Meet and Greet
CHP 10
Meet and Greet
(side note: Background music for beginning of this chapter)
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They sometimes say that fate leads the willing.
“Hey, hey, hey! Let’s all take a chill pill and calm down!”
They also say that fate drags the reluctant.
The tomboyish voice echoed through the lobby causing everyone to look at its owner. I was no different. But when I saw the perpetrator my eyes lit up in amazement. Only a few pony lengths away through the crowd I saw a white unicorn.
She was quite a spectacle to see with her electric blue mane and magenta glasses perched carefully on her horn. She was wearing a simple black shirt with some sort of strange looking robot on it, along with human shorts which might as well have been a full pair of pants. I stared at her intently. She looked too familiar for it to be coincidence. Beside her was a white earth pony gave her a nervous look.
The earth pony herself only appeared to have on what I could have guessed were medical scrubs. Her flank adorned a large medical cross that was only too familiar to me. It was not an uncommon site for most ponies who worked in hospitals to have a cutie mark similar to her’s, but I knew this one. I remembered her from Ponyville, it was Nurse Redheart. But what they had been staring at what was what had really caught my attention.
“Don’t tell us to calm down!” A blue unicorn across from them shouted in response to her white counterpart. It was obvious enough without even taking a second look to know who I was staring at. The white mane with a blue streak, her coat color, and those same deep purple eyes matched the picture of Trixie Lulamoon perfectly. As if to confirm it she even had her dramatic sparkling wizard’s cap and cape to match.
The white unicorn tilted her head to the side before she gave a shrug and stepped into a fighting stance, “Really now?” She asked smugly, “I was hoping to be the voice of reason, but if you start charging at me, I’ll fight back!”
“Reason? Funny, because every time we’ve tried to use it, we’ve been denied services. We were even chased out of a travel agency by some crazy guy with a bat!” Trixie countered as she shook her head. Her eyes quickly fell onto two humans behind Redheart and the white unicorn. “At least you’ve got people that others are willing to talk to without automatically wanting to spit in their face.” she cursed as she pointed to them.
“You think you have it bad!?” The white unicorn yelled back, her face beginning to fume, “Just earlier today, I was almost killed! Even with my friends there! Instead of one guy with a bat, how about having to deal with four mental people who chase you through a superstore! Each armed with something very deadly! And not much longer after that, I was almost shot at by an armed gunman!”
I flinched at those words. Granted I hadn't had the best of times since I had woken up the day before either, but just the fact of hearing someone actually having their life threatened made me shake slightly on the inside. Trixie however didn't seem impressed in the least. She closed her eyes and perked her nose up at the comment before placing a hoof to her chest.
“We sincerely doubt that any of that actually happened,” Trixie spoke, “we may have been dealt a bad hoof of cards, but we know that you just made that up to pump up your own grandeur to make yourself feel better when compared to us.”
“Make myself feel better than you!?” the white unicorn scoffed at her remark, “Bitch, please. Almost everyone in this room is better than you! At least I can back up my boasts with actual talent!”
Trixie’s eyes filled with rage before the white unicorn had even finished speaking. T A pink glow quickly formed around Trixie’s horn. At almost the same time the white unicorn’s horn began to glow a blue hue in response. Things were getting too far out of hoof now.
I didn't want to be any part of what was about to happen. Reflexively I took a step back before a voice suddenly called out.
“The both of you, enough of these threats!” the voice yelled catching everyone and everypony’s attention, “before you do something you regret,” It was only after those words had been said I realized three things.
The first was that the entire room was staring straight at me with dumbfounded eyes.
The second one was I was suddenly taking deep breaths like I had just finished screaming on top of my lungs.
The third, and probably most important face however was that the voice that had called out so angrily was my own.
My mind was quick to respond to the sudden attention. ‘What are you DOING!? GET OUT OF HERE!!!’ it screamed at me. The moment the thought had broke the surface of my mind however it was quickly silenced by a great eruption of collected calm. I began to walk towards the two mares confidently, any intimidation or fear I had a moment ago was lost. But then again, I couldn't even remember why I was afraid in the first place.
As I trotted towards the pair, I could felt all the eyes of the room descend upon me. The white unicorn in particular only gave me a glass eyed look as if she had seen a ghost. I ignored her staring along with everyone else’s. Trixie however only took a glance at me before she returned her glare onto her dumbfounded adversary.
The pink hue on her horn returned in full force as she directed it to the still shocked mare in front of her. Or at least she would have, had not my hoof quickly connected with her head, throwing off her concentration.
“This anger you have must quell,” I said coolly as if I was scolding a young filly, “there is no need for spells.”
“Listen, mohawk-mare,” Trixie hissed as she turned her glare to me. “We don’t know who you think you are, but where we’re from, when two people have a disagreement, others know to stay out of the way like they know not to get between a Cerberus and its meal.”
I sighed and shook my head before I gave her a hard look. The anger seething off of her was obvious, and seemed very familiar to me. As impossible as it sounded I was sure I had met this mare somewhere before. “I do not believe those ends, have earned you many friends.” I responded sagely. Trixie’s look hardly budged as she stared me down though.
