Into A New World

by Poodicus

First published 16th of December, 2011

Completely smashed and with guitar, Joseph Henderson scours the streets of his college campus late at night to play. Not in his best state, he follows a woman in a white dress through a portal to a new land. Who was this woman? How will he get home?-

Link to original chapters here
Just a side-note, this was made before season 3, and will have almost no resemblance to the canon of season 3 and past that

Joseph Henderson, or Jojo as he's sometimes called, got drunk at one the bars in his campus town, and ends up walking the streets with his guitar looking for a place to play in the middle of the night, too drunk to realize that nobody would be out at that time. When he gets to a certain area, he see's a woman in a white dress, and she motions to him to follow her through a portal she created. Joseph stupidly enough does follow the woman, and is now stuck in a world where colorful ponies talk. Just who was this woman? Why did she bring him to this strange new land? And most importantly, will he ever be able to get back home?

Cover art provided by GX98. Thanks bud for doing this for me, I really appreciate it! :D

List of Editors/Pre-Readers

- Hydkore
- Glassed
- Mister Fluttershy
- PinkamenaDianePie98
- spacecowboy

(1) Into A New World

Ugh, my head! AH! What the hell is with that bright light! What the hell did I do last night…? Oh, right, ended up getting thrown out of the bars last night for drinking too much and probably complaining about my life again.

Let’s see, what happened afterwards…. Went back to the apartment, woke up Patrick who got really pissed off at me, grabbed my guitar, cigarettes, and Iphone, then… shit, I went to the Quad again, didn’t I? Guess it would explain all the birds I hear chirping around.

Let me remember, my name is Joseph Henderson, but some of my friends call me Jojo. I’m currently going to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. My best friend is named Patrick… Right…. I’ve had a shitty life by white, middle-class people’s standards, haven’t I?

Mom and dad broke up when I was only four because my mom found out my dad was cheating on her with a young blonde. She had to work extra just to support me as a lawyer. Ever since then my life had gone on a downward spiral as my mom wanted me to also become a lawyer. She placed me in the care of my aunt who, and I don’t usually call people this because it’s degrading, but she literally fits the description. She was a slut. She slept with a different man probably every single week when she was supposed to be watching me. Don’t know if it’s because she liked doing it with different men or if she was literally a prostitute but I’d rather not dwell on it. Don’t even get me started on how so treated me when she wasn’t sleeping around….

I wish I could have called school my safe-haven from my aunt, but, for some odd reason (or at least in high school), the teachers hated me. No, I mean the teachers really did hate me. Don’t know what I did but for some reason they would never help me on any assignments. I guess I was lucky though as at least they graded me fairly… I’m sort of convinced that my mom threatened them at some time for better grades (Hey, would at least explain why they would hate me so much).

Alright, high school, high school…. Oh yeah! Now I remember! I thought during my freshman year my school life was gonna turn for the better! Why? Well, I guess you could say it’s because it was the year I lost my virginity. Kind of a funny story at that one too, lost it to a lesbian who wanted to get revenge on her ex by having sex with a man. Why did she think that would work? Don’t know and don’t care. All I know is that was the beginning of my freshman year.

Then in comes my mom when she found out. She ended up banning me from practically stepping outside after school. For the next three years, I had to stay in the house doing my homework until my mom came home from work. Luckily, I had found the guitar from my grandpa tuck away somewhere deep in the basement with a bunch of vinyl records from the 60’s and 70’s. Thank you grandpa, because of you I found the eargasms known as classic rock; even taught myself how to play the guitar thanks to the internet.

Senior year in high school my mom finally let go of the shackles and let me get a part-time job so I would at least have some money before I went off to college. Was the same year I also got a girlfriend (A real one, not like that last girl). Oh how I wish that year was better than the others, but sadly, it wasn’t. Turns out the girl I was dating had cheated on me with several guys. I had let it go the first time, because I thought she could change for the better (I also didn’t want to be like my mom who never gave my dad a second chance), but, she blew that chance. Ended up making me so mad the second time that I actually ended up punching her in the face and giving her a black eye. Was it dumb and juvenile to punch a girl for cheating on me? Yes. Was it satisfactory though? Oh hell yes.

I guess that brings us back to now. It’s 2013, I’m 21 years old, I’m here at the university I mentioned earlier studying Law like my mom wanted me to with my best friend going to the same school, so that was awesome, but…. Lately I’ve been goofing off way too much, going out at night and partying or drinking and telling my sob story to girls at various bars on Green Street just so I can bring them back home with me for the night.

But I guess I should be more specific, that brings us to last night. Last night started off as any other. Get drunk at the bars, hit on a girl, this time I got rejected and thrown out of the bar, went back to my apartment as I said, and then went to the Quad. There, I saw an extremely beautiful girl in a white dress, or so I think. She ended up luring me with her finger and followed her orders like the dumbass that I am, when I could of sworn she summoned some type of portal or something, I have no idea what the hell it was, but she ended up stepping through it, with me following… and that’s it, can’t remember a thing happening afterwards.

Alright, I think I’ve been delaying the inevitable long enough though. It’s time… to open my eyes…. The sun hit my eyes right away and it hurt like all living hell. I was finally able to adjust to the light though and started to look around. When were there so many trees in the Quad? Ugh, why does the sun have to be so damn bright? Maybe if I put my hand over my head and…. Why is my hand brown… and furry… and a hoof? I can feel my fingers, but I don’t see them….

Okay, okay, hold on Joseph, you’re freaking out too much, just calm down and…. Why the fuck am I a horse?! I clearly have the body of a fucking horse now! I got up on my little stubs of hands now and see if I could walk. As I said, I could still feel my fingers, so I guess I put my ‘hand’ into a fist, and tried to walk like a monkey or ape would. Figures it would work.

Alright, let’s see here. For some reason, I’m a horse… maybe I’m just having a Pink Elephant on Parade moment right now? I pinched my front leg and- OW! Okay, no, this is definitely real…. How did…? That woman! She’s the one responsible!

Fuck me…. Well, I guess I can’t really do anything until I meet her again… What do I look like anyways? I turned my head to look at my body and let’s see… brown coat, red hair and tail, and a guitar tattoo? When the hell did I get that? Do I have a different tattoo on my- No, that’s a guitar too. Huh…. Why the hell would I put guitars on my ass?

Wait! My Iphone and cigs! I had in my pocket when I was still a human and…. Why do I have pockets made out of flesh? Can this day get any god damn stranger?

Well, at least now I know the phone and cigarettes are still safe; suppose that’s a relief. Alright, guitar next. I began to walk forward a little like an ape again and was able to get there in mere seconds; remarkable really, but I think I would have to say that the weirdest part about it was that it ended up feeling so… natural. Anyways, I wanted to handle the guitar with care, so I found a stick that was laying on the ground nearby and tried picking it up with my hand… hoof… thingy.

I reached out with the stick with one of my front hooves while keeping my balance and… Woot! I was able to pick up the stick with ease! Yay me!

Alright Joseph, next up is the guitar…. Very slowly I picked it up by the neck and without warning I slung it around my shoulder and placed it on my back like usual, as if it was programmed into my mind. Fuck! Stupid Joseph! Don’t you know that horses- oh hey it worked. Huh, odd, I didn’t know horses had shoulders, or am I just a special kind of horse? Ehh, whatever.

Okay, so, guitar? Check. Iphone? Check. Cigarettes? Check. Alright then, I suppose I should try to find some sort of civilization then. Perhaps if I look for some type of moss or… or I could go into the town that’s so clearly in front of me maybe a mile away. Alright Joseph, time to go make some new ‘friends’.

It was still early morning in Ponyville as a certain purple unicorn had finally gotten up out of bed, brushing her mane and tail, then finally going downstairs to eat breakfast. “Morning Spike.” She called out to her number one assistant who just happened to be a baby dragon she ‘gave birth to’ (All she really did was hatch him from his egg).

The dragon turned and smiled at his friend as he brought out breakfast. “Morning Twilight, I’m surprised you’re up so early.”

Twilight blushed a little as she responded. “Yes, well, I wanted to get up early today because I was supposed to go and meet Rarity at her house, then go and meet with Fluttershy at the spa.”

“Well, that sounds like-“ But the baby dragon wasn’t able to finish his sentence as he burped out green flames, with a letter coming out of the flames.

“A letter from Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked as she walked over to her assistant.

Spike unrolled the letter and began reading it. “Dear Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student.

I’d like to let you know that today a new pony will be coming into Ponyville, and I wish for you to meet and help him. He has had a very rough life and I wish for him to experience the joys that life has to offer.

If possible, I would also like for your friends to help this stallion as well.

From,

Princess Celestia”

“A new pony?” Twilight asked before sighing. “I was hoping to go with Rarity and Fluttershy today… but I suppose it can’t be helped.” She then looked at the pancakes that were on the table. “I suppose that stallion wouldn’t mind if I ate breakfast first, right?” She asked her assistant, hoping for him to answer.

He looked at her blankly until he finally realized that she wanted him to respond. “O-Oh, yeah, sure, whatever you say Twilight. The Princess would never want you to search for a new pony on an empty stomach.”

“Exactly! Alright then Spike, time to eat.” She said happily as she sat down at her spot at the table and began digging into the pancakes.

As I finally reached the town, I was sort of confused as I walked through it. There were things there that suggested that this town, country, world, whatever, was at least as modern as Earth, but all the houses seemed to be made out of wood and the roofs made out of hay. I suppose I shouldn’t dwell on it too much though, as it isn’t the important thing here. I’d say the important thing is that the town inhabited by horses…! Or are they ponies? They don’t seem to be as big as horses, so I suppose it would make sense and- What am I talking about?! We have intelligent multicolored ponies running around, speaking like normal human beings and even doing human like things! There are even ones with wings and others with horns!

I sigh as I realize that I might never get home and that I might have to spend the rest of my life in this world. I suppose I should start off by introducing myself to some of the townsfolk, but the question is, how do I do it?

As if my ‘prayers’ were answered, a pink blur seemed to ram right into me, knocking me on my ass and almost knocking me unconscious. Before I could even understand what the hell had just happened, I suddenly heard someone talking really fast as though they were spazzing out about something.

“Ohmygosh! Are you okay? I’m sorry I wasn’t really paying attention and- *Gasp* You must be a new pony in town, which means I have to make you a welcome party! My name is Pinkie Pie, and I make the greatest parties in Equestria! But first I need to get some supplies for the party and-“ I was finally able to stop her talking by shoving my hoof into her mouth.

“Slow down there, I have a few questions I want answered. If you do that, I’ll let go the fact that you rammed right into me. Understand?” I asked, and she nodded in response, making me smile. “Good. Alright then, first question, where am I?”

I let go off her mouth, which was probably my first mistake in this world. “Oh that’s SUUUUPER super easy silly! You’re in Ponyville of Equestria! *Gasp* Maybe I can introduce you to my-“ Again, I shoved my hoof into her mouth.

“Second question-“ I began with a little irritation in my voice. “I’m obviously new here, so could you so politely point me in the direction of someone I could get a job from? Possibly a place to stay for the night as well?”

“Don’t you mean somepony? Oh! Maybe you can ask my friend Twilight! Oh wait, she’s busy today with Rarity and Fluttershy. Oh! I know! You can go ask Mayor Mare about stuff like that! That’s how I got my job and living place at SugarCube Corner. Speaking of which, I should really be heading back so I can make you all sorts of delicious treats for your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!”

“Alright, sure, whatever, sounds good. Perhaps before you go though, could you possibly point me in the direction of her office? Town hall I would presume?”

She nodded her head furiously. “First you go down this road, then you take a left, then a right, then a left, then a right, then straight, then left, then right, then backwards, then-“ I stopped her right there.

“On second thought, I’ll ask somepony else.” I told her before walking away.

“Alright then! Bye bye Jojo!” She yelled at me before giggling and trotting away.

…. Wait, What?! How did-, When did she-…. How the fuck did she know my name?! Before I could even think about questioning her about it though, she was long gone. I sighed and began my search for somebody, err, I suppose it’s somepony as I had said earlier, and have them tell me the way to the town hall.

Finally, after maybe an hour of searching, I had reached the steps of the Ponyville town hall. As I walked inside, I ended up finding the door to the mayor’s office, and there was a pink… what do they call female horses? Mares? I think that’s the word. I found a pink mare typing away (Don’t even ask, because even I have no clue) at a typewriter. Why she wasn’t using a computer if this world was so modern was beyond me, but that wasn’t the current problem for me.

I walked up to the mare, trying to be as nice as possible, and coughed a little trying to get her attention. Nothing. I coughed a little bit louder this time, and yet she still ignored me. Maybe she’s deaf? I then coughed as loud as possible. It finally got her attention.

She looked up from her work and spoke in an annoyed tone. “May I help you?”

What a bitch! “Erm, yes, you see, I’m new to town and I was told I could come here to talk to the mayor about finding a job and-“

“I’m sorry, but the mayor is very busy at the moment and can’t be disturbed.”

“Oh… Do you know when she’ll be available then?” I asked her, trying to be as polite as possible.

“I’m sorry sir, but she won’t be available for at least a week. Please leave your name and number on this sheet and we’ll call you as soon as she’s able to make time for you.” She told me as she pulled out a sheet of paper on a clipboard with a pencil tied to it and placed it in front of me.

“Um, I don’t think you understand. You see, I kinda need a place to stay tonight, because I don’t have any money and-“

“I’m sorry sir, but you must make an appointment before you can see the mayor.” She said as she interrupted me.

“Are you sure the mayor can’t take something like five minutes out of their busy schedule right now to help me? I mean, I’ve come all the way from-“ But she interrupted me again.

“I’m sorry sir, but you must make an appointment before you can see the mayor.” She repeated. Alright, fuck this, fuck this bitch, I’m sorry but I tried to be as calm as possible and that ain’t happening anymore. I walked around the desk and began to walk towards the door when the secretary began to call out to me. “Sir! You can’t just barge in like that!”

“Fuck off!” I yelled back at her. Surprisingly, that seemed to do the trick, as she seemed so surprised at me saying ‘fuck’. I pushed open the doors of the office, and you know what I see? I see a grey mare with white hair, not doing paperwork, or meeting with someone important. No, I see her bouncing a fucking ball off her nose, seeing how many times she could keep bouncing it before failing. I looked back at the secretary and glared at her. She became extremely embarrassed and quietly went back to her desk and continued to work.

Right as I had barged in, the mayor had lost focus on her ball and quickly tried hiding it, as if putting it away would make me forget I saw her doing that. She quickly brushed herself off and tried to look as professional as possible before turning her attention to me. “Yes? May I help you?” She asked me with a large smile.

After I had gotten done glaring at the secretary, I ended up walking into the office and closed the door behind me. “Hi, yes, I was told that you could help me find a place to work and stay?”

“Alright then, just let me get out this form-“ She began going through her desk, and seconds later, pulled out a long form that was at least five pages long. “I’ll need you to fill this out.”

“Is there something in there I should worry about?”

She chuckled a bit. I didn’t like it. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I guess I’m worried about you taking my rights away as an Amer- err, I mean, Equestrian citizen…. Yes, Equestria… totally from Equestria…”

She chuckled a bit more. “No no, nothing like that. It simply says that we helped you find a place of work and of residence and that you officially become a citizen of Ponyville, Equestria. All you need to do is fill out your name, what your Cutie Mark stands for-“

“Cutie Mark?” I asked out loud like a moron.

“Why yes. You know the mark on your flanks? How could you not know that? It’s elementary.”

“O-Oh, err, um, I-I lived, um, o-out of country w-when I was young.”

“Oh really? Where did you live?”

Shit! Nice going Joseph, how do you explain this one?! Maybe if I make up a country that sounds like from here… but what if she wants to hear me speak? Fuck! I only took a little bit of French in high school! “U-Um, uh…P-Prance?” I said with a large smile, hoping it would work.

“Prance? Oh I always wanted to go there!” Oh thank god it worked. “What was it like? Could you say something for me in Prench? Please?”

I rolled my eyes and responded. “Sorry, but shouldn’t we be talking about the job and residence?”

“Oh! Um, right, forgive me.” She coughed a bit and ended up blushing before continuing. “Anyways, as I was saying. You would have to fill out your name, what your Cutie Mark stands for, how old you are, etc. Then, after you give me the form back, we can start the process of finding you a job and place to stay!”

I smiled at her genuinely. “That sounds great.” She nodded and handed me the form. I took the pencil into hand, err, hoof, and was about to begin when I just realized something. I forgot to give myself a name….

“Is there something the matter?” She asked me.

“O-Oh, no, nothing’s wrong.” I replied while I nervously chuckled a bit. Come on Joseph! Think! Think! That’s when, for some odd reason, the pony name Fiery came to mind. Alright, first name down, now for the last name…. Maybe Strings? Sure, that sounds good, and makes sense because I got a guitar ‘Cutie Mark’, whatever that is.

After filling out the form to the best of my ability, I handed it back to the mayor. “Alright Mr…. Strings! With the Cutie Mark you put down guitarist, age 21…. Alright! Looks like everything is filled out correctly, just need your signature at the very bottom of this page and I’ll be able to go through the jobs list.” She handed the form back to me and flipped it to the last page and pointed at the very bottom. “Please sign on the dotted line.” This feels more and more like a contract of some kind than a form for me to fill out every second. I handed the form back to her a second time. “Very good, now we can find a job for you. Do you mind if your job also happens to be your place of residence?”

“Err, I guess that’s alright….”

“If that’s too uncomfortable for you, we can try to find a separate lodging, but usually we find it easier to just pair the job and place of living together.” She told me with a smile.

“I see…. No, I think it should be alright.”

“Very good…. Alright let us go through the jobs….” She pulled out a large drawer filled with various folders inside. After skimming through most of them, she finally came across what she was looking for. “Ah! Here it is.” She pulled out a large, thick folder and opened it. Inside it contained a stack of papers with lines crossed out. She began to hum to herself a tune I didn’t recognize as she looked through the papers.

After what felt like forever, I ended up seeing her go through the papers again and again, a face of disappointment replacing the smile on her lips. “Is there something the matter?” I asked, fearing the worst.

She looked up at me and tried her best to smile. “As odd as it seems, I’m currently unable to find any suitable jobs for you, fitting your talent anyways. The only openings we have are working at Sweet Apple Acres bucking apples, or working at the Carousel Boutique helping miss Rarity doing heavy lifting and such and helping by being her… fitting on the clothes….”

I gulped in fear. Really? Working at farm? That or working at a clothing boutique? Those were my only two options? “U-Um, y-you wouldn’t happen to have anything else, right? I-I mean, anything.”

“Well… I know I really shouldn’t be doing this but- Oh! What’s this?” She looked down at the sheet of paper, as did I as I hovered above her, trying to see through her skull if I could. She lifted her head, nearly slamming it into mine, but I was able to get out of the way before it had happened and she smiled at me. “You’re in luck Mr. Strings. It appears that the guitarist for the business that Ms. Vinyl Scratch and Ms. Octavia Pie run had left their job and place of living last month. Don’t know why it was buried all the way in the back, but this should be sufficient, shouldn’t it?”

Wait, Ms. Pie? I wonder…. “Y-Yeah, that’s sounds fine…. Um….”

“Hmm?”

“Is… Is Ms. Pie related to a certain pink pony-“

“Oh! It seems you’ve met her sister Pinkie already. Yes, those two are related, however, they seem to be on the opposite ends of the spectrum if you catch my drift.”

I became confused. “Pardon?”

The mayor sighed. “To put it simply, whereas Pinkie is hyper and always seeking fun, her sister Octavia tends to be… more sophisticated, and tends to want quiet and peace rather than loud noises.”

“I see…. So I shouldn’t have to worry about her, say, pouncing on me or something like that once I enter their place?” I asked with seriousness, and the mayor simply giggled.

“Heavens no! But enough about that. Do you wish to live with the two of them? Or do you wish for a place of your own? Oh wait, you told me you didn’t mind living with your employer.”

“Err, yeah.”

“Well, do you wish to know about the house before you go visit them?” She asked me. I nodded in response. “Ahem, very well. First off, it’s a 3BKL house that is close to the cliff that drops down towards Whitetail Woods, however this shouldn’t put you off as it’s very much stable and able to handle anything that would potentially hit it.”

“Um, do you mind if I ask what type of natural disasters are known to hit this area?” I asked with seriousness, but for some reason the mayor laughed at my question.

“Ohoho, oh, oh, excuse me. Ahem. I’m very sorry about that, it’s just that… we don’t have natural disasters here. Well, I guess that isn’t technically true, as the pegasus team does tend to sometimes create blizzards for winter or tornados to clear out a section of the town, but nothing that would damage the house. I suppose the pegasus teams in Prance were a bit more rowdy?” She asked me.

“U-Uh, yeah…. Always try to make a natural disaster happen every week, ehehehe.” I chuckled nervously. How the hell was I suppose to know the winged ponies were the ones who created the weather! Who’s ever heard of such a ridiculous thing?

“Anyways, back to the house. It’s more of the modern type of house as it was built by their last roommate using money which, quite honestly, I have no idea how he got. But anyways, would you like to see a picture of where you would be staying?” Again, I nodded. “Alright then.” She answered as she pulled out another drawer and reached down into it, looking for I assumed was the picture. About a minute later, she pulled what looked like a high definition photograph out of a folder marked ‘505 Mane Avenue’, guessing it was the folder containing blueprints and other stuff for the house. “Here you are.” She said with a smile as she handed me the photograph, and boy was I amazed!

It looked like a house right out of Hollywood! It was a two-story house, with plaster walls and a roof made out of concrete, large windows shining large amounts of light into the house, and… and… a swimming pool! I get my very own swimming pool! Kickass! “It looks amazing!” I said with enthusiasm.

“Well I’m glad you like it. Let me give you the instructions on how to get there and then I will send you off on your way with these documents explaining why you were sent, alright?” She asked, which I nodded to almost right away. “Good.”

After walking for about thirty minutes, I had finally arrived at the house, and man, did it look even more impressive in person. I walked up to the front door and began to knock, and without missing a single beat, somebody behind the door had answered. “Coming!” The voice called out as I began to hear footsteps (hoofsteps?). Seconds later, the door swung open to reveal a white unicorn with a unique blue hairstyle, and purple shades on. “May I help you?” She asked with a grin.

(2) Meeting the Roommates

The door swung open to reveal a grinning white unicorn with jagged blue mane and tail and purple shades on. “Yeees?” She said in a tomboyish voice.

For a second, Joseph lost his concentration on what he was doing because he was too focused on what the new unicorn looked like that he fumbled his reply. “U-Um, yes, u-uh, hi.”

“Hi.” The unicorn replied without missing a beat. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“O-Oh! Yeah! Yes, sorry, m-my name is… ‘Shit, what did I put down again?’… Oh yeah! Fiery Strings.”

“Your name is Oh yeah, Fiery Strings?” The unicorn teased Joseph.

“Yes, wait, what? No! I mean, no, it’s just Fiery Strings.”

The unicorn giggled some before continuing. “Well Mr. Strings, is there something I can help you with?”

For a moment, Joseph had nearly forgotten his initial purpose of coming to the house and nearly screwed up his introduction, but luckily for him, he remembered at the last second. “Err, yes, you may. You see, I’m new in town and-“

“You’re trying to sell me something?” The unicorn asked.

“What? No! No, you see, I came from the town hall and-“

“But we’ve paid our bills on time.”

“I-I don’t work for the government Ms…”

“Scratch.” The unicorn said with the same grin she greeted Joseph with. “Vinyl Scratch.”

“Ah, okay. No, you see, I just came from there Ms. Scratch because I was told about a job opportunity.” Joseph was finally able to explain. “Am I to assume that opportunity is no longer available?”

Even though Joseph couldn’t see her eyes, Vinyl’s eyes lit up as he mentioned the job opportunity. “Yes! The opportunity is open still, come in! Come in!” She said as she got out of his way and motioned for him to come in. ‘Suppose it would make sense as to why he’s hauling around a guitar on his back.’

As Joseph walked inside the house, he was just as amazed looking at it from the outside as he was looking at it from the inside. Again, the house was very modern, as everything looked brand new and hi-tech, something a new school rich person would want, even though all he could see at that moment was what he guessed was the living room and the dining room. It felt like he was standing in a club of sorts.

Joseph turned around and saw that Vinyl was still grinning at him. “Uh….”

“Please, have a seat.” Vinyl said as she motioned for the couch after she had shut the front door. She walked over to the chairs opposite of the couch and sat down. Joseph had done the same and followed her order, sitting on the white couch opposite of Vinyl. He had been so used to wearing pants, that he let his legs spread apart as he sat down like a human.

After finally getting comfortable enough, it was then that Joseph had finally noticed the Cutie Marks on Vinyl’s flanks, a beamed note of two different notes from what he could tell. “You like what you see Mr. Strings?” She teased Joseph once more.

Joseph became red in the face as he just realized he was staring at her flanks just for trying to figure out what her Cutie Mark was and got caught. “U-Um, no, I-I was j-just trying to f-find out what y-your Cutie M-Mark meant.” He nervously explained. ‘Wait, why am I getting nervous about looking at a mare’s sides?’

Vinyl chuckled some before speaking. “It’s alright Mr. Strings, no need to explain. After all, I’ve done my share of staring as well.” Her grin seemed to get wider as Joseph hadn’t picked up on her clue. “Anyways, perhaps we should continue. What type of instruments do you play Mr. Strings? And how much experience do you have with said instruments?”

“W-Well, I mostly play the guitar, and I have about s-six years of experience.” Joseph told Vinyl as he took the guitar off his back and placed it in his lap. Vinyl seemed to have cursed under her breath a little without Joseph noticing.

“Could you play a song for me to test your so called experience?” Vinyl asked Joseph.

Just before he was going to respond though, the two heard hoofsteps coming from behind Joseph, presumably somepony coming down the stairs. They both turned to look and saw a grey earth pony with black mane and tail, and a purple treble clef for her Cutie Mark walking down the stairs. The pony noticed the two right away. “Oh hello, who might you be?” She asked in a sweet voice.

“F-F-Fiery.” Joseph fumbled. “S-Strings.” He didn’t know why, but this was the first time he had ever felt uncomfortable greeting someone. He didn’t know if it was the pressure from knowing he would soon have to show his mediocre skills, or if it was something more.

The grey earth pony smiled at Joseph and replied. “Well it’s very nice to meet you Mr. Strings. My name is Octavia Pie.”

“L-Likewise.”

Octavia continued to smile, presumably to make Joseph feel less tense, but instead only added more. “Tell me, what brings you to our household?”

“He’s here for the third spot in our business ‘Tavi.” Vinyl answered for Joseph.

“Is he now?” She asked as she walked over to the other chair that was right next to the one Vinyl was in. “How far into the interview have you gotten Vinyl?” She asked her roommate as she finally sat down.

“So far we only got name and what instrument he plays. Right now he was about to show me his experience with the guitar.” Vinyl answered.

“Guitar? Well, I certainly do hope you’re better than our last roommate.”

“W-Was he bad?” Joseph asked nervously.

“Well….” Octavia began, but was cut off by Vinyl.

“He stank.”

“Vinyl!” Octavia yelled.

“What? It’s true! The only reason why we hired him was because we were desperate!”

Just then, Joseph raised his hoof in the air, earning their attention. “Yes?”

“I-If he was so bad, t-then do you mind me asking h-how you got this house?”

The two stayed silent for a few seconds before Octavia answered him. “Well, to tell you the truth… we’re unsure of how he paid for this house. We suspect that he was doing something illegal, but we were always too afraid of asking.”

“Don’t get us wrong.” Vinyl continued. “It wasn’t like we were afraid of him hurting us or anything, it’s just…. He had this almost dark feeling around him, almost as if it wanted us to stay away from him.” Vinyl ended while rubbing her forelegs like a human would with their arms if they were chilly.

“Enough of him though, we’re here to hear you play Mr. Strings.” Octavia said as she smiled at Joseph.

“Y-Yeah.” Joseph replied as he too bitterly smiled. ‘Well, here goes nothing.’

Joseph took in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and right as he was about to strike the first chord, He began to feel something he had never felt before flow through him. He didn’t understand how to explain it, other than a funny fuzzy type of feeling, surging through his body, all the way down to the so-called ‘invisible fingers’ that Joseph had decided to call them on the way to the house.

Right as he plucked the first chord, he felt that fuzziness leave his body and transfer itself to the guitar. Without missing a beat, Joseph suddenly began to play like never before. “So…” He began. “So you think you can tell… Heaven from Hell. Blue skies from pain. Can you tell a green field… from a cold steel rail? A smile for a veil? Do you think you can tell?”

Right as they were needed, the other instruments meant for the song began to play as phantom-like beings shaped like ponies began to manifest themselves with the instruments in their hooves and play.

As Joseph finished the song, the phantoms dissipated into thin air and the fuzziness that had transferred itself into the guitar also began to fade away. As he hit the final chord, Joseph came back to reality. ‘What the hell was that?’ He thought. ‘How… Why…. Fuck, okay Joseph, you need to act as if this is totally natural, otherwise, if you start freaking out about this as well they might think something’s up.” He looked up and smiled weakly at Vinyl and Octavia. “H-How did I do?”

Both of their mouths were agape, heck, even Vinyl’s glasses had slide off of her face some revealing crimson red eyes. The two were completely speechless at the performance they had just witnessed. Finally, Vinyl spoke up. “How did you do? How did you do?! That was amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it before! How did you do the part with the specters playing the other instruments without being a unicorn?!”

“O-Oh, um, I-I, uh, g-got my g-guitar e-enchanted b-b-by a, um, enchantress! Yeah! F-From, uh-“ ‘Fuck, what was that country again? Oh yeah!’ “Prance! That’s it! I got it enchanted from an enchantress in Prance. Cost me a fortune too.” Joseph answered as he chuckled nervously. ‘God I hope they don’t find out the truth.’

“Prance? Well, whatever were you doing there?” Vinyl asked, making Joseph more uncomfortable.

“O-Oh, u-uh, I, uh, lived there, f-for u-until I-I w-was e-eighteen.”

“Please Mr. Strings, there’s no need to be nervous around us.” Octavia told him warmly. “I presume you lived there because of consequences involving your parents?” Joseph nodded furiously at the question. “I see. Well then, perhaps you could tell us a little about it some other time. For now however, we must continue business.” She said with the same smile she had on from earlier. “Ahem, alright then. Mr. Strings?”

“Y-Yes?”

“There a few things I must go over first before we can take you in as our third pony. Is this alright?” Joseph nodded at the question, but before she got a chance to continue, Octavia was interrupted by Vinyl.

“Oh come on, do we really have to do this now ‘Tavi? I mean, it’s not like he’s missing out on anything important.” Vinyl said as she groaned in agony.

“Please Vinyl, this is serious! Ahem! Now then, Mr. Strings, the things I wish to go over are our company’s policies and rules, is this alright?” She asked once more, and Joseph nodded again in return. “Very well then. First off you must know that we mostly approve music, be it your own, or a cover from an individual, so long as you have their permission.”

“Oh come on, nopony’s gonna notice if you take something of theirs and play it in a town like this.”

“They might notice, and that’s a risk I’d rather not take!” Octavia responded to her annoying partner before turning back to Joseph and smiling once more. “Second, we would like for you to refrain from anything promotes sex, violence, drugs-“

“Just the violence, sex and drugs are okay.”

“Vinyl!”

“What? What’s the big deal ‘Tavi?” Vinyl asked with a confused look.

“The big deal is that I’d rather not be a pony known for such horrid things!”

“Nopony is going to criticize you just because you would live with us ‘Tavi. Besides! Haven’t you been hearing the music nowadays? All it’s about is sex and drugs! Get with the times ‘Tavi, nopony who’s under the age of 30 listens to that classical crap anymore.”

Joseph looked at Octavia and could tell she was about to blow a fuse. “That ‘CRAP’ is what pays the bills around here Vinyl!” She seemed to put extra emphasis and anger on the word ‘crap’ just to try to prove a point to Vinyl.

Before she could reply though, Vinyl and Octavia had been interrupted when a loud rumbling noise started. They both looked at where the rumbling had come from and found an embarrassed Joseph, covering his stomach. “Oops, hehehe, I, uh, forgot to eat anything at all today.”

Octavia sighed. “I’m sorry you had to see that side of me Mr. Strings.” She said while glaring at a grinning Vinyl. “But I guess the last thing you ought to know is that I’m the one who receives notices about somepony that wishes to hire us for events since we currently don’t have an agent to do so for us.”

“A-Alright. Is there something I should fill out, or….”

“No, no. Well, yes, but let’s do it after we eat lunch, okay?” Octavia replied.

“I’ll go make it then!” Vinyl announced as she got off her seat, but was almost immediately stopped by Octavia.

“Oh no you don’t Vinyl!”

“What? Why not?”

“You know exactly why!” Octavia said with frustration.

“Oh come on ‘Tavi! It was an accident!”

“You tried putting out a grease fire with water! We’re lucky you didn’t end up burning the entire house down!”

Joseph began to snicker some at the fight, and immediately got a glare from Octavia. “Oh, um, I was just, uh, laughing about something else. Yeah, that’s right.”

Before she could get a chance to get Joseph to confess, Vinyl had spoken up to interrupt Octavia. “Fine ‘Tavi, you can make lunch.” She said with the grin she had on earlier, almost as if she constantly grinned all day long.

“Thank you Vinyl for seeing it my way.” Octavia replied with grace, and got off her chair while heading for the kitchen.

“Just don’t count on making dinner as well ‘Tavi, as I’m sure Pinkie’s already found Fiery here and is throwing him a party at Twilight Sparkle’s house.”

Octavia stopped dead in her tracks and glared at Vinyl. “We are not going to that insane asylum that lunatic calls a party! Twice! Twice she’s ruined my jobs because of her antics and her behavior of wanting to throw parties wherever she goes!”

Vinyl didn’t give up though as she continued to grin. “Okay then ‘Tavi, if that’s the case, then I’m sure me and Fifi-“

‘Fifi?’ Joseph wondered.

“Here will go to her party without you and party all night long. Who knows? Maybe we won’t even return to the house tonight. Maybe we’ll go to a local hotel and have some ‘fun’ of our own.” Vinyl finished as she began to wag her tail almost like a dog when it’s happy.

‘Is… Is she trying to hit on me? Or sexually harassing me?’

Octavia sighed and became slightly red in the face. “F-Fine Vinyl, you win, but only because I don’t want you taking advantage of Fiery here!” She yelled as she pointed her hoof towards Joseph.

Octavia then stormed out of the room and into the kitchen, leaving Vinyl and Joseph all alone. There was silence for a few moments before Joseph turned to Vinyl, confused. “Uh…. What just happened? And what’s with the whole ‘Fifi’ thing?”

Vinyl turned towards Joseph and continued to grin. “Well, I just like messing with ‘Tavi time to time. As for the whole her blowing up like that, it’s because her sister Pinkie has crashed two of the events that ‘Tavi was playing at with her friends and causing a ruckus, including one of them being the biggest event of the year in Canterlot.”

‘Wow, that fucking sucks.’ “Okay, I suppose that explains that… but what about the whole ‘Fifi’ thing? I-“

“That? Well, I just thought it was cute, that’s all.” Vinyl responded, then walked over to Joseph, almost seductive like, when Octavia popped her head out of the kitchen for a second.

“Don’t you dare tease the new pony Vinyl! I would like it if he didn’t go screaming and running out of here because of your antics! Besides, lunch is almost ready.”

Vinyl began to giggle uncontrollably as she stood next to Joseph, who had a look of confusion on his face. “Alright, alright, I won’t play with him ‘Tavi.” Vinyl finally responded after being able to calm herself down enough. She then started to walk towards the kitchen, having her tail tease Joseph one last time by rubbing it up against his face, sending shivers down his spine.

As Vinyl walked away, Joseph could only think of one thing. ‘Dear God, what the hell did I get myself into?’

(3) Partying it Up

The three ponies, Octavia, Vinyl, and Joseph’s ponysona, Fiery, had been sitting at the dining room table, talking about themselves to get to know one another better after they had finished lunch. “It was around that time that I had left the rock farm in search of my talent. Luckily, my parents were supportive enough to send me to school here in Ponyville where I ended up meeting Vinyl.” Octavia said with a smile.

“That sounds really interesting Ms. Pie.”

“Please Fiery, we’re going to be roommates. Just call me Octavia.”

Joseph nodded and smiled. “Alright, Octavia.”

“And call me Vinyl, or Vinny if you like.” Vinyl added as she continued her grin from earlier.

“Alright, Vinyl sounds good.” Joseph responded when he looked down at his plate and smiled. “You know, I never really had food like this before.”

“You mean you’ve never had a Lettuce, Tomato, and Daisy sandwich?” Octavia asked, and Joseph shook his head. “Well, was it alright?”

Joseph nodded. “It was much better than I first expected it to be.” He looked back up at Octavia. “But anyways, what happened after that?” He asked, trying to change subjects.

“Oh, well, Vinyl and I had gone to the same school for many years, and ended up graduating together. After that, I ended up going to Canterlot to continue my talent of playing the cello, using the one that I had gotten from my grandfather, while Vinyl here went off to Manehatten trying to get her DJing career started.”

“And it worked too!” Vinyl commented.

Octavia rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, it worked Vinyl. You got a record deal but then found out that it was a sham.”

“It wasn’t a sham! He just happened to go bankrupt after I gave him a thousand bits to start the recording deal!”

“Sounds like a sham to me.” Joseph said as he looked over at Vinyl.

Vinyl lost her grin while Octavia giggled some. “See Vinyl? Even Fiery agrees with me that it was a sham. Anyways though, after that had happened, Vinyl had come to Canterlot trying to seek me out so that I would take care of her in her time of need. Being the caring mare I am, I gladly allowed Vinyl to live with me….”

There was silence for a few seconds then, confusing Joseph. “So… what happened then?” Joseph asked.

Octavia sighed and continued. “She got us evicted from our apartment for disturbing the other residents, and we were forced to come back here to Ponyville. That’s where Shady comes into the picture.”

“Shady?”

“Ah, yes, forgive me Fiery for not explaining properly. You remember the old roommate we told you about?”

Joseph nodded. “I assume that’s who Shady was?”

Octavia nodded to the question. “Yes, and like we said before, he was able to get us this house, despite us not knowing how he did it. Anyways, one day when we were wondering the streets looking for possible jobs, Shady had come up to us with a deal for a business. This time I did the negotiating-“ Octavia said as she glared at Vinyl, before she took a deep breath to calm herself down and continue. “Anyways, as I was saying. I was the one who negotiated with Shady, and because of him, we were able to start this business, 33% of the profits going every way. Shortly after that, the band of classical players I’m in right now had come up to me asking if I was interested in the position of playing cello for them.”

“Wait, if you took the job, then how are you still-“ Joseph began, but was cut off.

“I was just getting to that. You see, again, I was able to negotiate with the band, and we all agreed that the money I was to receive would be paid to the company, rather than to myself, as I’m not the sort of pony who would take the money and forget about my friends.”

“So you gave up your paychecks to Shady and Vinyl?” Joseph asked, and Octavia nodded, making Joseph smile. “Well, that’s quite a good quality you got there Octavia. Giving up your hard earned money for the good of your friends.”

Octavia blushed a little at the comment and responded. “T-Thank you Fiery, t-that’s quite a-a kind thing t-to say.” She quickly took the plates that were still on the table into her hooves, and got off of her seat. “Um, i-if you’ll excu-use me.” She then quickly walked into the kitchen, plates carefully stacked on her back, without saying another word.

“…. What was that about?” Joseph asked out loud as he watched the grey mare leave the room in a hurry. Vinyl simply shrugged. “Well okay then…. Anyways, you said there was going to be a party later?”

