The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Chapter 2 - Making Introductions

Rayne tore through the field galloping with excitement. “This new body is great!” He cheered and finally stopped at the top of a hill. “This is incredible! Big strong body, long powerful legs and I do love this mane on my head. It reminds me of how my trench coat would whip behind me in the wind. Maybe it's not so vampire like after all. It's long and flowy, I feel more like a horse version of Sirius Black. Just without the mustache.” He said chuckling to himself until the brief distraction sent the inexperienced equine once more tumbling forward over his own hooves. "I'm fine!" He called out to no one in particular as he struggled to right himself.

Taking a breath he looked out at the countryside before him. “Why am I here? I went to bed last night with my wife and somehow ended up here. Is she here somewhere too? Where is here any how?” Rayne had still not seen any settlements or other beings of any kind in the last hour since he had woken in his new form. “I'm not dead am I?” He began to wonder. “If this is heaven then being a horse in a lonely field sure isn't what I was expecting. I was sick last night so I could believe that I might have died in my sleep. I doubt that I would have this improved body if this is some kind of lonely hell.”

As he continued to glance around he eventually spotted what looked like a dirt road winding through the field. “Ha, where there are roads there is life. I wonder if I am the only talking horse in the world? I would hate to end up working for some cheesy tv land television show for 80 year people calling me Mr Edd.”

Suddenly another male's voice, sounding even more sarcastic than Rayne's, spoke to him from out of nowhere. “Why of course you're not the only talking horse in the world. And technically you're a pony, not a horse. But… you didn't know that about yourself, did you?”

The sneer tone rang loudly as Rayne heard the almost familiar sounding voice speak to him. “Who said that? Who's there?!” Rayne snapped back while looking around.

“Oh, who am I?” The mocking voice replied. “Oh no I think the far more interesting question is who are you?”

Getting frustrated Rayne looked around still seeing no one. “Come on out so I can see you! And while you're at it you can tell me why you sound like John de Lancie.” Rayne retorted.

“Eh, who?” Faltered the voice awkwardly.

Getting a general direction in the air of where the voice was speaking from Rayne looked up and responded, “Old time movie actor who also does voice characters?”

Suddenly there was an 80’s game show buzzer sound as if an incorrect answer was given. “Nope, doesn't ring any bells.”

Awkwardly shifting his eyebrows Rayne tried again. “Played Q in Star Trek?”

Then suddenly a big sign with a red X appeared out of thin air. “Nope, wrong again!” Shouted the voice and the sign then disappeared. Rayne had definitely gotten the sense that he was in a magical world now.

“Wait… You said I'm a Pony? And this is a world with an invisible, magical, annoying voice…”

“Annoying?!” Shouted the overdramatized voice in anger.

“That means… you must be…. Discord?!” Rayne shouted in disbelief. Suddenly trumpets of a victory cheer erupted with confetti. “You are Discord and so that must mean I am in Equestria!” Rayne continued and this time a banner appeared with the word ‘CORRECT’ on it. Rayne lifted a hoof into his mane, “This is unbelievable. I can't believe this is real.”

Then slithering into sight, Discord curled himself around the stallion and said, “Oh yes, this is very real. But I believe the true question is are you real and what are you doing here?” He asked, eyeing Rayne suspiciously. “You aren't really a pony are you?”

Chuckling Rayne made a nervous attempt, “What are you talking about? Just look at me. All pony, obviously.” He said, forcing a smile a bit too wide.

“Oh really?” Asked Discord, unconvinced. “Then would you please explain to me what this was all about?” Discord pulled out a rather large hand puppet stage where there was a tree and a little puppet figure of Rayne. Then in a mocking voice Discord said, “Oh where am I and how did I become a horse? Okay, walking with four legs, you can do this. Oh my skin isn't peeling off in the sunlight.” Suddenly Discord popped back up leaned over the puppet stage before continuing. “I mean really, what kind of messed up world do you come from where skin peels off in sunlight?”

Rayne furrowed his brow but admitted, “Alright, alright. So I'm not from around here.” Discord frowned unsatisfied with that response as the dark furred pony continued. “But how did you catch onto me so fast? I haven't even met anybo- anypony else yet.”

