Chapter 8 - New Guy in Town
After waiting a few minutes for Spike to catch his breath, the six mares stood back a bit as he got back to his feet. They stood in front of him and watched as he got over the last of his fatigue, before Twilight finally addressed the young dragon.
“Spike, you’ve got some explaining to do. You were supposed to keep an eye on the girls. Why did you let them run off?” Twilight asked in a gentle, yet firm voice.
Spike raised his claws in front of him defensively. “I tried, Twilight, but they bolted before I could stop ‘em! Besides, there’s no way I can keep up with a pony. I mean, what did you want me to do? Tie them down or something?” He asked, crossing his arms in indignation.
Twilight rolled her eyes at her assistant’s attitude. “Well, no, I suppose not. You’re just lucky that we ran into them to stop them from doing anything foolish. Well, for the most part anyway. They did give Braxton kind of a hard time, though.” She said, remembering the little incident from earlier.
Bringing up the topic of Braxton’s beatdown got Rainbow Dash snickering again at the memory. “Hehehe! You should’ve seen it, Spike! Apple Bloom and Scoots just ran up and beat the snot out of him like it was nothing! It was too funny! Hahahaha!” Rainbow was laughing almost uproariously at this point, while the other five ponies glared at her disapprovingly. A few seconds later, she finally regained her composure long enough to catch the looks her friends were giving her.
“What?” Dash asked, throwing her hooves up questioningly.
“How can you be so crass as to laugh at another’s misfortune, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked, still holding her glare.
Rainbow rolled her eyes at the alabaster mare. “Pfft, whatever. Far as I can see, the thing had it comin’.” She said with a huff.
“How so?” Asked Rarity.
Dash opened her mouth to retort, but found herself coming up short. “Well... uh, there was... um...” The others stared at her awaiting a response, while Dash racked her brain to remember an instance where the human had done something to justify his punishment.
After a moment or two of stalling, Rainbow Dash hovered above the others and looked down on them in anger. “Look, that’s not the point! Point is that Mr. Big Bad Manticore Chaser over there got put down by a couple of fillies! No way anything that weak could’ve driven away a manticore all by itself.” She said with finality.
“We were all caught off guard by the girls sudden arrival, Rainbow, not just Braxton.” Twilight said matter-of-factly.
“I’m sorry, but who exactly is this “Braxton”? That’s kind of a weird name for a pony. And what’s all this about him chasing off a manticore?” Spike interuppted.
Pinkie bounced in front of him with her usual cheerful smile and said, “That’s ‘cause he’s not a pony, silly! He’s a human! See?” She pointed a pink hoof in the direction of her friends, who parted to give Spike a good look.
Spike’s eyes went wide as he beheld a tall, two-legged creature draped in a long, black coat. It was talking to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and looked to be having a mildly heated discussion with the de facto leader, Apple Bloom. The young drake felt a tinge of fear crawl up his spine as he stared unblinkingly, mouth slightly agape. Finally, after a moment of utter speechlessness, he gave the most appropriate response one could think up, given the situation.
“Holy horseapples! What the heck is that thing?!!” Spike shouted nearly at the top of his lungs, pointing a claw in the direction of the human. A move he almost instantly regretted, as the human whipped his head towards the frightened dragon. After quickly muttering something to Apple Bloom, the human began to slowly stalk up to Spike, until it were barely two feet away. Spike was obviously terrified at this point, as the being’s frame towered above his own, casting a shadow over him.
Spike snapped his eyes shut for fear of being hit or attacked in some way. But the strike never came. Tentatively, he cracked one eye open. Then the other. What greeted him was the human extending one of it’s arms outwards and raising one of it’s claw-like appendages, in a similar fashion to a hoofshake. It wore a large, friendly smile, and looked down on the dragon with eyes not full of malice or bloodlust, but goodwill and affability. Then, the human spoke.
“Sup, little dude? Name’s Braxton.”
***************
-A Few Minutes Earlier-
“That’s ridiculous!” Braxton exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air.
