Back To The Start

by Spooky

One More Mug Of Cider

The warmness of Celestia's sun crawled slowly through my fur, moving closer to my face. I managed to realize that I was lying on my left side but not quite sure where. Without opening my eyes I tried to roll into my back and rest on my right side, but something stopped me. I analyzed the form of my "bed" and came to the conclusion I was laying on a sofa, or at least that seemed to be the most probable possibility.

I didn't dear to move too much, afraid to raise the pounding pain on my head. What I did dare to do was to open my eyes, just to found the bright sun light hitting them and making me closed them almost immediately. Shuffling a bit on the improvised bed, I let out a disgusted whimper as I felt my mouth with a slight taste of vomit, the single thought of throwing up gave me nauseas.

Taking deep breaths, I stayed with my eyes closed trying to keep under control of my probably empty stomach. Once I felt better I rolled in one side again and opened my eyes, making sure that the sun wasn't directly pointing at my face. I took a brief look around, recognizing this wasn't Caramel's house, or any other house I knew, and then remembering that I didn't know any other pony's house here. Not caring much about it right now, I lay back again and closed my eyes to see if a bit of the dizziness of my head disappeared with a bit of rest.

I stayed a couple of minutes like this, still lying on my back. Memories of what happened before unconsciousness came to my mind, letting it wander through them; also in an attempt of finding out I got to this unknown location.

Thunder dragged his hooves back to his table with Soft, holding two glasses on his right wing and one on his hoof, wondering how he made it through that dance floor in one piece. When he finally reached the table, the mare's eyes set on him as he saw him walking.

"Well, look what the universe finally brought back. What took you so long?" Soft questioned as she chuckled slightly, but her face suddenly changed when she saw the brown pegasus sat on his respective seat with a defeated grumble, from a teasful one to a concerned one. "Oh uh... I know that look."

"Let's just forget about it" Thunder mumbled not even looking at the worried mare, his ears falling slightly, making him look even more devastated.

"Forget about what?" Soft replied half joking, half serious. "You haven't even told me what happened... And you owe me a story."

The pegasus looked deep on his glass, looking at his reflection, analyzing the restless look on his own eyes, making him look as if he hadn't slept in days. A heavy sigh escaped from his throat before putting his glass on his mouth and leaning his head back, drinking the rest of it (that wasn't just a bit) and making a wince as he did. After all he still had full glass left.

"I'm not going to escape from that now, am I?"

The mare shook her head, just as Thunder expected. He looked for the right words to start after he let out another tired sigh. Clearing his throat, the pegasus began what he knew it would be a weird narration.

"Well... It all began back to high school a few years ago, right after Heart Warming's Eve. I was in sophomore year by that time... Anyways, second period had just begun and I was going through a... identity issue" He frowned as if he had his mouth full with something disgusting. "Back then I was kinda struggling with myself, my life was falling apart because of this." He made a pause.

Soft gather all what Thunder was telling him, starting to understand what maybe was bothering the stallion. "Wait... Are you..." she used Thunder's pause to talk, only to be interrupted by the pegasus.

"We'll get to that soon..." He quickly said. The mare just nodded slowly. The pegasus expression remain serious, he continued his story, not without a good sip of Pinkie's special punch first. "I wasn't very sociable or talkative, didn't care much about it at first, I thought I could manage on my own just fine... I was wrong." He turned his head to look at Soft, a somehow sad smile crossing through his face. "You know, I've never been on a relationship, I mean, not in a serious one, just fooling around"

Soft seemed to get a bit nervous as the other looked right into her eyes, a pink color tinted slightly her cheeks. "Are you hitting on me?" she asked directly.

Thunder couldn't hold the laugh, making the yellow mare shuffle on her seat, even more uncomfortable. When he finally stopped Thunder explained himself.

"No, no… I didn’t mean it like that." he said as he shook his head. "I was explaining how that has to be with all this issue."

"Oh... Alrighty then" she said relaxing again with a sigh and running a hoof through her mane. "Sorry 'bout that, I just don't need another freak behind my tail"

"Wow, thanks for the compliment" he muttered turning dramatically his head away with a false annoyance.

"Aww c'mon, I didn't mean you were one... You haven't sniffed my hair while I wasn't looking, so you're fine." Thunder's eyes went wide, slowly turning at her again. "Don't ask."

