Bass Chord was found in the maze of the royal gardens outside of the Canterlot Castle, unsure of how he got there, the others find out he's not from Equestria.
An unknown stallion, dubbed Bass Chord by Princess Luna, awakens in the world of Equestria dazed and confused as to how he got there. Stranger even is the fact that he is unfamiliar what he refers too as his "new body", claiming that he wasn't always a pony. While researching ways to send him home, Celestia decides to send him to Ponyville with Twilight Sparkle and not only learn about Equestria, but to also teach Twilight and the others as much as he can about his own world to help him both pass the time, and to give everyone a better understanding of the universe.
Cover art created by me with my less than stellar image editing skills. It's crap, but I needed it.
The sound of tea being quietly sipped echoed sweetly throughout the throne room of Canterlot Castle. The night court ended some time ago, and Princess Luna was relaxing after a hard night’s work, waiting for six o’clock to roll around so her elder sister would awaken and raise the sun. She glanced outside through a window and marveled at her own handiwork in the night sky, and even began plotting in her mind what sort of constellations she would design tomorrow night.
And thus, the princess of the night felt content, thinking that not a thing in the whole world could spoil this night. Once the day came and she was in bed she didn’t really care what happened at that point; she would be in bed, after all, and that would be Celestia’s responsibility. Not to say she didn’t truly care at all, but if nothing was too bad she could stay in bed.
But, as she stared out of the window into the sky, she saw a bright light explode from the maze in the royal gardens. She gave it a curious look, thinking it may have been Discord playing around. “Oh goodness,” she said. “Why won’t he just stay asleep at this hour? He better not be causing any trouble.”
“And, pray tell, who are you talking about, little Lulu?” Discord said as he flashed into being behind her. It didn’t faze her; she had grown accustomed to his antics. She did, however, not like when he used her nickname.
She sighed, putting her nickname out of her thoughts. “What are you up to now, Discord?”
“Oh, just investigating that bright light in the maze. I thought it might have been you goofing off, so I came here to check in and see if you were still in the throne room.”
“I’ll have you know I don’t goof off,” she retorted.
“Really? Then what about that whole Nightmare Night fiasco in Ponyville last year? I’d call that goofing off,” Discord smiled his trickster smile as he spoke.
Luna was about to give him another retort when another statement he made stuck in her mind. “Wait. You said that you were investigating that flash, and you thought it was me? It wasn’t you?”
Discord shrugged. “I’m asking you, aren’t I?”
Luna stared out the window again in thought. She looked at the clock; it was ten till five in the morning. “Go wake Celestia and tell her to meet me in the maze. I’m going to go check it out myself.”
“Why should I wake up Little Miss Sunshine from her sleep?” Discord asked.
“Because I asked you to, that’s why.”
Discord smiled. “Only for you, Lulu.” He snapped his fingers and he was gone in a flash.
Luna smiled. “That’ll teach him to never tease me. No pony wakes Celestia an hour early and gets away with it.” She beamed proudly at her own actions and left promptly, flying out the doors and into the gardens. It was at times like this where she was grateful to have wings, being an Alicorn and all that. Walking through this maze would be a real pain in the flank to navigate, and she was certain that the flash had originated from the center. It didn’t take her long to arrive at her destination, and when she arrived she wasn’t entirely sure and what to make of any of what she saw. It looked as though an explosion had occurred. Some of the dirt and grass on the ground had turned into glass from being super heated, and what wasn’t glassed was burnt black and smoking. In the center of this mayhem was a single male pony, lying unconscious. “Oh, no!” Luna cried as she ran over to check on the stallion. His coat, strangely enough, wasn’t burnt or damaged, and it still held its color of light blue. His mane was a deep purple, and on his flank was a musical instrument; a bass guitar. Luna didn’t recognize him. At first she thought it was one of the night grounds keepers who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but she had never seen this stallion before.
A flash of light caught her attention and she Discord materialize. “Sheesh! It’s only five in the morning! It’s not that different from six! That’s the last time I wake her up in an emergency!” He paused. “This is an emergency, right?”
“It would appear so,” Luna replied, motioning with her head at the out cold stallion. “I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him before.”
“Hmm,” Discord said quietly to himself.
The sound of wings flapping came to their ears, and they both looked up to see Celestia gently flying down to meet them. “What’s wrong, Luna?” Celestia asked, concerned.
“Why do you seem so nice now, Celestia? You were a murderous demon when I woke you,” Discord teased.
“Yes, I’d imagine that’s why Luna sent you to wake me, Discord. She knows how I get when I haven’t my full night’s rest,” she turned to face Luna and caught sight of the stallion. “Oh my!” she said, shocked. “Is he okay?”
Luna shook her head. “I haven’t a clue. I haven’t touched him, in case he may be severely injured, but from the looks of it he may be okay.”
“Discord, teleport us to the castle’s infirmary.”
Discord shrugged. “Yes, your brightness!” He snapped his fingers and they were no longer outside, but in the clean, white room of the infirmary. The night staff, preparing to change shifts to the day staff, were all shocked.
“Don’t be alarmed,” Luna said. “We found this stallion. Is he okay?”
A nurse walked over and inspected him. “He seems to be okay, say for the fact the he’s unconscious.”
“That’s good to hear,” Celestia said. “But I want to know who he is, and why he’s unconscious in my gardens.”
Luna gasped. “He’s waking up! He might be able to tell us.”
They looked over at the stallion, whose eyes were slowly opening. His eyes were of a darker shade of purple than his mane, and they held a sense of grogginess to them. He looked around for a moment awkwardly, assessing his surroundings. “I’m…surrounded by horses. In a doctor’s office no less.”
Celestia looked at Luna confused and turned back to the stallion. “Are yo-“
“Holy shit!” the stallion yelled as he jumped to his feet in shock. “It talked! It talked!”
“What do you mean by calling my sister ‘it’?” Luna demanded.
Then the stallion calmed down. “Oh, right! This must be a dream! Right. Talking horses don’t exist. What was I thinking.” Discord laughed. The stallion looked over at him, shocked at first, then back to his calmness. “And I don’t even know what the hell you are. Some kind of demon?”
Discord laughed harder. “No, but good guess. I’m a draconoquis.”
The stallion shrugged. “Eh, tomato-tamahto.”
Celestion cleared her throat. “I’m afraid that this is no dream, my good stallion. This is real. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Stallion?” he asked. Luna nodded and asked the nurse to bring him a mirror. She returned and the stallion got a good look at himself. His eyes went wide, but then he calmed down. “Now, if this wasn’t a dream, I’d feel pain, right? So, do something that would usually hurt a lot. Go ahead!”
Luna shrugged. “Sister, I don’t think he’ll accept his situation until we actually hurt him.”
Celestia sighed. “Just don’t accidentally kill him.” She turned to Discord. “Earmuffs.” She said. Discord nodded, and snapped his fingers. Earmuffs appeared on everypony’s head except for the stallions and Luna’s. “Go ahead.”
Luna nodded.
“I don’t get it? That was cool and all, but you just really confirmed that I’m in a dream. Stuff appearing out of thin air just doesn’t happen,” the Stallion said.
“Forgive me, but…YOU ARE NOT DREAMING YOU IMBECILE!” Luna cried out in the Royal Canterlot Voice.
The stallion flew backwards and hit the wall, his face a comical scene of pain and confusion. “Ouch! My eardrums!” he exclaimed. “That hurt. That means I’m awake! This is real!”
He looked at Celestia, Luna, and Discord in a panicked frenzy. “Where the hell am I? What’s going on!”
“Calm down, sir. You don’t need to have a panic attack,” Luna said.
“Okay, okay," the stallion whispered to himself." Maybe it’s like Planet of the Apes. Maybe this is some odd future. What year is it?”
“1003 AN, just after Hearts and Hooves day,” Celestia said.
“AN? What’s that stand for?”
“After Nightmare. The calendar system was adopted when Nightmare Moon was defeated one thousand and three years ago.”
“That tells me nothing. What about where I am, what’s it called?” he asked.
“Canterlot Castle.”
“No, not that specific. This general place. World, planet, whatever you call it.”
“Equestria,” Luna said.
“Was it ever called Earth?”
The three looked at each other, and Discord smiled. “I haven’t heard that name in quite a while.”
“I’ve never heard of Earth as a world,” Luna replied.
“I have, but it shouldn’t be connected to this world. All portals to other worlds were sealed after we defeated Discord,” Celestia stated.
“That’s because I’m the reason the portals existed,” Discord said happily. “Ah, those were the days.”
“Wait a minute! Wait just a damn minute! You mean this isn’t a future version of my world? I may be in the same time frame, but on a different world altogether?” the stallion asked.
Discord nodded, excited. “Looks that way!”
“Oh, mother of God,” the stallion said before he fainted.
They stared at him as he slept. The nurse shrugged. “He’s healthy physically. He doesn’t have to stay here, your highness.”
“Put him in a spare room, Luna,” Celestia said.
“The only one we have unoccupied is Twilight’s old room,” Luna stated.
“That’ll do for now.” She started to walk away, and then she stopped. “We never caught his name, did we?”
The three stared at him. “I vote on calling his Bass Chord on account of his cutie mark,” Luna said.
Celestia nodded in agreement. “A good temporary name until we know his real one. Take Bass to Twilight’s old room. I don’t see that being a problem.”
My whole life spins into a frenzy, and I’m stepping into the Twilight Zone…where am I to go now that I’ve gone too far…Can’t get through. Where are you?
Twilight Sparkle hummed happily to herself as she stepped onto the platform at the Canterlot train station. Normally she would have written a letter in advance to tell the princesses that she would be visiting, but she decided to surprise them. In her saddlebags were some left over friendship chocolates that her friends had given her for Hearts and Hooves Day. Since the theme for these particular chocolates was friends rather than romantic relations, she decided that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna could use some.
She began to walk, and a purple and green baby dragon followed closely; Spike. “Um, Twilight?” he said.
“What is it Spike?” she asked.
“What if they’re really busy today? I mean, I know your Celestia’s student and all, but surely they can’t just make time for you anytime you drop in unannounced.”
“Spike, that’s the point on being unannounced; to surprise them. If they are too busy to actually see me, I can still leave the chocolates in their rooms. I mean, I would like to talk to them for a bit, but I completely understand if they can’t. I’m just here to give them the gifts.”
“Isn’t a two hour train ride a little long just to drop of some chocolate and go home?”
“Oh, we’re not going home today, Spike.”
This was news to him. “We aren’t?”
“Nope. I thought we could take today as a holiday, stay at the castle, and go home tomorrow afternoon,” Twilight said with a smile.
Spike shrugged. “Well, whatever works I suppose. I’m not complaining.”
Twilight nodded and they continued to walk through Canterlot, slowly making their way to the castle. When they arrived, the guards let them pass, and Twilight entered the entrance hall with a sense of familiarity. She looked around and found who she was looking for; Butler Hoof.
He approached Twilight and gave a quick, curt bow. “Hello again, Ms. Sparkle. How may I assist you today?”
Twilight laughed. “Butler, how many times have I told you to call me Twilight. I don’t like be spoken to in formalities.”
“My apologies, Ms. Sparkle. Old habits, as they say, die hard.”
She nodded. “Well, I’d like you to have these delivered to the princesses’ chambers if you could,” she used her levitation magic to retrieve two boxes from her saddle bags; one had a sun, and the other had a moon, which were the respective princesses cutie marks. “Their gifts that I wanted to surprise them with.”
Butler nodded. “Of course,” he stomped a single hoof, and two maids came to him immediately. “Have these delivered to the princesses’ chambers, if you would my dears. And be sure they go to the appropriate princess. I’d hate for Princess Luna to get Princess Celestia’s gift, or vice versa.” The two nodded, and went to complete the given tasks. “Anything else, Ms. Sparkle? I’m afraid Princess Luna has already retired for the day, and Princess Celestia is quite busy today; I don’t know if she can make time for you, though I will not be so ignorant as to tell you she will or will not see you for certain.”
“That’s okay, Butler. I rather expected that, so I’m staying the night in my old room, if that’s okay.”
Butler nodded again. “Very well. It’s been kept exactly as you left it. Would you like me to escort you?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, I’m good. I’m sure you’re a busy pony, and I know the way to my room. It’s great seeing you again, though.”
“But of course. I’ll send somepony to fetch you when lunch is ready. Today’s meal will be glazed carrots, sweet potatoes, and fresh fruit salad with a bowl of spinach on the side.”
“Sounds wonderful. I’ll be sure not to miss it. See you later.” She waved her hoof as she exited to room, Spike following close behind.
Spike stopped and yelled back, “Hey, Butler. Make sure there are a few gems on the menu for me, okay?”
“Of course, sir. I shall have some sapphires ready for you,” Butler replied. He turned and went about his business.
“Oh, sapphires? That’ll be really good!” Spike stated excitedly.
“It does feel nice being back. I love Ponyville well enough, but Canterlot is still home to me,” Twilight said with fondness in her voice. They walked through the castle for about ten minutes, purposely taking the long way to her room. They arrived at the door and Twilight stopped. “We haven’t been back in here since I moved to Ponyville, have I?”
“No, I guess not. That’s been three years now. Almost four, actually. And Butler said they left it as it was when we left,” Spike replied.
“Well, no more delay! Let’s go in, Spike!”
“No need to make it dramatic, Twilight. It’s just your bedroom/astronomy tower/library/laboratory.”
She pouted for a moment. “Let me have my moment, Spike.” She finally cracked a smile, however, and giggled. “Alright, let’s go.” She opened the door and they stepped inside. She dropped her saddle bags and told Spike to head up the stairs and put them next to her bed.
He carried to bags up the stairs as instructed…and immediately came running back down screaming. “Twilight! There’s someone in your bed!”
“What are you talking about, Spike?” she asked with a look of skepticism. “Butler didn’t say anything about someone else here. Are you trying to pull a prank over me?”
“No!” he denied. “I’m serious! There is a stallion in your bed!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Butler would have told us if Princess Celestia was letting someone else stay in my room, Spike.” She walked up the stairs. “See, there’s…a…stallion? There’s a stallion. In my bed.” The look on her face was total confusion.
Princess Celestia was holding day court. It had only just started a few minutes ago, a little after ten in the morning. She was about to get things underway when Butler Hoof, one of her oldest and most loyal castle staff members entered. “Pardon the intrusion, Your Highness. I just thought I should tell you of an unexpected, but pleasant, guest.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Who might that be, Butler?” she asked, curious.
“Twilight Sparkle, Your Highness. She expected you’d be too busy to see her anytime soon, so she went to her old room to rest from her trip here.”
Celestia smiled, eager to be done with the day’s work now so she could see Twilight. “Well, tell her that I’ll see her as soon as…” she paused, remembering a very crucial detail. “Wait, did you say she went to her old room?”
“Yes, Princess. Is that a problem?” Butler asked.
“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!” The sound of Twilight’s voice echoed throughout the room, the castle, the city, and even the entire world of Equestria. Frankly, Celestia wouldn’t be surprised if Twilight accidentally woke a few slumbering dragons on the other side of the globe.
“Yes,” she finally said, trying to keep her composure. “As it just so happens, that is a problem. One that I must fix myself.”
“Twilight, calm down! Remember to breath!” Spike said, trying to keep Twilight from going insane like she had been known to do on occasion…but only on occasion.
Twilight tried her hardest to do as Spike said, but it didn’t change the fact that there was an USI (Unidentified-Sleeping-Individual) in her bed. “Okay,” she said to herself. “Keep calm, Twilight. He’s just sleeping. He’s not stealing, breaking, killing, or harassing anything or anypony, so it’s not all bad.” She stepped forward to get a closer look at him. His coat was a light blue, and his mane was a deep purple. His cutie mark depicted a dark blue four string bass guitar, which told her that he was a musician. “At least his cutie mark isn’t a bloody dagger, or a black mask or something sinister like that,” she whispered to herself to where not even Spike could hear.
Spike approached slowly behind her. He whispered, “I’m amazed your scream didn’t wake him. My ears are still ringing.”
“Sorry about that,” Twilight whispered back. “Who is he?”
“Bass Chord,” said an angelic, gentle, mother like voice. Twilight turned to see Princess Celestia. “At least that’s what Luna called him. We actually don’t know his name.”
“Wha-“ Twilight started.
But Celestia cut her off. “I’m afraid I can’t answer any questions you may have about him. He appeared in the maze last night. We woke very briefly this morning, discovered his situation, and promptly fainted. He hasn’t opened his eyes since. He’s been out cold for several hours. I put him here because we had nowhere else to put him.”
Twilight laughed nervously. “Why not the hospital? Canterlot General isn’t that far away,” she said.
“True, but his origins are strange. I found my curiosity took the best of me, and I neglected that particular option. I’d rather like to find out who he is and where he’s from.”
“What do you mean?”
Celestia stepped closer to the bed. “Based on what little information I was able to get through deduction, for he never plainly spoke anything in his confusion, he may not be from this world.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped. “An alien? But he looks like a pony!”
“Nnngh!” muttered Bass. His eyes slowly opened. He looked around slowly, studying his surroundings. “Damn it!” He yelled. “This really isn’t a dream! This day is turning out better and better by the second!”
Twilight stepped back, surprised by his attitude to his situation.
“Nice to see that you’re awake, Bass,” Celestia said.
“Bass?” he asked. “As in the guitar?”
“Well, my sister called you that based on your cutie mark.”
He stared at Celestia with pure confusion etched onto his face. “My what now?”
“It’s the sort of tattoo looking object on your flanks,” Twilight said, trying to sound calm.
“Uh huh…” he replied. He looked over at his own rear and saw the dark blue bass guitar. “What exactly is that doing there? I don’t remember getting any tattoos.”
“It’s a mark that comes to every pony in Equestria. It marks their special talent for all to see, so that everyone maintains a constant sense of uniqueness.”
He seemed rather calm considering his confusion. “Well, I guess it makes sense for mine to be a bass. I always did love playing mine. I’m still confused as to why I even have one, let alone the fact that I’m a freakin’ pony.”
“You said as much this morning when you first woke up. What are you supposed to be, if not a pony?” Celestia asked.
He returned his gaze to her. “Human,” he said plainly.
“Human? Never heard of that before. Have you, Princess?” Twilight asked.
She looked deep in thought. “It sounds familiar, but I can’t place where I’ve heard it.” She looked back at Bass. “Oh, I almost forgot. We only called you Bass because of your cutie mark, but we don’t actually know your name. May I ask what it is?”
He looked around. “Before I answer,” he said after a few minutes. “How did I get here? And I don’t mean in this room. I have enough deductive reasoning to conclude that some poor sod carried me. I mean to this world. What did you call it?”
“Equestria,” Celestia answered.
“Yeah, that. How did I get to Equestria?”
“My sister, Luna, would know better than I, which still isn’t saying much considering how little we do know. Her account of the event was she saw a bright flash of light in our maze in the gardens. She went and found that it was burned and glassed as if it had been super heated, but you were at the center of the chaos unharmed for whatever reason. We were hoping you might know some more about it, really.”
“I see. So, based on what little we know about my arrival, how much do we know about my departure?”
Celestia gave him a curious look. “I assume you mean a way home?” He nodded. “We don’t know a thing. Knowing how you got here would most likely help, of course, but that still leaves us with nothing.”
“Last thing; give me some examples of names here on your world.”
“Well, the lovely young mare next to me is Twilight Sparkle. We have a butler named Butler Hoof.”
Twilight nodded. “We also have ponies named Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, etcetera, etcetera. Why do you want to know?”
“You said you called me Bass, right?” he asked.
“Bass Chord, actually,” Celestia answered.
“Then that’s my name.” he plainly said.
Twilight gave him a confused look. “Why can’t we have your real name?”
He sighed. “Based on what little information any of us have on how or why I’m even here, it’s clear that I’m going to be here for a while, and I don’t know how long ‘a while’ actually is. So, while I’m here, I might as well learn how this world’s society works and blend in until I can go home.” He shook his head. “I honestly don’t like it, but I guess having the conscience to look at both possibilities at once is helpful. Either I get to go home eventually, or I’m stuck here until I die.”
“Either way, you’re stuck here for a while. Is that what you’re saying?” Celestia asked.
“Yup. So,” he looked at the mare and the goddess like ruler. “What are your names? I know the tall, freaky haired one introduced the purple one here, but I like ‘official’ introductions.” He cleared his throat. “I’m…what was it? Oh, right. I’m Bass Chord. In spite of my predicament, I’m pleased to meet the both of you…even though you are talking horses.”
Twilight was about to point out how rude he was being, but she thought of his situation and the fact that he was, from his perspective, on an alien world. “Ahem. I’m Twilight Sparkle.”
“And my name is Celestia, Princess of the sun, and co-ruler of Equestria,” Celestia said.
“I assume the sister you mentioned earlier is the other ruler?” Bass asked. The two mares nodded. “Well, that’s out of the way. What do I do know?”
Celestia met his gaze. “You said that, no matter what the outcome of your stay here, you’ll need to understand how society here works, correct?” He nodded in return. She smiled. “Twilight, have you studied anything new lately?”
Twilight thought about it. “Aside from reviewing Sea Fare’s Complete Guide to Marine Biology and reading the new Daring Do, I haven’t studied that much in the way of new material.”
“Bass, would you have any qualms with telling us about your world.”
“What for?” he asked.
“You’ve proven that there are worlds besides our own by coming here, whether you intended to or otherwise. If you could teach Twilight about your world, and she in turn teach you about ours, then that will give you something to do while I have my best researchers looking into anything that may relate to your appearance on this world.”
“But, Princess, I am your best researcher,” Twilight protested.
“I know Twilight, but you’ll have a lot on your hands explaining our world to Bass. I can’t have you overworking yourself. Is that understood?” Celestia asked.
Twilight thought for a moment before nodding in agreement. “Yes, Your Highness.”
“Good,” she said. “While it is nice to see you again, I’d like you to return to Ponyville today to rest up. Begin your mutual lessons on the morrow.”
Twilight nodded. Celestia bid them farewell, as well promised to pass greetings on to Luna, and left the room. “Oh, great!” Spike exclaimed. “I was actually kind of looking forward to staying for those sapphires.”
“I’ll get you some when we get back to the library, Spike. I’m sure Rarity will have some spare sapphires,” Twilight said.
Bass stared at Spike curiously. “What? Is there something on my scales?” Spike asked.
“What the hell are you supposed to be? I can’t figure it out,” Bass stated.
Spike hmphed in response. “I’ll have you know that I’m a ferocious, fire breathing dragon!”
Without missing a beat or cracking a smile, Bass replied swiftly with, “My cat, Little Dude, is more ferocious than you, and all he does is sleep on my couch for hours on end.”
“Hey! That’s mean!” Spike responded.
“Hey, chill out. I was just teasing. Is there no sense of humor on this world?” he asked Twilight.
“Spike’s just sensitive about his appearance from time to time. He’s still a baby dragon.”
“I’m, like, fourteen-years-old, Twilight. Plus however old my egg was before you hatched me.” He retorted.
“Yes, but your living years aren’t counted until you hatch, and dragons age differently than that of other races,” Twilight said in a matter of fact fashion.
Bass yawned and clumsily stood up, clearly not used to his body. “This is gonna take some getting used to,” he said. “So, when are we leaving?”
Twilight smiled. “Right now.” She was eager to learn from Bass, even if he was just a strange pony from her perspective. Whatever he had to teach would be interesting, though. She knew that for a fact.
I’m sick of the same thing [same thing], some thing’s wasted every day. I’m making some changes [changes], changing everything I know.
Twilight tried her hardest to hide her excitement. Nopony in all of Equestria could have tried anywhere near as hard as she was right now. If Rainbow Dash could even think about trying this hard the Wonderbolts would recruit her in a heartbeat. Twilight tried so hard that she would have been given three medals, two trophies, and a promotion from great unicorn to Holy-Crap-Why-Aren’t-We-Worshiping-This-Mare status if she were succeeding. She was not.
Bass, in turn, tried his hardest to ignore the awkward air that Twilight was unintentionally giving off as they rode the train towards Ponyville. Needless to say, he too was failing. Miserably so, actually. “Ahem,” he cleared his throat. “Could you, you know, not stare into my soul right now?”
“Oh!” Twilight exclaimed. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to stare. I was just thinking about what Celestia said.”
“Yeah, I heard. We were both there,” he said somewhat coldly.
Twilight was put off by this statement (which was most likely his intent), but she held her tounge. Bass sighed.
“Yeah,” he said. “I know, that was rude. I apologize. For all of my rudeness, actually. I’m usually much more polite and well mannered.”
“Why should now be any different?” Twilight asked.
“Everything is just as it should be with you, but for me I’m in a completely different boat. I’m not even sure if this boat floats at the moment, or if I’m just blessed to be in really shallow water.”
Twilight smiled. “While I understand what you mean, that was quite poetic. You’re using metaphor to refer to being on an alien world.”
Bass looked at her with slight surprise. “I’m impressed. Most people I talk to don’t know what the hell I’m saying because they don’t understand my choice of words.”
She blushed. “Well, I’m actually quite well read. I like to read virtually any book I can get my hands on.”
“That explains it then,” Bass said with a smile. “We’re both bookworms.”
Twilight clapped her hooves together in excitement. “Well, there’s one thing we can talk about at least.” Then a thought struck her. “Wait, aren’t you a musician?”