With a bounding laugh Discord rose up saying, “Oh why that's easy!” He exclaimed. “As soon as you appeared, sleeping in the field as you were,” suddenly Discord morphed into a withered figure in a dark robe, “I felt a disturbance in the force.” Then popping back into himself he said, “Then I just waited for you to wake up to see what I could learn about this mystery pony who appeared out of nowhere just off the outskirts of Ponyville.”

“What?!” Rayne blurted excitedly. “I'm actually right by Ponyville?” He shouted, looking around trying to catch sight of it.

“Oh eh, well, you were. That was until you just charged off in the wrong direction from town for nearly the last two hours. Heh hoo.” The Draconequus chuckled.

Rayne suddenly faltered feeling disheartened to hear that but it was short lived as he now pestered Discord back and forth.

“So Ponyville is really here?” Rayne asked.

“Oh yes.” Discord replied.

“And are Twilight and Spike are here?”

“Mmhmm.” Discord nodded.

“And I could meet Rarity and PinkiePie?”

“Oh of course.”

“And Rainbow Dash is probably napping while Applejack would be at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Yes, those both would probably be true.”

“Oh but Fluttershy…” Rayne began, wondering what she would be doing.

However Discord surprised him by leaning forward with fire appearing in his eyes and volcanoes exploding in the background. “And what do you know about Flutteryshy?” Discord asked as menacingly as he could.

Rayne however had always found it cute how protective Discord was of Fluttershy in the tv show. “Oh you mean how she is your one true love?” He said smugly right in Discord's face. Rayne almost laughed as Discord’s fire melted and he watched the Draconequus become exceedingly bashful.

“My- What? Why, why we are f-friends surely. But-t my true love? Surely you jest!” He said unsure of himself.

Rayne just looked up happy to have the chance to push the nail through the coffin himself for a pairing he always wanted to see happen. “You two might not be there yet… but you definitely have an affection for her which is more than friendly and I'm confident that she feels the same way about you.”

Suspicion returned to the Draconequus as he raised an eyebrow. “And how DO you know so much about us for someone who has never even been to Ponyville before?”

“Uh, um.” Rayne stammered not having expecting the conversation to turn back like that.

“That brings me back to my earlier point that you… do… not… belong… here.” He said to the stallion with an interrogating tone.

“No more than you fit in here you shapeshifting Deadpool rip off.” Rayne defended.

Discord then seemed taken aback as if offended but then donned a loose fitting bodysuit of red and black. “The difference between you and I though is that for all of my faults I am still rated TV-Y. While I am fairly certain that your level of behavior doesn't fall anywhere near that. Now the problem this brings us to is that I don't want your troublesome ways infecting our little community here.” Snapping himself out of the red outfit he then leaned in again. “Especially if your ill behaviors find themselves anywhere near Fluttershy.”

Rayne took a sigh of relief to learn that was all Discord was really concerned about. “Not to worry Discord, believe it or not I already have a pony or two that I'm interested in and Fluttershy couldn't be farther from that list. Not that she isn't also a great girl. But as far as I'm concerned she's all yours.”

Discord thought for a moment but then smiled. “Oh well alright then. I supposed it couldn't hurt to give you a chance. And besides, the chaos in me is just bubbling over with excitement to see what sort of trouble someone like you would bring to have around. Here, I'll even be nice enough to point you the correct way back to town.” Then with a snap Rayne found himself teleported further up the road staring right at the gates of Ponyville in the distance. “I figured you might want to walk up by your own power instead of appearing right in the town square.” Discord said whispering into his ear.

Rayne nodded and said, “I definitely have some plans that might make a few waves in this town. But stick close by because I could do with having a friend like you Discord.”

“Oh I'll be around. I'll be keeping an eye on you, mystery pony. As for being friends... we'll just see how you do at earning that title.” After that the Draconequus seemed to fade away as far as Rayne could tell. But that left him once more standing by his lonesome as he stared at the pony settlement just up the road.

"Okay... this is it." Rayne said encouragingly to himself and shook his face to ward off any nervousness. "New world, new body, new life... None of my old troubles apply anymore. They are just in your head." Rayne stared at the town taking a moment to reflect on his situation. "Whether this is real or not doesn't actually matter because either way I'm going for this. I know the world, it's characters, it's villains... and nopony here knows me except for what I show them. I could do anything, be anything here. Whatever kind of perso- whatever kind of pony I want to be."

