in to examine it. The mass smelled like warm rubber and hoof, though maybe she shouldn't have been surprised at the second part.
"'Cause it cleans it." Gabe sounded bored.
"How?"
He flashed her a self-satisfied grin and responded "Magic," sounding very much like he knew the actual answer and had elected not to tell her.
"Pssh, whatever," Rainbow said with a smirk. She blew a bit of mane out of her face and straightened up. "You ready to head out?"
Gabe frowned and cocked his head to the side. "Is it time for that party already?"
"Yup. Aren't you excited to meet some new foals?"
He shrugged. "Not really," he said, "why would I be?"
The question kind of stumped Rainbow. How am I supposed to respond to a question like that?
"Uh, because you're gonna be going to school soon. Don't you wanna have some friends when it starts?"
"If you say so."
Not the answer that I was looking for, but good enough, Rainbow thought. "Then c'mon, we don't wanna be late to your party. You can leave your stuff there." He groaned and stood up, trotting to the door. Because she couldn't help it, Dash added "Tank probably won't eat them," much to the unsubtle disapproval of her temporary foster kid.
The Ponyville summer evening was divinely serene. The duo flew under a sky painted with the vibrant colors of Celestia's sunset. The shades of the world below them were beginning to deepen, but the town had not yet fallen asleep. Ponies wandered the streets in ones and twos, enjoying each other's company. Saturday's energy had bled away, leaving everypony sedate and calm, and all was right with the world.
Dash came to a gentle landing in front of Twilight's library tree. Even outside, Rainbow could hear muffled voices and music coming through the front door. After he hopped off her back, Gabe stopped to ogle at it.
"The whole thing really is in a tree."
"Yup."
"And it's alive? It's not fake?"
"Those look like alive leaves to me."
"How?"
"I dunno, ask Twilight, she's the one who lives in it." She rolled her eyes with a smirk and rapped her hoof against the library's bright red door.
"Coming!" said the door in a muffled but eager voice. Twilight Sparkle appeared a few hoofsteps later, greeting the two with a welcoming smile. "Hi, Rainbow! Right on time!" Then she looked down at the smaller arrival, stepping forward and extending her hoof. "And you must be Gab Real! My name is Twilight Sparkle, it's very nice to meet you."
"Hi, Gabie!" came a disembodied but very excited shout from somewhere inside.
Gabe stepped forward. Instead of bumping her hoof like literally anypony else on the planet, he wrapped his fetlock around hers and bounced it once. "Gabriel. You too." Then he walked inside, leaving Rainbow to snicker at the somewhat dumbfounded unicorn, who was staring at her hoof as if it'd just turned bright yellow.
"...what?"
The pegasus let out a bark of laughter. "You'll get used to it." She stepped past Twilight and entered the library.
Rainbow noticed the banner first. Massive and pink, it hung from the ceiling and announced: "Welcome to Ponyville Gabie!" in large, ecstatic, and hastily-painted letters to anypony that entered. It made Rainbow smile, despite its corniness. Even though this party was low-key, Pinkie had still pulled out all the stops.
Pink and blue balloons decorated the spaces that weren't filled with streamers and party tables piled high with far too much food. Cake, cookies, and cups of colorful candies adorned every free surface underneath the not-too-harsh lighting, and soft acoustic music emanated from some unseen source. Energetic and exciting, but not too much. Pinkie really had tried her hardest.
The mare herself balanced on one of the upper shelves, trying to pin up what appeared to be the very last streamer. Her tongue was out and her face was scrunched up in concentration as she teetered high above the ground, reaching with all her might.
Dash leapt into action. "Whoa, Pinkie! Lemme give you a hoof."
The pink mare's relief was palpable. "Whoof! Thanks, Dashie!"
After averting a disaster, Rainbow returned to the floor, scanning the room for Gabe. Twilight was refilling her glass from the punch bowl as Pinkie trotted to join her; the two had likely spent the afternoon setting up. The pegasus spied her foster kid at the edge of the room, having a conversation with Fluttershy, of all ponies. Looks like Rares and AJ haven't shown yet.
Rainbow made her way to the two, catching the last bit of Fluttershy's question. "...and you're sure you've been changing it properly?"
Little Gabe nodded. "Mhm. Twice a day, and Rainbow helps. I used to have to do it for my wing and my leg, but I don’t need the bandages now." He held up her foreleg to show her the ragged scab on his foreleg. Picking the old stitches out of that this morning had not been fun, but Rainbow had noticed that more of his coat had grown in over it than she expected.
"May I?" the butter-yellow pegasus asked in a soft voice, glancing at the outstretched limb. Gabe nodded and she gently took it in her hooves, examining the wound.
"Hmm... Yes, it looks like it's healing up nicely, but, um..." Fluttershy hesitated, her voice growing very quiet. "Um, it seems like, maybe, um, you haven't been... keeping the scab very clean? And... it looks like you maybe, erm, picked at it?" She continued to disappear into her mane as her voice lowered to a whisper. "S-so, um, possibly think about keeping it clean and, um, try not to scratch it maybe until it's coated, okay?"
"I'll try my very best. Hi, Rainbow."
Her timid friend finally noticed Dash standing beside them and made a squeak, pulling her hooves back. "Oh!" she said. A moment later, she remembered herself and hid a little less behind her soft pink mane. "H-hi, Rainbow. Sorry, I didn't see you there."
The cyan pegasus smiled good-naturedly. "All good, Flutters. I see you met Gabe."
Fluttershy smiled, emerging just the tiniest bit. "Oh, yes! Gab Real is a very polite young stallion, and I'm very impressed that he’s attentive to his injuries. Most foals, um, aren’t so good at that."
"Thanks, miss," the colt said, "and not to be rude, but it's Gabriel."