“Not really. I just like to play bass guitar. I’m not professional. Never even considered going pro.”
“But you’re cutie mark says that it’s your special talent. Surely you must be good at it.”
Bass gave her a quick look, then stared out the window. “Lesson Number One: My world and your world are miles apart in social structure. This whole ‘special talent’ thing has potential to get you somewhere in life back in my world. Just because someone is a fantastic painter doesn’t mean they’re going to become a billionaire from it. In fact, my world focuses more on practicality. It’s advisable to find a career in something you like doing so it doesn’t feel like a dead end job, but it should still be something productive that makes money so you can live properly.” He looked back at her and was surprised to see a pad of paper and a pen floating nearby covered in a purple aura. The pen was writing down every word he said. He couldn’t help but smile, as he found the sight somewhat humorous.
“Give me an example. What do you do for a living?” she asked.
“Well, I’m actually a university student, so I take whatever jobs I can get during the off time in the summer before going back to school in the fall. Last summer I worked in manufacturing, and this summer I was working a public government job.”
“What kind of government job? Were you an office assistant or something?”
Bass laughed. “I like to read well enough, but I can only take so much non-fiction. I prefer reading stories. No, I worked for the street department of my town. My job was to keep the town clean and to repair the street, street signs, and street lights. Manual labor, of course, but it was alright.”
Twilight jotted down all of what he just said. “You hinted that it was advisable to find a career in something you like to do. Why haven’t you done that yet?”
“Actually, I technically have. I’m just not working it yet. That’s the point of university. It isn’t just a place for you to learn for fun, you know. You pick a major, study that field, and find a job in said field. Like me, for example. Even though my ‘special talent’ is playing the bass guitar, I’d be more likely to be hired if I was a teacher, so I’m studying to teach literature.”
Twilight blushed. “Yeah, that’s about like universities here. I honestly don’t know what I expected to hear as an answer.”
Bass shrugged. He looked to the seat beside Twilight. Sleeping soundly was the little dragon called Spike. “So, now it’s my turn to ask a question. I’ll keep them simple for now. Question one: what’s his story?” He motioned towards Spike.
“Oh, him? He’s my assistant. He’s also kind of like a little brother, actually. It was my magic that made his egg hatch, and I’ve taken care of him ever since.” Twilight beamed with pride.
“You caused him to hatch? Why didn’t he hatch on his own?”
“From what little we know about dragons, because most of them don’t live in pony populated areas, I’d wager that something has to happen to make a dragon hatch. All dragons are born with an innate form of magic, so I assume that’s how most of them are born under their own society. Spike’s egg was found abandoned long before I was born.”
Bass smiled. “I think it’s an insult to call yourself his sister,” he casually said, trying to sound rude.
And it worked. “Hey, now! You’ve only been here for a day! How dare you mock me and Spike!”
He laughed. “I did not finish my point, Ms. Sparkle.” Twilight was taken aback by the formality of the statement. “I have an older sister. I understand one hundred percent how the relationship between big sister and little brother functions, and what it looks like. You may not realize it, but every action you take with Spike there, whether it's minute or major, gives off an aura of care and love that is far too great to be that of an elder sister. That’s what I like to call motherhood.”
“M-motherhood?!” She asked, shocked. “H-how could you even get that vibe? You’ve barely seen me act in any particular way with him?”
“There’s a reason I chose to study literature, Twilight. Not only do I like to read, but I also write. It’s to my benefit to understand and notice even the simplest of actions and mannerisms. Without that ability, I couldn’t write any characters.” Twilight was lost for words. Bass continued, “For example; Let’s say I was to write a romance novel. Let’s call our hero Mark, and our heroine Lindsey. Mark and Lindsey love each other. Some things happen. The End. What’s wrong with that statement?”
She placed a hoof on her chin to think. “There wasn’t a story, nor was there any character to it. It was just a statement of fact about Mark and Lindsey.”
“Exactly. Now, let’s change it around a little bit,” Bass cleared his throat. He began to speak in a dramatic voice. “Mark stared intently into Lindsey’s deep sea blue eyes. Within their dark pools he could see his own grass green eyes reflecting back at him, though darkened by her eye color. She stared right back at him, unsure of what to say. The events of the last week had scarred both of them, literally and figuratively, and moments ago she was uncertain that anything could work out between them ever again. But now, as she stared into Mark’s caring eyes, she knew she was a fool to believe such a thing. ‘I love you,’ he said to her. ‘I love you, too,’ she replied. The pair embraced in an amazing, romantic kiss as the sun set. The End.”
Twilight stared blankly at him. “There is no way you came up with all of that on the spot,” she said.
“As a matter of fact, I did. So, what did you infer from that?” he asked.
“Well,” Twilight began. “They’ve been through many trials. Their bodies have been injured, and so have their hearts, but they still believe in each other enough to stick together. We know that they care deeply for one another. But I still don’t get your point.”
“Through minor descriptive terms, such as actions, colors, or moods, we can detect and understand different subliminal messages. Without knowing exactly what they’ve been through, we still know that they’ve gone through a lot. That is the way I see the relationship between you and that dragon of yours. Minor actions speak volumes, Twilight.”
Twilight quickly wrote down everything that he had just finished saying, and read back over it several times to try to remember it. “I think I’m going to enjoy this far more than I should, Bass. I can’t wait to introduce you to my friends.”
“Your what now?” Bass said, somewhat surprised.
“Surely you don’t think I can’t make friends?” she asked, teasing.
“Oh, hell!” Bass exclaimed. “More people I have to explain my situation too. I’d rather not advertise that I don’t know a thing about this world.”
Twilight winced. She took another note, mentioning Bass’s excessive usage of profanity as a potential public problem. “Well, I’m sure they won’t mind. Except, Pinkie Pie will want to throw you a massive ‘Welcome to Equestria’ party, I’m sure.”
“Oh sweet salty Christ no,” he said swiftly.
“Sweet salty what now?”
“Uh, nothing,” he replied. An idea came to him then. “Twilight, how good of an actress are you?”
“I’m not bad. I was in the Hearth Warming Eve play in Canterlot for the third year in a row. I often get told how well I play my role. Why do you ask?”
“Among my many talents, I’m not a terrible actor. I mean, I’m not great, but I could be a lot worse. I specialize in improvisation. I don’t know what my story will be, but whatever I come up with to explain my presence, I want you to roll with it, okay?”
“Well, we do have a music festival coming to Canterlot soon,” Twilight said. “I could say that you’re a friend of my brother’s who decided to stay in Ponyville for the coming weeks until the festival arrives. We could say that you’re in a band or something.”
Bass rubbed his chin with his left hoof. “I like it. Although, there are two major flaws in that statement. Actually, make that three. One: I don’t have my bass. Two: I don’t have a band. And Three: I don’t know how to play bass with these!” He waved his hooves about.
“Hmm,” Twilight thought. “Well, we don’t have much time to plan out a skit for your cover story. You better just take that scenario and modify it as you see fit. You said you were good at improvising.”
“How much longer do we have?” Bass asked.
The sound of metal grinding on metal came, and the conductor yelled out, “All stop! Next stop; Ponyville!”
“About that long,” Twilight said with a nervous smile. “Better think fast.”
Bass facehoofed, having forgotten that he even had hooves, and therefore bruised his forehead by hitting it too hard. “This is gonna be a long day.”
Revvin’ up the engine, listen to her howl and roar…Highway to the danger zone! Take you right into the danger zone!
The three stepped onto the platform. They had arrived in Ponyville, and Bass was not excited. Sure, he usually liked the nervous feeling he felt when he performed those stage plays back home. That was what he was feeling now, wasn’t it; a sense of stage fright? That usually helped him make his performance better. Only, when he performed in those plays, he wasn’t actually trying to hide anything. He was only playing a character, after all, so there was no need to worry about what would happen should the audience find out that he’s actually an actor rather than the character, because the audience already knows this. Now? He didn’t want to think about what could happen should he mess this up.
To make matters worse, he didn’t have anywhere near enough preparation time. He assumed that because Twilight wasn’t due back for another day that nopony would greet them; so who the hell were these five mares that seemed to approach Twilight and Spike, who stood beside Bass.
“Howdy, Twi! Welcome home!” stated the orange colored mare with a noticeable country accent. Bass, back home, detested said accent most of the time, but he found that it was rather acceptable here. Maybe is all about the character of the individual using the accent?
“How did you know we were coming back today?” Twilight asked.
“I felt an ear flop, stomach ache, neck pop, tail twitch, back flip, tongue itch, burp blast!” exclaimed a seemingly hyperactive pink pony who was bouncing rather quickly and excitedly. “That means that a good friend is coming home early!”
Bass turned to Twilight, his eyes screaming “what the hell did I just witness?”, but Twilight merely gave him a knowing smile.
“Yes, well, we thought it’d be nice to greet you, even though you were barely gone twenty-four hours,” a marshmallow white unicorn said in a somewhat posh way. Hm, Bass thought. I’ve never had an excuse to use that particular descriptive term before. He made a mental note of that observation. “Who, might I ask, is your friend here, Twilight?”
Bass didn’t like the obvious emphasis on the word “friend”. “Oh, him? Well,” Twilight looked nervously at Bass. “Why don’t you introduce yourself? It’s only proper.”
Bass looked nervously (though from the outside, where his acting instincts kicked in minutes ago, he appeared calm and serene) at the five mares. Aside from the orange country mare, pink (and potentially drug filled) mare, and the posh unicorn, there were also two ponies flying on wings. Twilight had, on their way to get onboard the train back in Canterlot, explained the three main pony races, so Bass immediately recognized them as pegasi. One was light blue with a rainbow mane, and the other one was yellow with a pink mane. The rainbow one seemed rather tomboyish, and the yellow mare was obviously shy in Bass’s presence.
He cleared his throat, and the act began. “Ladies,” he began, using a “cool” voice. “The name’s Bass Chord. I’m a bass guitar player who’s in town for the music festival in Canterlot.”
“Really? That’s so awesome! Are you in a band?” the rainbow maned one assailed him in an instant.
Bass gave a dramatic sigh. “Sadly, last week my band decided to break up. We had hoped to perform for the festival, but I’m still happy to go as a spectator.”
“Were in you in a big time band?” she asked.
“No, we were only just getting started. Before we could even think about making it big, our lead singer decided to be a complete ass and quit on us.” He looked over to a donkey passing by. “No offense.”
“None taken,” the donkey said before moving on.
Twilight nodded, keeping a mental note that he had not exaggerated when he said he was a good actor, and that he was good at improvisation. “He’s actually a friend of Shining Armor’s. He had no choice but to come when he did because he was living with his band. When they split up, he was forced to come to Canterlot a month early. Shining sent a letter to Princess Celestia to redirect to me, and since I was there I got it straight from her. He needs a place to stay for a while, so I agreed to let him stay with me for the coming month,” she added on to Bass’s story.
“Really? Shining Armor has a friend that didn’t join the Royal Guard?” the rainbow manes mare asked.
“Rainbow Dash, that’s very rude. Everypony is different. Just because some like to live the rough military life doesn’t mean everyone they know does. I find it more interesting that he’s a musician,” the unicorn said.
Bass was already trying to play off the rockstar character, and he was tempted to go just a little bit further with it, just to see what would happen. Naturally, the sane half of his brain was yelling at him to not do it, but his curiosity overcame him. He approached the unicorn and placed a hoof on her chin. His face was extremely close to hers. “I find it interesting that you find me interesting,” he said. What the hell am I doing? He thought.
She blushed. “Oh, ho ho. Is that so?” She seemed to embarrassed to meet his eyes, but she wasn’t arguing against the contact either. “M-my name’s Rarity.”
“Rarity, eh? I’ll be sure to remember that.” He stepped away. “So, who else do we have here?”
The mares didn’t quite know how to react to what they just saw, and the orange one broke the silence after a long pause. “Oh, right. Mah name’s Applejack. Pleased to meet ya, Bass.” She extended a hoof, and Bass shook it.
“I’m Pinkie Pie! And I have to give you a welcome to Ponyville party ASAP!” the pink one exclaimed.
“Told you,” Twilight whispered.
“I’m Rainbow Dash! You can call me Rainbow or Dash, or my full name! And you won’t meet anypony more awesome than me!” the rainbow maned one bragged.
Bass smiled. “I may have to take that as a challenge at some point, you know.”
Rainbow smiled back. “Good! I like a good challenge! How about right now! Right here!”
Bass waved a hoof. “I’ll pass today. I need to get settled in and better acquainted with my home for the next month.” He turned to the final pony; the yellow pegasus with the pink mane. “What might your name be?”
She looked away. “Fl—ter—y,” she whispher.
“Pardon?”
“Flut---shy,” she said again.
“You’re gonna have to speak up, sweetie,” Bass said. In his head, he cringed at his usage of the word “sweetie”. I’m letting the Rockstar character take too much control. This needs to wrap up soon!
“Flutteshy,” she finally said a little louder.
“Fluttershy, eh?” Bass chuckled lightly. “It makes sense, I’ll give you that much. Nice to meet you.”
“So, Bass, are ya wanting to get yer tour of Ponyville done right now, or later?” Applejack asked.
“At the risk of being rude, I think I’ll pass on the tour for today. I’d like to get settled in first. You know, get comfortable with where I’m going to be staying and all that. I’d like to do that now, Twilight. Unless, you had something else in mind,” he directed the last statement to Twilight herself.
“Well, we have to get ready for Pinkie’s party anyway, so I guess we’ll head home for now. See you guys at Sugar Cube Corner,” Twilight said as she began to walk away.
“WAIT!” Pinkie exclaimed. Bass turned to face her and saw that she was gone. He turned back around in confusion and was startled to see her right in his face, practically staring into his soul.
“Um,” he said, feeling uncomfortable. “May I help you?”
She continued to stare for several seconds, causing Bass to worry that she may have seen through his act. Finally she smiled and asked, “What’s your favorite fruit? I have to know so I can bake as many pastries as I can with it!”
Bass tried to laugh, mentally wiping sweat off of his forehead. “I like apples best, actually. Strawberries are a close second though.”
Pinkie nodded. “Okie dokie lokie!” She bounced away merrily, humming to herself the whole while.
Twilight and Bass gave their departing remarks and left for the Golden Oaks Library; Twilight’s home. Upon entering, Bass was surprised by the fact that she lived in a freakin’ library. “I wish I had a place like this back home,” he said.
“Wait right you. I’m gonna go make sure the guest room is still in usable condition,” Twilight said before walking upstairs.
Bass was about to start looking around, when he felt a claw poking him in the ribs. He turned to see a very upset Spike. “Uh, hey, Spike. You alright?”
“Stay away from her,” he deadpanned.
“What? Twilight? What for?”
“Not Twilight. Rarity. Stay. Away. From. Her.”
“Oh,” he said, and it mentally clicked what was going on. He replied with a simple, knowing smile. “You have a crush on Rarity, don’t you?”
Spike blushed. “Th-that’s not the point here! My point is-“
“Hush, Spike my boy. Don’y you worry your scaly head about it. What you saw was me simple acting a character. The archtype for the character was ‘Rockstar’, so I had to act just like a rockstar to make the character believable. I have no plans for your precious Rarity. She’s all yours.”
Spike looked at him, unconvinced. “Why should I believe you? You could be acting right now!”
Bass sighed. “With that mindset, you can argue away anything I do as being a lie, couldn’t you?”
Spike paused. “I didn’t think about it like that.”
“How’s this, then. For as long as I have to play the rockstar, I will only pursue your Rarity if I try to sneak in hints about you to her. How’s that?”
Spike looked at Bass in awe. “Why would you do that for me?”
“Oh, Spike. Believe me. I may not be that old, but neither am I as young as I was. I know all about love. Especially when you’re crushing after someone,” Bass paused. “Somepony, rather.”
Spike smiled as he imagined him and Rarity on a date. Then a thought struck him. “Wait, how old are you, exactly?”
Bass shrugged. “How long is a year in this world?”
“Three hundred sixty-five days.”
“Oh,” Bass said with a slight surprise. “Lucky me; your calendar is the same length as mine. In that case, this won’t take any math to tell you. I’m twenty-years-old.”
“Twilight’s older than you?” Spike asked.
“She is?” Bass added.
“Yeah, she’s about twenty-four.”
“Hm,” Bass thought for a moment. “That’s interesting.”
Twilight came back. “The candlesticks weren’t properly organized, but I fixed it so it’s okay. The guest room is now available, Bass.” She pointed to the door in question.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Bass said with a slight teasing tone as he walked up the stairs to where she was pointing.
Twilight stared and blinked at him. She turned to Spike. “Why’d he call me ma’am?” she asked.
Spike chuckled quietly to himself. “Beats me.”
A few hours later, Bass, Twilight, and Spike were arriving at Sugar Cube Corner. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep up the ‘rockstar’ act before I lose it and start trying to actually be a rockstar,” Bass groaned.
“Don’t worry about it, Bass. I’m sure you can do it. You did so well, earlier,” Twilight said. “Maybe a little too well, yeah, but well all the same.”
He sighed and opened the door, letting Twilight and Spike go in first. He followed close behind and looked up from the ground. Needless to say, the saying “You’ll shit bricks” was the only thing that came to his mind when he saw how detailed everything was. There was a banner with his name stitched onto it that said, “Welcome, Bass Chord!” On the snack bar was a delicately stacked pile of cupcakes that he wasn’t entirely sure were meant for eating due to the artistic nature in which they were displayed. Each one had his cutie mark on top made of icing. There was a stereo playing (what Bass could only assume was) a style of rock music, and in the center of the room was a black four stringed bass guitar with a card that said “To: Bass Chord. From: Ponyville.”
“What the hell?” was the only thing he could mutter. “How in the hell did they set this up so quickly? Especially considering the amount of detail!”
“That’s Pinkie for you. She pulls out all the stoppers when it comes to parties,” Spike said. “I’m gonna go grab some snacks. See you later, Twi.” He waddled away to the cupcakes.
“WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” exclaimed the hyperactive pink pony herself. From where she came from even Bass had no idea. He even thought that God himself didn’t know. Then he questioned God’s presence on such an alien world and put the thought from his mind and shrugged. “How do you like it? I couldn’t do as much as I wanted to on such short notice, but I think it still came out alright!”
“Wait, you mean if you had more time you could have done more?” Bass asked. “How the hell is that possible?”
Pinkie nodded. “Well, I would’ve liked to have a huge row of fireworks that would all explode and look like your cutie mark. Then, I would have even more fireworks that would play music as they exploded. And then, I would use even more fireworks to explode into cupcakes that would land on everypony’s plates.”
Bass was at a complete loss for words. Before he could say any words of appreciation, the other four mares approached them from out of the crowd (which appeared to be most of the town). “Howdy there again, Bass. You enjoying your stay so far?”
Bass couldn’t help but nod. “You bet. Better than any hotel I’ve stayed at before. None of them have this level of ‘you’ in anything they do.”
“Did you try the cupcakes yet?” Pinkie asked.
Bass shook his head. “I only just arrived.”
“Here!” she exclaimed as she procured a cupcake from mother freakin’ nowhere. Bass tasted it, and was pleased to find that it was filled with baked apples. Pinkie handed him a second one, which he was even more pleased to find it was full of strawberries. “I wanted to make a batch that had both apples and strawberries, but I think eating two at once is better anyway.”
“Would you like to give a speech of gratitude?” Twilight asked.
Bass was nervous, but he felt he had already been rude enough as it was today. He nodded. They walked him to the stage that Pinkie had built in the middle of the bakery and clapped her hooves to quiet the crowd. “Ahem,” he began. “Uh, hi. My name’s Bass Chord. I’m a bass guitar player who’s visiting until the music festival in Canterlot next month. I’d just like to say-“
“That you’re actually not a pony but a being from another world who has no idea how he got her in the first place and that Princess Celestia wants you to teach Twilight about your world while you learn about our world and Celestia’s best researchers look for a way home for you and the rockstar persona is actually just an act so you can have a cover story to explain your existence in Equestria which is only based on the part truth that you can actually play bass?” Pinkie said in a single breath.
Bass, Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, and all of the crowd stared in disbelief at Pinkie.
Bass knew that, to everypony else, Pinkie’s rambling was nonsense. All I have to do is give a quick response denying all of it, and I’ll be-
He’s just a poor boy from a poor family; spare him his life from this monstrosity. Easy come, easy go. Will you let me go? No, we will not let you go! Let him go! Will not let you go! Let me go! Will not let you go! Never let you go! Now let me go! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me!
Everypony stared at Bass. Confusion, awe, and even a slight hint of fear resided within everypony’s eyes. Bass didn’t like it. In fact, it enraged him that he had planned out so many different scripts and lines to hide his true identity and they were all for nothing. Twilight noticed the anger on Bass’s face (it wasn’t the hardest thing in the world to spot, really), and her ears drooped as she realized what she had just done. “I-I’m sorry, Bass. I didn’t mean to let that slip out like that,” she apologized.
Bass closed his eyes and took several deep breaths to calm his self. He didn’t like being angry; he considered it to uncouth and impolite. “It’s okay, Twilight,” he said. “It’s only a slight inconvenience that the entire town knows the truth.”
The room was silent for several minutes before a bright blueish green unicorn mare spoke up; “We’ve a dragon, a student to the princess, and Pinkie Pie. Whatever you are is nothing compared to what we’ve seen.”
Bass stared blankly at the mare. Her mane was somewhat minty looking, and her cutie mark was of a lyre. “You can’t seriously be saying that you don’t want an explanation,” he stated.
“As long as you don’t destroy town,” said another mare. This one was brown with a gray mane and wearing glasses. “We won’t really mind.”
Before Bass could form a response, Twilight stepped up stage. “Well, we thank you all for your understanding and consideration, be we should really be heading home now,” she said with a nervous laugh. Bass nodded in agreement. I have a headache, he thought. “Girls,” Twilight said to her friends. “Meet up at my house as soon as possible. We’ll give a proper explanation there.”
The others replied with their agreements, and Bass, Twilight, and Spike all left and began to make their way back to Golden Oaks Library. “Bass,” Twilight said. “I’m really, really sorry. I didn’t mean to let that slip out. It’s just that Pinkie is always so…out there. I don’t understand how she does what she does.”
“It confused you and you broke character for a moment,” he replied with. “I guess I was expecting too much. In light of how the outcome played out, I suppose I can forgive you.”
“Are you sure?” she asked timidly. She really was worried that she had angered him too much.
“We got lucky. It saved me a lot of trouble in long run, really. I guess at least a month of playing the ‘rockstar’ would’ve been too much for me as well. I guess, what I’m saying is that this is how it would have ended up anyway. We just save some time by cutting the crap.”
Twilight looked at Bass for a moment, and then smiled. “I guess you’re right.”
The others arrived at the library not long after Twilight and Bass had arrived. Spike decided to go to bed rather than listen to the same explanation multiple times, so the seven ponies sat in Twilight’s living room (which was really just the main room of the library) and waited.
Bass sighed. “I guess I should start,” he said. “Last night I appeared in the maze in the royal gardens, or whatever they were, at that castle in Canterlot. I wasn’t awake until sometime later when I came to realize that I wasn’t in my original body, but the body of a talking pony, surrounded by other talking ponies. Needless to say, I was shocked and fainted promptly…which I can confidently say has never happened before, so that’s a new experience to me. Anyway, I woke up today in Twilight’s old room at the castle and was told by Princess Celestia to accompany Twilight back here to Ponyville to teach her about my world, and in turn learn about this world. Any questions?”
Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie just stared at him.
Fluttershy was the first to speak. “Um, if you don’t mind my asking…what were you before being a pony?”
Bass laughed. “Celestia and Twilight hadn’t heard of my race, so I don’t expect you to. But, if you really want to know, I was human.” The confusion of Fluttershy’s face spoke volumes, in spite of her quiet nature.
Rarity cleared her throat. “Fluttershy here is a fond lover of animals, and is always curious about new creatures that she’s never seen before. Not to refer to you as an animal, of course,” she hastily added at the end. She was clearly nervous, and Bass knew why.
“Rarity,” he started.
“Yes!? Can I help you?” she laughed nervously.
“I apologize for earlier. I don’t actually act like that. In fact, I was screaming on the inside about the fact that I was taking the character just a little too far.” He bowed his head.
“O-oh,” Rarity replied. “Well, I suppose I can forgive you. You were, after all, trying to protect yourself by acting. Might I add that you are a splendid actor? Were it not for Pinkie and Twilight, I don’t think I would have ever figured it out.”
Bass couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you.”
“Ah honestly don’t see why ya didn’t just tell us, Twi. We wouldn’t have been against it or anything. In fact, ah would’ve wanted to help ya,” Applejack stated.
“I know, girls. But Bass didn’t want anypony else to know unless it was absolutely necessary. I was just trying to honor his request,” Twilight replied.
“Well, have you learned anything about his world yet? How cool is it?” Rainbow Dash asked. She seemed to be interested in the new turn of events.
“Well, all I’ve learned so far is that Bass in particular is an actor, reader, writer, and musician, and that he’s a university student on his world.”
Rainbow stuck her tongue out in disgust. “Another egghead? No offense, Twi, but I can barely stand one know it all.”
Bass laughed. “Oh, trust me on this. If you could see my grades, you’d know I’m no egghead. I’m going through school to be a literature teacher because all I can do is read and write. Math and science are not my strong points by any means.” Bass paused to think. “I am rather decent at history, however.”