"Oookay I guess..." he chuckled before clearing his throat, going back to his narrative voice. “The thing is... I've never had a serious couple not because I didn't want to; it was because I never found the right pony. All the mares I've been... I just didn't feel the spark, even when they wanted to start something... But the times I started something I ended up being honest and telling them that it didn't really feel like a relationship, more like a nice friendship. And sometimes they did as well..."

"And I-I understood all that when..." He gulped before continuing, hoping that the mare aside him would be okay with what was about to say. "When I met him..."

"Okay so… Let me get this straight before I get another wrong conclusion." she started waving a hoof to make the pegasus stop. "You are telling me that you are..."

"A coltcuddler?" he cut her off before she could finish. Soft froze for what felt like an hour when in fact was just two seconds and then nodded hesitantly. Thunder sighed, closing his eyes as he continued. "If that's what you're thinking..."

"Oh n-no I'm sorry, I-I-I didn't… I just..." she tried to apologize, but the pegasus interrupted her again, finishing his own phrase.

"Then you're right." He said plainly, looking at his hooves. The poker face that had formed on his face was almost perfect, except with the hint of sadness that shone on his eyes. Soft's mouth hanged open; she certainly wasn't expecting something like this. The silence took over between the two ponies, it would have been uncomfortable, or more uncomfortable than now, if the music weren't still pounding the place and the great number of ponies weren't talking around them.

After a minute, Soft closed her mind and tried to come up with something to tell Thunder, though this new information had caught her too off guard. She finally asked the first thing that came to her mind.

"Who else knows... a-about you?" Her voice volume went a tad lower than before.

"In the town, just you... And my cousin teases me about me liking stallions, though I'm not sure if he actually knows" Thunder said looking at her again; he could see her eyes full of doubts and questions. The brown pegasus had always seen things from the pessimist perspective, so he expected the worse to happen.

"Look, if you don't agree with things like this I understand..." his eyes drifted away from hers.

"No, I-I have no problem with it, a-at all" she nervously replied, defending herself before the pegasus continued. "It's just... You caught me off guard."

"Yeah that usually happens" he muttered, chuckling awkwardly. Soft just stare at him, as if she was scanning him with the eyes. He used the time she was silent to continue. “As I said, I had the answer to all my doubts after I met him…” The pegasus closed his eyes for a brief moment before sitting straight and sighing loudly. “His name was Jet… Jet Feather, the new guy from Celestia knows where by that time. Dark blue coat, black mane, some pair of light sky blue eyes. Nothing that impressive to be honest, but by the time, that Pegasus was my first serious crush in a long time. I was in my junior year by the time he arrived, still much of a dumb colt back then, even if it was just a couple of years ago…” The brown Pegasus trailed off.

“He was sweet, tender, caring; all that shit that would make any guy look fantastic on everpony’s eyes. He was my first, umm… m-male couple, ever. Before him I wouldn’t have thought about coltcuddling, but he actually showed me who I truly was, that’s something that I have to honestly thank him for, maybe the only thing though.” Thunder clenched his teeth softly at the bitter memory, washing it with sweet Pinkie’s drink, his mug half filled now. “The short version is… We had a fight after several months together, almost a year maybe. We were dating in secret of course, I was still afraid of coming out to everypony. I discovered what had happened with his ex and that he was just trying to use me to get him jealous. Some rough things were told, some true came to the light... But what I’d never understand was his way of reacting after we broke up.”

The Pegasus took a few seconds to catch his breath, gulping loudly. “He… he spread through the whole school about my s-sexual orientation when I was still not ready, trying take revenge on me, saying around that I was the one who betrayed him and that I cheated several times on him. Most of our friends leaned on his side, and the few that didn’t decide to stay neutral.” Thunder paused, dragging his sight to the ponies on the dance floor in front of him. This remembered him much his graduation party. He, sitting on a corner with a drink, drowning on his own pitiful party with any strong drink he could find. “I was alone, the only ones that supported me and believed me were my family, who thankfully took pretty well the umm… sudden coming out.” He chuckled dryly. “So… That’s mostly it.”