“Zeccy!” a shout of glee erupted from beside me. I was suddenly thrown to the ground some sort of unstoppable force. To my surprise I looked up seeing the white unicorn giving me a large hug like I was some sort of long lost family member.
My cheeks went red from the sudden and unexpected invasion of personal space. I looked back to her in a bit of confusion,“...Zeccy?” I managed to sputter out as I looked at her joyful face. It suddenly clicked to who I was staring at. I didn't know of anyone who called my ‘Zeccy’, at least not till earlier this morning. It was Vinyl Scratch.
‘Fate... you suck’
“Oh, my, God!” another voice from the left caused both of us to turn.
There before me were two young colts I knew only too well. Snips and Snails. The two brothers had gotten their hooves into plenty of their own bit of trouble during my time in Ponyville, though I never had to deal with them much other than during Nightmare Night.
The two colts had been so afraid of my ghost stories of Nightmare Moon that they had run off back to home before we had even visited Nightmare’s statue. From what I had been told by their parents they had even slept together in the same bed for weeks. The look on Snail’s face however held no fear in it. If anything his eyes seemed to grow wide with enchantment as he gazed at Redheart.
“It’s, it’s, it’s!” “Redheart!” Snails swooned. He practically floated across the floor to the nurse “Me encanta!” He said as he bowed awkwardly to his hooves and puckered his lips.
I furrowed my brow as I looked at the strange sight. ‘But, Snails is just a colt... and... he’s speaking spanish?’ I thought as I watched him kiss her hoof awkwardly. Redheart’s face turned beat red as she turned back to Vinyl mouthing the words “Help me!” to her. ‘Well that’s certainly.... strange.’ I didn't get much time to think further into it however.
“Hey there, pretty lady,” a voice from my side forced my attention back to reality. I turned to see Snips staring at me with a large goofy smile as he was rolling over on his hooves. “I’m Enrique! But you can call me Rick if you want to...” he spoke softly in a tone that was far too mature for a stallion his age.
‘Is... is he doing what I think he’s doing?’ I thought to myself in distress ‘But he’s just a colt!’ It wasn't just his age that was bothering me. He was male. Wait... why was that bothering me? It just didn't seem to right at all. I refocused back on the colt still fawning over me as he took a step closer. ‘Oh gosh... he’s still staring, think brain, think think.’ my mind shouted at me
My cheeks were flushed red as I looked down Snips... or, I guess he said his name was Enrique, swooning in front of me. I finally took a step back as I began to grin sheepishly. ‘Come on, just say something, anything.’
“Umm, why hello, little fellow?” I stuttered out as I took another step back, still as big of a friendly smile as I could while I continued to backpedal. “I am not sure I see, if theres somthing you need from me?”
I took a final step back until I realized I had hit something. I glanced back to see Vinyl with a grin as large as a cheshire cat’s, “Look!” she called out amused, “Zecora’s black, white, and red all over!” I swear if embarrassment could kill I probably would have been dead to rights.
I glanced back to Sni- Enrique just as a pink hue began to encompass his tail without warning. He suddenly was flung backwards much to his surprise as Trixie’s magic dragged him back towards her.
“Terribly sorry,” Trixie said in a flustered tone, “he can get a bit obsessive about ponies he likes.” I sighed in a bit of relief from the reprieve I had gotten from my unexpected savior, taking a moment to get back onto my hooves.
“So what’s it like?” Snails called to Redheart. he had caught in Trixie’s magic as well. “Taking care of the patients I mean. It must get lonely, being there in the hospital with nobody but the sick?”
“Zecora, care to tell me about some of the things you see in the Everfree Forest?” Enrique cried back to me “I’m sure you see all sorts of exciting things,” A chill ran up and down my spine at least two times as I contemplated what he could have possibly meant by those words.
Trixie's magic did not keep the dangerous duo in her web for long however It began to falter on their constant struggling to free themselves. It wasn't long at all before they managed to break loose once again, and began to return to Redheart and I’s sides.
I jumped slightly as Enrique rubbed against my side affectionately, far too affectionately for me to handle. Just as he began however two large hands plucked him away along with his brother.
I sighed in relief as I looked back to the two humans who had grabbed them. “Someone, somewhere wants what you two have to offer, but it isn’t these two Romeo.” The dark haired one said to the would be bachelors as they slung them under their shoulders. At first the two tried to struggle themselves free again, but gave up after it was evident there was no way to get free again.
“You have no idea how much we wish to have thought of saying that a day earlier, Mr...” Trixie trailed off as she approached us.
“Luis Bonilla, but just Luis will do,” the dark haired man said as he tucked Enrique under his arm and extended his arm out to meet Trixie's hoof in a brohoof.
“Trixie Lulamoon,” The show mare replied, “Though of course you’d already know that.”
“There they are!” another voice called out to the already somewhat chaotic scene.
I turned back seeing a frustrated looking teenaged clerk pointing a red polished fingernail at us. She was by no means alone though. Beside her was yet another hulking security guard just like the one from the previous bus terminal. He was wearing the familiar striking blue pants with grey shirt, his hand laying on his holstered pistol in the same way police officers would give the “I’m in charge here” look.