“Oh!” Pinkie said suddenly. “Can you actually play bass?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Bass said. Then he smiled a smile that beamed with pride. “Actually, I play both guitar and bass. I also sing from time to time, but I’m not so hot at that.”
“Hmm,” Pinkie said. She pulled an acoustic guitar out from nowhere. Where in the name of all that is holy did that come from? Bass thought. “Here, play it!” she demanded with a beaming smile.
“Um,” he said. “I could try, but my human body doesn’t have hooves, so this may be a bit difficult at first.” He picked up the guitar and held it as he was supposed to. He tried to play a few notes…scratch that. He did play a few notes. “Huh,” he said. “That wasn’t as hard as I was expecting it to be.” He didn’t fully understand how he was pressing down on the individual strings with his hooves, but frankly he didn’t care enough to argue.
He smiled. “What do you want me to play? Give me a theme.”
Before anyone could reply, Twilight raised a hoof. “Actually, I’m rather curious. They say that the musician’s feelings are in the songs he sings and plays. I’m actually interested to know how you actually feel about being here in this world instead of your own. If you don’t mind that is.” She quickly added that last bit.
Bass stared at her for a minute, trying to collect his thoughts and feelings and find a song he knew that matched them. He wasn’t talented enough to write his own music, but he was very good at memorizing and covering other songs, and he remembered the perfect song. At least, he felt it was perfect.
The guitar seemed to play on its own to him. He let the memory of the song and the feelings he felt wash through him as he played. The music drifted gently and sadly through the room. Then, he began to sing:
Another day in this carnival of souls Another night settles in as quickly as it goes The memories of shadows, ink on the page And I can't seem to find my way home
And it's almost like Your heaven's trying everything Your heaven's trying everything To keep me out
All the places I've been and things I've seen A million stories that made up a million shattered dreams The faces of people I'll never see again And I can't seem to find my way home
Cause it's almost like Your heaven's trying everything to break me down Cause it's almost like Your heaven's trying everything to keep me out.
He ended the song early, because it only repeated the same verse after that last line, and he improvised the guitar to end appropriately. He looked up and saw tears in the other ponies’ eyes, which took him by surprise. Rainbow was hurriedly trying to hide the few tears she had in her eyes while the others weren’t looking.
“That was amazing,” Twilight said. “Did you write that?”
Bass shook his head. “I’m not that talented. I can only do covers.”
“You really should play in the music festival!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Only, you’re not part of any major band that’s attending, so you can’t do that.”
“Actually,” Rainbow said. “There’s a battle of the bands segment this year.” They all turned to stare at Rainbow. “What? Have none of you gone to the festival before?” They all shook their heads. “That’s too bad. I’ve gone every year, unless a Wonderbolts show conflicted with it. Sometimes the Wonderbolts would actually open the show by flying in as the first band stepped onto the stage. It’s really cool.”
“Well,” Bass said. “As ‘cool’ as that is, I don’t have a band.” His belly began to rumble. “And today seems to have taken a toll on me; I haven’t eaten since those cupcakes earlier.”
“You want some more?” Pinkie asked.
Bass shook his head. “Sorry, but sweets really aren’t my thing. I like sugar well enough, but too much of it makes me sick at my stomach. I’d rather have real food.”
“So, what do you want?” Twilight asked.
Bass thought about it. He was about to answer with philly cheese steak, but then he realized there in rose a problem. Oh my god! They’re all herbivores. I can’t ask for meat! He thought. “Uh,” he said, beginning to sweat. “What do you normally eat around here?” He thought that it was a safe way out of the question.
“Well, we eat flower sandwiches, hay, oats…stuff like that.”
Bass could feel the color leaving his face, and was thankful that he was now covered in a coat of fur to hide his lack of blood. “Uh, anything else? What about fruits or vegetables?”
“Yeah. We eat carrots, turnips, onions, bananas, strawberries, apples…”
“Apples! I’ll have apples!” He felt a little bit embarrassed. He had already expressed his love for apples earlier that day. Well, at least I know of something I can eat, he thought.
“Ah got ya covered sugarcube. I’ll be right back with the best apples you’ve ever had!” Applejack announced proudly as she left.
“By the way,” Rarity started. “Why did you ask what we normally ate? What about you?”
He looked around nervously. Suddenly, a quote from his favorite animated show came to mind. “T-that’s classified!”
The remaining mares all stared at him. They weren’t buying it.
Bass sighed.Mikuru Asahina makes that phrase look so damn easy to say. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is full of shit!
Your magic white rabbit has left its writing on the wall. We follow, like Alice, and just keep diving down the hole. We’re falling and we’re losing control. You’re pulling us, dragging us down this dead end road.
Bass could almost actually hear the awkwardness in the room for a few minutes, but as time went onward the air returned to normal and the eight, which included Spike, just had a good time. Bass learned a few more things about Equestria, such as the economy to a certain degree. He was terrible at math, so he didn’t want to even think about comparing the bit to the dollar back home, but seeing as how it was made of gold he wagered it was worth a bit more than a dollar. He laughed internally at his unintentional pun.
He also learned about the weather. Back home he found the weather to be fascinating as nature rampaged uncontrollable or sat idly by while the heat of Sol warmed the Earth in comfort. When he was little, he used to be afraid of storms and such, but one day (and he doesn’t really remember why) he decided he would step outside onto his front porch and watch the storm rampage. He remembered feeling calm, even a trace amount of serenity and inner peace. While the wind blew and the lightning struck, he felt he was seeing something incredible. And it was through the rough Rainbow Dash that he learned, by sheer accident really, that the weather in Equestria was boring and uninteresting by his standards. That conversation went a little like this:
“Rainbow, shouldn’t you be home right now? You have a busy day tomorrow, don’t you?” Rarity asked in that posh voice of hers. Bass felt he was wearing that word out, but he still liked it.
“Nah, the boss is on vacation this week, so I’m in charge until he gets back. That means everyone else is doing the hard work,” Rainbow Dash replied. Bass cocked an eyebrow, thinking that she sounded a little irresponsible to be an Assistant Manager. Or, at least, that’s what he assumed her role was for her work…whatever it may be.
“But isn’t tomorrow supposed to be the first major storm of the year now that winter is over; the first big rain to replenish all the water reservoirs for the farmponies and such?”
“Well, yeah, but all I have to do is tell them where to put the clouds while I sit back and watch. I won’t have to actually get directly involved unless something goes wrong. Like, if we were to have an unexpected tornado because one the newbies screwed up, then I would step in. Otherwise, I’m supervising.”
Bass was trying to figure out what her job must have been, but the cloud moving and a tornado occurring due to a mistake threw him for a loop. “I’m sorry, miss Dash,” he said, jumping into his polite speech again. “What exactly do you do for a living?”
“I’m a weatherpony. We make it rain, storm, snow, and occasionally hail if the situation calls for it. Tornadoes are a required occurrence on a rare occasion, but that’s only about once a year at best that we do that, and we tend to keep them under control…most of the time.”
Applejack glared at Rainbow as she finished that statement. “Ya need ta keep ‘em under control all the time. We had ta rebuild the barn over a year ago because of you, remember?”
Rainbow groaned. “I said I was sorry, didn’t I? Besides, what’s it matter? You rebuild that barn at least twice a year!”
“Because it keeps getting destroyed!”
“You asked me to destroy it last time, remember? Sonic Rain Nuke ring a bell?”
“That’s not what Ah’m talking about!”
“OKAY!” Bass exclaimed. “I think we’re getting a little side tracked, don’t you?” The two mares nodded. “Okay. Next question: why the hell do you need to control the weather? Shouldn’t the weather do its own thing?”
Rainbow shook her head. “Only in the Everfree Forest does the weather occur on its own. Everywhere else we have to make it happen, otherwise it won’t happen. Get it?”
“Uh huh…that’s insane. Back on Earth the weather just happens. We may have a really wet rainy season, or a very bad drought, and there will be nothing we can do about it. Sometimes we think we know what it will do but then it’ll surprise us.”
“Wait, so your home is like the Everfree? Does that mean its full of trees and wild animals too?” Twilight asked.
“No, actually. Er, well, yes and no. That’s a tad complicated to answer. You see, there are seven continents on my world. I’m from a continent called North America. The Americas, which are North and South, weren’t discovered until about six hundred years ago, and we have history that dates back over six thousand years or more, and that’s just the recorded history. God knows what there was before that. Anyway, Europe, Africa, and Asia were pretty well populated and still had wild areas that weren’t inhabited, but then the Americas were discovered. Of the native people that actually lived there before they were discovered, very few build permanent residence, so the majority of both land massed, which stretched almost perfectly from the North Pole to the South Pole, was wild and unexplored,” Bass replied.
“But it’s not now?” Twilight asked.
“No. I say that with both regret and thankfulness. Most of it has been destroyed in the last two hundred years to make way for a growing nation. Now, the country I live in makes up half of North America, and very little of it is wilderness. There are a few places that are fenced off and protected by the government to allow the wild animals to live in peace away from civilization, but even those aren’t completely safe from hunters, both legal and illegal.”
“Hunters?” Fluttershy asked. “You hunt and kill animals?” Under the fear in her voice, Bass could have sworn the he sensed disgust.
Shit, he thought. I shouldn’t have said that. “Well,” he said. “You see, we, uh…” He realized there was no other way around it, so he decided to jump straight into the meat and potatoes of the problem. “Listen, I didn’t want to tell you this because of what you are, but this is a problem I will have to face here eventually. My kind doesn’t survive on fruit and vegetables alone. Our bodies are different than most creatures on my world. Yes, we do need fruit and vegetables, but they only provide half of what we need to keep our bodies functioning. We also eat meat.”
He could feel the eyes on him now. Rarity cleared her throat. “So, that’s why…”
“Why I made that cheesy joke about my question being classified? Yes.”
Of all of the ponies gazes, he felt Fluttershy’s the most. He looked at her and saw not what he expected. He expected disgust and contempt; instead he saw curiosity and compassion, and maybe even a hint of pity. “You’re species is a race of omnivores, then?” she asked. He nodded. She smiled. “Nature is so fascinating, isn’t it?” she asked the others.
“Uh, Flutters? He just admitted to having eaten other animals. Doesn’t that bother ya?” Applejack asked.
“Oh, normally yes. But, he wasn’t originally a pony, and so his biology was once completely different. What his body needed when he was a human is only natural to him. It’s not that he’s evil or a monster, but he simply needed meat in addition to fruits and vegetables to survive.”
Twilight couldn’t help but agree it would seem, and so she turned to Bass. “Did everypony…”
“Everyone, actually. We aren’t ponies on my world, remember.” Bass corrected. Twilight blushed in embarrassment of her mistake. “Did everyone eat the same foods?”
Bass shook his head. “Before I go into detail for that answer, do you really want to know my diet?”
“Well,” Twilight started. “First, a simple yes or no question: did you eat pony meat? You seemed to imply that ponies exist on your world, or at least similar creatures.”
Bass winced at the question. “Me specifically: no. My country: not that I am aware of. Anywhere else in the world: It all depends on where you go. Some do, most don’t, and not for any particular reason other than there are other meats available. That or pony is an acquired taste. I don’t know. Haven’t eaten any myself, nor have I ever really wanted to. After this experience, if I can go home, I will never touch pony meat.”
Twilight shivered. “Not exactly the answer I was hoping for, but oh well.” She looked at the others. “Do you girls want to know?”
Rainbow shrugged. “I’m okay with him eating meat in his other body. It doesn’t bother me. Remember, I was friends with Gilda. Need I remind you that she’s a griffon. They eat only meat for their primary diet.”
Flutteshy shook her head. “It doesn’t bother me, but I think I would rather have that conversation with him in private so I can understand his species more. But, um, that’s only if you want to.”
“Well, Ah’m good,” Applejack said. “Ah suppose Ah can’t really judge him for how his body works, but Ah’ve heard enough to suit me just fine.”
Pinkie shrugged. “Meh, I don’t really care.”
Rarity shook her head. “I think I’ll pass. I’m sorry if I find the thought of eating another living creature distasteful, but I would rather not hear about his meaty exploits.”
“Well, I don’t care if the votes are outnumbered, due to Applejack and Rarity not wanting to know, I will not disclose the information at present. However,” he turned to Fluttershy. “If you really want to know, then we’ll set up a time to discuss it.”
“Fluttershy nodded excitedly. “Oh, yes, that would be wonderful. I just have one question: when you turned into a pony, did your bodily needs also switch over?”
Bass shrugged. “I don’t know if that would be psychological or physical really. I mean, my body’s needs may have changed, but I’ll go ahead and admit that my head still wants me to have meat.”
“Hmm,” Fluttershy said. “I’m sorry for asking, but may I have a peek inside your mouth? I mean, I totally understand if you don’t want me to, and I don’t want to force you into anything…”
Bass interrupted her. “Go ahead. “I’ve got nothing to hide at this point.” He scooted closer to where she was seated and said, “Aaaaaaaaah!” His mouth was open.
Fluttershy put a hoof on her chin as she inspected his teeth. Her eyes seemed to go wide for a split second, but the sight quickly vanished as she regained her composure; Bass may have been the only on to notice. “You’re teeth look normal enough,” she said. “We can have our chat tomorrow if that’s okay with you.”
He closed his mouth. Normal, eh? Who’s normal? Bass thought. “Sure,” he said with a smile.
And that’s how the eight of them passed the time, essentially. Twilight bid them farewell, and showed Bass to the guest room once more. “I guess I’ll take you to Fluttershy’s cottage tomorrow, since you don’t know the way.”
He nodded. “Thank you, Twilight,” he replied. “I’m sure I’ve been a real pain in the ass for you today. I was in your bed, I was rude, I made you act, and now you know I eat meat and the like. This must have been one of the roughest days you’ve ever had.”
She smiled. “You weren’t here when we fought Discord.”
“That dragon-horse-goat-bat dude?”
“Yes, him. He kind of almost destroyed everything we love when he first broke free. We only recently released him again, this time on purpose, to sort of ‘tame’ him.”
Bass laughed. “You’re not much older than me, yet you’ve clearly led a more interesting life.”
“I don’t know. Your world sounds interesting to me,” she said with a smile.
Bass returned the smile. “Who knows; maybe one day you’ll visit it.”
Twilight continued smiling. “Good night bass,” she said as she left his new room.
“G’night, Twilight,” he replied before laying in his new bed. However, in spite of how tired he was, he was doomed to not rest well. He was plagued by nightmares all night long until the sun came up the next morning; all because he wasn’t home.
All our times have come. Here but now they’re gone. Seasons don’t fear the Reaper, nor do the wind, the sun, or the rain. We can be like they are. Come on baby, don’t fear the Reaper.
Bass had never felt so tired in his entire life. Sure, he had stayed up for twenty-four hours at parties with his friends before, but he chose to do that and he felt okay afterwards. Not perfect, mind you, but okay enough to function properly. This? This was different. It’s one thing to avoid sleep, and another thing entirely to completely lose sleep. All because of those blasted nightmare. All he wanted to do was scream profanities, punch his own head, and go back to sleep: not even in that particular order. Just as he was about to start grumbling, he heard a knock at the door.
“Bass,” came the voice of Twilight. “Are you up?”
“Y-e-p-!” he tried to reply, only to find that his voice was rough from lack of use; he referred to it as his morning voice. He cleared his throat to correct the problem. “Yeah, I’m up. Come on in.”
Twilight opened the door slowly and peered inside, careful not to disturb anything Bass may have been doing. Upon finding him sitting up in bed she widened the door’s opening and entered. “I hope I didn’t wake you,” she said.
Bass resisted the urge to ‘hmph’ in response and opted to simply say that she hadn’t; he was already awake.
She smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. She must not be used to having men, er, stallions over at her home, Bass thought. “I made some blueberry waffles for breakfast if you want some.”
“That sounds nice, actually,” Bass said. He jumped out of bed and almost hit the floor face first. Twilight managed to run over and stop him from crashing by holding him up with her hooves. Bass tried to laugh it off. “Guess I’m still not used to this body.”
He steadied himself and Twilight released him, unsure if he could stand on his own. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I’ve had worse.”
She still felt unsure, so she walked with him down the stairs to make sure he didn’t trip and kill himself on the steps. He arrived alive and in one piece to the dining room where found two plates of blueberry waffles. He sat down and gave a silent prayer before digging in. Twilight sat opposite of him and also started to eat. As they ate, however, Twilight noticed something about Bass’s face that worried her. “Bass, how well did you sleep?”
He stopped dead in his tracks. “As well as can be expected, I suppose. Why?”
“Because I can see dark circles and tired lines on your face. They’re subtle, but I see them just fine. You didn’t sleep at all did you?”
“Well,” Bass began. “Back home I didn’t sleep all that much anyway. Sometimes I stayed up late working, or maybe I felt uncomfortable and just couldn’t sleep. I’ve done better in recent years, but I’ve had those dark circles and tired lines for over seven years now.” He technically wasn’t lying. In his human body he always looked tired. He didn’t always feel tired, due to the fact that he was sleeping better than usual, but he still carried the physical signs of an insomniac due to the years of sleep deprivation. However, he didn’t truly know if those features carried over into his pony form.
“Yesterday you didn’t have that tired look yesterday, Bass. But you do today. Did you sleep at all?”
Bass was getting irritated. He didn’t want to be irritated, because he knew that she was only concerned for his health. Considering that they barely knew each other, she probably felt that it was only appropriate to want anypony you meet to be healthy and fit, so that’s why Bass tried not to get upset. “Look, Twilight, whatever issues I’m having with my sleep, I’m sure I can figure them out on my own. The longer I’m here and the more adjusted I get to this world, the better I’ll function as a pony. Please, don’t worry yourself over any little hiccup in my health.” He felt his irritation melt away as he spoke; another special talent of his was to calm him down by speaking calmly. Hearing a calm voice would calm him down, essentially.
Twilight wanted to press on, but decided not to. They finished their meal and set out the door to give Bass a tour of Ponyville. Fluttershy had requested that Bass come to her place around noon, so Twilight gave him a rundown of the town in the passing time. Bass felt like he usually did in a new place; intimidated, unsure, and challenged. It was the sense of challenge that he loved most though. Being able to memorize a new town was something he loved doing, that way anytime a friend came to that town for the first time he could show them around himself.
In what felt like no time at all, noon had come around and Twilight escorted Bass to Fluttershy’s college. Bass felt like he was staring at a scene from Tolkien’s The Hobbit when the cottage came into view. It looked to him like it was built inside of a hill. Upon closer examination he retracted that beliefe, and decided that a hill was built on top of the house. Both theories aside, he rather liked the look of the place. It seemed peaceful and set apart from the rest of civilization. For someone like Fluttershy, whose very name implied a timid nature, it was the answer to any social problems; cut out society.
“How much of an introvert is she?” Bass asked.
Twilight stifled a giggle. “Well, she may be shy, but she’s one of the best ponies I know. Just don’t make her angry.”
Bass nodded. “I can see that.”
Twilight turned her gaze to him. “Really? Most ponies don’t believe me when I say that.”
Bass nodded with a slight grin before saying, “It’s always the quiet ones.”
“I see,” she replied. “Let’s just go see her, okay?” The pair walked up to Fluttershy’s door and knocked. The door creaked open slightly as somepony opened it from inside. A pair of green eyes peered through the crack, identified Bass and Twilight, and the door opened to reveal Fluttershy smiling at them. “Welcome, Bass. Welcome, Twilight.”
“Hello, Fluttershy. Where do you want me?” Bass asked.
Fluttershy stared blankly at him. “What do you mean?”
“Where do you want to have our chat about my diet?” he asked again.
“Oh, please follow me.” She led the two into her living room and beckoned them to sit. “Oh, do you like tea, Bass?”
“As a matter of fact I do,” he replied with a smile. “Preferably hot, though.”
“I agree. What kind do you like?”
Bass began to think. “I don’t know what you would call it, but I am rather fond of Earl Grey. I just hope that’s what it’s called here, otherwise finding it is going to be a pain in the ass.”
Fluttershy flinched at his use of profanity, but didn’t say a word otherwise. Bass noticed of course. She thought for a moment. “We do actually have that kind of tea, believe it or not. I’ll go make a pot of it. Do you take sugar?”
“None thank you. Only iced tea should be sweet in my opinion. Hot tea is the type of tea I drink to relax.” She nodded and exited the room to prepare the tea. Bass turned to Twilight. “I feel like I made her uncomfortable with what I just said.”
“Well, profanity isn’t something most ponies in Ponyville use, or at least not as openly as you do. I’ve heard Applejack swear a time or two in frustration, but otherwise she’s very clean spoken. Fluttershy may not appreciate it,” Twilight explained.
“I see,” Bass replied.
Fluttershy came back a few minutes later. “The tea is ready,” she said as she brought three cups of tea. “I hope you enjoy it.” The three ponies began to drink their tea respectively when Fluttershy turned to Twilight. “Um, Twilight?”
“Yes, Fluttershy?” she replied.
“I’m really sorry to have to ask you this, but would it be alright if it were just Bass and I talking? I would like to keep it private for his sake. I mean, if that’s okay with you. If you would rather stay then I guess you could.”
Twilight sipped the last of her tea. “It’s alright, Fluttershy. While I am deeply curious about what you’re going to be talking about, I don’t have a problem leaving. If Bass wants to tell me later he can, unless you have other plans, of course.”
“Oh, thank you so much for understanding, Twilight.”
“Well, Bass, can you remember your way back to the library?”
He nodded. “I should be able to. See you later, I guess.”
Twilight gave her parting remarks and left. Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. Was Twilight making her nervous or something? Bass thought.
“Bass,” Fluttershy began, sounding awfully serious. “I have something important to tell you, but I didn't want to say anything in front of the others. When I looked at your teeth yesterday I noticed that you still have your carnivorous teeth.”
Bass stared at her blankly. “So, my canines are still in my mouth, in spite of the fact that I’m not human anymore?”
“Yes, and this raises a problem for you. If your teeth didn’t fully convert to being a pony, maybe the rest of your digestive system didn’t either. It’s possible that some of the foods we eat are not digestible to you, and you may still require meat to survive.”
Bass thought for a moment. “Ordinarily hearing that I can still eat meat would make me happy, but I’m not supposed to eat meat, am I? I’m a god damn pony for goodness sake!” Fluttershy flinched at his profanity again. Bass also flinched because he made her flinch. “Sorry about that. That’s just kinda how I talk. I don’t mean to come off as…” He was about to say ‘an asshole’ but he stopped himself. “As a jerk.”
“I understand,” Fluttershy said. “But that’s not the issue. The issue is what foods you can and can’t eat. I’m afraid the only way to find out is the obvious way.”
“Let me guess; take a crash course in taste testing?”
“Something like that. Obviously fruits and vegetables are okay with you, based on your word. What about flowers and hay?”
“Well, if my body is internally the same as before, then the answer is no. If only my teeth stayed then maybe yes. I honestly couldn’t tell you.”
“Have you seen your teeth in a mirror yet?” Bass shook his head. Fluttershy exited the room for a moment and returned with a little mirror that slipped onto her hoof. She held it up and showed Bass his own reflection.
He smiled and gazed at his own teeth. He noticed two things; his canines were actually there, but they were not as prominent as when he was human. They were obviously carnivorous teeth if you looked this close, but they were rounding off more now and would look like incisors from a distance. “They’re not as sharp as before,” he announced. “They changed partially.”
“Really?” Fluttershy said, surprised.
“I’m amazed you didn’t notice,” Bass said.
Flutteshy blushed. “Well, I haven’t seen what a human would look like normally, so I don’t know what to expect from their teeth.”
“Question; why did you even want to look in my mouth to begin with?”
She blushed again. “I’m sorry if I overstepped any boundaries by doing that.”
“I gave you permission, so apology is denied due to lack of necessity,” he said jokingly.
“Oh, right. Well, it was an errant thought of mine, really. I thought of the potential that your teeth didn’t change since your psychological need for meat didn’t change.”
“I think that’s just because that’s how I grew up. I always ate meat, so my mind expects meat.” He lost himself in thought again as he considered something. “Maybe we don’t have to worry about my diet. I can try foods as I go along, and if I like them I like them, and vice versa.”
Fluttershy nodded. “That might work.” She looked around nervously, but she also seemed happy to have the topic resolved. “I guess we’re done here, unless you have something else you want to talk about,” Bass said.
“I actually have a question. Personal curiosity, mind you”
“Sure, go for it.”
“Did you have any pets back on your own world?”
Bass felt a sense of sadness wash over him, and his nightmares from the night before returned for a split second. “Yeah,” he said, almost nostalgically. Only a day, and I already miss them. He thought. “I had a dog and a cat.”
Fluttershy picked up on Bass’s emotions very quickly. “You miss them don’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess I do. Honestly, even if I were with them, they’d amaze me that they’ve lived as long as they have. My dog is sixteen-years-old, and my cat is ten-years-old.”
“Oh my,” Fluttershy replied. “They are quite old.”
“Yeah, they are. And I grew up with them both.”
“What are their names?”
Bass laughed. “They’re really odd names, just so you know.”
“I won’t make fun of them.”
Bass shrugged. “My dad works for the city street department of my town. They were picking up garbage one day and they found a stray Labrador pup on a street called Troxell Drive. Dad brought him home to give to my mom but mom didn’t want him; little four-year-old me wanted to keep him, so we did. Dad named him Troxell after the street he was found on.”