She blinked. "O-oh, did I get it wrong? I'm sorry!"
"It's alright," Gabe said with a sigh, "not a single one of you has gotten it right on the first try. Most of you say 'Gab Real,' but it's all one word. Gab-ree-ul." He sounded out each syllable, and Fluttershy nodded.
"Gabriel. That's a very, erm, interesting name."
"Thanks," he said with a smile. "I'm gonna get some punch." Then he turned on a bit and trotted away.
Rainbow gave Fluttershy a grin. "So, whaddya think?"
The yellow pegasus blushed. "Um, he's very, ah, mature for his age."
She chuckled. "That's one way of putting it, but yeah, he is."
A rapping knock-knock-knock came from the door. Oh, must be AJ or Rares.
Rainbow made her way to the entrance just as Twilight opened it. "Oh! Hello! I don't believe we've met, miss...?"
The tan-and-brown mare standing outside bumped Twilight's hoof properly and politely. "I'm Sandy Hills, Gabriel's counselor."
"Twilight Sparkle," the purple mare said. Sandy almost certainly already knew who she was, but Twi was always polite. "Come on in!"
Sandy smiled and stepped inside, admiring the decorations for a moment before trotting up to Rainbow and saying hello, leaving Twilight to greet the guests Sandy had brought with her. "Mr. Rich! I'm pleasantly surprised to see you and your daughter here!"
The amber stallion walked into the treehouse, tailed by his daughter. Isn't that the filly that teases Scoots and her friends? A cold feeling began to settle in her gut as Rainbow realized she probably should have asked who Sandy intended to invite.
"Yes, well we're good friends with Ms. Hills. She's been an immeasurable help to my Diamond." Rich looked down at his daughter. "Hasn't she, cupcake?"
"Oh, yes," the filly said in a voice that was just a little too sugary. "She's a very nice mare!"
"Thank you, sweetie," Sandy smiled, "let me introduce you two to Gabriel!" As the three began walking over to the forest green colt—who was currently having trouble reaching the punch bowl—Rainbow heard Diamond ask her father a question.
"Daddy, when will Spoon be here?"
"Soon, cupcake, they said they'd make it," her father answered a bit tiredly.
Urk. After Twilight closed the door, Rainbow wrapped a hoof over her shoulders. "Uh, Twi, I should probably tell ya now that Diamond over there and her friend are the fillies that like to mess with Rares and Applejacks' sisters at school."
"Really?" After a moment's thought, the unicorn smiled. "Oh, I think it'll be fine. They've got their parents here to keep them in line."
Rainbow wasn't so sure, but Twilight seemed confident enough, so she let it go. She probably knows what she's talking about.
Rarity arrived a few minutes later, wearing a stylish scarf and headband with a feather that probably complimented her eyes or something. She entered the library with pizazz, as usual, flourishing once she stepped over the welcome mat. "Oh, what a wonderful party!" she said loud enough to turn everypony's head for a second. The mare was noticeably alone.
"Uh, Rares," Rainbow mentioned, trotting up, "weren't you gonna bring your little sister?"
Rarity's face dropped and she produced an annoyed huff. "I told her that she needed to get ready, but she insisted that she wanted to meet with her little friends and come here with them. They were playing on the Apples' farm, so I'm sure that she'll arrive with Applejack, probably covered in, eugh, farm dirt."
Then the unicorn cleared her throat, apparently remembering herself. "Oh, would you please introduce me to the little one? I've been positively dying to meet him."
Rainbow resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Yeah, sure, follow me."
Gabe sat at one of the tables, focusing very hard on the cup of punch clutched between his hooves. It seemed that even with his foreleg splint removed he still had trouble holding a cup. The colt looked up when he noticed Rainbow approaching with Rarity, but it didn't stop him from lifting the cup to his mouth.
"Hey, kid, I wanna introduce you to somepony." Rainbow motioned with a hoof and stepped aside, letting the unicorn take the stage.
"Hello, darling!" Rarity said, weathering his sidelong punch-drinking gaze. "My name is Rarity, and I'm one of Rainbow Dash's friends. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Rainbow took the opportunity to roll her eyes because the unicorn wasn't looking her way.
Gabe just kept on drinkin' his punch, still staring Rarity in the eye. After a second he set it down and inspected her top to bottom. Rainbow just knew he was about to say something outrageously weird, something that Rarity, or any of the girls for that matter, would never, ever let her live down.
He put a handsome smile on his face. "No, Miss Rarity, the pleasure is all mine, and may I say, you look absolutely stunning tonight."
What?!
"My name is Gabriel." The kid somehow made his weird name sound fancy and foreign.
Rarity's eyes widened and she let out a ladylike giggle, which she of course covered with a dainty hoof. "Why, thank you! You may just have the best manners of any colt I have ever met!" She leaned in collusively. "You could stand to teach my sister a thing or two!"
"If she's as beautiful as you, madame, then I look forward to it." He gave her a winning grin.
"Ooh!" Rarity giggled again. "You flatter me, young stallion! You're very sweet. I'll be sure to introduce you two the moment she arrives." She turned to a still-shellshocked Rainbow. "You appear to have found yourself a wondrously polite foster colt, Rainbow. I envy you."
"Uh."
"Now, a lady doesn't spend a party talking to just one colt," she said to Gabe, "even if he is charming. Ta-ta for now!" The unicorn flipped her mane and trotted off to say hello to the other partygoers.
Rainbow blinked once, then twice, then fixed an incredulous look on Gabe. "Okay, what the heck?"
"What?" he said, far too innocently.
"What the heck, Gabe?" Rainbow repeated, "how'd you know to say that?" Or even learn to speak like that at all?
He shrugged and smiled at her. "Lucky guess?" He had that grin on his face again, the one that made Rainbow feel like he knew something she didn't and that he very much enjoyed that fact. "Plus, who doesn't love a good compliment?"