“Gentlemen...” He paused, as if he was trying to figure out the best word choice for the situation. “Ponies?” he finally blurted out. In hindsight I guess it was the closest I would get from him. “I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the bus station, right now.”
. The blonde human holding Snails merely took a step forward to face the guard and clerk, “Sorry about that sir,” he spoke politely. “We were just leaving anyways.”
I looked back to Trixie as she pulled a bag up as most of the other’s in the small group began to do the same. I paused as I watched them begin to make there way to the exit. At first I wasn't sure what to do. My first reaction was to follow the rest of the small band out, but I hesitated for a moment.
What did I know about these ponies? So far one had threatened me, and another had...ugh... hit on me. I wasn't sure how well I could trust them. Even if Vinyl had been among them, it still was a bit confusing. On top of that they all made my head hurt. Memories about them popped up, even though I barely knew them. I stood there for another moment as I contemplated it further.
“Ahem,” The guard grunted. I looked back in his direction as he stared down to me, his hand still gently stroking the butt of his holster. It was only then that I realized that the entire crowd that had formed was still there, watching the only actor who hadn't left center stage. I froze as I stared back to all the eyes, my legs began to shakily knock as I stared back into the crowd of humans.
“Hey, Zeccy!” a voice called out to me, breaking me out of my paralysis. I looked back to Vinyl who had stopped at the door and looked back to me, “You coming or not!?” she waved to me.
“C-Coming.” I squeaked quietly again in an almost Fluttershy-like manner. I wasted no time as I quickly trotted out of the still open hole in the crowd to the exit of the lobby. I guess for better or worse I was going to be following them after all.
I followed the crowd slowly out of the station at a comfortable distance from the others. Vinyl and her company seemed to be standing around a silver prius that looked oddly familiar. I began to wonder if it was the same one that had nearly run me off the side of the road earlier. I severely hoped I was wrong about that.
The blonde human paused for a moment as he put his hand on the door handle to the prius. “Oh! Before we depart, how about we get the formal introductions out of the way?” He spoke before turning to look at me and then to Trixie and the colt brothers, “Well, that is, if you want to travel with us, since I’m pretty sure we’re all going to the same place.”
Trixie continued walking without missing a beat “Vaudeville and Broadway,” she answered calmly. “We’re okay with all of you just calling us Trixie.” She then pointed back to Snips and Snails, “The orange one is Snails, or Pablo as he prefers, and with him is his brother, Enrique, or Snips.”
The blonde human first pointed to himself, Vinyl, Redheart, and the other man while saying, “Well, my name is Luis Bonilla, but you can just call me Luis. Over here is Vinyl Scratch, or Gage. It doesn’t really matter to him what you decide to call her.
Right here is Redheart, or Serah as she prefers. Finally, this here is Merille Robichaux, or just Merille.”
I stared at the other two as they politely waved a hoof and a hand, but my mind was still on something else Luis had said. I tilted my head slightly while I tried to process why he had just referred to Vinyl as him and then so suddenly back to her. It didn't make much sense to me, then again I suppose these changes were affecting ponies in many different ways. It shouldn't have been a surprise to me that some would change genders. I took small comfort in the knowledge I had at least dodged that bullet...
I shook my thoughts as I realized everyone was now staring at me. It took me a moment to realize they were waiting for me to speak up, “Oh! Right sorry,” I flustered, “of course you mean me. My name with grace, is quite simply J...” I stopped as soon as the J left my mouth. ‘Wait J?’ I thought to myself. It was that strange name again, the name that colt had. But that didn't explain why I had just tried to address myself as it.
I shook the thought away as I glanced back up to them. “It’s Zecora,” I spoke quickly. That name seemed to come out much more fluid than the first, but I still couldn't help but feel something was slightly off about it.
Trixie seemed to give me a confused glance before she turned back to the others, “So, you’ve got transportation? We have gas money if you need it,” She offered.
Vinyl walked towards the car “Actually,” She began to say, “we have that covered. We recently got around five-hundred bucks before we left Mississippi. Though, if you still want to chip in, that’d be great.”
Luis and Merille began to adjust the back seats of the Prius to accommodate the new influx of ponies they were about to carry. Redhea... Serah now I suppose, looked to the sky to the setting sun. “Hey,” she spoke up, “you all realize it’s getting late. I saw a Holiday Inn while we were coming here, how about we get a room there for the night?”
‘Holiday Inn...?’ I thought in slight disgust. The so called hotel chain (roach motel was being much more accurate) was certainly not my first choice in living conditions. But that thought was almost immediately overwritten when my legs screamed in agreement to Serah’s suggestion. I nodded quickly in agreement with her, “Having rushed on hoof from town to town, I could certainly use a sit down.” I yawned slightly. Any bed sounded good right now, even a cheap one.
I sat down to give me legs their much deserved rest. I honestly didn't notice how tuckered out I had become from the days walk. No sooner had I sat down did I hear a gleeful chuckle and felt a presence at my side. My eyes went wide when I noticed Enrique sitting right beside me, as if taking in the air around us.
I quickly got back up and took a step or two closer to the Prius. To my dismay however the young colt didn't seem to take the hint as he got back up and took a step towards me and sat down once more.
That was more than enough for me. “Gah!” he yelped quietly as I shoved him slightly back with a hoof to his surprise. He looked up to me with huge puppy dog eyes. I gave him a stern look in return.