Vinyl nodded and answered. “You met ‘Tavi’s sister on your way into town, right?”

“Pinkie, right?”

Vinyl nodded once more. “That’s right. And remember when ‘Tavi said that she was a party animal?” This time it was Joseph’s turn to nod. “Well, typically Pinkie throws a welcome party for anypony who comes into town. Usually it’s a really good time.”

“Is there going to be any alcohol there?”

“Wouldn’t be a party without it.” Vinyl answered while grinning once more.

“Well that’s good to know…. Hey Vinyl?”

“Yeah Fifi?”

“Could you possibly show me the way to the room I’ll be staying in? You know, so I could get ready for the party and such?” Joseph asked, but the truth was that he needed a cigarette real bad, as he could feel himself shaking for the past half hour, but tried to keep it under control the best he could.

Before Vinyl had a chance to answer Joseph’s question, Octavia interrupted the two. “I’ll be the one to show you to your room Fiery.”

“Oh, um, thank you.” Joseph responded. Vinyl rolled her eyes, despite that nopony could see her do it because of her shades being in the way.

The three had finally made it to the second floor and stopped at the first door on their left. “Here we are. I’m sorry if it’s a little messy.” Octavia said as she opened the door. As Joseph walked into the room, he became amazed.

“This is awesome!” Joseph let out as he walked over to the bed, setting his guitar down next to the end table, and jump onto the bed. “I can’t believe how spacious it is!”

Octavia smiled a bit and continued. “I’m glad you like it. As you can see, it has 15’ x 17’ bathroom fit with your own shower, sink, toilet, and anything else you need in there. This room also has a 36” x 42” kings size double bed, along with it is a dresser for any clothes you would want, that is if you have a certain image you wish to keep or such, as well as two end tables next your bed with drawers for anything you would want to keep in there. Next is the closet, 24 square feet, as Shady apparently like it keep a lot of things in there, but we weren’t sure what. And lastly is the television.” Octavia said as she pointed to a giant HD television hung up on the wall. “Shady was kind enough to leave this before he left for Manehatten trying to make it big. It’s a 50” HD television, fitted with all channels, including the pay-per-view ones in case, well, we’re all adults here, in case you wish to view… porn.” Octavia said, blushing afterwards. “I-Is there a-anything else y-you need?”

Joseph looked at Octavia and shook his head. “No, everything seems great! Oh! Wait a minute.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you know where I could get a toothbrush and such?”

Octavia nodded. “In the bathroom there should be a brand new one above the sink in cupboard that’s behind your mirror. If you can’t find one there, there should be one in the room across from yours, as it’s where we keep things such as our towels and other bathroom necessities.”

“Alright then, thanks Octavia…. If you don’t mind though, I’d like to get ready for the party.”

Octavia began to blush once more, this time out of embarrassment. “Oh! O-Of course Fiery, forgive me for not noticing. Come along Vinyl, as we should probably get ready as well.”

“Aw, but I wanted to watch!” Vinyl complained.

“NOW Vinyl!”

With that, Vinyl did as she was commanded and left Joseph to himself in his room. After the door had been shut, Joseph rushed over to the balcony area that Octavia had forgotten to mention about and opened the screen door that was there. As he got outside he quickly pulled out the cigarettes from his pocket and began to fumble them in his hooves, trying to get one out. “Come on, come on, you son of a bitch! Daddy needs a puff!” Joseph said to himself as he finally got a cigarette out and put it in his mouth. It was right there and then that Joseph had finally realized what he was missing.

A lighter.

“Fuck!” Joseph nearly screamed as he took the cigarette from his mouth and almost threw it on the ground when he heard a voice from behind him.

“Is something the matter Fiery?”

Joseph hid the cigarettes and turned around, seeing Octavia out on her balcony as well. “O-Oh, um, no, nothing’s the matter.” Joseph explained as he put on a fake smile.

“Really? I thought I heard yell out… well… something obscene….” She replied as she began to blush again.

“Uh…. No! I didn’t do anything like that, really! I just wanted to get some fresh air, that’s all.” Again, keeping the same fake smile on.

“Well, alright then. I also forgot to mention that the party usually starts around seven in the evening, so you’ll have some time before then to do anything you would want to do.”

Joseph nodded. “Alright then, I’ll keep that in mind.” And Octavia began to go back into her room when Joseph called out to her. “Octavia?”

Octavia poked her head out of her room. “Yes Fiery?”

“Do… Do you have a lighter I could borrow?”

“Lighter? What’s that?” She asked with a confused look on her face.

‘Oh you have got to be kidding me.’ “Uh, nothing, forget I said anything.”

“Alright…. I guess I’ll see you downstairs in a couple of hours then.” Octavia said before going back into her room and closing her own screen door shut.

‘Fuck, what the hell am I suppose to do now?’ Joseph thought to himself as he sat on the ground, shaking uncontrollably now. He decided to give up and went back into the room, and went on the bed, feeling exhausted. Before he went to sleep though, he opened one of the drawers of the end tables, thinking he could hide his cigarettes and Iphone there, when something caught his eye. Something he desperately needed right now.

A lighter.

“How…. You know what? Fuck it, just be happy that it’s there Joseph.” He said to himself as he pulled the lighter out of the drawer and smiled at it, almost as if it was alive or such. He went back outside, this time much more collected now knowing he had a lighter and he could calm down in just a few seconds. Again, he pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and began to inhale the toxic smoke in.

As he was smoking the cigarette, Joseph had looked back down to the package and saw that there were only nine left. “Fuck me….” He said quietly as he took another drag of the cigarette. After he was finally finished with it, he had put it out on the ledge and threw it over into the woods below the house.

Again, Joseph had gone back inside the room, this time closing the screen and glass door behind him, and began to put the lighter and cigarettes back into the drawer he had originally found the lighter in, even putting his Iphone in there as well, when he began to wonder. ‘It’s obvious that Octavia had no idea what a lighter was, so wouldn’t that mean that there are none here in, what was it? Equestria? Anyways, if that’s the case, then what was one doing in my drawer? It was obviously left by Shady…. Just who the hell was he?’

As he let his mind wander, Joseph had gone into the bathroom to clean up. After he was done showering, which had taken some time for him to do since he was just getting used to being a pony, and trying to get all the vital areas when you don’t even know what areas you should be washing tends to get hard, he began to brush his teeth with a toothbrush he had found in the cupboard just as Octavia had said. It was then he had noticed something odd again. Toothpaste specifically meant for odors such as tobacco and alcohol. ‘Okay, now I’m starting to get worried. I mean, Shady had to be a drug lord of some kind, right? It would make sense, right?’

After he had brushed his teeth, Joseph had finally calmed down enough that he went over to the bed and passed out, completely exhausted of the day that had drained him so much.

Nearly two hours had passed since Joseph had fallen asleep on his bed, when he heard a knocking. “Fiery? Are you awake Fiery?” A voice called out to him.

‘Fiery?’ Joseph tiredly thought. ‘What? Is something on fire?’

Again, the voice called out to him. “Fiery? Are you awake Fiery?”

Finally Joseph realized what it was. ‘Shit, that’s right, I’m still a pony, aren’t I? Fuck, why did this have to be the shittiest day of my life?’ Joseph began to mumble a response to the question. “Mmyeam, I’mm mup.” He called out, obviously tired.

“We have to get going pretty soon Fiery.” The voice replied to him.

“Mmyeam, Malr*yawn*ight.” Joseph called back as he got out of bed very slowly. It was as if he was waking up any other day, just a lot less cranky. He walked over to the door and opened it to reveal a dressed up Octavia.

“O-Oh, so you are awake, good. Um, we should get going soon, so if you could meet us downstairs….”

Joseph motioned for the steps. “Right behind you Octavia.” The two went down the steps where Vinyl was waiting and left the house, heading for the town’s library, where the party was being held at.

As they finally reached what seemed to be a giant tree, they stopped. “We’re here.” Vinyl announced.

“Here? But it’s just a giant tree.”

“Yep.”

“…. Somepony lives inside a giant tree?”

“Indubitably.” Vinyl said with her grin on.

Joseph sighed. “Alright, let’s find the door and-“

“Found it!” Vinyl announced as she had her hoof on the handle.

Joseph and Octavia walked up next to Vinyl, and as she opened the door, all three went inside, only to find it completely dark. “Why is it-“ Joseph began, but had the surprise of his life (quite literally).

“SURPISE!” A room filled to the brim with ponies yelled as they turned on the lights.

‘Jesus fucking Christ!’ “Jesus Christ!” Joseph yelled in shock.

“Who?” Octavia asked with a confused look on her face.

“Ah… nothing. Anyways, good job you guys, you really got me!” Joseph said to the crowd as he began to laugh nervously. ‘Assholes nearly killed me giving me a heart attack!’

Shortly after they had entered the library, various mares began to huddle around Joseph. “So where are you from?” “Do you have a marefriend?” “What type of foods do you like?” And the like, when suddenly, Vinyl had stepped between the mares and Joseph.

“Hey now! This one’s mine first! You girls can have him after I’m done!” She announced to the crowd, and they all began to ‘Aww’ and walk away.

“Uh, thanks Vinyl.”

Vinyl turned around and grinned. “No problem Fifi.”

‘I don’t know which is more disturbing, the fact that Vinyl made that joke (At least I hope it was), or that the female ponies seem to be depressed about not being able to talk to me…’ “Uh, so what should we do?” Joseph asked the two, and Octavia spoke up.

“Perhaps we should go get something to drink.”

“Good idea ‘Tavi, I’ll be right back with the drinks!” Vinyl announced, and began to squeeze herself through the crowd. Meanwhile, Joseph and Octavia began to small talk.

“So…. You said you played cello for a living?”

Octavia nodded. “Yes, I’ve been playing it ever since I was a young foal. I truly don’t know what would have happened if I had never learned to play.”

“I’m sure you would have figured something out.” Joseph assured her, getting a small smile in return.

“Thank you Fiery, and I suppose you’re right…. But enough about me, what about you? What did you do? You never really told us about yourself back at the house.”

Joseph sighed and began. “Well, I-“

“OCTI!” Somepony yelled as they bounced their way over to Octavia and Joseph.

“Oh no.” Octavia slapped her forehead with her hoof in embarrassment.

“Octi! I’m so glad you were able to make it! Hi Fifi!” Pinkie Pie said to the two as she had finally bounced her way through the crowd to right in front of them. “What are you guys up to?”

Octavia sighed. “Hi Pinkie. Well, if you really must know, we were actually getting to know each other better as we didn’t have much time to talk back at the house.” She then turned to Joseph. “Right Fiery?”

“Uh, y-yeah, what Octavia said.”

“Oooh, mind if I listen?”

“Aren’t your friends here Pinkie? Shouldn’t you be helping them with the cake or something?”

“Oh my gosh! You’re right Octi! Bye Octi! Bye Fifi!” Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced her way back through the crowd, presumably back into the kitchen. Joseph looked at Octavia with a confused look.

“That was a little harsh, don’t you think?” Joseph asked, and got a scowling look from Octavia.

“Look, you don’t know what it’s like trying to make yourself and be well-known when ponies constantly bring up the fact that your siblings with… that.” Octavia said as she glared in the direction that Pinkie had bounced away in.

“Still, you shouldn’t really be so harsh. I mean, she is your sister, right?”

Octavia turned her glare from the kitchen to Joseph. “And what would you know about growing up with a sibling as annoying as her?”

“Well, I-“ But once again, Joseph was interrupted as Vinyl had finally returned with the drinks.

“Hey you two, what’s up?” Vinyl asked as she carried the drinks with her magic. Almost immediately when she had returned, Octavia had taken one of the cups and began to drink it, until every last drop was gone. “Whoa, slow down there ‘Tavi! You don’t want to drown in the stuff, do you?”

Octavia glared at Vinyl as she threw the empty cup away and grabbed another.

“…. Did I miss something?” Vinyl asked Joseph as Octavia began to drink the second cup.

“Uh… I might have said something that pissed her off.” Joseph admitted.

“Like what?”

“Like saying she was wrong for treating her sister so harshly.”

“And you are wrong!” Octavia said out loud, getting the attention of the ponies around them as she pointed at Joseph with her other hoof, balancing herself on her back legs.

“H-Hey now ‘Tavi, calm down.” Vinyl tried pleading, but it got nowhere.

“Don’t tell me to calm down Vinyl! You’re almost as bad as her!” Octavia exclaimed as she continued to drink the second cup, throwing it away when she was done and grabbing the third.

“I’m, uh, I’m going to get some more booze.” Joseph announced as he began to walk away from the two, knowing by staying there he would have just made it worse.

Hours had passed since the Octavia had complained, as she had finally calmed down enough. Vinyl was sitting with Octavia on the couch, drinking the punch as they watched Joseph having fun, or at least what they thought was fun. Meanwhile, Joseph was at the punch bowl, getting drunk off his ass.

Throughout the entire party, multiple mares had come up to Joseph, asking if he was going back home alone that night, but he had turned all of them down. It was then that six final mares would approach him and quite possibly regret it for a very long time.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends, also known as the Elements of Harmony, walked up Joseph with smiles on their faces, except for one pegasus who was always nervous and tried to hide behind her pegasus friend. Twilight was in front of the group and addressed Joseph first. “Hello Fiery, my name is Twilight Sparkle.” Joseph simply looked at Twilight, confused. “I’d like to introduce you to my friends.” Twilight continued, then pointed her hoof towards another unicorn. “This is Rarity.”

“Charmed.” Rarity greeted Joseph in a well-behaved manner.

Joseph didn’t greet Rarity back, but rather began to insult them inside his head. ‘The snooty stuck-up bitch, check.’

Next, Twilight pointed to a colorful looking pegasus, the one who wasn’t trying to hide. “This is Rainbow Dash.”

“’Sup” Rainbow greeted.

‘The tomboy lesbian…. Wait, is she even a lesbian? Eh, who gives a shit, as long as I can insult them.’

Twilight pointed to a pony that Joseph recognized. “You already know Pinkie Pie.”

“Heya Fiery! I’m glad that you and my sister could make it tonight!”

Next up was another earth pony. “This is Applejack.”

“Howdy partner! Glad ta’ have ya in our community.”

‘The incestuous hick who’s named after an alcoholic beverage, check.’

“And finally we have Fluttershy.” Twilight said as she pointed at the final pony, who was the pegasus that was trying to hide earlier. Fluttershy squeaked something incomprehensible. “Come on Fluttershy, it’s okay, just say hi.” Twilight said as she tried to make the pegasus feel better.

“Um… H-H-Hello, m-my n-n-name i-is F-F-Fluttershy.” She squeaked once more and hid behind Rainbow Dash again after she was done.

After they had finally introduced themselves, Joseph hadn’t said a word. Becoming nervous, Twilight decided to try to stir up a conversation. “So…. What brings you to Ponyville Fiery?”

Without even saying a word, Joseph took another cup of punch and walked away, leaving the others confused. For a while it seemed to be silent as the mares tried to process what had just happened, when Rarity finally spoke up. “Well I never! How could he just walk like that? Didn’t his mother teach him any manners?”

“Manners or not, it doesn’t concern me none. Ah’m gonna go and see wha’ Big Macintosh is up to.” Applejack said as she began to walk away.

“Let me go with you Applejack.” Rainbow called out to her friend and began to follow, when they were both stopped by Twilight.

“Now hold on you two. The Princess told us that we need to help this stallion. She also said that it would be hard to get him to open up, so that means we just need to keep trying!”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “Come on Twilight! He obviously doesn’t want anything to do with us, so why bother?” Rainbow complained.

Applejack sighed. “Now hold on sugarcube, Twi’ is right. Just ‘cause he ain’t accept us this time don’t mean he won’t accept us eventually.”

“Weren’t you just walking away to see what Big Mac was up to?” Rarity asked.

“O-Of course Ah was! A-Ah just think we ought ta’ talk ta’ that Fiery feller first, that’s all!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well come on you five, let’s go.” She said as she began to walk over to the brown stallion.

Joseph had been talking to two mares, trying to get any enjoyment from the party, but sadly wasn’t. The mares, a minty green unicorn with a lyre for a Cutie Mark, and a blue unicorn with a mane that looked like toothpaste, and a time piece for a Cutie Mark. “So Fiery-“ The blue unicorn began. “What brings you to Ponyville?”

“In all honesty, I don’t really know.” Joseph replied. “This morning I woke up in the middle of the forest, when last night I had passed out in a small, oh, what do you call them? Ah never mind. Anyways, I guess what I’m saying is that I suppose what brings me here is that I’m just trying to survive until I can find a way back home.” He then took another sip of his drink.

“Wow, bummer.” The minty green unicorn said as she looked over in a corner where she saw a certain cream colored earth pony dancing, completely smashed. The unicorn sighed. “I guess I gotta get going you guys, Bon-Bon’s had too much to drink again.”

“Alright, see ya later Lyra.” The blue unicorn responded as Lyra walked away, then turned her focus back on Joseph. “So if you didn’t come here by choice, you mind telling me what your old home was like?” The unicorn asked with a smile.

“Ehh, I really don’t think I should do that, um, Colgate, wasn’t it?”

Colgate nodded at Joseph’s question. “What? Don’t think I could handle the truth?” She asked with a sly smirk.

“In a way, yes.” Joseph answered as bland as possible before taking another sip of his drink.

Before she could have a chance to ask another question though, Colgate saw the Elements of Harmony approaching. ‘Uh oh.’ “Uh, I think I’m going to get some more drinks.”

“What? But we already have drinks.” Joseph commented.

“I know, I just want some extras, that’s all.” She said with a smile, and then began to walk away from Joseph.

“Well that was weird.” Joseph said to himself as he watched the blue pony walk away, when he felt a tap on his backside. He turned to see that it was Twilight once more, smiling as big as possible, making Joseph sigh. “Yeah?” He asked with an annoyed tone.

“Hello Fiery, I just thought that perhaps you hadn’t heard us the first time and-“

“Oh, I heard you, I just didn’t care about you or your friends… Except maybe the yellow one, she’s kinda cute.” Joseph replied quickly and tried to take another sip of his drink, only to realize he was out.

Fluttershy began to blush, her entire face turning bright red, and hid behind Rarity as she began to mutter something incomprehensible once more. Twilight started to get annoyed with Joseph, but still kept her cool. “Well, don’t you think you should give us a chance? I mean, it’s not like we’ve done anything to harm you.”

Joseph began to feel a rumbling in his stomach, but ignored it in order to continue arguing with Twilight. He began to glare at her and spoke. “Listen, I’m going to say this and only once-“ He said as he could feel whatever it was that was in his stomach move upwards. “I couldn’t give a FUCK about you or your friends. So Fuck. Off.”

All of the girls were taken back from the outburst, while Joseph could feel bile moving up into his throat now. That’s when Applejack stepped up. “Now listen here fella! Ah know we jus’ doin’ what ta’ Princess wants, but Ah can’ hav’ ya disrespectin’ may friends like tha’!”

Now the bile had moved into Joseph’s mouth, causing him to puff out his cheeks as he tried his best to contain it. Then there was Rainbow Dash. “Yeah! It’s like Applejack said! Who do you think you are, disrespecting us like that?! Why I outta-“ Then, she was covered in a foul substance as Joseph could no longer hold the contents from his stomach and threw up all over Rainbow Dash’s face and even into her mouth some.

Meanwhile, Vinyl and Octavia had been watching the entire scene unfold from the couch. “’Tavi?”

“Yes Vinyl?”

“Think we should go help him out? He doesn’t look too well.”

“I don’t know, I think-“ *Bleh!* Somepony screamed ‘The horror, the horror!’ in the background. “Okay, yeah, we should help him.”

As all the confusion was going on, Octavia and Vinyl had rushed over to where Joseph was and Vinyl picked him up and placed him on Octavia’s back as he became unconscious from throwing up too much and taking all his energy with it. The two ran out of the library, leaving the party behind and a shock-induced pegasus still covered in vomit without apologizing.

As Octavia and Vinyl walked back to their house, Vinyl began to strike up a conversation. “So…. What do you think made them go in a rage before being puked on?”

Octavia sighed. “I don’t know Vinyl, I really don’t. As much as I don’t want to, perhaps I could get Pinkie to tell me about it tomorrow.”

“…. ‘Tavi?”

“Yeah Vinyl?”

“Why do you hate talking to your sister so much? Is it because of what she and her friends did at your jobs?”

Octavia sighed and nodded. “In a way, yes, it is because of that Vinyl, but another part of me blames her for so much more. For some reason, I’ve always felt as though she’s been nothing but a burden to me and my accomplishments.”

“You know that’s complete fluff!”

“Is it Vinyl? I mean, what about that twelfth grade contest where I almost came in first place for playing my cello so well?”

“Well, I-“

“Exactly, I didn’t get in first place because Pinkie had laced my strings with grape jelly for the final round, thinking it would ‘wow’ the crowd.”

“I still don’t understand how that would work.” Vinyl mumbled under her breath, but Octavia heard her.

“I don’t either Vinyl, but that still doesn’t excuse her for costing me the competition in the final round. It took hours for those judges to get the jelly out of their manes.”

“Okay, okay, so she screwed up there. However, I bet you can’t name another-“

“Eleventh grade? When I was asked out to that dance by that handsome stallion in the marching band? Remember what she did then?”

“Oh….”

“Exactly, she made a cake for us which resulted in both of us getting food poisoning mere hours before the dance.”

“F-Fine, but name me-“

“Tenth grade-“

“Alright, alright! You win ‘Tavi.” Vinyl exclaimed before sighing. “She’s screwed up a lot, huh?”

“…. It’s best for both of us if I just stay away from her, and she stays away from me.” Octavia said with a heavy sigh.

“But you got to spend some time together. I mean, what about the holidays? What if you finally decide to get a coltfriend and settle down? Wouldn’t you want her to be there for you in case something happens like-“

“We are NOT talking about that!” Octavia yelled at Vinyl as her attitude did a 180 and became furious all of a sudden.

“O-Okay ‘Tavi, I-I’ll drop it….” Vinyl said, and became quiet for almost the entire trip home, when she began to giggle some before reaching their house.

“What? What’s so funny?” Octavia asked her friend.

“Oh, nothing.” Vinyl replied with her usual grin.

“Nothing my tail! Now what is it?”

“Well…. I was just remembering a couple of times of when Pinkie had embarrassed you some.”

Octavia rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’m going to regret this, but what are you talking about?”

“Remember the time when you had to apologize to the mayor and even Princess Celestia’s right-hoof mare about Pinkie’s antics during Nightmare Night? Where she convinced the entire town that Princess Luna was going to gobble us all up?” Vinyl asked as she giggled some more.

“Ugh, now I remember.” Octavia said with a huff.

“Or what about the time where she did that play for the town with Rainbow Dash?”

“You mean that dreadful story about her making cupcakes out of poor Rainbow’s organs? I don’t know where she could have gotten such an idea! I nearly had to stay indoors for an entire week I was so ashamed of her!”

“Hehe, yeah…. But those did put some smiles on your face, right?”

“No!” Octavia denied right away.

“Oh come on ‘Tavi, not even a little smile?”

“Not even a crack!” Octavia told Vinyl as Vinyl unlocked the door for her friend so they could carry Joseph’s unconscious body inside and upstairs. Vinyl rolled her eyes.

“That’s your problem ‘Tavi, you’re too stuck up! You really need to find a coltfriend to spend some time with.” Vinyl told Octavia as she closed and locked the door once more.

“I’m not stuck up! And besides, what does finding a coltfriend got anything to do with this?”

Again, Vinyl rolled her eyes. “What I’m saying is that you’re lonely and you need to spend some quality time with somepony you love, then perhaps you would loosen up some and treat Pinkie better. I mean, let’s take Fiery for example, wouldn’t he make a good coltfriend?” As if on cue, Joseph let out a belch in his sleep, making Octavia throw him off her back. “Or not.”

“I’d appreciate your concern Vinyl, but I’d be happy if you kept your nose out of my personal love life.”

“Alright, alright, just saying ‘Tavi…. Anyways, what are we going to do with him?” Vinyl asked as she pointed her hoof to Joseph.

“Can’t you use your magic to lift him upstairs? I’ve carried him long enough.” Octavia complained.

“Fine, fine.” Vinyl said as a light glow surrounded Joseph, lifting him into the air. A few minutes later, all three ponies had gone back upstairs into Joseph’s room.

“Make sure to lay him on his side in case he tries… you know.”

“I know, I know…. You know, I’ve probably had to do this more times for you then you have for me.” Vinyl said to Octavia, and got a glare in response. “It was a joke! A joke!”

“Haha.” Octavia said with a tone dripping with sarcasm. “It was so funny I forgot to laugh.”

“But wouldn’t-“

“Just shut up and lay him underneath the covers so we can also go to bed.” Octavia said as she let out a large yawn afterwards.

“Alright, just… hey, do you hear that?” Vinyl asked as she lifted her ear to hear a buzzing noise. “It sounds like it’s coming from the end table.” She said as she pointed her hoof to the end table Joseph had placed his possessions in.

“Yeah, I also hear it. Should we look inside?”

“Of course! That buzzing is annoying!”

Octavia sighed and nodded. She walked over to the end table and opened the drawer, seeing the Iphone and cigarettes immediately. “What the?”

(4) Darkness Comes to Town

The sun had just risen over the horizon as Princess Celestia of Equestria just came back inside from doing her morning duties. Just then, right as she set hoof into her study, a letter had appeared in front of her in a bright green flash. ‘I hate when that happens.’ But she smiled nevertheless, knowing who the letter was from.

She undid the tightly wrapped seal of the letter and unrolled it, expecting another friendship report from her star pupil, Twilight Sparkle. What she got instead, shocked her, and became more and more worried as she read more, and rereading it after she was done, hoping she was mistaken. The letter, it just happened to be, was not one of friendship, but of hate and disgust.

She sighed heavily before wrapping the letter back up and lifting it up onto a table as she began to rub her temples, trying to imagine why this had turned out the way it did. As she was doing that, her sister Princess Luna, was walking through the corridor outside of Celestia’s study, and could feel the aura of distress that was emanating.

Luna approached the door, and began to knock. “Tia? Is there something bothering you?” She asked, hoping for an answer. Usually, when Celestia became distressed, she didn’t really want to see anypony and would order multiple slices of cake to calm herself down. Luckily, she heard an answer.

“Yes Luna, please, come in.”

Luna did as her sister commanded and opened the door to see Celestia still rubbing her temples. “What is the matter sister? Surely raising the sun has not made you that stressed.”

Celestia stopped rubbing her temples and magically closed the door behind Luna so they could be alone. “It’s not anything like that Luna. It’s the letter I’ve just received from my star pupil.”

“Twilight Sparkle, yes?” Celestia nodded at the question. “Was she not down in Ponyville learning the value of friendship? What could have possibly gone wrong?”

“Her learning the value of hate as well.” Celestia said with a sigh. She then lifted the letter in front of Luna and unrolled it once more for her sister to read. The letter had been written as such.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I have learned that not ALL ponies are as kind and friendly as I had once believed. Tonight I had met with the specific pony that you had requested for me to meet along with my friends.

At first, he seemed to be a very well-behaved and well-mannered gentlypony, as he seemed to have listened to what we were saying as we had introduced ourselves. That is when I made my mistake. After we had gotten done with introducing ourselves, he had kept quiet, not saying a single thing to us. I tried to engage in small-talk as it says in my book ‘You and your mouth: How to make friends’, but as soon as I did that, he walked away! We were all shocked at how rude he was that Applejack and Rainbow Dash hadn’t cared one bit if we succeeded or not!

Not wanting to give up, we began to pursue the stallion and approach him again. After we did so though, he said something that… that… that makes me so mad it makes my blood boil! And upon saying such vulgar things, he continued to disgust us by puking all over Rainbow Dash!

I’m sorry to say this Princess, but if THIS is how this stallion acts when other ponies try to be kind and caring towards him, then I see no hope of him ever changing!

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.”

After reading the letter, Luna set it down and looked at Celestia, annoyed. “Tia…. Who is this ‘new’ pony your student speaks of?”

Celestia’s face turned from one of confusion and distress, to one of shock. “O-Oh, you know, j-just a pony I-I wanted the girls to meet.”

“Tia….” Luna said in a scolding tone.

“Well….” Celestia began sweating, as her sister was now glaring at her.

“Tia…. Didn’t we promise that we wouldn’t keep any more secrets from each other? Wasn’t the entire point of that promise to prevent an event like Nightmare Moon wouldn’t happen again?”

“Well, yes, but-“

“But what….? What are you hiding Tia?”

Finally, after all the pressure that was placed on her, Celestia finally caved in and told Luna. “Alright, alright! A few nights ago I went to the planet Earth to have some fun! I found a poor sap there who was completely smashed and I thought I could quench my thirst of fun by bringing him here!” She yelled at Luna as she threw her front hooves up in the air.

Luna sighed and began to rub her eyes with one hoof. “Tia…. Really? Another human?” ‘I suppose THIS is the reason why someponies around the castle are calling her “Trollestia”.’

“Who’s calling me that?!”

‘Uh oh.’ Luna had completely forgotten for a split second that Celestia could read pony minds, including hers. “Well with you doing things like this Tia, it doesn’t surprise me if one or two ponies call you that.”

“I bet it was those guards of yours!” Celestia accused, which angered Luna quickly.

“How dare you! Nightly and (Knight)Mare had nothing to do with this! Or any of them! It was your own subjects that called you it, so don’t go blaming the ponies that I command of name-calling! Especially when you do do things that earn you that title! Remember the last time you brought a human from Earth here?!”

Celestia began pouting. “I’d rather forget it.”

“Exactly! He began to sell drugs to the nobles here that we ended up having to do a raid on their home before the other two roommates had come home from their workplaces! It took us nearly two hours to find all the drugs he had stashed in that house before we sent him back to Earth….! And he was a horrible guitar player to boot.”

“But this human isn’t like that at all this time!”

Luna began to pout as well as she cocked an eyebrow at Celestia. “What do you mean?”

“Not all humans sell drugs Luna, or are as dangerous. Sure, this human drinks a lot, and had a terrible life in a sense, but I doubt he’s going to harm our little ponies in any way.”

“And how do you know that? How do you know he won’t crack and start harming ponies?”

“Well…. When he got here, I had made sure to make him an earth pony.”

“What does changing him into an earth pony have anything to do with him harming others?”

“Well, he can’t use magic or fly, so that’s always good.” Celestia said with a big smile before continuing. “I guess I should also mention that I had placed on a spell on him to weaken him if he were to ever try harming anypony, and also keep his human emotions in check, so that’s always a plus.”

“I suppose…. But is there a way to undo the spell?”

Celestia’s face became red. “Well… yes, there is, but….”

“But what?”

“But he would have to perform a certain act with another pony to undo it.” Celestia tried explaining, rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably.

“And what is the said act?” Luna asked.

“Its ...u.l …e…u..”

“What?”

“..xu.l ..te..ou..”

“Once more Tia, just an itsy bit louder.”

“Sexual Intercourse! There! I said it!” Celestia yelled as she crossed her front legs and started to pout.

Luna, once again, sighed heavily and began to rub her eyes with her hoof. “Tia….”

“I know, I know, but I don’t think we need to worry Luna! I did some research and I found out that it’s both illegal and immoral to do it with anything besides humans!”

“Tia….”

“As long as we he doesn’t have sex we should be in the clear! Just give me a week or two and then I’ll have the spell for his return ready….! By the way, have I ever told you you're getting better at Modern Equestrian?”

“TIA!”

Celestia flinched. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry.” Seconds later, a plan began to formulate in her head. “That’s it!”

“What’s it?”

“You Luna!” Celestia announced with a smile.

“What about me?” Luna asked with a confused tone.

“You can go to Ponyville and watch over the human and make sure he doesn’t have sex!”

“…. What?!”

Suddenly, Luna was picked up with magic and was being brought over to the window while Celestia talked. “It’s perfect. You watch over him and stay there while I stay back here and do your duties!”

“T-Tia! This isn’t funny!” Luna yelled at Celestia as she tried breaking free from her sister’s magical grasp, but to no avail. Seconds later, she was chucked out of the castle window, falling to her death, when she remembered her wings and began to use them. Once she had calmed down enough and landed safely, she began to think. ‘Tia….’ Silence. ‘I know you’re there Tia….’

‘I can’t hear yoooouuu’ Celestia replied in a sing-songy voice in her head.

‘Tia….’

‘Oh alright, I’m sorry for chucking you out the window like that, but you wouldn’t have gone had I not done it!’

‘And how do you know that?!’

‘…. Fine, so I don’t….’

Luna sighed once more. ‘Just tell me what he looks like already so I can go?’

‘….’

‘Tia!’

‘Alright, so I don’t know what he looks like!’

Luna sighed again. ‘You know, this day is becoming worse and worse for me.’

‘Tell you what, do this for me, and I’ll have the chefs make you a banana split sundae when you get back. How does that sound?’

‘…. It better have the hot fudge on it that I like.’ With that, Luna took off towards Ponyville.

At the same time, Celestia was letting out a sigh of relief, when a new pony approached her from behind. “You know-“ The pony started. “It’s not nice of you to lie to your sister like that.”

Celestia let out a small shriek of terror as she quickly turned around and saw the pony, then immediately calmed down. “Oh, it’s you…. You know, it’s not nice of you to sneak up on your friends like that.”

The pony began to giggle some before replying. “Perhaps, but I wasn’t the one who lied to their sister, now was I?”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t lying, it was delaying the truth.”

The pony rolled its eyes this time. “Whatever you say Celly, whatever you say.”

Birds were chirping and light was pounding down on Joseph’s face, making him scrunch it up and turn away as he tried to continue sleeping. Finally he had enough and was forced to open his eyes, only to see two bright crimson jewels looking back at him, or so he thought. Joseph blinked a few times, still tired and thinking he was seeing things, only to realize that what he thought were jewels were actually eyes, staring back at him. The next thing he heard made him scream.

“Well hello there handsome.”

“AaaaaaaaaaaAAAA-“ But he was cut off as a white hoof was placed in his mouth.

“Shh, it’s not nice to yell when somepony is lying right next to you.” Vinyl had told Joseph as she grinned widely.

After she had taken her hoof away, Joseph tried to frantically speak. “W-W-Why are you here?! We didn’t do it, did we?!”

“What, am I not good enough for you?” She teased Joseph.

Just then, the door to Joseph’s room had burst open, revealing Octavia standing there. “Fiery, we need to talk.” She said as she glared at Vinyl. “And you need to stop teasing him!” She yelled as she pointed her hoof at Vinyl.

“Aw come on ‘Tavi, can’t I have a little bit of fun?”

“Not if the neighbors think somepony is screaming out of fear!” She then turned to Joseph. “Anyways, Fiery? Please get ready soon, as what we need to talk about is important.” With that, Octavia walked out of the room and closed the door behind her, only for her to reopen and walk back into the room, retrieving Vinyl by dragging her by the collar of her neck.

Joseph let out a heavy sigh before lying on his back. “Why am I here?” He asked himself as he placed his arm over his face, covering his eyes from the sunlight. Minutes later, he decided he needed to get up and see what Octavia had wanted, so he got up from his bed and walked into the bathroom, showering and brushing his teeth before going downstairs.

As Joseph finally reached the bottom of the stairs, he had seen that Octavia and Vinyl were sitting at the dining room table, waiting for his arrival. As he got closer though, he ended up noticing some objects that were on the table, some very familiar objects. ‘Wait, are those…. Fuck! When, how! Fuck!’

“Please sit Fiery.” Octavia told him as he approached, pointing to a chair across from them. Joseph gulped and nodded at the request, sitting at the chair that she had pointed at. As Joseph sat down, he immediately set his eyes on his phone and cigarette box, along with the lighter he had found earlier. Octavia pointed at them. “Do you mind explaining to us what these are?”

“Uhhh….”

Octavia sighed, placing her hooves on her face. “Please Fiery, I’m irritated as it is because of what you had done last night.”

“Wait, what did I do last night?”

Octavia moved her hooves out of the way to look at Fiery with a confused face. “You mean you don’t remember?” Joseph shook his head. “Well then, explain what these are, and I’ll tell you as to why you’re in trouble.”

“Uhh…. Would you believe I don’t know?” He asked with an innocent smile, making Octavia glare at him. “Alright, alright, so I do know…. They’re objects from my world.” ‘Great, now they’re either going to believe me and calls the cops on me or think I’m completely crazy and throw me out.’

“What do you mean ‘your world’?” Octavia asked as she continued to glare at him.

“Well it’s pretty obvious ‘Tavi, he’s an alien!” Vinyl answered her, grinning like usual.

“Don’t make up such rubbish Vinyl!”

“Um….” Joseph got the attention of the two. “Technically, she’s right….”

Octavia had a confused look on her face. “What do you mean she’s right?”

Joseph took in a deep breath and began to explain. “I guess since you were going to find out sooner or later, I suppose I should tell you. You see, my name isn’t really Fiery Strings, but rather it’s Joseph Henderson. I come from a planet called Earth, where instead of ponies ruling, we’re called humans. We walk on two feet instead of four and are pretty much as advanced as you guys are, probably more advanced considering some of the things I’ve seen around town.” He paused to look at Octavia and saw that she had been glaring at him the entire time. “Um….”

“That’s it, you’re crazy, get out.” Octavia said as she pointed her hoof at the door.

“Wait, wait, it’s true! I mean, have you ever seen anything like this before?!” He asked as he quickly grabbed his Iphone and began to meddle around with it, trying to show her how it worked. “You don’t have these, right?!”

“He’s got you there ‘Tavi. Looks like he really is an alien.”

Octavia sighed again and began to rub her eyes in annoyance. “…. Fine, so you’re an alien. How did you get here then?”

“Uhh…. To tell you the truth, I have no idea. A couple of nights ago, I was strolling around in my town at night, minding my own business as I was drunk, and then the next, this woman in white opens this freaky portal in front of me and lures me in.”

Octavia looked back up at him, confused again. “Woman?”

“Oh, uh, I think it’s the equivalent to… mare I think? You know, female?”

“And the male version of a human is….”

“Man.” Joseph answered.

Octavia sighed once more. “Fine, so you’re a human who has no idea how he got here. I suppose you’re wanting to find some way to get back home?”

“If possible.”

“Fine, I suppose I can-“ Octavia began, but was stopped as Vinyl stopped her and spun her around so they could whisper to one another without Joseph hearing them.

“Wait a minute ‘Tavi, do you really think this is such a good idea?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean we’re barely making ends meet right now, and with what we saw him do yesterday with his guitar, we could make a killing! Besides, think about the woman in white for a moment.”

“What about her?”

“Who in Equestria could have the power to go to other planets and make portals to other worlds? Not to mention would be white when they got there?”

“…. Princess Celestia?”

“Bingo.” Vinyl said with her usual grin. “If Princess Celestia brought Fiery here, then it must have been for a reason. So I ask you this, is it such a good idea to turn him in if he’s meant to be here? Besides, if we did turn him in, other ponies might start thinking we’re crazy.”

“I-I suppose you’re right….”

“Good.” Vinyl told her friend before spinning back around to Joseph. “So Jojo- You don’t mind if I call you Jojo, right?” Joseph shook his head.

“Was my nickname back on Earth.”

Vinyl grinned and nodded. “Cool. Alright then Jojo, I might have some bad news for you.”

“Wh-What? What bad news?”

“Well, to simply put it, do aliens regularly visit on your planet?” Again, Joseph shook his head. “Then you would understand why we can’t tell the authorities about you, right? Especially since you look like one of us?”