Soft was dumbfounded, her mouth slightly hanging open the whole time she heard the stallion’s story, a couple of apologizing eyes finding Thunder’s ones. After some seconds, she finally closed her mouth with a gulp, her mind racing to formulate a proper answer to this situation. “Gee, I’m… really sorry to hear, buddy” she mumbled sighing, biting in the inside of her cheek. “I can’t imagine how tough it must have been… What happened after all that?”

“There’s not much to say after that.” The brown Pegasus declared, his eyes sticking down to his hooves once more, a hint of sadness could be seen on them. “I… I just could not stay there… I needed a change of environment, start again and do things right this time, you know?”

“Do things right?” She questioned frowning. “What do you mean? You didn’t do anything wrong, it’s not your fault that Jet Featherbrain had become Mr. Asshole.”

“You actually believe me?” he questioned in a mumble, gazing lazily at the yellow Pegasus.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Soft Floor smiled warmly, taking a full bite of her cupcake. “You seem trustworthy to me.” She added sincerely. The brown Pegasus smiled back, feeling relieved. Soft’s smile disappeared as she started coughing, hitting softly her chest with her hoof.

“T-Thank you, that really means-“ Thunder stopped seeing that she wasn’t getting any better. “You okay there?” The mare shook her head as she started coughing louder, expanding her wings. The brown Pegasus moved closer to her and gave her a strong tap on her back. Something that Thunder couldn’t see flew out from her mouth, but it was actually too big for being stuck on somepony’s throat.

“Guh! I hate when that happens!” Soft whined as she gasped for air, coughing a few times more making sure her throat was clear again. Thunder stared in the last direction he saw whatever it was the thing Soft was choking on “Now I understand how people actually die like this, as ridiculous as it sounds.” She laughed, putting her potential murderer away. “Thanks by the way.”

“No problem, wouldn’t like my first friend in Ponyville to die few hours after we met.” Thunder chuckled back, offering her the glass of punch, or what was left of it, so she could calm her throat from the recent attack. She accepted nodding in thanks, wincing a bit as she felt the strong alcohol washing her mouth.

“Ah, nothing like a good sip of Pinkie’s freaking special punch… Celestia knows what she puts on this thing, and not everypony can handle until the second one.” She declared as she raised the glass on her hoof, watching it as if it was the most divine nectar.

The stallion, biting his lip at Soft’s commentary, looked at his considerable group of empty glasses and cleared his throat, shuffling a tad on his seat. “I-I guess I’m not one of those, then.” He chuckled silently, focusing on his head to see if he was still conscious. Since he could watch both of his hooves without falling any side, he decided that he was still ‘sober’.

“Well, you better not be.” She smiled evily, standing from her spot and dragging Thunder from his tail. “’Cause I’m not planning on get drunk alone tonight.”

“H-Hey! What are you doing?!” He said struggling a bit to get free, but just like what he did with Pinkie, the Pegasus let himself get dragged with a grumble. “Where are you taking me, anyways?”

“Taking you for a dance, big boy.” She said cheerfully, easing her grip when they were on the middle of the dancing mass of ponies. “It’s the tradition for every new pony in Ponyville.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Thunder asked irritated, trying to avoid any pony that could accidentally bump into him.

“Yup, but c’mon, it’s your new town.” She said actually bumping playfully on his side, if he hadn’t been prepared he would have probably ended up sticking to the wall. “You said you wanted something new, so here you have it. Now, stop complaining and have some fun.”

“Oh, you wanna do it this way?” he asked bumping back, a sincere smile slowly formed on his face. “And, by the way, I’m not always such a downer.”

“I don’t see you proving it to me” She said in a teasful tone, dancing herself into the partying dance floor. Thunder shook his head giggling as he followed her, knowing that he would end up regretting this, but either way he was going to at least try to enjoy.

The pounding on my head got me back to reality, making me grumble as I rubbed my temple with my left hoof, hoping that would ease the throbbing pain, even though I knew it was useless. The silence on the room would have been perfect if it wasn’t because of the annoying clock hanging from the wall right in front of me, strangely louder than any normal clock would, or maybe it was the hangover, which always made annoying things worse. Finally gathering the enough will and strength, I slowly sit on the fluffy couch, grumbling while I changed position, the room moved oddly around him. I made an effort to try to keep my sight under control and not pass out again. That’s when I sensed the smell of something being cooked; the sweet aroma reached my nostrils making him smile lazily.