Thankfully this time Enrique seemed to take the hint as he got up and rejoined the others. He glanced back to me as if he was pondering something. I wasn't sure I wanted to even contemplate what he was thinking. I already had more than enough affection from him or any member of the opposite sex I wanted for the day.
Trixie didn't even try to hide her yawn, catching my attention once more. “Ah, yes” she added enthusiastically my comment, “we have wearied from travelling so much over the day.”
“Hey,” Vinyl quickly called out as she raised an eyebrow at Trixie, “when you say ‘we’, you mean you and the two dolts over there with the orange one close to Serah...again. Or is it like that outdated royal ‘we’ that I’ve seen this one guy use back at the Ren Fair?”
My ears perked up as I looked back to Trixie. I hadn't even noticed the way she had been speaking till now.
Vinyl’s words seemed to have an immediate effect on Trixie. Her eyes went wide as they began to dart from side to side before she gave an audible gulp, “Yes,” She finally answered flatly.
‘Well that was a little unexpected.’ I thought to myself as I looked back to Vinyl.
She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Luis before she had a chance to speak her mind, “Well, we have it set to fit everyone. Since I’m driving and Merille will be in the passenger seat, who’s sitting where?”
Serah spoke up quickly, “As far away from Snips and Snails as possible. I’m sure Zecora would agree with me.”
“I guess... that would be best.” I nodded rather quickly before I looked back to the duo. Enrique waved gently back to me before I quickly turned back in disgust to face the mares. “I’d rather not have another exchange. That last one was certainly strange.”
“Excellent!” Trixie announced excitedly, clopping her front hooves together. “They can stay in the trunk, we can take the folded seat, and you two can take the rest of the back seat!”
“So that means we’re set!” Vinyl said while adjusting her glasses, “Alright then, Dumb and Dumber, in the trunk you go!” She pointed to the colt brothers, “Oh, Trixie and Zeccy, I hope you don’t mind some J-Rock and Vocaloid tracks, as my MP3 player is hooked up to the car’s speakers.”
“I’ve never even heard of those genres,” Trixie responded before using her magic to open the door, “Is it like country?” she asked as she waited for us to enter the small car. Serah and Vinyl wasted no time in hopping aboard. I took a moment to look at the large step before I tried my best at clambering on board with the others.
Luis and Merille loaded up the other’s bags in with Pablo and Enrique, and then went to the front seats. I gripped onto my gourd protectively however. It was all I had, and I still wasn't comfortable with others messing with it ever since the incident with the bronies.
Trixie finally entered the vehicle and layed down beside Vinyl. Once again I had trouble getting comfortable as I layed onto the seat cushions between Redheart and Vinyl. I hadn't even bothered attempting to sit on my flank this time. I looked back to Vinyl who was attempting sit down in the human like style. I perked an eyebrow as I looked at her. It was practically impossible to find a comfortable position like that. It must have been driving her nuts, but if she was uncomfortable in any way she didn't seem to show it.
“Well Trix, J-Rock and Vocaloid will just have to be something I need to show you then.” The white unicorn laughed while she adjusted herself. I glanced back to Merille in the front seat as he grinned at those words and flipped a switch.
Suddenly the speakers in the car roared to life, blaring out music I had never heard. It wasn't long after that the car engine hummed quietly to a start as well. The music was by no means bad though. I found myself happily nodding to the beat as I hummed, trying to identify it. It almost sounded like something from my anime soundtracks.
“Hey Zeccy.” Vinyl’s voice cut through the music, “I see you like the song. Pretty upbeat, right?”
“Hmm?” I looked up noticing the grin on her face as she watched me. I grinned back, slightly embarrassed at being caught, “Oh yes this music I absolutely adore, but I don’t think I’ve heard of this artist before.”
Vinyl chuckled as she put her glasses back down, “Well, that’s because Hatsune Miku is first of all, really popular in Japan. Second of all, Miku isn’t even real.”
“I’m not quite sure I understand,” my ear folded to the side as I tried to understand what Vinyl was saying. I was never very up to speed with bands or celebrities, nevermind foreign ones. To me music was just music. It was either good or it wasn't. But still, there was a musician that didn't exist? If I had not been talking to a pony that was formerly a human I wasn't sure I would have believed her. “is it some sort of made-up band?”
“Actually, it’s a synthesized voice. Using a real life voice as a base, and then synthesizing it to make a whole new sound!” Vinyl exclaimed with glee. “Most of the time, they use a character to represent the voice. In this case, an anime character.”
I merely nodded as she explained. I understood... I think... “I didn’t think that a voice could be made that way, into such a sort of musical array,” I pondered out loud as I tapped my hoof against my chin.
“Speaking of anime...” Vinyl had paused and looked to my pack for a bit before she looked back to me, “I’m assuming you’re a Naruto fan? Or at least a fan of Gaara?”
I glanced back to my bag at first confused at what Vinyl had been talking about. My gourd? What had been so special about it? It took another moment before I finally remembered the Naruto series. I spent half my fillyhood watching that tv series, ducking out of homework just to watch it. “Oh, yes Gaara is one of my favorites of the show. I’ve only enjoyed certain anime’s although...”