“No, it ain’t! They’re real, Ah tell ya!” Apple Bloom said, stomping her hoof in frustration.
Braxton blew out a huff of disbelief and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right. So you’re telling me that rainbow colored apples just... magically appear on your family’s orchard and are somehow used to make the best jam in town? Now I’ve seen some crazy stuff today, but that’s just not possible!”
“Yer not possible!” Apple Bloom retorted.
Braxton paused for a moment and made a quick mental note to contemplate the meaning of his existence later, before biting back with his own witty response.
“Oh, yeah?!”
“Yeah!”
“Well, I say these ‘Zap Apples’ are nothing but a crock!”
“And Ah say that they ain’t!”
“Are so!”
“Are not!”
“Are so!”
“Are not ta infinity!”
“Are so to infinity plus one! Ha!” Braxton said with a smug grin, figuring he had won.
“Are not ta infinity times infinity!”
“D’oh! Curses!” Braxton exclaimed, knowing full well that he had been beaten. Now it was Apple Bloom who wore the grin of smugness, puffing her tiny chest out with pride at having won the debate. Braxton on the other hand simply grit his teeth and bitterly accepted his defeat... for now, anyway.
And to think all of this started with a simple question about liking apples.
“Holy horseapples! What the heck is that thing?”
The two bickerers were startled by the sudden exclamation, and whipped their heads towards the shout. There, surrounded by Twilight and her friends, stood Spike, knees quaking slightly and pointing directly at Braxton. The two had been so wrapped up in their argument that they had almost completely forgotten about his arrival, up until now, that is.
Spike’s green eyes very nearly burst out of his skull when Braxton faced him, and Braxton recognized the look in them, as he had seen more than a few times that day. Sweetie Belle had it, Zecora had it at first, and Fluttershy seemed to still have it. That look was fear. Fear of him, to be specific.
Furrowing his brow at the thought, Braxton made it his goal to show Spike that he meant no harm. He swiftly turned back to Apple Bloom and said, “You may have won round one, but mark my words, this ain’t over.” Apple Bloom merely gave him a challenging look that screamed “Anytime, anywhere.” before heading back over to her friends.
Braxton took in a deep breath, exhaled, and adopted as casual a stance as possible before sauntering over to greet Spike. ‘Okay, just play it cool, Brax. No sudden moves, remember to smile. Little guy’s already shaking in his scales, I don’t want to make an even worse first impression.’ He thought as he stopped about arm’s length away from Spike.
Braxton raised his arm up for a handshake, but it was no sooner that he had done so that Spike shut his eyes hard and clenched his teeth, as though bracing for an attack, just like Sweetie Belle had. Braxton’s smile faltered at this, but he would not be deterred. He stood and waited, arm outstretched, until finally Spike got up the nerve to crack one eye open, and then the other.
Braxton put on his best smile as Spike looked up at him, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. After a brief bout of silence, Braxton figured it best to introduce himself first.
“‘Sup, little dude? Name’s Braxton.”
Spike simply stared up at the human, mouth slightly agape, with a look like his brain had just blue-screened. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two as Spike stared and Braxton stood, hand still presented, waiting for a reply. When none was given, the human decided to try to coax the conversation in a more riveting direction.
“...Um, you’re Spike, right? Nice to meet you. By the way, to answer your question, I’m a human.” He said, still hoping to get some kind of response out of the little guy. Spike still stood there dumbfounded, however, until Twilight reached over and smacked him lightly cross the head with a hoof.
“Ow! What the hay, Twi?” He said, rubbing the back of his head.
“Spike, don’t be rude! Say something!” Twilight said, pointing back to Braxton, who still had his hand out.
Spike, having finally snapped out of his trance, returned his attention to the human, and spoke up. “Oh! U-Uh, right. Yeah, I’m Spike. Spike the dragon. Nice to meet you too, um... Braxton.” He stammered out, as he reached up with a claw to meet Braxton’s hand.