I finally got up, taking a few seconds to get used to my shaky legs to take a step. Walking closer one of the windows, I realized I was on some kind of apartment, a condo maybe. I followed the sound of the cooking and the smell until I finally reached the place that seemed to be the kitchen. A yellow mare was standing there, whistling happily some known melody, shaking softly the frying pan full of hay and eggs, each move releasing a tasty smell. Her eyes moved at my direction, a grin grew on her face.

“Look who finally decided to wake up?” She said teasing, turning the stove off and looking for a big plate. “I was wondering if I’d have to throw you out while out while you slept or a good shower on the couch would have been enough.” She pointed at a glass of water with a big smile.

“Haha, very funny” I managed to mumble, grabbing my head with a wince. My hooves moved towards the little table that looked like a dinner table, each step was an annoying earthquake on my brain that kept my eyes barely open. “How did I get here, anyways?” I asked dumbfounded.

“Oh, I dunno…” Soft said sarcastically, serving our breakfast, or maybe lunch, and a couple of mugs of black coffee. “Maybe you just teleported here after you slaughtered all those barrels of strong apple cider at Pinkie’s.”

“How much it was?” I questioned with a sigh, leaning my head on the table, closing my eyes trying to imagine how much it would take to get me on this state.

“Can’t really remember, I stopped the count after the fifth mug of cider.” She sincerely said, taking the meal to the table. “I have to be honest here; I really didn’t think you were going to be able to put all that in your system.” She laughed strangely loud, the sound reaching my ears producing an unpleasing sensation. I sighed deeply again, lifting my head as much as my hangover allowed me, letting her set the plate and cups of coffee on the table.

“Was it really that bad?” I questioned a tad sad, the common sense and throbbing pain told me that what she was telling me was truth.

“I wouldn’t exactly say bad… You seemed to have fun at the very least.” She tried to cheer me up. “You are quite a bipolar after a few mugs though.”

“Aren’t like that all raging drunks?” I asked again, carefully moving my hoof to the warm cup of coffee, somehow making me feel a bit better. It was still too hot to start drinking it though, I normally used to drink it when it had cool up a little.

“True, but you’re not a raging drunk, I can tell you that much.” She declared frowning, filling her mouth with the tasty-looking food and munching slowly. “Believe me, I’ve seen worse guys.”

“Yeah, that makes me feel a lot better.” I shot back, letting my head hanging, taking a few deep breaths to calm my stomach down. I knew I wasn’t going to throw up again, but the annoying feeling of nauseas was still there. “Seriously though, what stupid thing did I do this time?”

“Well, to begin, you got really drunk, I guess that’s obvious.” She started, keeping her eyes on the coffee. “We danced and managed to get out of ya some good laughs. After you almost passed out I dragged you to the bar table again and started babbling about how miserable your life was after you left Jet.” I grumbled under my breath, shuffling uncomfortably on my seat. “And, while all that happened, the two of us managed to make disappear at least 2 barrels of cider… So, yeah, last night was fun.” She giggled before releasing a deep yawn.

“Celestia, what did I say?” I muttered, both to myself and Soft as I rubbed a hoof through my temple. I didn’t want things to be the same as they were back to Manehathan, what was the point of changing of city if I was going to the same one I was there? “Did somepony else notice?”

“Not really” She casually said, taking a sip of her coffee. “After we got away from the dance floor, I don’t think anypony else saw you on your drinking party… Well, our drinking party. Don’t worry; I managed to take you out of that place before you started singing some blues ballads. Wasn’t easy to bring you here when you were trying to take off though.” A sudden thought went through my mind, making me gulp almost as in a reflex.

“Umm, Soft…” This was a bad idea, but I needed to know. “We didn’t, uh… I mean, if you…” I left the words on the air, hoping that she would understand.

“Did what?” She asked confused, she seemed to realize after the light blush attacked my face. The mare let out a loud and teasing laugh. “Hahaha, oh God. My sides!” She managed to say, wrapping her hooves around her stomach, making an effort to keep her balance on her seat. I sat there, clenching my teeth, waiting for her to finish with her laugh attack. “Oh gosh, you should have seen the look on your face.” She said, finally breathing again.