I paused as I tried to think of a couple other shows, there were a couple... something called Dragon Ball Z... Gundam? The names seemed a bit familiar, but I couldn't help but feel I was forgetting a couple of the details to them. I glanced back to Vinyl who was still watching curiously, “But enough of me, what of you? What sort of things do you like to do?” I quickly added. Hopefully she would go for it.
“Well, before becoming Vinyl, my life was kind of boring.” Vinyl began, much to my relief, waving her hoof idly, “I was a hardcore role-playing gamer. When I wasn’t working a dead-end job, I mainly played stuff like Skyrim or listened to music. If I wasn’t doing that, I usually was at a friend’s house.”
“Though, by looking at her, it’d be kinda hard to believe.” Serah jumped in, giving me a soft smile.
I looked back to her, “Oh? how so?” I asked giving the earth pony a curious look. She had been mostly quiet during the car ride till now.
The earth pony chuckled to herself before she continued, “She’s one of the craziest people I met. In fact, whenever we were at Wal-Mart back in Louisiana, she actually had the nerve to crack a joke whenever we were threatened. Everyone else would have ran scared or gotten help.”
I flinched slightly when she mentioned being threatened and glanced slightly back to Vinyl who seemed to have tuned out of our conversation and switched to bugging Trixie. “I think I might be able to surmise how that could have come to arise.”
Serah raised an eyebrow at me, “Something similar happened to you, I assume?”
I began to feel uncomfortable under the nurse’s stare. “N..no, nothing has happened to me, I guess I’ve just been lucky.” I half lied. The thought of my mother with a can of pepper spray quickly came to mind. I tried my best to bury the image back to the depths it threatened to crawl out of though.
Serah stared at me with what was probably the best poker face I’ve seen. “Interesting. I thought for sure that you would get some hardships, but I guess I was wrong.”
I put on a slight smile to reassure the nurse. I couldn't help but feel I was suddenly under the microscope of her attention, “Well, I have faced hardships of my past, but nothing I could not outlast. Poisonous flowers and vines, monsters of all sorts and size. But nothing thats given much surprise.”
The nurse gave me one last look. For a moment she looked like she was going to ask another question, but at that moment we both heard Pablo yell out something that I didn’t quite understand.
“Doy gracias a dios!” Pablo yelled suddenly grabbing both my and Serah’s attention. There was a slight pause as everyone looked to the trunk before a voice finally spoke up.
“Hey, Trixie, do you have any idea what Snails just said?” Vinyl asked slightly confused.
“Nothing overly important, I’m sure.” Trixie said before she finally lifted her head to look out the window. “So I suppose you want to know who I was before all this?”
‘Did... she just try to change the subject?’ My ears perked up as I looked at Trixie. A change of subject from Serah was just what I needed.
“Well it would be interesting to find out, but if you don’t want to share it with us, I won’t press the issue.” Vinyl said nonchalantly.
“It would be interesting to share, if you wouldn't mind much or care.” I spoke up quickly before Serah could interject. I glanced back to the nurse, she gave me a suspicious look before resigning back to listening to Trixie.
“Alright,” Trixie caved, “University student, I was taking this fall off in order to get familiar with a few things I should have looked up when I was younger.” She paused as if in thought before she turned to the opening to the trunk “Pablo, Enrique, you interested in telling us what you did before we met?”
“I worked at a power sub-station,” a muffled voice from behind me, which I quickly identified as belonging to Enrique said, “patrolled it at night to make sure nothing went wrong. As for my brother, he was in Junior High.”
That explained a lot about the little colt’s actions from before. This “little colt” was in reality a full grown stallion. Somehow that did little to comfort me.
“That... explains quite a bit actually.” Trixie trailed off before she faced us again.
“Hey, I’m not sure about you guys,” Luis called from the front seat, “but I’m really hungry. How about we stop at a diner and get us a quick bite to eat?”
I gulped slightly at those words. I still had some money left, but that was reserved for my ticket back home. I idly shuffled my wallet out and looked at the single fifty I could probably have used for the entirety of my trip “Oh uh, well if thats best I’m unsure, my funds are somewhat insecure...”
“No problem,” Trixie responded quickly. “We can cover the meal for tonight. What do you see, Luis?”
I backed down slightly and just let them continue. It was a little embarrassing to just take Trixie’s money so lightly. I hated the idea of being a freeloader, but I didn't have too many options for now. I’d just have to be grateful for this simple gesture of kindness from an almost complete stranger.
Luis looked to his right and said, “Well, there’s a little place called Rosie’s Diner. How about there?”
“If there is no disagreement.” Trixie said as she looked to all of us. I simply kept my head down and nodded like everyone else. “Alright Luis, Rosie’s it is.” Trixie nodded with delight.
The human pulled into the parking lot and brought the car to a stop. Not long after five ponies, one zebra, and two humans entered the diner. It was a old style nineteen fifties diner, the sort that you see in all the old movies and television shows. It even came complete with the old style soda tabs placed in front of the cashier’s counter. The counter itself was made of a large piece of steel, almost running the length of the diner with red-upholstered stools in front of it. Along the sides were plenty of booths with the same upholstery.
