> I am Cinema! (Aka Educating Ponies on Real Entertainment) > by Quake98 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Sorry...What? I couldn't hear you over my panic screaming! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alright, stop me if you heard this one before. 'Human has an unusual encounter with a mer'- yeah that didn't last long. Don't worry this isn't one of those stories, nope. It's just about me showing some little ponies movies that I have and how they react to them. None of that 'chosen one saves the day' or 'stopping the apocalypse' scenarios here, just friends enjoying a nice film or video game. Now at this point you all probably have a lot of questions about how I came to be in none other than Equstria, considering they are the only ponies anyone ever talked about if the words 'ponies' and 'world' are ever brought into a single sentence. Well, considering you are all still hear after listening to my blabbering then I will but I warn you... It's really simple, nothing to epic. It was kinda a let down now that I think back about it, must have been an off day for that mismatched misfit. Any who it all started with me sitting at my computer... One Year Earlier What I was doing on my computer was what any average 19 year old would do, look at movies from the past to the present, seeing which ones could garner my interest. Oh sure there was the good old classic slasher where a roughly six foot tall, deformed mamas boy tried to hack up a bunch of horny, stupid teens for their poor choice of camps. That movie franchise always seemed to bring a smile to my face when I saw the unique to corny kills. Scrolling through the articles about the movie and it's productions I was pleasantly surprised when I heard a soft little Spriong sound, kinda like a metal spring from every cartoon ever. An email, for moi? I hardly get any emails, considering I made it automatically dump spam into my junk box. With a mixture of curiosity and excitement I opened up my email to see what it could say, maybe it was an email notifying me that I am going to inherit something form some elusive family member that has croaked or something along those lines. With no hesitation I opened the email to see.... A survey.... About My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic. Raising an eyebrow at the weird email, I couldn't help but wonder the following question, how did I even get this thing? With a mental shrug and curiosity peaked I decided to take this mysterious survey to see what it was all about. It started out normally, asking basic questions such as favorite color, food, hobby etc. About half way through the survey however it start to get really weird, what I would do if I was in Equstria, would I cause any mischief if I could, would I be a pony? Heck no to that last one, why would I want to be a pony? I'm rather happy as my all natural human-self. There was one final question that made me pause to pander. 'Would you Like to go to Equstria and if so, what would you take with you if you chose to go? This seriously took me at least an hour of deep contemplation, debating about what would help me if I were to go to Equstria, until I had an epiphany. I would take my house with everything inside of it with me! With a satisfied grin and a pat on the back I typed in my final answer to the survey. With a finally over finessed mouse movement I clicked on the 'submit' button. With that done I Leaned back into the swivel chair with a satisfied sigh I crossed my arms behind my head. I didn't get very long to enjoy my victory before I heard the oh so enjoyable Sproing sound alert me once more. Raising an eyebrow in surprise I leaned forward to look see a reply to the survey? "What the heck? I literally just finished your survey dude, how can you already be replying to me?" Opening up the reply I saw something that made me raise both eyebrows in surprise, the reason being? Discord...Discord was in my computer.... Ok Remain ca-screw it. "Argh! Discord! How? Why? When? And most importantly Why!?" The Discord in the monitor covered his ears with his mismatched arms and gave me an irritated glowr, "Really, I would think a human would be able to stand the sight of me without losing ones cool but that can be remedied really easily," Not even a second after he said that my room dropped from a comfortable sixty degrees Fahrenheit, (about ten degrees Celsius if you're picky about it) to a chilly negative thirty degrees Fahrenheit ( about negative twenty-two degrees). My teeth started to chatter at the sudden temperature drop. The big cheat named Discord was dressed in a parka and wearing woolly mittens. "Oh ho ho ho! Sorry to give you such a cold shoulder! But," He started to smile his grin that seemed to promise both great joy and intense terror before he continued with a flourish that I know made David Bowie turn in his grave in envy, "I need you to come with me to provide Equstria with some of your uniqueness, and expose them to some of the great delicacy of discordance that is know as the human race!" After his proclamation and spreading his arms wide, an array of fireworks went off behind him and provided a beautiful show of exploding colors. If that wasn't enough, there was fanfare going Do Do Do Do Doo! along with the colorful show. Thankfully the firework show only happened in my computer so I didn't have to worry about potential fire damage to add onto cold damage, but I wasn't worrying about that. No, I was just left in a stunned stupor from the sudden light show. Of course due to this stupor Discord was left with no answer to his request only a really awkward silence. A silence that could only grow more awkward as time continued with no reply. With an irritated huff Discord snapped his finger and instantly the parka was gone and he rubbed his eyes, "Usually, humans would jump on the opportunity this good." That snapped me out of the stupor, "Hey, you can't blaim me! I have the god of Chaos in my computer, saying he is going to take me to Equstria to show the ponies what the human race is like," I shook my head, "Sorry if my reaction is normal to seeing a Chaos god." But...I couldn't help but think about the offer he had laid out before me. 'I could go to Equstria, meet some of the cutest beings in existence, take my stuff with me, I have no friends or family I stay in regular contact...I don't see a down-side.' I grinned at Discord, "Well Discord, if you promise to bring my house with me to Equstria, and for it to have it both power and running water/plumbing then we have a deal," I reached my hand out to shake, which I immediately felt stupid for because he couldn't reach my hand. Discord's grin, that joyful terror inducing grin, returned with force as his eagle clawed hand reached out of the computer and grasped my hand, "It a deal, my friend," and I was embraced by an abrupt and blissful unconsciousness. > To the Wild Green Yonder! Adventure Ho! Or not I guess... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When I came too I was greeted with....my ordinary, basic four walled bedroom. With a deep sigh I rubbed my eyelids as I stood up from my swivel chair. With my arms over my head I popped both of them and my back, all three making a satisfying and refreshing PoP! Placing a hand on my neck I started to silently mutter to myself in a very sleep deprived tone, “That’s what I get for staying up too late surfing the web,” While this was going on my body on automatic pilot as I stumbled to the bathroom to do an inquiry with the Porcelain Office. At least I was planning on it until I heard something I didn’t think I would ever hear during winter, bird song. To give you a better clue why this was weird was that one, it was winter when I last checked. Two, I live in Alaska, so with the occasional raven here or there, the amount of song birds are zilch, nada, zip. So with my curiosity growing, a dangerous habit I have had recently, to a nearby window in my room. What came next definitely eliminated any and all sleep from my mind better than any pick-me ups. Green. The first thought that my mind was the word green, honestly, I hardly ever saw this much green unless I was trying to be miles away from any signs of civilization. What caught my attention after the sheer amount of green was how. Dark The atmosphere the forest seemed to be exudeing, it was so thick a knife would have been able to cut through it. Honestly I was left in a stupor, another trend I seem to be fond of at the moment, vainly rubbing my eyes in hopes of bringing back some form of reality back. Of course that failed so I was left with only one answer to my current development, Discord was real and so was his deal, meaning.... “Holy Spoot! I’m in Equstria! Land of little ponies with Big problems!” Clutching my head in my hands, the full implication of my statement impacting with all the force of a bombshell. Honestly flip-flopping between excited and nervous, or as a certain pink mare once said ‘Nervcited’, I leaned against the window sill for support as my legs were replaced by jelly at this point from the startling discovery. ‘Ok, since I’m in what appears to be a forest it’d be safe to assume I’m in The Everfree Forest, the scariest place in Equstria, or at least I think it was.’ With a calming breath..Ok a lot of calming breaths! Don’t judge! Anyway I finally calmed down and I had a plan...Try to find out where I was exactly and how close I was to Ponyville or Zecora’s hut. That brought an excited grin to my face as the prospect of meeting the rhyming zebra herself was a very heartening one. Of course I wasn’t going to just run out into the woods swing as how there’re a lot of critters in these woods that wood love to make me into a nice snack. With this in mind, a mental check list with all the things I would need. “I’m most definitely going to need my backpack with some food and water, as I don’t know how long it will take to reach Zecora’s or Ponyville,” Then the thought of the critters that dwell within the forest. “Better bring the my dad’s old Mossberg Intl 802 Plinkster rifle, just in case of a wild incounter.” Nodding to myself I went about grabbing my pack and filling it with the supplies that would help me. Just when I was about to zip up my pack, a final vital suply that I would need. “ I need my first-aid kit! How stupid of me, that’s emergency supplies 101.” With that reminder I ran out of the bathroom and rummaged in the medicine cabinet for about a minute before the elusive bugger of a first-aid kit was finally revealed. “Gotcha. Geez, I really got to organize and clean this place up when I get back.” Shrugging and with the item quested for, I returned to the bedroom. Once the first-aid kit was placed into the modest black back pack, I sipped it shut and shouldered it on. With backpack in-tow I went to my closet, where my dad’s rifle was hanging on the wall. “Time to dust you off old pall, we got one heck of an adventure before us.” Taking the gun gently off the wall, the familiar weight brought a smile off bitter-sweet nostalgia. “Just like old times,” a small tear formed in my eye as I pocketed some bullets and magazines. “Alright,” softly murmuring to myself, “Let’s see if I can’t meet the neighbors.” With confidence that I really should have, I marched out of the house into the thick foliage that is The Everfree Forest. Or I would have if I didn’t hear raged gasping behind a tree that was about five feet,(about a meter or so) the kind of breathing that’s associated with intense running. “I guess I can check out what’s going on over there instead.” With caution in mind, I aproached the tree as slowly as possible. From what I could tell, the gasping was similar to a human’s...Or a pony’s. My concerns for the maybe pony’s well-being grew very large and I searched around the trunk of the tree until I saw her. Ok guys? You know how we gush about how the ponies all look so adorable and cuddleable from drawings? Yeah, they were somehow cuter than any picture could capture. Honestly, when I saw Zecora in all her glory, I had to bite back a d’aw after seeing her. If she wasn’t looking at me like I was some crazy and or evil beast ready to attack her, I’d pick her up in a hug. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the important thing, seeing as how Zecora was trying to get back on all fours with a look in her eyes that just screamed fear. “Oh beast of uncertain origin, please don’t allow you terrible tortures to begin.” This made me blink at her heart wrenching plee. ‘ She’s terrified...I better calm her down.’ Clearing my throat I started to speak in her own style, rhyme. “Pony of striped coloration, you need not fear, for I have a happy disposition.” With a smile as pleasant as possible, I held out my right hand to her, “I simply wish to offer aid, to you who appears to be in pain.” That’s when the terror that the poor zebra was feeling became too much and fainted. “Well,” I said to myself, “ That could have gone better.” > New Film Buddy! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Seriously, I know I'm not much to look at right now, but to faint? Yeesh, talk about rude,” Ok, I may have been a little rude, but you’ve got to understand. My first meeting with a pony was suppose to be a lot smoother or at I envisioned it to be. Like maybe getting to meet Pinkie and have my very own Welcome to Ponyville/Equstria party from her. Instead I got to meet Zecora, which is awesome I don’t care who/what you are, only to have her faint upon seeing me. Not a great first meeting, but I have had worse. Back to the matter at hand, I looked down on the presently unconscious Zebra. “ Well... I guess there’s only one thing to do my friend. I better bring you inside befo-“ That’s when Murphy decided to make his presence know. How do I know this? Because before I even finished my sentence the weather changed from a nice and actually pleasant day, into a veritable deluge. A deluge! Admittedly a mit bit angry, I screamed to the sky with all of my righteousness fury, “You didn’t even let me finish my sentence you son of a hamster! Let me at least finish,” grumbling loudly at what happened, it was stopped when I heard shuddering. A bit worried I looked back at Zecora and what I saw almost broke my heart. While she was still unconscious, the startlingly cold rain was making the poor mare shiver pretty badly. Knowing my poor heart wouldn’t be able to stand the sight of an adorable pony shivering from the cold, I ceased my mucking about and resolved to complete my new objective, Operation Pony Rescue is a Go! “Now let’s see if I can even lift you.” Hey. Don’t give me that stink eye! Ponies and Zebras in real life are heavy, and I’d rather not destroy my back thank you very much. So with an experimental lift of her barrel after placing my rifle down beside me. Much to my surprise, she was ridiculously light. If I were to quess, she might have been around thirty to thirty-five pounds. With a pleased grin I hefted Zecora into my arms, her head resting on my shoulder and my hands underneath her curled up legs, and briskly walked back to my house with precious cargo in tow. Once again inside my home and out of the pouring rain, I looked around my home to see where I could put Zecora to recover. That’s when I saw the old and broken in love seat in front of the TV. I grinned happily at it, “Perfect.” So with as much care as I could muster, I delicately walked over the the love seat and gently lowered her, backside first, onto the couch cushion. Once I knew her backside was securely on the cushion I gently lowered her front half onto the neighboring cushion while I also placed her head down on her fore hoofs. With that completed I rushed up stairs to find a pillow and blanket to make Zecora more comfortable. Of course since I was living by myself the only pillow and blanket on hand where on my bed. “Well, there for a good cause,” with no hesitation I striped my bed for what I needed and rushed back down stairs. When I reached Zecora again, her shivers, while still present, weren’t so bad now. Placing the pillow on the ground I placed the blanket softly on her back then tucked it under her gently. After completing that task without waking her up I retrieved the pillow. ‘Ok, here comes the harder part, I’ve got to gently raise her head and place the pillow under her head. While also trying not to wake her up. Easy peas-‘ That’s when my ward open her blue blue eyes, while I still had the pillow in both hands close to her face. Her eyes rapidly widened and did the whole pupils shrinking thing, soon after Zecora provided me with evidence of her having a powerful pair of lungs as she screamed in pure terror that was at an uncomfortablely high volume. Dropping the pillow that started the mess, I covered my ears to block out the ear-drum shattering scream. Zecora took this as an opportunity to tackle me to the ground. ‘Murphy, open your ears for a second and write this down as a memo to yourself,go suck on a lemon hand-grenade.’ While I couldn’t tell if he got the message or not wasn’t my biggest concern. The now very awake and flailing mare that tackled me was. Turns out ponies, while relatively light, can pack quiet the wallop when needed to, doesn’t help that her hooves felt like rocks. “Terrible being that planned to do harm, try to do so with a broken arm!” Zecora screamed as she continued to flail her hooves of fury at me, honestly scaring me a little bit. ‘What the heck?! She’s out for blood apparently!’ Trying to dodge blows to the head isn’t easy, having the assailant on your chest makes it basically impossible. “Owowowowo! Stop! I was just trying to get you comfortable so you could recover and dry o-ow!” Despite my valent attempts to defend myself, she wasn’t having any of it as she continued her assault. “I was trying to help! Please listen to m-eee!” Apparently Zecora got tired of hitting with her hooves she resorted to biting. Honestly at this point my options were limited for what I could do, so I did the first thing that popped into my head. So with as much speed as I could muster with my bruised arm and it shot out and scratched behind Zecora’s ear. The effect was instantaneous. Her fore-hoof stopped and mouth opened in an ‘o’ instead of a bite, much to my aching body’s relief. Zecora really liked it as she leaned into my hand for more scratching and closed her eyes in bliss. ‘You know for a pony that was wailing on me not even a second, she’s flipping adorable!’ Figuring that this kind of situation won’t happen every day, I was going to enjoy this as long as possible. Time honestly felt unimportant as I had a cuddly pony on my chest. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and my hand was getting a might bit cramped up, so with much reluctance I stopped scratching behind Zecora’s ear. Without the pleasant sensation of scratching, her eyes slowly fluttered open lazily, like she just took a nap. With an embarrassed smile on her face and a slight dusting of a blush on her cheeks she looked away bashfully, “Sorry stranger of kind disposition , I apologize for my violent thrashing of your person. For had I known of your good intention, it might have prevented this soured interaction.” Chuckling which was quickly followed by me wincing from the bruised chest, I pat her neck gently, “It’s alright, you seemed to have been pretty panicked when I found you, so it’s only understandable. Now would you mind doing me a small favor?” I mustered as friendly of a smile I could do. Zecora’s ears perked up at my question and turned her head back to look me in the eyes, her curiosity almost sparkling in her eyes, “If your request is within my power, I shall say as many ponies say, fire away.” Breathing a sigh of relief, I made my request. “Would you mind getting off me so I can get up? The floor is comfortable and all with your company, but I figured we could talk on the couch if you don’t mind.” My request was meet with Zecora’s eyes widening again and with her rushing to get off my chest back onto her own four hooves. She opened her mouth, mostly likely trying to apologize when I held my hand up as I got into a sitting position. “You don’t have to apologize to me, I’d say exchanging our names would be a perfect apology,” I held my right hand out to her, “My name is Brian Schmidt, a human whose usually looking to have a fun time,” I gesture to her with my currently extended hand, “ And you might be?” “My name is Zecora, and it’s nice to meet cha.” She gave me a small but warm grin as she held out her left forehoof and put it into my outstretched hand. Thus my first friendship in Equestria was made. After shaking her fore hoof a couple times my stomach started to growl very loudly. Nervously I rubbed the back of my neck and grinned sheepishly, “Well now that we have gotten that out of the way, I’m feeling a little hungry. How about you Zecora, feeling a bit peckish?” Zecora modded her head gently, “If you could that would be most kind, for I haven’t eaten in quite some time.” Nodding in understanding, I stood up trekked into the kitchen to make snacks for myself and my guest. ‘Ok. So I have some potato chips, carrot sticks, and some apples. That should be good enough for a snack.’ With two plates filled with healthy and unhealthy food I walked back into the living room to see Zecora settling into the couch. She perked up when she me carrying the two plates of food. “Soups on! Come dig in.” This caused Zecora to giggle slightly at my silly attitude and gladly accepted the plate from my hand. With that done I had one thing left to do, pick a movie to watch with my new friend. So placing my plate on the unoccupied couch cushion and looked through my DVD/VHS tapes to find the appropriate movie. Zecora tilted her head slight as she watched me browsing through the movies. “What are you looking for my new acquaintance, could I give you my assistance?” I waved my hand at her as my focus remained on the movies, “You don’t need to Zecora, I’m just looking for a movie is all.” That made Zecora more confused. “I’m sorry my friend but I don’t understand, can you tell me what that may represent?” Smiling at finally finding the perfect movie, I went to blu-ray player and popped it in and turned on the TV. “It would be a lot simpler to show you than explain.” And with that I grabbed the remote and got ready to push play. Zecora was still very confused but settled into the cushion and was about to eat her carrot stick until the first preview played. The sudden burst of color and music made her jump a little bit and her widen eyes were drawn to the screen where she saw the pictures upon the once black screen and music of what sounded like an orchestra with none but her and me present. “What kind of magic is this, to create such a fantastical display?” I shook my head at her question. “I don’t know exactly how it works, but isn’t magic.” My answer somehow made her already wide eyes wider somehow. “To create such clear images and music to boot, yet you say magic isn’t involve,” she looked at me with wonder, “How did it possibly take root?” I grinned at her and then pat her on the head, ruffling her mohawk-mane. “Oh trust me, you haven’t seen anything quite yet.” That’s when the menu came onto the screen, revealing to Zecora the movie title. She tilted her head in that cute way that ponies only ponies seem capable of. Pushing the play button to begin the movie I turn to Zecora, “Before you ask what the title means, I would like you to just watch the movie and see what you think of it.” She nods in agreement and turns her attention back to the screen to see the movie black screen dissolving into a sunrise that was simply breathtaking, then came the music. Nants ingonyama Bagithi Baba Sithi Uhm Ingonyama > A new King is Born(The Lion King) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mLFvthzy294 Nants ingonyama Bagithi baba Sithi uhhmm Ingonyama ingonyama Siyo Nqoba Ingonyama Ingonyama Nengw’ enamabala Ingonyama Nengw Enamabala (X8) Before the song had even really began anyone would have been able to tell that the movie would have Zecora’s undivided attention from just how attentive her posture was, ears angled forward and eyes staring unblinkingly at the screen. It was kinda worrisome at first seeing her so focused on something with such intensity. My uneasy feeling was replaced with relief as Zecora was bobbing her head softly side to side with the rhythm of the resonating chorus. She even got teary eyed when she saw how beautiful each animal was depicted in the sunrise’s rays, from a rhino grazing on the savanna, meerkats standing on their hind legs, a cheetah surveying the savanna on a hill with all the pride predatory cats all have, to then have the scene change to look at three marabou storks standing in an oasis for a couple of seconds before they took flight into the open sky. A second later the scene shifted to see a whole flock of those same storks fly over a majestic waterfall, it’s untamed beauty, a warm orange in color, by the sun’s rays. The next animal that was shown was a herd of elephants, walking in a densely foggy part of the savanna, while above them rose a flat-topped mountain, the peak colored a vivid orange and the rest of the mountain was in the shade, giving the rest of the mountain a purplish hue. The very next scene, the one with the huge flock of flamingos flying over a river reflecting the sun's light, actually made Zecora gasp in awe from how vibrant the the colors were. After the flamingos flight, gazelles were shown to be prancing in a tall grassy area that was still veiled in the heavy fog, the colors of the scene a much more subtle shading of blue, a light green and a bit of orange near the top. The scene once again shifts to a mother giraffe and her young calf walking up a lush green hill where the sun's light made the calf close it's eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness. Once the calf's eyes adjusted it looked out to the green savanna where other giraffes and elephants were traveling together in a herd. While all of that was happening the song started. From the day we arrive on the planet, and blinking, step into the sun. There's more to see than can ever be seen, More to do than can ever be done This was actually a part I was looking forward to seeing, the whole ants running across a tree then it focuses onto the zebra herd in the back ground. Definitely not disappointed because Zecora looked at the zebras with confusion clearly painted on her face. Can't really blame her, I mean the zebra would look very weird to any zebra that lived in this world. What I wasn't expecting was what she said next. "I must say it's unusual, to see my fellow zebras look so...Bestial," The way that she said was so blunt that it made my jaw drop in utter shock. 'Apparently Zecora can spit out some fiery insults when she wants to,' this caused me to frown slightly, 'I thought she was pretty accepting in the show, even when the ponies were kinda being pricks to her before they even got to know her. What happened to make Zecora...Darker, I better ask her about it later.' Shrugging it off for later, Zecora and I resume watching the movie where a group of african guinea fowl, the little blue birds that were running away from the elephants, and the song continued. There's far too much to take in here, More to find than can ever be found But the sun rolling high Through the sapphire sky Keeps great and small on an endless round Zecora was definitely confused on why the animals gathered around Pride Rock and how Mufasa, the lion with a red mane, was standing on the said rock kinda like the king he was. She was especially confused when Zazu, a redbill hornbill, Bowed to Mufasa and Mufusa nodded to Zazu with a small smile. She looked like she was about to ask me what was happening until everyone’s favorite mandrill shaman, Rafiki, with his staff in tow , walked in between the crowd of animals towards Mufasa. His importance, apparently so great, made the animals move apart so they don’t hinder his progress. Her confusion at it’s peak, turned to me and opened her mouth, but was stopped by me gesturing for her to stop. “You’ll see what’s going on soon enough Zecora, just hold your hor-“ I stopped to reconsider my statement, after all, pretty sure Zecora wouldn’t understand/like that old saying. “Just hold on.” She begrudgingly listened and turned back to the Tv. It's the Circle of Life, And it moves us all Through despair and hope, Through faith and love Till we find our peace On the path unwinding In the Circle, The Circle of Life Right before the singing took a break Rafiki climbed the rock to be in front of Mufasa, whose kind smile seemed to only grow in warmth when he saw Rafiki. Mufasa and Rafiki, with familiarity only being old friends could ever have, hugged each other. Once they were done hugging, both of them turned to look at Sarabi, who was in a cave in the rock structure and held something small in her fore-legs. Her smile was just as big, if not bigger than, Mufasa’s