“Are you done yet?” I questioned grumbling, starting to get annoyed again.

After she was able to hold the giggles left, Soft wiped the tears on her eyes. “Yeah, oh man, sorry. I just couldn’t help it.” Soft said with a goofy smile. “But c’mon, really? How did that even crossed through your mind?”

“I… I dunno.” I looked down, barely moving my head side to side in embarrassment. “I’ve done some… stupid things in the past when alcohol was involved.” I admitted with a slightly ashamed voice, after all it was better to ask instead of living with the doubt.

“Yeah, I think you told me about a few of those times last night.” Soft stated a bit more calmed now. “And just to leave that clear… No, Thunder, we didn’t get laid.” She had to put a hoof on her mouth again to hold the new growing laugh.

Instead of trying to save my pride, I limited myself to shook my head slowly, irritated. Now, after enough time for my coffee to be as I like it, I took the mug closer to my muzzle and took two long sips. The shock of warm and strong taste of the drink woke me up completely, blinking several times and shaking my head a bit to fade the last few bits of dizziness.

“How are you not hangover anyways?” I questioned, curious about how Soft Floor didn’t show any signs of suffering any of the usual effects of the after-partying. Actually she looked radiant, her mane combed, her eyes and face well-cared, making breakfast without any troubles. I needed to learn her secret. “As far as I know you swallowed as much alcohol as I did, if that wasn’t more.”

She chuckled taking a mouthful of her fresh breakfast, trying to say something between the eggs and hay. I raised both eyebrows and shook my head, trying to figure out what she just told me. She lifted a hoof, motioning me to wait while she swallowed her mouth’s content and hitting her chest with her other hoof to make the food flow down. At least this time she didn’t choke like last night.

“I said; a lady never reveals her secrets.” She stated, in a poor attempt of sound graceful and delicate. The laughs came almost like a reflex, my free hoof flying towards my mouth to stop a louder laugh.

“My excuses, Miss Floor.” I teased her after I was able to talk between the chuckles. “I didn’t know this mare here save her methods of avoiding hangover as a secret.”

“And that’s only the start.” She added, winking as she drove her mug to her mouth. That’s was when I realize I was actually having fun with her, despite the pounding on my head, the restless feeling on my body and her sometimes goofy and annoying attitude. Anypony would think this situation was weird, a coltcuddler waking up in some mare’s house who met like half day ago on a party. I had to accept, I was glad that I ended up in Soft’s house, knowing my record it could have been much worse.

“From you, I would believe anything at this point.” I managed to chuckle back before munching the first bits of the breakfast. It wasn’t exactly gourmet cooking, but it sure was something that I’ve never cooked before, and probably never will. The plates were quickly emptied, finishing them with no more conversation in between.

Some belly rubbing and limb stretching later we stood up from the table, I offered and took the dishes to the sink, she said that she would wash them later. Instead she started cleaning her house, throwing the pillows on the floor to the couch were I slept, it wasn’t until then when I realized the disaster I make of that sofa.

“Did you fight with a buffalo in your dreams or something?” She questioned, putting the last pillow on its place before jumping on the couch, landing softly on it. No wonder why pegasus’ had a reputation about being really light, specially mares.

“Even if I had fought with a real one, I probably wouldn’t remember it.” I replied with a gentle chuckle, dragging myself at the window again. The clock close to it caught my attention again, this time paying more attention to it I realized how late it was.

2:37 pm.

“Well shit…” I mumbled to myself. Caramel was probably going crazy by now. Well, he was the one who couldn’t go to the party and he was the one pushing me to go. On the back of my mind I felt bad for it though, after all it wasn’t his option to not go, his work was calling. Speaking of which… Probably it was a good idea to do so right now. “Hey Soft uh…” I said a bit unsure, the sun outside reassure the hour in the clock was right. “Is it okay if I can use your phone? I need to let somepony know I’m alright.”

“Sure, it’s in my room. Let me get it for ya.” She said as she stood from the couch and walking down through the little corridor,

Her apartment was big, at least bigger than I’ve ever seen; the decoration told me that she had somehow an expensive taste, the Canterlot type. Unless you live up there or something similar, you can only see this places in magazines I looked around the apartment carefully, even I had to admit this place looked nice, and never really expected to find something like this in Ponyville.

