What's Out There?

by Sharky White

Chapter Two

I see lights off in distance, indicating the town I was searching for.

"There it is..." I mumble hesitantly. I had been looking forward to this moment for years, but now that I was actually there... "I can't just walk in... Dad said to be careful. I gotta... I gotta meet one of the citizens alone! Yeah, if I can talk to one and get that one to like me, the rest will be easy." I reason. "But... who would be out here alone at this time of night?" I mentally ridicule myself. "Nopony, that's who. I don't think so anyway. Mom and dad were never out at this time." I clamp my mouth shut as I realize I'm speaking out loud. I was at a complete loss for what to do next. My parents had made it clear that for whatever reason, it would be hard for ponies to understand me, what I was.

"H-hello?" A voice calls from someplace nearby. I freeze up, shocked from being ripped from my thoughts.

"Lyra, what're you doing?" A different, grumpy sounding voice makes itself known as well.

"I told you Bon-Bon, I heard talking! I swear!"

"Is this like that one Nightmare Night when you swore you saw a ghost?"

"Hey! I really did!"

"Uh huh, sure. Get back inside, ya spazz."

"It really was a ghost! Honest!" The voices quickly fade, and I'm left frozen on the outskirts of the town. Luckily I had enough sense to keep to the forest, otherwise I might have been spotted. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, and start to think about what to do again. I smack myself in the head for my stupidity. I was supposed to be meeting ponies carefully, not avoiding two of the first ponies I had seen, other than my parents, ever. I left my cover, but the two ponies the voices had come from were nowhere in sight.

"Great... Stupendous, wonderful, fantastic, nice." I mutter quickly and sarcastically. I look around a bit. There were buildings everywhere, maybe one, if I knocked and went calmly, had one of my future friends in it. I figure that it's worth a shot, and start to gently tiptoe into town. There isn't a pony in sight, not one. I can't work up the courage to knock on any of the doors though, and I find myself walking back in the direction of the outskirts of town. On my way out, I finally gain some bravery and walk up to the very last house I see. It is a big, carousel-like building with tons of almost gaudy additions and ornate structures. I am even more nervous because of the fanciness of the building, but I force myself to breath deeply and knock. I sit and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

I knock again. Then, soon after, the door opens.

"What kind of pony comes by this la--" A tiny white filly with a light-pink, light-purple mane starts sleepily. She stops and slowly looks up at me. I clear my throat and get ready to introduce myself.

"H--"

"Monster!!" The little filly shrieks, slamming the door. I can hear her run screaming further into the home. All I can do is stand on the doorstep in stunned silence, mouth hanging open like an idiot. Then, the door suddenly opens again.

"Sweetiebelle, I'm telling you, a monster like that simply don't exist!" A new voice starts. My eyes fly open and I felt my forelegs drop to my side limply. The pony in front of me was an impossibly beautiful mare. Every single hair on her body seemed to sparkle and shimmer, and not a single one of her dark-purple mane hairs were out of place. She was wearing a cute little fluffy pink bathrobe. She turns to me, and I find myself immediately lost in her deep, pretty, light-blue eyes. "See, loo--"

"P-pretty..." I mumble dumbly.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" The mare suddenly erupts into a massive scream of fear, blasting me right out of my stupor. I flinch back, scared a little by her reaction.

"No no no no no! Shhh!" I try to calm her uselessly. With my attention on her, I don't even notice as a small crowd of ponies gather, reacting to the mare's scream most likely.

"Monster!" A voice cries out behind me. I turn to see a rather large crowd of ponies gathered. They look angry.

"No, I--"

"Get it!" One of the random ponies shouts. The rest roar in agreement and start charging at me. Instead of trying to talk, I take off at a gallop for the edge of town. They were a bit faster than me, but luckily the forest wasn't too far. I run for my life, and were I not running for my life, I wouldn't have had the energy to make it. The pure fear coursng through my veins gave me strength, and I manage to dive into the underbrush before they catch up to me. I can hear most of them stop cold, a few that can fly go over the trees, and just one or two run into the forest after me. I try to keep stumbling further into the forest, but in a matter of seconds, something slams into my back.