Pacing back and forth along the road his mind began swimming with ideas. "I could totally take advantage here. I could try to blend in, live a quiet life. I could try to popularize my way to the top." He bit his lip as he contemplated his plan. "Think of all the movie quotes I could use to my advantage. But instead of being cheesy cliches, here everypony would just see me as being original and clever. I could be suave like Gomez Addams. I could pull action lines from Bruce Willis. Wow, imagine all the stand up comedy I could share with Pinkie..."

Rayne suddenly stopped his pacing and gave a serious look toward the town before him. "No... I know exactly what it is that I want to do. I want to make sure that I never become frail and helpless again. I know where all the great places and characters of power are. Taking over and ruling, that's not my style. But still, taking some of that power for myself... That is just too irresistible to pass up. And if my wife really did come to this world with me, I know that is exactly what she would expect for me to do. Gaining power and influence are going to be my best options here."

With that in mind Rayne took his first steps down the road toward the town. "Step one is going to be finding a place to live. Somewhere quiet but maybe with a pony I can trust. Step two, find a job that puts me in contact with a lot of townsfolk where I can bond with them. Step three, make sure no one can find out where I'm really from. I'll need a convincing backstory that is not far off from the truth so it'll be easy to remember. Step four, make friends with the only ones capable of stopping me before my master plan begins. And step five... make sure that all of my loose ends are covered. I'm going to have a lot to cover and not a lot of time to work on it."

The dark stallion started to hear the sounds of town life in Ponyville from up ahead. He smiled with excitement but also felt a bit nervous as he had never spoken to ponies before. "Alright, first impressions and all that. You're the handsome new face in town, time to act like it. You didn't take drama and acting classes in school for nothing. You can do this!" Strolling confidently right into town everypony definitely seemed to take notice of him right away. “Hello there.” “Yes I'm new in town.” “Nice to meet you.” He said to passersby trying to seem friendly but not too cocky. Beginning to enjoy himself, he flipped his mane towards a few mares who stared at him from a distance. He grinned as they all giggled amongst themselves about the mysterious newcomer.

Glancing around he did notice several buildings which he recognised from the show. “Hello there Mrs. Cake. Your bakery smells wonderful today.” Rayne called out as he passed by.

“Oh why thank you stranger.” Chiffon Swirl said with a surprised smile on her face. Then in the distance he saw Ms. Cheerilee’s school house but he wasn't sure what time it was so he didn't know if the younger ponies would be in class or not.

Passing further into the town he saw the mayor's house by the town center. "Hmm. Okay so visiting Ponyville is definitely going to be fun. But now that I think about it there are probably a few places, or a few ponies that I should avoid. The mayor also has all those town records she keeps. If I get stuck in a long conversation with her she might end up asking me some questions I won't know how to answer. Best to avoid her for now. And she won't be the only one I'll have to be careful around."

A moment later Rayne was distracted from his thoughts when out of the corner of his eye he saw a pony of a most vibrant color. It was a bright color, a loud color, and it belonged to an unmistakable pony who suddenly made a loud gasping noise at his approach. Without missing a beat Rayne rushed to jump in front of her and quickly said, “Hi there! Pretty weird seeing me because you don't recognise me because you know everypony in town and since you don't know me that means I must be new and that's why you gasped, am I right?” He said, ending with a charming grin.

The face on the other pony was astonished at first but then changed to a sly grin. “Oh, you're good.” She exclaimed, seeming very impressed. “Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! And okie dokie, be right back!” With a poof of smoke she was gone.

"Haha, I always wanted to be able to do that." Rayne knew that most any other pony would be confused but he smiled looking forward to the newcomer party that she was most likely off to throw for him now. Putting it out of his mind he continued to explore the town, marveling at how much bigger it actually was than what he had expected. But it didn't take long before he spotted another very recognizable face to him. "Ooooh, hold on. Now there's an order of white, purple and beautiful that I definitely have to talk to."

Rarity was standing outside having just opened the door to her shop. She adjusted her sign to show that she was open for business and was currently distracted laying out a bouquet of flowers by her door as Rayne approached. When she looked up she was surprised to see a tall dark stallion standing before her. “Oh my, why hello there. Excuse me, I didn't see you approach.” She said trying to excuse herself, thinking she had been about to bump into him.

