I stepped out of the train, into the budding spring air. "Oh gods...it's so warm." I set my bag down on the platform and looked around. The rustic train platform was surrounded by green and old world houses. Wood covered everything, and what wasn't covered was pocked with greenary. "Hmm. It's nice." I felt a warm rush of air pass by me, the magically powered lights overhead biting away the darkness. The platform was nearly empty, only a few ponies and a pair of Satyrs was standing about. "Oh...I thought--"

"Glass?" A strong voice called out to me. I snapped around, finding a satyr mare with a black mane and a bright orange streak standing before me. She wore a burgundy shirt, with a pair of jean shorts covering up her red legs. She towered over me, a solid ten centimeters taller than me. She smiled down at me. "You're Glass Work right?"

I continued to look the mare over. She had a strange charm about her, something that matched the town itself. "Yes, and you are?" I extended my hand, figuring the greeting would be universal among hand born creatures.

The mare smiled at me. "I'm Darcy." She stepped forward and wrapped her hands around me, picking me up and lifting me off the ground. I felt the air squeeze out of my lungs as the mare hugged me. "Welcome to Ponyville."

I huffed loudly as I was dropped back on my hooves. "Whoa, hey there, hello." I stepped back, brushing off the smell of apple scented soap off my jacket. "Alright, so, hello  Darcy." I looked around the platform, the chirping crickets in the background starting to unnerve me. "How do you know my name?"

Darcy just kept smiling. "Rarity asked me to come pick you up, said she couldn't make it out this late."

"Oh!" I grabbed my bag and stretched my legs. "I see. A shame, I was looking forward to meeting her in person."

Darcy stretched her arms. "You're a little proper, don't you think?" She walked up to me and pulled my bag away. "I guess it makes sense, you're here for Rarity." She hoisted my bag onto her shoulder. "So, she told me to take you home for the night, but I figured I'd let you pick where to go."

I rubbed my shoulders, starting to feel a bit overheated in my coat. "What do you mean? Can I not just--"

Darcy shook her head. "I'm not about to take you straight to Rarity's at midnight, gotta let that mare get some sleep." She looked off the edge of the platform, towards a collection of bushes. "But you can stay with me and my family for the night, or I know a few hotels you can stay at."

"Oh...." I rubbed my nose and took my coat off, stripping down to my long sleeve shirt. "That wasn't exactly planned for." I looked the mare up and down. "Who exactly are you? How do you know Ms. Rarity?"

Darcy smiled at me and wave me along. "Come on, you can stay with me tonight. We have a guest room."

"Oh course." I trailed after the mare, slowly shedding my clothes in light of the humid spring night. "Dear Celestia, it's really gross out isn't it?"

Darcy looked back at me. "How do you mean?"

I still felt terrible, my hooves bare, my chest covered by a single shirt. "Humid out, and hot." I was carrying just about everything I'd worn from Storm Side on my shoulder. "How do you live like this?"

Darcy chuckled. "It's seventy degrees. And we generally don't wear overcoats in springtime."

I coughed sharply, the smell of pollen thick in the air. "I'm starting to think I should have acclimated more before throwing myself south." I could feel myself starting to sweat. "Oh gods above...this is horrid."

Darcy's chuckle changed to an outright laugh. "It's not even that hot out. Where are you from?"

I kept on walking down the cobblestone roads, the earth hot underhoof. The world was blanketed in darkness, only broken up by the occasional street lamp. "Storm Side. Northern Hold." I wiped off my forehead with my sleeve. "Muggy, gross, hot."

Darcy slapped my knee with her tail. "You'll get used to it." She took a hard left onto a residential street, leaving me plodding along like always. "So how was the trip?"

I sighed softly. "Average? Met a few people, held a girls hand when she was nervous--"

"Aw, just out of the blue?" Darcy stopped under a lantern and watched me walk. "Did you know her?"

I shook my head. "No, she was a guard cadet and she seemed nervous. I think she was hitting on me, but she was a bit too young for me." I adjusted my mass of cotton and wool on my shoulder. "Age of consent might be young, but I'm not about to lower my aim just because of that."

Darcy smirked, turning away from the lamp. "So you just held a stranger's hand on the train?"

I followed her, the greenery surrounding me rather refreshing when I could get past the heat. "I guess I did. But, like I said, she seemed nervous, and it was harmless as could be."

Darcy stepped onto one of the passing lawns, heading towards a porch lit doorway. "No, I think it's sweet."

"Oh." I rubbed my mouth. "Most people back home would call me strange for doing something like that."

Darcy shook her head, the orange streak in her mane swinging left and right as she did. "Sounds like Storm Side is a bit stuck up."

I cringed and shook my head ever so softly. "Not stuck up, I'd say reserved. Not that it matters...seems like this is a friendly enough town."

Darcy stepped onto the porch and nodded. "Yeah, it's not bad here." She pushed a key into the door and slowly opened it up. "Now...be a little quiet. They're expecting guests, but I'd rather not wake everyone up if I can avoid it."

I looked around the block. "Am I about to get kidnapped? This seems a bit dodgy."

Darcy stared at me, eyes wide in the pale moonlight. "Kidnapped? Why on Celestia's green earth would I do that?"