Joseph felt like a ton of bricks had just been dropped on him, understand what she had. He nodded nevertheless and responded. “I… I guess I can stay here for a little bit longer.” He said in a saddened tone.

“Great! By the way…. Do you have magic back on Earth?”

Joseph looked back up at Vinyl and shook his head. “No, why?”

Suddenly, Octavia had become confused. “Wait, if you don’t have magic on your planet, then how could you have done that thing with your guitar yesterday?”

Joseph shrugged his shoulders. “In all honesty, I don’t know. I was hoping that if I couldn’t ever go back to my old home, that maybe I could have found someone to explain it to me, because I certainly have no idea. All it is is a guitar I had gotten from my grandfather, or technically, a guitar I found in my home that my granddad had used.”

“I see….” Octavia said as she nodded, trying to understand what he meant, before sighing once more. “Well, I suppose I owe you some answers then…. First off, how much do you remember from last night?”

Fiery shrugged his shoulders. “The most I can remember is that I had somehow made you upset talking about your sister, and then I ended up partying for sometime…. Then there was that one pony who reminded me of my old girlfriend….”

“Who was that?” Octavia asked.

“I think her name was Twilight Sparkle? Tried acting all nice to me with her friends behind her and all, but for some reason she gave off this weird vibe, like the one my old girlfriend gave off.”

“How so?” Vinyl asked this time.

Joseph shrugged his shoulders again. “I don’t know, all I know is that she introduced herself and her friends, and then I walked away, presumably to ignore them, and then came up again and continued to bug me, and then….” Joseph remembered what he done right then, facehoofing himself. “I did something stupid, didn’t I?”

“That depends. Are you talking about saying obscene things to Twilight? Or barfing all over her friend and fellow Element of Harmony, Rainbow Dash?”

Fiery looked up from his facehoof. “Element whosawhat?”

Octavia rolled her eyes. “Of course you wouldn’t know. Element of Harmony. They’re sort of like world heroes, as they’ve defeated two evil beings who tried to destroy both Equestria and the world a few years ago.”

“…. So I puked all over a world hero…. Just my fucking luck.”

Octavia glared at Joseph. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say such foul language.”

“Sorry, human habit…"

All three seemed to have sighed at the same time, before Joseph spoke out. “So…. Am I allowed to stay?”

Octavia looked back up and smirked a little. “Only if you promise us you don’t let anypony know you’re not a pony.”

“Deal.”

Vinyl leaned over to Octavia and whispered into her ear. “Well, well, not only is he good looking and good at guitar playing, but he’s also an alien. What else could you ask for ‘Tavi? Better snag him up before some other girls do so.”

Octavia rolled her eyes and whispered back. “Please Vinyl, this isn’t time for joking around.”

“Who said anything about joking?”

Again, Octavia sighed. “Fiery? Do you mind if you could leave me and Vinyl alone for a little bit?”

“Uh, sure. Do you mind if I go check out the rest of the house?” Joseph asked, and Octavia nodded.

Once Joseph had finally walked away, taking his Iphone, cigarettes, and light with him, from ear distance, Octavia turned to Vinyl with a sour face. “Why are you so obsessed with me getting a coltfriend?”

“Because ‘Tavi! You need to let go of the past! You’re so uptight about everything that you never have any fun, and a good way to get rid of that uptightness is to get a good coltfriend! I don’t know why, but I feel as though Jojo would be perfect for you.”

Octavia rolled her eyes once more. “And what about Fiery? What makes you think he would even want to date me?”

Vinyl shrugged her shoulders. “He’ll come around I’m sure. Just put a little pressure on him, but don’t be clingy, and I’m sure he’ll be eating out of the shoe of your hoof soon enough. Besides ‘Tavi, you’re 23 years old…. You want to lose your virginity at some time, right?”

Octavia began to glare at Vinyl. “I’d appreciate it if you kept my sex life out of this.” She told Vinyl before sighing and laying her head on top of the table. “But maybe you’re right Vinyl, I haven’t been able to have any fun since my earlier years at college, and even then I was stuck-up….”

“See? Trust me ‘Tavi. Try getting Fiery’s attention, see how he acts and such and see if he’s the one. If he is then, great!”

“And if he’s not?”

“Well, there are still other fish in the barrel.” Vinyl said with a smaller grin, trying to convince her friend, when she wasn’t even able to convince herself.

Octavia rolled her eyes once more. “Thanks for the enthusiasm Vinyl-“ She began as she lifted her head off the table and scooted her chair out to get off. “But I think I’ll try going it nice and slow and not even bother trying to get with Fiery, not when I barely know anything about him and if he’s even telling the truth anymore. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make myself some breakfast.” She stated as she began to walk into the kitchen.

Vinyl sighed and whispered to herself softly. “Oh ‘Tavi, when are you going to let go of the past? Not all stallions are like him.”

At the time, on the other side of town, a certain dark blue alicorn was flying over the town. It was still early out that very few ponies were out at the time. Princess Luna landed in front of Twilight’s house and began knocking on the door. A very sleepy dragon had answered the door. “I’m sorry but the library is still closed, please come back later.” He yawned and began closing the door when a hoof stopped it. He looked up to see the princess standing there. “P-princess Luna! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were coming.”

“It’s quite alright young dragon, I am looking for Twilight Sparkle though, is she here?” Spike nodded and let the princess inside.

“Twilight is still upstairs sleeping. Apparently something late last night really got her upset and she has been in a really bad mood since. She even kept me awake for an hour telling me about it, but I didn’t really hear it since I was half-asleep the entire time.”

“Yes… I had heard about what happened last night when she made you send that letter last night…” Princess Luna replied to the young dragon. After a while Luna spoke up once more. “This might be awkward but… what was your name again? Please forgive me as I have not gotten the chance to learn all of your names, despite my sister always talking about you and the Elements.”

“It’s alright Princess, you don’t need to apologize. Twilight called me Spike when I was born and while she was still young Princess Celestia took care of me. 10 years later and here we are in Ponyville saving it from all sorts of trouble while Twilights learns about friendship I guess.” Spike finished saying. He then proceeded to tell the princess. “I don’t know what it is Princess, but there’s something different about you… I can’t quite put my claw on it though…”

“Oh? I wonder what it could be…” Princess Luna wondered about what the dragon could have possibly meant by what he said, quite possibly awaiting a compliment of some kind.

Suddenly, he remembered. “I know! You’re not talking in that really funky way anymore, you know, with the ‘we’s and the ‘thy’s and silly stuff like that!” He exclaimed, proud of himself of remembering.

“Oh, that.” Princess Luna said in a deflated tone, not really upset at the dragon for noticing, but also not too pleased about how he phrased it. She could not blame him though for he was still a young dragon and did not know better. “Yes, thanks to my sister, I have been taking ‘modern Equestrian’ lessons at the castle to know of what the ponies of today talk like.”

“Oh, that’s interesting.” Spike tried acting like he cared about it, but he really didn’t. Suddenly, the two of them heard rustling coming from upstairs and heard Twilight coming down the steps from her bedroom.

“Spike? Is there somepony there with you?” Twilight Sparkle came down very tired but had heard talking downstairs and had to make sure who it was, it was then that she saw the princess. “Princess! What are you doing here?” She exclaimed, clearly not expecting her coming.

Suddenly, the princess spoke up, not in a threatening tone, but also not in a pleasant one. “Twilight Sparkle! We have come for thee!”

(5) Welcome to the Machine

Alright, once more, because I’m horrible at coming up with names for chapters and stories and such, from now on, each chapter has a 99% of it being named off of a song (Classic Rock most likely), and will be provided a link said song (Where you live and whether or not link still works will attribute to if you can listen to song). Now back to the story!

“Twilight Sparkle! We have come for thee!” Luna bellowed in her Royal Canterlot Voice.

“F-for what reason Princess Luna?” Twilight startled by Luna’s sudden change from normal to loud volume control.

“We…” Luna began, but noticed how she was frightening Twilight, and remembered that she should not have used her Royal Voice. “Ahem, excuse me… I, Twilight Sparkle, require your assistance in a royal mission.” Twilight, intrigued by what the princess meant, listened on. “I need your help to watch the new pony who has come to Ponyville. My sister wishes to observe him but cannot do it herself, so she sent me and asked me to have you come along.”

Twilight, now angered by what happened last night, reluctantly agreed, knowing she couldn’t refuse the princess’s order. “Very well Princess Luna, I will help you.”

“Very good! Now, we need to pick up one more pony before we are to proceed with the mission.”

“Princess? Who would that pony be?”

“Why, the one called Fluttershy of course.”

“Fluttershy!? Excuse me Princess Luna, but I think that’s a bad idea, she’s pretty much terrified of the new pony in town! I don’t think that would be a very wise idea. And besides, even if we are to follow this new pony, wouldn’t he recognize you as one of the princesses?”

“Hmm, I suppose you are right about my form. As for Fluttershy, she might be frightened now, but I need her kindness if we wish for this pony to open up.”

“I suppose… B-“

“Then it’s agreed! I will change my form with magic and we will then get Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness!”

Twilight knew she couldn’t budge the princess from not taking Fluttershy along, but still agreed nevertheless. That was when her stomach had begun to rumble as it was still early in the morning and she hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. “Ehehe, oops. “ Twilight said in embarrassment. “It seems I haven’t eaten breakfast yet… do you mind if-“ Twilight began to say before Princess Luna cut her off.

“Not at all young Twilight.” It was there that the princess’s stomach began to growl as well. Clearly embarrassed as well, she thought of an idea. “It seems I have not eaten as well. Perhaps we should eat breakfast before we are to get the yellow one?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea Princess. Spike?”

“Already on it Twilight.” Spike called from the kitchen, where he had been the entire time Twilight and Luna had been talking.

“He seems to be a very competent servant.” Luna commented about Spike.

“He’s more like a little brother to me than a servant… Oh! We almost forgot. Shouldn’t you change forms Princess? I mean, I know everypony in town knows I’m Celestia’s student and all, but I still think that it would be a bad idea if somepony saw you coming out of my house in your current form.”

“I suppose you are right Twilight, I should change forms now before we do forget. Very well, stand back.” Twilight stepped a few steps back as a dark blue aura surrounded Princess Luna. In mere moments, the entire aura engulfed the Princess and when it faded away, it revealed a younger looking, lighter blue Unicorn with a just the crescent moon for a Cutie Mark and the same light blue mane that Luna had when the Elements first freed her from the Nightmare.

“You look good Princess, I doubt anypony will be able to recognize you.”

“Thank you Twilight Sparkle, I am grateful for your compliment. Now… shall we eat breakfast?” And if on cue, Spike came out with a stack full of waffles and set it on the table.

“Breakfast, is served.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Joseph, or Fiery as he was going by now because the author of this story doesn’t want to keep switching between the two names to confuse the readers, had just turned around the corner of the living room to see a long hallway, doors on the right-hand side going to all sorts of different rooms, and on the left, the pool. Fiery looked back from where he came to see if either of the mares were following him, before laying his eyes on the pool once more and smiling. “They wouldn’t mind if I took a little detour, now would they?”

He walked over to the door leading out to the pool, unlocked it with his hoof using his invisible fingers, and opened it, stepping out into the cool, late spring morning air. He took in a deep breath, savoring the fresh air and the small amount of chlorine that was mixed in, before walking over to the pool and dipped his hoof into the water. He quickly retracted it as the cold water touched him, and looked back over his should one last time for the mares, before he turned back to the pool before doing something he would regret moments later. “Cannonball!”

He ran up to the edge of the pool and jumped upwards, ready to get in a fetal position for the cannonball, but before he could do so, his body fell at a much quicker pace than he imagined. He fell straight down, hitting the water with his stomach, hard. He began to sink as the pain radiated and traveled throughout his body, but he was able to quickly come to his senses and began to swim back to the top, his body moving just like it would as if he was back in his human form.

As he reached the surface, he came face to face with a large smile, a white outline around it. “Having fun Fiery?”

Fiery’s face, along with his stomach that hadn’t exactly recovered yet, became red. “W-Well, I-I mean, I was looking around and I just happened to stumble across the pool and-“

Vinyl giggled some, interrupting Fiery, and continued to smile at him. “It’s alright Fifi. Anyways, I just came here to tell you that we’re about to get ready to eat breakfast, and wanted to know if you could come to the table.”

“S-Sure, I’ll be right there.”

“Cool, maybe then you can tell us more about Earth. Seems ‘Tavi doesn’t exactly believe you and all and maybe if you tell us more, she’ll finally accept it.”

“Right… Earth…” Fiery quietly said to himself, looking away from Vinyl before looking up at the sky, letting himself float in the pool as he got on his back. Multiple thoughts began to run through his mind. ‘How will I get back? Will anyone even miss me? Why… Why do I feel so at peace here?’

Vinyl stood there, looking curiously at him, wondering what he was thinking about. “Fiery?”

Fiery snapped out of his thoughts, shaking his head and looking back at Vinyl. “Oh, uh, right. Sorry about that Vinyl, I’m coming.”

As the three ponies ate breakfast together, they all were silent, unsure what to say to one another. Finally, after being annoyed enough, Vinyl broke the silence. “So Fiery, what’s Earth like?”

Octavia stopped herself from taking her next bite, setting down the fork and looking at Vinyl with an annoyed look. “Honestly Vinyl, you should know better than to fuel crazy illusions.”

“But didn’t you agree that he came from another planet not too long ago ‘Tavi?” Vinyl asked with her usual grin. Octavia rolled her eyes.

She turned to Fiery. “I must apologize Fiery, but you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t believe such nonsense. The only reason why I agreed earlier is because we are desperate and needed another pony to help us make money for the house before we ended up losing it. Because, let’s be perfectly honest, there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in Tartarus that we were going to find a replacement in time, and I mean honestly, who’s ever heard of an alien actually existing?” She said before going back to her bagels.

“Well, it’s possible.” Fiery said, making the mares stop eating once more and turn to him. “What? I’m just saying, the likely-hood of other species and races and such existing on other planets is highly probable, considering how large the universe is and such. Not to mention the fact of possibly having endless amounts of parallel universes as well to fit into the factor. In fact, back on Earth and a couple of years ago, the government branch responsible for space travel and such ended up finding 1,235 planets, 54 of which were in goldilock zones, and five of them being the same size as the planet I lived on with something called the Kepler telescope… What?”

Both Octavia and Vinyl were stunned; mouth agape at Fiery’s ‘comeback’ as Octavia called it in her mind. Octavia tried saying something back at him, but couldn’t think of anything. “So anyways, what’s Earth like Fiery?” Vinyl asked, breaking Octavia’s train of thought. She sighed and went back to her breakfast, completely ignoring the two ponies.

“To be honest, it has its ups and downs.”

“Oh yeah, like what?”

Before answering that, Fiery had plopped in another spoonful of the cereal he had chosen. He paused for a second to think of not only the bad things, but also good things of Earth. “Well, what does Equestria have?”

“You mean the country we’re currently living in? Or Terra? The world we live on?”

“Both I suppose.”

Vinyl shrugged. “I don’t know, I don’t really read, listen to, or watch the news. I mean, sure, there were a couple bad things here in Equestria that were really well known, but those got resolved real quickly thanks to the Elements of Harmony.”

“… The whosawhatsa now?”

“The ponies you insulted last night.” Octavia answered. “My sister, along with her friends, have things called the Elements of Harmony, and are more or less world heroes.”

“…”

“Fiery?” Vinyl called out, wondering why he was silent, but it was soon revealed why.

“Well, that’s just fucking terrific now, isn’t it? Insulting and puking all over ‘World Heroes’.”

“Fiery!”

“What?”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t use such language! I don’t care if you are an alien or not, nopony should be using such language on a whim! Yes, the first time I let it go, but that’s because you really did seem distressed about something, but I can’t let you say such things whenever you want!” Octavia scolded.

Fiery opened his mouth, ready to ‘bitch’ her out over this minor inconvenience, when he realized that it would be against his best interest to have his new roommate against him, especially when he was already on thin ice. Reluctantly, he nodded. “Yeah, alright. Sorry, it’s just an old human habit.”

“Well, I don’t care if it’s a ‘human’ habit or a pony one. I’m upset enough at you for insulting my sister and her friends last night because of that ‘habit’, and because of it now that’s all everypony is going to be talking about today and quite possibly the next few days!”

“Hang on you two, no fighting now.” Vinyl said as she spread her hooves in front of both ponies, acting as if she was holding them back. “Now Fiery, apologize for saying naughty words.”

“But I already did!”

“Fiery…”

Fiery sighed and rolled his eyes. Not wanting to make his new roommates anymore upset at him, he agreed and began apologizing. “Alright, fine… Octavia, I’m sorry I said a bad word.”

“And?”

“And I promise to try to hold my tongue when I get upset and tend to curse.”

“Good.” Vinyl then turned to Octavia. “Now you ‘Tavi.”

“What? Why should I apologize?” Octavia asked, acting as if she was insulted.

“’Tavi…”

Octavia sighed. “Alright, fine… Fiery… No, Joseph. Joseph, I’m very sorry for not believing your stories.”

“Not what I had in mind, but good start ‘Tavi.”

Octavia looked at her friend, eyebrow raised. “What did you mean then?”

“I meant more along the lines of being stuck-up and not letting Fiery having any fun.” Vinyl answered, grinning widely.

“Vinyl!”

Ignoring her friend completely, Vinyl turned to Fiery. “So Fiery, about Earth-“

“Oh, uh, right. Well, I guess I should start with the downs, save the best for last, right?” Vinyl nodded. “Right, so, anyways, Earth has many problems I suppose. First off, the economy, although it has been getting better, crashed about five years ago, making a lot of people homeless and losing their jobs. Not to mention the massive debt the country I lived in owes due to starting two wars that can’t be won, all because of the people in charge and their greed/raging hard-on for violence.”

“That’s awful! Why would you want to live in such a place?” Octavia asked, astonished, although doubting herself as to why should have even bothered to listen in first place.

“Well, because, I have hope.” Fiery answered simply as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Hope?”

“Yeah, hope. I mean, granted, the people in charge right now are greedy a-holes that continue to destroy our country from the inside-out, but I’m hoping that, because the way things are turning out, people will finally realize what’s happening and in a sense ‘rise up’ against the machine, not violently of course though. It might turn to a point where it might end up that way though.”

“Again, that doesn’t sound very good Fiery.” Octavia told him.

“Well, because I’ve only told you the problems. The truth is, the civilization of mankind has existed around for almost 10,000 years, many empires and kingdoms have fallen over the course of those years, so whether the ‘empire’ I live in right now falls or not depends on the people. But enough about that; Mankind has done many wonderful things over the years.”

“Like what?” Vinyl asked.

“Well, have you guys ever gone to outer space and have reached the heavens above?” Vinyl and Octavia shook her heads, making Fiery smile. “Mankind has. For over 60 years now, mankind has been able to reach the stars, exploring the vast emptiness of space and its wonders, even landing on the moon orbiting our planet! We’ve done other miraculous things on Earth as well though, things like creating cures for various diseases-“

“We can do that too.” Octavia interrupted. “Although I must admit, if what you’re saying is true, and if you are an alien from another world… Well, I’ll be honest Fiery, I’d like to hear more about outer space.”

“Never took you as a science geek ‘Tavi.”

“She doesn’t need to be a science geek to have an interest in space, Vinyl. That’s one of the beautiful things about human ingenuity, and from what I’ve seen here in Equestria so far, pony ingenuity as well. We have this… thirst for knowledge, that the only way it can be quenched is by trying to do the impossible. For the longest time man could never learn to fly, sure it had been tried over the centuries, sometimes even almost being done, but they weren’t able to succeed in the end, no matter how hard they tried. It wasn’t until a little over 100 years ago did two men by the names of Orville and Wilbur Wright, did they find a way to make a flying machine. Now, thanks to human ingenuity, humans have been able to make machines nowadays that are capable of breaking the sound barrier!”

For almost three hours afterwards, Fiery continued to make them astounded by what humans had been able to accomplish over the years.

“Well Fiery, I must admit, as astonished as I am… I just can’t see way how you could possibly make this all up. I… I guess you really are an alien. I mean, you’ve told us of both good and bad things that you humans have been able to do over the years, and now, I almost wish that my calling wasn’t being a cellist.” Octavia said as she got up from her seat, finally being able to put away the dirty dishes of breakfast.

“Thanks I guess?”

“Welp-“ Vinyl took the attention as she began to stretch her arms and crack her neck. “I better get back to bed.”

“Already? It’s only noon though.” Fiery commented as he looked over to the clock on the wall.

“True, but I work at night, so it would be bad if I was tired, right?” Fiery seemed to understand and nodded. “Alright then, goodnight Fiery!” She then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, grinning afterwards. “That’s how we say goodnight to one another here.”

“Vinyl! That’s an absolute lie and you know it!”

As Vinyl left the room and began to go up the stairs, giggling all the way, Octavia sighed and sat across the confused Fiery. “I have to apologize Fiery, Vinyl can be a little…“

“Playful?”

“That’s one way of putting it, yes.” She then turned her frown into a smile and looked at Fiery. “How are you taking this world so far?”

Fiery shrugged his shoulders. “It’s peaceful, you know? I mean, sure, I want to go back home and all because it’s only natural, but there’s something… homely about this place, you know?” Octavia could only shrug. “I guess it’s only me then.”

“What was your life like back on your world?”

“I was studying to become a lawyer, as forced by my mom.” He answered. “Instead, I would constantly goof off and not focus on my studies at all. In fact, I’m more than certain I’ve probably failed a couple of my classes this semester, without the help of me getting abducted and all.”

“Now when you say forced…”

Fiery looked up and nodded. “Yeah, haven’t your parents ever made you do anything you absolutely hated?”

“Well of course! I mean, I always hated eating broccoli, but my parents always made me eat it because they knew it was good for me and-“

Fiery shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. What I mean is that my mom, she didn’t care what I wanted to do with my life. Everything I cared about or wanted to do, she’d shut me off from it someway and make me do something she’d want in return. Example: becoming a lawyer. I hate law, I hate studying law, I hate everything that has anything to do with law, but because my mom wanted me to become a lawyer and threatened to cut me off financially and other things like taking away my guitar and all, I was forced into it.”

“And your father just let it happen?” Octavia asked, not realizing what she had done. Fiery became quiet instantly, not going off on another rant of his, but rather becoming completely silent. “Fiery?” Still, no response. “Fiery? Did I say something wrong?”

Finally, Fiery looked up and responded. “Hmm? Oh, uh, sorry Octavia, I just… My dad left my mom and me when I was only four. He, uh, he was cheating on her.”

Octavia gasped and covered her mouth with her hooves, shocked. “Oh my goodness! Fiery, I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t know, I-“

Fiery shook his head and smiled at Octavia. “It’s alright, its ancient history; what’s done is done. Actually, in a kind of funny way, my dad leaving is sort of the reason why my mom wanted me to become a lawyer.” He said, chuckling. “They had both gone to college together and both became lawyers. I don’t know what was going through her mind the entire time, but for whatever reason, I guess that if I became successful, maybe my dad would come back to her or something.” He ended on that with shrugging his shoulders. He looked down at where his phone and cigarettes were on the table, then back at Octavia. “Do you mind if I take my things back? You know, they sort of help me relax and all.”

Octavia looked over to the items he was pointing at, then back at him and sighed. “Well, I suppose I can, but I wish to know something Fiery.”

“Um… yes?”

“Just what was it that was making that awful smoke?”

“Oh… you, uh, smelled it I guess?”

“Smelled it? I nearly choked on it when I tried going onto the balcony yesterday for some fresh air, and it doesn’t smell like typical smoke.”

Fiery looked down a bit, slightly guilty. “That’s because it isn’t. There’s drugs in there that help me to calm down, which in return, cause the smoke to smell bad.”

“Drugs? It’s nothing bad is it?” She asked with sincere worry.

Fiery raised his eyebrows and tilted his head while shrugging. “Well… It’s not exactly illegal, but it’s not exactly good for you either…”

“If it isn’t good for you, then what does it exactly do?”

Fiery shrugged again. “I don’t know what’s in it exactly, but all I can tell you is that in exchange for feeling relieved of stress, somewhere down the line in life… you sorta, uh, tend to get sick…”

“How sick exactly?” Octavia asked, raising an eyebrow and asking in a more forceful tone.

Fiery hesitated for a moment, knowing what would come if he told her the truth, so he did the only thing he thought he could do. “You get a minor cold.”

“… You get a cold?” She repeated, not believing it for a minute.

“Yep.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I took one and, what was it? ‘Smoked’ it?” She asked as she put her hooves together and placed them in front of her face as she raised her eyebrow.

“Oh… uh, I think it’d be better if you didn’t do that.”

“Why not? After all, the worst thing that would happen is getting a cold, right?” She asked, pressuring him more for information.

Fiery could see right through her ‘interrogation’, and sighed, feeling defeated. “Fine, fine! You got me Octavia, they’re not good for you! In fact, they’re terrible!” He yelled, startling the cello-playing pony. After realizing he had startled her, he sighed once more and calmed down enough to continue talking in a reasonable voice, apologizing as well. “Sorry, it’s just… yes, they do calm me down, but in return, they have a high chance of… giving you cancer… The reason why I didn’t tell you before, is, well, let’s just say I’ve already gotten the same treatment from my mom.”

Both ponies stayed silent for several seconds, before Octavia turned to the smokes, then back to Fiery. “So they give you cancer?” She asked, and Fiery nodded silently as he looked away from her, feeling defeated. She turned back to the smokes, and asked him another question. “Is there any way to help you stop getting cancer?”

Fiery looked back up and at Octavia with a raised eyebrow. “You mean like if there’s a way to stop from getting it altogether?” Octavia nodded. “Well… I mean, the only way that I know of right now I guess is to stop smoking it altogether and let your lungs heal.”

“I see…” She reached out for the box and took a closer look at it, turning it around and seeing a warning label that she hadn’t seen before, seeing that what was on it was a list of various diseases cigarettes could cause, before looking back at Fiery and sighing, handing the cigarettes to him. “Here.”

Fiery continued to keep his eyebrow raised, surprised at the turn of events. “Really? Even after everything I told you? You’re still going to give me them?” He asked, and she nodded. “But… why?”

“Because Fiery, I have no right telling what you have to do with your life. You have to make the right choice to stop, or run out as it seems in the box, as I’m not you. Now take them before I do change my mind and take them once and for all.”

Fiery smirked a bit, surprised at her and how accepting she was about his problem, before taking the tiny box from her. “Thanks Octavia, I appreciate it.” He reached out for his phone as well and began to go upstairs, leaving Octavia to herself in the dining room.

Earlier in the day on the other side of town, two unicorn mares, one purple and the other light blue, were going to a certain yellow pegasus’s house.

(6) Dream On

Princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle were on their way to Fluttershy’s house when Twilight suddenly decided to stop. “Princess… Did we ever pick an alias for you in case anybody wonders who you are? I mean, it’s not exactly like you can go around in that form and still call yourself Princess Luna.”

Luna stopped alongside Twilight to consider what she meant. “I see what you mean Twilight Sparkle, perhaps I should choose an alias… What about just Luna?”

Twilight facehoofed. “Uh, perhaps we should choose something that doesn’t have your name in it?”

“Hmm, I suppose… What about… Moonlight Eclipse?” Luna suggested.

Twilight facehoofed once again. “You’re going to suggest something that’s somehow related to the moon each time, aren’t you?”

“Indeed.”

Twilight sighed. “I suppose Moonlight Eclipse will have to do then…” Twilight said in an annoyed tone. “At least Fluttershy’s house isn’t far from here, we should be there in a couple of minutes.”

And in a couple of minutes they were indeed there. But before Luna, or Moonlight at this point, had the chance to knock on the door, Twilight had stopped her. “Luna, what should our backstory for you be?”

“Whatever do you mean Twilight Sparkle?”

“Well, first off, stop calling me Twilight Sparkle, just call me Twilight, okay?” Luna nodded in response. “Secondly, I don’t think anypony’s gonna believe that I just met you today, so we need to think of something that would make the other ponies in town believe us.”

Luna put her hoof on her chin trying to think. “Hmm… What if… What if I was your friend from Canterlot when you still lived there, and that I’m just visiting you for a while.”

Twilight thought about it. “Hmm, I never really did talk about my life in Canterlot… I guess we could make it believable.” They both agreed on it and proceeded to knock on Fluttershy’s door. Luna spoke up once more before she came to the door.

“Twilight?”

“Yes Princess?”

“Why didn’t we think of these things before leaving the library?”

“… No idea.”

Just then Fluttershy answered the door with Angel on her back. “Oh, hello Twilight, I wasn’t expecting you today.” Fluttershy said to her friend with a smile, only to notice Luna milliseconds later. “Oh, h-hello. A-are you one of Tw-twilight’s friends?” She nervously said, unsure of who this new pony was.

“You don’t need to worry Fluttershy.” Twilight spoke to her timid friend, trying to soothe her of her being frightened over Luna. “This is Moonlight Eclipse. She’s a friend I had from Canterlot when I was still studying under Princess Celestia.”

“O-Oh, it’s, um, very nice to meet you Moonlight.” Fluttershy now said in a more calm voice, now knowing the new pony wasn’t going to harm her in anyway.

“Likewise dear Fluttershy. Twilight has spoken proudly of you and the rest of her friends here in Ponyville. You seem to have treated her very well since she had left Canterlot.”

“O-Oh, um, y-you’re welcome?” Fluttershy said, still somewhat uneasy, before she turned to Twilight again. “W-Was there anything I could help you girls with?”

“Actually Fluttershy, there is. It was actually the entire reason we came to see you.” Twilight responded.

“Oh? Whatever could it be Twilight?... D-did something bad happen in town? D-did th-that new p-pony do something bad to s-somepony?” Fluttershy said with fear in her voice.

“No, nothing bad is happening in town.” Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief after hearing that. “Though it does concern that new pony from last night.” Fluttershy went right back to being afraid as she was very scared of the new pony that had insulted her and her friends last night at the party.

“I-it does?” Fluttershy said timidly, as Angel got on top of her head trying to act tough for the timid pegasus.

“Actually Fluttershy, we were wondering if you could help us to get him to open up to us, as I’m sure last night was just a fluke.” Twilight said trying to reassure Fluttershy. “We need you to come with us to the house he’s staying at and want you to come along as for some reason I think he sensed you weren’t threatening to him.”

“H-Help you open him up? I-I-I mean, I-I s-suppose I could... B-B-But why? I mean, i-if you don’t mind me asking...”

“Why? Well...” Twilight began to rub the back of her neck with her hoof, unsure as to what to say to her friend. Luna happened to know that Twilight was unsure what to say, thanks to all of the studying she did on how modern ponies acted, and was able to cut in to help.

“What she means to say dear Fluttershy, is that Twilight here had gotten a request from Ti- um, I mean Princess Celestia-” Having to say her sister’s name in royal form irked Luna a bit, but was able to continue to have a straight face on. “To help this pony open up and help him gain friends, as it turns out that he’s had a very miserable life so far, and could really use some good friends.”

“I-I see. W-Well, I suppose I have time to spare-”

“Great!” Twilight said, using her magic to begin pulling the poor mare before she even had a chance to finish speaking. Fluttershy, stunned at the turn of events, could only ‘eep’ as Twilight and Luna pulled her along to the home that Fiery had lived in.

On the other side of town, back in the home of the musicians, Fiery had just gone upstairs to smoke while Octavia had gone downstairs to clean the dishes. Walking out to the balcony, Fiery pulled one of the cigarettes out of the tiny box and brought it up to his mouth, ready to light it. Right as he activated the lighter and brought it close to his mouth, a knock came from his door, making him groan and take the cigarette out before turning around.

“Yeah?” He called out in an aggravated tone, but he got no response. Sighing, he turned back around onto the balcony and brought the cigarette to his mouth again, but once more, a knock came from his door. ‘God damnit!’

He stomped his way over to the door, clearly irritated at the game that was being played, and swung the door open. “What?!” He yelled out, expecting somepony to be there, but nopony was there. Looking both ways, he still didn’t see anypony, until Octavia poked her head around the corner at the bottom of the stairs.

“Is something the matter Fiery?”

Fiery looked back downstairs with a face of annoyance on. “Were you knocking on my door?”

Octavia shook her head. “No, why do you ask?”

Rolling his eyes, Fiery shook his head in return. “Nevermind.”

As he was closing the door to his bedroom, he finally caught a glimpse of something that was lying on the floor in front of his door. Reaching his hoof out, he picked it up with ease to get a closer look at the item. “A vial?” He thought out loud. As he got an even closer look though, he could see that the liquid in said vial was clear but with a hint of blue, and a note on the ground as well. Picking up the note with his other hoof, he stood on his back legs so he could continue to hold the vial while he read the note.

‘Drink this before going to sleep for wonderful dreams.

Love, Somepony close to you.’

Looking back at the vial, Fiery raised an eyebrow. “The fuck?”

Completely ignoring what the note said, although it did make him wonder a bit, he walked back inside his room and closed the door after he was able to walk over on his back legs to the nightstand and place the items on top of it. He went back out onto the balcony, grabbing the cigarette one last time, and finally lit it. Inhaling the toxic fumes, he accidently breathed too much in, making him cough. “Shit… Haven’t had a damn cigarette in such a long time that I almost forgot how to smoke one.”

After several minutes and after finishing the cigarette, he threw it onto the ground and began to stomp on it with his hoof, turning around and going back into the room after he was done. After he had gone to the bathroom and cleaned up in there so that he wouldn’t have the smell of cigarettes stuck to him, he came back out and jumped onto the bed, spreading himself out as he began to relax on the fresh blankets. He could feel himself becoming more tired the more he relaxed, when he opened his eyes a bit and saw the vial from before.

He reached out with his hoof and grabbed it, pulling it back in and beginning to look at it as he laid on his back. “So I’m supposed to drink this, huh?” He thought out loud. Sitting upright, he pulled the top off and thought about smelling the liquid. What he didn’t realize though, was how foul-smelling the liquid was, making him go into another coughing fit as the smell penetrated his nose.

Quickly plugging the vial back up, he tried his best to continue to cough as he walked back into the bathroom, vial in mouth. ‘Sorry whoever sent this; I don’t know if you were trying to help me or make me sick or whatever, but there’s no way in Hell I’m drinking this.’ He thought to himself as he unplugged the vial and began to pour the substance down the sink. After the last of the substance went down the drain.

After all that was said and done, he went back to bed, happy and somewhat refreshed.

Back in Canterlot, the royal white alicorn whom everypony knew turned towards her visitor who had just come back from their ‘mission’. “So, how did it go?” Celestia asked the figure as they walked into the room.

“It went well.” The figure replied. “I had knocked a few times on his door, just in case he didn’t hear me the first time.”

“And you’re sure neither he nor anypony else saw or hear you?” Celestia asked worriedly.

The figure rolled her eyes. “You worry too much Celly. Of course I’m sure nopony saw me.”

Sighing, Celestia smiled at the figure once more and nodded. “Forgive me, I only wish to know if your mission was a success or not. After all, it’s very important to keep them both in the dark until it is time.”

“Again, don’t worry about it Celly. I’m more than certain he found the potion and drank it. All we have to worry about now is waiting for the right time to wake the two. Once they wake up, we’ll be able to proceed with the prophecy like we planned all those years ago.” The figure replied, finally smiling back at the alicorn.

It had been a while since Fiery had a bizarre dream, but he could safely say that the one he was currently having was taking the cake. He had been walking in a forested area for quite some time, not really sure what he was looking for. For some odd reason or another he was still in his pony body, but at the same time, it felt right for him to be in it.

Finally, after walking for what felt like forever in his dream, he had found what he was looking for; the ruins of an old castle. He didn’t know he was looking for it, but when his eyes laid on it, something in his mind clicked and said that he needed to go inside of it. Crossing the bridge built across the large chasm, He entered the old ruins.

Upon entering the ruins, he walked up to what looked like a old throne, and touched it with his hoof, feeling the smooth, cold surface. Looking up, the shadows of what people would call the past began playing out in front of him without him even realizing it.

Squinting hard, Fiery could see a small figure in the direction he was looking in. He barely got a glimpse of it, but what he saw was a small red unicorn. He tried calling out to the figure, wondering why such a young pony was in some place dangerous. “Hey! Yeah, you! You okay?” He called out, but the pony only stood still, not responding at all.

When he tried taking a step forward towards the pony, the pony would take a step back. “Hey, hey, I’m not going to hurt you.” Fiery said calmly, even smiling at the pony. “I just want to get to know you. Where are your parents? Are you alone? What’s your name?” Before he could venture any further though to figure out who this red unicorn was, his thoughts were disturbed, as he began to hear the voice of someone very familiar.

“Wake up Fiery!”

“… Octavia? Where are you?” Fiery called out, not sure which way the voice was coming from. When he looked back in the direction of where the small unicorn was, it was gone, making him begin to wonder.

“Wake! Up!”

“What do you mean wake up? I am awake! Where are you Octavia?”

“Wake up Fiery!”

With a sudden thrust, Fiery began to fall downwards. Not knowing what was going on anymore, he began to do the only thing he could do. Panic.

“Wake up Fiery! Wake! Up!” Octavia yelled as she began to smack Fiery on the cheeks, trying her damndest to wake him up. As she was walking up the stairs after had finally cleaned all the dishes and made sure that was everything put away neatly, she had heard murmurs and whimpers coming from Fiery’s room. She had knocked on the door, even calling out for him, but got no answer from him. She went into his room hoping he was alright, when she saw him thrashing about in his sleep. At first she tried to nudge him awake, hoping he would wake up, but to no avail. That’s when she got up on his bed and began to smack his cheeks to get him to wake up.

Finally, after smacking him enough times, Fiery had woken up in a sweat, panting hard. “W-What? What’s going on?! Where am I?!” He asked, clearly panicked.

“Calm down Fiery, calm down… It’s alright.” Octavia said in a soothing voice, trying her best to calm him.

Fiery looked at Octavia, still clearly confused as to what was happening. “O-Octavia… What happened? I-I remember… Why did you wake me up?”

“Why? Because you were freaking out in your sleep, that’s why! You were flailing around asking for your mother and… somepony else, I don’t know who. Anyways, you were so out of control in your bed, I did the only thing I could think of to help you, which was slapping you and yelling for you to wake up.” She replied in an upset tone, as well as a look of worry on her face.

“Oh… Um, thanks then, I guess…”

“You’re welcome Fiery, just… please; don’t begin freaking out on me like that again. I was seriously scared when I saw you acting that way when I passed by your door.”

Finally calmed down enough, Fiery looked up at Octavia and smirked a bit, trying to make her relax now. “Um… Octavia?”

“Yes Fiery?”

“Could you… perhaps tell me who I was calling out for?”

Octavia shook her head. “I just told you, I don’t know who you were calling out it for, because it sounded garbled almost each time you said it.”

“Oh…”

Trying to make him feel better, Octavia smiled and spoke in a calming tone. “Well, I need to get going Fiery, practice with my cello and all. If you need anything, I’m right next door.” She said, using her hoof to point at his wall.

Fiery smiled back and nodded. “Alright, will do Octavia.”

After Octavia left the room, Fiery put his head down on the pillow, trying to sleep once more. Sighing, he began to try to remember the dream he had. ‘What was it?’ He thought. ‘I remember a forest, and I was walking through it… What happened after that?’ Before he could remember anymore though, he began to hear what he would describe as the most beautiful music he had ever heard. Getting up from his bed, he went to his door, following the sweet flow of music to the room next to his.

Slowly opening the door to the room, he crept inside. Upon entering the room as quietly as possible, he saw that Octavia was sitting on her bed, cello in hooves and eyes closed, letting her hooves do the work as she let the music she played flow through her.