"This is going to be easy." He thought to himself. Rayne gave a polite bow trying to be as charming as possible. “My apologies princess Rarity. I saw you leaving your shop and I simply wanted to say that I admire all of the beauty that you bring into the world.” He grinned, laying his groundwork and was pleased she responded how he hoped she would.

“P-prin-.... And beauty? Oh my, why, you … there must be some mistake.” She said bashfully, being unprepared for such unsolicited flattery.

He focused on suppressing his grin in place for a charming smile as he proceeded. “Oh not to worry, there has been no mistake. I may be new to Ponyville but your reputation precedes you as one of the most talented designers in Equestria. And if you don't mind me saying so, the tales of your own grace and poise do not do you justice.”

Feeling almost embarrassed Rarity rose a hoof to her mane attempting to calm the blushing in her cheeks. “Oh my, a foreigner. And you've heard of me out there you say?” She hummed, trying to think of something else to talk about. “Oh yes well, I don't know what you may have heard but unfortunately I have to tell you that I am not a princess. I mean, there had been a chance, I did meet a prince but…” She cast her gaze downward remembering a less than pleasant experience from her first visit to the Grand Galloping Gala.

However she fell completely breathless as the mysterious foreigner reached out to take her by the hoof and finished her sentence with, “But he was unworthy… if he could not see the sheer magnificence of beauty, grace and talent that I see here before me.” She just stared at him not knowing what to say, feeling somewhat mesmerized as he went in for his close. “And I called you a princess not because of any title or birthright but because I know no better word to describe the elegance you portray simply by being as you are.” Rarity's knees were quickly weakening as she was spoken to like no pony had ever spoken to her before. Her breath now panted softly, becoming hung on his every word. He then just smiled and said, “It was lovely to meet you, lady Rarity.” And turned to leave without another word.

After he had walked away she nearly collapsed in her doorway with hearts in her eyes. Still being the type to wear her heart on her sleeve, she was no match for such craft and swooned over his words. “He called me ‘Lady Rarity.’ What a gentlepony.”

Just then Pinkie Pie came rushing in and shouted but her friend barely paid any mind. “Hi Rarity! Have you seen a new stranger in town? He is a really big stallion with a long, flowy, dark mane and a really charming smile!”

“Yeeaahh…” Rarity cooed dreamily as she melted against the door of her shop.

Rayne had just managed to overhear the exchange before turning away around a corner. “I'm sorry for misleading you a little Rarity… but I thought it was about time that somebody finally treated you with the respect and class that you deserve.” He thought to himself. "Prince Blueblood was an ass and Trenderhoof was a joke. Every girl deserves a little appreciation every now and then. And if no stallion around town is going to give you that then I will be happy to oblige." He snorted confidently. “But... even if you are beautiful, there is someone else here in Ponyville who deserves you much more than I do. I'll have to figure out what to do about that later on."

Leaving Rarity's boutique behind him, Rayne continued to wander through the streets of Ponyville. It amused him to be able to connect the dots between familiar landmarks he had seen in the show. "Okay so there is the restuarant and there is that store that sells fans." Taking a moment reflect he stopped where there didn't seem to be many others around. "Alright, I've made it into the town easily enough. It's a good thing for me that ponies are generally trusting." However after thinking back to his plan about keeping his past a secret, one thing continued to bother him as he asked himself, “I wonder if I can find somepony to help guide me through the forest to Zecora's?"

Author's Notes:

Well, there we have it folks. Rayne is officially in Ponyville and making connections. I thought it would only make sense that the nearly omnipresent Discord would find him right away. And you can look forward to many more 4th wall breaks with Rayne, Discord and maybe Deadpony in he future; but she won't be featured very often.
Anyways, I felt like I just had to call Discord out about Fluttershy. It was too comical not to. Also it has been a long standing irritance that Rarity never gets any romantic respect. And what's this at the end? Rayne is looking for Zecora? Why could that be? It sounds like Rayne isn't wasting any time in putting his grand scheme into motion.

And that's it for this chapter. I created a blog to express my feelings on the events here in greater detail if any of you want to take a look. And most of all, thank you for reading!
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/848922/ch2-reflections