"But you've never met Rarity before!"
"She showed up to the party with a feathered headband and a fur scarf. She seems like she enjoys being fancy."
Is—is he...? Yeah, he’s messing with me. "Whatever," Rainbow huffed, "I'm gonna go get some cake."
"Please get me a slice, too." Then the colt's grin disappeared like nothing had happened and he went back to concentrating on his cup of punch.
Just focus on that cake, Rainbow. Just focus on that cake...
There he is! Twilight Sparkle spotted the little colt sitting at a table near the edge of the party and made her way over.
"Hi again, Gabe! This party sure is fun, huh?" She looked around at her brightly-decorated library. "I've been studying all day, so I can appreciate having a relaxing get-together. How are you liking it so far?"
The colt looked up from his cup and gave the room a cursory glance. Everypony but Applejack and the fillies were here, and mellow conversation flowed through the air. Definitely a relaxed party. "It's uh, it's pretty good." He took a sip. "Pretty good party."
Twilight cleared her throat. "I wanted to give you a bit more of an introduction than just a name." Gabe nodded, motioning with a hoof to let her continue. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, but you, erm, you knew that already. This is my library, I live here with my number-one assistant Spike. Has he introduced himself yet?" She swiveled her head around. "He should be here somewhere." And if he doesn't say hello, he's also going to get an earful.
"How's the tree alive?"
Twilight blinked. "Oh, um, it's a very complex magical process, but the short answer is that there are spells in the walls and the roots that help it stay healthy and hydrated."
"Oh, so they help transport all the nutrients and water and stuff?" He looked around. "The walls seem too thin to do it themselves."
"Erm, yes, to put it simply." This colt's kind of sharp.
"Oh, cool." The colt gave her a smile and a shrug. "I don't actually know that much about trees."
Their little conversation hit a pause and Twilight struggled to think of something to say. Hmm... Rainbow mentioned that he had a rough background, so I had better not ask him about his past... "So, Gabriel... how do you like Ponyville so far?"
Yet another shrug. "It's kinda different from what I expected, but also kinda not. Still weird that I'm here at all."
Huh? "Oh! I didn't know you were familiar with Ponyville before. Have you heard about us?" The unicorn smiled good-naturedly "Good things, I hope?"
"Uh, yeah, I've heard of Ponyville, in a manner of speaking. And don’t worry, pretty much only good things."
"I'm glad to hear it. Are you fitting in okay?"
That question actually produced a smile. "Yeah. Rainbow and Miss Hills've been really nice to me, and I'm supposed to go to school on Monday." He slurped from his cup. "Now that's gonna be weird."
Twilight cocked her head. "Why will that be weird?"
He chuckled. "It's just been a while since I went to elementary school."
"I'm sure you'll pick it up again quickly!" She made what she hoped looked like an encouraging smile. The colt nodded and took another sip of punch.
Another lull. Think, Twilight, think! What do foals like to talk about? Books? She grimaced inwardly. No, that's what you liked to talk about as a filly. Maybe he likes–
"Miss Sparkle, can I ask you a question?"
"Huh?" She blinked in a way Owlowiscious would've taken pride in. "Um, yes, of course. And please, call me Twilight."
The colt looked at the table. "You know a lot about history, right?"
Where's he going with this? "I like to consider myself pretty well-read, yes."
He bit his lip. "Has Equestria ever had really bad things happen to it? Like really, really bad things?"
Twilight had to stop herself from reeling. She had been expecting a question like 'Do ponies think I'm weird?' or 'Are you really Celestia's student?' Nothing like this. "Um, like natural disasters, or ones that were caused, like magical accidents or conflicts?"
He blinked. "Either."
"Well, of course, Equestria has suffered a number of disasters in its past. Why?"
"Which one was the worst?" he asked instead of answering.
"Um, That's a tough question, Equestria's been around for a long time." Twilight had to think for a few moments.
Disasters, disasters... Well, there was the grand flood and the long winter, but neither of those hold a candle to Discord's original reign. Twilight shivered a little at the unpleasant memory of her encounter with the God of Chaos. Then there was the ancient king of the lost crystal empire, but those were both dealt with by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, so I guess that only leaves...
“I’d say Luna’s banishment. About a thousand years ago, Princess Luna was corrupted by something called a Nightmare." As she spoke, he nodded along. "She raised a dark army and attempted to take total control of Equestria. After a long struggle, Celestia was forced to use the Elements of Harmony to destroy the dark army and seal her own sister away on the moon. Equestria suffered a civil war and the loss of one of its leaders for a millennium."
The colt nodded. "That's a heavy thing to do to your own sister."
"Yes, it is. The princess herself told me it bothered her more than anything else she's ever done. To this day, she wishes she had found a better solution." Twilight took a deep breath and smiled. "The good news is that, now that she's returned and been cleansed, Celestia and Luna can rule together and be sisters again after a thousand years of separation."
"Hmm. Better than the alternative."
Is he implying that, instead of banishment, Princess Celestia could have–? Twilight coughed. "Y-yes, I suppose it is. Why do you ask?"
Gabriel scrunched up his muzzle. "It's just that, um... Well, something really bad happened to my home. A really bad disaster, I guess." He took a sip from his cup of punch. "I'd like to think that it'll turn out ok."
"Oh, that's terrible." Twilight began to feel overwhelmed. How in the world am I supposed to respond to something like that?
Then the colt looked her in the eye, and Twilight saw, in his gaze, a sharp, gruesome pain. His gaze spoke not just of terrible hurt and bitter, lonesome grief, but also deep, vengeful wrath. It felt like a tendril made of something very cold and very dark wrapped around her heart when he spoke in a gravelly voice.
"Yes, it is."