He watched her, stunned not at how well she played, but for other reasons. He didn’t know if it was because he was in pony form now and so he was starting to be attracted to mares, but right at that moment, while she was playing her cello, he thought that she was the most beautiful mare in the world. So graceful, so brilliant, so-

Before he could think of anymore words though, the music had stopped.

With a sweet and sincere smile, Octavia had opened her eyes and was looking at Fiery, who was still stunned by her beauty. “Did you enjoy the performance Mr. Strings?” She asked in an alluring tone.

Fiery, not knowing what to say, began to nod before he began to stumble on an answer. “U-Uh, um, t-that was a very beautiful piece.”

“Why thank you Fiery. I do try my best to be as perfect as possible.” She said in the same tone, not knowing the effect it was having on Fiery.

Before Fiery could comment anymore though, a knock had come from the front door downstairs. “U-Um, I should probably go get that.”

“Alright then, I’ll be up here still practicing.”

Fiery nodded, then went back into the hallway, closing the door to Octavia’s room behind him. As he closed the door, he clenched his heart with his hoof, feeling his cheeks with his other hoof. ‘Was… Was I falling for her right there?’ Before he could ask himself anymore questions though, the knocking had continued. “Yeah, yeah, alright…” He said out loud, knowing that nopony could hear him, but didn’t really care about it. Grabbing his guitar from his room on his way down, he opened the front door of the house to reveal a butter-yellow coated pegasus with a pink mane and tail and three butterflies for a Cutie Mark. Fiery raised his eyebrow as he looked at the new pony with confusion. “Can I help you?”

(7) Mixed Emotions

After dragging her friend through the streets of Ponyville for nearly an hour to get to the other side of town, Twilight, along with Princess Luna in her disguise, were now in front of the house that Fiery lived in. They pushed Fluttershy onto the front porch before they hid in some nearby bushes to watch what would happen. “Alright Fluttershy, just remember the plan. Use your kindness to help him open up, then tell us what he said.”

Fluttershy, still completely nervous, looked back at her friend with fright. “U-Um, T-Twilight? I-Is this r-really such a good idea? I-I mean, I-I know I said I would help, b-b-but m-maybe he doesn’t want to open up?”

Twilight, who was on her way to the bushes, looked back at the yellow pegasus and smiled. “Of course it’s a good idea Fluttershy. Now, do your best!” And with that, the purple unicorn jumped in the bush next to Luna’s, pricking herself on some branches on the dive in.

Fluttershy, who had turned back to the door and was about to knock on it, gulped in fear. Very slowly, she raised her hoof to the door, and with a quick motion, knocked on it a few times. Wanting to hid herself, she turned around and tried to run, only to have a purple aura surround her and place her back on the doorstep. Using her magic from afar, Twilight knocked on the door once more knowing that Fluttershy wouldn’t do it herself by controlling Fluttershy’s hoof.

Seconds after knocking the door opened to reveal a brown earth pony with a crimson mane and tail, a guitar for a Cutie Mark. “May I help you?” The stallion asked Fluttershy, who still had her back turned to the door. Twilight rolled her eyes, seeing that Fluttershy wasn’t going to turn herself around, and used her magic for a third time to turn her friend in the direction of the stallion.

As Fluttershy was forcibly turned around, she saw the stallion looking at her, a look of slight confusion of his face. She smiled a bit, laughed, and then in typical fashion of when her nervousness overloaded, fainted. Twilight facehoofed herself inside the bush, cursing herself for not helping Fluttershy calm down some before knocking on the door.

Fiery, now completely confused as to what the hell just happened, looked around the area to make sure that nobody was looking at him, before looking down at the fainted pegasus again. Sighing, he reached his hoof out and grabbed the mare’s tail. ‘God I hope no one sees this.’ He thought to himself as he began to pull the fainted mare into the house. After pulling her safely into the house and near the couch, he was able to lift the pegasus into up onto the couch. “So just why did you faint on the front porch? What are you even doing here?” He asked the unconscious pony, knowing he wouldn’t get an answer.

Sighing once more, he went over to where he had placed his guitar and picked it up, before returning to one of the chairs across from the couch. Although it was faint, he could still hear the sounds of Octavia practicing upstairs, and thought it would be good for him to practice as well, or at least try to figure out if what happened last time was a fluke or not. Playing a couple of chords, he could feel the same fuzziness from before flow through him, before his thoughts were interrupted by the stirring of the new guest.

As the pegasus turned her head over to where Fiery was sitting, she ‘eep’ed once more and quickly flew over the couch to protect herself, making Fiery chuckle. “Well, had I known that was the response I was going to get, I probably would’ve left you out on the porch.” He said, somewhat surprised not only at the reaction, but how fast she had woken up.

“D-D-Don’t h-hurt me, please.” Fluttershy whimpered, closing her eyes in fright as she continued to hide in a fetal position behind the couch.

“Hurt you?” Fiery repeated, shocked by the comment. “Why in the world would I hurt you?”

Fluttershy looked up from behind the couch, still frightened, and answered him. “B-Because, t-t-the party. Y-You said…” She ‘eep’ed again and hid behind the couch again, too embarrassed to say the words.

Finally remembering where he saw the pegasus, Fiery smiled at the pegasus and began to try to calm her down. “Oh, I see… I have to apologize, I was really drunk at the time and was in a foul mood, but I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“Y-You Pinkie Promise?”

“Uh, sure… Anyways, what’s your name?” He asked, playing a few chords of his guitar as he tried to get the pegasus to open up some. She wouldn’t budge at all, only whimpering some. “Okay… My name is Fiery Strings, now what’s yours?” He asked again.

“F-F-Flu-Fluttershy.” She hesitantly said, still not really comfortable giving her name away.

“Okay, Fluttershy. That’s a… pretty name.” Fiery said with a smile. He didn’t really know if it would be a compliment or not, not really being a pony, but he knew that things usually worked that way. Compliment a girl on their name, and they’ll feel more relaxed around you. “So, Fluttershy, what brings you to our lovely abode?”

At the mention of her name, Fluttershy ‘eep’ed again, before calming down enough to answer him. “I-I-I, u-um, I-I c-came t-t-t-to say h-hello.”

Fiery, not really knowing what to make of this, burst into laughter, making Fluttershy hide behind the couch again. “Sorry, sorry.” He apologized to the scared pegasus, continuing to laugh. “I-I just didn’t expect that type of answer.”

“O-Oh, um, I’m sorry.” Fluttershy replied.

Waving his hoof, Fiery was able to calm down and continued to speak. “It’s alright. But really, were you really here just to say hi?” He asked the yellow pegasus while he raised his eyebrow. Fluttershy, not knowing how to really respond, was only able to shake her head. “Do you mind if I ask what you were doing then?”

“I-I j-just wanted to s-say hello?” She repeated, making Fiery sigh.

“Alright then, hi.” He said in an annoyed tone. Seeing that he was going to get nowhere with Fluttershy, he went back to focusing on his guitar. Plucking a few chords, he began to think of a song to play to test out the magic once again. Glancing over to the far wall, over next to the front door, was a picture that Fiery hadn’t noticed before until now. He began to snicker at it, as it was a painting of both Vinyl and Octavia, but as sea animals. Octavia, an octopus; and Vinyl, a shark. Looking at the picture for a little longer, he finally got the perfect idea for a song to test out.

Clearing his voice, he set the guitar up on his lap properly again and began to feel the fuzziness from before return. Fluttershy seemed to have been studying him as he set himself up, and was in a surprise when he began to play a few chords, the sounds of a bass guitar began to play, and Fiery began to sing right afterwards.

“I’d like to be, under the sea, in an octopus’s garden, in the shade.” He sang, with the sound of a piano began playing along with the bass guitar and Fiery’s guitar, with a drum set joining in as well. “He’d let us in, knows where we’ve been, in his octopus garden, in the shade.”

Fluttershy, having been completely quiet the entire time, was amazed at not only Fiery playing, but at all the specters that ended up forming behind him as he played. Giggling at how silly the song was, she began to feel more relaxed around the stallion, and when he was finally done playing, smiled at him. “U-Um, i-if you don’t mind me saying, t-that was a very nice song you played.”

Fiery smiled back. “Thanks.”

“U-Um…”

“Yes?”

“D-Do you mind, I-I mean, i-if it’s a-alright with you; w-where did you learn to play like that?” Fiery’s smile faded away, and sighed, making Fluttershy go into apologizing mode. “Oh! I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to offend, I just thought-“

Holding his hoof up, Fiery stopped Fluttershy before she could apologize anymore. “It’s alright. To tell you the truth, I get that question a lot. If you have to know though, it’s sort of a gift I got when I was young. I don’t know who did it or why, but whenever I play this guitar, I’m able to play like no other pony.” He lied. “The magic of the guitar sort of flows through me, and when I think of a song, I’m able to play. Any extra instruments or vocals that are needed sort of… well, you saw for yourself.”

“I-I see…”

“So, have anything else on your mind?” Fiery asked, smiling at Fluttershy once more. She nodded in return.

“U-Um, c-can I get a drink?”

“Sure. What do you want? Water? Juice?”

“Water will be fine, thank you.” She said politely. Fiery nodded and placed his guitar at the side of the chair, getting up afterwards and walking towards the kitchen. As Fiery walked away, Fluttershy began to look around the room. She noticed that for the most part, the room was very clean. The only things that seemed to be out of place were various papers that were a few days old along with some music magazines that were sitting on the coffee table. Suddenly, she felt a cold, wet feeling on her cheek and nearly jumped into the air ten feet. As she tried calming herself down in the air, she heard laughing and turned her head to see Fiery holding a glass of water in hoof, chuckling at the turn of events.

“S-Sorry, that was mean of me. I didn’t mean to scare you at all, honestly.” He said as he calmed himself down and looked up at Fluttershy, smiling. Fluttershy had also calmed down enough, and accepted his offer. Slowly flapping her wings, she gently settled back down onto the couch. “Here you go.” Fiery said, handing the glass of water over to her. Unfortunately, Fluttershy hadn’t gripped the glass correctly, making the glass slip out of her hooves to the ground, where fortunately it didn’t break. However, the water inside did spill all over Fluttershy.

‘Shit!’ “Crap, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do this!” Fiery exclaimed as he quickly grabbed one of the old newspapers on the coffee table as the water began to run its course on Fluttershy’s body, slowly creeping its way down between her legs. Not knowing what was really going on anymore, and too shocked to really speak, Fluttershy let Fiery clean her up as he began to pat her dry with the old newspaper. As Fiery continued to pat her dry, he began to lower the paper lower and lower towards between her legs, when they both realized where he was going to end up. He looked up slowly to Fluttershy’s face, both of their faces red. “U-Uh, um, t-this isn’t what it looks like?”

“Am I interrupting something?” A voice came from the stairs, making both Fiery and Fluttershy turn their heads. There, standing at the bottom of the stairs, was Octavia with her eyebrow raised, questioning Fiery’s motives.

“O-Octavia! This isn’t what it looks like!” Fiery exclaimed, quickly moving away from Fluttershy. “You see, I had accidently spilled some water on her and I was just cleaning her up and I-“ But he stopped as he saw Octavia raise her hoof up to stop him.

“I know you’re a stallion Fiery, but I’d appreciate it if next time you didn’t try to lie to me. If you wanted privacy, you should have gone upstairs into your room.”

Realizing what she was talking about, Fiery opened up his mouth to respond, when he glanced over to see that the yellow pegasus had, once again, fainted, quite possibly from also figuring out what Octavia was talking about. Getting closer to Fluttershy, Fiery began to poke her with his hoof, seeing if she was alright. Seeing that her chest was rising up and down, he concluded that she was indeed alright and looked back at Octavia. “You know, you didn’t have to say that.”

“And I didn’t have to come down the steps seeing you eating her out.” Octavia replied with an annoyed tone. She began to walk into the dining room and into the kitchen when Fiery spoke again.

Fiery’s mouth hung open for a few seconds, shocked at what Octavia had said. After getting over the initial shock, he shook his head, as if it would make everyone forget the face he had on before he began to yell at Octavia. “E-Eating her out?! Are you insane?! She’s a pony!”

“And what’s wrong with us ponies?” Octavia asked, whipping back around to face Fiery who had begun to follow her.

“Oh, er, nothing. Nothing’s wrong with ponies.” Fiery answered, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘Shit, this is not good.’ “A-As I was saying though, there was some water that had spilled on her, and everything was moving so fast that I ended up grabbing one of the old newspapers that were on the coffee table!”

“Likely story.”

“It’s true!” Fiery exclaimed. He went back to where the glass still was and picked it off the ground, placing it on the coffee table before grabbing the newspaper he was cleaning Fluttershy with. “See?” He said, pointing at the paper with his other hoof. “H-How in the world did you even come up with the conclusion that we were doing something like that in the first place?!”

Now that her face was becoming deep red from her imagination going wild, Octavia turned her head so she no longer looked at Fiery before replying. “I-I saw your head hidden behind the couch arm, and I saw that her face was bright red, s-so I had come up with the conclusion that you were doing something naughty to her.” She said, and then turned to look at Fiery once again. “Is it not alright for me to think that something like that happened?”

“When it makes us both embarrassed and have our guest faint, yes!” Fiery exclaimed, sighing afterwards. Looking at Fluttershy again, he sighed once more, shaking his head in frustration. “What are we going to do about her?”

“I think the first question that needs to be answered is why she’s even here in the first place. Did you go out and drag the poor dear back here?”

“Do you really think I’m some sort of sexual deviant or something? Hello! Joseph to Octavia! Not a real pony, not exactly willing to have sex with your species!” He said, glaring back at her.

“You never know, you’re in a stallion body, you might end up some urges.” She shot back.

Sighing again, Fiery facehoofed, then looked at Octavia with a frustrated face. “What’s with you? I mean, I know I haven’t been here long, but when I saw you practicing upstairs, you seemed so calm. What the hell happened to turn you into…”

“Into what?” She asked, crossing her arms as she sat on the ground and giving Fiery a death glare.

Not wanting to get hurt by the grey mare, Fiery continued. “Anyways, why are you acting like this? This doesn’t seem like you.”

Continuing her death glare, Octavia gave in after a while and sighed, before looking at Fiery with an apologetic face. “I’m sorry Fiery, I know I shouldn’t have acted that way… The reason is… well, when I saw you like that with Fluttershy-“

“Wait, you know her name?” Fiery interrupted, raising his eyebrow.

“Of course I do. I mean, she is my sister’s friend after all, and one of the Elements of Harmony. It’s sort of hard not to know her when you’re living here.”

“Oh, I see. You were saying?”

Rolling her eyes, she continued her comment. “When I thought you were doing you-know-what with Fluttershy, it… it brought up some bad memories, alright? I guess I was just a little jealous… Although, this is Fluttershy we’re speaking about, so I suppose I did jump to a conclusion a little bit too fast.”

“You think?” Fiery commented, raising his eyebrow. Octavia ignored him and turned back around, entering the kitchen to make herself dinner. When Fiery was about to comment on her leaving the conversation, he heard the sound of a certain pegasus waking up again. He walked back over to Fluttershy, and as she began to stir awake, helped her sit back up properly. “You okay?” He asked, worried that she was going to faint once more.

“W-What happened?” Fluttershy asked.

“Uh…” Fiery didn’t know how to begin explaining what had happened in a delicate way, so he said it straight. “I sort of spilled some water on you, and… when I was cleaning you up, my roommate sort of, well, had a wild imagination and thought we were doing something we weren’t doing.”

“O-Oh…” Fluttershy’s face was its normal butter-cream yellow for a few seconds, before she began to dwell on what Fiery told her, and remembered what had just occurred. Suddenly, that butter-cream yellow face became beet red once again.

“H-Hey! Don’t faint on me again!” Fiery called out, trying to stop her. It was too late though, as she fainted for a third time. “God damnit…” He cursed silently. Sighing, he went into the kitchen. “Hey, do you happen to know where Fluttershy lives?”

Turning from making her sandwich, Octavia put on a face questioning Fiery’s motives. “And just why do you wish to know that?”

“Because she’s fainted for a third time, and by the time she finally wake up, she’ll just keep fainting until we get out of the house and into an environment that doesn’t remind her of something that somebody said.” He responded in a scolding tone.

Sighing, Octavia put down the knife she was using and began to walk over to Fiery, and motioned him to follow her. “Come on, if we’re going to get her home before dark, then we should probably leave right now.”

Some time had passed since the brown and grey earth ponies left their house with the yellow pegasus on the brown earth pony’s back. A purple unicorn and alicorn in disguise were following them trying to figure out what was going on, but knew they couldn’t reveal themselves, lest they be suspicious about it.

“So-“ Fiery said out loud, trying to break the silence that had wrapped around them from when they left the house. “I think I’ve noticed something about this town.”

“Hmm.” Octavia responded in an uncaring tone.

Looking around him, Fiery could see all the stares he was getting from the various mares around the town that were still out. These weren’t normal stares though, as Fiery could detect a hint of lust behind them. “Is it just me, or are the wo-, err, I mean mares really creepy in this town?”

“They find you attractive.” Octavia said in the same uncaring tone.

Fiery turned his head to Octavia with a confused look on his face. “Attracted to me? What’s so special about me?”

“You’re a stallion.”

Becoming even more confused, they were both silent for several more seconds before Fiery had to know what she meant. “What does that exactly mean? I mean, yeah, I have a dick, but so what?”

Octavia rolled her eyes at Fiery’s choice of words. “It’s because of said… ‘thing’, that the mares are attracted to you. After all, our male population is low, and the mares are desperate to find a mate.”

Thinking he heard wrong, Fiery stopped in his tracks and began to pick at his ear with his hoof, then looked at Octavia with a confused look. “What?”

Sighing, Octavia turned to look at Fiery and began to explain. “Have you noticed something Fiery?”

“You mean besides the mares?”

“Yes, besides the mares.”

Looking around, Fiery began to search if there was anything out of place. Sadly, he couldn’t. “I give up.” He said looking back at Octavia.

“There are almost no stallions, Fiery. It might be strange to hear because I assume from the stories you told me, there isn’t the same problem on Earth as here, but… Our population is dying out in a way.”

“How?” Fiery asked with curiosity. Octavia only shrugged her shoulders.

“Nopony knows. All we do know is that around 100 years ago, we saw a massive change in our population. About 90% of the foals born were female, and the other 10% were male. This is a huge problem, as it seems to continue with each generation, including this one. That’s why, around 50 years ago, Princess Celestia decreed that males were allowed to have harems so-“

“Wait, harems?!” Fiery exclaimed, surprised at the remark. “You mean to say that the reason why I keep getting looks from the mares isn’t because I’m attractive or anything, but-“

“But because you’re seen as a hope for the next generation, yes. Granted, there are rules that go along with the harems, like it can only be ponies, and that you can’t have polygamy marriages, but for the most part, most stallions keep their harems until they get married, in which it becomes illegal to keep it anymore. The problem here, in Ponyville, though is that most of the stallions… well, they’re either married or not interested. That’s why you’re getting so many looks Fiery, because you’re available.”

“Waaaaitwaitwaitwait.” Fiery said while he sat down, having Fluttershy roll off his back and onto the ground gently while he tried to figure everything out. “You mean to say, that if there was no way for me to return to Earth, and as you said earlier, ‘I could have urges’… I could potentially become a stallion that could have as many mares as he wanted? And I wouldn’t get in trouble with either the government or the mares? And why is it illegal to have polygamy marriages or to keep the harems afterwards?”

Rolling her eyes and slightly annoyed, Octavia nodded. “Yes, you could, but that doesn’t mean that all the mares would be accepting of being number two or three. And please, don’t ask about the marriage part. Nopony really understands it.”

“I see… So, is that what happened to you?” Fiery asked, making Octavia blush.

“W-What? What in the world are you talking about?”

“Well, with how you reacted earlier today and said how you felt jealous and bringing up bad memories… All I can really conclude is that you’re the type of mare who’s old school, am I correct?”

Looking away, and slightly angry at how he figured it out, Octavia nodded. “Y-Yes, you are… I’d rather not talk about it.”

The two became quiet for a few seconds, when Fiery spoke again. “I see… You know, this is all interesting and stuff, but… I just don’t know how to feel about it.”

Octavia looked back at Fiery, raising her eyebrow and having a confused look on her face. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that, yes, having a harem would be cool and all, being a guy, but… something in me says it would just be wrong. I don’t know, perhaps I’m old school as well.” He responded while shrugging his shoulders. Looking back at how he made Fluttershy roll off his back, he began to pick her up once more, when she began to stir again. “She’s waking up again.” He said out loud. ‘Hopefully for the last time.’

As she slowly opened her eyes, the first thing Fluttershy saw was a smiling brown stallion looking at her. Next to him was a grey mare who seemed to have a worried look on her face. “Are you alright Fluttershy?” The mare asked.

“What happened?” Fluttershy asked, confused as to where she was.

“Uh, perhaps it’s better if you didn’t know that for right now. Here, let me help you up.” Fiery said as he reached a hoof out and helped her up. As she got up, Fiery continued to smile at her. “Hey Fluttershy?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Do you think you could get to your house on your own from here?”

Looking around to see where she was, she didn’t see Octavia hit Fiery lightly for being inconsiderate, before looking back at the two earth ponies. “U-Um, I-I think I could.”

“Alright then, I guess we’ll be-“ But Fiery was cut off by Fluttershy as she continued.

“B-But! I-I think I w-would like it if there was somepony to help me go home. I-I mean, if that’s alright…” She trailed off, remembering the entire reason why she had gone to Fiery’s house in the first place.

Fiery and Octavia looked at each other for a second, before Octavia made a face that told Fiery to go with Fluttershy. Fiery understood, and turned back to Fluttershy with another smile. “I suppose I can do that.”

Fiery and Fluttershy had walked all the way back to her cottage on the edge of town without saying a word, the moon had long since come up and the stars began to shine bright in the night sky. Before going inside, Fiery looked up at the night sky and smiled. “You know, I really didn’t get to see anything like this before back where I came from.”

Fluttershy’s ears perked up, as it seemed that Fiery was finally going to talk about himself. “O-Oh? I-Is that right?”

Fiery nodded. “Back where I came from, the night sky was always blocked thanks to the lights in the city shining bright, making it impossible to see the stars. But here, it’s just… so beautiful…”

“W-What was it like? Where you were from?”

Fiery shrugged. “Alright I suppose… For some reason, I just feel… more calm here.”

“R-Really?”

Again, Fiery nodded. “Yeah…” He said as he turned towards to Fluttershy and continued to smile. “Hey, um, I know this might be the weirdest time to bring this up, but… I kinda want to apologize for the first time we met.”

Fluttershy, feeling the kindness from him, smiled and shook her head, feeling more comfortable around him now. “No, you don’t have to.”

“But I do! I mean, if I don’t, I’d just feel like one big dou- um, forget that. Anyways, what I mean to say is… You’re a real nice girl Fluttershy.”

“O-Oh, um, thank you.” She replied, blushing.

Without really knowing what to say next, Fiery began to unconsciously swing his front hoof back and forth. “Uh, well then, I guess I should get going.” He finally said, smiling at the yellow pegasus.

“Oh, u-um, alright then.”

Waving goodbye to Fluttershy, Fiery turned back towards the way back to town. Not wanting to fail Twilight though, Fluttershy tried calling out to Fiery, but couldn’t find her voice to do so. It didn’t seem to matter though, as Fiery saw her attempt to communicate. “Yes?”

This time around, Fluttershy found her voice. What she was about to ask though, was extremely embarrassing for her. Her cheeks were becoming red once more. “U-U-Um, I-I-I w-was j-ju-just w-wondering...”

“Yes?” Fiery asked once more.

“U-U-Um, a-a-are you, p-perhaps free?”

Not understanding what she meant, he stood there, silent. Shaking his head as if it would somehow make him suddenly understand, he asked the timid pegasus. “Free?”

Fluttershy nodded her head furiously. “I-I-I m-mean, i-if i-it’s o-okay.”

“... Yes, I’m free?”

Happy to hear this, Fluttershy gave him a quick reply before flying into her home and slamming the door behind her. “GreatgoodtohearseeyounextFriday!”

As the yellow pegasus seemed to shut herself in her house with the quick reply, Fiery stood still, completely confused as to what had just happened. It ended up taking him multiple seconds to decipher what had just happened, but when he finally did, his reaction was- “Did... Did I just get asked out on a date by a pony?”

(8) Ramble On

The sun had long since set, and Fiery had just returned home from his trip on the other side of town. The entire time he was in deep thought, trying to figure out if what he heard was real or not. ‘She couldn’t have asked me out.’ He kept repeating in his head. ‘I mean, she’s a pony for god’s sake! There’s no way I could go out with a pony! Maybe I should tell her that I can’t make it next Friday. Will that work? Is she the type to let something like that not phase her? Shit! What the hell am I going to do?!’

As he walked through the door, his two roommate greeted him home. “Heya Fifi.” The white unicorn at the table eating her dinner said with a smile, still in a somewhat groggy mood from waking up.

“Welcome back Fiery.” Octavia said in a more polite manner as she was laying on her back on the sofa, reading her favorite book that she had immediately opened up after coming home before Fiery.

Fiery let out a low, incomprehensible grunt of a response back at the two mares as he closed the door behind him. He had continued to look at the ground, his face in a state of confusion. “Hey Octavia?” He said out loud as he looked up at her.

“Hmm?” She responded.

“Do you or Vinyl know anything about Fluttershy?”

Both Vinyl and Octavia stopped what they were doing and looked at Fiery with quizzical looks on their faces. “What in Equestria are you asking us that for Fifi?” Vinyl asked.

“I… I have no idea where the hell this came from, but for some odd reason… she asked me out on a date.”

The entire room became dead silent, so silent that you could hear a pin drop. Both mares continued to look at Fiery, their faces of confusion turning to shock. “F-Fiery-“ Octavia began to mutter. “Are… Are you sure about that?”

Fiery nodded, looking over at the grey mare. “Believe me, I’m just as shocked as you two. It just came out of nowhere, and right as she got the answer that I was free next Friday, she ran right into her home before I had a chance to decipher what she meant and could reject.”

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Octavia shook her head. “What in the world are we going to do with you…?”

“Hey! It’s not like it was my idea in the first place! She just sprung up and surprised me with the invitation!”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” Octavia spoke up. With another sigh, she continued to speak. “So Fluttershy asked you out on a date-“ ‘Even though I would never see that happening from that mare.’ “You’re obviously going to want to know what you’re going to get yourself into, which is why you’re asking us if we know anything about her, right?” Fiery responded by nodding to her question. “Alright… Vinyl?”

Vinyl shook her head. “I got nothing. All I know is she’s shy and that she takes care of injured critters.”

“Great…”

“What? What’s the matter?” Fiery asked.

“I have no idea what she’s like either.” Octavia said. “We don’t exactly go over to her house and visit her on a weekly basis or anything like that.”

Now Fiery sighed, but in defeat. “Alright, I get the picture… Well, do you know of anybody-“

“Pony.”

“… Pardon?”

“You said anybody. If you’re talking about just us Equestrians, you say anypony, not anybody.” Octavia corrected.

“Who came up with that stupid rule?” Fiery asked in a not-so-pleased tone.

“Proper grammar came up with it.” She responded in a matter-of-fact manner. “But that’s not the issue at hoof. Right now we need to come up with an idea on what you’re going to do.”

“What if I just tell her that I can’t make it next Friday? That I’m busy or something?”

“You know ‘Tavi, that’s not such a bad idea.” Vinyl added in. “He just stays home for the entire day, but before that, we come up with a story to help him get out of it.”

“Before we do any of this though Vinyl, we have to remember, this is Fluttershy we’re talking about.” Octavia said. “Chances are, if she really did ask him out, having him say no might not end well.”

Putting a hoof to her chin, Vinyl began to go deep into thinking. “Hmm, I suppose you are right about that ‘Tavi… But what are we to do?”

“We find out as much as possible about our little yellow pegasus, and make sure she and Fiery have a wonderful time together.” Octavia finished with a smile.

“And if I say no to all of this?” Fiery asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Doesn’t matter to me if you say yes or no, but perhaps her friends will mind. After what you did to them at the party, I’m sure telling their friend no to a date wouldn’t help you in any way possible of having them think you’re a nice stallion after all.”

“Again, I care… why?”

“Because we don’t want to be associated with an a-hole. They’re just not the Elements of Harmony, and if you make them mad, chances are they’re going to come complaining to me and ‘Tavi and try to cause problems for you.” Vinyl answered. Both Fiery and Octavia looked at her with surprised looks. “What? I can tell the truth sometimes.”

With a loud groan, Fiery lowered his head in defeat. “Fine… I don’t want you guys to get hurt because of my actions since I’ll be living here for a while… I suppose I can go on the date…”

“Again, your choice Fiery. One question though.”

“Yeah?” Fiery said, looking back up at the grey mare.

“Have you ever gone out on a date?”

“Of course! Who do you think you’re talking to?!” He responded with confidence.

Rolling her eyes, Octavia turned to walk back to the couch to continue reading, when Vinyl came up with an idea of her own. “What about if you two go out on a practice date?”

Again, the two ponies turned their heads with speed with surprised and embarrassed looks. “W-W-What are you saying Vinyl?! How could you imply such a thing?!”

“What? I’m just saying, Joseph doesn’t know a whole lot about Equestria and how we do dates here, so having him go out on a date before Fluttershy could help him be more relaxed and such.” Vinyl answered her friend with a grin.

“How do you guys do dates then? Usually where I come from we just go out to eat, or go to a movie, or something of the sort.”

“Oh, we do the same type of things here.” Vinyl replied. “But still, having a refresher wouldn’t hurt, now would it?”

Thinking about it for a few seconds, Fiery seemed to have agreed with Vinyl. “I suppose having a practice date wouldn’t hurt… I mean, the last one I went on was back in high school, so having a refresher wouldn’t hurt at all. Okay Vinyl, I’ll do it.” He said with a smile. Octavia however, was not so pleased.

“W-Wait! Why am I the one who has to do the practice date?! Why can’t you do it Vinyl?! I mean, it is your idea after all!”

Vinyl crossed her legs, continuing to sit in the chair, and looked at her friend with a smug face. “Tell me ‘Tavi, when was the last time you were on a date?”

“W-What? What does-“

“You’ve never been on one, have you?”

“W-What?! Of course I have, I-I just-“

“Then who was it with?” Vinyl asked. “Was he somepony I knew? Or was it a she? Was he in the same school as us or was it-“

“You know who it was!” Octavia yelled, surprising both Vinyl and Fiery. She was huffing and her face was red in both embarrassment and frustration. “You know exactly who it was, but don’t you dare mention his name!”

“Whoa…” Fiery said to himself quietly, actually scared that Octavia was about to do something.

“Then why can’t you do a practice date with Fifi here? I mean, don’t you want to get rid of those nasty memories and replace them with happy ones?” Vinyl asked, having not lost her smug face for a second.

Octavia opened her mouth once more to reject, but could see that Vinyl wasn’t going to take ‘no’ as an answer. She looked over at Fiery out of the corner of her eyes, and then sighed for a final time. “Fine… I’ll do the stupid practice date…” She said, just loud enough for the two ponies to hear as she looked away from them, still bitter about how everything turned out.

“Great! So, when do you two want to do it?”

Fiery shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t really care I guess. I mean, it’s not like I have a lot going on since, well, you know.”

“True, true. I guess we should set up some events for you shouldn’t we?” Vinyl said, thinking out loud before turning bad to Fiery with another smile. “So how does Monday work for you? That gives you Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to get ready for your practice date, and then another three days for the real thing.”

Looking over to Octavia, Fiery smiled. “I’m fine with that. Are you?”

Without looking at him, Octavia nodded to the question. “Yes-“ She barely said. “That’s fine…” She then turned her entire body in the direction of the stairs and began to climb them. As she got halfway up, she turned her head back to her roommates. “I think I’m going to go to bed a little bit earlier tonight. I have long day tomorrow.”

“Alright ‘Tavi, have a good night sleep!” Vinyl replied, waving her hoof. “And I promise, I’ll come in quietly tonight after work.” The entire time, Fiery had subconsciously been looking at Octavia’s flank, a question on his mind. Vinyl saw this and giggled some, thinking her plan was already taking effect. “See what you like?” She asked Fiery after Octavia had fully ascended the stairs.

Fiery, realizing that he was caught, snapped his head towards Vinyl. “W-What? What do you mean?” He said, trying to play it off.

“Oh come on Fifi, you were gawking at her backside like some dog in heat.”

“I did not!” He exclaimed, defending himself. “I was… I was just curious about something…”

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what would that be?”

“W-Well, this… this is a little embarrassing to talk about, but… I’ve noticed about you ponies.”

“Yes…?”

“How… How do you exactly… you know…” He began to point towards his crotch.

“Do what?” Vinyl asked, curious as to what in the world Fiery could be asking about.

“How… How in the world do you keep your crotches hidden?” He asked with a straight face. “I mean, I didn’t see anything on Fluttershy earlier, and watching Octavia climb the stairs, not to mention all the ponies I saw outside…”

Vinyl was genuinely shocked by the question. Not knowing how to respond, Vinyl facehoofed before sighing. “Of course you would ask something like that.” Vinyl said, thinking out loud again.

“Hey! It’s not my fault for being curious. I mean, it’s obvious that you guys reproduce like normal horses, but-“

Vinyl put her hoof up, stopping Fiery midsentence. “Our fur covers it, okay? Normally during the special times with (normally) two or more ponies, that fur retracts to reveal ourselves. That or you have to go to the bathroom. Scientists believe it has something to do with how our body functions, while others believe it’s magic. I mean, you’ve had to have noticed by now, right? Haven’t you gone to the bathroom and all?”

Blushing a bit, Fiery nodded. “W-Well, yeah, of course. B-But i-it was out for me, to, you know…”

Ready to continue her expertise in the subject, Vinyl opened her mouth. She didn’t say what she wanted to next though, as she glanced over to the wall with the clock on it, and saw that she was now running late for work. “Oh crap!” She exclaimed, picking up all of the dirty dishes from the table and rushing into the kitchen. “Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap-“

“What’s the matter?” Fiery asked, confused as to what had just happened.

“I’m late! I’m running late for work!” Vinyl exclaimed as she threw the dishes into the sink and began to run for the door. On the way out, she turned to Fiery and smiled for a moment. “We can continue this conversation later.” She said with a wink, of course, Fiery didn’t see it. She then rushed out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

As Fiery watched Vinyl run out of the house, a look of confusion made its way onto his face. “It’s not what you think.” A voice behind him said. He turned to look and saw that Octavia had been sitting midway up the stairs.

“W-What? What do you-“

“She’s not like that.” Octavia said, a caring tone for her friend. “Sure, she might play around some, but she’s really a nice mare who just seemed to become interested in the pony body when she was younger.”

“I-Is that so…”

“It is. Fate though, seemed to have other plans for her.” Her gaze turning from Fiery to the door.

“Her Cutie Mark?” Fiery asked, and Octavia nodded.

“She loves both music and her other hobbies. That hasn’t stopped her though, trying to figure out how the pony body functions. Of course, nopony will take her seriously because of her erratic behavior and goofiness though.”

“Huh… I really wouldn’t have expected something like that from someone like Vinyl.”

Again, Octavia smiled and nodded. “Sometimes you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.” She turned to go back upstairs, and looked behind her. “Well, I should really get going to bed now. Goodnight Fiery.”

“Goodnight Octavia, I’ll try to be quiet coming up.”

“Thank you, you do that.”

As Octavia finally reached the top of the stairs, Fiery went over to where he had left his guitar and picked it up. Strumming a few chords he began to think of a song that wouldn’t create too much noise, but in the end he couldn’t. He just sat in the chair, randomly playing the strings to different songs, never feeling the fuzziness. After a half an hour of playing random notes, Fiery put his guitar down and went to bed, feeling tired from the day’s events.

Meanwhile, back at Fluttershy’s house, Fluttershy had been pacing around the main room of her house for a few minutes after she slammed the door behind her, while the animals she had been caring of were watching her. She was shocked at what she had done, and beginning to panic over what she was going to do. “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear-“ She kept repeating.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her front door, making her stop in her tracks. Fluttershy stared at the door, afraid to open it up, and too afraid to speak out to see who was there. Fortunately, a friendly voice called out for her. “Fluttershy?” The mare on the other side of the door called out. “Are you in there Fluttershy?”

Finding her voice, Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief and walked over to the door, opening it. She smiled at the two guests waiting at the front door. “Twilight, Moonlight, thank goodness it’s you two.”

“Fluttershy, what happened?” Twilight asked her yellow friend. “We saw that you were passed out on that stallion’s back when he came out, and when you got into his house you were still unconscious. He didn’t do anything, did he?!” Twilight asked in a worried voice.

Fluttershy shook her head and cleared the way so that the two mares could enter. “No, he didn’t. He, um, was very nice to me.” She said in a timid voice.

“Nice? Him?! That can’t be right…” Twilight said as she entered the house, Luna in her disguise right behind.

“Oh, but he was! He… He played a nice song for me, and everything. I-I…” But Fluttershy trailed off, too embarrassed about continuing the sentence.

“You also seemed to be extremely nervous about something when we followed you here and saw you wake up. You said something we couldn’t hear and then zipped right into your house after he said something back. He didn’t say anything obscene, did he?!” Fluttershy ‘eep’ed and shook her head. She began to whimper some, not sure how to proceed. “Then what? What happened Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, ignoring that her friend seemed to be distressed. It wasn’t until Luna put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, getting her attention. Luna proceeded to shake her head, indicating to Twilight to not push it any further. “B-But!”

“No buts Twilight, you’re friend doesn’t seem to want to talk about it.”

“What if he did something to her though?!”

Finding her voice, at least enough volume to let the two ponies barely hear, she squeaked an answer out. “I-I-I-I a-a-asked him o-out.”

Twilight turned her head back to Fluttershy, not quite catching what she had said. “What Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy gulped, still embarrassed, but was able to find the courage to say it again. This time, she said it a little louder. “I-I-I a-asked h-h-him out.”

“You what?!”

The weekend ended up passing by with no trouble at all. Fiery spent the entire time experimenting more with his guitar, not worrying about the practice date. It felt funny for him really. He said he wasn’t attracted to ponies, yet, he agreed to the practice date without any problem. ‘Who knows.’ He thought to himself. ‘Maybe I was just swept up in the moment and I allowed Vinyl to take advantage of me. Of course, I suppose I don’t mind it all that much. I mean, it’s not like anything’s going to happen during or after either dates, right…?’

For the past fifteen minutes, Fiery had been standing in front of the fountain in the park. He was told that he was to meet Octavia there by Vinyl, and needed to head there ahead of time. It made him also wonder what he was supposed to do on that Friday. ‘Am I suppose to go pick her up? Or am I suppose to meet her somewhere? God I hope I don’t mess it up. The last thing I need is those other five ponies on my ass about it.’

Fiery glanced in one direction and saw a grey earth pony mare walking up to him, a little pink bowtie around her neck. He smiled at the pony and waved to get her attention. The grey mare smiled back and began to approach him. “Wait long for me?” She asked as she got close to him.

Fiery shook his head. “No, not really… So, what took you so long?”

“Is that really how you’re going to start a date off?” Octavia asked with a smirk.

“W-What? N-No! I just meant… ah forget it. So what do you want to do? I mean, it’s not exactly like we decided what to do at home and all.”

Octavia brought a hoof up to her chin and began to think. “Well, it’s a nice day here in the park… How about we just walk around a bit until we can think of something else to do?”

Fiery nodded. “Sure, that sounds good.”