“I think that’s a sweet name with an even sweeter story behind it,” she said smiling. “Good luck feeling that way about my cat. He was born on my back porch in a litter of three kittens. The other two were energetic and playful, but he was only playful part of the time. The remainder of his time he just sort of chilled out and relaxed. Kind of like any average adult cat, really, but that’s not normal for a kitten. He acted like he was stoned on something, so dad named him Little Dude.” Bass laughed as he finished the story. “Even in his old age that cat doesn’t care about his surroundings. He just lays there without a care in the world.”
Fluttershy laughed. “I think that’s cute.”
Bass smiled, but he still felt sad. “Unless I find a way home, I’ll never see them again.”
Fluttershy looked at him for a moment before saying, “If you end up stuck here in our world, which I hope you don’t, you can come by my house and I can give you a pet if you’d like. I understand that you can never replace Troxell or Little Dude, but having a pet never hurts.” She gave him a tender smile.
“You’re really kind, you know that?” Bass said.
“I’m aware of that,” she said with a giggle, laughing at some joke that Bass was unaware of.
All the evil in the world pushing down on you. And all the venom in their words, what could you do? What kind of ignorance causes them to be so? So sick and vile and evil! You did nothing to them! It’s just not fair you don’t deserve it. It’s not your fault, you’re innocent.
Bass bid Fluttershy farewell and started to make his way back to the library. On his way he decided to really get a good look at Ponyville. Frankly, he felt it was one of the most beautiful and peaceful places he had ever been. He decided to take a stroll through the nearby park and sat on a park bench to watch the other ponies go by. In spite of his secret being out in the general public’s eye, everyone seemed to ignore him. Well, maybe not ‘ignore’ ignore, but they treated him like any other pony that they didn’t really know; just a stranger. He chuckled softly at that thought, which caused him to remember a song that he liked. He began to hum the tune while listening to the song in his head. People are strange when you’re a stranger. Faces look ugly when you’re alone.
But a sudden sound dragged him from his mental concert. He saw three fillies running around excitedly in the park. Their flanks were plain and blank, telling Bass that they had not discovered their special talents yet. This made him feel a tad bit sad. Having grown up without the pressure of having to find his special talent, he was able to discover it entirely by accident. He always loved playing musical instruments for years, but the first time he played a bass he knew it was his favorite instrument of all time. But, at the same time, maybe he shouldn’t feel sad. He observed the three fillies and noticed that they didn’t seem to have a care in the world as they played. Their minds must have been a million miles away from their potential cutie marks, and they didn’t care because they had friends that they could play with. That must be it! They’re just experiencing a normal childhood!
He nodded happily. Live your childhood to the fullest! He cheered from his thoughts.
When they got close enough to him he heard them cheer excitedly, “Cutie Mark Crusaders Monster Hunters!” right before they charged him and pounced.
He lay on the ground with three little fillies, one earth pony, one unicorn, and one pegasus, piled on top of him. It kind of hurt. “Can I help you kids with something?” he asked in a pained voice.
The three jumped off of him and looked at their flanks simultaneously. Nothing. “Aww! Ah was sure we’d get it that time!” exclaimed the yellow earth pony with a country accent that reminded Bass of Applejack. Her mane was apple red, he noted.
“Oh well, I guess it was worth a try,” the unicorn said. She was white with pink and light purple in her mane.
“Maybe we didn’t tackle him hard enough!” the orange pegasus said. Her mane was a pinkish purple.
Bass immediately bolted up. “How about we don’t and say we did!” he exclaimed, startling the fillies. “What the devil do you think you’re doing? Don’t you three know that it’s rude to attack strangers?”
“S-sorry, mister,” the earth pony said. “We were just trying to get our cutie marks in monster hunting.”
I retract every thought I had about these kids. I retract it all! Bass thought as he facehoofed. He also noted that doing that action hurt more when you have hooves instead of hands. “Dare I ask why you chose me to be your monster?”
“Because you said yesterday that you aren’t really a pony!” the pegasus said.
“On the contrary, you will find that I am currently one hundred percent pony. I just happen to be from a world where I’m, indeed, not a pony.”
“Um, mister Chord?” the unicorn asked.
He felt like it would be impossible to remain angry at them for long, so he sighed heavily to calm down. “Yes?”
“Please don’t tell our sisters we did this to you?” she asked pleasingly.
“Sisters? Who are your sisters?”
“Oh, you don’t know? Well, in that case…”
“No, Sweetie. He asked, and we should answer. Mah sister always said to be honest if you were caught doing something ya shouldn’t be doing,” the earth filly said. She looked at Bass. “Mah name’s Apple Bloom. Mah sister is..”
“Applejack, I assume?” Bass asked. Apple Bloom nodded. “And you two?”
“I’m Sweetie Belle. Rarity is my sister,” Sweetie said.
“I don’t have a sister,” the orange filly said. “But, my name is Scootaloo.”
“Just because you don’t have a sister doesn’t mean you can’t get into trouble. He could tell Rainbow Dash.” Sweetie pointed out.
“She a friend of Rainbow’s?” Bass asked.
“More like avid fan and worshiper of Rainbow. Rainbow could very easily punish her for any trouble she causes!”
“Hey, you caused it too!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“Oh, look what we have here,” said a snobbish, but young, voice. Oh, shit. Here we go, Bass thought. He had heard a tone of voice like that before. Sure, it came from someone different, but he still knew what it meant; trouble. “The blank flanks and the freak of a pony who showed up yesterday!”
“Hey! That’s rude ya know! Ya don’t even know mister Chord!”
“Please stop calling me ‘mister Chord’. Just Bass is fine,” Bass stated calmly. He turned to face the new voice. He saw a pair of young fillies, no older than the other three, who both bore cutie marks. The one that spoke had a tiara on her flank, and the other had a spoon. That’s…interesting. “Can I help you fillies?”
“Just when I thought you three couldn’t get any weirder, you start hanging out with this monster disguised as a pony,” she continued, ignoring Bass.
“Oh, so that’s what that feels like,” he said, having forgotten what it’s like to be treated like he didn’t exist. Or rather, he had never felt that way, which made the experience even more interesting.
“Uh, Tiara?” the other filly said. “He’s an adult. You shouldn’t be making fun of him.”
“What’s it matter, Silver? He’s not really a pony. And those three will never find their special talents! They’re all freaks.”
Bass started to laugh. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle stared at him in confusion. He looked at the other two fillies. “Full names, please.”
“I’m Diamond Tiara, and this is Silver Spoon. Respect those names, nobody!”
Bass looked at Silver Spoon first, his eyes conveying all he wanted to tell her. If you don’t want to be in trouble, back away and leave these fillies alone! They said. She got the message and slowly, and nervously, backed away.
“Silver, where are you going?”
“Tell me, Diamond Tiara, how does it feel to be named after the rarest and hardest mineral to ever exist?” Bass asked.
“What’s it matter to you?”
“Well, I just so happen to have been born in April. My birthstone is the Diamond, and I’ve always taken pride in it. In fact, only once have I deviated from my birthstone, and that was in memoriam of my grandmother who had died; her birthstone was Emerald, by the way. And you know what? I was bullied once when I was about the age you fillies are now.”
“Probably because you were freak on your world too!” she retorted.
“Actually, do you really want to know the reason?” he asked. He turned to the other three fillies. “Do you?” They nodded. “There isn’t a reason. I didn’t share an interest in sports, had a difference of opinion, liked different movies, or listened to different music. To them I was just ‘different’ from them for whatever reason. Why was I different? To me, I was just being normal. I did what I wanted to do, and I acted the way I wanted to act.
“Meanwhile, they all felt the need to conform themselves to agree with each other. They felt the need to belong in a crowd, even if they didn’t agree with that crowd. I didn’t. The friends I had were genuine and they didn’t pretend to be anything else. They accepted the differences between us, and they didn’t try to force me to like what they liked. Tell me Diamond, what do you see in the three fillies behind me?”
Diamond was about to answer, but something stuck and she couldn’t seem to get any words out. “Is it uselessness? Differences? Oddities?” What was that phrase she used? “Blank flanks, even? Do you know what I see? I see three fillies who want to belong because they feel like they’ve been pressured by an insecure society of their peers. I see three fillies who will find their special talents the very second they stop trying to find them. And the only way they can stop trying to find them is for others to accept that they haven’t figured out what they want to do yet. They need you, Diamond, to lighten up and let them be. Maybe even become their friend eventually.”
“B-but…” Diamond began. She felt intimidated by Bass.
“However,” he said in a deeper voice. He was finally letting the trace amount of anger he felt towards this child out. “I think that for you to lighten up, you need to be taught a lesson. It’s not my place to teach it either. Perhaps I tell your parents about how you treat these fillies?”
“W-why should they believe you, though?” she asked, trying to sound like the concept didn’t frighten her. “You’re a stranger, and you’re not even a pony!”
“True enough, but if my word isn’t enough, how about the word of Twilight Sparkle? Maybe even the princesses themselves? I could even get Discord involved.” He was throwing the princesses and Discord in for the intimidation factor. It seemed like it worked. He turned to Silver. “That goes for you too, young lady. I’m sure you’re involved in some form or fashion.”
“Y-yes sir!” she said immediately.
Bass smiled and nodded. “Now, apologize and run along.”
The fillies said their apologies and left. He turned to the other three fillies and continued to smile. “If they cause you any more problems, don’t hesitate to tell me.”
All three of them had their jaws open in shock. “Y’all actually made them apologize?” Apple Bloom said.
“You actually scared them to behave?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“You told them to be our friends? Why!?” Scootaloo asked. The other two stared at her. “What?”
“Believe it or not, sometime those who bully us can become good friends. When I was in elementary school this one kid would pick on me every day. When we got into middle school and high school, however, he stopped and he and I started having casual conversations that didn’t lead to any fights. While I can’t call him a close friend, I can still call him a friend,” Bass said.
From behind, Bass heard another country voice. “There y’all are! I was beginnin ta worry about you gals,” came the voice of Applejack. “Oh, well howdy there, Bass. I see you’ve met the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
“Yes, I believe I have,” he said.
“Sis! He scared off Diamond and Silver!” Apple Bloom announced.
Applejack looked at Bass. “Ah hope ya didn’t threaten them.”
“Only that I might tell their parents about their nasty habit of bullying other children,” he answered honestly. “I don’t like it when people get bullied, so I felt I had to say something.”
“Well, that’s mighty kind of ya, Bass.” She lowered her voice to a whisper to where only she and Bass could hear it. “Though, I had hoped the girls would sort it out on their own.”
Bass whispered in return, “I actually gave Diamond and Silver some advice on that matter. If they take it to heart, I wouldn’t be surprised if they became friends with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.”
Applejack smiled. “Ya know what, Bass? Swing by the farm later this week. Ah want ta thank y’all for helping the girls out. I’ll give you a jug of our Sweet Apple Acers Apple Cider!”
Bass could practically feel his lips water at the thought. He already mentioned that apples were his favorite, and that was no lie what so ever. And of all the apple related drinks, cider was his favorite. “That’d be nice. Ordinarily I would turn down that offer, but I do like cider.”
“Well, we look forward to having ya,” Applejack smiled. “C’mon girls. We gotta get back ta the farm. Granny Smith made lunch a while ago.”
Bass waved bye to the mare and the three fillies before going his own way. Farm, huh? He thought. Honest work, I suppose.
Words like violence break the silence. I’m crashing here, into my little world…can’t you understand? Oh, my little girl. All I ever wanted, All I ever needed, is here in my arms. Words are very unnecessary. They can only do harm.
Bass continued to wonder around Ponyville, realizing that today was turning out to be more interesting than her had originally thought it would be. He looked and found the towns clock tower, which was about to strike two in the afternoon. “Goodness, have I really been wandering that long?” In response, his stomach growled. He hadn’t eaten lunch.
“Oh, my!” came a voice from behind that sounded rather…posh.
Bass sighed. I need to get that word out of my system, he thought. He turned and greeted the mare. “Hello, Rarity.”
“That simply will not do, Bass Chord,” she said. She was carrying in her magic several paper bags.
Putting the usage of his full name, fake or not, aside, he had to ask the obvious questions. “What won’t do?”
“I heard your stomach, dear. You must be hungry. Why don’t I fix us up a little late lunch?”
Bass learned from college to never turn down free food. Ever. “Sure. I would offer to help with your groceries, but, uh, I don’t know how without tripping over myself.”
Rarity smiled and nodded. “A rain check on that, then. You can help me once you figure out how to truly function with your new body. After all, I don’t expect you to be like the rest of us after only a day.” Bass nodded and followed her to her home; Carousel Boutique.
Upon entering Bass looked around at the various suits and dresses that she had for sale. The store was predominated by dresses, but there was an occasional suit tucked away that he could see. “You’re a seamstress?”
Rarity held her head high with pride. “One of the best in Equestria, as it were. Those aren’t my words, either. I’ve had a celebrity or two make orders through me. They happen to be some of my most loyal clients too, because they always come back for more eventually.”
Bass gave a ‘not bad’ face in response. “Well, I’d wager paying the bills isn’t a worry of yours then.”
“Well, not usually. I have had a dry spell a time or two when business would be slow, but the most stressful part is also my favorite part; making the clothes. Some clients are awfully picky about what they want and it takes several tries to get it right.” She sighed. “But, that’s just how it works around here, I suppose.”
Bass was about to reply when his stomach growled again. He laughed, slightly embarrassed. “I’ll get started on lunch right away, then,” Rarity commented. “I hope you don’t mind sandwiches. I like lunch to be simple.”
“What kind of sandwiches?”
“Daisy with spinach and cheddar cheese. Unless you’d prefer something else?”
Bass thought about it. He hadn’t tried daisies for obvious reasons; they’re freakin’ flowers! But, he told Fluttershy that he would try new foods to get accustomed to living in Equestria, so he opted to go for it. His big sister’s words echoed in his mind. I’m committed! “I’ll try it. And, as a thank you, I’ll eat it no matter what. Even if I don’t like it.”
“You sure? I can always make something else? Like a grilled cheese?”
Bass’s first thought was, They have that here!? Awesome! However, he quickly repeated the phrase in his head. I’m committed! “No, that’s alright. I need to try new foods while I’m here. I guess you could count it as a learning experience.”
Rarity smiled and nodded, saying, “Very well. If you insist.” She exited the room for the kitchen, where Bass heard cutting commence as some of the ingredients were sliced to sandwich sizes. Mere minutes later, she returned with two plates and two cups of tea. “I hope you don’t mind Earl Grey tea,” she said with a smile.
“Have you been talking to Fluttershy?” Bass asked.
“Actually I haven’t seen Fluttershy today yet. Our spa appointment isn’t for another hour. Why?”
Bass chuckled. “No reason. I love tea, thank you.” He accepted the plate and tea happily and stared down his next challenge. In his head he was playing epic, final boss battle music. “Somehow I knew it would come to this. You will not defeat me!” he said aloud.
Rarity stared at him blankly. “Pardon?”
Bass blushed. “Sorry, uh, that wasn’t supposed to come out. At all. I’ll shut up and eat now.” He picked up the sandwich with his hooves and took his first bite; no hesitation in his movement was to be found. To his surprise, he actually liked the sandwich. He couldn’t compare the daisy to anything, seeing as how he had eaten nothing like it, and he enjoyed how it mixed with the cheese and spinach. “Wow, that’s fantastic!”
Rarity smiled. “Well, I’m glad you’re pony tongue has found something it likes.”
Bass stared at her for a quick second. “You are aware of how that sounds, right?”
Rarity blushed. “Oh, I didn’t intend for it to sound scandalous, I assure you. I am a lady, after all.”
He chuckled. “Right. Sorry for saying that.”
“So,” Rarity began, changing the topic. “How are you enjoying your stay in Ponyville?”
“Well, I’ve been to Fluttershy’s house, which is quite nice in all honesty. I met the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
“Oh,” Rarity said nervously. “I hope they didn’t cause you any trouble.”
“More like I kept them out of trouble. You can ask Sweetie Belle about that later though. I feel like that’s her story to tell and not mine.” He placed his hoof on his chin. “I ran into Applejack, and then I ran into you and you fed me lunch,” he said as he tossed the last of his sandwich into his mouth. He washed it down with tea, saying, “Thanks again, by the way. I really appreciate it.”
“Not at all, dear. I only want to help in any way I can. Now, tell me, do you have anything to wear?”
Bass gave her a quick glance. “If you’re looking for my business, I’m afraid I haven’t a penny to my name.”
“Penny?”
“I meant bit.”
“I see. Well, I don’t exactly want you to buy anything, dear. I just wanted to know if you had anything to wear. Anything at all.”
“Well,” Bass said. “As a matter of fact, I do not. Why do you ask?”
“I would like to make you something. I mainly deal in formal attire, but I can make just about anything. Just tell me what you want.”
“Oh, no no no! I couldn’t possibly ask you to do that. You just fed me, and even that is something that I’ll have to pay back someday. I’d hate to owe you anything more.”
“Don’t even think about it, Bass Chord,” she replied.
Even on his own world, Bass didn’t like being referred to by his full name. “Just Bass, thank you.”
“I simply must make you something, Bass. As a token of our friendship. Also as a sign that I don’t have any hard feelings about you trying to seduce me.”
“In my defense, I was acting. I wasn’t trying to seduce you.”
Rarity glared at him. “Are you implying that I am not beautiful enough to be hit on by you?”
Bass’s ears drooped. “That was a bait question, wasn’t it? There is no right answer.”
Rarity smiled. “Will you let me make you something, or do I have to keep guilting you into it?”
He sighed. “Fine.”
“Marvelous!” she cheered. “What would you like?” She asked while pulling out a pair of reading glasses, a pad of paper, and a pen.
“Do you make zip up hoodies?”
“I haven’t before, but I’m sure I could,” she replied.
“I want one with no sleeves. So, it’s like a hooded zip up vest. White with blue trim.”
“My, for someone who doesn’t want me to make him anything you sure know what you want,” she teased.
“I had one like it back home. I figured if I got anything it should be a piece of home,” he said.
“In that case, I will have it done for you post haste!”
“Now, Rarity, I don’t want to keep you from any important work you have.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that,” she said. “Like I said; I want to help in any way I can.”
Bass sighed. “You’re far too generous, you know that?”
She smiled. “It’s part of my nature, dear. Now, let me measure you and you can be on your way. I have a spa outing with Fluttershy soon.”
Bass allowed her to measure him, which she quickly and professionally jotted down, and he gave his thanks once again for the lunch. Just before he left, Rarity said, “Oh, one more thing. You should swing by Sugar Cube Corner on your way back to Twilight’s. Pinkie forgot to officially give you that bass guitar after the party sort of fell apart yesterday. It’s still there, waiting for you.”
Bass blinked. “She had a regular guitar with her last night, so why didn’t she just bring it with her as well?” he asked.
Rarity shrugged. “Only Pinkie knows how Pinkie thinks. I would just take it as it is and accept her for who she is. You’ll suffer from fewer headaches that way.”
Bass nodded and thanked her again as he left the boutique. Just as he got five feet from the door, he heard a rough, tomboyish voice yell, “Incoming!” just before he was forced to the ground, yet again, by a pony moving at incredible speeds. He rubbed the pain out of his head as he looked up to find Rainbow Dash dusting herself off. “Sorry about that, Bass,” she said nonchalantly.
What the hell am I in for now? He asked himself. “It’s okay, Rainbow. I’m not broken anywhere or anything. Can I make one request though?”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Please, for the love of God, don’t plow into me again. I don’t know if anypony has told you or not, but colliding with an object moving at an insane rate of speed can actually hurt like hell, you know.”
“Oh, right. Sorry,” she said with a bashful giggle. “Anyway, come with me! I got something awesome to show you!” She grabbed him and started dragging him without waiting for his answer. Apparently he wasn’t allowed to decline.
“What are you doing?” he asked, somewhat concerned.
“I’m gonna show you the greatest thing you’ve ever seen!” She said, not explaining any further. Within moments they were at a hospital. “And here we are!” She exclaimed.
“Not to sound like an ass, but what are we doing at a hospital?”
“You’re going to put on a show!” she exclaimed.
He stared at her. “How is that you showing me something cool?”
“Trust me, it’s cool,” she said.
“I don’t see how. It sounds like I’m doing all the work if I’m putting on a show. One; I don’t have a guitar with me. Two; I don’t know why I’m putting on a show. Three; Even if I did have the answers to both one and two, I don’t have a song in mind to play. And Four; even if you provided me with the answers to one, two, and three, I would still need an incentive to do this.”
“Ugh! Fine! If you want payment, then I’ll give you a hundred bits to do it!” Rainbow pulled out a bag that clinked with metal; coins. “Will that make you happy.”
Bass stared at her. “You can’t be serious.” She chucked the money at him, which he caught. “What do you want me to do with this?”
“I don’t give a damn, just follow me inside already and do this. Trust me, it’ll be worth it,” she said and begun to walk to the door. Bass shrugged and followed her, coming to the conclusion that he had nothing better to do. For some reason, he felt bad that she gave him so much money. I guess I’m about to find out what’s going on.
She talked to a nurse at the front desk in a whispered voice. The nurse smiled and said, “Right this way.” She led the pair into a room full of young fillies and colts who were all clearly unwell. Bass couldn’t tell if any of them were deathly ill (and he certainly hoped not), but they all were here for one reason or another. There was a small stage with a guitar and microphone set up, ready for use. “They’re ready whenever you are, mister Chord.”
“Please, just call me Bass,” he said reflexively. He leaned over to Rainbow Dash. “What have you dragged me into?”
“Every week I like to come here and read to the kids,” she said plainly.
“I didn’t take you for a book worm, Rainbow,” he said jokingly.
“Just the one book series. I read them Daring Do every week. Last week we finished Daring Do and the Gates of Tartarus, but I wanted to put off reading the next one for a little bit. I was gonna have them be taken outside to watch me perform some stunts, but after meeting you yesterday I figured this would be more appropriate.” She gave him a nervous glance. “Not better, of course. My flying is better than your playing any day.”
Bass rolled his eyes. “You’re real modest, you know that?”
“I like to think so,” she said.
“I take it you’ve already told them I’m playing?”
“Yup.”
“So if I say no, I look like a jerk and everypony will hate me because I refused to sing to some sick kids, right?”
“That’s about right.”
“You’re evil, you know that. Pure, rainbow colored evil.”
“Hey, I’m sorry, okay? I thought it’d be good for them, you know,” she said. “I just want them to have a little fun while they’re here. Most of them will get better and go home, but there are a small few who may never go home, and I want them to have as much fun as they can.”
Bass felt sad instantly. “Fine,” he said, giving her money back to her. “I’ll do it. But me and you are gonna talk afterward okay? Just one song. That’s all I have faith that I can do.”
“That’s all we’re asking,” the nurse chimed in. Bass had actually forgotten she was there.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” Bass said.
“I’m Redheart. Most people call me Nurse Redheart, though. Pleasure to meet you personally, mister Bass.”
He nodded and shook hooves with her. “Well, let’s rock I suppose.” He walked onto the stage with Rainbow.
“Hey kids,” she said. They all cheered at the sight of her. “Now, I have a special surprise for you guys. I won’t be reading this week, sadly, but I have a friend I want you to meet. This is Bass Chord!”
“Is he your coltfriend?” a young filly asked. The children all started to giggle.
“Well, no. But, he is a good friend of mine, and a friend of the princesses, Celestia and Luna. He’s a musician, and he’s going to sing a song for you guys!”
The kids all cheered, and Rainbow gave him the stage. Bass picked up the guitar and stepped to the microphone. “I’m going to apologize in advance. I’m afraid I only have time for one song,” he said. The fillies and colts all gave a collective ‘aaawwwww’ in disappointment. “Don’t worry though. I’ll make it the best song you’ve ever heard.”
He looked down at the guitar and made sure it was in tune. At first he was unsure of what song to play, but then he ultimately decided on one. He started to sing before the guitar actually needed to be played.
Warn your warmth to turn away. Here it’s December every day.
Then he began to play the guitar.
Press your lips to the sculptures and surely you’ll stay. For of sugar and ice I am made. It’s in the blood, I met my love before I was born. She wanted love, I taste of blood. She bit my lip and drank my warmth from years before. She exhales vanilla lace. I barely dreamt her yesterday. Read the lines in the mirror through the lipstick tray. She said it seems your somewhere far away, to his face. It’s in the blood, I met my love before I was born. She wanted love, I taste of blood. She bit my lip and drank my warmth from years before. Love like winter, oh~. Love like winter~!
Even though he modified the song heavily to fit the acoustic he was playing for it, he still felt he did it justice. He looked up from the guitar to see that the filly and colts were all stomping their hooves in what he could only interpret as an Equestrian version of clapping. He smiled. “Thank you,” he said. “I’m sorry I don’t have any more time for you kids today, but how about I come again some other time and play for you again?” They all yelled excitedly at the prospect of him coming back.
“How about next week?” A filly asked.
Bass chuckled. “I’d like to, but I think a certain pegasus has a new Daring Do she wants to read to you.”
Rainbow Dash returned to the stage. “You ruined the surprise, Bass!” she exclaimed jokingly. “Well, kids, I guess the cat’s outta the bag. Next week I’ll start reading Daring Do and the Mummy’s Curse. Are you excited for that?” The kids all cheered excitedly again. “Alright, I’ll see you same time next week, kids. Me and bass have to go now. Bye!”