“Who are you calling?” Soft’s voice sounded from the corridor, she brought back a skateboard shaped phone. Okay, that was odd enough. Wait, why a skateboard? And where I’ve seen that before? My answers came when my eyes caught the particular little skate on her flank; I just realized her cutie mark was a red skateboard, which gave me no clue what it meant, maybe she was good with it, I don’t know.

“My cousin, the one I’m staying with, it’s a local call so don’t worry.” I said replying to her question. She threw the phone towards me and I caught it in the air before it stomped in my face. “He’s probably panicking by now so I better let him know I’m okay.”

“I’m sure he’s alright.” She said lazily floating towards the couch again. It was actually cool to have a place where you could fly around without bumping into stuff, another plus for Soft’s apartment.

As I made an effort for trying to remember Caramel’s number, I walked back to my spot close to the window. Finally dialing the number, I gulped while it sounded the waiting tone. I waited for several seconds but there was no answer, I decided to hung up and try dialing again, just to make sure. Every tone got me more and more nervous. What was that pony doing?

The phone rang loudly, screaming to be answered. It rang and rang several times but nopony picked it up. Anypony would think the house is empty after so many times calling, except that this time that statement was an exception.

The tan earth pony was lying down on the living room couch snorting loudly, the right side of his face burying into one of the pillows. Every time the phone rang Caramel mumbled and shuffled in the couch deeply asleep, not showing any signs of will to answer that phone more than a few grumbles and no sense words. His unconscious preferred to let him sleep rather than answer the annoying phone. It was probably one of those companies offering some cheap useless product.

The phone didn’t ring again after the fourth try.

I pressed the red button on the phone, hanging up the phone feeling slightly frustrated. Maybe he was out or he didn’t hear it… Yeah, sure, after all those times somepony from outside the house would have heard it ring.

“See? Nothing to worry about.” Soft stated from her comfortable looking spot, throwing a hoof forward in a teasful way.

“Actually, that only worries me more…” I muttered looking at the skate shaped phone before hoofing it back to Soft. A endless list of possibilities spread across my mind, what if he was looking around the town? Or something happened to him? Caramel isn’t the type of pony that leaves something hanging just like that. “I should go back there and see if he’s okay.”

“If you think that’s appropriate…” She teased, rolling her eyes as she playing idly with a pillow. “I’m still thinking that he might be out or asleep or something.”

“I don’t know…” I said taking one last look outside the window, studying the kind of neighbor I was into. I didn’t recognize the location though, never seen it in the little time I’ve been here at least. “I don’t even know where I’m staying at. Where am I anyways?”

“North of Ponyvile.” She simply replied, lifting a hoof upwards. “More like north center actually. I wanted to get a room at the university campus but my parents insisted in paying this place for me.” She tilted her head towards me, rolling her eyes. “It’s further the way I’ll have to go through, but with these that won’t be a problem.” She finished flapping her wings a bit.

“Umm… How far we are from Sugarcube Corner?” I questioned, running a hoof through my mane. “I only have like two days here so… Yeah, I have no idea where I slept today, just that it is your apartment.”

“It’s not far from there, you have to follow Mane Street to the south and you’ll find it. It’s quite useful that almost the whole town is based in that street.”

“I guess that will make things easier.” I mumbled tiredly. Despite I slept several hours in row I still felt the charge of tiredness in my body. The only thing spread on my mind right now it was to come back home, make sure that Caramel wasn’t freaking out and, after all that, lay in bed until something else pushes me to get up.

The room filled with an uncomfortable environment, I was just standing there while Soft laid on her couch playing with her hair as she looked at the roof. I decided that it was already enough time invading her house.

“Hey uh, I’m gonna be leaving now… Don’t wanna bother you more.” I started trying to not sound awkward; she didn’t seem to notice at the very least. “Thanks for letting me stay here last night and taking care of me from… well, myself.”

“Don’t mention it. I have to admit, I had a fun time last night, despite all your rambling at the beginning.” She chuckled moving herself in a sitting position. “Never actually had a gay friend before either, maybe that’s the key.” She teased rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

“If you say so…” I laughed, rolling my eyes, which afterwards looked for the exit of the apartment. A question popped into my head before I walked closer to the door. “You said you were beginning at university this year too, right?”