Twilight Sparkle found she couldn’t speak.
"Hey, kid! Hey, Twi! Whatcha talkin' about?" Rainbow Dash set a paper plate of cake in front of the colt and plopped herself down next to the two. Light and sound returned to the room and Twilight could breathe again.
"Oh, I was just asking Twilight about some history stuff." Gabriel didn’t miss a beat. The darkness Twilight had seen had vanished without a trace, replaced with a colt currently very interested in the slice of cake in front of him.
"Well, you picked the perfect egghead to ask questions like that. She knows all about that stuff." Then Rainbow looked at her own piece of cake. "Ah, sorry Twi! I woulda' gotten you some if I knew you were gonna sit down. Here–" she slid the plate between the two mares, "have some of mine."
Twilight stared at the cake for a moment before levitating a bite-sized chunk of cake into her mouth. She immediately had to stifle a moan when it exploded into perfectly luscious sugariness. Celestia, Pinkie really outdid herself, she thought. The cake was so delicious that it almost made the unicorn completely forget what Gabriel had said.
Almost.
"Wait, so who's this colt again?" Apple Bloom asked for what must have been the fourth or fifth time. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes.
"His name's Gib Reel or something. He's green with a lighter mane, and he has bandages. That's all we know."
"But ya said ya met him!"
"Ugh." Scootaloo looked annoyed, "We only saw him for like, three seconds, and then we left 'cause you got done with Ms. Cheerilee. Remember?"
The four walked through town underneath a late-evening sky that had just about lost all its color. The stars had begun to shine through, and the streets were mostly empty, though most of the windows were lit. The air felt comfortably warm and fresh in the way only a summer night's air could.
"Oh, right." She wrinkled her muzzle. "What kind of a name is ‘Gib Reel’ anyhoo? That's weird."
"Hey!" Applejack shot a reproachful look over her shoulder as they approached Golden Oaks Library. "It ain't polite ta talk about other foals that way, 'specially one that's new in town. Be nice."
"Sorry, AJ," the filly said. The older sister only raised her eyebrow and knocked on the door, which opened a few seconds later, letting the sounds of conversation and music flow around the form of a purple unicorn.
"AJ! Girls! Come on in!"
Applejack paused to make conversation with Twilight that Sweetie Belle didn't care enough to listen to, letting the Cutie Mark Crusaders enter freely. When they saw the ponies in the library's main room, Scootaloo snorted. "Some party. There's barely anypony here!"
"Rarity said that's because the colt comes from a ‘troubled background,’" Sweetie recited, recalling a boring and one-sided conversation from a few hours ago, "so they decided to have a party that wasn't too loud or big."
"Wow. I bet the colt's scared of his own shadow," the orange filly smirked.
Sweetie shot Bloom a somewhat confused glance. What's up with Scoots?
Then Rarity spotted them and rushed across the room. "Ah! Sweetie! I was hoping you would arrive soon!" For some reason, she sounded pretty excited to see her. She even completely ignored the dirt on Sweetie's hooves! "Come, come, you simply must meet Gabriel! He's over this way." Without checking to see if they were following her, the alabaster unicorn turned and began to walk towards a small group of ponies across the library.
The three fillies shared a look. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shrugged, and it was decided. They followed Rarity.
Her sister led them across the room to where the colt sat while listening to a bunch of grown-ups talk about boring grown-up stuff. "Oh, Gabriel!" she called. He turned his head.
"Miss Rarity!" he said. "Hello again."
"Gabriel, I'd like to introduce you to my little sister, Sweetie Belle, and her friends." The colt fixed his surprisingly sharp gaze on her.
Sweetie hesitantly waved back. "Erm, hello." He doesn't seem like he's afraid of his own shadow...
"Hi! Ah'm Apple Bloom! Ah live at Sweet Apple Acres with mah granny, mah big brother, and mah sis, who's still talkin' to Twilight back by the door." The yellow crusader stepped forward and extended her hoof. He looked at it for a moment and bumped it.
"I'm Scootaloo." The pegasus filly didn't move.
The colt looked at them one by one, seemingly inspecting them, sizing them up. "...hi," he eventually said. His voice was even and calm, but it felt like he should have been talking a lot louder. "I'm Gabriel. I live with Rainbow Dash."
Sweetie tilted her head. There was something weird about the way he spoke, but she couldn't quite say what it was. An accent?
"Glad to see you're all getting along!" Rarity smiled and winked at the little green colt. "You work your magic, Gabriel!"
What the hay is that supposed to mean? Sweetie thought. Her older sister did a little pose and went off to greet Applejack, leaving the young ponies to stare at one another.
Scoots snorted. "So, Gib Reel, how'd you get so beat up?" The way she spoke almost sounded like sneering. Sweetie Belle shared another look with 'Bloom.
"Gabriel," he repeated and twisted around to look at the bandage wrapped around his middle, "and, um, I don't really remember."
"Psh, so you don't even have a cool story about it?" Scootaloo smirked at the colt. "That's kinda lame."
"Guess so," Gabriel said, staying completely neutral.
"Can ya fly?"
His wings flopped a little on his back. "No."
“Do ya like going fast?”
“Not particularly.”
"Humph. Why'd Rainbow Dash even foster you, anyway?" And just like that, Sweetie Belle put two and two together. Going by the look on her face, ‘Bloom did, too.
"I dunno," the colt shrugged, looking almost bored, "she volunteered."
"Oh hey!" Apple Bloom said, rather assertively. "You got no cutie mark!"
Gabriel shot a look at his rear. "Yeah, looks that way."
"You're like us! We don't have cutie marks neither!" she turned and pointed a hoof at her rear.
The colt nodded sagely. "That is true."
"We're all searching for our cutie marks," Sweetie chimed in, sensing that 'Bloom was needing some help, "so we formed the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"
The green colt tilted his head. "What's that?" he asked in a flat voice.