“Honestly darling, you shouldn’t be so worked up.” A white unicorn with a purple mane and tail told her friend as she continued to work on a dress that she was making for an order.

“You don’t understand though Rarity, this is Fluttershy we’re talking about! Fluttershy! How could she, out of all of us, ask somepony out on a date, let alone come up with the idea?!”

Rarity stopped her work for a moment and looked at the distressed librarian and smiled. “Well, perhaps she’s finally coming out of her little shell. Besides, didn’t you tell me that she said she’s only doing it to learn more about that stallion? I mean, I know I certainly wouldn’t want to get near him after what he did, but you have to admit, this is Fluttershy we’re talking about. If anypony is able to change him to be for the better, it’s her.”

With a sigh, Twilight began to rub her temples. “But I’m worried Rarity! I know Princess Celestia gave me this assignment, but I think he may have done something to her! I mean, each time I try to bring up anything about what happened at his house, she tells me the same thing about him playing a song about a squid’s garden or something and then if I try to ask anything more, she begins to become red in the face and becomes quiet! Just what happened after that?”

“Honestly Twilight, I’ve known Fluttershy for quite some time now. If he did do anything to her, we would’ve known about it by now. I think you may be worrying a bit too much. You should just be happy for her that she’s finally done something that all of us thought impossible.”

With another sigh, Twilight looked at the ground in defeat, knowing that her friend was right. “I suppose… So, are we still planning of watching over them this Friday?”

“Of course!” Rarity exclaimed, going back to her work. “If he tries doing anything to hurt her, he’ll regret the day that he was born!”

Twilight smiled. “Thanks Rarity, glad to hear it.” She said as she glanced over to the windows. She took a brief moment to look outside, and saw that the ponies outside were shopping as usual.

“So-“ Rarity said, interrupting Twilight’s thoughts. “Where’s this friend of yours from Canterlot?”

“O-Oh, um, s-she was a bit tired this morning, you know, being a pony who works mostly at night and all. She’s back at my house sleeping.”

“Really? That’s a shame, I’d really like to meet her some time.”

“I’ll make sure that happens Rarity.” Twilight said with another smile.

(9) The Ministry Of Silly Practice Dates

“Sure is a nice day today.”

“This is true…”

“…”

“…”

The tapping of hooves on a table could be heard outside the tiny café in Ponyville, as two ponies sitting on a couple of cushions had seemed to not know what they wanted to do with their time. After walking in the park for about half an hour, not talking the entire time, the belly of Fiery had begun to rumble. Octavia, having heard the rumble, suggested that the two should go get something to eat. Now the two were sitting outside at a table in front of the restaurant, waiting to be served.

“So…” Fiery spoke up, trying to break the silence between the two. “Anything interesting happening at your work place?”

Octavia stopped drinking her water and shook her head. “No, not really.”

“Oh, alright…”

Fiery began to tap on the table once again, to the annoyance of Octavia. “Could you please stop that?” She asked as politely as possible.

“Hmm?” Fiery turned his head back towards Octavia and saw that she was talking about his hooves. “Oh, um, alright. Sorry about that.” He said as he put his hooves underneath the table. He sighed and laid his head on the table, completely bored. “Maybe this practice date wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

“Is it really that boring?” Octavia asked, her attitude changing and suddenly becoming slightly concerned.

“What?” He raised his head from the table, and realized what she had asked. “N-No! No! Um, I-I was just saying that, uh, I’m having a great time! Yeah…” He said as he raised his hooves high into the air. Octavia only raised her eyebrow at him.

“You don’t need to lie to me Fiery.”

With another sigh, Fiery lowered his hooves and placed his head on the table. “Sorry.” Still bored, Fiery looked out of the corner of his eyes to see another couple not too far from their table, both seeming to be enjoying each other’s company. “Must be nice, being able to enjoy being with each other.” He absentmindedly said out loud again.

“Something wrong about being with me?” Octavia asked him, somewhat irritated at the comment.

Fiery surprised her though, shaking his head on the table and speaking in the same bored voice. “Just thinking about my past, that’s all.”

“Your past?” Octavia asked, forgetting about the previous comment and becoming intrigued by his answer. Before she got an answer for that question though, they were both interrupted by the waiter who was ready to take their order.

“I must apologize-“ The waiter began. “Today has been rather hectic. How may I serve you two?” He asked with his best forced smile on.

“I’ll just have the special salad.” Octavia answered quickly, wanting the waiter to leave as soon as possible.

“I suppose I’ll do the same.” Fiery said with another sigh.

“Two special salads, very good. I’ll be back in a short bit to refill your drinks.” With that, the waiter turned around and walked away to serve other customers.

As the waiter walked away, Octavia turned back to Fiery. “You were saying something about your past?” She asked again.

Fiery looked up at Octavia, not moving his head up at all. “You interested or something?”

Octavia shrugged, trying to act as though it wasn’t really interesting. “Well, it’s something.”

Finally raising his head, Fiery replied. “On one condition.”

“Alright, what is it?”

“You have to tell me about that stallion guy you’re so upset about.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Why should I do that?”

“Well, it’s only fair, right? I talk about my past, and you talk about yours.”

“And if I refuse?”

“You don’t get to know about my past.” He said a smug smile.

Rolling her eyes, Octavia huffed in annoyance. “Fine… But you need to start out with telling me about what you were thinking about. Also, I’ll only tell you about the bare minimum, okay?”

After thinking about it for a few seconds, Fiery nodded in agreement. “Deal.”

“So what about your past were you thinking about?” Octavia asked as she leaned her head on her hooves.

Fiery motioned his head in the direction of the couple. “I was thinking about the days of when I actually had a girlfriend.”

“And what were those days like?”

Fiery stayed silent for a few seconds, thinking about it. “… It was back in high school. The first three years I was so busy with doing homework and such that I could never get a girlfriend before, not that it really mattered though, not being popular and all. But luckily that all changed in the last year. I was able to get a part-time job to make a little bit of money before going off to college, and that’s when I met the girl that I would date for a few months.”

“Oh? How did you two exactly meet?” Octavia asked with interest.

“It was after work.” Fiery continued. “I was working in a grocery store as a stock boy, and one night, as I was getting off work, I noticed that she and her friends were pretty much loitering around the parking lot.”

“Parking lot?” Octavia said in confusion.

Fiery shook his head. “Forget about it, it’s not important, just a human thing. Anyways, I was making my way to the bus stop when I heard the girls get in their car and began to pull out. They nearly ended up hitting me, but I was able to move out of the way at the last second. I suppose I was lucky that happened though, as instead of speeding off, one of the girls got out of the car to check if I was okay. I recognized her as one of the girls from my math class, and she seemed to see me as the same. A few days later we began dating.”

Octavia frowned. “Well that wasn’t really romantic.”

Fiery raised an eyebrow. “Was it supposed to be? Besides, the entire relationship wasn’t romantic at all.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Before Fiery could answer, the waiter had come back with two salads on his back and placed them in front of the two, with a pitcher of water shortly afterwards. Before eating, Fiery felt compelled to give her an answer. “Even though we were dating, I really didn’t feel… chemistry between us you could say. I think she felt the same way. Really, our first date was at most a ‘sorry I almost ended up hitting you with a two ton piece of machinery which could’ve seriously injured you’ kind of date. It wasn’t long, maybe after fourth of fifth date, that I found out that she had been seeing another guy on the side, a jock no less.”

“Oh, I see…” Octavia said in a sympathizing tone, only to ask. “What’s a jock? Another human thing?”

“Err, yeah. Sort of like a guy who’s really into sports I guess. Anyways, at first I guess I was pretty relieved that she was cheating on me, because I had a itching in the back of my head telling me she was only using me to get what she wanted in terms of homework and such. I decided that wasn’t the case though, and wanted to forgive her because of the fact that my mom had never given my dad a second chance when she found out about him cheating on her.”

“Oh, um, I’m so sorry to hear about that happening to you Fiery.”

Fiery smiled. “It’s no problem Octavia. Anyways, I basically forgave her, and she agreed not to try to cheat on me again. Boy, was that the biggest lie I’ve heard.”

“She didn’t fulfill her promise?”

Fiery shook his head, finally putting in his first bite of the salad he had ignored up until now. After swallowing the chewed up food, he continued on. “I began to hear stories around school about her making out with the same jock guy from earlier after school and all, some of them about them even going further. At first I didn’t believe the stories, but the more I heard about them, the more I became paranoid. Finally saying ‘fuck it’, I went back by the stands by the football field and waited to see if it was really true or not.”

“And?”

“Oh, you can say she was cheating on me alright, dude had even gotten to home base with her.”

“… Home base?” Octavia asked, looking confused.

Again, Fiery shook his head. “Sorry, human saying, basically means he went all the way with her.” He told Octavia, who only continued to look at him with confusion. “… They were doing ‘it’?”

Finally understanding what he meant, Octavia began to blush up. “O-Oh…”

“Yeah, well, I’m glad that I didn’t confront them right there, because I mean, even if she was cheating on me, it’s not cool to interrupt somebody while they’re doing it, right? Anyways, I went home, upset on the one hand but somewhat relieved on the other knowing I wouldn’t have to deal with that bitch anymore. Next morning I caught her in the hallways between classes, and, well, we didn’t exactly end our relationship on the best of terms.”

“You yelled at her?”

“No, I punched her in the eye.”

Octavia gasped with shock. “You punched her in the eye?!” She yelled, gaining the attention of the entire restaurant that was sitting outside, along with some ponies that were passing by. She hadn’t really cared though, as she continued to focus on Fiery and his absurd answer. “How could you do such a thing to somepony?!”

With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Fiery answered. “Look, first off, it was like three or four years ago by this point. Second, I was in a really bad mood that day because of the fact that the anger from before was building up in me and I needed some way to release it.”

“So? That’s still no excuse for punching somepony in the eye!”

“Listen, you want to hear how the story ends, or do you want to act like every other person I’ve told this story to and never hear the end of it?” He asked with an annoyed tone.

Octavia opened her mouth to complain some more about how he was treating this, but decided against it and laid her plot back down on her cushion. “Fine, so how did it end?”

“I called her a whore, walked away, and then after school was confronted by the jock. We ended up getting into a fight and we both ended up getting in-school suspension. Let me tell you though, it was greatest feeling ever to let all of my emotions flow through my fist that day… Man, those were the days…” Fiery ended with a smile.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

With a groan, Octavia put her elbows onto the table and began to rub her temples in annoyance. ‘I suppose you can’t blame him ‘Tavi. After all, you did ask what his love life was like.’ She looked back up at Fiery who had begun to happily eat his lunch. She began to do the same shortly afterwards, until…

“So-“ Fiery started in-between bites. “What was your love life back in school?”

Octavia, who had brought a fork full of spinach leaves with a slice of tangerine at the end up to her mouth, slowly placed the fork down so she could answer. She only did so though after letting out a small sigh. “I suppose I did agree to that, didn’t I?” Fiery only nodded as his cheeks were full of salad. “Well… you know how I said that nowadays that harems were basically mandatory until marriage because of the population problem? And that I was old-fashioned in love?” Again, Fiery nodded. Octavia put only one of her elbows on the table this time, having her head rest on her hoof as she began to reminisce about her past. “Alright then, so I don’t have to repeat that then… I guess it all started back in my last year in high school. I was studying here in Ponyville thanks to my parents sending me here and paying the cost of boarding in an apartment complex near the school, and that it was about mid-spring. I had just received a letter from the music and art school that I always wished to go to in Canterlot.”

“Wait a minute, I thought you said you went to college here?”

Octavia stopped her train of thought to look at Fiery to see him confused. “When I did I ever say that? Ponyville doesn’t even have a community college, so how I could even do that?”

“Back when we first met, you said your parents sent you here in search of your talent?” Fiery replied, thinking back to the first day they had met, and how they all sat around the dinner table getting to know one another.

“Yes, I did, and then I found my talent and thought I also had the talent to get in the Canterlot School of Music and Art.”

“Ah, okay. Carry on.”

Rolling her eyes, Octavia did carry on with her story. “Continuing on, I was really excited about going. I would count the days down until I would be off on my way to Canterlot and possibly making it big afterwards. The day finally came when I had to leave and I bid farewell to all of my friends, Vinyl crying like a small foal as the train left.”

Fiery chuckled a bit, not really imagining Vinyl as the type would cry like that. Vinyl on the other hoof, had been reading a magazine on the couch in the living room back home, when she suddenly had the urge to sneeze. After doing so, she spoke to herself. “Somepony is talking about me somewhere…” She shrugged then and continued to read her magazine.

“As I arrived in the huge city, I was fairly nervous. I was in a brand new place, not knowing anypony, and had relatively no clue how to get to the school. Granted, I did as much research about the place as I could, but the library here wasn’t the best at the time, and I couldn’t really get any references or maps of Canterlot that were up-to-date. You see, the school was fairly new and high-tech and-“

“And it wouldn’t be on any old maps, gotcha. So, what happened next?”

“Well, I began to ask around, feeling fairly safe that I could do so considering it was in the early morning and there were practically guard everywhere. Soon enough I was able to get a nice stallion fellow to point me in the direction of the school, wishing me the best of luck. As you can imagine, school sort of started off being extremely dull. As I said, I didn’t know anypony, and I was sort of the shy type when it came to meeting new ponies. Luckily, there were some very nice ponies who seemed to notice my shyness and help me break my habit.”

“Oh? And who were those ponies?” Fiery asked, although he really didn’t care. He knew that there would be practically no chance of him knowing who she would talk about.

“I believe you met one of them at the party the first day you came here. A minty-green pony by the name of Lyra?”

Fiery began to think back at the party, trying to imagine everything that had happened that night. “I think I recall meeting someone called that… Was there a bright blue unicorn there as well called, what was it? Colgate?”

Octavia nodded. “Yes, that’d be them. Even though we haven’t talked recently, Lyra and I were actually pretty close back in college. The other ponies are actually my co-workers now.”

“Really? Wow, that must be a hassle.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, I’m just saying. Maybe you say something that upsets your friend then while you guys are hanging out, that would also end up affecting your workplace, wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose so. Sure Symphony and I have had our differences in the past. Sometimes when one stallion she liked ended up being attracted to me instead of her she would get upset at me, but never really to the point where we hated each other. Brass was also really kind towards me. In fact, we get so along with each other, we’re practically like sisters now. Concerto is clumsy sometimes, but he has a good heart.” Octavia then began to giggle some. “He also had the biggest crush on Brass for the longest time, the poor colt. I-I remember this one time, he thought he would ask her out on a date one night when they would practice together. As he got over to her place, she had accidentally left her apartment unlocked, and he ended up walking in on her while she was in the shower. She was so shocked, that she started to throw whatever she could at him, trying to drive him out as he tried to apologize for barging in.” At this point, Octavia had gone into a full-blown laughing fit remembering the story Brass had told her so long ago. Fiery had chuckled some as well.

After finally calming down enough, Octavia had been able to continue on. “T-Those two… I swear, sometimes I imagine that they were born into this world just so they could be together.”

“I assume they’re together now?”

Again, Octavia nodded. “Married actually. After two years of dating and after graduating college, Concerto proposed to her in the most romantic way he could, and she said yes without hesitation. Coltzy was so jealous at their love.” She said with another small giggle.

“Who?”

Stopping her giggling and still smiling, Octavia turned to Fiery. “Oh, forgive me. Fredric ‘Coltzart’ Horseshoepin. We just called him ‘Coltzy’ though. He and Harpo are the last two of our group; Coltzy plays the piano while Harpo plays the harp.”

‘Harpo… clever.’ “So why was ‘Coltzy’ so jealous?”

Rolling her eyes while remembering the memory, Octavia answered. “It was over some stupid bet between Coltzy and Concerto. Last I remember, Harpo told me something about how one night while they were out drinking, Concerto made some crazy bet with Coltzy on who would get married first, and the loser would have to pay up 500 bits. You see, Coltzy had also been dating somepony at the time, and even thought she was the one.”

“I’m assuming she wasn’t?” Fiery asked, finally finishing off his salad.

“Oh, she was, he just didn’t have the courage to ask her, that’s all.”

“Ah.”

“Anyways, as you can imagine, not only was Coltzy jealous that he not only lost the race in love, but was upset that he lost the bet, and paid up the full 500 bits.”

“I see… so when are we going to hear about the part of you and this stallion guy?” Fiery asked with impatience. He didn’t know why he was so impatient, but for some reason or another, he just wanted to know what made Octavia so mad each time he was mentioned. Perhaps it was because he truly wanted to know what happened to make Octavia upset so much? Nah, that couldn’t have been it.

With another sigh, Octavia gave Fiery a deadpan look. “I was getting to that Fiery.”

“Sorry.” He apologized quietly.

“His name was Ink Blot… He was an artist back during my first year and was somepony who shared one of my classes. He was handsome I suppose, but I wasn’t really looking for anypony special at the time. He seemed to think otherwise though, as he continued to try to get together with me.” She sighed once again. “An entire month of nonstop invites to go out from him. Finally, Brass and Symphony were able to convince me into going out for some coffee with him. I will admit, the date was enjoyable for the most part, as he hadn’t done anything too rude or anything to embarrass me.”

“A real ladies’ man, huh?” Fiery said, making a little smirk. Octavia glared at him in return, making Fiery lose his smile. “Sorry.”

“Continuing on, I decided that perhaps the relationship could work out, so we ended up going out for some time. Looking back on it now, I was such a fool, not noticing the signs.” She said quietly, looking away from Fiery.

“Signs? What signs?”

“He was never interested in me, or my music, or what I cared about. All he wanted was to get below my tail.” She answered bitterly. “I’ve never told Vinyl this, but… had she not come that weekend to come see me, I would probably still be with that jerk, believing his stupid lies.” Her tone was turning from normal to angry as she looked back at the years she spent in college. The glass she was holding in her hooves was beginning to crack under the pressure that Octavia was squeezing it in anger.

Fiery saw the cracking glass, and placed a hoof on hers, smiling. “Hey now, we don’t want to pay for more than just the lunch, right?”

Octavia came back to reality and saw the damage she had done to the glass, blushing in embarrassment. “O-Oh, I-I didn’t mean to, I just-“

“I know you didn’t mean to Octavia. Here, let’s stop for now, this is obviously hard for you and I don’t want you to do anything we would regret, okay?”

Normally, Octavia would get upset at a comment like this, but deep down, she knew Fiery only meant for the best. She nodded and let go of the glass. The waiter had come up with their check, not evening seeing the broken glass and letting them pay for their meals. The rest of the day they spent their time just wandering around town, helping Fiery getting to know the place, and ending the practice date by going back to the park where they sat by the park pond, enjoying the setting of the sun, sharing the warmth of their bodies as they leaned against one another on that cool spring night.

Over the next couple of days, Fiery had received a letter from one of Fluttershy’s friends, not really sure who it was considering it had no signature or return address, explaining the details of the date that was to come. When Friday finally did come, he read the letter one more time in the early morning to make sure he had everything down correctly.

“Okay, so, I’m suppose to go meet Fluttershy at a place known as ‘Sugarcube Corner’ at 1:30, and then we’ll end up eating lunch there, followed by going to the movie theater to go see the latest chick flick, with a walk at the park afterwards which is near her house.” He said out loud, then took a look at the two tickets that were in his hoof. “Well ain’t that just my fucking luck.”

“Oh come on Fifi, it won’t be that bad.” Vinyl said, trying to cheer him up. “Who knows, perhaps you two will even become close!”

Fiery glanced over to her only to give her an annoyed look. “You obviously don’t me too well. Chick flicks are most boring things in the world, and by the time I get out of there, I’ll be lucky if I haven’t wanted to blow my brains out with a shotgun.”

The two then heard a sigh from one of the two chairs from across the couch they were sitting on. The sigh belonged to their third roommate, who began to look at Fiery with an upset face. “Just go to the date Fiery, and stop complaining. It won’t be that bad.”

“Oh sure, you’re only saying that because you don’t have to go through the damn thing!”

Octavia groaned, placing the newspaper she was reading down on her lap and began to rub her eyes with hoof. “Fiery, please. We both know this date could be a way to make up to the Elements of Harmony, so you can’t screw it up.”

Fiery did his own groan of displeasure as the Elements of Harmony were mentioned. “Alright, alright, I get it… God, why did this have to happen to me?”

Meanwhile, in a city nearby called Cloudsdale, was a pair of lovers who had enjoyed each other’s company the night before. The mare, a yellow pegasus with a fire-like mane, and the stallion, a light grey with a navy blue mane. Both pegasi were well known in the Equestrian lands and even further, as they were both part of the most renowned air-stunt team on Terra.

The mare fluttered her eyes open as the bright sun beat down on them and began to stretch in the bed. Hoping out to go through her morning routine, the stallion began to groan as his well-deserved sleep was being disturbed by the bright star. As the mare went down the stairs of the lovely air-mansion that their entire team shared, she noticed a giant heap of letters sitting on the floor waiting to be opened.

“Oh boy, more fan-mail.” She said in an unenthused manner. She figuratively dove into the pile of letters and began to open them one by one. About ninety-five percent of them were the same, mostly fans begging to get an autograph from the team on some type of item. ‘I’ll leave those for the lower guys to deal with.’ The mare thought to herself, as she usually did when she received these type of requests.

As the mare was going through the pile, her ears perked up upon hearing the sounds of one of her teammates coming down the stairs. She turned around to see a pale, arctic blue mare with white mane, yawning. “Morning Echo.”

After the arctic blue mare stopped yawning, she replied. “Morning Captain Spitfire.”

“Please Echo, just Spitfire, or even Spits if you want.” Spitfire said while focusing her attention on another letter and opening it with a letter opener she held in her wing.

“More fan-mail?” Echo asked with an annoyed tone.

“Yep, better get cracking rookie.”

‘Great.’ “Yes Captain…” Echo replied with reluctance. As she sat down on the cloudy floor, she tried to make small-talk with her superior. “… Enjoy last night?” She asked casually.

Spitfire stopped what she was doing and look over to Echo with a smirk. “Were we really that loud?”

“I think the entire city could hear you two.”

Chuckling a bit, Spitfire went back to opening the letters. “Sorry about that, next time we do it I’ll try to be a little quieter.” She said, when one of the letters caught her eye, a regular. “Oh great, that Rainbow Dash filly again.” She said with a slight annoyance.

“Something wrong with her?” Echo asked.

“No, not really. I mean, I’ve seen her leadership abilities and how well she flies, it’s just… she sends so many damn letters asking if she can join! It gets a little irritating, you know?”

“Well, why hasn’t she?” Echo asked with curiosity. “I mean, you just said it yourself, didn’t you? That she has the leadership and the skill?”

“I only said I saw them, I never said they were of quality to join us.” Spitfire corrected, but began to think about it. “But… I suppose she does have the skills to join, heck, probably has the raw skills to beat me when it comes racing and even showing off.”

“Beat you?! Okay, now I don’t believe you.” Echo said with a smirk.

Rolling her eyes, Spitfire continued. “Well, we do have the next three days off to rest up… You think our fan would appreciate a little visit from her favorite hero?” She asked smugly.

“Wait, you’re seriously considering trying her out? Do we even have a spot open for the team?”

“Eh, I don’t think Mr. Fancypants would mind paying a little extra if she’s really worth it, right?” Echo only shrugged at the comment. “Anyways, she’s never going to stop asking unless we either tell her yes or no, and I don’t think she’ll take no as an answer.”

“I guess… Hey, maybe while you’re down wherever you’re going, you can try to find somepony new to create some intro music for us.”

“Somepony new? What happened to Sticks?” Spitfire asked with concern.

With a sigh, Echo replied. “You want the good news or the bad news first?”

“I guess the good…”

“Alright, the good news is he finally kicked his drug addiction.”

“After hearing that I’m almost afraid to hear the bad news.” Spitfire said.

“Overdose.” Echo simply said, making Spitfire wince.

“Damn, He was a good guy too. I’ll definitely miss him, that’s for sure.” Spitfire said while she looked at the fluffy cloud ground she was standing on, before looking back up at Echo. “How did you hear?”

“Owner Fancypants sent out a memo about it. I take it you never saw it then?” Spitfire shook her head. “Well, now he’s on the lookout for somepony new, and even wants us to help out.”

“I see. Well then, guess I have two missions to go on today.”

“Yep.”

Getting up from the floor, Spitfire began to make her way back to the room that she shared with her lover, when she looked back at Echo. “By the way, I want all those fan-mails opened and autographed by the time I get back tonight.” She said with a smirk, then began to ascend the stairs once more.

“Wait, what?!”

(10) Fool On The Hill

Fiery had finally found the candy-coated building known only as ‘SugarCube Corner’ after much time searching around and even getting directions from nearby ponies. Looking inside, he saw that despite all the decoration to look like the inside of a gingerbread house, that it looked fairly normal for a small restaurant.

He went inside and took a seat at a nearby table, glancing up at a clock that was conveniently placed on a nearby wall. ’1:15. Great, got 15 minutes to waste then I guess.’ He thought to himself as he sat on the wooden floorboards of the restaurant. ‘Too bad it’s not made out of frosting or something.’ He thought with a slight chuckle. As he was waiting, he was unaware that his ‘date’ was already in the same building as him.

On the floor right above the restaurant, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight were all there, helping Fluttershy get ready. “Alright Fluttershy-“ Twilight said. “Do you remember the plan?”

With a nervous nod, Fluttershy responded. “Y-Yes Twilight, I-I do.”

“Oh, don’t worry Fluttershy dear.” The white unicorn chimed in. “We’ll be there for you the entire way. Really, I’m more surprised at the fact of how well you’re taking this, right Twilight?”

“What? Oh, uh, yeah Rarity.” Twilight answered, her mind wandering about other things.

Rarity picked up on the clue and spoke. “Twilight dear? Is there anything bothering you?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry Rarity. No, not really, was just thinking that we had everything set up right for the date. We have the lunch here in which Rarity and I will be sitting not too far away to keep an eye on you two.”

“After that you two will be going to that delightful new remake of a classic romance that recently came out at the local theatre.”

“W-what’s the movie called again?” Fluttershy asked in a low tone, still extremely nervous about the date, even if she didn’t show it on the outside.

“’Mare in the Wind’, but you needn’t worry about that dear. Again, Twilight and I will be sitting a few rows behind you two and will even arrive there before you two as to avoid any suspicion, so if he tries anything dirty we’ll be there to help you out Fluttershy.”

Blushing, Fluttershy tried to defend Fiery. “O-Oh, um, t-that’s very nice of you Rarity, b-b-but I-I think… eep.” Her precious mind couldn’t handle imagining such things, and her face only became redder.

“Now now, just leave everything to us Fluttershy. Right, after the movie you two will be going to the park to enjoy a relaxing time by the pond until one of you has to go. Twilight and I won’t be far off either, so if you need any help, just come seek us out.”

With another nervous nod, Fluttershy understood the plan. “B-But what if he knows something is up?”

“Don’t worry dear, I’m sure you can figure something out to get away for a few seconds. If it really does get bad though, we’ll be there in a jiffy.” Rarity said with a wink.

Twilight looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost time. “Well, Rarity and I should probably get a seat downstairs. Fluttershy, you come down at 1:30 exactly, as he should be coming in through the door at that time.”

Fluttershy nodded one last time, before opening her mouth to ask a question. “Yes dear?”

“U-Um, w-w-what if he wants to do something else?”

“Preposterous, he must stick to the plan, I even wrote that on the note! Besides, if he doesn’t stick to the plan, it could throw the entire date out the window and there would be no point of doing the date in the first place!”

Rolling her eyes, Rarity intervened. “Twilight, darling, not everything has to be precise to the schedule you made.” She then looked at Fluttershy with a smile, ignoring the glare that Twilight was making at her for mocking her schedules. “Fluttershy, if he does want to do something else, just hear him out and decide for yourself if it’s something that you would want to do as well, so long as it’s something that we can follow you and make sure you’re alright.”

“O-Oh, um, a-alright.”

“Now come along Twilight, we need to be ready downstairs.” Rarity said as she began to walk out of the room, before looking back at her friend and smiling again. “You’ll do great darling, I promise.”

“A-Alright, i-if you say so.”

On the outskirts of Ponyville, our favorite lazy, cyan pegasus pony was in her bed, sleeping soundly on her day off when she was suddenly rudely woken up from her nap. With a yawn and a frustrated face, Rainbow Dash began to make her way to the door of her house. “I swear Derpy, it better be something good.” She said to herself, thinking the visitor was the local mailmare. However, the knocking had a different rhythm to it than the mailmare, but Rainbow’s brain hadn’t fully woken up yet.

With another large yawn, Rainbow opened up her door, and answered her visitor with an annoyed tone, eyes still closed from being tired. “Yeah?”

The pegasus standing there smiled and replied. “Well, I haven’t had a greeting quite like that in a long time.”

With the voice entering her mind, Rainbow opened one eye, and saw somepony she wouldn’t be expecting. “Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-“ She began to repeat, both of her eyes now wide open and her brain fully functioning. ‘The Wonderbolt Captain?! Here?!’ She thought to herself, with multiple other thoughts going through her mind afterwards while she kept repeating the first syllables of her guest’s name.

“Hey, you alright there kid? Didn’t scare ya by coming here, did I?”

Rainbow stopped her attempt to say Spitfire’s name, and a huge grin grew on her face, with a fan-girl-like scream right afterwards. She dove at Spitfire, surprising the yellow pegasus. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh-“ Rainbow kept repeating as she rubbed her face into Spitfire’s chest, making sure it was all real.

‘Okay, this is quite the odd greeting.’ “Hey, um, you’re Rainbow Dash, right? Mind getting off of me?”

Rainbow stopped her fangasm and snapped back into reality, quickly getting off one of her greatest heroes. She began to blush and began to rub the back of her head in embarrassment. “Oh, u-um, sorry about that. I-I just-“ But she stopped as Spitfire raised her hoof to silence Rainbow after getting off her back.

“It’s alright, I understand how it is, I get it all the time.” She said with a smile, trying to make Rainbow feel more comfortable.

“So, um, w-what brings you to Ponyville?” Rainbow asked with nervousness, not wanting to offend her guest.

“You actually.” Spitfire said with a smile as she pointed her hoof at Rainbow.

“M-M-Me?!”

Spitfire nodded. “Yep, you. Our manager saw one of the letters you sent us, and because we’re in need of a new team member for our summer lineup, and because he had heard about all of the accomplishments you’ve achieved, he’s sent me over to come evaluate you.” After hearing this, Rainbow stood completely still, mouth agape. “Um, Rainbow?” Spitfire reached a hoof out too see if she was okay, and upon poking her, Rainbow fell to the ground, stunned at the news. “Well, I guess she took it better than expected.”

“Of course!” Rainbow suddenly yelled, getting back up.

“Ah!” Spitfire screamed, startled by the sudden revival of the cyan pegasus. “Uh, I mean, great!” She looked over her shoulder to the ground underneath them, then pointed towards it. “If we’re going to test you, we should see how well you do with warming up. Come on.” She ushered Rainbow to follow her as she sped off towards the ground.

“Right behind you!” Rainbow called out, only to let out another fan squeal before following her hero.

For the past fifteen minutes, a certain pink party pony was annoying our ‘hero’, talking non-stop to distract him from the stairs. Fiery had covered his ears, but could still hear the drilling of the insistent talking. Right before he was about to snap and tell her to shut up, Pinkie Pie had seen Rarity and Twilight coming down the stairs, making her stop. “Well, I gotta get going! See you later Fifi!” She said as she began to hop away, back into the direction of the kitchen.

With a relieving sigh, Fiery uncovered his ears and looked up at the wall. “God, she talked for ten minutes non-stop!” He said to himself quietly. “Just what the hell is she?” Before he could think of anymore things to say though, he turned towards the stairs of the restaurant that lead to the second floor of the building and saw Fluttershy coming down then. With a wave, he was able to get her to notice him, who walked towards him and sat across him, face bright red. “Hey Fluttershy.” Fiery greeted her with a cheery tone.

“H-h-hello F-Fiery.” She greeted back.

Even though he didn’t know her too long, her name alone gave it away to Fiery that Fluttershy wouldn’t probably be the best of conversation starters. He cleared his throat and smiled at her. “So… How have you been doing since the last time I’ve seen you?”

“O-Oh, u-um, I-I’ve been great.” She answered with a small smile. “H-How h-have you b-been?”

“I’ve been good I suppose. Haven’t really gotten any leads of any possible gigs, but perhaps that’s just normal when nopony knows you and you’re new to town.” He said, before realizing that he was about to go on a rant about how his life was going. He quickly stopped himself and asked her a new question. “So what do you do for a living? I guess it’s something with bugs?” He asked, motioning towards her Cutie Mark.

“I-I t-treat s-small c-critters and other animals w-who have gotten hurt, and need help.”

“Is that so? I suppose that makes you a veterinarian then?”

“Oh no, I-I just like to help the little animals who are need of help, that’s all.” She answered, beginning to feel more relaxed. “Dr. Treats is in charge of the local pet hospital. She mostly does all the jobs by herself and-“

“Wait, you mean she has to take care of the entire town’s pet population by herself?” Fiery interrupted.

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, she does. I wished I could go in and apply, but…”

“But…?”

“I-I-I g-get too nervous! I-I always try to go in and talk to her, b-but I always feel like I have butterflies in my stomach and I never go in because I’m too afraid that I would get rejected!”

Fiery stayed silent for a few seconds, studying her to see if there would be any way to convince her otherwise. So far, she had covered her face with her mane, and tried to hide underneath the table in embarrassment, earning a little chuckle from him. “Are you really afraid of being rejected? I mean, call me crazy, but if I was the only veterinarian in a town of… how many ponies live here?”

“T-T-Thr-Three thousand and t-twenty two?” Fluttershy answered, poking her head out from underneath the table.

“Okay, and say that for every pony who lives here, there was one pet. Now, that’s 3,022 pets that you have to take care of all by yourself. Granted, there’s another pony in town who takes care of some of the pets-“ He said pointing towards Fluttershy. “But I still think that I would be way too overwhelmed by all the pets that come in because of the fact that I’m basically the primary source of treating pets. Now, say that the other pony-“ Again, pointing to Fluttershy. “Were to come in one day and say that they wanted to apply for a job at my establishment. Now, do you think I would say no when I know they have prior knowledge of treating animals with various diseases and sicknesses… They do know that you treat animals, right?” Fluttershy nodded. “Alright. So say I know all of this, do you really think I would turn that pony away? Just because it means another pony working at my establishment even though I know that the applicant knows how to treat the animals? Or do you think I would more than likely hire them on the spot knowing that not only could they help me out with working on various animals that I might not know about, but also help me be able to take breaks and even days off?”

Thinking about it for a few seconds, she answered him. “I-I suppose Dr. Treats would like some help… Ooh, but what if she said no?” She asked Fiery with a worried look.

“Then continue to persevere. Continue to come back to her establishment every day until she said yes.” He answered with a smile.

“B-But I couldn’t do that! I-I mean, I just couldn’t.” She said while shaking her head.

“Okay… Then how about I go in and help you?” He suggested.

Fluttershy stopped shaking her head and looked at Fiery with a surprised look on her face. “You… You would do that?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, it’s not like I have anything else going on and-“ But he was stopped as the yellow pegasus dived across the table and began to hug him.

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, than-“ But she suddenly stopped, realizing she was doing. She jumped off him, flying in the air a bit and ‘eep’ed, her face becoming more red by the second. “I’m so sorry!” She exclaimed, surprised that she would even do such a thing.

Fiery laughed a bit and brushed himself off, smiling at the yellow pegasus. “It’s no problem, just… tell me the next time you’re going to do that?” He then looked around the restaurant, then looked back at Fluttershy who had just settled herself back down across from Fiery. “Where’s the waiter?” He asked.

Fluttershy’s face was blank for a few minutes, before she covered her mouth with her hoof and began to giggle some, but stopped when she realized how rude it was. “O-Oh, um, ‘SugarCube Corner’ doesn’t have a waiter or waitress Fiery.” She answered, then pointed towards the counter where Mrs. Cake stood. “You have to go up and order.”

“… Oh.”

After eating their sugar-induced lunch, the two ponies made their way a few blocks away to the movie theater. On the way, Fiery pulled Fluttershy to the side, surprising her. “Hey Fluttershy?”

“Yes Fiery?”

“I know this might be a little selfish, but, do you mind we go do something else?”

She stood still for a few seconds, remembering the words Rarity had told her. After some thinking, she agreed that despite all the hype Rarity and Twilight were giving about the movie, she wasn’t really a movie-pony herself and would like to skip it as well. On the other hoof, Rarity and Twilight were bound to have already entered the movie theater and had gotten their seats. Suddenly, her thoughts were cut off by Fiery’s voice once more.

“If not, that’s alright too.” He said with a forced smile. ‘Please let us do something else, please let us do something else-‘

“F-Fiery?”

“Yes?”

“D-do you really not want to go see this movie?” She asked, a little concerned.

“Well, not really.” He answered, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away from her.

“Is-Is it because of me?”

Fiery snapped his head back to look at Fluttershy, and could see tears forming at the edge of her eyes. “W-What?! No! No, nothing like that!” He answered quickly, trying to make her feel better. “It’s just, I’m not really the type to enjoy these films and-“ But his sentence was cut short as a loud explosion-like sound erupted from above them. The two looked up to see a circular rainbow ever expanding while a stream of a rainbow followed in its wake. “Whoa…”

Fluttershy seemed to have forgotten all about the movie and smiled a bit looking at the signature rainboom. “It seems that Rainbow Dash is in high spirits.”

Fiery looked back down at Fluttershy with a confused look. “Somepony you know?” He asked, noticing a cyan pegasus making the trail before looking back down. Fluttershy only nodded. “Should we go greet them instead of going to the movies then?” He asked, hoping she would agree.

Fluttershy looked back down at Fiery and was ready to agree, when she suddenly remembered what had happened the first time she and the five friends she was with first met Fiery. “O-Oh, u-um, p-p-perhaps that isn’t such a good idea.” She said in a soft tone, but one that was still loud enough that Fiery heard.

“Nonsense, what harm could come of it?” He asked, then began to make his way to hill in the park where the rainbow trail ended.

“Wait!” Fluttershy called out, but it seems she didn’t yell loud enough, as Fiery continued to make his way to the park. Leaving her with no other choices but to follow him, Fluttershy began to fly after him. “Oh, I do hope nothing bad happens.”

As Rainbow Dash landed on top of the hill where Spitfire was waiting, she began to pant hard at the extreme amount of stamina she had use up in order to accomplish the Sonic Rainboom. Spitfire greeted Rainbow as she landed with a large smile. “Nice job kid, can’t say I’ve seen anypony else be able to pull off such a feat, let alone more than four times in their lifetime.”

“T-Thanks... Spitfire... S-So what’s... next?” She panted from exhaustion.

“Whoa, hold on to your tail kiddo, you’re obviously tired after doing that. How about we take a little rest?” She suggested, and Rainbow gladly accepted by collapsing onto the ground as her legs gave out. She walked over to Rainbow and sat next to the colorful pegasus who continued to pant heavily. “Hey Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“Mind if I ask you what made you want to become a Wonderbolt?”

Getting her breathing under control, Rainbow brought her head up and answered with pride. “Because you guys are the best of course!”

“Yes, but that couldn’t be all of it, right? I mean, there must’ve been something or somepony in your life that made you want to become a Wonderbolt.”