‘A dragon, huh? Heh, called it.’ He thought to himself as he grabbed the dragon’s hand and gave it a shake. Spike seemed to relax a little as Braxton did so, his posture relaxing and becoming a lot less tense. ‘Looks like he finally gets that I don’t wanna hurt him. Good, I wouldn't want to get on a dragon’s bad side, even if it is a small one.’ Braxton mused, his smile becoming even wider at the thought.
“So, you’re a dragon, eh? Fire breathing, wings, and all that?” Braxton asked, slightly skeptical.
Twilight came up next to them and said, “Well, yes and no. Spike here is just a baby dragon. He still has a long way to go before he can do all of the things a full-grown drake can.” Twilight gave Spike’s head spines an affectionate ruffling, causing Spike to furrow his brow in annoyance.
“Hey, knock it off, Twi, you’re messing up my spines! And I’m not a baby anymore, I just haven’t reached my growth spurt yet!” He added, “Plus, I can breath fire, y’know. ...Well, s-sort of, anyway.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke.
Twilight put a hoof to her mouth and giggled at the dragon’s show. “Okay, Spike. Whatever you say.” She said patronizingly, making Spike even more annoyed in the process.
Braxton couldn’t help but smile at the obvious brother/sister dynamic the two had going. He could tell that the pony and dragon really cared for each other, even though they probably weren’t prone to showing it all of the time.
Twilight turned her attention to Braxton. “How do you know so much about dragons? Do they exist where you come from?” She asked curiously.
Braxton shook his head. “Nope. In my world, they only exist in myths and stories, much like unicorns and pegasi. Though, from what I can tell, those myths don’t seem to be too far off from the truth.” He said.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Spike interuppted, “What do you mean by “in your world”? Are you saying that you’re... an alien?!” Spike’s eyes shined with excitement at the prospect.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Braxton said, nodding.
If it were possible, Spike seemed to get even more excited at the confirmation. “Whoa!! That’s awesome! So do have all kinds of cool alien tech, like phasers and flying saucers? Or maybe some kind of teleport beam? How about some super hyper advanced space gadgets? Oh, you gotta let me check ‘em out!” Spike was smiling broadly, imagining all of the amazing things the human had in store.
“Hohohohohahahahaha!” Braxton couldn’t suppress a hearty laugh at the dragon’s child-like behavior. “Well, how about this, Spike?” He said, “Why don’t I tell you all about my world when we get to... Ponyville, was it? You did want to ask me some questions as well, right, Twilight?” At the mention of her research, Twilight’s eyes widened in excitement.
“Oh, yes! That’s right!” She exclaimed. She turned to address her assistant. “Spike, I want you to gather up the CMC and take them home. Don’t let them out of your sight this time, okay? And when you’re done, hurry over to the library. We’ve got some notes to take! Oooh, I can’t wait!” She said giddily, causing Spike to roll his eyes in amusement, but still give off a firm salute to her request.
“Hold up there, Spike.” Applejack said before he could set about his task. “Ah want ya ta drop Apple Bloom off at Sweet Apple Acres first. Tell Big Mac that Ah’ll be over at Twilight’s fer a while, an’ that Ah said that Apple Bloom is grounded ‘til further notice. Ah’ll fill him in on why when Ah get back. Ya got that?”
Spike nodded and said, “You got it, AJ.” before going over to where the CMC stood chatting with each other.
“Alright, everypony, let’s get a move on. We’re losing daylight here.” Twilight said to the group. They all nodded in conformation and set out to move towards the town.
“WAIT!” A squeaky voice called from behind them. The group turned towards the voice to see a small unicorn filly galloping towards them. She stopped in front of Braxton and looked up at him.
“Braxton, you’re going back to Ponyville, right?” She asked. He nodded. “Oh, okay. Well, how long are you gonna stay?”
Braxton shrugged. “Dunno, kiddo. Probably as long as it takes for Twi to finish asking her questions.” He stated.