Bass waved bye as well and the pair walked off the stage. Nurse Redheart thanked them for coming and saw them to the door as they left the hospital. Bass turned to Rainbow. “That was nice, Rainbow. Thank you for having me do that.”
“I was afraid you’d still turn it down. I just like to put a smile on those kids faces. Heck, I want them all to have a good time so they can forget about the bad stuff. I want that for my friends too.”
“You and me are similar in that regard. I guess we’re both loyal to our friends and those we care about.”
“Hey, don’t be competing with over the spirit of loyalty. That’s all me, buddy.”
Bass chuckled. “Right. Well, I’ll talk to you later about maybe coming back. I was on my way to see Pinkie about that bass guitar.”
“Oh, right. She was wanting you to stop by, wasn’t she?” Rainbow asked. “I forgot about that.”
“You knew?”
“I go to Sugar Cube Corner every morning for my post-exercise snack. They make pretty decent bagels. Not my first choice when I usually go there, but a bagel is how I finish my workouts.”
“Right. Well, see you later,” Bass waved at her as he once again tried to make his way to Sugar Cube Corner. It was now about four in the afternoon, and Bass hoped nothing else would delay him until he got to Sugar Cube Corner. Afterwards, he really didn’t care.
I don’t mind you comin’ here, wasting all my time. Cause’ when you’re standing oh so near, I kind of lose my mind. It’s not the perfume that you wear. It’s not the ribbons in your hair. I don’t mind you comin’ here, and wasting all my time…I guess you’re just what I needed.
Bass walked at a brisk pace from the hospital. He rather liked that Rainbow was so selfless to do what she does, but at the same time he was inconvenienced. It was one of the few cases where he didn’t mind being inconvenienced, but he could still argue that he was inconvenienced. Not that he would argue, per se.
He digressed, and continued his trek to Sugar Cube Corner, trying to get their before somepony else dragged him away. And so, by only greeting ponies when they greeted him first, he managed to arrive in one piece at Sugar Cube Corner.
But it was not to last.
Just as he was about to open the door, it flew open from the inside and a pink blur moving at untold speeds tackled him to ground. Is it International Take Bass Down Day? He thought.
A loud gasp was heard above him, which he couldn’t see through the stars floating around his head, and a loud voice followed. “Oh my gosh Bass you’re here I didn’t think you were gonna show up until I felt an Ear-Flop-Neck-Pop-Supermane-Seat-Grab-Backflip-Three-Sixty-Backwards and then I knew that Bass Chord which is you was going to drop by to pick up his bass guitar that the town gave him but he forgot because I accidentally told everypony that he wasn’t a pony because I didn’t know it was supposed to be a secret but no harm was done and you became bestest friends with everypony anyway!”
Bass shook his head to clear his vision and he saw Pinkie standing on top of him. “Uh, what?” he asked.
“Oh, you didn’t hear me? Let me repeat that then! I said…” Bass’s hoof was shoved into her mouth.
“Pinkie, I don’t know if you’ve ever had this said to you before, but shut up. You’re the third concussion I’ve experienced today, I’d rather not put a headache on top of it.”
He removed a hoof when she nodded. “What do you mean third? Shouldn’t you be at the hospital if you had a concussion?”
Bass smiled. “Just came from there, actually. Now get off. I would like to stand, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure!” Pinkie said as she hopped off and helped him up at the same time. “So, you ready for you bass, Bass?” She giggled at the repetition of the word bass. Bass nodded, and she presented him, out of nowhere, the bass guitar.
Now was the first time Bass actually got a good look at the instrument. Before he could only really tell how many strings it had and what color it was. It was black and four stringed; he noticed that the style was similar to one from his world. It was a type that he recognized instantly due to the fact that every time he got a guitar catalogue he drooled over the photos of this very guitar. It was a Rickenbacker 4003 bass guitar, and if what Pinkie meant was true, it was now his. “You’re kidding me,” he said.
“What, you like this model? I hoped you would. I didn’t have a whole lot of time to pick one out and take donations to buy it. It didn’t take long to get all two thousand bits, surprisingly,” she said with a smile..
“Two things, Pinkie. One; you absolutely did not have to do this, and two; I am going to come up with a word to describe your personality before the day is over with. Currently existing words do not do you justice.”
“Well, I thought it’d be cool to get it, and everypony else seemed to agree. Especially Twilight!”
“Twilight? What did she have to do with this? She was with me the whole time before the party.”
Pinkie smiled. “Was Spike?” Bass tried to remember if he was, and he recalled that for thirty minutes Spike was MIA. Or rather, there were thirty minutes where Bass would have never noticed Spike’s absence. “Me and Twilight used him for a bit to relay a few messages. She donated about two hundred of the bits that went toward the bass.”
“I’ll have to thank her for that,” Bass said. “Seriously, this is fantastic. But still, why?”
“Well, you see…” music seemed to be coming from no where.
“Wait, are you…?” Bass started to ask.
“Everypony needs a friend, Even if they’re a stranger~!”
“You are, aren’t you,” he concluded.
“So you see we’re all just so kind, Because none of us feel anger~! You may feel like you are different, And you may feel down. But we’re all friends here, Bass, And we don’t want to see you frown~! I’ve said before that all I want is a smile, So please just give me a grin~! Once you start to laugh and you just can’t stop, You realize then that you already win~! So please, Bass, laugh with me, And you will see that we’re all so fun~! Show the world how wide you smile, And they will see a light as bright as the sun~! Come on, Bass, just laugh with me, And we will have a good time~! Now please forgive my bad ending, Because I don’t have a rhyme~!”
Bass stared wide eyed at the mare. She had just come up with a song on the spot (seemingly), had music come from…honestly Bass didn’t know, and she even danced to the music. It was ridiculous. It was without a doubt one of the strangest things Bass had ever seen. To top it off, he was sure that she purposely ended the song the way she did, which is in and of itself untrue and ironic. For all of these reasons did Bass collapse on the ground hugging the Rickenbacker laughing his pony head off.
“See, we can have fun her, can’t we Bass?” Pinkie asked.
After catching his breath and wiping away tears of laughter, Bass finally stood up. “That was interesting, Pinkie. I’ll give you points for creativity and for making me laugh.”
“That’s what I’m here for, silly! I’m here to make you laugh. Well, not you specifically, but everypony! But, right now, I felt that you needed it more than anypoy else!”
Bass gave her a curious look while still smiling. “And why is that? Because I’m the new guy in town?”
Pinkie shook her head. “You’re homesick, aren’t you?”
Immediately Bass sobered up from his amusement and began to frown. “Is it that obvious? I didn’t think anypony had noticed.”
“Well, unless you’ve told anypony, I’m sure that I’m the only one who noticed. You see, I have these feelings, right? I call them my Pinkie Sense! Like when I knew Twilight was coming home early~!”
“You mean those weird symptoms that I could have sword were the signs of an epileptic?” Bass asked.
“Yeppy yep! You may not believe me, but take Twilight’s word for it! She didn’t believe me and I proved her wrong, which really wasn’t my intention and it sort of just happened and there really isn’t a good explanation as to how that happened and you just had to see that particular episode yourself but I digress!” she finished in a single breath. “The point is, I know when ponies are feeling down, and I don’t like ponies to feel sad. I want to make ponies laugh and smile and party!”
Bass was just amazed by Pinkie. Scratch that, now that he thought about it, he was amazed by all of the mares that were helping him. “Why are you six ponies so good? The six of you are nicer, more polite, and more helpful than most of the people I know back home!”
“Because we’re the Elements of Harmony! Or, rather, we’re the bearers of the Elements, but we still represent their spirits! Or something like that. I dunno!”
“The Elements of What Now?” Bass asked.
Pinkie took in a big, deep breath. “You see, a few years ago a big meanie called Nightmare Moon attacked and that’s when the five of us met Twilight and she wanted to stop Nightmare Moon so we decided to help and in the process we found out that we were the spirits of the Elements of Harmony Rarity is Generosity Fluttershy is Kindness Rainbow is Loyalty Applejack is Honesty I the amazing Pinkie Pie am Laughter and Twilight is Magic. After we found out about our new super awesome super hero powers we stopped Nightmare Moon who was actually Princess Luna under the control of the Nightmare Forces who were really big meanies and then a year later Discord broke out of his stone statue rock prison thing and made chocolate rain but most of us didn’t want chocolate rain because he also ruined our friendship for a but so we froze him rock again using the Elements and then we used them to break him free on purpose and Fluttershy became his friend but that’s a different story altogether any questions?”
Bass blinked. “Not only did I miraculously understand what you just said, which I will never figure out how I did, but I’m also surprised. I’ve been thinking about your ‘Elements’ all day without even realizing it.”
“We embody them, or whatever. I dunno. I just like to make people smile.”
“Laughter,” Bass echoed. “Makes more sense than it really should.” He laughed quietly. “Well, Pinkie, you’ve put a lot on my mind to think about. If you don’t mind, I would like to go back to Twilight’s house to rest a little bit.”
“Okie dokie lokie! Here,” she replied. “Take some cupcakes too! They’re leftovers from last night, but they’re still good!”
He thanked her and departed. It was now four in the evening and Bass was getting tired. Not sleepy, mind you, but exhausted to the point that he desperately wanted to just sit down with his new Rickenbacker and toy with it. He made his way to the library without any interruptions and he walked in. “Welcome,” Twilight chimed from her librarian’s desk. “Oh, Bass! You’re back. How was your day?”
“Holy hell,” he said. “It was a day, I can say that much.”
Twilight frowned. “Was it bad?”
“No, not really. Inconvenient at the worst, but I actually had a good day. But it felt long and exhausting. I’ll tell you about it later.” He strode up the stairs to the guest room. He stopped. “Hey, Twilight?”
“Yes?” she asked.
“If you still want to hear about my sleep last night, I’d be willing to talk to you.”
She smiled. “I would like that, Bass. We can talk after you’ve rested if you’d like.”
“Actually, I think now is good. Unless you’re busy, of course.”
“Spike,” she said, getting the Dragon’s attention. Bass didn’t even notice him. I’m bad for that, aren’t I? He was cleaning some shelves. “Yeah, Twilight?”
“Would you take over for me for a little while?”
“Sure, I’ll get right on that,” he said as he dropped a feather duster and sat behind the desk right after she left it.
Twilight followed Bass to his room where they talked about his nightmares from the night before. She had him pause early on to grab a notebook and quill and she began taking notes. He talked about his home, his pets, his family, and his hobbies. Everything he talked about at first revolved around his homesickness. He missed his dog, Troxell, and his cat, Little Dude. He missed his older sister and his friends. He missed the books he read and the music he listened too, as well as the job he worked and dreams for the future that may never come true now that he was stuck so far from home. Then the subject changed and Bass told her about his day. Omitting a few minor details such as his preserved canine teeth, he recounted the day’s events. They talked for what felt like hours until a knock came at the door.
“Twilight, you have a visitor,” Spike said from the other side of the door.
“Who is it?” Twilight asked.
“She said she wanted to surprise both of you, so I’m not telling!”
Twilight shrugged as she set down the paper and quill. “I guess we should see who it is, hm?” She stood up and headed for the door.
“Yeah,” Bass said. “Thank you for listening, and I’m sorry about how I responded this morning. I’m just the kind of person you can’t make talk about his problems. Most of the time I keep them to myself.”
“Well, if you ever want to talk about it again, you know where to find me.” They walked together down the stairs and Twilight stopped dead in her tracks.
“Hello, Twilight Sparkle,” said a calm and somewhat old fashioned voice. “Hello, Bass Chord.”
It took Bass a few seconds before it clicked. “Oh, you’re the mare who destroyed my ear drums when I first woke up!” he exclaimed.
Princess Luna blushed. “Yes, I apologize for that, but I had to make you understand that what you were experiencing was real.”
Finally Twilight managed to speak. “Princess Luna, what are you doing here?”
“Am I not allowed to visit?”
“O-of course, its just that this is so sudden. I didn’t have time to clean and reclean everything! I had no time to prepare for your arrival!”
Bass shook his head and interrupted. “So, you’re the one who stuck me with the name Bass Chord?”
“Is it not to your liking? My sister said that you did not mind when you awoke yesterday morning.”
“Oh, I like it. Love it, actually. I was gonna say thank you for doing it in my stead. I would have probably named myself something silly and fantastically over the top like Solstice Dawnborn of Avent Embry of the Wolf’s Den or something.”
“Interesting choices, Bass Chord,” Luna said.
“Just Bass, please. I never liked being referred to ny full name, even on my world.”
“Why would you have picked those names, if I may ask?”
Bass smiled sheepishly. One thing he was in his world was a slight geek. Okay, maybe not slight, but he usually wasn’t very open about that. “I, uh, played a tabletop game called Dungeons and Dragons. Those were my two most used characters. One was a rogue, the other a wizard.”
“I see,” Luna said. “But, enough idle talk. I came here for a reason. Bass, it seems we have found something about your arrival in Equestria.”
“Have you figured it out?” Twilight asked.
“Not entirely. But we do know this; your world and ours were linked at one point, and that link may have begun to reconnect. Whether or not you are the first of many, or if you are a fluke has yet to be determined, but we are sure that there is connection somewhere within this world that should not be.”
“How will you know what it is?”
“Honestly I don’t think we will until something manages to be transported again. So, with that in mind, I come bearing bad news. You should probably prepare for a long term stay, Bass Chord. It may be that your visit may turn permanent.”
Bass slumped down. He didn’t even want to correct her about his name again. First, last, real, or fake; it didn’t matter now. Unless a miracle happened, he would be stuck in Equestria.
I’m breaking in, and shaping up, then checking out of the prison bus. This is it; the Apocalypse. I’m waking up, I feel it in my bones, don’t make my systems blow. Welcome to the new age. I’m radioactive! Radioactive!
In spite of the fact that Bass had told Twilight about his nightmares the evening before he went to sleep last night, he still lost sleep to his dreams. They were worse this time, and it was because of Luna’s revelation last night; it may be a realistic possibility that he will never go home. He crawled out of bed and looked in the mirror. His mane was tangled and messy. This was something he still hadn’t figured out yet, and it made him envious of unicorns and their magic. Sure, he wasn’t as hair crazy as most women he knew were, but even a man needs to keep his hair well kept. There was only so much he could do with his hooves without a brush, however, so he decided it was good enough and left the bedroom for the downstairs dining room. This time, Spike was the one cooking. “Good morning, Bass. Sleep well?” he asked.
“Not really. Does this world have coffee?” Bass asked in return.
“Sure. Twilight drinks it at night usually when she stays up late for her studies. I can make some if you want.”
“Yes please. I like my coffee with milk and heavy dosage of sugar. It’s too bitter straight up.”
“On it. Here, have a blueberry muffin for breakfast. There’s more in the oven.”
Bass looked at him. He looked around and saw that the muffin he was being handed was the only one. “You don’t make them one at a time, do you?”
“No, I make about twelve at a time. I just ate eleven of them,” Spike declared proudly before moving to the coffee brewer.
Bass ate the muffin with haste, worried Spike might still be hungry. Twilight came shuffling in. “Good morning, Spike. Good morning, Bass. You two are up early,” she said groggily.
“Actually, I’m up at the same time I was yesterday,” Bass replied.
“I’m going to help Rarity this morning, so I had to be earlier than normal. But, Twilight, you actually slept in,” Spike added.
“Really?” she asked.
“Yeah. I tried to wake you but you wouldn’t budge. Why were you so tired?”
“I guess I’m just a little exhausted after we met with Princess Luna last night. The discussion was very,” she paused to consider the word.
“Tiresome, exacting, strenuous, arduous, grueling, exhausting, wearisome, demanding, rigorous, taxing, tough, tedious, trying; any of those?” Bass asked.
Twilight put a hoof on her head; she clearly had a headache. “All of the above. It gave me nightmares just thinking about you being away from your home. I mean, I moved out of my parents’ house but I can still go and see them whenever I want. You’re stuck here, Bass. It must be so unbearable.”
Bass frowned. “It’s saddening. But, I come from a world of humans. I don’t know a whole lot about ponies, but the human heart is one of the strongest parts of any human being. I don’t mean my physical heart, either. The human heart is capable of great and powerful deeds. For good or evil, humanity is able to bend anything to their will through sheer determination alone. If I were to set my mind to adapting to this world and living here for the rest of my life, it would be a task well within my reach. It would be a long and hard road, but so long as I don’t give up, I can do it.” He smiled then. “I just hope I don’t have to just yet.”
Twilight smiled. “That was amazing Bass.”
He smiled wider. “Add that to your notes. That is the first lesson of today; humanity can accomplish anything it sets its mind to.”
She nodded. “I will.” A knock came at the door. “I wonder who that could be. The library doesn’t open for another hour.”
“I’ll get it,” Spike said. “Here’s your coffee, Bass. Milk and extra sugar.” He set a mug, filled just below the rim with coffee, on the table.
“You’re an efficient assistant,” Bass teased.
“I try,” the dragon retorted. He waddled away to answer the door. From the next room over Bass and Twilight heard, “Hello?” as the door opened. Then, almost immediately, Spike screamed and the door was slammed. He came running back to the dining room. “Twilight! It’s…well I mean…she’s here!”
Twilight and Bass exchanged looks. “Who’s here, Spike?” she asked.
“Her! The pony who did the stuff to you!”
Bass looked at Twilight. “Does that narrow it down any?”
Twilight shook her head.“Not really. I’ve been imprisoned, warped, exiled, injured, flattened by a piano, and a few other things since I’ve been here. Spike, just tell me who it is.”
“She’s at the door!” Spike exclaimed.
“Should I go see or do you want to?” Bass asked.
“Would you? I need to eat breakfast hand have a cup of that coffee before I do anything else. And Spike? You need to use you’re big boy words and tell me who it is!”
Bass chuckled and walked on three legs, trying to hold his coffee mug in his other hoof. Difficult as it was, he was able to get to the door without killing himself or spilling his coffee. He opened the door to greet the pony behind it.
In front of him was a blue unicorn mare with a silver mane and tail. On her flanks was a wand and cape like shape of a cutie mark. She looked worried and was startled when Bass opened the door. “I’m terribly sorry about Spike,” Bass said with a smile. “May I help you?”
“Who are you?” she asked somewhat rudely.
Bass gave her a quizzical look. “Bass Chord. I’m staying here for a while. It’s temporary, of course. Now, may I help you, miss?”
She became flustered. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off as rude. I swore I wouldn’t do that anymore since that fiasco two months ago. My name is the Great…er, sorry. My name is Trixie; Trixie Lulamoon.”
“Pleased to meet you, Trixie. How may I help you?” Bass asked again.
“I was wondering if Twilight Sparkle was home. I would very much like to meet with her.”
“Sure, wait here for a second and I’ll see if she’s ready. We were just in the middle of breakfast, so I hope you understand.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I knew I was early, but I felt that I needed to do this as quickly as I could so I wouldn’t have to prolong my stay in Ponyville,” she flashed an apologetic smile.
Bass nodded and lightly closed the door. He returned to the kitchen where Twilight was eating a muffin and had a confused look on her face. “Trixie is her name. She wants to see you, Twilight.”
“Spike finally told me who it was. Why would she want to see me, though? I forgave her for what she did already, and I don’t harbor any grudges with her. And considering she learned her lesson last time, I doubt she’s here to duel me again,” Twilight replied.
“Sounds complicated. She seems a little nervous in my opinion. Maybe it’s a more personal visit than just revenge or grudges. Maybe its emotional.”
“Maybe,” Twilight said. “Go let her in please.”
Bass nodded, sipping his coffee; he had let it cool long enough, and it was now the right temperature. He also noted that Spike put just the right amount of milk and sugar into it. “Great coffee, Spike,” he commented to the dragon before walking back to the door.
He opened the door and Trixie was still waiting patiently. “So?” she asked.
With over exaggerated seriousness, Bass said, “You may enter!” He held his coffee bearing hoof in a position to shuffle her into the door. “The Mistress Twilight will see you!”
“W-what?” Trixie asked, confused.
“I’m joking,” Bass said. “But seriously, come in.”
“Oh. Okay,” she replied nervously. She walked in and Bass closed the door with one of his hind legs and led her to the dining room.
“H-hello, Trixie,” Twilight greeted.
“Hello, Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie said, still sounding nervous. “I’m sorry for interrupting your breakfast. I didn’t realize you woke up this late.”
“Actually, I’m usually an early riser, but I didn’t sleep so well last night so I overslept.”
“Oh, I see,” Trixie replied. An awkward silence filled the room. Spike and Bass looked at each other and then back at the mares. Bass cleared his throat, which startled Trixie back into a speaking mood. “Oh, I’m sorry. You’re probably wondering why I’m here, aren’t you?”
“While I won’t be so rude as to say I don’t want you here, I am curious, yes.”
“Well,” Trixie took in a deep breath. “Ever since the Alicorn Amulet incedent, no pony has been willing to let me work. I mean, they didn’t after the Ursa Minor incident either, but this was worse. I’ve actually been chased out of towns because of what I did under the amulet’s influence. If I had known how it would have affected me I would have never spent all that money for it. I would have harbored a grudge against you longer, but I would’ve been able to live with it eventually. We never would have met again, and I never would have caused you and your friends so much trouble.”
“While that’s true, you never would have learned a valuable lesson from it. You’ve become a better mare for it, where as you would still be full of resentment without it,” Twilight assured her. “You may have made a lot of ponies angry, but you can start to make amends now, can’t you?”
“That’s actually why I’m here. I don’t know the first thing about making and keeping friends. You’re an expert on friendship, are you not?” Trixie asked.
Twilight smiled. “So, you want to make friends? I’m sure I can help you with that.”
“Really?”
“In fact, he is the perfect candidate for your first friend,” Twilight said as she pointed at Bass.
Trixie and Bass made eye contact. Bass shrugged. “I’m game. I’m easy to get along with.”
“I don’t know, you seemed kind of rude when we first met you the other day,” Spike said.
“Have you ever been ripped from house and home and found yourself in an alien land surrounded by creatures that, according to how you know things work, should not exist and to also find out that your body isn’t the one you’re used to and that you may never go home?” Spike shook his head. “I did leave home once to see how other dragons lived,” he pointed out.
“Try doing what I did. You’d be pretty pissed off at everything too, little bro.”
Trixie stared at Bass. “What?” she asked.
“I’m not that confusing am I? That’s all you say to me,” he said teasingly.
“I’m sorry,” she said, sounding pitiful.
Bass immediately felt a pain in his chest like he was about to suffer a heart attack. “Hey, I was just teasing. Don’t take it so hard,” he said apologetically.
“You see, Trixie,” Twilight chimed in. “Bass here isn’t from our world. He was transported here by unknown means, and he has no known way back home. He’s living with me and trying to learn about our world for now. We’re hoping he can go home eventually, but as it stands he can’t. Thus, he makes the perfect candidate. He hasn’t been here to know what you’ve done, and even if he were to know the whole story he would still be unbiased because he’s an outside party.” She turned to Bass. “Right?”
“Live and let live, I say. I’ve made friends out of plenty of enemies, so I’m sure I can look past her faults.”
“Oh no!” Spike exclaimed. “I’m gonna be late to help Rarity! I’ve got to go, Twilight.” He made his way to the door in a hurry.
“Be sure to let Rarity know that Trixie is here and that she wants our help. I’d hate to keep the girls in the dark, after all,” Twilight said. Spike agreed and left.
Bass remembered an event from the previous day. “Well, if you want to let your friends know, then I suppose this is as good an opportunity as ever for me to pay Applejack a visit. She offered me some cider yesterday for helping the Crusaders.”
“Crusaders?” Trixie asked. “As in religious knights?”
“No, actually. Three little fillies that call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I find it humorous, personally,” Bass explained.
“That’s a good idea!” Twilight exclaimed. “You can take Trixie to Sweet Apple Acres and tell Applejack while I go tell Pinkie and Fluttershy.”
“What about Rainbow?”
“She’s probably sleeping in Applejack’s trees or something. If not, she’ll be there eventually. Whoever runs into her first will tell her, I suppose.”
“One question,” Bass raised his coffee mug filled hoof. He forgot he held it, as it was empty now, so he placed it on the table and raised his hoof again. “How do I get to Sweet Apple Acres?”
“I have a question,” Trixie said. “Do I have a say in this?”
“Nope,” Bass said enthusiastically. “You’re drinking cider with me today, hun~!”
“Hun? How dare you give me such a nickname. It’s Trixie or nothing at all!” Trixie exclaimed.
“Then I’ll call you Silver, or Blue, or maybe even Lady,” Bass declared.
“What!?”
“You’re awfully energetic all of a sudden,” Twilight pointed out.
“What can I say, I’m looking forward to the apple cider,” Bass replied.
Trixie sighed. “You are aware that the last time I was here I enslaved half the town. I believe Applejack lives at Sweet Apple Acres, correct?” Twilight nodded. “I made her do a lot of stuff. Like make grape juice.”
Bass put a hoof around Trixie. “You’re missing the point of making amends and becoming friends, Trixie.” He flashed her a smile. “You have to take chances and try to make peace with your enemies before you can be friends. There is no easy way, so you gotta do what you gotta do. Some people go their entire lives living in regret of the things they did to others but never once did they try to make things right. You, on the other hand, are here right now. That shows that you want to at least try to fix things, and you know what my sister always said when she started something, even if she knew she couldn’t finish it?”