Shuffling her front hoof on the ground, Rainbow looked back at the ground and started to speak in a low tone. “Well…” Before she could get anywhere with her statement though, the sound of somepony running up the hill that the two pegasi were sitting on had attracted their attention. The pony that appeared before them was a brown stallion with a red mane, panting slightly at his climb up. Just by looking at him and remembering him, Rainbow began to get red in the face with anger. “You!” She screamed out, quickly going into the air and flying right into his face, only to quickly remember what happened last time she did that and backed off a few feet. “What are you doing here?!” She asked bitterly.

‘Do I know her from somewhere?’ Fiery thought to himself as he tried to catch his breath. ‘Wait, isn’t she the pony who did that rainbow thingy a few moments ago?’

“Somepony you know Dash?” Spitfire asked, completely confused by the sudden confrontation.

Dash, not wanting to blow her chances of ever joining the Wonderbolts, quickly began to try to come up with an excuse of how she greeted the stallion. “O-Oh, u-um, uh, h-he’s a friend! Yeah! Isn’t that right?!” She lied as she quickly flew right next to Fiery and wrapped her hoof around his neck, strangling him in the process.

“Agh! Too tight! Too tight!” Fiery squeaked out, pulling at her leg. Not wanting to murder the stallion right in front of Spitfire, Dash let go enough for him to breath, but still kept a tight grip around his neck to prevent him from escaping. As he began to get his breathing under control once more, he heard Rainbow whisper into his ear.

“If you do anything to embarrass me in front of her, I’ll make sure you’ll never see tomorrow.” She threatened while keeping a large grin on her face for Spitfire.

Before Fiery could ever confront Rainbow about the lie, all three heard a new voice from behind Rainbow and Fiery, causing the cyan pegasus to let go of Fiery and turn around. “F-Fiery! … W-Wait!...” Fluttershy said with her best effort as she climbed the hill.

“Fluttershy? What are you doing here?” Rainbow asked as she flew over to her best friend and landed softly in front of her.

“O-Oh, h-hello... R-Rainbow.” Fluttershy responded with the best of her ability. “H-How are you...?”

“Um, good?” Rainbow said as she raised her eyebrow in suspicion. ‘What in the world is Fluttershy doing here with that jerk?!’

“Rainbow? Everything alright?” Spitfire called from the top of the hill, wondering what the multi-colored mane’d mare was up to.

“Yeah! Everything’s alright!” Rainbow called back, then turned back to her friend. “Be right back Fluttershy.” She said to the yellow pegasus, then turned to the top of the hill and began to fly back, stopping to say something to Fiery before getting to the top. “You stay here. I’m not done with you yet.” She told him quietly, trying her best to not arouse any suspicion with Spitfire.

‘… Am I missing something here?’ Fiery thought to himself, still not placing the pieces together and remembering what he had done when he first met the cyan pegasus as Fluttershy had finally caught up to him and sat next to him. He turned to the yellow pegasus and asked. “Did I do something to upset her?” He asked as he pointed to Rainbow. He assumed Fluttershy might have known something since she and the rainbow mare seemed to know each other.

“O-Oh, u-um, s-she just doesn’t like new ponies?” Fluttershy said with the best effort that she could muster up. She didn’t lie often, but she did when she needed to, and that was mostly to ensure somepony’s feelings weren’t going to be hurt in the end.

“Okay, so how does she have any friends then?” Fiery asked, seeing right through her lie and having a smug smile on his face.

“U-Um, s-she… just does?” She said with a smile to make herself try to be more convincing.

“Uh-huh…”

Meanwhile- “So Dash, who are the new ponies?” Spitfire asked as she looked at Fiery and Fluttershy.

“O-Oh, um, just some friends, you know?” She said with her most convincing smile.

Taking a closer look at the two ponies, Spitfire noticed something about both of them. “Is that the mare who went crazy at the Grand Galloping Gala a few years ago?” She asked, a raised eyebrow as she looked at Dash.

“Oh, uh, yeah. She’s a real nice mare though!” Rainbow Dash quickly said, defending her best friend. “She just really wanted to meet the animals and everything sort of got out of hoof…”

Spitfire began to snicker some, remembering that night, but turned to Dash with another smile. “So who’s the other pony then?” She asked, still laughing a bit.

“Just some random pony who ended up insulting both me and my friends and then puked all over me.” Dash said in a bitter tone, but also low enough that Spitfire hadn’t heard her.

“Excuse me?”

“He’s uh, just a friend.” She responded as she turned her head away from Spitfire.

“Just a friend, huh?” Spitfire asked, not believing Dash’s lie for a moment. She turned to look at Fiery, who was still busy talking to Fluttershy, when she ended up seeing his Cutie Mark on his flank. ‘A guitar, eh…? Hmm, perhaps I should check it out. But first-’ “Hey Dash?” Spitfire turned her head to Dash.

“Yeah?”

“You know, if you ever want to be a Wonderbolt, then you’re going to have to work with rest of the team.” She said, then turned in the direction of the other two ponies. “How about you go over and with the help of your friend Fluttershy, go do some tricks up in air that will impress me.”

“F-Fluttershy?” Dash repeated with anxiety. She knew that Fluttershy wasn’t exactly the best flier, and that this would quite possibly go all downhill. She shook that anxiety off though, and saluted Spitfire, determined to not let her hero down. “Anything you say Spitfire!” She replied, then flew over to Fluttershy. As Rainbow Dash got close enough, she could hear the conversation of the two ponies.

“So I guess we should get going then?” Fiery asked, feeling kind of bad now that he realized he sort of forced Fluttershy to come to the park before she ever got a chance to answer his earlier question. Fluttershy only nodded, and the two ponies turned and began to walk away when they heard Rainbow Dash call out for them.

“Wait!” She yelled before landing in front the two of them. “You can’t go yet!”

“Um, okay?”

Pointing her hoof at her friend, Dash called out her friend’s name. “Fluttershy!”

“Y-Yes?” She responded timidly, hiding behind Fiery.

“I need your help.”

“M-My help?”

Dash nodded, then pointed to Spitfire at the top of the hill. “You know who that is, right Fluttershy?” The two ponies looked back at Spitfire, who seemed to notice the two looking back at her and waved at them, and then the two ponies turned back to Rainbow Dash and shook their heads. She let out a groan and facehoofed. “That’s Spitfire! Captain of the Wonderbolts!” She exclaimed.

“O-Oh, I suppose I didn’t recognize her without her uniform on. What’s she doing here?” Fluttershy asked, not really sure what was going on.

“Who’s the ‘Wonderbolts’?” Fiery asked, but his question was completely ignored.

Dash, for no explainable reason, decided to see if anypony else was listening in by turning her head left, then right, then left again, and saw that the coast was clear. She leaned in, and with a smile, answered her friend. “She’s here to recruit me!” She whispered with excitement. She could barely contain her fan-girl squeal she was so excited just saying those words.

“Oh! Congratulations Rainbow!” Fluttershy let out, and began to hug her friend, knowing how much joining the Wonderbolts meant to her.

Rainbow Dash, not usually the one to show her emotions like this, decided to let it slide just this once and began to hug her friend back. “Thanks Fluttershy, but I haven’t joined them just yet. I need your help.”

“And I’m just being ignored here in the background.” Fiery grumbled under his breath, somewhat upset that he never got his question answered.

“M-My help?” Fluttershy asked, somewhat nervous at the comment.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Spitfire has asked me to do some more tricks, but… she’s asked me to do them with you.”

“M-M-Me?” Fluttershy repeated again, now completely nervous. “B-But Rainbow! You know what I’m like at flying! A-And besides, I-I could never pull off the tricks that you do…”

Placing a hoof on her friend’s shoulder and giving her a reassuring smile, Dash did her best to convince Fluttershy. “That’s not true at all Fluttershy. You’re a great flyer! And besides, all you need to do is just follow my lead, I’ll be doing the rest.”

“Ooh, I-I don’t know…” Fluttershy said softly, looking down at the ground. She turned her head in the direction of Fiery, who only sat there absentmindedly looking at the sky.

“Please Fluttershy? For me?” Rainbow began to plead, putting her lower lip out and beginning to give her friend a quivering look.

With a sigh and one determined look later, Fluttershy answered. “Alright, I’ll do it!”

Fiery, snapping out of his daydreaming, looked back down at the couple of pegasi. “Wha? Huh? Did I miss something?”

As Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash made their way up into the sky getting ready to do some tricks, Spitfire made her way over to Fiery who was beginning to watch the duo in the sky. As she placed herself right next to the brown stallion, she looked up into the sky along with him, looking at Rainbow Dash looping around in the air a few times, going through all the rings that Fluttershy had made out of the clouds.

Seeing enough of the tricks that Rainbow Dash was doing, Spitfire decided in her mind to tell Mr. Fancypants about Rainbow Dash at a later date, but with that out of the way, all she needed to find now was a musician to take the place of the last pony who made the introduction music to the Wonderbolts at events. Her first so-called ‘target’ was sitting right next to her, and in order to find out how good he is, the best way is to start with small talk. “So what’s your name?” She asked, causing Fiery to stop looking up into the sky and look back down to the pegasus sitting beside him.

“It’s Fiery. I think the rainbow one said your name was Spitfire?”

Spitfire nodded. “Glad to know she’s already introduced me.” She said with a slight chuckle, then continued the small talk. “So how long have you been in Ponyville?”

“... A little over a week.”

“That so? Come from one of the big cities beforehoof?” He simply shook his head no. “I see.” ‘Not much of a talker I guess.’ She thought with a sigh.

Up in the sky, Rainbow had stopped doing her tricks and was watching Spitfire and Fiery from behind a cloud. “I don’t like this.” She said to herself, wondering what in the world was happening down there.

“Is everything alright Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked with concern as she flew up to her friend. “You’ve stopped doing tricks.”

“Huh? Oh, sorry Fluttershy, mind just went a little blank.”

“Did it really? You should go to the clinic and-“

“I’m fine Fluttershy.” Dash snapped. Fluttershy recoiled a bit, afraid at the sudden outburst of her friend. Dash saw this and sighed. “Sorry Fluttershy, I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. It’s just, there’s something fishy going down there, but I also don’t want to screw up my chances of joining the Wonderbolts.”

“It’s alright Rainbow, I understand.” Fluttershy responded with a compassionate smile.

“By the way Fluttershy…” Dash continued, her tone changing from one of jealousy and annoyance to one of questioning.

“Y-Yes?”

“Just what were you doing with that jerk in the first place?”

Back down on the ground, Fiery sighed as he continued to watch Fluttershy and the rainbow one, even if they had stopped doing tricks. “Man I could go for a smoke right now.” He said under his breath, but Spitfire seemed to have overheard him. Pulling out a little box from one of her flesh pockets, she opened said box to reveal a small stick. Fiery saw this and was genuinely stunned. “Wait a minute, you guys have smokes here?!”

“Yeah, and? They help me relax.” She responded, taking the stick she took out and placed it against her mane, where it magically began to light. She then took the lit stick and tried to hoof it over to Fiery. “Here.”

“B-B-But- I thought she said you guys had no cigarettes!” He exclaimed, still looking stunned at the small stick.

“Cigarette?” Spitfire repeated, confused. “You mean a Pixie Stick?” She said, motioning to the stick. “What in Equestria is a cigarette?”

Mouth wide open, still stunned, Fiery ended up hesitating for an answer for the question. ‘Fuck! Me and my big mouth!’ “U-Uh, u-um, P-Prench thing?” He said, smiling widely.

“You’re from Prance?”

“Y-Yeah, I am. Anyways-“ He quickly tried to change subjects. “I-I heard Pixie Sticks were really bad for your health.” ‘If this is my substitute for cigarettes, might as well learn a bit about them.’

“Where on Terra did you hear that from?” Spitfire asked, eyebrow raised, only to lower it seconds later. “Wait, let me guess, Prance?” Fiery nodded to the question, making Spitfire laugh a bit. “Oh, the Prench and their health concerns.” She said softly, before looking back at Fiery and smiling. “Can’t believe you thought they’re bad for your health! Pixie Sticks have been around for hundreds of years, and I’ll be damned if I’ve heard any stories about these being bad for your health.”

“So, they’re not bad for you health?”

Spitfire shook her head. “The worse that they do is make your coat smell really weird for a few hours after smoking one, and if you do it indoors they usually leave a lingering smell, but other than that their mostly harmless.” She said, hoofing over the Pixie Stick to Fiery again, who finally grabbed it with his own hoof.

Before smoking it, he had to ask her one more question about it. “So no cancer?”

“Cancer?!” Spitfire said in a surprised voice and giving him a weird look. “What in Tartarus did they teach you in Prance?!”

“I’ll take that as a no then.” Fiery said quickly, then took the stick into his mouth and began to inhale. He began to smoke it just like a cigarette. Inhale, breathing in some of the chemicals, and then exhaling, letting the smoke come out of his nose and mouth. Within minutes he could feel the result of the new sensation, making him more relaxed than any cigarette could. “W-Wow.” He tried to get out between coughs. “This stuff is strong.”

“Well what do you expect? They’re Pixie Sticks. Now, if you’ve ever had a Cerdoan Cigar, man, those things will knock you out unless you’re really used to Pixie Sticks.”

“Cerdoan?” Fiery asked, coughing a bit afterwards.

“Yeah, you know, the pig island nation south of the badlands? Great Pixie Cigars there, but they’re extremely expensive and hard to get into the country thanks to the ban of the Cerodan Cigars in Equestria. Apparently it has to do something with the Princess being upset at the leader there or something like that. All I know is that, if you ever do get the chance to smoke one, enjoy it while it lasts, because you’ll probably never end up smoking one again.” Spitfire explained as she took out her own Pixie Stick and lit it with her mane again.

As Fiery watched her light her Pixie Stick, he made the following comment. “Must be nice, having your mane be your own personal lighter.”

Spitfire shrugged again. “Meh, it’s alright. My mom, on the other hoof, would beg to differ; there’s a reason why I don’t have any little sisters or brothers.” This made Fiery go into a laughing fit, hearing such a story. Spitfire, of course, joined him. After each of them had settled down, Spitfire continued the conversation. “So I notice your Cutie Mark is a guitar. Guessing it’s your special talent?”

“Ding ding ding! We have a winner!”

Spitfire rolled her eyes. ‘Walked right into that one.’ “So you play in a band, or know anypony really famous, or anything like that?”

Fiery simply shook his head. “Nope.”

“Really? Nothing?” She asked, surprised by the answer somewhat.

“Nope.”

‘Well there goes one lead.’ “That’s too bad.” She said, taking another hit of her Pixie Stick. “I’ve heard that ponies who get music-related Cutie Marks make it big. Ponies think it that it’s so common, getting music Cutie Marks, but really it’s not all that too common. Really, it’s sort of rare to have a musical talent and be destined for it.”

Fiery looked at Spitfire and raised his eyebrow. “And you know this, how exactly?”

“The owner of the Wonderbolts, my boss, has a few friends in the music industry and they occasionally do studies on how many ponies have music-related Cutie Marks. So far, they’ve found that if your Cutie Mark has something to do with music, there’s like an 80-95% chance of making it big. Kind of believable too, considering my boss’s younger daughter is in the music business.”

“Let me guess, she has a Cutie Mark related to music?”

Spitfire nodded. “Though it’s sort of weird.”

“Hmm?”

“Last I heard, she was having some trouble paying off some bills when she apparently has like six or seven figures in the bank. She and her roommate don’t like to think that they have it good, yet they have supposedly one of the most extravagant houses here in Ponyville.”

“That so.”

“Mmhmm. At one of the parties that my boss hosted, he apparently went on about how he was so proud at all the money his little Vinny made doing business deals behind the back of her roommate and stored away in her bank account.” Once he heard the name ‘Vinny’, Fiery began to cough uncontrollably. Some of it from the smokes, and some of it from being surprised that his so-called roommate could have made a bunch of money and kept it a secret. “Hey, you okay?” Spitfire asked, patting Fiery’s back.

“Y-Yeah.” He finally got it under control. “You were saying?” He asked, coughing one last time.

“Well… I don’t really know if I should continue telling somepony I just met-“

“Please tell me?”

Spitfire raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “And what’s it to you?”

‘Quick Joseph, think up of an excuse!’ “I-I like to know the lives of celebs?” He said with the most unconvincing grin seen to pony kind.

“Is that right?” Spitfire asked with a small grin of her own. “Well in that case, how about you tell me a little about yourself first?”

“M-Myself?”

“Sure. If I’m going to tell you-“ But her comment was cut off as Rainbow Dash had finally touched down from the sky, panting hard once again.

“S-So-... So how... did I do?...”

Spitfire gave Rainbow Dash a reassuring smile and nodded. “Great job kid.”

“Then?”

Spitfire nodded again. “I’ll have to go talk to the owner about setting up a practice run with you in the Wonderbolt Training Grounds. You’re not done yet, but let’s just say that you’re pretty much in at this point, kid.”

The entire time Spitfire had been talking, Rainbow Dash had been smiling and her smile only got bigger as each word escaped Spitfire’s mouth. Suddenly, she could no longer contain her excitement, and began to let out the biggest squeal she had ever produced, rocketing up into the air with newfound vigor.

“Well, I take it she’s happy about it.” ‘Whatever “it” is.’ Fiery commented as he watched Rainbow Dash launch up into the air.

“Seems like it.” Spitfire added as she too watched Rainbow Dash rocket up into the air. She then turned to Fiery with the same smile. “Well, I suppose I should get going. Long way to fly to Cloudsdale, you know? Don’t really want to get back home before sundown.”

Fiery looked back down at the smiling Spitfire. “Alright then, um, good talking to you?” He said, unsure if that was the way to go to end their conversation, but Spitfire seemed to not mind.

“Yeah, good talking to you too Mr. Fiery. Hope to do it real soon again… You’re real cool, you know that?”

“Oh, uh, thanks.” ‘I think.’

With that, Spitfire took off, leaving Fiery all alone on the ground. He was just about ready to leave, forgetting all about Fluttershy, when she too touched down right as he turned to leave. “Fiery?” She called out.

Fiery turned to Fluttershy, then became red in embarrassment, even facehoofing himself. “Crap!”

“Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m alright!” ‘Alright that I forgot that “I was supposed to be on a with a girl who you’re only doing this date so you don’t get bitched out by her friends and almost left without telling her” alright!’

“Oh, that’s good.” She said with a sigh of relief. “U-Um Fiery?” She continued.

“Yes?”

“B-Because it’s getting l-late, d-do you mind i-if-“

“Want me to walk you home?” He finished for her, and she gave a timid nod in return. Fiery simply smiled and waved a hoof for her to follow him. “Sure, I’ll gladly do that Fluttershy.”

Up in the sky, Rainbow Dash had finished celebrating and began to watch the couple walk out of the park, a look of suspicion on her face. “I don’t care what Fluttershy told me.” She said to herself. “I just know there’s no way she would be the one to ask that jerk out on a date!”

The entire walk to Fluttershy’s house, the two ponies had been quiet, and unaware that a certain cyan pony had been following them up in the sky from the park. Fiery had been in deep thought about what Spitfire had told him, finishing his Pixie Stick long ago and throwing it on the ground before stomping on it to kill the flame. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, had been curious as to why Fiery wasn’t saying anything.

Once the couple had reached their destination, they ended up saying goodnight to one another. He began his walk back to his own home, when something crashed into the ground in front of him. At least, that’s what he presumed.

When all the dust settled down, and Fiery as no longer blinded by the dust particles in the air, he looked to see a very pissed-off Rainbow Dash looking right at him. “Can I help… you?” He tried asking, but was beginning to feel hostile intentions from the cyan pony, not sure exactly why.

Rainbow trotted up to Fiery with the same pissed-off look on her face, and began to talk to him in a threatening tone, poking him with each word she spoke. “Listen jerk, I don’t know who you think you are, but nopony gets away with throwing up on me and then dates my friend a week later!”

Fiery stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to decipher what she was saying exactly when it suddenly hit him. “… Oh! Uh, right, the party. Yeah, about that-“

“That’s right! The party! You insulted both me and my friends! If it wasn’t for Spitfire and Fluttershy being right there today I would’ve ended up tearing you a new one the moment I saw you! You have no idea what it felt like, being humiliated that night! Let’s just say that you’re also lucky that I’m in a good mood, so I’m saying this once and only once! Stay. Away. From. My. Friends! If I see you ever try to get close to Fluttershy again, I don’t care who’s there, but I promise it won’t be pretty!”

Despite being insulted like this, Fiery kept his cool. After all, it would only make sense why this girl would be so pissed at him, right? He took in a deep breath and began his rebuttal against the pegasus. “Look, about the party, I apologize about what happened and-“

“Ha! As if I believe that! I know your type bud, and I know that you don’t believe a single word you even say!”

“Listen, if you just let me explain, we can-“

“Explain what? That you’re the type to humiliate both me and my friends and then think he can get away with dating my best friend?! Huh?!”

“Okay, first off, Flut-“

“Don’t even say her name!” Rainbow screamed, poking him even harder than before. “Don’t talk to her, don’t look at her, don’t even think about her! If I catch you doing any of those…” She let out a grunt, stopping herself from saying anymore. With that, she quickly turned around and bolted up into the sky.

Fiery sighed, knowing that if that was the way she was treat him each time they saw each other, that there would be no way of him ever being able to tell her the truth. ‘Perhaps one of the other ponies I insulted that night are a little bit more sane.’ He thought, before beginning his trot back home once again.

As he entered the house that he was calling his current home, Fiery saw that Octavia had been laying down on the couch once again, reading another book. She looked up from her reading material when the door clicked and smiled at the pony coming in. “So how was the date?” She asked, going back to the book.

Fiery shrugged. “Alright I suppose.” He answered, sitting in one of the chairs across from Octavia.

Octavia began to sniff the air, and caught a whiff of something she hadn’t smelled in quite some time. She recoiled and looked at Fiery. “Were you smoking Pixie Sticks?”

Fiery looked up at Octavia and nodded. “You said you didn’t have anything like cigarettes here, yet I smoked a Pixie Stick today. Care to explain that?”

Octavia groaned. “The reason why I lied Fiery is because I can’t stand that smell!” She yelled, placing her book onto the coffee table and beginning to head for the stairs.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m getting some shampoo for that wretched smell!” She called from upstairs. About a minute later she came down the steps with a purple shampoo bottle in her mouth, placing it on the coffee table in front of Fiery. “Now go wash up before I end up throwing up into the trash can!”

“Hold on!” Fiery snapped, his patience wearing thin from all the events that happened from the day. “You know about these! You said there was nothing like cigarettes here and your excuse is because you can’t stand the smell?!”

“That’s right!” Octavia snapped back, picking up her hoof and laying on the couch again. “My father would smoke Pixie Dust in his pipe around the house back on the rock farm and I would always get nauseous from the smell. It was even worse when Shady was living here because he would smoke those things non-stop! I had to pretty much live in my room the entire time he lived here.”

Fiery looked at Octavia, then at the bottle on the coffee table, then back to Octavia. “You really hate the smell?”

“Of course I do! Why do you think I was thinking about never giving back your ‘cigarettes’? Despite the other things that those human smoking sticks do to you.”

“But these could be an alternative for me Octavia!” Fiery pleaded. “I’ve told you what cigarettes do, and Pixie Sticks are basically the exact same thing but without the downsides…! How about I only smoke them outside, just like I promised with the cigarettes?”

Octavia looked up from her book, glaring at Fiery, then looked back at her book. “I’ll think about it. But first, go wash up; I can already feel my stomach turning.”

With a sigh, Fiery reached out for the bottle, but stopped before putting it into his mouth for easier maneuverability. “Where’s Vinyl?” He asked.

“Why? Just to let you know, she hates the smell of those things worse than me, so don’t think about getting close to her so long as you smell like that.”

Fiery shook his head. “It’s nothing like that. I just need to ask her a few questions, that’s all.” He answered, then began his climb up the stairs, leaving Octavia to her reading. When he reached the top of the steps, he began to wonder if he really did smell as bad as Octavia said he did. He raised his leg up to his nose and sniffed, only to recoil at the smell that lingered onto his coat. ‘Must’ve gotten so used to cigarettes I didn’t recognize the smell at first.’ He thought to himself as he entered his room and into the bathroom.

After a quick wash-up and making sure he didn’t stink anymore, Fiery walked over to the door leading into Vinyl’s room, only a few feet away from his own room. He could hear the pounding of club music on the other side of the room, and began to wonder if he should wait until the next morning to talk about it. He chose against that, knowing he wouldn’t be able to rest well until he knew the truth.

He took in a few deep breaths, raised his hoof to the door, and knocked a few times. The noise on the other side didn’t change, so he could only guess that she didn’t hear him. He began to knock harder and harder until, finally, the volume of the music lowered and could hear the fiddling of a lock on the other side of the door. The door began to open, to reveal Vinyl without her glasses on on the other side. She smiled at Fiery and spoke. “Heya Fifi, what can I help ya with?”

Taking in another deep breath, Fiery replied. “Vinyl… We need to talk.”

(11) Everypony's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey

Fiery took in a deep breath, knowing he had to confront Vinyl about this. It wasn’t really any of his business, but for some odd reason, he felt it was necessary that she knew. If he was going to be living under the same roof as somebody who was high up in society, it wouldn’t be bad to get to know them for benefits, right? Hey, maybe she would even know of somebody that could send him home, right? At least, that’s how he was trying to justify it in his mind in that he was about to barge into somebody’s private affairs.

He raised his hoof to a level that he could knock on the door, and did so. A few seconds later, he couldn’t hear the sound of the music on the other side turn down any, so he knocked even harder. This time, the knocks seemed to have worked, as the volume of the music turned down, and the door magically swung up shortly after that.

Vinyl was at the turntable that she had set up in her room, smiling at her new guest. “Hey Fifi, what’s up?”

“Vinyl, we need to talk.”

“Sure, come on in.” Vinyl answered without a second thought. She used her magic to close the door as Fiery entered. “So what’s up?”

Fiery took in another deep breath and let it out in a sigh. He let the silence carry on for a little longer before turning to Vinyl. He took notice of all the various records and posters set up around the room, thinking of a way to start with small conversation. “H-How are you doing?” He asked, now having second thoughts about whether or not he should actually be doing this.

“Fine I guess.” She said with her usual grin. “Just been working on my next project and all for tomorrow night. Wanna hear a bit of it?”

Fiery shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

Turning her attention from Fiery back to her turntable, she began to fiddle around with various knobs and dials on the machine, until a beat began to play from the speakers attached to the machine. Fiery didn’t really understand how she was doing it, all he really knew was that the music she was producing sounded something like out of a club scene. It wasn’t bad, and was in fact kind of catchy, but with the reason he was here for, he couldn’t really get into the beat of the music...

After a few minutes of playing the beat, the music stopped as she pulled the needle off of the vinyl as it continued to spin. “So, what do you think?” She asked as she turned back to Fiery.

“It was nice… I guess.”

“You didn’t go out to a lot of clubs back on Earth did you?” She asked with a smirk.

“No, I really didn’t… Wait, how did-”

“Just a guess.” She answered for him.

“Oh.”

The next few minutes were an eerie silence as neither of them spoke. All that could be heard was the disc continuing to spin on the turntable. “So what’s troubling you Fifi?” She finally asked.

Fiery let out a sigh. Better get this over with... He thought to himself. “Vinyl… D-Do you… Are you possibly keeping anything secret from me or Octavia that would benefit us in anyway? I mean, I don’t really care about it... But I was just wondering that’s all.”

Vinyl raised an eyebrow, confused by the question. “… What in the world are you talking about?”

“T-Today… Today I ended up running into I guess someone who’s famous, Spitfire or something like that.”

“You mean the captain of the Wonderbolts?” Vinyl asked, genuinely surprised that Fiery might have actually known who she was. Fiery nodded. “So you mean she was in Ponyville doing an autograph signing or something?”

“I guess you could say that.” He lied, looking away from her.

“That’s cool I suppose... So something up with her that she announced or-“

He shook his head. “I was able to talk to her.”

“Oh, really? That’s cool. Why are you telling me though?” She asked, cocking her head to the side a bit before going to the turntable and picking the records up.

“Yeah, cool… Anyways, she told me about her boss and his two daughters. Apparently one of them lives here in Ponyville.”

“Really? Perhaps we should go and greet them sometime then?” She asked as finally put the records back in their cases and pushed the turntable into the wall.

“Uh, yeah, about that… She said that the daughter was living in one of the nicer homes here in Ponyville.”

“Yeah? Did she say where they lived exactly? What does their house looked like?”

Fiery shook his head in response. “She uh, also said that Vinny had made some business deals and had some money in the bank. About six or seven figures.”

Vinyl seemed to have frozen up at the mention of her nickname, the cords that she was carrying suddenly hit the floor. With her back still turned to Fiery, she stayed quiet for a few seconds contemplating if he really had figured it out. ‘Of course he has!’ The back of her mind told her. ‘If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be here asking me about it!’ “That so… I suppose Mr. Fancypants is proud of his daughter then?”

“He is.” Fiery replied with a smile. “But I never said the name of Spitfire’s boss.”

With a sigh, Vinyl turned to confront him. “Like I even need to act like I screwed up Fiery. I know you’ve figured everything out.”

“But why Vinyl?” He asked, losing his smile. “Why are you holding out on us? I mean, it sounds like you guys were in a major pinch and needed me to come along just so you two could get by and continue living here... So, why?”

With another sigh, Vinyl grabbed a cushion using her magic and placed it on the ground behind Fiery, motioning him to sit. “This might take a while, so you might as well take a seat and get comfortable.” He did so. Taking a deep breath, Vinyl let it out slowly as she began to tap her head with her hoof. “Alright, where to start…”

“Perhaps you can start as to why you’re holding out on us?”

“Yeah, I suppose I can… I guess it all started when I was a young filly. I grew up the majority of the time with my mother and big sister, as my father was and still is somepony big in Canterlot who is always making some kind of deal with somepony somewhere in the pursuit of more money. That all really changed when I began school here in Ponyville. Sadly none of the schools in Canterlot could really... stand me.”

“I was a special little filly I guess you could call me. I had an interest in just about everything when I was young, math, music, science, basically anything really. Anyways, to make this short and not take up too much of your time, I did well in school. Unfortunately my parents began to notice that I wasn’t acting like a good little noble filly like all the other fillies in school and was acting more tomboyish because of my usual antics. They both pulled me out of school and into-” She shivered a bit. “The Coltlic Private School for Noble Children where my sister was also attending.”

“I assume going there wasn’t really that good?”

“Not really, I basically did everything opposite that the teachers would try to get me to do. If you haven’t figured it out yet Fiery, I hate being told to do things.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Exactly. Anyways, after a few months of all that, my parents finally got the message. They pulled me out of the school and tried to figure out a place where I would actually try to learn and actually try to act polite and stuff. It took them a little bit longer to figure out that I wasn’t exactly ‘noble’ material.”

“So what happened?” Fiery asked listening intently.

“Well, when they finally figured out that I wasn’t the typical noble child, we all agreed that I would go to a school where I would fit in better. That school was Ponyville Elementary.”

“Neat…”

“Yes, neat… I was staying with an associate of my father’s named ‘Mr. Rich’, so I’m at least glad they didn’t boot me out to fend for myself, though I don’t think they would do that anyways. For the most part school was alright, just your typical pony growing up and all. Over the course of the years I met ‘Tavi and we grew close.” She seemed to sigh for the last time. “When we graduated from high school, we went our separate ways. She thought I had been goofing off in Ponyville the entire time, but I wasn’t. I had gone off to the business college in Manehatten thanks to my father’s connections. Sure music is my calling and all, but I also had the brains for other things you know? There, I basically learned how to become a manager of sorts. I may have gotten some weird looks from the other students thanks to my Cutie Mark and all, but I didn’t really care.”

“So how does this all relate to why you can’t tell us?”

Vinyl began to scratch the back of her head, getting uncomfortable. “Well… While I lived here in Ponyville, even though I had the smarts, I didn’t exactly like to show it off…”

“So…?”

“I’m not really trying to be mean to her, but, ‘Tavi sorta presumed that I wasn’t quite that intelligent. Remember that ‘scam’ that happened to me about the guy taking my 1,000 bits?” Fiery nodded. “Yeah, that was all a lie. The truth is, is that when ‘Tavi and I had graduated college, I began to get all these offers to work at these different places thanks to my dad... But I knew it wouldn’t help me at all in the long run. I made up the lie just so I could get away from Manehatten and start a small music business in Ponyville with my own money. So here I am producing and distributing my own albums… with the help of my father of course.”

“But… this business, it’s a secret from Octavia, isn’t it? That you’ve been collecting all this money on the side while she’s trying to figure out just how we can afford to stay here when the business we run is falling apart.”

“You make it sound as though I’m the bad guy for having a backup plan.” Vinyl said in a slightly upset tone, furrowing her brow and glaring at Fiery.

“No, I’m just stating the facts.” He answered.

“Yeah, well, I can’t afford to tell her, so neh.” She said as she stuck her tongue out at him and crossed her arms.

Fiery simply rolled his eyes. “And why can’t you tell her exactly?”

Putting her front hooves back on the ground, her face become one of regret. “Because… She enjoys me for being a goof. If she found out that I’ve been lying to her all these years, what do you think would happen? She’s always the serious one, she’s always the one who comes up with the plans, how do you think she would feel that I could do all of that too? Where she would be of any use then?”

The room fell quiet as Fiery began to contemplate what she had told him. ‘What would exactly happen?’ He thought to himself. He didn’t know the mares for too long and the last thing he needed was an all-out war between them thanks to his meddling around. As he continued to be in deep thought about what to do, he hadn’t noticed that Vinyl had crept up right in front of him until he noticed the two deep crimson orbs “Gah!”

“Please Fiery, you have to promise me that you won’t tell ‘Tavi about any of this.” She said with pleading eyes.

“Did you really need to sneak up and scare me like that to ask me?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, but Vinyl seemed to not care as she continued to look at him with the same pleading eyes.

“Please Fiery, I’ll… I’ll be willing to do anything…”

“You really don’t want Octavia to find out about this, do you?” Vinyl simply shook her head as she looked down at the pillow he had just been sitting on. With a sigh, he answered her. “Fine, since I don’t want to be the cause of a huge fight between friends, I suppose I can keep quiet about this.”

“Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!” Vinyl screamed out as she nearly jumped on top of Fiery and grabbed him, pulling him in for a hug. Fiery simply let her do her thing, so long as it didn’t escalate any further.

While she was thanking him though, Fiery spoke out. “But I need you to do one thing for me Vinyl.”

Vinyl stopped her hugging and looked at him with a worried look. She let go of him, suddenly becoming depressed and turning around so that her flank faced Fiery’s face. “Fine, I understand.” She said as she began to lift her tail. “Just… please be gentle.”

It took him a few seconds to figure out what Vinyl was trying to get at, but when he did, he immediately tried to break the thought up. “What?! NO! Noooonononono! God no!” He yelled as he waved his hooves in front of him, pushing Vinyl’s flank away. “Dear God, why would you think that?!”

“B-But, isn’t that what all stallions want? I-I mean, I’m grateful, but when a mare is in-“

“Look, I’m not like that!” He interrupted. “Besides, I may have a pony body, but I’m still human on the inside, and doing it with you just… it seems weird to me okay? Just because I have this knowledge doesn’t mean I’m going to blackmail you!”

“T-Then what did you mean by needing me to do one thing?”

With a sigh, Fiery answered. “What I meant is that even though I won’t be telling her about all of this, I think it would be good for you to at least tell her about the money in the bank. I mean, I might not have been here long Vinyl, but it really sounds like you guys are in some financial trouble. Having all that money could end up saving all three of us, or atleast two hopefully soon. Besides, if you really are worried that she might react negatively to it, make up a lie if you have to. Maybe tell her you won it in a lottery or something while you guys were separated?”

“Do… Do you really think that would work?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that the longer you hold onto that money and continue to stockpile it, the worse it’ll be if you guys really do get in trouble financially and you’ll have to reveal that money to save us.”

With one last sigh, Vinyl understood and nodded. “Alright Fiery, I suppose I can tell her about the money tomorrow.”

“Sure, I guess that works. I’ll even leave the house so you guys can talk it out, cool?”

She looked up and smiled, nodding. “Sure, that sounds good Fiery.”

“Good. Well then, I should get going to bed, goodnight Vinyl.”

“Goodnight… and Fiery?”

“Hmm?” He turned around.

“I guess… thank you, I guess. Thanks for not telling ‘Tavi about any of this.”

Again, Fiery shrugged. “I still think it’s a mistake not telling her about any of this, but it’s not my business to go telling other people’s secrets.”

As he left the room, Vinyl got up onto her bed, deciding that it would be best for her to retire for the night as well. As she got into bed and placed the covers on top of herself, she began to remember the good times she had had with Octavia over the years they knew each other. “Perhaps everything will turn out alright…”

Early the next morning, Fiery and Octavia had been sitting down at the dining room table eating their breakfast. Neither of them had really spoken a single word the entire time, and it was starting to get on Fiery’s nerves a bit. Deciding to break the silence, he took a break from eating his cereal and spoke. “So I’m thinking about going out for a little while today. Be nice to learn the layout of the town a little bit better, you know?”

Pausing eating her own breakfast, Octavia looked up at Fiery and responded. “Do you want me to go with you?”

He shook his head no. “Nah, that’s alright.” Just as he responded to her question though, he could hear the sound of their last roommate waking up from her slumber upstairs, putting a smile on his face. “So do you have any plans today?”

“Well, I thought I’d go to the market today because we’re running out of milk… Oh, but we’re low on bits, and we’re going to have to wait until my next paycheck to come in before we can do anymore shopping if we want to be able to pay the mortgage this month. I swear, sometimes I think it was a mistake not looking over the deal that Shady had made with the bank.”

Hearing that they were low on cash, Fiery lost his smile and cringed a bit, biting his lip lest he was going to reveal everything right there and then. “O-Oh, I see…So no plans of going out then?”

“No, I suppose not… Why are you so insistent of knowing whether I’m going out or not today?” She asked with a questioning look.

“Well, I, uh, well, you know, just thought that-“

“Hey guys.”

‘Oh thank God.’ Fiery thought to himself as he heard the sound of Vinyl’s voice. He turned around in his chair and smiled at her. “Hey Vinyl, have a good sleep last night?”

With a yawn, she nodded. “Yeah, I guess. Sucks though, going have to go back to sleep later today just so I have enough energy for my job tonight.”

“Vinyl, I’m genuinely surprised.” Octavia said in a low tone, but it was still high enough to catch the attention of the other two.

“Surprised about what ‘Tavi?”

“That you’re up this early I mean. You usually so lazy, staying up late into the night and falling asleep around four in the morning.”

With her usual grin, Vinyl plopped down into one of the chairs and using her magic, grabbed a bowl and a spoon from the kitchen. She replied, “What, can’t I make a change of habit for once? Besides, I have some… things to take care of today.”

Even though he wasn’t one hundred percent sure about it, Fiery took this as his clue to leave. “I guess I better get going. I also thought I’d take my guitar with me, see if I can’t do something that could perhaps earn me a few bits, y’know?”

“Well, alright then Fiery. Be careful.”

Fiery nodded to the concern of Octavia and then made his way up to his room to pick up his guitar. As he was on his way out, he was able to catch Vinyl by the door and whispered in her ear. “Good luck with you-know-what.”

Vinyl smiled a bit and nodded. “Thanks, I’ll need it.”

As Fiery left and shut the door behind him, Vinyl turned to Octavia, who had finished eating her breakfast and was now reading a book on the couch. She took in a deep breath, and began to go over what Fiery had told her in her mind. “’Tavi, I think we need to talk…”

Fiery had been walking through the town for quite some time, going by the places that he already knew about and making sure he wouldn’t end up getting lost. Going house by house and shop by shop, he was able to recognize certain landmarks to get where he was headed to: The park. He knew that if there was anyplace that was perfect to play, it would be there.