"It's a pact," Apple Bloom said dramatically while waving a hoof in the air. "We joined forces ta' discover our special talents! Don't you wanna know what'cher cutie mark is?"
"Not really."
Apple Bloom nearly tripped and Sweetie swallowed a glob of her own spit, choking a little. Even Scootaloo, who until this point had been semi-pouting, widened her eyes a smidge. "What?" 'Bloom said. "But a cutie mark is a symbol of who you are! Without one, you ain't gonna get anywhere in life!"
He shrugged. "Seems like I made it this far just fine without it. Doesn't really bother me." It struck her as absurd to hear those words coming out of another foal's mouth. Sweetie reeled. How could somepony not care about this sort of thing?
"You don't wanna know your special talent?" Apple Bloom looked like her world had been rocked.
He snorted. "Kid, there's only ever been one thing that I've been really good at, and if I can help it I'm not gonna ever do it again."
"Well, well, well." The voice sent shivers right up Sweetie's spine. "Looks like the loser club found a new recruit."
The nasty, snarky remark was backed up by an equally nasty, equally snarky giggle. "You said it, Diamond!"
The stuck-up brat duo shouldered their way into the foals' circle, standing with their heads up high and their noses raised ever so much. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. What the hay are these jerks doing here? What idiot let them get invited?
"It's just like them!" the little gray filly said, flipping her mane. "You know how those blank-flanks need to stick together."
Sweetie snorted in anger. The fact that these two horrible fillies could pull garbage like this in the middle of this colt's welcome party without any of the adult ponies caring made her want to stamp her hoof. And we can't go get help, either—we'd never hear the end of it.
The two rounded on Gabriel, singling him out. Sweetie looked to her friends, trying to tell what they were thinking. Apple Bloom looked at about the same place that she was, but Scootaloo looked conflicted. The little unicorn could tell that her envy for what Gabriel had and her hatred for what Diamond Tiara did were warring it out inside her friend.
"So, Gabie, what's the deal with this party?” Diamond asked, “Don't you have more friends to invite?"
"Yeah," sneered Silver Spoon, "there's barely anypony here."
The colt still managed to hold an even face. "I don't know anypony else."
"Oh, that's right. You have no friends, do you?" She snorted, turning away. "I guess I can't expect much from a baby blank-flank like you." Her little sycophant 'hid' her laugh behind her hoof.
"Guess not," the colt said in a very disinterested-sounding way. Uh-oh.
Diamond's head whipped back around to face the colt. Judging by the look on her face, she didn't like being challenged, not one bit. "So, how'd you convince your fake mom to throw this lame party for you? Did you have to beg?"
Gabriel rubbed his chin. "Um, I'm pretty sure my fake mom decided to throw this party on her own and then asked me later if it was alright." He shrugged. "I dunno, I wasn't there. Real nice of her, though."
"Yeah, it sure was nice of her. She must feel really bad for you, such a sad little colt, all wrapped up like a baby," added Silver Spoon. Her insults were never as good. Sweetie heard Scootaloo snort quietly beside her.
"I know for a fact she does."
The pink earth pony put her face so close to the colt's that their manes were touching. He didn't move a muscle, looking at her with half-lidded eyes. This colt has the best poker face I've ever seen, Sweetie thought.
"Well, that makes sense. It's hard not to feel bad for pitiful little colts like you, colts who pretend like they don't care a bit, but I can see right through you. You think your little act is gonna make you seem any less weak?"
She jabbed a pink hoof into his neck and he still didn't move. He didn't even break his bored eye contact.
"You know why ponies don't feel bad about me? Because I don't need fake parents. I have a full, happy family." Now their eyes were nearly touching.
How has nopony noticed her doing this yet? Come on!
Then Diamond hissed possibly the meanest words Sweetie had ever heard her mutter through clenched teeth. "Remind me again, why do you need a fake mommy?"
That was a step too far. Sweetie Belle couldn't stand by and watch any longer. "Alright, quit it!" She shoved herself in between the two foals, forcing Diamond to take a few steps back. "DT, what is wrong with you?"
"Yeah!" Apple Bloom stepped beside her, putting a reassured smile on Sweetie's face for a moment. "You gotta back off. Ah'm not gonna let you say such horrible things to a new colt."
Diamond snorted, entirely unintimidated. "And of course, the loser squad steps in for their loser friend." She looked at Scootaloo, who hadn't moved. "What's wrong, chicken? Is somepony jealous that Rainbow Dash is giving a wimp like that her attention? Are you just now realizing that she thinks even he's better than you?"
'Bloom stepped forward, red in the face. "Listen here ya–!" A deep green hoof across her front cut her off.
Gabriel stepped between the two fillies protecting him, putting himself right in front of Diamond Tiara. He shot them a look over his shoulder. "I appreciate the help, girls, but don’t worry about it." He spoke as if he were waving off somepony offering him a bite of their food: polite, but clear.
"Ooh, big blank-flank colt, all grown up, standing up for himself," said Silver, widening the smirk on Diamond's face.
Gabe glanced at the place where his cutie mark would appear and turned back to them, still holding that perfectly even, almost bored tone of voice, but Sweetie swore she saw his eyes narrow just the tiniest bit.
"Y'know, I forgot that little kids care about the most absurd things."
"What?" Diamond laughed. "We're both older than you and we've got our cutie marks. If anypony here is a baby, it's you."
"Yeah, it certainly looks that way, doesn't it?"
Logically, he had just admitted that Diamond Tiara and her henchpony were right, but the way he said it implied that he felt the exact opposite, putting some satisfyingly confused looks on their faces.