“Oh. Okay...” She said, sounding a little sad.
“...You alright, Sweets? Seems like you got something on your mind.” He said, concerned.
“It’s just... you said that you were a traveler, so... I just figured you wouldn’t be staying for long...” Sweetie trailed off, but Braxton understood what she was getting at. Leaning down, he rested a gloved hand on her head and ruffled her curly mane.
“Hey, don’t worry, Sweetie. I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere anytime soon. But, when I do leave, I’ll make sure to say goodbye before I go.”
Sweetie’s expression brightened at Braxton’s words. “Really? You promise?” She asked expectantly.
“Yes, I promise.”
“Pinkie Pie Promise?”
“Yes, I-- wait, what?” He asked, confused. Pinkie Pie bounded up next to the two of them out of nowhere, flashing her trademark smile.
“A Pinkie Pie Promise,” She explained, “is the biggest, most serious, super-duper importantest oath anypony can ever make! Nopony can ever break a Pinkie Promise!” She craned her neck up to meet Braxton’s face until they were nose to nose, narrowing her eyes to thin slits.
“Nopony.” She hissed in an almost demon-like voice. Braxton gulped and nodded several times, not wanting to know exactly what the pink pony would do should he ever be dumb enough to break one of these oaths.
“Anyway!” Pinkie said, going back to her usual chipper tone of voice, “It goes like this! ‘Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!’” Pinkie performed the accompanying motions to the oath, starting with miming an X over heart with a hoof, fluttering her forelegs, and ended by covering her eye with a hoof, mimicking a poking motion.
“A... cupcake... in my eye?” Braxton said, slightly dumbfounded at the odd ritual presented to him. Pinkie nodded rapidly in confirmation, sending her poofy mane bouncing everywhere.
Shrugging, Braxton turned back to Sweetie Belle, cleared his throat, and repeated the lines he had just been taught. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” He said, performing the movements just as Pinkie had.
Sweetie beamed and hopped up to Braxton, throwing her tiny hooves around his neck in a hug, and nearly causing him to lose his balance and topple forwards from the sudden shift in weight. Braxton put his arms around the filly and stabilized himself, not wanting to fall and risk landing on top of her.
“Awwwww!” He heard a chorus of voices echo from behind him. He peeked over his shoulder and saw five of the six ponies looking at the two with happy smiles on their faces. Even Rainbow Dash wore a small smile at first, but attempted to hide it with a cough the instant she saw Braxton looking.
Braxton chuckled a bit at the ponies’ reactions, especially Dash’s, and said, “Alright, kiddo, that’s enough of that. We don’t wanna give the girls over there any funny ideas now, do we?” Sweetie Belle giggled and shook her head, jumping down from Braxton’s arms and landed neatly on her hooves.
Braxton watched Sweetie trot back over to where her friends and Spike were patiently waiting, smiling wider than he had in a long time. Sweetie threw one last smile and wave over her shoulder, before following her companions back to Sweet Apple Acres. Braxton turned around to see the others still grinning up at him.
“What?” He asked.
Rarity shook her head, still smiling. “Oh nothing, darling. We just find it so cute how well you’re getting along with my sister. Why, it’s almost as though the two of you have bonded already!” Rarity said, earning nods of agreement from her friends.
“Well, y’know, what can I say? That girl really is a... Sweetie! Haha!” Braxton let out a short laugh at his corny joke, while the ponies just stared at him with blank expressions.
Realizing that no one was laughing with him, Braxton cleared his throat in mild embarrassment. “Aaaaanywho, we should probably get a move on to town. We’ve wasted more than enough time here.” He said in an attempt to divert the issue.
“Good idea.” Twilight said, also eager to begin her research. “Let’s get moving, everypony.” With that, the group of six ponies, and one human, began the short walk into Ponyville proper.