A waitresses approached us as we walked in and asked how many people. I was too distracted taking in the site as Luis had told her how many of us there were. Soon enough we were set at the window seats in the middle of the diner.
I sat down at the table and was soon joined by Serah. Unfortunately the seats across from us were quickly taken up by the two brothers who were quickly becoming tiny terrors. Enrique gave me a slight wink before I took him out of my veiw. ‘I guess earlier didn't damage his spirits in any way,’ I thought to myself frantically.
I gulped as i looked at the nurse who was giving me the same sheepish grin I had. We both didn't waste a moment longer as we hopped out of the seats and joined Vinyl and Trixie.
I glanced back as I saw Pablo almost jump out of his suit before he was stopped by Merille “Hey, let’s talk, us four, ‘kay?” he said as he towered over the two colts. I wasn't sure where I could have begun in thanking the human. That was the second time he took the bullet for me. I grinned slightly as I turned back to the other mares at the table.
Soon enough the waitress returned with menus in tow. As she laid mind down on the table I quickly extended a hoof out for it, only to be faced with a familiar problem. Even with practice hooves were still not very good for gripping...
I quickly began to experiment with the menu, carefully gripping it between my fetlocks and opening it up with my mouth. Just as I had gotten it open, its companion suddenly burst to life in a pink aura as it hovered over to Trixie.
It amazed me how seemingly effortless everything was for the unicorn. I found myself actually slightly jealous of how effortlessly she wielded her magic compared to my blundering hooves. I had to remind myself for a moment I had some sort of magic myself, but still telekinesis was certainly an envi. The moment her eyes met mine however I quickly brought them down to my now open menu. I was sure however she knew what I was thinking.
Trixie finally looked back up to the waitress satisfied with a choice,“Vegetarian pasta for us, we suppose. We’d risk meatballs, but we didn’t really enjoy the prospect of sausages for my first breakfast... As for the drink, ice tea please.”
Vinyl wasted no time to start her order, “What she said, and a diet coke.” The waitress didn't respond as she merely kept writing on her small pad.
I glanced down at the menu before looking back up to her. I didn't want to spend much of the money that truly wasn't mine, “I guess a salad will do for me, along with umm... uhh sweet tea?” I asked hopefully.
The waitress nodded, then inclined her head to Redheart, or Serah, as she preferred. Serah didn’t really bother looking at the menu. “I’ll just take a salad as well. With a glass of water.”
Scribbling down the last of the order, the waitress headed to the kitchen.
Trixie brought her front legs onto the table and braced her hooves against each other. She looked away from Vinyl for a few moments before she opened her mouth, “We suppose you are owed an apology.” she finally said.
Vinyl looked stared at the blue show mare and rubbed a hoof on the back of her head, “Ditto. We did get way too out of hand... er well, hoof now, I guess.” she said light heartedly.
“Agreed,” Trixie replied. And suddenly things were quiet at the table once more.
‘Well... I guess it took a little time... but at least they apologized.’ I thought before I put my hooves on the table and relaxed a bit. ‘I guess I would be asking a little too much to get an apology for the “mohawk mare” thing.’
Eventually the waitress came back with our drinks and splayed them out on the table in front us. I carefully prodded my sweet tea over to myself. However pink and blue hues covered the ice tea and diet coke as they floated over to their respective owners.
As I finally finished coaxing the sweet tea over to myself there was a gasp, then the clink of glass on the table. Before I knew it water had covered the entire surface of the table. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” someone cried.
“Ayyai!” Trixie yelped in surprise. I looked up just as Trixie took hold of the napkin holder with her magic and pressed it against a large puddle of water that used to be Serah’s glass of water.
“You ask for the refill; we’d probably be rejected.” Trixie said as she swiftly brought more napkins onto the growing puddle.
The nurse gave a silent nod before picking up the now empty glass with her mouth and walked off. Vinyl soon broke the silence when she looked back to Trixie, “You know, we’ll probably be travelling with each other’s company for a while. How about we take the time to get to know each other better?”
The magician nodded in agreement. Serah returned just in time, full glass in mouth, and the waitress in tow, our meals balanced on her arms. Setting us up, the waitress smiled at us, then went to the other booth where the boys had been sitting. “I’ll get your meals in just a minute,” she said to Luis, Merille, Pablo, and Enrique.
“Very well, we shall start.” Trixie took the initiative, “We woke up like this two days ago, and began our travel to New York since yesterday. That was when we met with...” She tilted her head to the other booth and nodded towards the others. “Them. Enrique was still human, but halfway through the trip he fell asleep at the wheel, crashed the car, and turned into a pony. Then we had to march through some backwater town, contacted Zecora, and the rest...” the magician leaned back in her seat. “Is history.” With that said she levitated her fork up to her pasta.
Vinyl raised an eyebrow at the show mare. “Is there a reason that Enrique fell asleep at the wheel?” she asked suspiciously, “Was he narcoleptic or something? Or does becoming a pony suddenly make someone sleepy?”
“Were we to hazard a guess,” Trixie responded between eating a couple wads of noodles, “we would say that it was the latter. Particularly considering that just after, Discord showed up.”