"Now, listen, I get that you get your kicks from projecting your little insecurities onto everypony around you and it's very impressive, but I was actually enjoying this pow-wow before you waddled over here, so, as great as making fun of children is, I'm gonna tell you that you should run along back to being good for your daddy."
Then he fixed the bored gaze on the gray filly, speaking in a tone that was a bit more friendly. "And ease up, Spoonie, really. Your muzzle's gonna turn brown if you don't."
"H-hey!" was all she could muster in response.
Diamond snorted again, but now she actually looked a little angry. "You can be as clever as you want, it's not gonna change the fact that you've got no–"
The colt cut her off and rolled his hoof in a let's-hurry-this-up motion. "Yeah, yeah, no family. You used that one already. Think of something better, cupcake."
Sweetie could tell Diamond was starting to get flustered. "I swear, if you call me cupcake again, I'll–"
"Let me stop you right there." The colt said looked her up and down. When he spoke, Sweetie saw the corner of his mouth twitch just the tiniest bit up.
I don't think he was pretending that he wasn't angry... Sweetie could tell that Diamond noticed it too, and that was the best part.
Gabriel pressed on. "You may scare other foals with your bullying, but I can promise you that it will never scare me. You can never intimidate me, cupcake, because, at the end of the day, I have unfortunately seen things that are much, much scarier than you, so do us all a favor and just stop." The colt sounded one-hundred percent sure of this fact.
He makes it seem like a threat.
"My father will–"
That put a grin on his face. "If you really think that I'm gonna be any more scared of your dad than you, you are actually going to make me laugh."
Diamond finally shut her mouth and fixed an acidic stare on the colt, a single strand of mane hanging down in front of her eyes. Gabe returned it with a friendly smile. "Go on."
"Whatever. You blank-flanks can have your smart-aleck new recruit." She blew an errant lock of pink mane out of her eyes. "Have fun pretending to be a brave little pony. Come on, Spoon."
She trotted away, head held high, but not quite as high as before. To Sweetie Belle's surprise, Silver Spoon actually hesitated before following Diamond. When Sweetie looked back at Gabe, though, she quickly thanked Celestia that the two bullies had turned away so quickly, because she saw something flash across the colt's face. It wasn't anger, it was something different. Sadder?
Still, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stared at Gabriel with slack jaws for a moment. He looked back at them. "What, you never seen anypony stand up to that filly?"
Are you kidding me?! "That was amazing!" Sweetie Belle said. "I've never seen her so mad! I don't think anypony talks to her like that!"
"Yeah!" 'Bloom chimed in. "That was some real talk there! You really had everypony goin'!" She took a second to look at his flank. "Dang, for sure I thought you were gonna have a bully-fighting cutie mark!”
Scootaloo coughed and looked away. "I guess that was kinda cool," she mumbled at the livingwood floor.
"Well, thanks." He smiled, nodding at each one of them. When he looked at her with those deep brown eyes, Sweetie felt her stomach do a little flip, and she took a step forward.
"Girls, I think that we should follow Diamond's advice."
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both looked at her like she had completely lost her marbles. "What?!"
Sweetie smiled. "Diamond said we could have our new recruit so... what do you think?"
Apple Bloom's face split into a wide, enthusiastic grin. "Sign me up!"
Scootaloo seemed less spirited. "I guess."
"That seals it, then!" Sweetie Belle nodded, still smiling, and held a hoof out to Gabriel. "So, whaddya say? You wanna be a Cutie Mark Crusader?"
He examined her hoof for a moment, then wrapped his hoof around hers. "Yeah, sure." Sweetie's eyebrows shot sky-high and her mouth formed a little 'o' when she felt him squeeze her hoof tightly and lift it up, then drop it down. Worse, the little unicorn felt her face getting hot.
Then he took it away, leaving her holding her now-feeling-very-cold hoof out in front of her like an idiot. All she could do was hold her limb to her face and stare at it.
"Hey, where're ya goin'?" Apple Bloom's question made her raise her head to see that Gabe had taken a few steps away from the three fillies. He stopped and turned around.
"I'm gonna get some more cake. You three comin' or not?" And then he was off.
Apple Bloom looked at her friends, then shrugged. "Well, Ah want some cake."
Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah, I want some too. If it's one of Pinkie Pie's party cakes, I definitely don't want to miss out on a slice." She shot a sly grin at Sweetie. "C'mon, let's follow your new crush." Excuse me?!
"I don't have a crush on him!" But Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were already gone. She blinked and followed after a moment, grumbling to nopony in particular.
"I do not have a crush on him..."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Looks like you were right,” she muttered to Sandy before sipping from her glass of punch. “He handled it just fine on his own.”
The counselor nodded. “I do owe you my apologies, though. Celestia, I didn’t even consider that your friends’ little sisters would be here too. If I had, I wouldn’t have invited Rich and Sterling. Their daughters can be kind enough to strangers, but they tried to pick a fight just because those crusader fillies were talking to him…” She groaned and dragged a hoof down her face. "That was a stupid mistake."
Rainbow bit her lip, watching the two fillies from across the library’s main room. “Yeah, that was a little shortsighted of all of us.” She shrugged. “Those girls looked pretty mad. I wonder what they were arguing about.”
“Diamond probably said something to get under their skin,” Sandy sighed. “I do worry about that filly. We’ve been making progress, but, well…” She made a sad little laugh. “Let’s just say I won’t be saying goodbye to that client for a while yet.”
“Hmm.” Rainbow rolled the thought around in her head, pondering the filly for a bit before realizing she didn’t have all that much to say about it. “...hey, at least they’re sticking to their parents now.”
Sandy nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on them until they leave. We barely avoided an episode just now, so let’s keep it that way.”
“You said it.”