when she saw Rafiki. Both the male lion and mandrill walked into the cave, where Mufasa lovingly rubs his head against Sarabi’s head, who reciprocated the loving touch. After that Sarabi looked down at the orange lump of fur in her forelegs and gently licked it. Mufasa drew closer to his mate and smiled down lovingly at the orange fur ball as it turned to show it’s face. It was little Simba, in all of his newborn cub cuteness! I don’t care what anyone might say, Simba as newborn is beyond adorable! Zecora most-likely agreed with me if the soft aww at seeing him was any indication. That, and her observation she voiced aloud while looking at me. “For a predator know for it’s ferocity, their cub appear to be little a cutie.” Grinning, I nodded in agreement to her assessment. “You definitely aren’t wrong with that, but you better pay attention or you may miss something.” Zecora eyes widened worriedly and whipped her head back to the Tv. It was just in time to see Rafiki using the fruits attached to his staff to play with the small cub, who tries to bat at it with his big paws, for a couple of seconds. Rafiki then took one the fruits and cracked it open above his head, with the sun in the background and it’s juices flowing out. Putting down the one half in his left hand, he took the other half in his right hand and put his thumb slightly into the fruit, it’s juices sticking to it. With the same thumb Rafiki ran his thumb gently across Simba’s head, leaving a mark on his head. Once that was completed he took a hand full of nearby dirt and sprinkled it gently on top of Simba’s head which made him sneeze. This caused both Sarabi and Mufasa to smile and lovingly rub heads together. Rafiki proceeded to gently take the cub from Sarabi into his arms. He smiled at them both as he gently carried the cub away, Mufasa beaming in joy and Sarabi’s smile was a small and contented one. The scene that followed showed Rafiki going to where Mufasa was not too long ago, the nerds of different animals looking up to the baboon with barely withheld anticipation. Zecora most of felt it too because she was edging dangerously close to the edge of her seat. Then when Rifiki held Simba aloft in the sun’s light, the animals erupted into noises of excitement that gave segway for the song to return with much gusto. It’s the Circle of Life, And it moves us all The first to give their cheers were the elephants, trumpeting out their approval. The monkeys gave their cheers next, their whooping cries clearly heard even amid the other animals. And once again the Zebra herd was given scene time, scuffing the earth and giving forth their own crys. I was expecting all of this due to having seen the movie plenty of times before, but I never watched the movie with a zebra before. So being startled by Zecora suddenly making the same noise as the zebras in the movie was perfectly understandable. Grabbing the remote and pausing the movie I turned to look at Zecora, who was blushing a bright cheery red and also covering her mouth with her forehooves. “Zecora... Was that you?” I asked just to clarify if it wasn’t her in case. She mutely nodded her head before lowering her hooves. While avoiding eye contact by looking down at the ground she answered, “While it’s embarrassing to admit, in deed it was I who did it. The excitement of the moment was very intoxicating, for me not to answer my kinds calling.” Poor Zecora looked so embarrassed at her outburst that it was impossible for me to not comfort her. “Hey, it’s ok. We all do weird things when the heat of the moment goes to your head. So don’t worry about it. Heck,” I grinned at her with an air of levity, “ I, of all people, would know what that feels like.” Seeing that Zecora wasn’t blushing as hard I scratched behind her ears, instantly relaxing her. “So don’t be embarrassed ok?” After about a minute I stopped scratching her ears and she looked at me a smile “Thank you my friend, my embarrassment has come to an end. Now I wish to see the movie some more, as I don’t want to continue to bore you.” She said this happily but kept in mind to being up the whole ‘bore’ thing later. But happily to oblige, the movie was turned back on. Through despair And hope, Through faith And love While that part of the song of playing, the scene was shifted to behind Simba as the perspective rotates around him until it’s facing his front. Then as if to say the very heavens approved of him, the clouds parted enough to allow a single ray of sunlight to shine upon him, still be aloft by Rafiki. Till we find our Place On the path Unwinding When the ray of sunlight shone upon Simba, all of the animals down below bowed down to him. Cementing his future as being the next king of all the animals. In the Crircle, The Circle of Life The scene slowly panned out showing Rafiki holding Simba above his head with Mufasa and Sarabi standing behind the mandrill. As the scene continued to pan out, Pride Rock was shown in its full majesty, with the sun shining down on it and the other animals as they stayed bowed down. Then when the song reached it’s final crescendo, the title of the movie was finally shown on a black screen with it’s letters colored in a vivid red. Then just as quickly as they appeared they vanished. Grinning I relaxed into the couch with my arms behind my head, ‘And it now begins.’ > Tragic End and a Short Break (The Lion King) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To be honest after The Circle of Life song I kinda passes out, probably from getting hit on the head a couple of times with hooves, and didn’t wake for a while until ai heard something. Unfortunately, as it turns out, was Zecora trying to warn Simba against listening to his evil uncle Scar “Young Simba whose dreams are bright, don’t listen to your uncle or suffer a great plight! Your uncle Scar is an evil lion with a scheme, to end you and your father’s rightful regime!” It must have been the tone she was using because it was chalk full of anxiety and an equal amount of urgency. Blinking away the sleep from my eyes I looked around confused, “Zecora? What’s the mat-“ She abruptly proved me with her answer by flailing her limbs in a show of panicked energy that reflected in her face. “Brian! The evil scum Scar whose heart is darker than a coal miner, is attempting the foul deed of murder!” Wincing at her volume I looked at the Tv, to see she was right. Scar was implementing his scheme of using Simba as bait to lure his brother away to be killed along with Simba. Zecora I swear would be biting her hooves like nails if she could when the wildebeest herd was charging on with no care for the young cub’s safety. She held her breath when Simba was running away from the herd with all he was worth. Then the scene changed to Zazu and Mufasa commenting on how the wildebeest herd’s early movement was odd. They would have continued if Scar suddenly saying the that the herd’s stampede was heading straight towards the gorge that Simba was in. This caused Mufasa to gasp out his son’s name in horror at the implication. He quickly ran off with Scar in tow to save his son. Zecora was practically yelling at Mufasa and Zasu to not allow Scar to follow them. Of course those yelling of warning quickly changed into quiet panic at seeing Simba being surrounded on all sides by the wildebeest stampede. She almost sighed in relief when climbed onto a dead tree before he got stomped on. The focus was then changed to Mufasa and Scar running towards the gorge while Zazu flew ahead to maybe find Simba. He quickly saw Simba clutching onto the dead tree for dear life. When he cried out “Help me Zazu!” Zazu comforted him by saying that his father and Scar were coming soon. Simba replied with a panicked “Hurry!” He nodded and flew back to the gorge’s rim just in time to tell both Mufasa and Scar where Simba was. When Mufasa saw his son in such a dangers position spurred him to run into the stampede to reach his son. When Mufasa did this Zazu was panicking about what they were going to do. When Zazu came up with the plan to get others to help the king he was batted into the stone wall by Scar, knocking him unconscious. This caused Zecora to gasp in disgust at Scar actions. Of course this was only temporary as she became worried for Mufasa and Simba’s well being. Mufasa was able to slip in between the wildebeest by going a little ahead of the tree and turning back to it quickly. Before he was able to go for the tree however he was hit by a wildebeest and was temporarily stunned. When he regained his senses he saw the tree that Simba was on get destroyed, causing the cub to fly into the air with a cry of fear. He wasn’t the only one as Zecora was struck with just as much fear for his well being. She was quickly relieved when Mufasa lept into the air and caught the cub mid-air. Mufasa, with his son in tow, ran to find somewhere for their escape from the gorge. Unfortunately for Mufasa, he was once again hit by a wildebeest that made him drop his son. Poor Simba was sent flying again, and when he landed he was about to be trampled by a wildebeest. Once again his father came to his rescue and with a few deft maneuvers that allowed Mufasa to place Simba on a ledge away form danger. This caused Zecora to cheer out in elation at seeing the both of them being ok. Unfortunately her cheers were cut short when Mufasa was not quick enough to escape from being swept away with tide of wildebeests. Simba cried out in worry when he couldn’t see his father any more. At this point tears were starting to well up in her eyes, before both Simba and her were relieved at Mufadsa leaping out of the tide of animals and latched onto the cliff side. When Simba