Chapter 4

“Drakalian? Well, it does have a nice ring to it.” Said Twilight

“Indeed, darling. It also sounds very heroic.” Said Rarity, nodding in agreement.

“I think so to.” Said Fluttershy, happy that I finally have a name for myself. I looked at her and smiled, sharing the same happy feeling. For some reason, I felt more comfortable with her around then with all the others. Well, her and Trixie, but that was because Trixie was the first pony that I met.

Speaking of Trixie, I looked around to see if she was still here, but during our discussion, she had somehow slipped away unnoticed.

“Where did Trixie go?” I asked the others.

“Probably back to her ‘mobile home’.” Said Rainbow.

“Mobile home?”

“Well she is an entertainer of magic” Twilight said.

“More like too poor to afford a real home” Rainbow smirked. I decided against saying anything at the moment, still too tired from recent events.

I went to ask some more questions, like what kind of magic tricks does she do, when all of a sudden, Pinkie interrupted our conversation.

“Boring!” she shouted, startling all of us. “I’m going to go and get your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party ready.” She said. She began to leave the building when I stopped her.

“Wait, a party for me?” I asked. She nodded and began to take a breath for some big speech or something about my party, but thankfully I was able to interrupt her before she could say anything. “Can…can we NOT have a party, please. I-I don’t like being in parties.”

This apparently was unheard of for Pinkie, and she put on a mournful face. Her tail and mane seemed to even loss some of its puffiness. “No…no party. But…but…but…but…”

“Uh, Pinkie?”

“But…but…but…but…”

“Pinkie?”

“But…but…but…but…”

“Pinkie.”

“But…but…but…but…”

“PINKIE!”

“But we have to have a party! I always throw a welcome party for new ponies, or in this case, a new human.” Pinkie said, a sad tone in her voice. I sighed at this, and decided to give in a little just to make her feel happy, but ONLY a little.

“Fine, we can have a party, BUT it has to be a small one, ok?” I told her. As soon as I said that, her mane and tail puffed back to its normal self

“Okie dokie lokie!” she exclaimed, before rushing out of the room, leaving a Pinkie shaped cloud in her wake. I blinked in surprise, thinking ‘Just how much energy does that pony have’

“I hope I didn’t do anything that I’m going to regret.” I mumbled to myself. Fluttershy, however, heard my mumbling.

“Why do you say that Drak?” she asked. I gave a very small smile to her, glad that they are already using my new name, and even giving me a nickname with it. “Well, I just don’t really like parties, mainly because that means there will be a lot of people, or in this case, ponies, and…well…I don’t do…well…with crowds…” I told her, getting progressively quieter as I continued to speak. Fluttershy continued to comfort me through out the whole conversation.

“Well, if you want to, you could hang out with me during the party, that is, if it’s ok with you?” she asked me.

“I think that might work, just as long as we stay away from the majority of the crowded areas, if that’s ok with you?” I asked her. She gave me a smile and nodded.

“Wow, if ah didn’t know any better, sugarcube, ah would have said that you two were related, what with they way you two talk an’ all.” Applejack said, which caused us both to blush.

“Related, I would think that they would be more like a couple!” chuckled Rainbow, making us blush even more.

“Well, I think that’s fabulous, darlings, I mean, you two do look so adorable together.” Rarity proclaimed. At this point, both Fluttershy’s face and mine were completely bright red with embarrassment. Everypony else simply giggled at our shyness, thinking that it was just adorable.

Trying to get some of the attention off of Fluttershy, I decided to ask what kind of party was in store for me.

“Oh, nothing too crazy, dear, even if it is Pinkie. I mean, you did ask for a small one, and she is the best at making parties, even small ones.” Answered Rarity. “And since it is a small party, I would think that it should take only a few minutes to set it up.”

“A few minutes, really?” I asked, clearly questioning to abilities of the pink mare. Rarity simply nodded in response.

“Well, we can take the time to ask some questions, and also answer a few if you want to” said Twilight, clearly interested in the prospect of talking to a new species. All of a sudden, her horn began to glow a bright purple, and a notepad and quill came floating into the room. All I could do was simply stare at the spectacle. “So, do you want to start or should we?” she asked.

“Um, can I start, if that’s all right?” I asked. She nodded and I said, “Well, my first question is, how in the world can you do that?”

“Huh? You mean my magic?” asked the purple unicorn, moving the notepad and quill up and down as an example. I simple stared at the scene in awe.

“Wait, you can use magic?” I asked. Again, she nodded.

“So I’m assuming that humans can’t use magic then?” She asked.

“Well, we have magicians, but they are mostly performers like Trixie, and they don’t use real magic either, just some clever tricks” I simply stated. Twilight meanwhile was furiously writing down everything I said in her notepad before looking up at me expectantly.

I was quiet for a few moments as I thought of a good question to ask to pass the time. Finally, I asked, “So, what do you girls do here?”

“Well, that’s easy, sugarcube. Me an’ mah family work over at Sweet Apple Acres bucking apple trees an’ making all sorts of apple treats to sell.” Applejack said, a sense of pride could be heard in her voice.

“I take care of clearing out the clouds with the Weather Team.” Said Dash, an even bigger sense of pride coming from her as she once again puffs out her chest. I looked at her with a questionable look.

“What do you mean ‘Weather Team’?” I asked, clearly thinking she was lying.

Dash looked at me with a curious look. “It is exactly as it sounds like. I clear out the clouds over Ponyville and make sure that the weather is doing what it’s supposed to do.” She said. “Don’t they do the same thing where you come from?”