As he got closer to the park, he had noticed that a stage had already been set up in the middle of it. ‘Huh, wonder if something special is happening today?’ His thoughts were interrupted though, as he could hear arguing coming from behind the stage. As he peaked around the corner, he had seen a few ponies huddled around each other, apparently arguing with one another.

“How the hell could he just up and leave?! He knew what today was!” One of the ponies yelled. As far as Fiery could tell, it was a pegasus mare with a yellow coat and spiky, darker yellow mane with orange streaks in it. The pony next to her seemed to be a red unicorn pony slightly larger than Fiery and brown mane, almost the complete opposite of him in color schemes.

The red unicorn tried saying something to calm the mare down, his accent of British descent, but was cut off by her. “Would you calm down, Arc? I’m sure Blue will turn up in time. I mean, how long does it take to pick up a few groceries? Besides, if you hadn’t booked us this early…” He muttered the last bit under his breath.

“He’s in Canterlot doing an interview you dolt!” The pegasus nearly screamed, clearly frustrated.

“… Oh.”

With a groan, the mare facehoofed herself as she began to mutter under her breath about how much she hated her band-mates sometimes. “Alright-“ She said. “Since he’s obviously not going to be here in time because of him getting that stinkin’ interview, we’re just going to have find somepony else to fill his role!”

“And you honestly think we can do that? We have to go on in 40 minutes!”

As the two ponies were arguing, the third and final pony, a short, black-pinto earth pony and white mane seemed to have noticed Fiery looking at them from around the corner. He also seemed to have noticed the neck of the guitar Fiery was carrying. He grabbed the attention of the pegasus, poking her. “Yeah, what is it Chili?” She said in an annoyed tone.

“You mean somepony like him?” The short pony asked, pointing at Fiery.

‘Oh shi-‘ “Uh… hi?” Fiery said with an innocent smile as he came out of his bad hiding spot.

As the pegasus laid her eyes on Fiery, the first thing she took notice of was his guitar. A bright smile appeared as it seemed as though her entire face had also lit up with joy. “You!” She yelled out, pointing to Fiery. Using her wings to fly over towards him, she landed in front of him with the same delightful but creepy smile.

“Um… y-yes?”

“My friends and I just happen to be a certain predicament at the moment, but I think you could help us.”

“O-Oh, um, i-is that right?” Fiery asked back, now starting to back away from the crazed pegasus.

“Yes, you see, our fourth and final band-mate, Blue Light, just happened to have to go to Canterlot on some type of interview at the university there or something like that. Turns out, he would play the guitar for us, and with him gone, we have nopony else to help us.”

“Oh come on Arc, him? We don’t even know the bloke.” The red unicorn said in the back. “For all we know he could be worse than Blue!”

“Shut it Belgy!” The mare named Arc seemed to snap at the unicorn, before turning her head back to Fiery’s direction. “So, what do you say? Huh?”

Fiery thought to himself for a moment, considering the deal. He had brought the guitar along with him so that he could play in the park, perhaps get a few bits, but then his mind went back to the magic that the guitar would pull off each time he would play it. The reason he had thought it was a great idea to get out and do play was because the magic hadn’t happened the last few times he tried playing it in his room. However, to be fair, he had been alone during those times. Perhaps the magic only happened when others were around? Maybe if that was the case, then how would these ponies react to that magic? Would they upset that he had something impressive and possibly outshine them? Or would they be glad that he happened to come along and help them in their time of need, not even caring about the magic?

“Hello?” Arc waved a hoof in front of Fiery, who seemed to be in his own little world. “You okay in there?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, sorry about that.” He answered as he snapped back into reality and pushed Arc’s hoof away from his face.

“So, what do you say?”

“I… I suppose I co-“

“Great!” She cut him off, shaking his hoof with such force that if she was strong enough, she could have probably picked him off the ground and shook him around. “You have no idea how much you’re helping us!” After she had let go of his hoof, Fiery had begun to shake it around, trying to have the flow of blood go through it once more as he had a small smile on his face. However he was beginning to regret his action.

“That’s nice and all, but uh-“

“Oh right! Introductions!” Arc had cut him off once more. She turned to the unicorn first and pointed her hoof towards him. “This here is Belgarion, or as I like to call him, Belgy. He plays the drums and can be sarcastic sometimes. Worst of all he tends to piss you off so much that you want to hit him, but he’s a good guy overall.”

“Hey! I take offense to that!”

Ignoring the unicorn’s comment, she pointed her hoof to the short earth pony next. “This here is Chili Peppers. He plays the piano for us and can be a bit shy, but once he warms up to ya he’s a real nice guy to be with.”

The earth pony seemed to have only nodded to Fiery, who nodded back as a sign of understanding.

Finally, Arc pointed to herself with a large grin. “And I’m Arc Flash, the best of us all!”

With a roll of his eyes, Belgarion muttered under his breath. “Oh boy, here she goes again…” Chili seemed to have heard him and nodded in agreement.

“I play the bass, along with main vocals when Blue isn’t here. If it wasn’t for me, these guys would still be moping around with nothing to do in their free time.”

“Oh come off it Arc, we all know that’s a bunch of bologna.”

Arc gave Belgarion a quick glance of hate at the comment, but turned back to Fiery with the same smile from before. “So what’s your name?”

“What, no introductions for our members who aren’t here?” Belgarion asked.

Arc grunted in annoyance. “Fine. We got two other members who aren’t here at the moment due to being busy with other things. First we got Blue Light, again, real nice guy and all, and even plays the guitar for us. He’s not here with us right now because he’s in Canterlot trying to screw us over with having an interview there for a job at the university like I said. The other one is named Jasper, and is a real cute kid, funny enough. He’s really 17, but the poor guy has the body of a baby dragon, guess it was some birth defect or something because usually he would have grown up by now. But because of how nice he is and not greedy and all... Anyways, the reason why he’s not here with us is more or less because he tends to skip out on practice to go help the mare of his dreams. He should be here in time to do our trumpet work and backup vocals.”

“Ah, I see. I guess I should introduce myself now… but before that, mind telling me why you’re doing this?” Fiery asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s just, none of your Cutie Marks have anything to deal with music.”

Indeed, each pony had a Cutie Mark, but none related to music. Chili Pepper had a very appropriate Cutie Mark of two jalapeno peppers together; Belgarion had one of a silver tongue with a shield behind it; and finally, Arc had one of a wrench that was inside a gear.

“It’s just, it seems odd that none of your Cutie Marks have anything to do with music yet you choose to show off like this…”

“Yeah? And?” Arc responded with a raised eyebrow. “What, because we don’t have music-related Cutie Marks, that automatically means we can’t play any instruments?”

“W-What? No!” Fiery waved a hoof, defending himself. “I didn’t mean it like that, honest! I was just curious!”

Turning her frown upside down and grinning at the nervous Fiery, Arc pulled him in for a side hug. “That’s alright, we get what you mean. Sure, it’s sort of odd that we would want to do this, but just because you’re not destined for something doesn’t mean you can’t learn the skills and have some fun along the way, right?”

“I-I suppose not…” He answered, his neck wrapped around her hoof.

“Exactly! So anyways, what’s your name?”

“It’s Fiery. I, uh, play guitar as you can see…” He answered as he wiggled out of her grasp.

“Fiery, huh? Why does that sound familiar?”

“Because he was the one who told the mane six to go fuck themselves and then puked all over Rainbow Dash?” Belgarion answered his friend as well as making Fiery flinch at the memories.

“Oh yeah! That was pretty hilarious seeing that happen. Hey, they’re not mad at you, are they?”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Fiery looked away as he answered. “I’d… I’d rather not talk about it.”

“That bad, huh? Alright then, I can respect that. Anyways, since you’ll be helping us, all you really need to know is that we aren’t really playing songs that are recognizable to the pony-kind. The songs are from, uh, abroad… yeah, let’s go with that.” Arc explained as she picked a piece of paper and handed it to Fiery. “These are the list of songs along with how to play them, these are the songs that we’ll be playing. They’re mostly songs that Chili thought that we could do-“ She said, making Chili smile a bit. “We would have you do a little performance for us to see how well you play, but with us running tight on time, we’re only going to have to trust you. You’ll have about half an hour to learn them all, so you better get cracking!” She said with a large smile.

“And don’t worry if you screw up, we aren’t all that great anyways.” Belgarion added, earning another look from Arc. “What? It’s true, isn’t it?”

“You don’t have to say it in front of the new guy though!”

Ignoring the bickering between the ponies, Fiery had taken the paper that Arc had hoofed him and began to look over it. As he looked over it though, he began to notice something awfully familiar about the songs. ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, With A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Getting Bet– It’s the entire god damn album! Why the hell do ponies have the Beatles?! Unless…’ Looking up from the sheet, he spoke up and decided to interrupt the bickering couple. “Hey, um…”

Stopping her arguing with the red unicorn, Arc’s ears perked up hearing Fiery wanting to ask something. “Yes?” She said as she turned to him.

“I have some questions I’d to ask about these songs.”

“Sure, go right ahead.”

“Well, this is kind of a weird thing to ask, but-“ He said while rubbing the back of his neck again. “Are you guys by any chan-“

“Moi kaikki.” A new voice chimed in from behind Fiery. All of the ponies turned to the see the owner of the voice, and as he turned, Fiery laid his eyes on a small, white and red lizard of some sort. A lizard with glasses no less. “Am I late?”

“Hey Jasper. No, you’re not late.” Arc replied to the lizard. She then turned to Fiery and introduced the small guy. “Fiery, this is Jasper, the baby dragon I was talking about.”

“En ole vauva…” The baby dragon muttered under his breath in an upset tone.

Belgarion walked up to Jasper and began to rub the baby dragon’s head with his hoof, talking in a mocking tone to the dragon. “Awww, is the wittle baby too tired to play with us and upset about it? That’s okay wittle baby, we’ll have enough fun for you.”

The dragon didn’t seem to like this talk though, as he began to glare at the unicorn. A few seconds later, as far as Fiery could see, Belgarion’s mane began to burn. A stream of fire was coming out of the dragon’s mouth, a smile appearing on the dragon’s face after he was done. The unicorn began to run around in place, trying to put his mane out as the others stood there and laughed at the unicorn’s misfortune.

“Shouldn’t have done that Belgy.” Arc said in-between laughs. “You know he hates it when you call him a baby.”

The unicorn had finally been able to put out his mane as Jasper turned to Fiery and put out a claw, presumably to shake. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Ah, this is Fiery, Jasper. He agreed to take over Blue’s spot since he couldn’t make it today.”

Fiery shook the tiny claw with his own hoof and smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” The dragon said as he smiled back.

“Great! Now that we all know each other, we get ready for the show!”

Back at the house, Vinyl finally had Octavia all to herself. “’Tavi-“ She said. “We… We need to talk.”

“What about Vinyl?” Octavia said back, not even looking up from her book.

Sitting on the couch with her, Vinyl tried to make herself more comfortable as she tried to find the words she was looking for. “U-Um, s-so… how have you been?” She asked with a small smile. Octavia only shrugged.

“Alright I suppose. I have noticed one thing wrong though.”

“Y-Yeah?”

“My shampoo has been getting used more than it should be. You wouldn’t happen to be going into my bathroom and taking my shampoo for your own use, would you Vinyl?” She asked as she raised an eyebrow.

Averting from her gaze, Vinyl lied to her roommate. “N-No… P-Perhaps Fiery did it?”

“Uh huh… Well then, the next time you see him could you tell him to stop using my shampoo? Or at least ask before using it? We’re tight on bits as it is and I need to make it last until the end of the month.” She said as she went back to her book.

For the next few minutes the room had been quiet, as Vinyl again wasn’t really sure how to bring the subject up. To break the silence, she spoke out again asking about Octavia’s book. “You’ve been into that book a lot lately… Is it that good?”

Octavia nodded. “It might not be something that you would like, but it’s a biography about Hoofwig Behooven. So far I’m up to how hard and sad it was for him to write musical poetry, but couldn’t hear any of it because he was deaf.”

“Death…? You mean he was dead or something? How could he write something if he was dead?”

Octavia rolled her eyes. “No, not death, deaf! It means he couldn’t hear at all.”

“Oh… that had to suck for him.”

Octavia nodded. “Indeed.”

Again, the room had fell silent, making Vinyl become uncomfortable again. ‘Come on!’ She yelled inside her mind. ‘You can do this! Fiery was right, we need to talk to her about it! We’re in desperate times, we have to talk about it!’

“’T-Tavi?”

“Hmm?”

“I-I-I…”

“Yes Vinyl?”

“I-I-I can’t do it!” Vinyl screamed as she got off the couch and turned away from Octavia. “I just can’t do it!”

“What in Equestria are you talking about Vinyl? What can’t you do?” Octavia asked in a concerned tone. She got off the couch as well and began to walk up to her friend, wrapping a hoof around her shoulder. She could hear that Vinyl was crying now, but about what she wasn’t sure. “What’s the matter, Vinyl? Why are you crying?”

Vinyl planted her face into Octavia’s chest, still crying. “I-I’m a horrible friend, ‘Tavi!” She said in a muffled voice and between sobs.

“What? What are you talking about, Vinyl? You’re not a horrible friend at all.” She said in a soothing tone, trying to calm her friend down.

“I am! I’m the worst…!”

Sighing, Octavia could only pat the back of her friend as she continued to cry into her chest. As the sobs became less and less, she waited for an opportunity to ask Vinyl what she was talking about. “… Are you alright now, Vinyl?” She asked as the waterworks finally stopped. Vinyl though, shook her head. “… What’s wrong, Vinyl? This isn’t like you at all.”

With a small sniffle, Vinyl answered. “I… I can’t tell you…”

“But why not? It’s obvious that you want to, so what’s stopping you from doing so?”

“Be-Because, i-if I told you, you would end up hating me!” Vinyl replied as she began to cry again.

“Hate you? I could never hate you!”

Vinyl sniffed once more. “P-Pr-Promise?”

With a smile, Octavia repeated the phrase her sister ever used when she promised somepony something. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

With one last sniffle, and wiping her tears away, Vinyl took in a deep breath calming herself down before she began to tell her friend the entire story. She let the breath out and began to speak. “I… I guess I have to start all over again.”

Tilting her head in confusion, Octavia gave her unicorn friend a questioning look. “What do you mean by that?”

“’Tavi… How much do you really know about me?” She asked, but Octavia continued to look at Vinyl with the same look. Taking in another deep breath and letting it out, she began from the start. As she told her friend of how she her life was one giant lie, Octavia remained with a neutral look on her face, not showing any type of emotion that would suggest that she was disturbed by the news she was receiving. When Vinyl had finally finished her story of her life, including the money she had built up in the bank, Octavia made no initial response. “I-I’m sorry ‘T-Tavi… I shouldn’t have kept this a secret from you…”

Octavia said nothing though, presenting herself to be ever so calm.

Vinyl turned to her friend, and could see that she really didn’t know what to say to the truth coming out. Was she angry? Did she really not care? A thousand different possibilities were going through Vinyl’s mind as Octavia continued to just sit there, not saying anything.

“I-I understand if you’re angry with me ‘Tavi, b-but, you understand why I couldn’t tell you for so long, right?” Vinyl asked with a hopeful grin, but got no response again. With a sigh, she looked away from her friend, and began to tear up once more. “I-If you want, I’ll leave. I’ll pay my share of the rent and I’ll leave so that you and Fiery don’t have to worry about me or any of my antics again.”

Suddenly, she felt a warm embrace from behind her. She looked down and saw two grey legs were wrapped around her stomach, as she could feel the owner of said legs lying against her back. “’T-Tavi?”

“Stupid Vinyl, why would you ever think I would be angry with you?” Octavia said as she rubbed her muzzle into Vinyl’s back, not wanting her to go anywhere.

“B-But, I’ve been lying to you all these years!”

“And? It doesn’t mean you’re not the same old Vinyl I grew up with and became great friends with. Simply because you come from a better background than me and perhaps even smarter than me… sure, it might make a little upset that you hadn’t told me for so long, along with other reasons, but you’re still the same old Vinyl to me… What I’m trying to say Vinyl, is, you’re the same old goofy and playful mare that I came to enjoy being around.”

With a sniffle, Vinyl replied. “R-Really? You really mean that ‘Tavi?”

“Of course Vinyl. You’re the greatest friend I could ask for.” She said with a smile, holding her friend tighter than before. Vinyl had also begun to smile and placed her hooves on top of Octavia’s.

“And you’re the greatest friend this mare could ask for as well ‘Tavi…”

It was almost show-time for the band at the park as quite the gathering of ponies had taken their seats in front of the stage, all wondering what was going to happen. Most of them thought that the showmare Trixie had come back, quite possibly trying to redeem herself, while others guessed it was something else as they looked at the posters that were posted on the sides of the stage.

Meanwhile, behind the curtains of the stage, Arc had stuck her head out to see how many ponies had shown up. She was actually surprised at how many ponies had shown up, which only made her more nervous. With a gulp, she brought her head back in from the curtain and looked at the band. They had all been getting ready in their positions, but what made her worry most was the fact that an unknown pony was going to playing with them and had to learn thirteen entire songs in only a half an hour.

“A-Alright guys-“ She spoke up, clearly shaken up now that the time for them to perform had come. “T-This is it. It’s either now or never. Today is the first time we’ll ever be performing in front of a crowd, and if we screw it up here, we’ll become the laughing stock of the entire town. Don’t let that get you down though, as I know we can do it.”

Belgarion rolled his eyes. “Oh sure, because we’re obviously going to do so well now that one of our band-mates is in Canterlot doing his own thing, and we had to replace him with an unknown pony whom we know nothing about other than he has a guitar Cutie Mark and managed to piss off the heroes of the town.”

“Shut it Belgy, we don’t need you to be pessimistic now!” She said as she pointed a hoof at the red unicorn, only to point that hoof at Fiery right afterwards. “You read over all those notes I gave you?”

“Y-Yeah.” Fiery responded nervously. He knew he could play it, he just didn’t know how well the other ponies and dragon were going to do. “I guess the only question I have is… who’s going to be ‘Billy Shears’ if you and I are suppose to sing in the first song?”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” Arc said with a smile. “Chili here is going to be ‘Billy’, aren’t you Chili?” She asked as she turned to the black earth pony. He only nodded in response. “See? We’ll be great!”

“I-If you say so…”

Arc took a look at her watch that was on her hoof, it was show-time. “Alright guys, I hope you went to the bathroom already and got everything you need, because there’s not going to be any breaks once we get playing. Got it?” They all nodded together. “Good, because it’s show-time!” She nodded towards the dragon Jasper who nodded back and began to pull the curtains back, revealing the band to the waiting crowd.

Fiery took in a deep breath, plucking a few chords on his guitar and could feel the magic flowing through his body. ‘Well, at least that works.’ He thought to himself as he began to imagine himself playing the songs. What he didn’t realize though, was that because the other ponies and dragon were indeed a lot like him, and that they too could feel the magic begin to work on them.

“Anypony else feel a bit ticklish?”

“Just the pre-show jitters Belgy, nothing to be afraid of.” Arc replied. She coughed and cleared her throat as she stood up on her hind legs like she had practiced all those times with her bass in her front hooves. She turned to Fiery and nodded, signaling to him that she was ready any time he was. Fiery nodded back as he too got on his back legs and put his guitar in a position that allowed him to play.

‘It’s now or never.’

As the crowd continued to talk amongst one another, Arc and Chili began to play at the same time, with Fiery following them shortly afterwards. Fiery opened his mouth to speak, and began to sing to the crowd. ”It was twenty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught a band to play, they’ve been going in and out of style, but they’re guaranteed to raise a smile. So may I introduce to you, the act that you’ve known for all these years, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band!”

As he sang the song, the crowd began to pay attention to the stage, and began to stomp their hooves in applause as the band played. And as the next lines of lyrics came up, Arc and Belgarion began to sing along with Fiery. “We’re Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, we hope you’ll enjoy the show! Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, sit back and let the evening go. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It’s wonderful to be here, it’s certainly a thrill, you’re such a lovely audience, we’d like to take you home with us, we’d love to take you home!”

“I don’t really like to stop the show-“ Arc sang. “But I thought you’d like to know, that the singer going to sing a song, and he wants you all to sing along! So let me introduce to you, the one and only Billy Shears! Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band…!”

As Arc finished, both she and Fiery turned to Chili who had been in the back playing the drums. As she turned, Arc had become nervous, thinking Chili wasn’t going to be able to do the part. Fiery, on the other hoof, felt confident that because of how well they were doing so far, that Chili could overcome his fear and sing. ”Billy Shears!” They sang out, waiting for him to take the cue.

For what felt like forever, Chili hadn’t said anything. Arc, Belgarion, and Jasper were becoming nervous as the drummer didn’t say anything, but Fiery felt confident that Chili was going to pull through. What seemed to be a miracle to the other members though seemed to happen, as he cleared his throat and opened his mouth. “What would you do if I sang out of tune, would you stand up and walk out on me?” He sang both clear and beautifully. “Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song, and I’ll try not to sing out of key. Oh I get by with a little from my friends, mmm, get high with a little help from my friends, mmm, I’m gonna try with a little help from my friends!”

The rest of the concert seemed to go on without any problems occurring for the band. They had done great justice to each and every song that they had listed thanks to Fiery’s guitar, even if they didn’t have any clue about it. Out of the five of them, only four of them had gone to the local pub after the concert, as it was the only place they could settle down while not really distracting other patrons so early in the day. Jasper had decided to not go through the trouble of having to convince the bartender in there that he was at least old enough to enter.

“That was amazing!” Arc exclaimed as she took a large gulp from her beer afterwards.

“I’ll say. I never knew we could end up playing that well.” Belgarion added.

“It was almost like magic.” Chili chimed in, making Fiery flinch a bit.

“Hehe, yeah, like magic…” Fiery said quietly, only to drink his own beer shortly afterwards.

“I can’t wait to tell Blue about how well we ended up doing.”

“Pfft, forget him. Now that we got Fiery here, all Blue will be used for will be backup!”

“That’s not true Belgy. Besides, Blue has been with us since the beginning, we can’t go and kick him out just like that just because he just happened to be gone the day we had our first public gig.”

“And who was it that was extremely pissed off today when he didn’t show up?” Belgarion asked his friend as he raised an eyebrow.

Arc seemed to ignore the comment though, as she moved on to talking to Fiery. “So Fiery, how long you planning on staying in town?”

Fiery shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know. Days? Weeks? Years? I guess it all depends on what ends up happening really…”

“So you’re really unsure, huh…? Well, if you want, you could always hang around and help us out if you want. Knowing Blue, if he gets that job in Canterlot he’s going to end up taking it, he’s not going to have any time for us anymore.”

“You said he was having an interview at the university there?” Fiery questioned, and Arc nodded. “Any idea about what position?”

“Last I heard, he wanted to be a Physics professor.” Belgarion answered.

“I see… And what do you guys plan on doing?”

“Well, if our career in music doesn’t take off, I hope to be doing mechanical work, possibly making small gadgets and toys that I could sell off.” Arc said with a smile.

“I plan on possibly becoming some type of writer, or at least a critic.” Belgarion answered, taking another sip from his beer.

“Artist.” Chili said last.

“Artist huh…? At least you guys all know what you want to do.” Fiery said with a sigh.

“What, and you don’t? You could possibly make it big in music, just saying.”

“I’m hoping I won’t end up staying here long enough for something like that to happen.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Arc asked as she tilted her head in confusion.

Fiery took in a breath and let it go. “This might sound a bit crazy, perhaps you could even attribute it to me being somewhat tipsy-“ He motioned to the beer in his hoof. “But, when you gave me that list of songs earlier, I ended up thinking I noticed something familiar about the songs.”

“Oh yeah, like what?”

“Well, like they weren’t really from here.” He answered truthfully, looking at the other ponies. “I knew those songs, and… I think you guys are just like me, somebody lost in a strange new world and have no idea how to get back…”

For about thirty seconds, the entire booth had become quiet. Fiery could feel his cheeks becoming red in embarrassment as he thought he made himself out to be a crazy pony just then, but something else happened. After the thirty seconds passed by, the other three ponies in the booth began to burst into fits of laughter.

“Well I’ll be damned, we got another one here!” Belgarion said as he continued to laugh. Fiery, of course, was confused and had no idea what was going on. “So what happened? Building collapse on you? Wished on a shooting star? Plane get sucked into a fog that transported you here?”

“W-Wha?”

“M-M-Maybe h-he, maybe he died in a horrible accident?” Arc added, laughing even more.

“What in the world…?”

“No, wait, I got it! H-H-He was teleported here by Twilight when she tried to do an advanced spell! That’s why he told her to fuck off! Ahahaha!”

“I… Are you guys… are you guys implying that you are indeed not ponies?”

As she was able to calm herself down, Arc answered his question. “O-Of course we’re ponies, we just happened to be born on Earth before coming here. I was of course from America.” She said proudly.

“America.” Chili answered as he calmed down as well.

“Atlantis.” Belgarion added, but got looks from both Arc and Chili for his answer. “Alright, fine. I was from England… can’t a guy just have a little fun?”

Arc turned to Fiery and smiled again. “So where were you from before you came here? I mean, it’s obvious now that you said it that you’re not from here originally.”

“I-I… I came from America, Illinois to be exact.” He answered truthfully. “And… I sort of remember how I came here, something to do with some lady and her creating a portal… I don’t know, I was pretty drunk at the time. Next thing I know, I ended waking up in the middle of the forest not too far from here.”

“That so? Well, at least you’re lucky in that account. I ended waking up in the hospital in town, so many damn questions that made me seem so suspicious.” Belgarion said. “Well, at least you aren’t like Bruce. Man, would suck being in his position right about now…” The other ponies nodded in agreement.

“… Who?”

“Nothing, nopony you need to worry about. So Fiery, take it you’ve been here for about a week or so then?”

Fiery nodded in response before asking the same question. “How long have you guys been here?”

“Six months.” Chili answered.

“A year.”

“Three years.” Arc answered, getting looks from all of them. “What? So I ended up here a lot earlier than other people, don’t blame me for it. At least you guys got to see seasons two and three before coming here!” She pointed at her friends.

“Yeah, and?”

“I would give anything to see that, because I honestly can’t see you guys liking that show!”

“Look, we told you, a mass following emerged from that show because of how good it is!” Belgarion argued. “The animation is awesome, the voice work is awesome, the plot is awesome, everything about it is awesome! Why else do you think nothing but fans of the shows seem to be popping up here over the past three to four years?”

“Alright, fine, why don’t we ask Fiery about it then?” Arc asked, turning to the confused stallion at the end of the booth. “Fiery?”

“Um… yeah?”

“How and when did you become a so-called brony?”

Fiery sat there for a while, contemplating what she had meant by that question. After a few seconds of thinking, he gave up. “I give up, what’s a brony?”

“What do you mean what’s a brony? It’s what you are, isn’t it?” She asked as she turned to Belgarion. “Isn’t that what you guys call yourselves?”

“Unless they changed it in the past six months, yep.”

“I thought I was an equine for now though, a pony to be exact.”

“I thought you said everypony you had met that was once human were all bronies?” Arc questioned Belgarion, who only shrugged. Turning back to Fiery, she began to question him some more. “If you aren’t a brony, then how did you get here? How did you get your Cutie Mark?”

“As I said, I was sucked into a portal that was created by a woman, which even then I might be too sure if I had too much to drink or not. As for my Cutie Mark, it was on my ass the moment I came into this crazy world.”

“What? Now I know you’re not telling the truth!” Arc accused. “We all had to work for ours, and you’re saying that yours just happened to be on your butt the moment you came here? As if we would believe that!”

Fiery shrugged his shoulders. “Alright, don’t then, but that’s what ended up happening.” He said as he took another gulp from his beer glass, finishing it off finally. “Besides, if that’s true about you guys working for it, then why is it that your dreams don’t match your marks?”

“You can’t always get what you want.”

“I saw her today at reception, a glass of wine in her right hand, I knew she would go meet her connection, at her feet was her footloose man.” Fiery sung in a horrible attempt at a high pitched voice, earning chuckles from Chili and Belgarion while the other patrons at the pub were giving him strange looks before going back to their own drinks and food.

“Yes, yes, so you know somepony besides the Beatles, we get it, no need for you guys to laugh about it.” Arc told them before turning to Fiery again. “So you have no idea what a brony is, and yet you have a Cutie Mark when you arrived here in Equestria, a country and world you know nothing about…”

“Yep.”

“Yet, for some odd reason, all other humans who have arrived here are indeed bronies, and had to work for their Cutie Marks… can you see why I’m not believing you for a second?”

“Yep, but it’s not my problem.” Fiery simply stated.

“And just how is it not your problem?” Arc asked.

“Because I’m not responsible for abducting people from their lives on Earth and sending them here for God knows what reason. All I care about is trying to find a way back home.”

“Have you tried telling Twilight that you’re indeed human and that you need to see the Princess immediately?” Belgarion asked this time, trying to hold back his laughter, but that laughter faded as Fiery didn’t give the response he thought he’d give.

“Yeah, like I’m just going to waltz up to her saying ‘hey, sorry about telling you to fuck off when I was under the influence, but I really need you to do me a big favor and allow me to get close to royalty so that I might have a minuscule chance to get back to my home planet and to my old life’ or something along those lines.”

“Well, if you aren’t going to try to go out and search for a way home, what are you going to do to get back home?” Arc questioned.

“… Wait for a solution to fall into my lap.”

“…”

The other three fell completely silent at the answer, not entirely sure how to respond.

“You’re the lazy type, aren’t you?” Arc asked him, finishing her drink afterwards.

“No, I just have no idea where to start. I’ve only been here for a week, and, as much as I hate to admit, I need to stay here for a while to at least get some bearings and find some leads. Like I said, it might end up taking days, or years, but I’m determined that I’m going to go back home one day.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say buddy. The sooner you get used to life here, the easier it gets.” Belgarion commented.

“Trust me, I plan on not sticking around long enough for me to get used to this life.” Fiery answered in a defiant tone.

“But, didn’t you just say-“

“I know what I said!”

“Alright, alright… sheesh, no need to yell.”

After that little bit, the four of them had somehow managed to stay at the pub for nearly three hours, getting to know each other better and remembering the days of being back on Earth. Belgarion had managed to get completely smashed and pass out which forced Chili, who had drank almost nothing, to carry his red unicorn friend on his back to the apartment they just happened to share at five in the evening. Fiery on the other hoof, had agreed to walk Arc who had sobered up back to her own apartment she had been able to get by herself.

“You know, you don’t really need to do this. I can handle myself.” Arc told her new friend as they walked side by side.

“Perhaps, but I’ll need to learn the layout of the town sometime or another, and since you live in a part of town I haven’t been to yet…” He said as he shrugged his shoulders, careful to not let his guitar accidentally slip off his back.

“You wanted to learn the layout while you walked me home, got it.”

“You make it sound as if I’m using you for my own benefit.” Fiery joked, chuckling a bit to himself.

The two continued to walk to her apartment, talking about various things, mostly about Equestria and continuing their conversation about Fiery was adapting to pony life. “You know, I’m sort of surprised that you said you didn’t freak out as much as we did when we realized we were ponies.”

“I know what you mean Arc, but… I don’t know to explain other than it felt natural.”

“Maybe you’re really a pony who just happened to be living in the human world before coming back here.” She said with a wink before chuckling to herself.

“Haha, maybe I really am… Hey Arc?”

“Hmm?”

“How are you guys able to do it?”

Arc tilted her head, not sure what he meant. “What do you mean by that?” She asked.

“I mean, how are you guys able to get used to this life? Why don’t you want to go back home? Don’t you miss your family and friends?”

“Of course I do, but, is there a reason for me to go back? Did the world end up grieving for me when I went missing? It’s the same for all of us. The reason we’d rather stay here and not go back home… well, I think we can make a difference here in Equestria, then what we could’ve done on Earth.”

“So you’re essentially saying that it’s better to live here in a world that isn’t natural whatsoever and should really be only a cartoon-“ He said, having finally figuring out that he was indeed stuck in a cartoon world thanks to the other humans. Funny enough, he wasn’t all that too shocked about it. “And not back home where, if you tried hard enough, you could make a difference?”

“Is it not natural?” Arc asked as she raised an eyebrow. “Simply because things that end up happening here don’t end up happening on Earth doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t natural everywhere. To these ponies it’s perfectly natural. As for making a difference, let’s get real Fiery. You honestly think we could end up making a difference to help our world? Face it, if our race continues the path it’s on right now, a path that we have no way of changing, you might as well say that the human race is doomed.” She said in an upset tone.

“Didn’t expect you to be into politics.”

“It has nothing to do with politics, but rather has everything to do with actually having a brain and paying attention to the world. Trust me Fiery, you might as well forget about your old life this instant and enjoy your time being here. You might think it’s a curse being here, but I see it as a true blessing being in this world.”

“Wow, you’re, uh, quite… confident in your answer, aren’t you?”

“Perhaps I am, but that’s how I truly feel about this place… We’re here.” She said.

The two had reached a small brick house near the meadows of Ponyville, a house was floating up in the air not too far away from them. As the two ponies reached the front door, Arc fumbled for the keys for the door. “Hey, I have a question.” Fiery spoke up.

“Hmm?”

“If you’re a pegasus, why do you live on the ground?” He asked, motioning up to the house in the sky.

“Living on land is cheaper. Besides, you either need a team of pegasi or you need the skills yourself to create a cloudhouse. Rainbow up there from what I hear worked her tail off day in and day out to create that house. Cost her a fortune too.”

“Is that so… wait, Rainbow? Like, as in Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah, what about her?” Arc asked as she turned her head to the stallion after unlocking the door.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t be here.” Fiery said, slowly creeping backwards.

“Why not? Do something to make her mad or something at you? I mean, besides the whole debacle at the party and all.” She asked again as she opened the door, and motioned inside. “If you’re so scared of her, perhaps you should wait inside my place until dark so she doesn’t catch you.” She said with a small smirk on her face.

“Yeah… thanks for that offer, but I much rather take my chances and walk home now rather than later.”

Arc shrugged. “Suit yourself… And Fiery?”

Fiery had already turned to begin walking home, but stopped and turned his head to face her once more. “Yeah?”

“I’m being serious… I know it’s truly hard to hear, but, let your old life go. I’ve been on the hunt for a way back for the past three years, and I’ve yet to get a whiff on a lead. Just… just think about it, okay?”

“Have you?”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Have you truly let it all go? Give in to the rules of this society?”

“I’m still not following.”

With a sigh, Fiery began to explain it better. “The reason why I’m bringing this up now is because I really didn’t want to bring it up in front of the other guys, but… if you’ve really adapted to this world’s laws and such then, what about the rules about mares?”

Arc kept quiet for a bit, her brain trying to understand what he had exactly meant. Then, it finally hit her. “You’re talking about the harems, aren’t you?”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Fiery nodded as he fully faced Arc again. “Yeah… you see now why I didn’t want to bring it up.”

“But you brought it up anyways.” She said, crossing her front legs while stood on her back ones while she leaned against the doorframe.

“Well I can understand why a guy who’s into, well, ponies, would want to stay here, but what about you? If you did fall in love with one of these stallions, chances are you wouldn’t be the only one he would be seeing. Doesn’t that make you upset at all?”

With a sigh, she answered. “To tell the truth Fiery I’ve asked myself that a few times. After you live in the human world where monogamy rules and end up having a boyfriend while doing well in school and having a loving family only to be ripped from it all after only 17 years and being thrown into a world that seems to be almost the exact opposite of ours… yeah, you could say it makes me upset. But you know what? It’s like I said earlier. I’ve had three entire years to get over it, and you know what? I’m not mad anymore.”

“But, wha-“ But Fiery stopped, as Arc raised a hoof to silence him.

“I was just getting to that. Yes, I might have to share somepony I love deeply now, but… say that I truly do love that stallion, and he loves me more than all the other girls. Then I just know we would be happy, alone together, as we step down that aisle as the wedding bells ring.”

“So you basically want to imprison him, got it.” Fiery said under his breath, but Arc heard it and rolled her eyes as she smirked a bit.

“You colts and your drama about marriage. Anyways, isn’t it only natural for horses to live in polygamous societies? Why should it be any different here?”

“I guess you have a point there... So you’ve really been thinking that this entire time then?”

She nodded. “Basically… and Fiery?”

“Yeah?”

Arc motioned her head to the skies. “I might have forgot to mention this earlier, but the weather team was suppose to have storms this evening and through the night.” Indeed, the pegasi on the weather team had begun to collect rain clouds and were putting them in the sky across the town. “You might want to reach home before you get caught in that.”

Fiery looked up as well and had also saw the pegasi. “Oh, yeah, perhaps I should.” With that, he turned in the direction in home, said goodbye to Arc, and began to run home before the storms began. Arc however, continued to watch the pegasi assemble the clouds.

“The sooner you get used to life here, the sooner your life will be for the better…”

Fiery was about five minutes away from the house when the rain began to pour, making his coat and mane get drenched in the rain. “Shit, shit, shit, shit!” He repeated, worried about the guitar on his back. As he burst through the door of the house, both Octavia and Vinyl had jumped in surprise. “Hi girls, bye girls!” He quickly exclaimed as he ran up the stairs and into the storage closet, where some freshly dried towels should be awaiting for him and his guitar.

In the lower part of the house, Vinyl and Octavia looked at each other, then back up the stairs where Fiery had gone. “What do you think that was about?” Vinyl asked. Octavia could only shrug. “Huh… Anyways, I need to arrive at the club about an hour ahead of time, so got to eat dinner and such then I have to head out the door.”

“You’re really going out in this?”

“You think it would be better not bothering to show up?”

Octavia shook her head. “You don’t have to, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the club was dead tonight.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right about that…”

“FUCK!”

Both Octavia and Vinyl were startled at this sudden outburst, and both looked up the stairway. “Something we can help you with Fiery?” Octavia called out.

“Do either of you know where I can get a towel?! If my guitar becomes ruined I’m screwed!” He yelled back down.

“Did you look in the storage closet?”

“That was the first place I looked! God damnit! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck-”

“Calm down, Fiery. There’s no need for you to start cursing up a storm!” She yelled as she got off the couch and began to climb up the stairs.

“Fuck you! If my guitar gets ruined- Rrraugh!” He clenched his teeth and screamed through them, wanting to hit the nearest thing to him. Fortunately for all of them he was too focused of scavenging his bathroom for a towel that hadn’t been used yet. Of course, he hadn’t spotted the towel lying in plain sight on top of his bed.

“What about this towel?” Octavia asked as she went to pick up the cloth and show it to Fiery.

Fiery rushed back into the bedroom and saw the towel. “Is it dry?”

“Yes, I think-“

Fiery snatched the towel out of her hoof before she could finish her sentence and began to feel it to see if it was truly dry. As if a mountain was lifted off his chest, Fiery, without really realizing it as he had a hundred other things running through his mind as he focused on drying his guitar before it became ruined, gave Octavia a large kiss on the cheek. “Oh thank you Octavia! You have no idea how much this makes me happy!” He said after the kiss, rushing to the guitar on the floor and began to wipe it down, hoping the wood wouldn’t crack.

Octavia though, was shocked at the gesture that Fiery had just given her. Touching her cheek with her hoof, she began to wonder if that really had happened. Nopony besides her parents and sisters had ever given her a kiss! Not even Ink Blot while they were dating strangely enough. Did the kiss mean something more? Or was it just a spur of the moment thing? She didn’t get to think about it for long though, as she felt the touch of a hoof on her shoulder.

“Hey, everything alright up here ‘Tavi?” Vinyl asked as she let go of her friend’s shoulder.