“Indeed… I think semester starts next week or something.” She said looking around for turning his head around, probably looking for something. Seconds later something that looked like a schedule was in her hooves. “Yup, next Wednesday I start with my classes.”

“W-What career did you signed up for?” If she says Weather Control I swear to Celestia I was going to hang myself from the neck in a light pole.

“Art classes. Theater, literature, stuff like that.” She replied with a casual tone, shaking with a hoof the little schedule. “What about you?”

“Weather Control.” I said plainly, biting my lower lip as I remembered with who I was going to have that class in the future.

“I thought about that one when I still was in high school…” She muttered tilting her head a bit lazily. “But I fall into the conclusion that wasn’t meant for me, too much physics and science.”

“I think it’s worth it… Anyways, I’m just making time here.” I said opening the door.. “Again, thanks for everything.”

“No problem.” She smiled with a wink. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Right.” I nodded slowly, shooting back a friendly smile.

“We should hang out before the whole class period starts again. What do you say?” She asked cheerfully. What was with ponies asking me to hang out in this town? Oh well, I accepted one already, another from her won’t hurt.

“Sure, sounds great.” I replied nodding again more confidently.

“How about Friday?” I clenched my teeth softly. Hell, why did she have to ask that day?

“I umm… kinda busy that day, I-I’m going to set some things of the university and boring stuff like that.” I rushed to give my reasons before she could suspect anything. It wasn’t technically a lie, I was checking on my admission and see if I got luck finding a room at the campus… with somepony else that for some strange reason of the universe looked almost like my ex-coltfriend. “What do you say about Saturday?”

“If that’s more comfortable for you, sure. Where and what time?” She asked, she didn’t seem to matter my last weird reply.

“Well… I don’t know anywhere else besides the Sugarcube Corner, the place where I’m staying and yours so… I guess it’ll be Sugarcube Corner.” That seemed to be a great meeting place lately.

“How about if I give you my number and we set things up later? I can give you the indications when you’re a bit more rested, ‘cause I’m pretty sure if I tell you right now either you won’t listen or remember half of the things I said.” She laughed a bit, pointing at me. I wondered how bad should look my mane right now. Before I could answer she was already writing down on a notepad the phone number, She ripped the paper from the pad and hoof it to me, saving it under my wing since I didn’t have anywhere else to save it. I loved my wings sometimes, very useful to carry thing when you don’t have a bag or clothes with pockets.

“Better safe than sorry, I guess.” I stuck out my tongue after taking the paper from her hoof. “Well, see you later Soft.” I waved farewell as I walked out the apartment.

“Bye Thunder, and take care.” She added before I closed the door. “Try to not get into any mess on your way there.”

“Same for you, crazy girl.” I yelled back through the door once it was completely closed. I laughed to myself gently as I shook my head, what a day. This was probably going to be one of the weirdest, full of surprises arrives on a city I’d ever have. What was I expecting from it anyways? This might be exactly what I was looking for, except for the little detail of certain pony around these places. A frown crossed through my face, it was impossible not to think about Jet every time I see or imagine about Cloud… Not that I think about him that often. I mean, come on, what were the possibilities of finding somepony who looks just like your ex only with a different attitude?

I was so focused on my own thoughts that I didn’t realize how odd I should look standing there by myself, also didn’t realize one of Soft’s neighbors staring at me with a confused look on her eyes. As always for me in these situations, there was one word to describe them. Awkward.

I gulped as I started trotting towards the stairs, avoiding the eyes of the staring pony, the sound of my hooves echoing around the corridor made it even more uncomfortable my hurried getaway. My mind was set on coming back home and get some rest, I was dead tired, and unfortunately tired enough to fly back to Caramel’s house.

Once I stepped outside the building, I looked around, analyzing my surroundings with care in an attempt of orientate myself. Even if it was a middle week day the street seemed oddly empty, or rather calmed, maybe it was time to take a nap after dinner or something. I decided to play it safe and walk back home instead of flying.

So, summarying, I managed to met somepony new in a party without breaking down the entire place or making a fool of myself. Well, at least not that much. For a new town I’d say that things are going pretty smooth until now, though this is only the beginning.