I shook my head. “From what I can recall, the weather can manage itself without the need of assistance.” I said

Now it was Rainbow Dash’s turn to look at me in awe. “Wow, you don’t have to control your weather were you’re from. That must make it much easier to do what you want to do”

I sighed at her response. “If only…” was my only response. For some reason, I could still remember what humanity was like, and I very much wished that I had forgotten that instead of my own identity. Before they could question me further on the subject, I decided to continue with asking them their occupations.

“So, Twilight, what do you do?” I asked the purple mare.

“Well, I’m currently the town librarian.” She said, a smile on her face.

I perked up upon hearing this. “Really?” I asked, “Because I do remember reading lots of books, and I enjoyed them too.”

“You do?” she asked, happily surprised.

“Yup, maybe afterwards you can show me some books?” I asked.

“Oh, I would love to! I have never met somepony that loves to read as much as I do!” she said, the glee of it all practically brimming out of her eyes. I simply smiled at this, glad that she approved of my reading, and also glad to have made her so happy.

I then noticed that all of the ponies here had some sort of mark on their flanks, which I decided to ask them about. “What are those marks on your flanks, some sort of symbol?“ I asked Twilight, pointing at hers, which was five small white stars surrounding a big red star. She looked at what I was pointing at before she spoke.

“Oh, well these are our cutie marks. Everypony gets one when they find out what their special talent in life is.”

“Wow, that would make it a lot easier for people-”

“Ponies.” Said Pinkie, who poked her head from the door for a second before pulling it out again.

I blinked and was silent for a few seconds before I continued to speak. “Right, ponies. Anyways, that would make it easier for ponies to find out what there calling in life is.”

“Why, don’t humans get cutie marks, Drak?” asked Applejack.

I thought about it for a sec, and then I shook my head. “I’m pretty sure that we don’t, we normally have to figure it out one our own.” Twilight, meanwhile, was writing furiously in her notebook at every little thing that I said. I then decided to ask the rest of the girls what they do for a living here.

“So, Rarity, is it?” I asked the white unicorn. She nodded. “What do you do?”

“Well, dear, I make clothing for a living, and I am the proud leading fashion designer of Ponyville.” She said. She too said it with the same amount of pride as Applejack talking about her apples. ‘Seems that these girls are ecstatic of what they do.’ I thought to myself.

“Well in that case, Rarity, do you mind if you make some clothes for me?” I asked, and then realized I might be intruding on some of her previous clients. “T-that is, if you have any time for it.”

“Well, of course dear, it shall not be a problem. I have been very bored lately, what with the lack of customers and all. So, what is it you need?”

I pointed to my hoodie that I saw earlier hanging on one of the chairs. The shoulder part of the hoodie was a complete wreck, with the hood itself practically falling off of the rest of the sweatshirt. “I would like it if you could fix my hoodie, it is one of the few pieces of clothing that I have. Also, I will need more casual clothing as well, like some t-shirts, pants, socks, and such.”

She simply nodded at the instructions, apparently memorizing it all. “Of course, just come over to my house so I can get your measurements. How does tomorrow sound?”

I agreed with her that I would be there tomorrow to get some new clothing. “So, with that done, what do you do around here, Shy?” Fluttershy blushed at the nickname that I gave her, but before she could say anything, a certain pink pony came zooming back into the room at hyper speed.

“The party’s ready! Come on! They’re all waiting for you!” Pinkie Pie said, grabbing my good hand and yanking me out of the bed and out of the house. I was able to grab my Bo staff on the way out; my sais was still in my belt for some reason. The other mares simply followed us, with Rarity taking my hoodie along with her.

As we started walking, I was able to get a good look at all of the other girl’s cutie marks. Rarity’s mark had three blue diamonds. Fluttershy’s mark was one with three blue butterflies with pink wings. Rainbow’s mark was a cloud producing a rainbow lightning bolt. Applejack’s mark was three bright red apples. Finally, Pinkie Pie’s mark was one with three balloons; the bottom two being light blue while the top one was yellow. As we continued our walk into town, I was able to get free from Pinkie’s grasp and walk alongside Fluttershy, who I still wanted to talk to. “So, Fluttershy, you still didn’t answer me from before.”

“Oh! R-right. W-well, I take care of lots of different animals at my house. That’s really it though.” She said, stammering slightly. The idea of taking care of animals sounded familiar, but it also sounded pleasant. “That sounds like a nice job.”

“W-well, it’s not really a job, more like a hobby.” She explained. Suddenly, I got the feeling of being watched, and when I looked up, what I saw was an amazing, and yet frightening sight.

During our talk, we appeared to have entered the town of Ponyville. The town was of an average size, and seemed like a nice place to live. There were also a lot of ponies walking around doing their daily activities. And I mean, A LOT of ponies! Unfortunately for me, the majority of them were staring at me, being a new species to them and all, but it still did not make me feel comfortable at all. I quickly looked down and tried to make myself seem smaller to avoid their gazes. Fluttershy quickly noticed this and wrapped a wing protectively over my shoulders. I looked at her with a surprised look on my face.

“You…you don’t have to worry about them hating you here, you know that?” She said, in a comforting tone. I nodded and said, “I know, but it still doesn’t make me feel any better. What if they think I’m some sort of monster or something? What if they chase me out for just being me? What if the-” Fluttershy put a hoof to my mouth to stop my rambling.

“They will not do anything like that, we are a very open-minded group, especially since the Zecora incident.” She said, trying to calm me down. Thankfully, it worked, and I just leaned into her embrace, feeling content for the first time since I got here, even forgetting that I didn’t have a shirt on in the freezing cold. We both just walked the rest of the way there in a calming silence.