***************
As the group approached Ponyville, Braxton began to do what he always did upon entering a new town or city. He took in the sights. The first thing that caught his attention was the architecture of the buildings. They seemed to be pulled straight out of a fairy tale, with medieval-style thatched roofs adorning most of them, and not many of them reaching over two stories tall. Very few structures were made out of brick or steel, most of them instead going with less advanced materials like wood, clay, and concrete, and of course, everything had that same cartoony look and feel that the rest of the world did.
The next thing Braxton noticed was, obviously, the ponies. Dozens of them, milling around town, pulling carts, tending to stores, or just chatting on park benches. As Braxton looked on, he couldn’t help but compare them to humans in the way that they conducted their daily lives and activities. And much like his companions, the townsponies were painted in many different pastel colors, and Braxton could swear that he saw more than a few ponies with very similar features cantering around.
The ponies did not seem to take notice of Braxton right away, but as the group progressed further into town, he began to feel beset upon by the stares of many eyes. Sure enough, Braxton took a look around to see that almost every pony in town had stopped in their tracks and were now staring intently at the newfound creature in their midst.
Now, Braxton was no stranger to being the new guy in town. His lifestyle of hopping from place to place assured that he was sometimes the subject of a few stares or hushed whispers in a unvisited area, especially if it was a small town or village where everyone already knew everyone else, and a new arrival stuck out like a sore thumb.
But this was different. At least, in a town on Earth, the inhabitants are humans much like himself. However, being the only human on this planet, at least as far as he knew, Braxton not only stuck out, but was so clearly different from anything the ponies had ever seen before that they couldn’t help but drop everything and just... stare. He could also pick out a few murmurs here and there if he listened hard enough.
“What is that thing?”
“Is it dangerous?”
“How does it walk on two legs without a tail?”
“Maybe it’s tail is under that long coat?”
“Look away, Rumble, dear. Don’t make eye contact.”
Braxton came up beside the lavender mare leading the pack. “Uh, Twilight, I’m getting a little uncomfortable over here...” Braxton said, leaning down to whisper in her ear.
Twilight looked up at him in confusion. “What are you talking about, Braxton?” She asked, oblivious to the stares of the townsponies.
“I’m talking about the looks all these ponies are giving me. Why they all just staring like that?” He said, calling her attention to the source of his anxiousness.
“Maybe it’s because you’re a walking freak of nature? You ever think of that?” Rainbow Dash said, hovering next to him. Braxton ground his teeth in anger at the pegasus’s remark, beginning to grow tired of the mare’s constant insults.
‘Calm down, man, just chill. Now’s really not the time to go making a scene, especially in a town full of ponies who know nothing about me. But I swear, if that bitch keeps pushing me, things are gonna get ugly...’ He thought threateningly, forcing himself to ignore Rainbow’s comment.
Twilight, having become aware of the reactions of ponies around her, furrowed her brow a bit and said, “Oh, don’t worry about them. The ponies in town are just a little...,” She paused for a moment to find the right word, “...apprehensive. But once they see that you’re not a threat, they’ll calm down and warm up to you. I hope.” Twilight said, muttering that last part under her breath.
After an agonizing five minutes, at least on Braxton’s part, of stares, points, and whispers, the group finally made it to the library near the center of town. It seemed to be made from a hollowed out tree, much like Zecora’s had been, but lacked the eccentric decorations of the latter in favor of a much more homey look. Braxton couldn’t help but smile to himself at the fact that this was the second time today he would be entering a tree.
The six ponies trotted inside first, with Braxton bringing up the rear, still lost in his thoughts. He was quickly brought back to reality, however, when his forehead met the top of the library door, emitting a dull *THUMP*.
“Ow! Damnit!” He exclaimed, raising a hand to his head instinctively. He had just gotten a very painful reminder about the difference in human-to-pony height ratio.
Applejack turned and gave him a disdainful look. “Hey, watch yer language there, pard. What’s gotten inta yew, anyway?” She asked.
“Ugh, sorry.” Braxton apologized, “I just hit my head on this freakin’ door.”
“You didn’t have the common sense to duck under a low door? Ha! What an idiot!” Rainbow laughed, flying upside down next to Applejack.