Sandy downed the rest of her own punch and set the cup down before giving Rainbow a little nod and trotting to join her friends and their fillies. “Sterling Silver! I haven’t had a chance to speak to you yet. Tell me about this new project of yours…”
Rainbow looked back down to her cup, swirling the juice around. Yeah, that was a close call. Good thing Gabe apparently isn’t bothered by bullies. She scanned the room, growing a little concerned after a moment. Wait, where’d he go?
“Hey, Rainbow.”
“Gah!”
She started hard enough to jostle a little juice out of her cup. It seeped into the fur on her hoof, staining it purple. “Geeze, kid, you can’t sneak up on me like that!”
He laughed.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Whatever. What do you think of the party?”
“It’s cool as hell,” Gabe said, grinning up at her and neglecting to explain what ‘hell’ was. He had another plate of cake balanced between his wings and a bit of bright pink frosting on the end of his muzzle. “Thanks.”
Her chest flooded with warmth right away, raising her head and bringing a smile to her face. “Of course, kid.” She bumped him a little with her elbow. “Don’t mention it.”
“It’s funny,” he said, “when I was younger I didn’t care about stuff like this.”
“Stuff like this?” Rainbow tilted her head.
“Cake and punch. Balloons, music. Talking with people. Making fun of kids. Parties, yknow?”
Wait, hold on, what was that last one?
“Yeah, I didn’t care about it at all. Thought it was just a waste of time and money.”
Rainbow decided not to address it and raised an eyebrow. “Uh, so what changed?”
He bit his lip. “When you go without this sort of thing for long enough, you, uh, realize you miss it a lot more than you think. That’s just how things were, um… back home.” He suddenly looked a lot more uncomfortable. “I mean—I forgot what it all really was.”
“Uh… how long did you not…?” Rainbow trailed off, not quite sure how to finish her thought.
Gabe’s ear flicked. “A long time.”
Celestia, what did this kid go through?
A strange feeling filled Rainbow’s chest. The warmth was still there, but it was mixed up with something else. Something that squeezed her heart. She swallowed and awkwardly patted him on the back, putting on a brave smile. “Well, uh, good thing you got to remember, right?”
“Yeah,” he said.
Rainbow grinned. “Also, you’ve got some frosting on your muzzle.”
“What? Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” The colt crossed his eyes but didn’t spot the dollop of sugary pink right at its end. When she laughed, he wrinkled up his face and gave her an annoyed look. “Ha, ha. Really funny.”
“Well, that’s for sneaking up on me.” She chuckled and wiped it off with the back of her hoof. “C’mon, I think AJ still needs to meet ya...”
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Damn Gabe, wonderful shut down
'He' (the story) has finally returned.
Now let it finally retake its rightfull place on the trending page as we all continue to read this amazing story.
Its 5 in the morning for me...
I want to die.
I wonder if he's being vague about being an adult on purpose.
Aaaaa! All the feelings! Mystery, cuteness, sadness, satisfaction, suspense! I haven’t enjoyed new chapters of a story on Fimfiction like this in ages!
Ehh... Never really liked the CMC/DT/SS interactions in these kinds of stories. Writing dialogue for kids is one of the hardest things to do, but I feel like this managed to carry itself alright. 8/10!
Nice
It is rare to see them taking some level of 'being adult' as a reaction in these stories when confronted by a bully, very well handled. Not being all goody two shoes about it either.
Whenever I see a line like this, all I can think of is: Are ya winning son?
Well that's a nice channel and good to see DT and SS be shut down before their bullying can ever really start.
Nice chapter, i like how the story unfolds.
loved it
I think me and Gabe have a bit in common, I would have said something similar to Diamond and Spoonie the ass eater.
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I would assume so cause when he first woke up and talked about knowing Dash, he instantly deflected and made up a cover story. So right from the start he knew he had to lie about Information. However, that seems pretty much the ONLY thing he's lied about, well that and once being a human. But other than that, he has never hidden anything else. He literally talks as if he was an adult, and I don't mean Adult talk to Kid talk, I mean talking about his age, a 'long time ago', 'back when I was a kid' and so on. He's not hiding it at all, it's just the Adult Ponies are literally just stupid and not able to understand basic concepts, or how to add two and two to get four.
Took me that long to realize the obvious, Scoots is 100% jealous of Gabriel getting attention from Rainbow
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I mean, they only asked if he knew how old he is, not if he had a ballpark number.
Hm. What is it that makes this fic so enjoyable? It's strange, really. You do seem to receive a lot of good reviews for it. This is another great chapter, and I've observed a few things.
I'd say your style is generally very clear and concise, yet you don't hesitate to use figures of speech to give more oomph to some parts. Your style is in that regard balanced. Your narration also has this sense of balance. Every relevant pony gets their line, stuff happen outside the narrative focus (e. g. RD & the councillor watching the altercation), the characters feel alive (Gab buttering up Rarity, RD & Gab messing around each other, etc..)... I feel refreshed after reading a chapter like this one.
Daaaamn, gabriel putting diamond and silver in their place!
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Well, he is an adult talking to children.
Dude I am on the verge of being evicted and this is currently all I can pay attention to in my life thank you so much
I'm generally sick of CMC vs DT/SS. It's been done to death on this site. No, I don't care that DT's mother was revealed to be even worse late in the show. (from a writing standpoint it felt lazy as hell)
But this takedown was short, sweet, and to the point. Reminded me of watching an online argument of an adult (or someone mature) completely brushing off some pre-teen giving the tired "I slept with your mom" joke. Overall, very refreshing.
Finally, FINALLY someone writes an adult character dealing with those two like an adult and not letting childish insults get under their skin, even if they do poke at sore spots. I think that's one of the things I like about this fic the most, the secretly adult character actually acts like a functional adult. Even in published books far to often adult characters fail to act their age and behave like teens, but finally, as story where adults are all acting reasonably.