Vinyl, who was drinking her diet coke, suddenly spat out the drink right into Trixie, “Discord!? He’s here!?”
My eyes probably doubled in size at those words. Honestly I would have laughed at the scene as Trixie took another napkin to dry her face. But the thought of Discord being present eliminated any humor, or anything remotely near it. I shook as I thought of what the horror was capable of.
While most of the Everfree had been spared Discord’s wrath, much of the it’s paths to Ponyville had become a nightmarish scene as the wild trees began to move on their own accord. As they did the scenery in the forest quickly began to change at random. Plants and creatures that were usually harmless and even friendly had become ravenous and dangerous.
I spent much of the crisis in my hut, locked away from the horrors that laid outside of it. It was one of the few times I was truly afraid of the forest. ‘And now he is back... here.’ I gulped.
“Well, here in the relative sense, we suppose, here on Earth,” Trixie assured, not that it helped much. “He’s in all likelihood responsible for this whole mess, unless some poor sod woke up as him and couldn’t handle it.” She looked back to me after finishing cleaning her face “What about you? Anything else to make the musical blowhard spoil my cape some more?” Trixie asked in a total deadpan.
I shook my thoughts of Discord out of my head, “Oh me?” I asked as if to confirm it, “Well, there is not that much at all to say.” I waved a hoof idly “I woke up like this the other day. I only set off this morning, by bus; I’ll admit it was boring.” I glanced back to Serah, eyeing me suspiciously before she turned back to observe her water. I could tell she knew I wasn't being honest... well.. I wasn't being completely dishonest either.
I felt the flood of guilt return as I looked to the three mares that had picked me up and taken me in so far. It felt worse than when I had lied to Roger. The bus driver had only been curious when he had asked me about my past, but these three probably had a right to know at least something about me. After all, the most I had done for them was break up a fight.
I managed to fight the guilt back down however. As bad as it seemed, they still didn't need to know anything about my past. All that mattered was merely getting to New York with them. My personal history would merely give me undeserved pity, which was the last thing I wanted.
“I guess it’s my turn.” Vinyl said as she wiped the rest of her soda off, “Well, to begin, before I became Vinyl this morning, I had actually just graduated from high school, and was working a dead-end job as a cashier. I became Vinyl this morning, actually.” I guess she enjoyed the fact that she had become this unicorn. “The two humans behind me, lifelong friends who helped since this crazy adventure began. I ran into Serah here at Wal-Mart this morning, only to be chased out by that crazy extremist group against ponies. I was in Mississippi when I was caught up in a gas station holdup and was in a laser tag tournament that I lost in. Also, I actually met Zecora on Facebook then. Then we got lost and by chance, met you guys at the station.”
So it was true, this was really the same Vinyl. A slight smirk formed on my mouth as I thought about the coincidence. ‘Screw you fate indeed.’ I joked to myself.
“Right,” Trixie spoke in a sarcastic tone.
Vinyl stared back down to her food dejectedly, “I remember how you basically called BS on my story back at the station when arguing, but I’m dead serious. In fact, if you want me to, I could show you the news report that was made on it.”
“I’ll wait for the security footage to show up on Spike TV one of these days,” Trixie said mockingly.
I flattened my ears against my head. As unlikely as Vinyl’s story was,it was still a little insulting to blow her off like that. I didn't say a word though as I idly poked my salad.
“Well, I guess it’s my turn now.” Serah giggled a bit, “I worked at a local hospital back in Louisiana. I was more of a paperwork person, but I did see a patient or two now and again. It was actually pretty early in the morning when I became Nurse Redheart, as Vinyl had stated. So, from the hospital, I travelled on hoof to Wal-Mart, since I didn’t have a car. It was Vinyl who came across me in the Pharmacy section, and well... You know the rest from Vinyl.”
I continued to idly poke my salad as I stared at the fork that was mocking my hooves again. It felt an odd sense of deja vu from the night before as I initially tried to grasp for it only to reach my hoof back. ‘*sigh* Well, there’s no point in letting it just sit there.’ I thought as I was about to bed down to dig into the bowl once more.
What surprised me was as I looked at the fork one last moment it jumped to life in a pink hue. The silver utensil then pierced a few leaves of the salad and floated idly in front of my mouth as if it was waiting.
I glanced at the fork and then back to Trixie, who just had a thoughtful smile on her face. “Oh, um thank you,” I said sheepishly before I took a bite. As embarrassing as being spoon fed was, at least I didn't have to dif my muzzle blindly into the salad bowl this time around.
A chuckle was heard from Vinyl as I looked over in our direction, “... Gallons of shipping fuel right there.” she said, causing blood to rush to my cheeks once again.
‘Thanks Vinyl... really needed that image in my head...’ I thought to myself as I looked back to Trixie. The blue mare looked about ready to smack Vinyl before Redheart suddenly tapped the white unicorn on her shoulder. When Vinyl looked back at Redheart, her expression immediately dropped as she got the hint.
“Sometimes, I really hate you Karma...” she muttered as her horn began to glow.
I chewed on my salad idly as I watched Vinyl reluctantly spear a few leaves into Serah’s salad. I guess unicorn magic wasn't all it was cracked up to be after all.