Braxton’s nostrils flared and his eyebrows knitted together in rage. He had just about enough of Rainbow’s attitude, and was dead set on putting a stop to it right here and now. Braxton opened his mouth, ready to tell Dash off, but was unintentionally cut off by an almost hysterical sounding Twilight.
“WHAT IN EQUESTRIA IS THIS?!?!”
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You will pay for that clifferhanger damn you!
Waiting for him to verbally tear Rainbow Bitch apart
Heh.... cliffhanger you say.... HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF I TIED A ROPE TO YOU AND THREW YOU OFF A CLIFF HUH!!!
yes...
yes im going to the hardware store now, going to buy a nice rope... yes a nice rope that has diffrent colors and looks nice... yes... maybe push some nail's through it yes.... and then did a hole at the bottom of said clif...
So Mr.Author, what is your favorite type of rope? and where is your favorite cliff located?
(this is a joke, some people cant take them)
2713794 I like a good double braided natural fiber rope, good for strength and durability.
My favorite cliffs are the Cliffs of Moher, located on the Atlantic coast of County Clare in Ireland.
...What? I like to think about these things from time to time.
2713238 agree rainbow does need a good verbal lashing at this point
2713873
Okay, going to ACE hardware, and going to buy some double fiber natural rope shit. Friend and i have been wanting to go on vacation to Ireland. So we can land his private jet at....fuck... where do you live?!?! *insert closets airport to you's name* get you fly to Cliff"s of Moher, and drop kick you off :) :Squee:
(still a joke)
(or is it?)
Braxton was finally gonna tell rd off and then a cliffhanger.
My reaction: F****************************ck!!!!!!!!!
REVIEW
Reviewer: Arcticbrony
The following review is as objective as possible but could eventually contain some subjective influences. I'm Norwegian by blood and a Viking by heart. So with my helmet on and my axe in hand I’ll get to work.
Once you’ve posted your story in the group A For Effort you’ve accepted to be reviewed. No review is made to humiliate the writer but to make him grow up and enhance his skills.
Name of story : Beneath the Mask
I found no spelling errors and your grammar is excellent. However, you seem to like to comma, and use it a little too much in some occasions. Resulting in breaking the flow.
originality: It's a Hie where the main character gets transported to Equestria by unknown means and ends up in the Everfree forest. I can't give you any points for originality in that regard
OC: Braxton is a fairly likable guy. The fact that he constantly talks to himself could be an annoyance, but you manage to create several humorous moments with it. He balances on the border into Mary sue land, with his perfect aim and the fact that he shrugs what appears to be a broken rib like it's nothing.
My final Verdict.
APPROVED.
While the beginning may lack in originality, your effort shines through in your writing. You do a really good job of describing his surroundings and elaborating on Braxtons feelings in some of these situations. It definitely has a lot of potential. You have created a solid start, and you manage to get the reader's attention, encouraging them to keep on reading.
2722692 I think you are very much in the right place, good sir or madam.
2713794 ye dawg i feel ya doe. my niggas on the east side got them a caddie they stole from sum bitch nigga tryna fuk wit dem. we finna ride up on this nigga house n fkn glock his shit yo. imma need like 50 dolla fo gas do ya feel? we finna show this cheeky cunt what happen when you mess with a real nigga. 313 represent. real talk.
2724719 I like the feel of a AR-15 in my hands, and the nice cabin of a private jet, oposed to some glock, and old-azz caddy... ya feel?
You know, I know it's by now a meme how no one breaks a Pinkie Promise, but I really wish someone would call her on it. Yeah sure, she got pissed at AJ, big fat hairy deal. All she did was hunt her down and... demand an apology. Oh the horror!
Yeah, not impressed.
"Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise? All right, I'll bite. What are you gonna do?"
Then suddenly panic over unclean library.
Me:OMG HES ABOUT TO TELL HER OFF!! *twilight cuts him off*
Me:DAMN IT!