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I wouldn't say they're stupid, they just aren't expecting it. I mean, who would jump to the conclusion "This kid is a traumatized alien adult in a kid's body", even in a world of magic? They already have their own conclusions, and aren't seeing the signs because they have no reason to look for them.
Well I guess we can be certain that he was just recently in some kind of war or apocalypse. Signs seem to indicate he's killed people, and was good at it too.
Halfway? BUT I WANT MOAR
The way you wrote the interaction between Gabe and Twilight was basically perfect.
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Hey, don't die on us, story isn't even over yet
Also, I love how he was fishing for information from Twilight to find out which season he's in. It's fun to speculate this from the outside. I'm assuming he can tell it's somewhere between mid-season 1 (CMC are formed) and the end of season 3 (Twi's still a unicorn), and that her lack of mentioning Discord confirms he's more in the former than the latter.
God, it's a good story. I really enjoy the pacing of it, it so slice of life but without getting boring. Also, oh no, THE TRUTH DETECTORtm is here and she will most likely find out that Gabriel is not telling something
So who called post apocalypse?
(Well, it's always nice to see Diamond Tiara turned back... I hate bullying and bullies in general, so every time I see the pointless drama they create I really, REALLY get agitated. Fortunately, Gabriel seemed to handle things very well all things considered. Or at least, from a very satisfying perspective.
Now, Twilight has seen a hint of the darkness inside... I wonder... now we're going from 'military' to 'post apocalyptic'... frankly though, if it was post apocalyptic, it would probably have been 'early' apocalypse or the like. His home at least was destroyed... was it, as he implied, a 'natural' disaster? Or did war come to his home? Or was everything torn apart? It should be interesting to see.)
awesome chapter gabriel rostet those two bad apple's good. especially with silver spoon, she's could be good but dimond is just bad influence.
good world-building with sunny hills comment's on it there
Alright, Luna claims to have messed something up?
Gabe says something bad happened
The moon got all shifty once it heard that luna was best princess (guilt?)
I also can't stop Imagining future Gabe in a bar drinking beer smoking cigars saying: I'm the best there is at what I do, and what I do isn't very nice
I though it was strange he acted like this, I mean, a young adult talking about bad stuff and everything ? But the writing is good, the characters make sense so I stuck with it.
Good call, turns out he's probably even older than I though, and had a really tough life. This makes me curious, and that's a good thing.
He's growing on me, the magical accident is tied to his presence (most likely) and he'll most likely want to stay here, this will make a very interesting confrontation with Twilight and Rainbow.
Also he shut down DTSS not with threats or some superior high ground, he has experience and knows petty bullies run away at the first sign of resistance, to be honest I almost want them to be recuring characters, but that's probably just me.
Can't wait for the next chapter.
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Even if they didn't figure out he's an alien, they should be able to tell, since they literally live in a world of MAGIC with an AGE SPELL being a thing that exists, that maybe something is different about him. Cherrile made it very clear he was highly intelligent, 'Collage Level' for Math. Twilight basically got told somewhere had a Massive Disaster, which she will probably search up and never find. And Rainbow has had the biggest Red Flags planted all over her head, and throwing it all off without reason. "He has had a troubled pass" Does NOT Explain away 99% of the shit he says! Some you could maybe take to mean something different, but most of it, like the whole 'back when I was a Kid', as a Kid, doesn't make sense no matter HOW Mature or harsh of a life the kid goes through.
Yes, as some mentioned, Gabe being a functional adult, despite the obvious trauma, is the large appeal of the fic.
Besides the good writing and keeping everypony In-Character, that is.
There is place for some drama, but not too much of it.
Just the right amount, I'd say? :V
And I still don't wholly buy the "post-apocalypse"-theory.
The "very bad thing"-thing can still well enough be about a war-torn country, and him "doing only one thing very well" be about killing people/otherwise strictly-military work.
noice
Liking this story more and more with every chapter.
10744638
Don't throw up on her, she might try to adopt you.
10744516
I don't get that impression at all. To me it seems like he's being completely open it about it. But it's like it's such a given, that it hasn't occured to him to call attention to it. You don't usually point out to people that there's air in the room you're standing in, or that you're breathing. You just breath, and nobody really notices.
He's not being vague or secretive at all. He's jut not calling attention to the thing that seems obvious to him.
Why do I hear boss music?
Hmmm... I think there's some signs of a Dark and Troubled past. There should really be fanfiction bingo cards, make things extra meta.
Nice, this is a really good chapter. I love it!
It sounds like Gabe got himself a hell of a new game plus. Good on him for shutting down DT.
Over his head or simply didn't find it funny? I hate it when someone tells a joke and i fail to emote the way they wanted. They claim it went over my head and try to explain the joke which is pointless; i know why the joke is a joke it just simply isn't funny.
In this case curiosity overshadowed any laugh value the joke might of had...
Since when have the mature adults in Mlp ever known what they are talking about?
Nah... he's just smart and having fun.
Well that's ominous.
Thanks again Lynwood for another amazing chapter. Love the interaction between gabe and all the characters this chapter. I also love the pacing and slow build up your doing with reveling gabes past to the reader audience and the ponies in the story. Good luck with your next chapter, and as always have fun writing.
With this coming Applejack encounter we will see what triumphs, being right in the head and age, or Bullshit MagicTM
I think we all know what happens next. The princesses appear at the party. Clearly.
I am positively in love with your story, and I cannot wait to see what you will bring. Unusial to see such a reserved and... well... 'normal' protaganist.
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10744805
my instincts tell me he was a soldier before getting violently retired
10744629
My friend, when I said 'I want to die' I ment that metaphorically. Because as of sending this comment, I have had about... 4 hours or so of sleep.
But alas this is the way of the fanfic reader.
I ain't going anywhere anytime soon
.