saw his father scaling up the rocks he started to climb up to meet his father at the top of the cliff. Zecora’s relief however was cut short as she saw Scar slowly prowling down a edge, waiting for an opportunity to strike. His patience was unfortunately rewarded with his brother begging for his help to pull him up from the cliff. Scar, looking aloof at first, quickly changed to a ferocious one as his claws lept form his paws and with startling speeds dug his claws into Mufasa’s front legs. At the sudden pain, Mufasa winced and Scar lowered his head till it was level with Mufasa’s, where he uttered one sentence that horrified both him and Zecora, “Long live, the king,” And with that he made Mufasa lose his grip on the rock face, making him plummet into the wildebeests below, crying out in agony. Poor Simba saw his father plummet to his doom, an anguished “No!” Tearing out of his throat, his cry only equaled by the cry Zecora couldn’t contain, tears slowly trickling down her face. Simba with as much speed as he could muster ruched down the rocks he just climbed up on not a second ago to see if his father was ok. The young cub looked around the the gorge’s floor, his vision obscured by the kicked up dust from the stampede. He got startled by a lone wildebeest running after it’s herd. His vision followed the wildebeest till it ran around the broken tree, where Mufasa laid broken. The sight of Mufasa’s form looking so lifeless made Zecora draw her hooves to her mouth to cover her horrified gasp, tears still flowing from her eyes. Simba, ears splayed back, ran up to his father’s form. When he was close to his father, he softly asked, “Dad? Hey dad,”- He rubs his head against his father’s snout, trying to lift his head. Hoping, pleading for his father to be ok, “You gotta get up.” When his father’s head simply lowered itself back down, Simba was horrified at the possibility he didn’t want to accept. His father couldn’t be dead. Simba gently continued talking, breaking the heart of both myself and Zecora. “Come on dad,”-He pushed his dad head to get a reaction, “We need to home, come on dad.” He bites Mufasa’s ear as a final attempt to wake his dad up. Still he laid still. Simba drew back and yelled out, “Help! Somebody!” He ran around the gorge floor, “Anybody...” He slowly looked more grief stricken as he barely uttered out a final,”Help.” Before tears started to trail down his face as he turned back to Mufasa, and slowly walked back to him. When Simba reaches Mufasa, he crawled under one of his father’s forelegs and and got as close as he could to his father. Unknown to him, like a reaper approaching it’s victim, Scar glided through the dust till he made presence known. Scar then proceeded to convinced Simba that it was his fault for his father’s death and made him imagine what his mother would think of his actions and himself. Looking for answer Simba looked up to his uncle and asked what he should do. With all of his slyness, he suggested that Simba should run away, to leave Pride Rock forever. Simba, in his distressed state of mind, listened to his uncle and ran away from Scar. I would have kept the movie playing, if I hadn’t looked at Zecora at that very moment, which made me stop the movie and look at her concerned. ‘Honestly I should have known that this would happen, what with how mortality rate is like in this world.’ Poor Zecora, she was still next to me but was crying her little heart out at seeing Mufasa’s death from being trampled to death by the stampede of wildebeest, right in clear view of poor Simba. While it wasn’t very loud, her tiny sobs were rocking her whole body while she had a waterfall of tears coming from each eye, and they didn’t look like they were stopping anytime soon. ‘I ... Am a bad person to do this to her.’ I had no clue what to do without making it awkward and it was tearing me apart seeing such a happy zebra turn into a ball of sadness. ‘Should I hug her? No, she might get mad. Scratch her ears? I don’t think that will help this time. What do I do!? There has to be something-’ Zecora obviously knew what she wanted because she very suddenly buried her head into my side with a speed that’d make Rainbow Dash kinda jealous, if only it wasn’t because Zecora is so broken-hearted. Startled by her sudden contact I wasn’t prepared for when she wrapped her front hooves around my torso and hugged me like her dear life depended on it. “Hey Hey Zecora, it’ll be ok. It’ll be ok. Don’t cry, I’m here to help if you need it.” While saying this I gently picked up Zecora and brought her into a gentle hug, her head resting on my shoulder. Even though I said this to her, Zecora was still crying softly. Seeing my hugging wasn’t working, I started to rub her back, hoping for any positive reaction from the distraught zebra. My efforts were rewarded as her soft sobs were slowly dissipating to nothing along with her body shivers ceasing. I was about to ask her something when she said something softly. “What was that Zecora? I couldn’t hear you, would you mind repeating that a little bit louder?” I felt bad about doing this but I felt it was absolutely necessary to hear what she has to say. “I-If it would b-be a-all the with you, l-let’s stop this f-for another day’s v-view.” She was practically begging for me to stop the movie. “Of course Zecora, besides,”- I looked outside to see it was night already, “I think it’d be a good time to call it a night.” With a soft grunt of exertion I stood up, picking up Zecora with me. To make sure she wouldn’t be to jostled with my movements I put my right arm underneath her and kept my left one free while resting her head on my shoulder. She immediately buried her head into my neck, almost making me laughed when her ticklish fur brushed against my bare neck but some how I was able to keep it in, barely. With Zecora secured onto my person, I tried to pick up the blanket and pillow, which were still on the ground from our earlier fight. ‘Ok, somehow I have to pick up both the of them without shaking Zecora too much, here goes nothing,’ And in a display of deftness that wasn’t usually possible for me, Zecora was placed gently back onto the couch and, with the blanket, was about to try tucking in Zecora, emphasis on try. The distraught zebra was still clinging onto my neck and slightly shaking, “Hey, if you want me to tuck you in your going to have to let go of me.” Instead of Zecora letting me go, her grip felt like it only got tighter and she shook her head softly for a no. I was confused initially by her answer until it dawned on me. ‘She doesn’t want to be alone tonight.’ “You want to stay with me tonight?” I felt so...Weird asking this, but if she wants that then I will do it for her. Anything to make up for her current state. This time I felt more then actually saw the soft nod. With a sigh I picked up Zecora again and I laid down on the couch, me on the bottom as I didn’t want to crush her under my weight. Then with blanket in hand draped it over the both of us. “It’s going to be ok Zecroa,”- I gently bring the mare into a firm hug, “I’m sorry for showing you that without thinking. If you want we cou-“ I was interrupted by her placing a hoof on my lips and she looked into my eyes with steely determination before she finally spoke again, “I wish to see Simba through his journey, to reclaim his rightful duty.” I smiled softly at her nearly in audible answer and pat her neck. “Of course Zecora, just let me know when you’re ready.” She nodded in understanding before she herself fell asleep rapidly on my chest. ‘Amazing how a movie could effect her so badly, then again Disney movies are known for building up your love for a character before either making said character die or see a tragic event. Darn Disney, and it’s ability to shell out timeless classics!’ Shaking my head to clear my head of thoughts I got as comfortable as possible could on the small couch. ‘I better not show them any Beserk ever, might fry those poor ponies minds, considering Zecora was crying from one tragic event with nothing too morbid about it,’ with that last thought I drifted off into my dream land, where I was about to embark on a quest, full of ridiculousness! > Oh Hi! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I should've known my night wouldn't be normal, waking up in a room that was sterilized white tends to be a good clue. “Where in the name of everything that is Holy am I now, the Matrix? Cause if that’s the truth, I don’t think I can pull off a good Neo or Choosen one, way too much pressure.” my smart aleck question got a resounding silence that honestly was disconcerting with how absolute it felt. Looking around the the room I couldn’t discern anything of real note because there was literally nothing to look at but walls and a ceiling! Tapping my foot in irritation at the lack of anything happening I decided to voice my frustrations aloud. “Ok, did I die or something? Because if that’s the case I thought either Heck or Heaven would be a bit less...Boring or at least have a land-“ A sudden flash of bright light and a powerful Shing sound prevented me from finishing the sentence. The surprising flash of light disoriented me temporarily, spots obscuring my vision. When they eventually vanished from my vision the the sight of the room, or what was once a room, left me totally flabbergasted. Instead of it being the plain white walls it was a perfect blend of both Heaven and Heck, at least what I envisioned them to look like. While surveying the heckish/heavenly landscape, I was speculating on why it suddenly appeared. “Why did the room change? All I did was comment stupidly on something and,”- The realization struck me like a