“Gracias!” Pablo’s voice declared, before the sound of his muzzle slapping into whatever dish he ordered echoed through the diner.
I took another bite from the fork as Trixie turned back to face the boys at the other table. She turned back “If that’s what happens to you for teasing us, imagine what we had to do to get that guy.” she spoke quietly
Vinyl chuckled at the statement before noticing that her drink was already empty. “Damn. My drink is empty already. Need a refill.”
I stared at the cup curiously. A cool feeling of calmness rushed over me as I looked at the cup. It seemed like such a bother suddenly only to force a friend to get up for a simple drink. I took it into my hooves, much to everypony’s confusion. “I don't think there’s need for distress,” I commented as she placed her hoof on top of the lid, “It just requires a bit of finesse.”
It was a simple matter. I closed my eyes for a moment as I let let my thoughts calm. Suddenly the cup felt cold again as the sound of ice in liquid being shaken returned to the cup. I took a moment to admire my handiwork, before I realized what I had just done.
The cup was full of soda again, only I didn't know where it had come from. It just appeared out of nowhere like magic. This time however I knew it was magic, zebra magic to be precise. I had done it again, but, the problem was it wasn't me who did it. It was something else.
I quickly let go of the cup, almost letting it tip over. The words from my meditation quickly returned to haunt me.
‘You will pass away from this place, as another takes your place. Nothing left for you but to give up, even a zebra cannot refill this cup.’
Suddenly a loud squee broke me out of the memory. “Zecora, I now officially love you forever!” Vinyl shouted as she hugged me, and knocking me out of my shock. I quickly glanced around at everyone.
“What was that about shipping fuel again?” Trixie interjected. She then lifted her iced tea in front of me and shook it playfully “Don’t suppose you could fill it up with Bailey’s?”
Vinyl finally let go and crossed her hooves over her chest in an irritated gesture before laughing, “Oh shut up Trixie.”
I tried a to laugh with Vinyl but only managed a hesitant chuckle, “Oh.. uhh well I suppose its worth a try,” I said as I took the cup. ‘Alright, come on... you can do this. You’ve already shown you can do it, just remember what your twin said... just relax, and concentrate.’ I tried to encourage myself.
I must have sat there for a few seconds, but this time there was no sound this time though as she looked back to it dejectedly “Or... well... fie.” I said dejectedly as I ‘let go of the cup. It should have been easy. The other me could manipulate entire clouds of smoke with ease, and here I couldn't even figure out how to make tea reappear in a cup.
Trixie merely sighed in response and took the cup back to suck the ice cube dry. I looked back down to my salad and thought about all the problems I had been going through today alone. Everything was still too confusing. But not everything seemed horrible. When I looked back up I noticed the other three mares at the table again. All of them were smiling and enjoying themselves.
It took me a moment before I noticed I was smiling too when I looked at them. ‘Maybe... things are still confusing, but maybe, that’s ok.’ I thought as I looked back to the three.
“Others are out there for you to befriend. Trust in them, and you will succeed in the very end."
The words my other self came back to me as I watched the three mares enjoying themselves.’I guess just trust them, and everything will be ok.’ With that thought I finally relaxed and carried on with the others. Perhaps the worst of things really was over for now.
___________________________
Meanwhile two other mares are having similar problems.
Trixie and Vinyl
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To all the people following this story, just want to say this
Now that you finally got this out, we'll be able to begin the real work again.
Yay!
That comment about passing was a bit creepy O-O.
FORESHADOWING FTW
Thanks for the bonus! Good luck with the rest. I know where your coming from. I'm a perfectionist and it really gets on my nerves.
Good morrow to you!
A little edit is needed in the description.
There should be a pronoun between those two (preferably 'I').
"Not long after five ponies, one zebra, and two humans entered the diner."
This sounds like the set up to a really strange joke.
This still makes me nervous. really hoping you're not taking the route one of the twilight's did and having the personality be overwritten :S
If I had to guess, your little bits of dishonesty are giving Discord an entry point into your head. After all, when you laughed and told the truth, your feelings of unease seem to vanish.
Another chapter? That was fast and I love those pictures that you add on these stories
I can't wait to know how will this friendship is going to continue and how that warning of being replaced will end
You have won a favorite, good sir
Yay! I'd say something more interesting, but if I did, it would take hours because I'm crazy that way.
2521536 those were comments i made when i was currently in "insane" mode. i was literally out of my mind XD
One of my more funnier moments im sure XD
2521446 and actually it is just the mom who is a P.A.P.A
See what i did there?
Gets really hard to read this chapter 3 times. >.>
Good story though. Nice artwork as well.
You know, this little comment really pissed me off. I used to work in a Holiday Inn Express. I worked hard to get those rooms spotless, no matter how disgusting the guests were. I'm sure some individual hotels are like that, as with any chain. That doesn't mean all or most of them are.
Okay, now that I have that rant out of my system, I can speak rationally about this. I really like this story, aside from that comment. However, I must point out that you should really work on your vocabulary a bit. I've noticed a number of misused words in this story.
I won't be tracking this because there's really no need to. I like the PonyEarth concept enough that I'll probably stumble upon it again.
thats so sad zecora lost her memories of when she was jace that is sad
Well, losing her mind she is, isn't she?