"Oof!" The 'something' grunts. From the sound of it, I had just been hit by a stallion. We slide along the ground, covering my front in... mud I believe it was called. I had never felt mud before, only seen it. The mud wasn't exactly at the forefront of my thoughts though, self-preservation still reigned.

"P-please! D-don't h-hurt me!" I shout pitifully. The stallion stands up and stumbles off my back.

"Y-you can talk?!" He shouts back. I curl up defensively the moment his weight leaves my back.

"Y-yes! Please! I j-just wanted to talk to her! I swear!" I ramble, my words pouring out quickly and coming out in a jumble.

"You talk..." The stallion mutters dumbly, clearly shocked.

"Yes!" I risk a quick look at him. He's a black stallion with a black and light-blue striped mane. I can't quite see his cutie mark.

"You... you said you just wanted to talk? I-is that some kind of trick?" He asks nervously. He didn't sound like a very brave pony on his own. He must have gotten swept up in the mob mentality.

"No trick! I swear! I didn't mean to scare her! I s-sorry... Sorry..." I found myself dissolving into a pile of whimpers and sobs. There was a very good chance that the crowd would find me and get me still. I was scared. After a few seconds of sobbing, the stallion trots over to me slowly.

"I-it's ok... Thingy..." He places his hoof an my shoulder comfortingly, like my father used to do. I calm down slowly, my sobs fade into nothing. "Uhhh... I'm... I'm Shadow Gale... Do you have a name?"

"M-my name is Star Watcher..." I stutter out. The stallions seems to become confused again.

"That name... It's so... pony-like..."

"My p-parents are ponies..."

"What? You look nothing like a pony to me..."

"I'm adopted..."

"Oh... then... what are you?"

"I don't know." I answered honestly. The surrounding sounds of pursuit and anger die away suddenly. I guess the mob had decided to go back to their homes.

"What in the name of Celestia are you doing in Ponyville in the middle of the night?" He questions more firmly, distrust seeping back into his voice.

"M-my parents never let me out of the house... I ran away only about an hour ago and came here..."

"Alright, this sounds a little fishy. Why would your parents never let you out of your house? Even then, why did you run here?"

"T-they thought ponies would... well, do what you all just did. I ran here because it was the closest town."

"What town were you in then?"

"Peachington. My parents own the candy store there." I gave a little extra informaion, hoping it would help convince them.

"Hold on, I've been to that store! If you know them, tell me their names."

"Toffe and Butterscotch! Mom calls dad 'Scotch' for short! My dad never takes off his 'kiss the cook' apron! The counter only shows hard candies, you have to ask for soft ones! We always run out of chocolate by the end of the day!" I shout quickly. The stallion blinks a few times.

"Whoa, I only asked for names... Star. That kinda proves it though... So... You came here to make friends?"

"Yes!"

"And you decided knocking on doors at midnight would be the best way?"

"... Look, I've been stuck in the same house for 18 years... I guess I wasn't thinking straight."

"Right... well... what to do... what to do..." The stallion begins pacing nervously, glancing at me every once in awhile. He sighs deeply. "Look, I can't leave you here, and you want friends. Would you like to stay with me for the night? I can try and help you tomorrow when everypony has calmed down a bit."

"R-really?! Yes! Please! That's so generous!" The stallion blushes a bit.

"No problem, it's the least I can do after tackling you into the mud." He mutters awkwardly. "Uhh... Wait here. I'll come get you when everypony is gone. Then we'll sneak you to my house, 'kay?"

"T-thank you! So much!" I cry, nearly grovelling. The stallion backs away awkwardly.

"Uhh... No problem... just uhhh... stand up and quit thanking me... It's... weird." He mutters. I stand up quickly and dust off my shirt and pants. The stallion takes his leave quickly and leaves me in the forest alone. I stand there, somewhat scared. Every single noise and motion startles me, causing me to imagine angry ponies coming from all directions to get me. I breath deeply and close my eyes, quickly calming myself down. Shadow re-appears in a few minutes, and he waves at me to follow him. We sneak quickly and quietly through the town. It wasn't until a few minutes into the sneak that something occurred to me.

I had just made my first friend.

Comments

[Out of Place]

Well things seem to be going swell so far.

[Knighthawker]

"...chocolate by the end of he day!"

I believe you left off the t.