flaming two ton semi-truck, “It changes when I imaged what Heck and Heaven would look like!” Thinking hard on this realization and it’s implications, I decided to test it out. “Ok, let’s start off with a-“ Just before I finished my sentence a small, red rubber ball appeared near my feet. “Cool, but I wonder,” with eyes shut and my imagination thrown into full gear, I envisioned one of cinema’s most feared and beloved creatures. A creature that grows inside of a host to then burst forth from said host like a butterfly exiting it’s chrysalis and likes to use vents as a ambush area. Putting everything humanly possible into the mental image, I opened my eyes anxiously to see if it worked. Much too my utter joy, it did and it was moving around like the real thing too! This of course scared me when it got a little to up close and personal with me before it...Butted it’s head against me, rather gently might I add. With only a flicker of hesitation in my movements I pat the critter’s head, who seemed to preen under the attention. “This is both the most awesome and terrifying thing to ever happen to me.” Then I gained a maniacal grin at the implications of what I could do. “Oh this is going to be fun.” Sometime later... The entire area outside of my tent was a war-zone, leaving me to constantly adjust tactics against the enemy armies forward advances. The constant explosions from the outside getting to me, making me wonder where in the name of sweet glittery Heck is the Anti-Creme Puff cannons. “Dame it!-“ Another explosion from an Eclair bombardment rocked the very Earth near my tent and trenches, I grabbed my Cinnamon Roll Radio and contacted my pastry in the field, “Sergeant Bearclaw, what’s the status on those cannons!? Our units are getting splattered under Eclair fire!” A panicked voice cracked through the cinnamon roll, the sounds of explosions nearly drowning it out, “We’re trying sir, but we are pinned down by automatic cannoli fire! I’ve lost half of two Bakers dozen! We need air support! Call in air support!-“ the connection went dead and I was left to ponder my possible solutions to help me win this battle, but could only come with only one. Grunting, I walked over to the weapon locker to arm myself. “You don’t send a Pastry to do a man’s job,” taking off my candy corn medal decorated general coat and applied under my eyes a little Eye Black, well more like Pink, channeling my inner Rambo. “Time to whip the cream and beat the eggs.” And with a Automatic Cannoli, a Bearclaw blade for close quarters combat, and a belt of Death by Chocolate cupcake hand-grenade, I walked out into the mayhem outside of my Command Tent. “Take cover!” A high pitched voice squealed as loudly as it could over the sound of Eclair bombardment. Taking the advice, I ducked behind a crate just in time to avoid getting creamed. “No! We lost Private Chocolate Chip! You Cake bastards!” I sigh sadly at the loss of another brave soldier but continued my mission through the trench. At least until I ran into opposition. “ Ok Cake soilders, let’s show these pastries whose the superior dessert! Charge!” Then all glittery heck broke loose. The Twinke Cake foot soldiers let loose with their automatic cannolis, taking out a poor glazed donut that was behind me. The twins Longjohn Maple and Chocolate returned fire with as much gusto as possible. Their aim with their Cannoli fire held true and eliminated three of five membered assault team, giving me a chance to charge the Twinkes while giving a war cry, “Eat cool cream you sons of Flour!” With automatic weapon in hand I let loose a barrage of cream, nailing the rest of the assault team, their final agonizing cries signaling there demise. “Come on men-“ I signaled to Maple and Chocolate, “We can hit them where it really hurts, right in their HQ! You with me?!” I got two nods of determined donuts. “Let’s move out then!” At least we would have if the battle didn’t just stop, kinda like it was paused or something. “What the heck? Why did everything stop col-“ A midnight blue hoof hit me upside the head abruptly, ending cutting off the sentence before it’s completion. Due to the force of the blow, I was sent flying a good couple of feet before landing rather roughly three feet away or so. Groaning, I voiced my discomfort to my assailant, “Owie! I didn’t even know I could get hurt in a dream, and who the heck just hits someone in the head when their enjoying a dream!?” My bemoaning was actually answered for once by a voice I knew but couldn’t quite put my finger on. “ We were the one who caused the blow to befall on your head, Creature of Chaos!” As soon as my assailent yelled aloud my face drained of color as I realized who it was, and just what my dream might of looked like. Getting out of the small crater, created by my impromptu flight, I smiled nervously at the waist-high blue alicorn, who was staring at me with a fiery hostility, “Um...H-hello? N-nice to make your acquaintance?” My hesitant question was replied with her horn sparking with power and was enveloped with her blue aura, probably preparing a spell. “Creature, what is your connect to Discord? Only a being such as he could concoct such a strange creature as yourself, and for you to be saturated in his distinctive magic.”-Her horn’s glow increased, “You shall tell us, The Princess of the Night, Luna! What your vile plans are! Or suffer dire consequences.” Her horn’s glowed even brighter to punctuate her threat. “U-um, I was just brought here from my world to add some changes to this world? And Discord did it?” Luna snorted at my hesitant answer. “It’s the truth! He visited me suddenly and offered me a chance to, well come to Equstria.” Her incriminating stare bore into my very soul. “And your adorable!” I was grasping at straws so I blurted that out without thinking what it might cause. Almost instantly regretting saying that I tried to back-track, “W-wait I mean I... Ugh.” I held my head, both to hide my embarrassment and to maybe lessen the pain of when I get hit again. “W-what ru-rubbish does thou spout forth from thine mouth? Cease thine lying!” Removing my head from my hands I was greeted with an adorable sight, one I never thought possible. Luna was blushing, somehow bleeding through her fur. “But...I’m not lying, you are adorable.” Somehow her blush intensified and she looked down and kicked the ground embarrassed by my compliments. “Probably the cutest princess of all the lands.” The poor thing was cover her face with her front legs and was on the ground at that point. “Please stop! I’m so mortified!” She pleaded for me to stop and I gladly did for fear of her fur permanently changing into a red if I kept going. “I’m sorry princess,” I crouched down to her level, “But do you still believe that I’m a horrible Chaos being?” She looked up into my eyes from her laid down position, her eyes much calmer. “We suppose we can give you a benefit of the doubt. However,”-she rose from the ground back onto her legs and stared me dead in the eyes, “You must be evaluated by The Elements of Harmony before I can fully trust you, do we have a deal?” She stuck out her hoof, in a sign of obviously wanting me to shake it. With a bright smile I heartily shook her hoof, surprising her with the sudden jolts of motion her body was going through. “You got yourself a deal Princess!” Right after I said this the dream around us slowly started to fade. “Huh? Am I waking up?” Luna, still recovering from the sudden jostling, replied shakily, “Y-yes indeed. A-and I must continue with my job, s-so I bid thee adu.” And with that she vanished along with the rest of my dream, and with one last final eye closing I woke up. > Morning Shenanigans (Last break chapter I promise) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When I woke up that morning, my mind was still foggy from sleep noticed something plush on my chest. With heavy arms I brought the plush object closer to my chest and rubbed my head against it, making it squeak in a surprisingly cute way. “Such a nice pillow, I should remember where I bought it, it’s so comfy and warm~” The pillow’s squeaking increased ten fold when I nozzled into it more. Slowly nodding off again from the intense comfort before a nagging thought began to buzz in my head and a sense of foreboding, ‘I don’t remember buying this warm and plush pillow. Heck, pillows don’t squeak! Only people and...Ponies do...When surprised.’ Snapping my eyes open and what filled my sight were two blue eyes belonging to a very red zebra, whose face was maybe a inch or two away from mine and was trying to get out of my grasp. Of course my mind was still not totally awake, allowing my mouth full range to say the following flow of stupidity, “You’re not my pillow.” Zecora, whose cheeks were a shade of red I didn’t think even existed till this point, looked at me like I grew a second head, or maybe she was about to pass out due to lack of blood circulation, it was hard to tell with my foggy mind. “An observation that’s very correct, could you let me go as a small request?” She sounded so embarrassed when she asked me this I swore I was accidentally snuggling Fluttershy instead of the mortified zebra. Complying to her request, Zecora was released from the impromptu cuddle session. Upon obtaining her freedom Zecora scrambled away from my torso and laid on my legs, using the blanket as a sort of shield to hide from my line of sight. “Uh... I’m sorry Zecora,”- I rubbed the back of my head bashfully, “I guess I like to cuddle when I’m asleep.” Laughing nervously, I stopped rubbing my neck, “The more you know. Heh...Heh.” Zecora wasn’t ready to talk to me, if the lack of her resurfacing from her blanket fortress was anything to go by. “Zecora, please come out? I’ll stay right here if you do,” Then a brilliant idea sparked in my mind, “I’ll even make you breakfast! What do you say, sounds good?” Waiting a couple of minutes, it felt like Zecora was just ignoring me or I thought so until she poked her head from underneath the blanket Fortress of Anti-snuggles. The still rosy cheeked zebra nervously looked down at the floor, softly muttering, “If you’re so sure that you wouldn’t mind, I would very much like that if you would be so kind.” Rolling my eyes playfully, I smiled down at Zecora before giving her head a very light pat, who looked about ready to dive back under the blanket. “It’ll be no trouble Zecora, just don’t expect a super gourmet, I’m a bit out of practice.” I didn’t wait for her to reply as I untangle my legs from Zecora and stood up. After popping my back neck to lessen the tension built up in them I went into my small kitchen. It was a humble little thing with a two burner propane stove, little cabinets to hold dishes or food, a medium sized refrigerator, and a counter space with a built in drop in sink and drawers to hold utensils(AN: it’s a real thing, look it up.). Opening the fridge, expecting maybe a couple apples or something, not for it to be fully stocked! “Holy sweet mother of Pearl! Thank you Discord!” Rubbing my hands anticipation I grabbed the ingredients to make the perfect breakfast dish if one wanted to be fancy with out going through a length process, a vegetarian frittata! With all the ingredients on the counter top. Grabbing a nearby kitchen knife and testing it’s sharpness, I looked down at the ingredients with an excited grin, “Let’s get cooking!” With battle cry yelled I began to make the frittata, not understanding how degraded and rusted my skills had gotten. What might have taken an hour or so at the very most quickly evolved in a process that took two. Putting on my fifth bandage on my finger I looked at my finished frittata. While the process might have been a pain to the fingers and my skills being very rusty the finished product actually looked pretty edible. It didn’t even look burned on the top or the bottom either, a fact that filled me with great pride. “All that’s left to do is serve it,” with two plates on hand and a spatula, I placed a slice each on the plates. Then with delicious cargo in tow I walked back into the living room, where a much more relaxed Zecora sat on the couch, her nose twitching slightly from the frittata’s appetizing aroma. “Hey, I got breakfast ready,”- I held up the plates to emphasize my claim, “So if you could follow me to the table, we can get this party bus a rolling,” That was the point where I swore heard a faint yell of ‘party!?’ from a great distance away but shrugged it off as just my imagination. Zecora nodded silently as she hopped off the couch and quickly fell in line behind me, the scene reminiscent of the pied piper and rats. When we reached the table, a simple oak one, Zecora calmly walked over to the chair closest to her and attempted to sit in it, key word being try. When she tried to sit in the chair she lost her balance and fell flat on her stomach, a soft ‘oh’ from the pain. Placing the plates quickly on the table I rushed over concerned for Zecora’s wellbeing. “Zecora, are you ok?” I crouch down to her level, seeing if anything might have been broken or bruised. Zecora reassured me by patting my knee, before breaking into rhyme. “It’s ok dear Brian for I am fine, now can we begin to dine?” Silently chuckling at her question, I picked her up gently and placed her on the chair before I adopted a haughty accent, “But of course madam,” I did an exaggerated bow, “Right away madam.” This made Zecora giggle into her hoof at my antics. “Oh sit down you over grown buffoon, the breakfast you made has filled me with great anticipation.” I rolled my eyes but quickly complied to her demand and sat in the other chair. That’s when I noticed something very important was missing. “I’m so sorry, I forgot the forks. If you’ll just wait a sec-“ when I looked at Zecora my jaw dropped at what I saw. Zecora was already finished with her frittata and was licking her cheek for any crumbs. “I guess that-“ I choked back some laughter, “You really like breakfast, huh?” Zecora, noticing that she was caught, brushed furiously. “It’s as how you say, a delicious way to begin one's day.” She was drawing circles on the table top and avoiding eye contact. Smiling at her, I got up and grabbed her plate, “Hey, I’m glad you like the breakfast I made so much. It warms my heart.” Giving her ears a couple of quick scratches I went back to the kitchen to get her another slice of frittata. However when I entered the kitchen I was left a little stunned at who was in my kitchen, a party centric little mare that was bouncing up and down while humming a happy tune. ‘Oh no! I’m not ready to handle a Pinkie yet! Abort quest, abort quest!” With as much effort as I could I tried backing out of the kitchen, hoping she wouldn’t hear me. It seemed to work until I stepped on a squeaky board that gave an ominous creak when it shifted under my weight. ‘Maybe she didn’t hea-‘ that’s when I heard what was only possible for her to do, her gasp that increased in volume and magnitude instead of the opposite. “Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-“ The mare was somehow staying airborne from her early bouncing and staring right at me, her eyes growing in size with her gasp. I was starting to get concerned for her wellbeing when she suddenly was face to face with me, her smile putting the Cheshire Cat to shame and was pointing at me dramatically, “There you are Mister New Nonpony!” > Duo to Trio! or A New Member has joined the Party! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Hi There, I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name Mister New Nonpony? Is it Mr.Lanky because you have long legs? Oh! Oh! I know! You’re Mr.Cuddles cause you like to hug and cuddle ponies! Am I right? Am I right? Am I right? Huh? Huh? Oh oh, do you like parties? Of course you do! Every pony loves parties, then again you aren’t a pony so you might not but then you would be a Mister McMeany Pants and you don’t look like one. So do you like parties!? No wait! Do you like cupcakes? Muffins? Cheesecake!? Wait! Do you like games?! I love games! Especially Pin the Tail on the Donkey! What about you, do you like games? Card games? Board games? Tabletop games!?-“ At this point Pinkie Pie’s jumble of sentences became hard to discern any more. It became so bad that I was tempted to go down the Twilight Sparkle route of stuffing my hand in her mouth to make her quiet, but I didn’t want my first impression with Pinkie to be negative. Luckily it seemed she had to stop talking to take a breath, somehow saying all that in one, allowing me a chance to unleash my own spiel, “Hi Pinkie Pie, I’m Brian Schmidt! No I’m not Mr.Cuddles, though I wish it kinda was cause I do like hugging you ponies, your all just so cuddly looking! Yes I like those desserts and more such as cookies and ice cream, parties are ok as long there small so they don’t get to out of hand, and I like games too I just haven’t played them in a long time! Hah...Hah...Hah.” My spiel was a lot more air consuming then I initially thought possible, making me take greedy gasps of sweet air. Pinkie seemed stunned from my sudden input, as evident from how she hung suspended in the air through her Pinkie-ness and jaw dropping down to the floor. Then gravity once again had Pinkie in it’s grasp as she started to bounce once more and a smile nearly engulfing her entire face. “Oh that’s super duper luper! Do you want to be friends Brian? Please Please Please? I’ll give you some fudge I made from Sugarcube Corner!” Sticking her hoof into her mane she took from her hammer space, or what I theorize is a hammer space, a pan of fresh fudge. Holding it tantalizing under my nose, or as close as she could get, she questions my teasingly, “Well~?” “Pinkie. You had me at being friends, the fudge,” I plucked a piece from the tray and took a big bite, relishing the sweet deliciousness that is fudge,”Is a nice bonus.” Pinkie’s already huge smile grew I swore her face was nothing but smiles and eyes, “That’s super duper! I have another Best Friend, Yay!” After Squeeing in happiness, she tackled my torso with enough force to make American Football jelly. Neadless to say, both me and the Marrykay cannon ball flew all the way from my kitchen to the couch in the living room. Fortunately, Pinkie was able to land on the couch after I dislodged her forehooves from around my body and kinda directed her to it. Unfortunately, I missed the couch and was introduced to the harshness of gravity and the hard wooden floor, both of which don’t add up to a soft landing. With my body braced I landed with a resounding THUD that made Zecora kinda rush over to check if I was ok, it was that loud. “Brian my friend, did that fall cause any bones to break or bend?” I winced a little from Zecora suddenly yelling. “I’m ok Zecora, I just suddenly understand how a kickball feels-“ “Ahhhhhhh! It’s Zecora! Look out don’t look into her or else she will curse you Brian!” I flinched from Pinkie suddenly yelling and before I could recover to tell to stop my world became a solid pink. All I could see, hear, heck even taste was pink. Now I can say with absolute confidence that I reacted as how any normal person would, “Oh god! I have seen how this ends and there’s no way I’m letting any alien burst out of my chest!” Ok, a bit of a dramatization but I want to know how anyone else would react to suddenly having something latch onto