Trixie shook her head. “What?”
“She would say ‘I’m committed!’ and try to do it anyway. So, I want you to look me in the eye and tell me what you are right now. Are you so afraid that you’ll fail that you’ve given up before you’ve started, or are you committed?”
Trixie looked at Bass in awe before turning to Twilight, who was jotting Bass’s words down on another piece of paper. She repeated his words in her head a for a moment before looking him in the eye with a determined expression. “I’m committed!”
Little angel go away, come again some other day. The devil has my ear today, and I’ll never hear a word you say. He promised I would find a little solace and some peace of mind. Whatever, just as long as I don’t feel so desperate and ravenous. So weak and powerless, over you.
“I’m committing suicide!” Trixie exclaimed as they walked to Sweet Apple Acres. They weren’t very far from the farm if the map Bass carried was accurate at all, so it was far too late to back out now. “They’ll kill me for sure when they see me again!”
“You’re just nervous. It’s not like she’ll actually kill you or anything,” Bass explained, trying to calm her down. She was perfectly sane when they left Golden Oaks Library, but the closer they got to the Apple’s farmland the more terrified she was. “She might tell you off for being such a jerk, but who wouldn’t do that to someone who tormented them for days at a time? I know I would.”
Trixie gave Bass an irritated look. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“I suppose so.”
“Well, if you want my opinion on the matter, IT’S NOT HELPING!” she yelled in his ear.
He rubbed his left ear. “You got a hell of a voice, there.”
“Perks of being a showmare. I’ve never had the benefit of sound equipment, so I’ve learned how to project my voice.”
“Take lessons with Luna,” Bass chuckled. “That will most defiantly be a way to project your voice.”
“You mean Princess Luna? You know the princess?”
“Sure, she named me.”
“Named you?” Trixie asked.
“Do you really think Bass Chord is my real name?”
She shrugged. “It sounds authentic enough. I had no reason to doubt it.”
“Huh,” Bass replied. “Well, it’s not my real name. I’m not from this world, after all. We have a different naming system where I’m from. Names mean something. Usually pointless stuff that the parents’ like. My mom named me a name because she liked how it sounded, but she didn’t know what it meant. I do, and I don’t like it. Bass Chord is an upgrade.”
“What is your real name?”
Bass smiled. “That is a secret~!”
“Really?” Trixie asked. “You’re not going to tell me? I bet you told Twilight Sparkle and the others, didn’t you? Surely you told the princesses!”
“Don’t call me ‘Shirley’. And no, nobody here knows my real name. I intend to keep it that way. Plus, I rather like my pseudonym. Makes me sound like a rock star.”
“Aren’t you? You’re cutie mark is a bass guitar, after all.”
“I’m good, but I don’t think I can compete with legitimate bands. Especially since I’m by myself. I have never been a part of a band.”
“Oh, well that’s too bad. If you’re special talent is playing a guitar of any kind, bass not exclusive, then you would probably be very successful in a band.”
“I could only hope,” he said. “I think we’ve arrived.”
“What?” Trixie asked suddenly. She looked around and saw the farm they had been walking to; Sweet Apple Acres. “Oh, no! What will I do? What if they kick me out of Ponyville before I can even try to make things right?”
“I would like to point out that, while we were talking about random crap, you were perfectly normal and not scared out of your mind. You’re psyching yourself out by thinking about the possibilities of what may happen. Do you want my advice on that matter?” Trixie nodded. “Just don’t do that. Don’t psyche yourself out.”
She gave him an irritated glare. “Just don’t do it? That is your big help to me?”
Bass nodded with a smile. “Yup.”
She sighed. “What am I going to do?”
“Whatcha gonna do ‘bout what?” asked a country accented mare in front of them. Applejack managed to sneak up on Bass and Trixie without them realizing. “Howdy, Bass. Ya’ll here for that deal of ours?”
“Naturally. I can never say no to free cider. That stuff is the shit!” Bass exclaimed.
“It’s the what?” Applejack asked.
“Oh, sorry. That’s one way of saying it’s awesome back home. If it was bad, then I would say that it was shit, and not the shit. Take no offense.”
“Well, alrighty. Ah have one question, however. What is Trixie doing with you?”
“Trixie, that’s your cue,” Bass told her.
“Uh, I-I-I dunno what to say,” she stuttered.
Bass sighed and grabbed Trixie’s head, forcing her to bow in front of Applejack. “What do we say, Trixie?”
Trixie managed to get the hint. “I-I’m sorry.”
“Now now, Trixie. You have to be more specific about why you’re apologizing.”
She nodded, still in her forced bowing position. “I’m sorry for treating everyone the way I did two months ago. The Alicorn Amulet may have been the influence, but I am still to blame. I’m also sorry for enslaving you, Applejack. I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better and become friends. Is that alright?”
“Much better,” Bass said, smiling. He let go of her head and she stood up.
Applejack stared long at Trixie. One could see the sweat dripping off of Trixie’s face as she waited nervously for Applejack to respond. “I dunno,” Applejack replied. “It’d be mighty hard to put something like that in the past, y’know.”
“I’ll do anything to earn your trust,” Trixie said.
Wrong answer, Trixie. Bass thought with a slight grin. He looked at Applejack and tried his best to hide the rest of his smile. He saw in her eyes the look of pure evil. Well, not really evil, but a large amount of mischief that could be considered evil. Bass knew that Applejack was about to ask for a seemingly impossible thing.
“Anything, eh? Well, what should we have you do, miss Trixie? Give Granny Smith’s hooves a rub? Wash Big Mac’s personal tool shed? Babysit the Crusader’s for a full day?” Bass visibly winced at that last one. For the short amount of time that he was with those three fillies, even he wouldn’t want to prolong his own suffering that way. “I know what y’all can do!” She began to walk into the house, beckoning Bass and Trixie to follow.
They did, and Applejack lead them into the kitchen, where an elderly green mare, whom Bass assumed was Granny Smith, was putting cookies into the oven. “Well, howdy there, young’ens! I haven’t met ya’ll before!”
Bass knew to respect his elders. It’s how he was raised. So, he was very polite when he replied with, “Hello. I’m Bass Chord. I’m an acquaintance of Applejack. You must be Granny Smith.”
“Darn tootin. Has Applejack been tellin’ her secret colt friend bout me?”
Bass laughed. “No, she just mentioned your name a minute ago. I’m just a friend, by the way. We’re not dating.”
Bass had never been more tempted than ever to point out that a double negative cancels out, making it a positive. Translation; I am dating somepony. But, he knew that was not what she meant, and he let his inner grammar nazi die for a moment; he could live without pissing someone off about grammar.
“Who’s yer other friend?” Granny Smith asked.
“I’m Trixie Lulamoon. I’m hoping to be friends with Applejack,” she replied.
“So, for that, Granny, Ah need…the stuff,” Applejack said suspiciously.
“The stuff?” Granny Smith asked. Then she gasped. “You don’t mean that stuff, do you?”
“Ah do mean that stuff. Where is it?”
Granny sighed. “Yer gonna kill somepony one of these days. It’s in the top cabinet over there,” she pointed at the cabinet in question. “Ah’m getting outta here before there’s a body in my house. Have fun, kids.” She walked out, having put the timer on the oven to the proper time to let her cookies bake.
Bass gulped. “May I ask what it is that we’re doing?”
“You are going to watch as a witness, Bass. Me and Trixie are going to do something,” she said as she opened the cabinet and procured a bottle. Inside the bottle was a brownish yellowish liquid that Bass immediately recognized as cider. His mouth began to water. Applejack saw this and shook her head. “This ain’t yours, sugarcube. Ah wouldn’t dare let you drink this. Ah’ll get yer cider in a minute.”
She obtained two glasses and poured them full of the cider. As they poured, Bass understood why Applejack refused the let him drink it; it reeked with alcohol. It was hard cider.
Applejack smiled. “This ain’t no ordinary hard cider. This is my own special hard cider. Nopony in the world makes it like this, and nopony but me and mah brother can drink it straight! If Trixie can down a glass of this with me, then she’ll earn my forgiveness.”
Trixie’s nose wrinkled at the strong alcohol. “Are you sure that’s safe for ponies to drink?”
“Ah’m convinced that it’s not!” Applejack declard. “But, you said you would do anything, and this counts as anything. You gonna down that glass or not?”
Trixie took a deep breath and looked at Bass for help. “Don’t look at me. I was too young for that stuff back home. I’m only twenty.”
“That’s legal in Equestria,” Trixie chimed, and Bass tried his hardest not to ask for a glass himself. He always wanted to try alcohol. Trixie sighed. “Should I?”
“Go for it,” Bass said flatly. “I’m just here to observe, and observe I shall!”
Trixie looked back to Applejack. “Fine,” she said. She picked up the glass with her magic. “Let’s get this over with.”
Applejack smiled and picked up her glass with a hoof. “On the count of three. One. Two. THREE!”
The two mares turned their glasses upside down into their mouths, but only one was unfazed. Trixie began to cough harshly as the strong alcohol went down her throat. Applejack just emptied the glass and set it down, smiling. To Trixie’s credit, she didn’t spill a drop, but that just meant that she was suffering even more so. After about a minute of coughing and hacking, Trixie finally calmed down and looked to Applejack. “Am ah dunn? Do yoo forgiv meh?” she asked with a slight slur. Her blue face turned a tad bit of red.
Bass and Applejack laughed. “Yeah, Ah say you’re good to go, Sugarcube. Ah can forgive you. We’ll just have to get to know one another better before I can call y’all a friend of mine,” Applejack said.
“Oh, gud. Tricksee feels thired,” she said just seconds before she hit the floor, passed out.
“Did she die?” Granny Smith called from the next room over.
Bass and Applejack waited and heard her snore. “She’s alive, Granny!” Applejack called back. “I guess she can’t hold her liquor.” She capped the bottle and returned it to the cabinet.
“Isn’t ten in the morning a little early for such a hard drink?” Bass asked, holding back laughter.
“It’s five o’clock somewhere, right?” Applejack chimed in, and the two started to laugh. “Well, Ah guess y’all need to take her back home. D’ya need help?”
“It wouldn’t hurt,” Bass replied.
“Ah can let ya borrow a cart to pull and you can put her on it.”
Bass nodded, and he went outside to get it tied to his body. Applejack loaded Trixie up into the cart, alongside a bottle of apple cider. “That’s the non alcoholic cider right there,” Applejack assured. Bass thanked her, told her to tell Rainbow Dash about Trixie if she showed up, and dragged the cart back to the library.
It’s true that Bass, as a human, wasn’t very fit. He wasn’t overweight by any means, but neither did he have an abundance of muscle. He was somewhere between fat and muscular, while still maintaining a sense of thinness and weakness. He was thinner than most people he knew, but he was also bigger than some. He was weaker than most, so he didn’t fit into the ‘average’ category. Sure, he had worked out and lost over twenty pounds, but he still didn’t build up that much muscle, and he didn’t improve his stamina one little bit. It is with those thoughts that Bass wished he had worked harder to improve his physical fitness. He was exhausted beyond belief by the time he made it to the library, and it was now that he remembered that Spike was at Rarity’s, and that Twilight was spreading the word about Trixie to the others. Bass had to untie himself from the cart, carry Trixie and the cider by himself, and then take care of the library by himself. Lucky for him it was closed for the day, but he still had to house keep since he was the first one back.
After thirty minutes of trying by himself, and the luck that an earth pony named Time Turner who was passing by and decided to help, Bass was able to get everything in order. He thanked the stallion and entered the library where he would be alone for several hours.
An hour later, Bass heard Trixie stir. He had placed her on a couch, where she had slept peacefully, if not a little drunkenly, and now she seemed to be waking up. He had spent the last hour scouring the library for any book that he might be interested in. But, he didn’t really have any luck, and because he was stuck reading old ‘How To’ guides for an hour, he decided to satisfy his boredom by messing with Trixie as she woke.
She moaned and groaned from grogginess. When she slowly opened her eyes, Bass was sitting just inches away from her face with a seductive smile on his face. “Good morning, sweetheart. How was your first night with me?”
“Uuuaaagh!” Trixie replied as she flailed about. Bass expertly dodged her flailing hooves, and she tumbled to the floor. “Ow!” she said, muffled by a rug.
Bass tried not to giggle. “You okay?”
“That was not funny!” Trixie exclaimed. She still hadn’t sat up, so she was still muffled by the rug. She rolled until she was free of the rug and she stood up. “That wasn’t very nice,” she said, her face turning a slight red; alcohol wasn’t the cause.
“Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t help it. There’s only so much I can do when the only things I have are read, read, and read some more. I like to read, mind you, but I haven’t the foggiest clue what’s good here.”
“Why was I even asleep? I remember accepting Applejack’s conditions, and then…nothing.”
“Let’s just say that her ‘conditions’ were strong and far too powerful for your lightweight to handle.”
“Are you saying I can’t hold my liquor!”
Bass laughed. “Clearly you can’t, because not two seconds after she said she forgave you, you said, ‘Oh, gud. Tricksee feels thired,’ and then you hit the floor.”
Trixie blushed some more. “I-I did that? What else did I do?”
“Aside from look cute sleeping, nothing.”
“You really should stop teasing me, you know.”
“Yeah, I should. One of these days I’m actually going to compliment you and you won’t believe me,” Bass joked. “But in all seriousness; Applejack isn’t your friend yet, but you are a step closer to that goal. So, good job.”
“Really? She really forgave me just because I drank that…that…vile drink with her?”
“Truthfully, I’d wager that she had already forgiven you, but she wanted to know just how far you’d go to earn it. You’re determination was satisfactory to her, so she openly told you that she forgave you.”
“She said all that?”
Bass shook his head. “Nope. It’s either true, or I totally missed something. Either way, the result is the same. So, does it really matter at this point?”
She smiled. “I guess it doesn’t.” The smile faded then. “I still don’t know how the others will react to me.”
The door opened just then, and Twilight entered with Spike behind her. “Oh, hello, Bass. Hello Trixie. I have some good news. Everyone seems to accept Trixie to an extent.”
“To an extent?” Bass asked.
“Obviously, they forgive her for her ethics during the Alicorn Amulet incident, but they still need to get to know her personally if they want to accept her as a friend. So, for that matter, Pinkie has…”
“Invited the entire population to a ‘Welcome Potential Friend Trixie to Ponyville Party’?” Bass asked.
Twilight stared at him. “How did you know?”
“Twilight, I’ve been here for three days and I already understand enough about Pinkie Pie to know that I don’t understand anything about her except for her love of partying. Do you really have to ask how I know?”
Twilight blushed. “I suppose not.”
“I take it that the party is tonight?” Bass asked.
“Yes,” she replied. “Also, Rarity wanted to know if you would wear this to it.” She had Spike give Bass a box.
Bass opened the box, and inside was the white with blue trim hooded zip up vest. It was perfect. Bass put it on and left it unzipped. “This. Is. Fantastic!” he exclaimed.
“That is rather nice,” Trixie chimed.
“Well, are you going to wear anything, Trixie?”
“Do I have to?”
“No,” Twilight said. “But I’m sure most ponies expect to see you usual get up.”
“I don’t have it with me, I’m afraid. When I was chased out of Canterlot a few weeks back, someone stole my cape. I still have my hat, because it was given to me by my mother so I protected it, but it’s not the same without the cape.”
“Oh,” Twilight said. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Capes can be replaced. I’m just happy I was able to keep my mother’s hat safe.” She turned and saw tears in Bass’s eyes. “Oh! A-are you alright, Bass?”
Bass gave her a hug. “That is the sweetest thing I’ve heard all day, Trixie! A hat given to you by your mother! How touching!”
She awkwardly hugged him back, laughing nervously. She patted him on the back. “It’s okay, Bass. It’s not that big of a deal. Calm down.”
He pulled away, regaining his composure. “Sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me. So, shall we party?”
“The party isn’t until six in the evening,” Twilight answered.
He looked at the clock. It was just after noon. “So, what now?”
“How about we read a book?” Twilight said excitedly.
Bass and Trixie looked at each other. “Trixie will…I mean, I will go back to taking my nap. I’m still a little hung over,” Trixie said.
Bass nodded. “I need to practice my bass guitar. I haven’t played in a while.”
“Huh? Wait! What about books! You like to read, Bass. Trixie, why are you hung over? I NEED AN EXPLANATION HERE!”
One more time! One more time we’re gonna celebrate, yeah, oh yeah, alright now start the dancin’! One more time we’re gonna celebrate, yeah, oh yeah! I’m just feelin’ a celebration tonight. Celebrate, and don’t wait too late. No, you don’t stop. You can’t stop. We’re gonna celebrate. One more time. Celebrate and dance so free.
The time for the party drew near. This would be the second party that Bass had attended since arriving in Equestria, and he started to believe that almost nopony had a job. He knew a farmer, a librarian, a weatherpony, and a seamstress. What the hell everypony else did still remained a mystery. Fluttershy was obviously a vet or a petsitter, but what he was unsure of, and Pinkie Pie…he didn’t want to think about Pinkie Pie. That mare hadn’t caused him a headache yet, and he liked her well enough, but he knew that any headache he got while in Ponyville could more likely than not be traced back to her. It was only a matter of time. Yet, here he was, pressing his luck by going to another party orchestrated by the pink pony herself.
“What can I expect?” Trixie asked. She was walking to his left, her ears drooping with nervousness.
Bass looked to his right where Twilight and Spike walked. Spike was riding Twilight, which didn’t seem to annoy the mare. He was hoping Twilight would answer, because he felt that he wouldn’t do the party pony justice. Twilight gave him a look that said, “Tell her yourself.”
Bass sighed. “Well, if it’s anything like my party, you’ll most likely enjoy it so long as nothing goes against you.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Well, I was trying to act like I was a normal pony from Equestria, but that was shot to hell when Pinkie guessed my identity, and Twilight confirmed it in front of everyone without waiting for me to try to save the act.”
Twilight laughed nervously. “I’m sorry about that. I really am.”
“But,” Bass continued. “Aside from that little mishap, everything was just peachy. You should enjoy it.”
Trixie sighed. “As long as the guests don’t try to rip me to shreds because of my misdeeds.”
Bass smiled. “Yup. As long as they don’t do that.” She gave him the stare of death. “Oh, you were serious. Well, I’ll be there for you, so don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.” He patted her head. “You’re uncle Bass will take good care of you.”
“Just how old are you?”
“Old enough. Besides, I already told you and Applejack how old I am. If you hadn’t accepted the hard cider, you would still remember.”
“What else don’t I remember?! It was only this morning when it happened!”
“Who knows? How’s the headache?”
“Better since Spike made the coffee,” She looked past Bass to address Spike. “Great coffee, by the way.”
“I’ve had practice since Twilight stays up so late,” the dragon replied.
Twilight cleared her throat. It was only now that Bass and Trixie noticed that they had stopped walking, and they were standing in front of Sugar Cube Corner. “We’re here.”
“All right, chums!” Bass exclaimed, ready to eat. Really, that was the main reason he agreed to come to the party to begin with. As stated earlier, college students never turn down free food. “Let’s do this!” He leapt through the doors to Sugar Cube Corner.
“Did-did he just run in?” Trixie asked.
“I think he’s started to act like his usual self now,” Twilight stated. “Spike, make a note of that on Bass’s personality in addition to the following; Foul mouthed, sarcastic, and now secretly energetic and excitable.”
Bass poked his head back out of the door. “I heard that. I happen to only be excited and energetic under the right circumstances.”
“You seem to make a lot of interesting comments to Trixie as well,” Twilight pointed out.
Bass tried to give a comeback, but found that even he didn’t know why he singled Trixie out among the ponies he had met. “Don’t you write a damn word down about that.”
“Why do you tease me like that?” Trixie asked.
“Hell if I know. I just know what personalities will agree with mine when it comes to stuff like that. I do it all the time. I don’t know any other reasons. Like this one guy I met for, like, twelve minutes, and I already gave him a nickname. I couldn’t remember his real name, so I called him by his home state. He liked it, too.”
“What was his nickname?”
“Michigan! Now let’s get to eating! I mean, let’s get to making some friends for Trixie!”
“While we eat?” Spike asked, having a similar mindset to Bass on the matter.
“Of course! Let’s go!” He turned and went back into the building.
Twilight and Spike walked on in, and Trixie stood there nervously. Bass’s words echoed in her head. “I’m committed!” she told herself. She stepped through the doors.
And had the hell scared out of her. Pinkie Pie blew a confetti popper in her face, yelling, “Welcome, Trixie, to the ‘Welcome Potential Friend Trixie to Ponyville’ party!”
Trixie lay on the floor, feeling as though she was on the edge of panic. “Th-thank you, erm, what was your name again?”
“Pinkamina Diane Pie! Pinkie Pie for short! Go ahead and call me Pinkie, or Pie, or Pinkie Pie, or Stache the Stampede! Preferably just Pinkie or Pinkie Pie, though.” Every word that fell out of her mouth was accompanied by a smile.
Trixie gave a confused look. “Stache the Stampede?”
Pinkie nodded, turned around, and turned back around, now wearing a fake mustache. “Want one?” she asked.
“Uh, no, thank you,” Trixie said as she stood. Pinkie shrugged and removed the mustache.
“Well, howdy there, Trixie. How was your cart ride home?” asked a country accent that Trixie soon saw came from Applejack, who was approaching.
“My what?”
“Bass carried you home on a cart that Ah let him borrow.”
Trixie stared at Applejack wide eyed. “Seriously! What did I miss?”
“Ah told you that stuff was strong,” Applejack said with a smile.
“Thoundsf laik itsf too frong!” Bass said as he neared the mares. His mouth was stuffed with muffins and cupcakes.
“Bass, it’s rude to speak with your mouth full. You’re lucky Rarity didn’t hear you,” said Twiligth, who was still nearby.
Bass nodded and swallowed the food. “I said it sounds like it’s too strong. And for that, I am thankful. It was one of the most amusing things I’ve witnessed in quite some time.”
“For all I know you did things to me in my sleep!” Trixie exclaimed.
“How dare you insinuate that moi did anything distasteful to thee during thy slumber,” he replied mockingly. “Really, it’s a miracle I could concentrate on my bordom, what with your loud snoring.”
Trixie gasped. “The Great and Powerful Trixie does not snore!” She put her own hoof over her mouth, looking around nervously. “I promised myself I would stop speaking in third person.”
“I dunno. If you drop the ‘great and powerful’ part, it’s almost kind of cute,” Bass said with a smile.
“Trixie is…I mean I am not…I mean…”
Rainbow Dash was hovering above and heard the whole conversation. “Shut up and take the compliment,” she said flatly, startling Trixie.
“Why do you ponies insist on giving me a heart attack!”
“Lucky for you, I’m not giving you more. Twilight says you want our help, and Applejack says your okay, so I can live with that…for now,” Rainbow said.
“Real supportive there, Skittles,” Bass said sarcastically.
“What did you call me?” Rainbow asked. “No, seriously, what did you call me? I have no idea what a skittle is.”
“That’s not important,” Bass said. “But, just so you know, it’s real insulting on my world.”
“You makin’ fun of me, purple head?”
“Hey, my mane is purple!” Twilight said. “And so is Rarity’s.”
“Sorry, I just don’t know how to make fun of him. He’s blue, but so am I. And his mane is purple, but so is yours and Rarity’s. What does that leave me with?”
“Leaves you with nothing, Skittles. Thou shalt not make fun of me!” Bass declared.
“You trying to pick a fight!”
Trixie watched in amazement as it finally clicked in her head. Having been with Bass all day, she knew he wouldn’t actually say anything insulting to Rainbow Dash. “He’s full of it. He’s not insulting you, Rainbow Dash.”
“Why should I believe you, fake out?”
“Hey now, Skittles. Let’s not get hostile with the guest of honor,” Bass warned.
“Then what the buck does skittles mean!?”
“It’s a rainbow colored candy on my world,” Bass said flatly. “You get too worked up, Rainbow. I’ll keep that in mind.” He flashed a mischievous smile.
Rainbow blinked a couple of times. Then, she smiled back. “Are you challenging me or something? Because I can do that!”
“Why should I, when I know I can win?”
“Oh, you are going down, bass player! Name your game. It. Is. On!”
I like being here right now, Bass thought. “Maybe some other time. Right now, we’re here for Trixie to make a few friends. What kind of friends is still up for debate. Could be a pony, could be a pet, or it could be Pinkie.”
“Why am I different?” Pinkie asked curiously.
“Because you’re Pinkie, my dear,” Bass replied. “I find it hard to describe you any other way.”
“Fair enough. So, Trixie,” she said, turning to the azure mare. “Have you made any friends yet?”
“N-no, I’m afraid I haven’t.”
“I think that is untrue,” Twilight chimed in. “I would like to consider myself a friend of yours, but you may feel differently. However, I know for a fact that you’ve made one good friend since you got here this morning.”
“Who?” Trixie asked.
“Bass, of course. You seem the most comfortable with him, and you’ve technically known him for the least amount of time out of the rest of us.”
“Really?”
“Well,” Bass said. “You don’t really argue that much when I tease you. Of course, no one really does, but that’s beside the point.”
“But I barely know you,” she replied.