I shrugged. "Keep me as some weird sex slave in your basement, sell my organs, something like that."

Darcy frowned hard. "You have some weird fantasies."

I shrugged. "Honestly either one wouldn't be that enjoyable, granted one is getting abused, the other is getting murdered, so you know, choices choices." I looked past Darcy, into her home. It looked normal enough, entry that lead directly into a living room. Nothing too sinister aside from a family portrait with a woman a stallion and Darcy. "I suppose I don't really have many options. Either trust you and brave the odds, or sleep in a gutter."

Darcy looked back into her house. "Do you want a hotel for the night? I could ask my dad if he's lend you some bits...."

I took a deep breath and puffed out my chest. "No, no. I'm a little paranoid by nature, growing up in that cold rock up north will do that to anyone. No, I've gotta get past it and try to act normal."

Darcy nodded. "So you're gonna stay?"

"Until tomorrow. Oh, on one condition--"

Darcy put her hand on her hip, swinging her tail let and right. "That being?"

"I'll need a shower in the morning." I patted the clothes on my shoulder. "I'm a little sweaty as is, and after a night in bed I think I'm going to need something cold."

Darcy stared at me, silhouetted in the dimly lit doorway. "You like the cold, don't you?"

I stepped up after her, causing her to walk inside like a guide. "It's more I don't like the heat."

Darcy chuckled softly, leading me through the hard wood floors of the salmon painted house. "It's not that hot. Spring just started, and it's night." She ran her hand along the wall, catching it the nooks of each doorway. "Oh, uh, bathroom." She tapped one of the doors. "Parent's room is upstairs. I'm the last door on the right, you're gonna be the last door on the left."

"Sounds good. There a lock on the door?" I asked, looking over the various pictures. "Oh...oh wow, where is this?" I stopped along one of the pictures, a huge expanse of sea behind a woman sitting on what looked like sandstone ruins.

Darcy leaned her head next to me, uncomfortably close for my tastes. "Oh, that's my mom. Some place called Tunis."

"Wait...on Earth? Oh, I see." I tucked my hands into my pockets. "So that red stallion is your father or an uncle or--"

"Mac? Yeah, he's my daddy." Darcy grabbed me by my wrist, not my sleeve as I would have liked. "Come on, getting late."

"Your, Daddy, not you dad?" I felt her word choice was a bit childish. "Honestly, how old are you?"

"Probably about as old as you." She shot back, whipping my fetlock with her tail. "Boom happened kinda suddenly, if you recall."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I completely recall my conception. Every second I was a sperm, clear as day." Darcy whipped my fetlock with her tail again, starting to leave a sting. "Ow, you know you feel awfully alright hitting a complete stranger!"

Darcy pulled me to the end of the hall, stuck between two doors. "Oh please. Rarity has been talking about you for a month. Between Applejack, Rarity, and her friends everyone's been trying to figure out who should help her."

I bit my lip. "Wait...help her? I was just supposed to--"

Darcy placed my bag on the ground between us. "Do you not know? Rarity broke her foreleg a while back. She tripped on her foal and fell down her stairs."

I stared at Darcy. "Wow.... So, I just got a lot of information that should have been mentioned previously." I grabbed my bag and backed up. "So not only does she have a child, she has a broken foreleg?" I looked down the hall, the light flickering near the door. "Where's the father in all of this?"

"Not sure. You'll have to ask her." Darcy put her arm up and cracked her back. "Now it's kinda late. I'll show you around town tomorrow."

I sighed loud enough for her to hear. "Sure." I turned to the door behind me and opened it. What met me inside was a bit jarring. Dirty clothes strewn everywhere, the smell of apple soap and body odor, a single electric lamp in the corner with a picture of Darcy and a red stallion. "Oh...." I turned around and gently closed the door. I faced Darcy, puffing my chest out slightly. "That was the wrong door."

Darcy smirked yet again. "You can sleep in there if you really want. I mean, I won't stop you if you need somebody to keep you company."

I felt my tail crimp at the base. "I'm fine...." I slid past her, opening up the door and heading into the next room. I flicked on the light and looked around. Plain. Plain white sheets, plain king bed, plain walls, plain wood furniture. This read guest room like nothing else could.

"So you're gonna be okay?" Darcy asked, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed. "Ready to go by ten?"

I rubbed my forearms. "Ten? Sure, sure, just wake me up." I turned to the bed, "Just knock or something."

Darcy tapped the doorway. "Alright then, you get scared I'm right across the way--"

"Alright, stop it!" I snapped around in a huff. "Honestly, it's old already!"

Darcy smiled at me. "Then you're going to hate Ponyville. Now go get some sleep, you're being cranky." She turned around and pulled the door shut.

For the first time in three days I was finally alone. The room had one window facing the street, but aside from that, I was alone. I tossed my clothes across my bag and undressed. The burn scars on my body itched slightly, but shedding my clothes was already doing wonders on the heat situation. "Madness.... I suppose happy madness, but still." I rubbed my bare skin and pulled at my short cut tail. "Ugh, I hope this bed is soft." Next Chapter: Spring Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 42 Minutes