their face after watching Alien. With my limbs flailing I shot off the ground, somehow. I felt I accidentally bumped into Zecora with my sudden movement and while I felt bad, my main concern was to remove Pinkie from my face. It felt like a losing battle however due to how Pinkie seems to have fore and rear hooves of freaking steel, making it impossible to remove the party loving mare from my face. Then I calmed down a little allowing me to realize that Pinkie was holding on so tight that I was cut off from any oxygen. Zecora seemed to have figured my plight because she quickly tried to get the over exuberant earth pony’s attention, “Pinkie! Though your intentions are of a noble source, if you don’t release Brian’s head then his life will be cut short!” With a somewhat grim rhyme Pinkie seemed to have finally taken notice of my struggles. After hearing Pinkie do one of her signature gasps my vision was restored to what it once was, no longer dominated by pink. Oh and I took greed mouths full of fresh oxygen. It was a simply glorious, until I saw a somewhat distressed Pinkie looking at me with great concern. “I’m so sorry Brian! Are you going to be ok? Do you need any help? Would a cupcake make you feel better?” With her spiel much shorter than usual she zoomed up and down my body to see if I was hurt, then when she reached my left shoulder she pulled a cupcake out of her no where and put it directly under my nose. I couldn’t help it, a smile formed on my face at her sudden concern for my wellbeing. Who could ever hate this lovable mare? She’s super friendly and actually cares for other people With a deft movement with my right hand I grabbed the cupcake and unconsciously started scratching behind her ears. “I’m ok Pinkie, although I hope a can get you to apologize to Zecora for saying she would cast a curse on me. She has been a very helpful mare who would probably appreciate having somepony be their friend too.” I wasn’t to sure about wither Pinkie heard what I said to how she seemed to have melted after I gave attention to her ears, her eyes closed and a hum of contentment coming from her throat. She surprised both me and Zecora however as her eyes snapped open and a Pinkie Trademark Smile was on her face. “Well I’m never against having a new pony as a friend!” With speed so quick she essentially teleported over by Zecora who jumped a few inches into the air due to Pinkie’s suddenly popping in front of her. “What do you say Zecora, would you like to be my friend?” Zecora had a very hesitatent feeling, lack of a better term, about Pinkie’s question. She looked at me slight as if to ask ‘should I?’ I gave her a big smile and a thumbs up as my response. Seemingly satisfied by my answer she looked back at Pinkie, who seemed like she was going to blow up from the shear excitement she was most likely feeling, “If is alright with you, could we become friends so true?” Zecora hardly had anytime to say this before she was dragged into what I assume was a bone shattering hug. Zecora was stunned by the hug but she soon returned it, a gentle but genuine smile gracing her face as a small amount of tears formed at the corners of her eyes. “To think I was resigned to a journey of total solitude, but now I have friends. Something I thought to hopeful to assume.” After hearing Zecora’s touching sentence I was holding in my need to hug them both due to how happy Zecora and Pinkie were “Whoa!” I only had a split second to enjoy the sweet scene before I was dragged into a group hug with the two ponies. It was a bit uncomfortable to suddenly be pulled into a crouching position by one’s neck but I was not complaining. Both of their smiles were worth every bit of discomfort it may cause. Unfortunately every good thing had to come to an end and so the three of us broke the hug up, big grins on each of our faces. “Well I don’t know about you two but I am going to enjoy this cupcake.” A great gusto drove my hunger as I devoured the cupcake with about as much grace as well...Pinkie eating a cupcake. Soon after I eat the cupcake however my mind kinda shut off to asses what I had just eaten. If someone were to ask me How did one of Pinkie Pie’s cupcake taste? I would look them straight into the eyes and only utter one word, Perfection. The cake itself had just the right amount of sweetness, which my tastebuds dance with it’s harmonies flavor. Not only that it wasn’t like one of those cakes that have a very dry or crumbly texture, not even close! It was the perfect combination of spongy, solid and moist. That’s when I noticed that the cupcake’s original batter was Red Velvet, some of the best dame cakes in the world. Of course there was the frosting, oh dear god what a delicious frosting! It had a somewhat lemony zest flavor to it with a slight hint of vanilla to stimulate my tastebuds further than I ever thought would have been possible. This was, hands down, the best cupcake that has ever graced my lips. “Hhhhheeeellllllooooo? Brian? Anypony in there?” I was brought down from my cupcake Nirvana by Pinkie of all ponies who was waving her fore hoof in front of my face to garner my attention. It worked in the end as I looked into Pinkie’s blue eye, who was still smiling up at me. “Ssssoooo,” she drawed out her ‘so’ to get my undivided attention, “Did you like it?” My mind at the time was drawing a total blank at her question but I didn’t even really need to do any thinking to answer her. “No Pinkie, I didn’t like it,” I envoled her in a surprise hug to then leap into the air to declare, “I absolutely loved it!” Pinkie the meantime was giggling up a storm as I twirled around my living room with her in my arms. While high off of the euphoria of the moment I rubbed my cheek against hers which only increased her giggle tenfold, “Heehee, I’m glad you liked so much!” I then slowed to a gentle stop and flopped heavily onto the couch with the party mare still in my arms, a very loud content sigh escaping from my lips. A brilliant idea suddenly blossomed into my mind, one that I must voice in fear of losing said idea. “Pinkie, would you like to join us in finish something called a movie?” Pinkie twisted her left her left ear as she tilted her head to right, a curious look was very apparent. “What is a movea? Is it a game?! I love games!” Pinkie shot up and clapped her forehooves together giddily, I only could chuckle at her renewed excitement At finding something new. “No, a movie isn’t a game. It’s kinda,” I struggled to find a good example to draw similarities to until a play popped into my head, “It’s like a play that is much more in-depth about things and can be about essential anything while also allowing someone to rewatch it as much as they could possibly want.” Pinkie’s jaw seemed to drop and eyes bugged out from my explication, until her jaw closed and stars seemed to appear within her still very wide opened eyes. “Wowie Zowie! You would really let me join you two!?” Pinkie somehow grabbed onto my shirt and shook me very quickly rattling my marbles a little, I didn’t really care as I had a, what seemes to be becoming my new go to facial expression, goofy grin my face. “I. Don’t. See. Why. Not.” I turned to Zecora, who stayed silent though out the interaction between me and Pinkie. She still a smile on her mussel she trotted over to the couch and hopped onto the unoccupied cushion, interjecting her own lyrical comment, “This proposition is pleasing, but why don’t you stop before Brian needs to fetch himself a new shirt collar.” Soon after Zecora made that comment Pinkie stopped shaking me and let loose a happy cheer than dove to sit in between me and Zecora. Grabbing the remote that was conveniently lying nearby, I looked the two mares sitting beside one another with a grin plastered on my cheeks, “Are you both ready to begin the entertainment?” Both mares nodded their heads in confirmation. “Then let the movie play!” > Not a chapter, Kinda a opinion/poll > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a fantastic day/night today. Now I know some of you are absentmindedly looking at my story to see when it will update. Well you will have to wait a bit longer for The Lion King to be wrapped up and I wanted to bring that up. I’m going to ask you all some questions that I hope you will answer for me so I can upgrade my story to a much more enjoyable experience. The questions will range from writing style to what movie should be next for the pony’s viewing. So without further ado, here are my questions. 1. Should I cover every little detail that occurs in a movie;Such as a song or what could be happening at that moment, or Should I find links to the songs and cover the highlights/most impactful parts of said film? 2. Should I keep the pattern of animated movies for a bit and then move onto live action or should I do a mix of the two categories of films? 3.Should I cover older movies first or recent movies first? Another option is to have another mix between the two. 4.Should I keep the MLP verse that the story is happening fairly similar to cannon events, if so the story is starting some near episode 9 of season. 5. Think about which pony could be next to join in watching a movie and what movie you think would fit for them. 6. If given a choice, would you all like holiday themed chapters that can involve any character from the MLP show but it won’t impact the main story, would you all want that? That’s all that I have for now, I might edit it this later to add more questions to answer. Please think of your answers and explain to me why you chose that. Anyway, I hope you all give plenty to work with to improve my story quality/Increase your enjoyment, so get to answering my friends!