“That’s how all friendships start out,” he said. “When I first went off to college, I knew three or four people there. That’s it. One was my roommate, and the others were people that I knew from my high school but barely knew, so I really couldn’t count them. Then, I started meeting people. First it, it was people who lived in my building, then it was the people I met while I was at the fitness center getting my weekly workout, and finally I started making friends with people in my classes. Friends always start out as strangers. Like The Doors sang: people are strange when you’re a stranger, and faces look ugly when you’re alone.”
“So, by merely being with you today we’ve become friends?”
“Well, as Twilight stated, out of everyone here you’re the most comfortable with me.”
Trixie thought about it for a moment. “I guess that’s true,” she finally said. She smiled, now understanding that she had already made at least one friend.
“Ah hate to break up Trixie touching moment of realization her, but where in tarnation are Rarity and Fluttershy?” Applejack interrupted.
“Good question,” Twilight agreed.
“There they are!” Pinkie exclaimed. She disappeared in one direction and came back from another, carrying Rarity and Fluttershy.
“Pinkie Pie, dear, I know we’re such good friends, but could you, per chance, out me down?” Rarity asked.
“Sure! Here, you remember Trixie, right? She’s the guest of the party!” Pinkie exclaimed in one breath as she gently dropped Rarity.
Trixie immediately recognized her as the mare that she forced to make all those Trixie banners. “Oh, h-hello,” Trixie said nervously.
“Hello, dear,” Rarity replied. She looked Trixie over. “Are you okay, dear? You seem unwell.”
Bass said, “Aah,” as he understood what was going on. “Let me guess, you enslaved her to do some sort of embroidering or sewing or whatever.” Trixie nodded.
“I don’t harbor any hard feelings for you. Once We figured out what the Alicorn Amulet was doing to you we knew that you were mostly innocent.”
“Mostly?” Bass asked.
“Well, she did buy the amulet of her own free will. It is her fault that she got us all unto the mess to begin with. But, once things started going out of control there was nothing she could do.”
“All the same,” Trixie said finally. She held her head low. “I’m sorry for what I did to you.” She turned to Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, who was still in Pinkie’s grip. “I’m sorry for everything I did to all of you. I’m sorry for taking away your ability to speak, Pinkie. I’m sorry for messing with your wings, Rainbow. And I’m sorry for…actually, did I do anything to you, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy shook her head shyly. “Nothing to me specifically, but you did mistreat my friends and animals,” she whispered.
“I see,” Trixie said sadly. “I’m sorry for that, too.”
Fluttershy nodded, “Apology accepted. Pinkie, will you let me down, please? If you don’t mind.”
Pinkie let go of Fluttershy and smiled brightly. “Of course I forgive you! You’re not a big ol’ meanie head anymore! Just like Discord!”
“Agreed,” Rarity said.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “It won’t be that easy with me, Trixie. I’ll forgive you for now, but you’ll have to impress me greatly before I call you my friend.”
Trixie nodded. “I understand.”
“Oh!” Bass exclaimed.
“What?” the mares all asked in unison.
“I’ve got it! The challenge for Rainbow Dash!”
“Oh, so you’re really going to go through with that?” Rainbow asked. “Good. I’d hate to think that you’d chickened out on me.”
“Do you have chess here?”
Rainbow’s face drooped with despair. “Y-yes,” she replied nervously.
“I challenge you to chess!” he declared. “If I win, you have to help Trixie with anything she needs for a full day!”
“No way! That’s not fair! I don’t know how chess works!”
“Okay, what other games do you have?”
“How about poker?” Trixie asked.
“I can play poker,” Rainbow said.
“I can too. Texas Hold ‘Em style!” Bass said.
“Texas Hold ‘Em?”
“It’s the same game with slightly different rules. If you can play poker, then you can play this version. I’ll explain in full details when we play. Same bet, though. If I win, you have to help Trixie with anything she needs. Best two out of three hands.”
“Fine, and if I win, you have to perform in the battle of the bands at the Canterlot Music Festival next month.”
Bass looked at her confused. “As a solo artist?”
She shook her head. “As a band!”
“Deal!” He held out his hoof. She spat in her hoof and shook his with it, much to his disgust. “I need to wash my hooves,” he said as he left for the bathroom.
“Okay, the rules are simple. The winning hands are all the same, but the play style is different. We each get two face down cards, and then three more cards are put in the middle; we share those three. That is our initial hand. Then, two more cards are set to the side. We can choose out hand from any of those cards, in addition to the two we already have. It is possible to ignore your two cards and use the five on the table, but be warned: if you do that, then I can do that, resulting in a tie. Got it?” Bass explained.
“Sure,” Rainbow said. “Twilight, deal ‘em for us!”
The eight of them were at Twilight’s library home sitting around the dining room table. Twilight nodded, having taken notes on the rules that Bass just went over. She also had a book entitled Winning Hands of Poker so she could judge properly. “Here it goes,” she said. She dealt the two face down cards per pony, and then the three on the table. Trixie watched with interest as she looked over the three table cards. There was a five of clubs, nine of diamonds, and a seven of spades. She looked at the two players and noticed their poker faces. She didn’t know what either pony had, but Bass’s lack of expression kept his chances of winning a dark secret, where as Rainbow immediately looked saddened. She must have a bad hand, Trixie thought.
“Next,” Twilight said as she dealt one of the two extra cards; an eight of clubs. Then the final card was a jack of hearts. “Cards on the table. Who will play first?”
Bass smiled. “Two pair,” he said smoothly. In his hand was a jack of clubs and a five of hearts.”
Rainbow immediately sunk low. “I can’t believe,” she started. “I can’t believe that you suck so bad!” She declared. “Straight!” Her two cards were a six of hearts and a seven of diamonds. Put with the table, she had a five, six, seven, eight, and a nine; a straight.
Bass’s jaw dropped. “Holy Jesus! What is that? What the buck is that!?”
“It’s a straight!”
“I can see that!” Bass said. “And here I was trying to help Trixie.” He frowned.
“Don’t be sad,” Pinkie said. “Now you get to go to Canterlot to be in the Battle of the Bands!” She held up a photograph of Canterlot.
“To Canterlot!” Rainbow declared, pointed at the photo.
“To Canterlot!” Rarity declared, pointing at the photo as well.
“To Canterlot!” Applejack declared, also pointing at the photo.
“It’s only a photograph,” Bass said flatly. “And I don’t know if I want to go to Canterlot. It sounds like a silly place.”
“You’re not talking your way out of the bet, Bass,” Rainbow said.
“It was worth a try, at least.”
“Wait, do you even have a band?” Trixie asked.
Bass looked at her, then looked at everyone else. “Anyone know where I can find some fellow musicians?”
“Lyra plays the lyre,” Pinkie pointed out.
“Not really good for rock or heavy metal,” Bass pointed out.
“Vinyl Scratch is a DJ,” Rainbow said.
“Do you even know what rock and heavy metal are?”
“What about Vinyl’s friend, Octavia? She plays a cello,” Rarity said.
“Oh, come on! Only one band could pull of the cello in heavy metal and I don’t play like they do!”
“I don’t know what you’re supposed to do,” Twilight chimed in. “What do you need?”
“I can play bass and, if worse comes to worse, I will sing. I need a guitarist and a drummer. That’s the bare minimum, but I can work with it. I think,” he replied.
They all shook their heads. I’m screwed, aren’t I? he thought.
Force it into my head, now’s the only time. Hiding behind a lie, all I know. I cast the fire! Inside this hour is all alone, for I am in denial. Though never again will I direct my shields against another, but turn it on myself.
“So, what are you going to do, Bass?” Twilight asked.
He shook his head. “I’ll have to put an ad out or something. Band members wanted and all that crap.” He was feeling a little down.
He probably should have tried a different game, Twilight thought. “Well, I’ll help you with that. It’s the least I could do since you were trying to help Trixie.”
“Oh yeah, that is what he was trying to do,” Rarity said under her breath. She and the others glared at Rainbow.
“What?” Rainbow asked.
“Why should he suffer for trying to help somepony?” Rarity asked.
“Hey, a bet is a bet, okay! It’s not my fault he lost. Poker is luck!”
“Still, you really shouldn’t hold him to such a daunting task. At least change what he has to do so he might be able to actually do it.”
“That’s alright, Rarity. I’ll do it. Even if I have to borderline kill myself, I’ll do it!” Bass exclaimed in a very determined way.”
Twilight chuckled softly. “Well, we would like you to stay alive, Bass.” She looked around and found her clock on the wall. “Oh my goodness, is it really past nine already?”
“Oh, so it is,” Rarity said. “I hadn’t realized it had gotten so late. I suppose I should be off. Sweetie Belle should be home by now. If not, she’ll get the punishment of a lifetime.”
“I, um, should be going too,” Fluttershy said softly.
“Well, Twilight, Ah suppose Ah’ll be seein’ y’all around. Good night,” Applejack said.
Pinkie gave some long winded goodbye that Twilight didn’t really catch as she ran out the door, and Rainbow looked at Bass to say, “Hey, sorry you lost, okay, but you still gotta do the battle of the bands!”
“Yes, sir~!” Bass saluted.
“Sir? Why you little…”
“It was a joke. Just go home,” Bass said. Rainbow glared at him for a quick second before smiling and leaving. The only ponies left were Trixie, Twilight, and Bass.
Twilight looked at Trixie. “Where are you staying, Trixie?”
“I, uh, hadn’t thought of that yet. You and Bass kept me so busy today that I forgot to get some lodging,” she replied.
“Oh dear,” Twilight said. “I only have one guest room. The bed is big enough to share though, if you don’t mind sharing with Bass.”
“I’d rather she didn’t,” Bass chimed in.
“Well she can’t sleep on the floor, and I’d hate to force her on the couch.”
“Dibs on the couch,” Bass replied smoothly. “She can have the bed.”
Twilight turned to Trixie, then back to Bass. “I’d hate to put either of you on the couch. Are you sure you can’t share the bed? Or maybe one of you share mine with me?”
“Twilight, how much do you know about men, er, stallions?” Bass asked.
Twilight was confused. What kind of question is that? She thought. “About as much as anypony else. Why?”
“Then you may or may not know that the early morning is kind of awkward for a stallion.”
“What the hay do you mean?”
Trixie went wide eyed and put a hoof on Twilight’s mouth. “Oh, you know, Twilight, I think Bass is right. Neither me or you should share a bed with him,” she said hastily.
“Why? I don’t get it,” Twilight said.
Trixie brought her voice down to a whisper. “What do stallions have that mares don’t?”
Twilight was about to answer when she realized what the answer actually was and blushed. “Oh. OH! Oh, yeah, that is a problem, isn’t it?”
“Glad to see you’ve figured it out,” Bass said. He put a hoof on her head and patted her gently. “Our little Twilight’s finally grown up.”
Still blushing, Twilight retorted with, “Aren’t I older than you, mister Twenty-Years-Old!”
“Oh, you’re twenty? I’m older than you,” Trixie said. “By a year, though.”
“Fascinating,” Bass replied. “Now, off to the bed, Trixie. I’ll keep the couch company.”
Bass slept better that night than he had the last couple of nights before, but there was still room for improvement. One such field of improvement was one that he actually had before last night; a comfortable place to sleep. Were it not for the ponies and their inherit nature to be naked ninety percent of the time he would have gladly shared the bed with Trixie. As such, when he awoke the next morning and stood up every bone in his spine popped loudly. He usually enjoyed the feeling of popping one’s back, but this wasn’t the popping that he felt when he wanted to do it; this was the ‘oh God my back is in agony and exploding and is crying out for help’ kind of experience that he just went through. He moaned and groaned in pain for a short few seconds before his back felt normal again, and then he looked around to see if anypony else was up.
Trixie stood in the entry way to the kitchen with her jaw dropped. “That sounded magnificent!” she exclaimed.
“It felt awful!” Bass retorted. “What are you doing up?” he asked, stifling a yawn.
“I thought I’d cook some breakfast for the ponies who agreed to help me, is all. Also, its part of my self help list; be kind to your hosts and do something for them.” As she spoke she began to make eggs and waffles.
“Why do you have a self help list?”
“Well,” she said. “About a month ago is when everything that was going on in my life hit rock bottom. After deep consideration, I went to a counselor who gave me some advice. I’m here acting on that advice. One such piece of advice was to change the way I talk.”
“You talked differently?” Bass asked.
“I spoke in the third person. It’s a habit I formed as a filly. Old habits die hard, as they say. It still slips out. I also decided, of my own accord I might add, to drop my title. How can I be ‘Great and Powerful’ if I can’t be great and powerful on the stage?”
“There are other ways to be great and powerful, you know.” Bass watched Trixie as she paused in her food preparation to look at him.
“Why do you say such meaningful things constantly? It’s like wisdom just pours out of your mouth.”
Bass chuckled. “I wouldn’t call it ‘wisdom’ per se. I prefer to call it being well read.”
Trixie stuck her tongue out in disgust. “You don’t read as much as Twilight, do you?”
“Thankfully, no; I have other hobbies. But, I digress. That’s not the point. The point is that you can do other things to be ‘great and powerful’. You don’t have to dazzle a crowd with your magic. You could simply do volunteer work for a good cause, listen to somepony when they have a problem, or even just be there. You don’t always have to say or do anything, so long as the other person knows you’re there for them. Just be yourself. Take me for example; I love to write stories. Just a hobby, mind you, but the whole reason behind it is because my sister would write when I was younger and read the stories to me. I loved those stories, and I wanted to make my own. Eventually, I wanted to do the same thing to someone else that my sister did to me; I want to inspire future authors. I don’t want to be famous, or rich, or a best seller; I just want one person to read a book I wrote, bring it to me, and tell me that they were inspired to write their own story because of it.” Bass smiled. “I don’t know if I’ve succeeded, as only a select few have read my work, but I can hope at least.”
“Do you write these speeches beforehoof, or is it all improvised on the spot?”
Bass shrugged. “You may never find out. Now, how about that breakfast, oh Okay and Average Trixie?” Bass stopped and put a hoof on his chin. “That nickname worked better in my head.” Trixie sighed. Bass really was a hooffull, but he did have a point. She just needed to be herself, which will greatly benefit her future friend making experiences if she can be true to herself. “It should be ready shortly. Should we wake Twilight?”
“Already up,” Twilight said as she walked down the stairs. “Trixie, you shouldn’t be cooking! You’re my guest!”
“Wait!” Bass said. “Don’t argue against it; if someone volunteers to cook, even just once, always let them!”
Twilight stared at Bass. “Why so energetic about it?”
“Because it makes it easier on me,” he said with a smile. Trixie and Twilight glared at him. “Goodness, girls, take a joke. She said she wanted to thank us, so I say let her.”
Twilight smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Trixie, but you really didn’t have to.”
“Think nothing of it, Twilight,” she replied. “Now here, eat up.” She smiled as she entered with three plates held in her levitation magic. “There’s a fourth one in there if Spike comes down.”
The three ponies at breakfast happily, and Bass felt that he could really get used to living here in Equestria. Still, he wanted to go home, and that was understandable. Twilight cleared her throat to get Bass’s attention, as he had zoned out. “Hm, you say something?”
Twilight smiled. “Would you and Trixie go to the morning market and pick of some groceries? I have a lot of work to do, and I should probably send Princess Celestia a letter updating her about my progress in learning about your world.”
“Which really isn’t a whole lot,” Bass noted. “I’ve been kind of caught up in the affairs of everything, so I guess I forgot to teach you some more.”
“Not at all. The night before Trixie showed up was very educational,” Twilight said happily.
Bass and Trixie stared at her. Trixie turned to Bass, smiling slyly. “You’ve been for a hoofful of days, and you’ve already…”
“Say one more word and I will deck you so hard that you won’t be able to see straight for a week,” Bass said.
“What are you two talking about?” Twilight asked.
“Twilight, word your sentences more carefully, or unintentional innuendos will leak out.”
“Innuendos? What are you talking about? I didn’t…say…oh dear, I did say it like that didn’t I?”
Trixie laughed. “Yes, Twilight. Yes you did.”
Bass only nodded in response as he finished his food. “I think I’ll go for a stroll to help settle my stomach, and go buy your stuff.”
“Remember to take Trixie with you,” Twilight reminded.
Trixie looked somewhat disappointed. “I don’t mean to complain, but couldn’t I just sit here and learn about friendship with you, Twilight?”
Twilight shook her head. “It’ll be good for you and Bass to not only grow as friends yourselves, but also to meet and speak with the other ponies of Ponyville. Besides, its organization day at the library, so as soon as Spike eats and sends a letter to the princess this whole library will be torn to shreds and reorganized.”
Bass nodded. “As I say, the only way to clean is to make a mess. Let’s go, Trix.” He paused. “Perhaps that nickname doesn’t work either. Makes you sound like a bowl of fruity breakfast cereal.”
“How about you just call me Trixie?” Trixie asked as she began to follow Bass.
“Sure, I guess,” he shrugged. The two set out to the morning market, which was at the center of town, after Twilight gave them a bag of bits to make the required purchases. She was actually very careful to calculate the prices for all of the food on the shopping list, and gave Bass and Trixie the exact amount of bits they would need. Whether she didn’t want any unexpected purchases, or if she always did this, Bass didn’t really want to know. He roamed the market looking for the first item on the list; apples.
The very mentioning of the glorious red fruit made his mouth water. He remembered that in his younger days he had braces. The dentist gave him a very strict list of things that he couldn’t have; whole apples was on the list. Now, ordinarily you could say, “Well, just peel the damn things and slice them up,” but Bass didn’t believe in “peeling” apples. There was something satisfying about the crunch you hear when you bite straight into an apple. You either bit into the skin, or you just didn’t eat the apple. While he proved he could eat the other things on the list to a degree, he discovered that it was actually impossible to bite into the apple with braces. So, he lived five long, painful years without that sweet, crunchy fruit. The day he got the braces was glorious. He left school midway through the day to have them removed. Ordinarily he would have returned to school, but when his father picked him up from the dentist he told him, “I’m not going back to school. You’re taking me to the grocery store, buying me a bag of apples, and taking me home.” Amazingly, his father agreed. It was a good day.
And it’s with that same level of love for apples that Bass still carried that he was excited to find the stall that sold that delicious fruit. Wasn’t hard to find, and to his surprise it was the only fruit that the vendor sold. Standing behind the booth was a large red stallion with a green apple for his cutie mark. Bass approached the sizable stallion. “Hello,” he said. He looked at the sign with the price and saw that it was different than what was on his list. “Uh oh. Hey, Trixie, I don’t think we’ll have enough bits for everything. Twilight didn’t give any room for fluctuating prices.”
The stallion arched an eyebrow. “Twilight sent y’all?” he asked in a thick, southern accent.
“Yes,” Bass replied. She wrote down that the price was eight bits per bushel instead of ten.”
“Eeyup,” the stallion said. “Eight bits.”
“Wait,” Trixie said. “You’re giving us the lower price?”
“Eeyup.”
“Might I ask why?”
“She’s Applejack’s friend. Any friend of mah sister’s will get a discount.”
“Applejack’s your sister?” Bass asked. He extended a hoof. “Bass Chord.”
The stallion accepted it and shook. “Big Macintosh. Y’all can call me Big Mac. Applejack says she gave ya a bottle of cider as a thank you for helping Apple Bloom. Ah thank ya for that.”
Bass handed over the eight bits with a slight smile. “Well, I don’t really like it when people get bullied. I know what that’s like, you know? I never liked it.”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied as he accepted the bits and exchanged them for apples. “Speaking of which, you might want to look out.” He pointed behind them.
Before them was a pair of mares; one of them was glaring at Trixie. “What the buck is she doing back?” The bright blue one said. She looked somewhat minty and her cutie mark was a lyre; the same mare who didn’t care about Bass’s original species.
“Language, miss. We’re in a public market,” Big Mac chided.
Ignoring Big Mac, she merely continued. “Seriously, didn’t you do enough damage the last time you were here? Enslaving everypony isn’t exactly the thing you want to be known for, and returning to the town of said ponies is dumb.”
The other mare was light brown with a blue and pink mane. Her cutie mark appeared to be three candies. “Lyra, stop. That isn’t very nice.”
“Bon-Bon, she enslaved Ponyville! She exiled Twilight Sparkle, forced everypony to do ridiculous jobs, and locked Mayor Mare in a cage. That isn’t very nice.”
Bass looked at Trixie. She was so dejected that she couldn’t even respond. Bass had a feeling that if she were her old self, she would have taken such insults in stride and dealt with the issue at hand; but that was a completely different Trixie in those days. This one was trying to make things right, and didn’t understand why ponies didn’t want her too. Truthfully, Bass didn’t understand why they fought against her redemption. He returned his gaze, with curiosity, to the minty mare, whose name was apparently Lyra.
“You’re cruel, you don’t care if you hurt somepony, and you only love your own success! Why are you even here!” Lyra exclaimed, now earning the attention of half the market.
Big Mac was about to step in, and Bass saw this. Bass raised a hoof to stop Big Mac and only shook his head. He turned back to Lyra. The best way to retaliate against insults is with better, more meaningful insults. That’s how he felt, at least. “You know, Lyra, you’re absolutely right. I mean, what kind of cruel, enslaving, town destroying monster would even think about returning to the town she once terrorized so she could seek redemption? Who knows, it may be all just a ruse. All the depression, nightmares, and god only knows what other negative, unhappy things that she may or may not be experiencing could all be, in fact, false! Thank you for opening the eyes of myself and the other townsfolk with your bigoted, hateful, and unforgiving viewpoint. You have enlightened me to such extremes, that I may just star claiming that anyone who does something wrong is pure evil. Hell, I may just try to have Big Mac here locked up for treating one person better than another on the grounds of being a mutual acquaintance.” He said all of this with a chipper smile.
“Watch it, freak. You’re not even from here, so it has nothing to do with you.”
“Hello kettle. Name’s pot. Have we met?” She gave him a confused look. “So, you’ve finally come to terms with my origin, have you?” He looked around. “Look to me, everypony. Do I not look like one of you?” Everypony nodded. “For those of you who are not in the know, I am not like any of you. I’m not originally a pony, nor am I from this world.”
Lyra scoffed. “Most of us know. Besides, what even are you? Human?” she asked mockingly.
The name of his species shocked Bass, but he hid it well. “As a matter of fact, yes. I am originally human. And believe me Lyra, the world I come from is much colder, and much darker than this one. And you know what? People have done far worse than what Trixie has done, I’m sure. And most of them have never sought to fix what they have done wrong. For example; has Trixie murdered millions of people simply because she didn’t agree with their religious belief?” Lyra gaped in awe, and shook her head. “What about refused to tip a waiter or waitress because they were of a different ethnicity than she?” Another shake. “How about invade and take over half of a continent simply because she could?” Once more, she shook her head.
Bass smiled. “See, those aren’t just random things I’ve pulled out of a hat. All of those actually happened on my world. Some of the men responsible have been called monsters, and others have been called heroes, but they have all done great evil. Trixie made one mistake, and she is trying to fix it. Won’t you at least let her?”
Lyra just stared in confusion at Bass for a moment. Before she could respond, the dozens of ponies who had all gathered to watch all began to stomp with applause.
Bon-Bon looked at Bass. “I’m sorry for Lyra,” she said.
“Think nothing of it,” Bass said. “We all make mistakes and we all deserve another chance. I won’t deny Lyra the chance to apologize.”
“Are-“ Lyra began. “Are you really human?”
Bass nodded. “I don’t know how you know about my original body, but yes. I was human. I want to return to being human.”
Lyra hang her head. “I-I’m sorry, Trixie.” Bass could see tears running down Lyra’s face. He felt he may have been too strong in his words, but what’s done is done, and it may have been unavoidable.
Trixie walked up and sat down next to Lyra, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “I’ve heard worse. You’re not the first person to say such things, and I’m sure you won’t be the last. But, even with your apology, its not something to cry about.” Trixie’s eyes began to water. “After all, I’m the one that’s been crying. I don’t want anypony else to cry.” Lyra looked up and smiled at Trixie, who returned the smile. “What was your name again?”
“Lyra,” she replied. “Lyra Heartstrings.”
“Lyra, perhaps we could be friends?” Trixie asked.
“You know, for once, I think I’d like that.”
Bass smiled a smile he hadn’t smiled since he learned his sister was having a baby. Pure joy emanated from Bass. “Now then,” he said to himself. “Let’s finish shopping.”
We chased our pleasures here. Dug our treasures there. But can you still recall the time we cried? Break on through to the other side! Break on through, oh! Oh yeah!
An hour passed by with Bass concluding the shopping that Twilight asked of him. He felt pretty good about himself, but as soon as he entered Golden Oaks Library, with Trixie in tow, he suddenly felt very dejected.
There, sitting in the main room with Twilight having a nice chat, was Rainbow Dash; the source of Bass’s newest headache. “Heya, Bass! What’s up?” she greeted cheerfully.
“Just peachy. Nothing but gumdrops and icecream. Or at least I was, until I saw you,” Bass said, sounding colder than he intended.
“Aw, come on, you aren’t that mad at me, are you?”
“More like pissed at myself for making such a silly bet in the first place.”
“Uh huh. I get that a lot. That’s actually why I’m here.”
Bass tilted his head with curiosity. “Could it be that you feel terrible for making me partake in such a silly endeavor that you have decided to either alter the bet or cancel it altogether?”
Rainbow laughed. “Nice try, but no. I actually brought you this!” She proudly held a piece of paper. “This is the entry sheet you have to fill out once you have a band assembled. Entries can be turned in as late as the day of the battle of the bands, but they are considered late and will play last out of all of the bands. All you need to do is write down a band name, and the name of all of your members.”
Trixie eyed the paper in Rainbow’s hoof. “You actually think he can pull this off?” she asked, not convinced of Bass’s talent as a musician, or his ability to find band members.
“Heck if I know. He just has to try.”
Bass took the sheet and read the information. Band name here, band members there, sponsors here (if applicable), disclaimer there, ‘I agree that I will not sue if…’ here; pretty generic contract really. “Well, I still need a band. Three more ponies are preferable, but two more will suffice. I can double as vocals and guitar, or vocals or bass. I need another skilled guitarist who can either play either instrument or just one really. If they only play one, I can pick up the slack with the other. And I need a drummer.”
Rainbow nodded. “And because I’m such an awesome mare, I think I can help you with one of them.”
Bass looked at her and deadpanned, “You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. I can’t help you on the drums, but I know a guy who knows a guy that plays guitar.”
“Really?” Twilight asked, which reminded Bass that she was present.
“Yeah, Vinyl has a friend that plays guitar. He’s pretty good actually. He lives just two houses away from Sugar Cube Corner.”
“Give me his address!” Bass exclaimed.
“Alright, alright! Chill. I told him that I’d send him your way, and he said that was fine, but he didn’t say whether or not he’d help.” Rainbow said. She told him where to go to find the stallion in question, whose name was Flaming Fretts. Bass told the mares to sit tight, as he wanted to handle the negotiations alone.
After a short, brisk walk to the house in question, which was just past Sugar Cube Corner, as Rainbow had said, Bass stood before the door and dutifully knocked. “Come in,” came a deep voice.
Bass shrugged and opened the door. Once inside, he could tell this was a musician's house. There were records and record players placed all over the house in a decorative, but practical, fashion. Sitting in the living room, which held three guitars, was a red pegasus stallion with an orange and red mane. In his hooves was a guitar that, to Bass, looked like a Sunburst Gibson SG. “Hello,” Bass said. “My name is Bass Chord. I believe Rainbow mentioned me?”
The stallion smiled. “Yup. Name’s Flaming Fretts. I prefer to be called Fretts for short. What can I do for you, Mr. Bass?”
Bass winced. Why does everypony insist on calling me Mister? I don’t like it! He thought. “Just Bass, please. And I have a request that I would like to make.”
“Do you think your friend will help?” Twilight asked Rainbow Dash.
“Technically he’s a friend of a friend. But, hey, if he’s half the stallion Vinyl says he is, he won’t help until he’s been sweet talked into it with something. Does Bass have any money?” Rainbow replied.
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Then he better be a very good spokespony. Otherwise, he’s going to get nowhere fast.”
“I don’t know,” Trixie said. “He certainly has a way with words.”
“What did he say this time?” Twilight asked with a smile.
“He sort of, kind of, maybe went off on Lyra for harassing me and got the ponies who were watching to applaud that he told her off.”
Twilight and Rainbow both stared at Trixie in shock. “Wow. I hope he didn’t hurt her feelings or anything.”
“I think he actually enlightened her. She apologized and wanted to be friends when he finished. Really, all he did was point out what was wrong with her behavior, albeit in a rough, almost cruel way. But he got the job done.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Trixie recounted the entire encounter in full detail, which served to shock the other two mares even more. “He actually said all of that?” Rainbow asked. Trixie nodded. “I don’t know if it was mean or justified, but it was certainly very well thought up,” Twilight noted. “And, in a roundabout fashion, I learned more about his world.” She grabbed a blank scroll and jotted down the new information. “At least it ended well.”
“I can’t believe that ended well!” Bass gasped as he exited Fretts’s house. Still, he couldn’t help but feel bad. He may or may not have made a promise that may or may not be outside of his control. Please, Twilight, don’t hate me, he thought to himself. He decided it would be Future Bass’s problem, and decided to celebrate his small victory by taking a stroll. His stroll ended, however, as he walked a measly forty feet and wound up at Sugar Cube Corner. As it turned out, one of the prices for the shopping this morning was tremendously lower than Twilight had written, so Bass had on his possession five bits. Now, naturally he intended to return them to Twilight, but he forgot when Rainbow had showed up. “No use crying over spilled milk,” he said to himself. He was hungry, and Sugar Cube Corner sold muffins, cupcakes, and various pastries; why not buy one and have a snack?
So, it was with this thought that he entered the bakery and was assaulted in the nostrils by an insanely pleasant and sweet odor that emanated from everywhere around him. It’s like those children’s stories about the house made of candy…which is ironic, because he just remembered the Sugar Cube Corner was, in fact, a giant gingerbread house.
He looked around and noticed that it was fairly crowded. Not to the point of being annoying and inconvenient, but it was obviously a busy part of the day. Bass saw a clock and noticed that it was almost noon. “Ah,” he said out loud to himself. “Must be lunch.” He approached the counter and waited behind a mare and a stallion. He didn’t really pay any attention to them because he was eyeballing the display case and the menu stand next to, deciding what was within his price range and what was most undoubtedly delicious. Before he even realized it, he was standing at the counter, the other two ponies having already been served.
“Welcome, sir. How may I help you?” asked a thin earth pony stallion wearing a serving hat.
Bass eyeballed the display case again, and moved his gaze to the menu next to it once more. “Do you have any more banana nut muffins?” he asked.
“Yes. We have a fresh batch coming out now. They’re two for a bit.”
“Hm,” Bass said, sounding pleased. “I’ll take ten, then.” Might as well spend all five bits. Plus, he could apologize to Twilight for his little “promise” with a basket full of muffins.
“Coming right up sir,” the stallion said as he accepted Bass’s bits.
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Bass heard from the kitchen. The next thing he knew he was sneezing from the flour in his nose. Wait, flour?
“The hell?” he asked.
“Hi, Bass!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, who was suddenly beside him, covered in flour. “I was just in the kitchen when I thought I heard your voice so I looked out and saw that it was you so I just had to come and say hi. Hi, Bass!”
“Yes, Pinkie. You said that twice.”
“Then double hi!”
How this mare was so energetic, Bass felt he would never know. Whatever it was, he kind of wanted some. Even if it was just two milligrams he wanted it.
“Really? You want me to pump some into you?” Pinkie asked as she closed the gap between her and Bass and began to stare deep into his eyes with an unmoving expression.
“Wait? What? What are you?”
“You said you wanted some of my energy!” she stated.
“N-no I didn’t! I thought that, but I didn’t say it!” Bass exclaimed.
“Meh, close enough.”
“Seriously, what are you?”
“I’m Pinkie Pie!” she said joyfully.
Interestingly enough, Bass couldn’t really see a fault in that statement. Aside from the obvious that she was, indeed, Pinkie, it also made sense in the fact that she was, well, Pinkie. “Fair enough,” he said. The baker had come back and offered Bass his basket of muffins. “Thank you.”
“Whatcha buying those for?” Pinkie asked.
“I’m hungry. I’m also going to give some to Twilight when I get back.”
“Oh, like a gift? Are you asking her out on a date?”
“No, I just want to give her a gift.”
“Hmmm,” Pinkie said, sounding like she thought Bass sounded suspicious. “You did something bad, didn’t you?”
“M-maybe. Look, I needed a guitarist, and it was the only way to get one. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
“What did you do?”
“I’d rather not discuss it until after I’ve told Twilight, if you don’t mind. After all, it’s kind of in her jurisdiction, and none of anypony’s business. No offense.”
“None taken! So, you have a guitarist, you have you, so that leave a drummer, right?”
“I’m not going to ask how you know my intentions for this band, but yes; I need a drummer.”
“I can help.” She stated bluntly. “I play drums.”
Bass didn’t know if he was surprised, happy, or pissed. “Why didn’t you say so sooner?”
“You didn’t ask, silly.”
“I didn’t ask now!”
“Hm, I guess you’re right. I dunno.”
“Do I need to offer you something to acquire your drumming talent?” Bass asked.
“Nopers! I just want to help!”
Bass gently set down the muffins on a nearby table, and grabbed Pinkie Pie in a bear hug. “You. Are. Awesome! You know that?”
Pinkie returned the hug with a stronger grip, cutting off Bass’s air supply. After a few seconds, she let go. “I’m better at bear hugs than most ponies.”
“I…can…tell…” Bass said in between coughs. “We’ll meet at Flaming Fretts house every Tuesday and Thursday to practice at six pm. Got it?”
She sat on her hind legs and saluted with her right forehoof. “Yes, sir! See ya then! I gotta get back to baking!” She hopped off to the kitchen, humming a song.
“Well,” Bass said. “Today was better than expected. Now I just hope Twilight doesn’t kill me.”
The library was relatively quiet. Trixie was getting bored, so she asked Twilight to play a game with her, and so the two unicorns were staring and stressing over a chess board. They had been like this for about fifteen of the thirty minutes that passed since Rainbow left for home. It looked as though a stalemate had occurred, but Trixie was not going to be the one to knock her king over in defeat. No, she felt determined to be better than Twilight at chess.
It was Trixies turn, of course, and she stared intently at the pieces. After deliberating for a few minutes, she finally moved her rook up a few spaces to eliminate Twilight’s remaining bishop. Just a few more plays and Trixie would have Twilight in check.
Twilight saw the move and frowned. She looked over the pieces for a few seconds before moving her knight up and right. “Check mate.” She said with a cheery voice that replaced her frown.
“What!” Trixie exclaimed. Sure enough, her king was surrounded by a pawn, a queen, and a knight on all sides. She could make no move to save him. “I thought I had this game in the bag!”
“You moved your rook to take my bait, and that was your downfall.”
“Ugh! I was doing so good!”
Twilight giggled. “Even the most experienced players make rookie mistakes.” She began to giggle more.
Trixie just glared at her. “That wasn’t meant to be comforting was it? That was just a really bad pun.”
“Aw, come on. It wasn’t that bad.”
“A really bad pun,” Trixie deadpanned.
The two mares heard the front door open, and the sound of hoofsteps marked Bass’s return. “Welcome back,” Twilight greeted as she stood from the table and reentered the main room. In Bass’s grip was a basket of muffins. “Where did you get that?”
“I had a little money left over from this morning, so I decided to buy this on my way back. It’s a gift,” he said as he placed it on the table. “I ate one for a snack, but there are nine left.”
“You didn’t have to get me a gift, Bass.” Twilight assured.
“Oh, no. I did, actually. Because you are going to be absolutely pissed with me.”
“Why?” Twilight asked, not sure really what to make of his meaning.
“Well, I go Fretts to agree to be my guitarist.”
She smiled and clapped her hooves. “That’s fantastic!”
“Yeah,” he said nervously. “See, I had to talk him into it. It went rather well, all things considered, but I…sort of...maybe…” he finished the sentence in a low whisper.
Twilight heard it, but wasn’t sure she heard properly. “I’m sorry, but could you repeat that so I know you didn’t just say what I think you said?”
He sighed. “I kind of told him that I was friends with the princess’s personal student, and could therefore pay him a considerable sum.”
Twilight’s eye twitched for a moment, but then she calmed down. “Well, it can’t be that bad. How much are we talking?”
“Two hundred bits.”
“Two…hundred?” she asked. He nodded. He could see the rage on her face, and he began to feel something he very seldom felt; fear. He was afraid of only two things; his sister when she was angry, and snakes. He could now add pissed off Twilight to that list. Then, to his and Trixie’s surprise, Twilight lifted into the air. Her coat turned white, and her tail and mane both erupted into fire.
Spike happened to walk by and witnessed Twilight’s rage, and quickly doused her with a bucket of water to put her out, and she returned to normal.
“Thank you, Spike,” she said through her irritation and gritted teeth.
“Anytime. Just don’t kill anypony,” the dragon replied.
Bass didn’t know how to respond. “Um, I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I was kind of desperate.”
Twilight inhaled slowly, and exhaled likewise. “No, I get it. I’m sorry for getting angry. However,” she said with a slight hint of venom. “I expect every bit I spend to be repaid!”
“Of course,” Bass agreed. “I’m not the type to just borrow money and never pay back. I’m good for that. All I need is a source of income, and I’ll have you covered.”
Trixie was glad that Twilight never got that angry with her, even during her last two visits to Ponyville. She looked at Bass, and then looked to the band form on the table nearby. She read it out of curiosity when a certain passage caught her attention. She cleared her throat. “Are you aware, Bass, that the top five bands win prize money? Fifth place gets three hundred bits per band member. It gets higher and higher as the ranking does.”
“There we go,” Bass said, finally free of his fear now that Twilight was somewhat calm. “I just gotta get to fifth place, and I can pay you back and have some left over.”
“First place is five thousand bits,” Trixie pointed out.
Twilight and Bass slowly turned their heads to Trixie, who still held the paper, reading it carefully. Then the two met each other’s gaze. “First place?” Twilight asked.
Bass nodded. “First place.” He had a goal. Now he prayed that he was able to get this ragtag band ready for a show that was less than a month away. And considering that he had never been in a band before, he could only assume that it would be difficult.
Hey guys. I don't usually write intermissions or interludes or anything of the sort, which you can very clearly see if you look at the whole two stories I've posted, but I felt the need to do this. I am writing the next chapter of Lessons from Another Dimension and hope to have it up tonight shortly after this intermission, but no promises. If I don't post tonight, then tomorrow may be out of the question for obvious reasons, which brings me to my point.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Now, I don't know about the religious beliefs of any of you, so I can't exactly say "Have a God blessed holiday" or anything like that without maybe pissing of a few of you, so I will instead say the other nice and true thing to say. I hope you all have a fantastic day with your families. Go see your moms, dads, grandparents, siblings, whatever. Hug them up and eat their food. It's the right thing to do as a family.
And while I'm at it: There are not that many of you that read this story, but the ones who do read it are amazing and I love you guys. You guys have made me happy just by reading it. I honestly don't care if you hate it. The fact that you set aside the time to read my story tells me that something caught your interest, and even if I fail in the long run, I was doing something right for at least a brief moment. As always, I hope you continue to enjoy the story, and I welcome any constructive criticism you may provide.
I’m becoming less defined as days go by. Fading away, well, you might say I’m losing focus. Kind of drifting into the abstract in the terms of how I see myself.
Celestia had set the sun as Luna made the moon rise. Bass witnessed the event in real time from a balcony attached to Twilight’s home. It baffled him that such a thing was possible, and yet he felt the sheer awesomeness of its magnificence as he watched the scene for the very first time. Even though he had been in Equestria for several days now, the dawn of the fifth day quickly approaching, he had never witnessed such a thing until now. Even in his wildest imaginations of monsters, magic, dragons, and floating castles, he never once considered the possibility of someone, or in this case, somepony being able to move a celestial body like an entire star. His entire world of knowledge based around gravity and inertia plummeted out of a thirty story window and onto a moving bus that was destined to crash in a ravine filled with acid covered spikes; and he was absolutely okay with it.
But, as always, his thoughts still turned to his original home of science and reasoning that proved magic to be impossible. Sure, his world wasn’t as fantastical as this one, but what had he really done in this new and magical world? He was an earth pony, meaning that he couldn’t use magic nor could he fly. Truthfully, it was entirely possible that his pony race was a correlation to being a human. Humans, after all, are not magical. He had only witnessed a handful of magical things, and while they were fantastical in nature, they were few in number. Discord’s world warping powers, Celestia’s and Luna’s raising of the sun and moon, Twilight’s and Trixie’s general magic, and apparently Spike’s e-mail sending breath. Bass chuckled softly. What I would give just to hear that stupid ‘You’ve got mail’ every time Spike burped a letter, he thought.
“What’s so funny?” came a female voice from behind Bass. Startled by the sudden noise, he quickly turned to see Twilight with a slight bedmane. “Sorry,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s fine,” Bass replied. “I just had a random thought that turned into a joke. You wouldn’t get it, and things are never funny when you explain them.”
“You sure?”
He nodded. “I could give you the basic rundown, but then you’d want to know the finer points, which I could somewhat explain. From there, you’d want to know how it’s made possible, and from there I am completely useless. I’m just an ordinary guy, so I don’t know much about how most of the technology on my world works. I just hope and trust that it does work most of the time, and the stuff I do know about usually works better.”
Twilight smiled. “I suppose I can let it slide for now.” She stepped and sat next to Bass. “Can’t sleep?” she asked.
“Haven’t tried yet. Why do you ask?”
“Because it’s after midnight,” she replied.
Bass was surprised, and sure enough she was right. He had been sitting there for several hours without realizing it just watching the moon move across the sky. “I guess I was a little distracted. The moon looks so beautiful.”
Twilight smiled. “I agree. But it’s rather odd to hear you say that. You’ve been so energetic that I was starting to doubt that you even had a sentimental side.”
He scoffed as he turned to her. “Come on, I’m not that bad. I’m an artist, after all. You have to be sentimental for that to work out.” He looked back to the moon. “It’s a different moon, but it feels the same.”
Twilight looked to the moon, and then back to Bass. “What do you mean?”
“Did I ever tell you why I like to write stories?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Really, we haven’t talked about your stories at all, except for the day we met.”
He smiled gently, remembering the day his inspiration began. “Perhaps I’ll tell the story some other day, but there is another reason besides the primary one. Needless to say, I’ve been writing for quite some time. Even longer still I have been enjoying reading, or even experiencing stories.”
Twilight was about to ask a question, but Bass paid her no heed as he continued. “Roughly fourteen or fifteen years ago, when I was little, my big sister came home with a video game,” he paused.
“We actually have those, though they might be different,” Twilight assured.
He nodded. “It was a video game I had never heard of, and to this day I don’t know many people who have played it. And you know what? It was and still is the most beautiful game I had ever played. The world was the moon of a much larger planet. The larger planet was called the Blue Star, and the moon was called the Silver Star, or more commonly as Lunar. Spelled the same as lunar referring to the moon, but pronounced Lu-N-Ar. The story was so rich and so fulfilling that I can remember every little detail from it. And the most prominent part to the game was that any time there was a shot of the sky shown, the Blue Star could be seen in all of its glory.”
He paused with his eyes closed, the moonlight bathing his face. “I think that was what made me fall in love with it.”
“The moon?” Twilight asked.
He nodded. “Any time the moon was full and the sky was clear I would drop what I was doing just to get a glimpse of it. While it isn’t what inspired me to initially write stories, it is my best muse. No matter what I write, the moon has this way of telling me how I should write it. There may not even be a moon mentioned in the story, but somehow it always helps me.” He opened his eyes and turned to Twilight. “That’s what I mean, Twilight. This moon may be physically different, but it still has the same mystifying power over me. It still reminds me that the cosmos is beautiful.” He became solemn. “It also reminds me of that which I can’t have. Magic, the power to explore unknown places, and the strength to be remembered for all time by countless people; all of them are within reach of me here, and I can’t touch them.”
Twilight nodded softly. “I understand, I think.” She looked up to the moon. “Could you tell me more about your world? Maybe about your moon?”
Bass nodded, and chuckled softly. “Most people simply call it the moon, but it actually has a name; Luna.”
“Really? That’s an odd coincidence? Your sun isn’t named Celestia is it?”
“Thank God it’s not. The term solar system is derived from an ancient language called Latin, in which the name for the sun was also derived. Solar is the modern version of Sol, and Sol is the sun’s name. Ergo, I am from the Sol system. But you asked about the moon, not my star.” She nodded. Bass began again. “Well, for centuries the moon helped calculate a calendar system for the many peoples of the world. Based on its monthly cycle, coupled with the natural changing of seasons, humanity was able to mathematically map out the planet’s yearly orbit around Sol.” Twilight stared at him in confusion. “On my world, the sun doesn’t revolve around us, but the other way around. The moon, being much smaller, does orbit us. As time went on, people were able to use to moon for many different aspects of time keeping, but eventually that died out as science evolved and we were able to keep more accurate calendars. However, fifty years ago, my country did what was considered to be near impossible.”
“What did they do?” Twilight asked, obviously curious.
Bass smiled. It was one of his favorite points in history, so he knew it well. “In the year 1945, roughly eighty years ago, a devastating war called World War II came to an end. The Allied Powers of the United States (that’s my country), England, France, and Russia, as well some minor assistance from other nations, defeated the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The leader of Germany committed suicide, Italy surrendered, and Japan, after dragging the war on for almost another year, finally surrendered after my country bombed them…regrettably it was with the most powerful weapon ever created, and I would like to skip over that detail.
“Even though the Allied Powers were supposed to be allies, not all of them agreed with each other. Russia only helped because Germany invaded them. Once the war was over, the United States and Russia couldn’t agree on ways to keep peace properly, and many feared that another war would break out immediately after one was finished. However, the two countries decided to leave each other to their own devices, but constantly feared each other. The Cold War began.”
“Cold War? They ended up fighting even though they agreed to ignore each other?” Twilight asked.
Bass shook his head. “They agreed to directly leave each other alone, but not ignore each other. The Cold War is the name given not to a real war, but to the arms race that followed World War II. My nation had built a rather…let us say powerful weapon which won us the war, and Russia soon followed with one of their own. Both nations fear each other, and began to improve upon and mass produce these weapons of mass destruction. They were trying to be better than the other, and always trying to stay one step ahead.
“Eventually, they began to try to beat each other in the field of science as well as war machinery, and so began the great Space Race. Russia won first by sending a probe into the Earth’s planetary orbit. My country refused to be beaten. Why send a small piece of machinery into space when you can send a person.”
“A person!? That’s impossible!” Twilight stated.
Bass smiled. “Not quite. Difficult is the better word. In fact, the President of the United States declared that an American…”
“American?”
“My country’s full name is the United States of America, which is on the continent North America. I think I mentioned part of that at some point, but whatever. The President declared that it would be an American that would first walk on the moon. ‘We choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard,’ or something or other is what he said. Sadly he was assassinated, but the work towards the moon continued. Finally, in 1969, almost fifty years ago, an American space craft landed on the moon carrying three or four men. I can’t remember exactly. It is considered the greatest achievement of humanity during the 20th Century…or at least one of them.”
“Wow,” Twilight said. “Your people actually went into space and walked on your moon. That’s amazing. I mean, technically we have too, but not in the same sense.” Bass gave her a confused look, so she explained what she knew (which she admitted had little confirmed fact to the story itself since it passed into legend) about the rise of Nightmare Moon, how she challenged Celestia over control of the sun, and how Celestia was forced to banish her own little sister to the darkness and cold of the moon.
“Damn,” was all Bass had to say. “The moonlanding only lasted for an hour or two before they began their trip back home. The whole journey took days all so they could spend a short time on the moon. I’d hate to imagine being stuck there for a thousand years.” Then another thought struck him. “Are they really that old?”
“Older even,” Twilight said. “We, my friends and I, are responsible for redeeming Luna and cleansing her of the Nightmare’s energy. She is now one of us, if not a little behind the times.”
Bass chuckled softly. “I just felt a lot more respect for her. I still don’t like that she almost blew out my eardrums, though.” He went deep into thought again. “Kind of reminds me of the vampire stories. The ones about good vampires, of course.”
“Like vamponies? Bloodsucking night monsters?” Bass nodded. “I’ve never considered the possibility of a vampony being good. All stories here about them they are inheritably evil.”
Bass smiled and began speaking in an accented voice. “When the last vampire is extinct who will mourn our loss? Will she? Will anybody?” he quoted. “Mire Link, from the story Vampire Hunter D. In the story, D, a half vampire, is hired to kill Mire for kidnapping a young woman. Turns out that the woman and Mire are lovers, and she agreed to run away with him. D’s orders were to kill Mire or bring back proof of the girl’s death. When she died at the hands of an evil vampire, D took her ring and told Mire that he no longer had a quarrel with him. Mire takes her body and runs away into the cosmos, and presumably dies of his wounds. A very touching story.”
“And D let him go? You imply that they fought furiously for Mire to die of his wounds,” Twilight said.
“Well, we don’t actually know if he died or not. It’s presumed because D beat the living hell out of him. Of course, he may have survived, as vampires in the story have remarkable healing powers. D could have killed Mire when he stabbed him with his sword, but he purposely missed his heart. I think that he sympathized with Mire, but a job is a job.”
Twilight giggled. “Sounds like you have very good taste in stories. What genres do you read?”
Bass shrugged. “I much prefer fantasy, but I also read mysteries, science fiction, and slice of life. Occasional I delve into the romantic side of things, but that is very rare, and I don’t usually enjoy those books.” He turned and met her gaze. “What about you?”
“Well, I usually read non-fiction, as you know, but I like mysteries, adventures, fantasy, etc. Almost anything really. I actually can’t stand romance novels, which both surprises and bothers Rarity.”
“Rarity reads romance books? Why am I not surprised?” The two laughed for a moment. “I forgot about adventures. To me they tend to blend in with the fantasy genre, so it’s rare that I read an adventure story that doesn’t have its own fictional world with fictional monsters and stuff.”
“You should read the Daring Do books. I have all of them in the library if you want to read them. That is, if Rainbow Dash hasn’t checked them all out again.” Twilight sighed. “That mare needs to buy her own Daring Do books.” Twilight yawned and bid Bass goodnight. Bass nodded, replying with his own goodnight, before laying down on the couch to sleep for the night.
The next day, the dawn of Bass’s fifth day in Equestria, he woke up and ate his breakfast. After eating he went to the adventure section of the library, found the first book in the Daring Do series, and started reading.