“Huh?! Y-yeah! Yeah… everything’s fine…” She replied, her hoof still to her cheek.

Throughout the rest of the night, Vinyl had found out through spell-mail that the club had closed for business that night because the storm was flooding the inside of the building. Fiery had been able to successfully wipe his entire guitar dry in time before any of the wood could crack or be warped from the rain-water. Finally Octavia, she went to bed early, continually curious about the kiss on the cheek.

(12) Heartbreaker

“Okay, so, with plan Delta-Z-62, and with the intelligence that Spike has collected-“ Twilight said as she glanced over to her number one assistant, coming through the door of the kitchen as he grabbed refreshments for everypony. A large map of Ponyville scrawled across the table in the living room of the home portion of the library. “We know that he’ll be going to the pegasus’s house at 1100 hours to hang out with her and the other ponies he’s been in contact with. While on his way, we’ll intercept the stallion and-“ But she stopped as she saw her unicorn friend raise a hoof into the air. “Yes Rarity?”

“Forgive me for interrupting darling, but…“ She said with a face of worry. “Don’t you think you’re taking this a little bit too far?”

“Ah agree wit’ Rare here, Twi’.” The cowpony spoke up, equally worried. “Ah know you want ta satisfy the Princess and carry out her mission, but ah just ain’t seeing this ever happenin’. Ah mean, it’s been over a month since we’ve met the fella, and we haven’t made any progress. Not to mention, have ya even looked at yerself lately?”

Indeed Twilight did look like a mess. Bloodshot eyes with bags under them, a tussled mane, an unbrushed coat.

Applejack continued. “We wouldn’t blame ya if ya gave up, sugarcube.” The rest of the group nodded.

“I agree.” Rainbow jumped in, more than happy about ditching this quest. “That jerk can continue being a jerk for all I care! I don’t want one of my friends driving herself crazy because of it!”

“I also think it would be good if we stopped this Twilight, I mean, if that’s okay with you.” Fluttershy said quietly. Pinkie, surprisingly, said nothing. Perhaps because she already knew the outcome and knew her voice didn’t matter? Perhaps, or perhaps it was because Twilight had placed a zipper spell on her mouth earlier when she tried to speak out during the meeting.

“No! There is no way I’m giving this up! The Princess gave me a direct order to make friends with this pony and that’s exactly what I’m going to do!”

The rest of the group groaned. “But Twilight, don’tcha remember when Pinkie tried ta make friends wit’ that Cranky Doodle feller? How well do ya think it would’ve gone had Pinkie not found out ‘bout him and Matilda?” Applejack asked. Pinkie could only smile at the question.

“That and this are two completely different things! Unless the Princess tells me to stop, then I’ll continue to try to complete this quest given to me!” Twilight yelled.

“Then perhaps I shall stop this nonsense.”

The entire group turned to where the voice of Princess Luna had come from and immediately bowed. “P-Princess, I-I thought you were sleeping during the day!” Twilight said in a nervous tone as she raised her head from the ground.

“Not necessary dear Twilight. What is important is that I have a country to run with my sister, and this nonsense has gone on for far too long.”

“B-But Prin-“

Luna raised a hoof to silence her. “I came here as request from my sister only to humor her and thought this would be over with already. It is evident though, that this quest is perhaps too much for you. I am telling you right now dear Twilight, as your Princess of the Night, to cease this foolish behavior and continue to live your life.”

“But-“

“No buts.” She said, then looked at the rest of the Elements, even getting rid of Twilight’s silence spell on Pinkie with her own magic. “I request that all of you go home this instant, as I wish to continue to speak with Twilight in private.”

Applejack smiled and nodded, leading the group. “Gladly yer Highness.”

On their way out, the girls said goodbye to Twilight, who remained silent. As the final Element went out of the door, Luna turned back to the purple mare. “Twilight Sparkle.”

“Y-Yes Princess?”

Luna stayed silent for a few seconds, before taking in a deep breath and letting it out as a sigh. “I truly understand your desire to perform tasks given by my sister, but as I said, this has clearly been too much for you. That is why I am giving another task that I wish for you to carry out.”

“I-I understand Princess. What about-“

“I was just getting to that, dear Sparkle. While you are out performing these tasks, I will be accompanying you, as we will be traveling into the Everfree Forest.”

“The Everfree?! But-“

Once again, Luna raised her hoof to silence the shocked Twilight. “We will be heading to the old ruins of the place I used to call home. I understand if you do not trust me and do not wish to go, considering the history of that place, but I wish to find the answers to my questions there.”

Twilight kept silent for a while, contemplating whether it truly was a good idea or not. On the one hoof, it could be a trap set up by Princess Luna to take revenge for the whole Nightmare Moon event. On the other hoof, she could be making a huge mistake by not trusting the princess who only wishes to have help finding answers. “… Princess?”

“Yes Twilight?”

“What… What exactly will we be looking for there?”

“Memories.” She replied, showing no emotion.

“Memories?”

“Yes, memories. Lately in my sleep, I have been reliving my memories, Twilight. Memories that I wish to keep private, mind you, but if you wish to know something, the most I can tell you that these memories are events leading up to… Nightmare Moon.” She said, a hint of regret in her voice and looked away from Twilight as she talked about the form she once took. “I understand if this is more of a reason for you to doubt coming with me, perhaps thinking that I wish to take that form once more.”

“W-What? I would never think of that!” Twilight lied, putting a big grin to try to be convincing. Luna looked at Twilight and smirked a bit.

“You are a horrible liar, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight lost her grin and looked down in shame. “I’m sorry Princess, I didn’t mean to offend.”

“It is alright Twilight, I am… used to it. Besides, I have yet to repay you for your kindness from two years ago, when I came here for Nightmare Night. If you had not done what you did back then, it would still be possible that I would be feared in this small town, along with the rest of Equestria.” She said, then paused for a moment, letting Twilight think about the situation some more. When she thought that enough time had passed, she spoke once more.

“What say you, Twilight Sparkle? Will you come and accompany me on this journey? Or am to trek through the forest, alone? Nopony that could understand me on an intellectual level and help me find my answers?”

Twilight looked up and smiled at the princess, nodding. “Count me in Princess. There should be no reason for me to say no to your request.”

Luna smiled and nodded back. “Very well… But Twilight?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“Perhaps you should take care of yourself first and clean up, before we go do any adventuring.”

It was the wee hours of the morning as the two ponies woke up from their slumber and began to get ready for their adventure. The two walked out into a cool breeze in the mild summer morning, the morning dew that clung to the grass making their hooves wet as they began to head towards the dreaded forest. When they finally reached the edge of the forest, Twilight looked back at Ponyville one last time before turning to the Princess, a worried look on her face. “Are you sure this is safe Princess?”

“… You do not trust me?”

“No! I-I mean, no, it’s not that at all. What I meant is, why just us two? Why can’t we take the rest of the girls along? Or even some of your guards? I mean, isn’t that what guards suppose to do? Protect their-“

“There will be no need, Twilight.” Luna cut the young unicorn off. “The creatures of this forest would not dare attack us, lest they wish to face my wrath. Besides… with what I want to find, you’re the only pony that I can trust at this moment to be able to help me understand.”

“Princess?” Twilight tilted her head in confusion, but she got no answer. Instead, Luna only began to start her walk into the forest.

“Come, let us start our journey. I do not wish for anypony to see us, otherwise chaos may erupt from somepony seeing us going inside.”

“Y-Yes, of course Princess.”

With a heavy sigh, the Princess of the Sun backed away from her telescope that she used occasionally to scan the land for any danger and took another sip of her tea. At that moment, a pink unicorn with a purple mane and tail, a transmutation circle for a Cutie Mark, had walked into the observation tower, and smiled upon seeing Celestia at the seat of the telescope. “You’re awake awfully early.” She commented as she pulled up a chair next to the princess.

Princess raised her brow, giving the unicorn a questioning look. “You say that as though it’s a genuine surprise.”

“But isn’t it? Usually the Lunar Guards must wake you up to bring the sun up ever since Luna had returned three years ago.” The unicorn said back, pouring herself her own cup of tea. She began to smell the sweet aroma of the tea, making her more relaxed. “Earl Greycoat?”

Celestia nodded at the question. “A gift from the Diamond Dog Prime Minister, in exchange for the supplies we had given his people last month.”

“Nasty drought that was.” The unicorn took a sip from her cup, smacking her lips a bit as she tried to get a feel for the taste. “Needs more sugar.” She said as she plopped in two cubes of sugar and began to stir it with a spoon she had picked up with her magic. Celestia could only smile.

“And yet the chefs constantly tease me about my eating habits.”

“Oh hush, those chefs love you and your eating habits. On to other business though. What had you been looking at before I came in?”

“My sister.” Celestia answered, her voice hinted at her being bored of watching.

“Still with Twilight, yes? Anything you can figure out about the target?”

“The ‘target’ is just fine. It’s my sister I’m worried about.”

“What for?”

“She’s entered the forest with my student.”

“… I see.” The unicorn could only say, raising the cup and taking another sip or two. She spoke once more shortly after. “Perhaps we should go and stop her?”

Celestia, contemplating the outcome of the situation for a second, shook her head as she replied to the unicorn. “No. She would have found out one way or another. Besides, don’t you think she’ll be happy and relieved to hear that we were able to save him after all these years?”

“I suppose I can understand that... I can only hope she understands that our motives for the bigger picture is for the best as well.”

Celestia brought one of her hooves up to her eyes and began to rub them in frustration, sighing at what the unicorn had said. “Why did Cadance have to be born only a few years before they disappeared?”

“Don’t ask me, I was only an apprentice of alchemy under your mother’s gaze at that time.”

“You’re not exactly helping you know... Do you have no sympathy at all?”

The unicorn frowned a bit, taking the tea kettle and filling her cup once more. “We’ve both had a long time to get over this Celly. You know how important both of your parents are to this world, nay, this universe! Both Mother Nature and Father Time must exist, otherwise you know what’ll happen to us without them. Face it Celly, we’re running out of options, we’ve tried everything and anything to find a way to bring them back without having to go down that dark path. Both you and I have seen it, as the universe is slowly but surely crumbling apart. Rather than ever expanding like its suppose to, it’s slowly making its way back to us. Our time is up, this is the last thing we can do.”

“Yes, I know, but-”

“No buts Celly. We all know what we must do, we all know why we’ve been keeping watch on him for the past thousand years. Although his soul was contained in that enchanted jar for so long, and although his original body may have rotted away in the ground, using a replacement body made by magic and alchemy, he’s the only one who was able to get close enough to Luna, close enough to actually getting her to bear his child. If the Nightmare Moon situation hadn’t happened-”

“We wouldn’t be having this discussion, I know...”

“I know hard it is for you Celly, but its hard for me as well, don’t forget that. You may have acted like an aunt to him, but I’m his true mother, and with the route we’ve set up for both of them... I may end up getting a grandchild out of the deal, but I will also lose one that I could have loved just as much, and if he were to ever find out, possibly a son as well.”

Twilight and Luna had trekked through the dense forest for some hours, no disturbances ever coming their way. The sounds of hooves walking through the soft grass stopped for a brief moment as the two ponies had finally made it into a clearing large enough for the sun’s rays to pierce through the dense forest. Twilight plopped down on her flank, trying to massage her already tired hooves. Thoughts of how she had gotten a bit out of shape since the last time she had to trek through the forest ran through her mind.

“It seems that we are close.” Luna stated as she looked deeper into the forest.

Twilight turned her head side to side as her eyes scanned the area. Without taking long, she had recognized that they were indeed close, although the first hint should have been they were close when they had crossed the river where the river serpent Steven Magnet lived. She looked at the princess, wondering what was going through the mind of the Goddess of the Night. Luna had narrowed her eyes as she looked forward, her smile long since turned into a frown. “Um, Princess Luna?”

“Yes?” Luna called back, not taking her eyes off from the front of them. “What is it you need, Twilight?”

“Could I possibly ask, what will we be looking for once we reach the castle?”

“... I am not sure.”

Twilight opened her mouth, wanting to ask more, but she felt her jaw close as she decided it would be a bad judgement call to continue asking the princess anymore. Her scientific side however, seemed to betray her sane side, opening up her mouth once more. “Why is the reason we are going then if we have no idea what we’re looking for? How do we even know the answers you’re looking for will be there?”

As the words finished escaping, Twilight slapped both her hooves over her mouth, regretting the questions. “I-I’m sorry Princess, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s alright Twilight.” Luna replied. No anger was shown in her voice, the sound of it still calm and collected. “My sister would constantly talk about you, about how you thirst for knowledge. That is a good trait, wanting to know the secrets that the world hold.”

“O-Oh, u-um, thank you Princess.”

“Do not get confused though, young Twilight. Some things are meant to be keep secret, away from the ears of the public.” Twilight shrank back, flinching as Luna turned her head ever so slightly to look at the purple unicorn. “Luckily for you, you are an exception this time.”

“... P-Princess?”

“Trust in my judgement when I say that we will find the answers to my questions at the old castle. Does that answer your question?” Twilight could nod her head, not wanting to find out if Luna was truly upset or not about what she had asked. “Good. We shall begin moving again very soon.” She said as she looked back to the front. The rest of the way, both ponies had been silent.

As Twilight and Luna passed the large crevice that separated them from the castle and finally made their way into the old, musty ruins, Twilight could only wonder what Luna had up her non-existent sleeve. Passing massive statues of heroes of olden times in hallways as large her library, she could only stare on with awe, wanting to ask so much about the statues, but knew she would get no answers.

‘Why haven’t I seen these statues before? Why aren’t new ones of these at Canterlot?’ The voice in her mind asked. The voice was cut off though as she suddenly felt her face meet the back end of the royal flank. She stumbled backwards and shook her head, trying to get a grip on what had just happened. As she glanced towards Luna, she could see the princess looking at one of the statues that had been erected possibly thousands of years ago. To Luna, it was the splitting image of an old friend, one she regretted seeing the statue of.

It was the statue of a large unicorn stallion. Not knowing the color of his coat or mane, Twilight could only tell that the statue represented a member of the Royal Guard, fitted with more metal than the average stallion back at Canterlot. His beard almost falling to his knees, while his horn that she had guessed was polished to be like a blade, broken in half. She looked over to the princess, and could tell that she was in pain looking at the old hero. “Princess?”

Looking down at the pedestal that the statue was erected on, Luna answered in a low voice, full of sadness. “Forgive me Twilight, I was only simply remembering.”

Looking to comfort the princess, the only thing she could think of, Twilight placed a hoof on Luna’s shoulder, showing she was there for her. “Do you want to talk about it? Get it off your chest?”

With a sigh, Luna removed the hoof and turned her head away, preparing to go in another direction. “Come, I think the questions I seek will be answered soon enough.”

It went on for well into the night, long after the two were forced to stop as they both gazed into the sky when Luna brought the moon up for the first time in well over a month. Despite surprising her sister back in Canterlot with raising the moon as if it was a prank, it still did not put even a smirk on the Night Princess’s face, still wanting to wander the halls of the place she once called home.

Many places around the ruins could she tell what those places used to be. The kitchen, the banquet hall, the guest bedrooms of the palace, the enchanter’s tower, the great library. All of these places were nostalgic for the Ruler of the Twilight Skies, but it did not put her mind at ease. Speaking of Twilight, she had gone to bed, tired of the day’s events as Luna continued to wander the ruins.

Finally, after wandering for so long, she had stumbled across what seemed to be the burial grounds of the castle. She did not know why she was drawn to that spot, but something inside of her told her she would find the answers to her questions. Those thoughts and feelings did not last long though, as she could easily hear the sound of wings flapping, with something large landing hard onto the ground behind her. Without even turning around, she could easily tell who it was.

“Come here to stop me, Tia? To stop me from seeking the answers I require?” She asked, put got no answer. The white alicorn simply stood and stared at her sister. “I see, if you are not here for that then, what are you here for? What purpose brings you to this cursed place?”

Again, the alicorn did not speak. Turning away from the Night Princess, the Day Princess began to walk through the rows of graves, nearly all of them destroyed from a thousand years against the elements. Seeing her sister move through the graves, and with her curiosity now piqued, Luna followed Celestia, wondering where she could possibly be heading. That did not take long though, as both princesses stopped short of one tombstone in the back of the grounds, almost impossible to see apart from the grass due to being covered in moss.

It had been obvious to both princesses that the tombstone laying in front of them had suffered much over the years, much like the ones around it. Wiping the moss off with her hoof, Celestia nor Luna could make the words engraved on the stone very well. For some reason though, Luna could tell that Celestia knew who’s stone it was, and who’s remains laid beneath them. Still, neither of them said a word.

With a heavy sigh, Celestia turned to her sister, sadness in her eyes. “How much do you remember?”

“So you knew that my memories were lost then.”

“... Yes, I did.”

“And yet you said nothing of it? Or were you the one who took them away in the first place?”

“... I will not lie Luna. I took parts of your memories, moments that would only bring you grief.”

“Grief you say. More grief then being banished to the moon for a thousand years by my own sister? Or the grief that not only I, but both of us endured when our mother and father were taken from us? More grief than that, Tia?” Luna snapped, obviously furious at what her sister had just admitted.

Looking down at the grave, Celestia whispered the name of the soul beneath them. “Calidus.”

“...Calidus?”

Celestia nodded. “That was his name. Of course, he goes by something both similar and different today.” She said with a small smile.

“What do you mean? You are obviously referencing the grave. How can somepony who has passed on still be alive Tia?”

With a small giggle, Celestia decided to tease her sister and not tell her. However, the smile and laughter didn’t last for long, as it soon died out remembering the young stallion. “He died trying to save the one he loved. All his life he had looked up to her, and would always spend as much time as possible to be with her, as did she with him. It was almost as if the pair was made for each other.”

“That’s... terrible.” Luna replied.

“Yes, it was.”

“You say he died trying to save the one he loved. What happened to him? What happened to the mare?”

“... The mare was the one who killed him.” Celestia answered. Tears were beginning to form at the edge of her eyes, remembering that night.

“Killed him? Why would she kill him? Were they not in love? Why would she betray him and-”

“I was just getting to that Luna.” Celestia interrupted, wiping the tears away with her hoof, even sniffling a bit. “She did not want to be betrayed in the end. Both of them loved each other so much, and were even wanting to marry each other. The sister of the mare, the mother of the stallion, both were overjoyed. However, something horrible had happened in the end, something that even I could not foresee. Not until it was too late.”

“She did not really love him?”

Celestia shook her head. “She loved him, Luna, do not get me wrong. What happened... The mare had been poisoned by an enemy of her family a long time ago. This poison, instead of slowly killing her physically, it killed her mentally. She became a new pony, a pony not even I could recognize. It did not happen quickly though.”

“The poison had taken its time, changing the mare every so slowly. Over the years she was becoming more and more convinced that her friends and family did not love her, or the nightly talent she would perform for them. No matter how much we struggled, the mare would not listen to reason. Finally, in the end, the mare was convinced that the stallion had been planted inside the palace to kill her, not remembering the years they had spent together and loved one another.”

“What happened? How did she kill the stallion?”

Celestia looked up at the sky, the nightly glow of the stars shining bright along with the moon that shone even brighter. “After performing her nightly duties, the mare went back to the room where she slept, the same room she had shared with the stallion.”

Luna’s cheeks were becoming bright red at the new information. “O-Oh. Oh my.” She said quietly as she put her hooves on her cheeks, trying to hide her blushing.

Celestia chuckled a bit at her sister’s reaction, but could understand it well. “Yes, they had indeed gotten that close Luna. But it was also where tragedy struck.” She said, a frown overtaking her joy. “Seducing him and calling him to bed, the two had shared one last night of passion. The stallion of course I could only assume was to not only agreed because it meant more time to spend with the one he loved, but also, ironically, bring love back into her life.”

“How do you know this?” Luna asked, raising a brow and ready to accuse.

“I remember the account of the guards standing outside. They could hear the screams of lust and passion for quite some time. At least, that’s what they had assumed. After a while, those screams sounded less of love, and more of horror as time went by. Worried, the guards burst through the doors of the chamber, only to see the mare, now fully engulfed by the darkness of the poison, completely changed. Her once lush, beautiful blue coat turned into a sickening black, her star like mane turned even darker, her mind horribly twisted by the heinous magic. Her partner...”

She paused and looked at Luna, the same sadness still in her eyes. “Do you understand now why I had locked your memories away? Why I did not want you suffer? Not until I knew you were ready to hear this?”

Luna, having now realize who the mare in the story was, looked away from her sister and to the grave. Even with all of this new information, she felt no feelings, no remorse towards the stallion that laid beneath the two alicorns. Was it because the nightmare was still lingering in her body, making her not care? Or was it because she did not have the memories, therefore she could not feel?

“Tia?”

“Yes Luna?”

“I-I see, so I was... Those memories, would I remember him? Would I love him once more? Here I sit, not even knowing what he looked like, but to know that I was in love with him...”

Celestia looked down at her sister, and could see the struggle that Luna was going through. Trying to remember the one you love, but cannot. She smiled and nodded, believing that with now knowing the truth, giving back her memories was the best course of action. “I understand Luna, I do believe you have spent long enough away from him.”

Leaning down to her sister, Celestia touched horns with the smaller alicorn, a smile appearing on her face. Condensing and sending magic to her horn, Celestia began to use it to undo the spell she had placed on her sister from before. On the giving end, it was no trouble whatsoever to cast the spell, on the receiving end however...

With magic pumping into her head, she could feel the energy tearing her mind apart. With each ticking second, one by one, each thread holding her sanity intact had begun to break. The sights, the smells, the sounds of the memories, all rushing back to her. The pony that was once invisible to her in her dreams, the one that was cut out and missing, finally beginning to emerge from the darkest depths of her mind.

Hot and heavy breathing, Luna collapsed to the cold, wet, grassy ground. her body continued to feel as though it was burning up with each ticking second, but that only lasted for a few moments before the cool air began to embrace her once again. Her breathing under control, she slowly lifted her eyes open and looked to her sister, a smile creeping on her face.

“Sister.”

“Yes Luna?”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to go see an old friend.” She said, shaking the dirt off her coat and spreading her wings wide, ready to take off.

Celestia continued to smile and nod once more at her sister. “Of course Luna, I understand. I will go inside and go retrieve Twilight to send her home before she wakes up. Before you go though...”

“Sister?” Luna cocked her head, seeing her sister’s smile fade.

“I wish to say, please, do not blame yourself. It was not your fault.”

“... Of course Tia, I know.”

It had taken a few hours for Luna to fly back to Canterlot from the old castle ruins, but she had been able to make it back in time for her to lower the moon in place of her sister’s sun. Landing on the balcony of her room at the highest point of the Lunar Tower, the princess trotted inside, exhausted. For once, she wished she could just collapse onto her bed and sleep for eternity, but knew it could not be.

The events of trekking through the Everfree Forest, to exploring her old home, to gaining her memories back, all to end with her choosing to fly instead of teleport home, it was not hard to figure out why she had been so tired. Covering herself with the blankets and sheets that had not been changed for other a month due to her absence, she sighed and placed her head on the soft pillow, waiting to go into supposed dreamland.

“Surprised to see you so tired Luna. Usually I thought alicorns did not need to rest.”

Slowly, Luna opened one of her eyes, and looked in the direction of the voice that disturbed her sleep. Sitting on a chair in the corner, sat the same pink and purple unicorn from before, a smile on her face. “Rosa...” Luna said softly. It was followed up shortly with another sigh.

The unicorn’s smile turned into a large grin, and bounced off the chair. “So glad you could remember your friend’s name after all these years.”

Luna sat up, wanting to glare daggers at the unicorn, but too tired to do so. “I could say the same for you little one. For three years I have been back at the castle, and I knew for a fact for those three years that you had lived in the castle with us. So why is it now that you decide to finally show your face once again?”

The unicorn, or Rosa as she was now known, shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve been busy. Besides, I wasn’t too sure if you had forgotten about me.”

Luna frowned a bit. “After all the time we’ve spent together, why would you ever think that I would have forgotten you?”

Again, Rosa shrugged. “You never know... I assume Celly returned your memories?” Staying silent, Luna looked away from her friend and down towards her bed spread. She nodded once, letting Rosa know everything she needed to know. “I see... and I-”

“Please Rosa, I’m glad that you have finally shown yourself after all these years, and I really would love to catch up very soon. However, right now I would simply like to be alone.” Luna told her friend as she covered herself in her blankets and sheets, turning away from the unicorn.

“... Very well Luna, I understand. I will be in my room if you need me. It’s right below Celly’s in the Solar Tower if you’re wondering.”

With that said, Rosa let herself out of Luna’s room, and headed back to her own. Luna on the other hoof, instead of falling asleep like she had planned, began to remember the times she had when she shared her bed with that special somepony, only to let tears run down her face as she realized that those days would never return.

(13) Whiskey Stallion

Just to warn you guys, this chapter goes into deeper detail of what happened in the month that Fiery’s been there because I forgot to mention it in the last chapter.

Saturday, a day meant for everyone, no matter what size or age. To spend time with loved ones, kicking back and just relaxing. Perhaps one would go out and paint their house or do other chores of the sort; such as going out shopping in the bustling markets of town, or scavenging for scraps for the less fortunate. Or in Fiery’s case, ignoring the scolding of his roommates as he eventually gets out of bed, then immediately getting drunk off his ass at the local pub.

Yes, although Fiery had been living in the new world for the second week now, he had become a habit of his old self. With the allowance of one hundred bits given by Octavia, he would stay inside throughout the entire week from Sunday to Thursday, only to blow all the money she gave him on the last two days of the week.

Ponyville was a small town, only consisting of a few thousand ponies, meaning that there were only a few places that a stallion like himself could go enjoy himself. He often contemplated going to the nightclub that his other roommate Vinyl worked at, but he always knew that he wouldn’t really enjoy himself over there, he has never having been a real nightclub person. The only place that he could really enjoy himself was ‘Snoozin’ Speakeasy’, which was really the only place he could have a good time.

The creaking sound of the opening door to the pub/inn would only become familiar with him as he walked in searching for a place to sit. Even at seven in the evening, the first floor of the Victorian-styled building was nearly packed. Each hardwood booth, layered with multi-colored silk had been taken by some group or another. The tables were also occupied as ponies were drinking their drinks, sitting on their rumps as they gossiped and laughed, the typical bar-esque atmosphere. To one side of the pub there was a space made out specifically for any type of performance, directly across from the booths, for something scheduled ahead of time or some drunkard who wanted to embarrass themselves in front of the other patrons. Finally in the very back there was the bar itself, tens or perhaps hundred of different types of drinks lined up behind the barmaid, clean glasses hanging from the ceiling, multiple green-headed barstools laying in front of the hardwood surfaced bar.

Fiery was lucky enough to find a seat at the bar, squeezing through a couple of tight spaces formed by the patrons. Propping himself up onto the barstool, he waved to the barmaid, getting her attention as he begins his routine.

Over the two weeks he had been in Equestria, he had seen all types of stallions and mares of all shapes, sizes and ages. If he had to guess, the mare walking towards him from behind the bar would be in her thirties at best, a light plum coat with mulberry mane. Most knew her as Berry Punch, owner and proprietor or ‘Snoozin’ Speakeasy’, along with her filly, Ruby Pinch. “What’ll it be, handsome?” The barmaid asked with her usual business smile, adding the ‘handsome’ remark to most likely make the buyer feel more wanted, thus, more likely to come back another time.

“Can I get some Jack Apples?”

The barmaid acknowledged the order with a single nod, before getting a small glass from underneath the bar, along with some ice and a Jack Apples bottle. Unlike the regular brownish coloring of a Jack Daniels bottle back on Earth, this liquid was a dark greenish coloring, representing the apples that the whiskey was made out of. After pouring the alcoholic beverage into the glass, the barmaid placed the drink in front of Fiery. “One glass of Jack Apples.”

“Thanks.” Fiery responded as he picked up the glass, bringing it up close to his muzzle. With a swift motion, he leaned back as he opened up his mouth and tipped the glass backwards, the drink hitting the back of his throat, a few ice cubes falling in to soothe the burning sensation that was to follow. Needless to say, Fiery began to cough heavily as the burning sensation of the whiskey assaulted his senses, only for it follow up with the sweet taste of apples, all while Fiery placed the glass back onto the bar, demanding for another.

“Coming right up.”

This continued for almost three or four glasses of whiskey, each time ending with Fiery coughing and slamming the glass down asking for more. And even though he was an Earth Pony in this form, meaning that he could withstand the effects of alcohol more than the other two races, it was evident that the effects of this particular drink was too much for him. Asking for a fifth, he was given an unwelcomed reply.

“Sorry handsome, fours the legal limit. This is strong stuff, even for an Earth Pony like yourself, and I don’t want a lawsuit slammed on me saying I killed somepony from alcohol poisoning.” Berry said, putting the Jack Apples bottle back below, out of Fiery’s view.

“I said gimme ‘nother!” He replied, almost yelling as he began to slur his words, evident the drinks were already taking its toll on him.

“Or what? You’re gonna climb on over and puke all over me, just like you did with Ms. Dash?” Berry said with a slight smirk. She was always annoyed with having to deal with drunks, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have fun riling them up.

The other patrons nearby began to laugh at Fiery’s misfortune, all knowing what Berry was alluring to. “How’d didja-”

“Oh come off it, honey.” Berry answered him with a flick of the hoof, not even bothering letting him finish his question. “Nearly half the village was at that party. Anypony who wasn’t there has obviously heard about your little scene there by now. Word travels fast ‘round here. Now, are you gonna order something less potent, or does my friend here need to escort you out?”

Fiery hadn’t realized it, but a white, brawny looking pegasus with a buzz cut was standing right behind him, the only thing that had given the pegasus away was a loud snort. As Fiery turned around to see the pegasus, all he could do once seeing him was thinking, ‘Oh shit.’ Despite the pegasus having tiny wings, almost as small as a foals, Fiery visibly shrunk at the sight of the muscular pegasus. For once he knew not to pick a fight he couldn’t win while drunk.

Grumbling, Fiery turned back to Berry, pulling out his cloth-wallet (a gift from his roommates) from his flesh pocket for her to see. “How’s much?” He once again slurred.

“Fifty bits.” Berry said with a straight face.

Fiery looked up, astonished. “Fi-Fiffy bits?!” He yelled. He wanted to leap over and really give the barmaid a piece of his intoxicated mind on the price, just like back on Earth where he would always end up getting pulled back by his friends or other patrons before he could get arrested, but with the pegasus behind him, the last thing he wanted was to get his drunk pony ass kicked. “Fuggin’ bullshit.” He said under his breath, or so he thought, Berry and the pegasus easily hearing him.

He counted out fifty bits for the bill, or so he thought, instead giving the barmaid an extra 8 bits on mistake, before getting off the stool and leaving the establishment.

Fiery wandered the streets of Ponyville for a few minutes, stumbling his way into multiple objects as he tried to walk on his four hooves. He was attracting much attention due to his obvious drunken self, and to add to that, it was 7:30 in the evening.

“Shtupid fuggin’ bar an’ their shtupid law.” He slurred out loud. Ponies that happened to be around him were shocked of the language they heard. One little light purplish colored unicorn filly nearby had also heard him, and had no idea what the special word he used meant.

“Mama, what does ‘fucking’ mean?” The filly asked in an innocent voice.

The mother, a grey, blonde maned pegasus with crossed eyes, gasped. Without even answering, she picked up her little muffin and began to fly away from the horrible stallion.

He continued to wander the streets for nearly an hour, continuing to crash into things and stumble upon himself as the alcohol slowly made its way out of his system. Ponies tried their best to stay away from the drunken stallion, as if he had the plague. The entire time, he was going the wrong direction from home, the complete opposite direction in fact.

10:30 in Luna’s night, and Fiery was standing on the edge of Ponyville, the house where he lived nowhere in sight. He was able to empty his stomach along the way, having not passing out but still managing to piss off another pony by puking into one of the stalls at the market, mistaking it for a trash can of all things. Now he just sat, sitting and staring up at the stars with a drunken gaze.

Luckily for him, the direction he had managed to walk in just happened to be the same direction of one of the humans he had met just the week before. Luck would have it in fact, that the said human-turned-pony was walking down the street to her house at that moment, along with two other pegasi. Both were lilac in color, one with a jagged blue and white mane, the other pale green with a pink bow on top.

“So I told him, ‘Buddy, if you think that tiny little thing is going to impress me, think again.’” The one with the jagged mane said as they walked closer and closer to Fiery, unaware of him being in their path. She began to giggle, along with the other two mares, as she continued her story. “Mare, if you could see the look on his face when I talked about his wingspan.”

“So, what happened after that Cloudchaser?” The other lilac pony asked, still laughing up a storm.

“Well, dear Flitter, he star- OOF!”

The one named Cloudchaser hadn’t been looking where she had been walking, thus, running right into Fiery. She collapsed back onto her rump, rubbing her head with her left hoof as she looked up at what blocked her path, the other two ponies helping her up. Seeing that the stallion had ruined the merry mood of the three by sitting in the middle of the road, the jagged-maned pony began prodding Fiery’s back, attempting to acquire the drunk pony’s attention. “Hey, buddy! What’s the big idea?!”

Fiery, having been oblivious to the mare bumping into him up until this point, slowly turned his head to get a better look at who or what was yelling at him. Lazily blinking one eye after the other, he began to stare at the pegasus with a bored look on his face, annoyed that his thinking, or there-lack-of, was interrupted by this ‘rude’ pony. “Wassa’ matta’ wit’ you?”

“‘What’s the matter with me’?! What the Tartarus!” Cloudchaser yelled out, clearly starting to get annoyed with the stallion. “What’s the matter with you?! Why in the Great Skies Above are you just sitting here in the middle of the road, blocking the path for other ponies with your fat, drunken ass!” She finished, covering her muzzle with her hoof as the stink of booze lingered in the air.

“Come on, sis, let’s just ignore him.” The other lilac pony suggested, in which Cloudchaser agreed, flicked her tail to show her annoyance, before walking around the roadblock. As the two moved a few yards away, the one named Flitter looked back to see that the third of their group hadn’t moved from their previous stop. In fact, she was helping Fiery up from the ground, back up onto all four hooves. “Arc! What are you doing? Come on!”

The last one named Arc, the one who was secretly a human-turned-pony, had noticed Fiery when Cloudchaser first bumped into him, instantly recognizing the pony. She had been wondering how the new human was doing in Equestria, but with how her work schedule worked out, she didn’t exactly have the time to go all the way across town for a talk.

“H-Hold on you guys, just let me help him up!” She called back, finally getting Fiery onto his hooves, only for him to fall back down. With a frustrated huff, she yelled to her friends again. “Just go on without me! I’ll be home soon!”

Cloudchaser rolled her eyes, and turned back towards the direction they were headed in, before walking away. Not worried for her friend at all as she knew she could take care of herself, she yelled that they would meet back at home before her sister followed.

Arc pulled Fiery up from the ground for a third time, trying to help a fellow human out. This time she finally managed to get him to stand up and not fall down, and with a relieving sigh, she smiled at the brown pony. “Hey... Fiery, right?” She asked, trying to remember his name. “How’d you been? Haven’t seen you around for about a week. The other guys and I were gonna go out tomorrow and talk and stuff. I was going to ask you if you wanted to come but I didn’t know where you lived, and I didn’t exactly have the time to ask somepony for directions, and... hehe, yeah...” She said, rubbing a hoof on the back of her neck in embarrassment.

The mare wasn’t exactly sure what to say, considering the entire time the brown musician just stared at her, not saying a word. Beginning to feel uncomfortable, even though she hadn’t seen him for nearly a week, she was just about to leave him when she saw something peculiar in his eyes. That peculiar thing, was tears. “H-Hey, are you alright? What’s the ma-”

“Maaahhhmyyyy!”

“What the?!”

Out of nowhere, Fiery, for one reason or another, had confused Arc for his mother. Without warning, he dove on to her, pinning her onto the ground as his eyes streamed out more and more tears. Arc continually tried to push the stallion off, but he continued to hug her and rub his snout into her shoulder, wiping away his tears and snot. “I-I-I mi-i-i-issed y-ou.” He confessed, hiccuping constantly. “Wh-wh-why did y-you leave me mommy?”

“‘M-Mommy’?!”

It had been late, and way past her bedtime.

Octavia “Philharmonica” Pie had been sitting on the living room couch, multiple sheets of paper spread out across the coffee table in front of her as she looked at all of them. Each sheet was filled with numbers and various types of mathematical formulas sprawled out. With the addition of the money that Vinyl had been stashed away up in Canterlot, tonight had been the first night that Octavia could actually sit down and begin to work on how to fix their financial troubles.

“Out of all the nights, why did she have to have work tonight?” She murmured to herself, frustrated that Vinyl wasn’t sitting next to her to figure out the numbers with her. What was she to expect though? Friday and Saturday nights were Vinyl’s biggest nights to work, so she could hardly blame her roommate for working.

Groaning out of frustration she fell backwards, melting into couch cushions as glanced up at the clock sitting up on the wall. Seeing that it had been getting close to 11:00, she suddenly noticed something that seemed to be out of place, something that should have been there but wasn’t, she just couldn’t put her hoof on it...

Pushing the thought out of her mind for now, she got up off the couch and began to trot to the kitchen to make herself some coffee. She knew that tonight was the only night that she could be able to work on the accounting. Wait anymore and she would have to wait near to the next full moon before doing it again thanks to her own work, and with how unreliable and sporadic Vinyl would get sometimes, she knew she couldn’t exactly count on her friend to sit down for one night and fill everything out correctly. Ironically speaking said friend was also the one who had all the cash in the first place.

Flicking on the overhead light for the kitchen and pulling out a grinder within from underneath the kitchen counter in order to grind up some of her favorite coffee beans, she yawned as she turned on the machine, clearly tired from the night’s events (or better said lack of).

Shortly after grinding up the beans, she began placing the grounded-up paste into the coffee maker, along with some water and programing the machine to make some coffee right away, groggily trotting back to her seat on the couch as she waited for the good ol’ Joe to be made. With how quiet the place could get sometimes, it was actually nice to be able to think for once, even if it meant that she had to use that thinking for something she didn’t really want to work on.

Minutes ticked by, and with two and a half cups of coffee drained, Octavia was nearly done with all the work. A smile graced her lips as all the numbers tallied up to be the same on each side, her mind secretly thanking the heavens above for learning accounting one summer when she had been a bit younger. “Seems you make an excellent teacher, father.” She said softly to herself.

Her mouth stretched wide as a loud yawn escaped her after drinking the energy-filled drink, her body clearly ready for sleep as the caffeine crash came almost immediately. She made a mental note to get stronger coffee for late nights like this sometime soon.

The thoughts of the recent week brought another smile to her face as she finished her yawn, the usual antics of Vinyl always bringing a laugh that was sorely needed. And then there was Fiery... The distinct lack of the magically rotting smell of a Pixie Stick not being smoked inside the house made her actually curious as to where he could have been. She knew that he wasn’t in the house, as he had left it hours earlier, she having just begun her accounting work as he walked out the door. Granted the peace was nice, but... there was some, thing, that made her feel better when he was around.

He was out of work, and with no way of getting any source of income, he was nothing more than a freeloader, sleeping under the roof that she and Vinyl paid for, eating the food she bought with her own hard-earned bits. He was also often rude, always refusing to apologize to the Elements of Harmony for what he did, always exclaiming that “He had in it’s right to do so,” and “Everyone gets drunk, people do crazy things when they’re drunk, don’t blame me for being crazy.”

But, it was nice, wasn’t it? He could charming when he knew how to be, and he could be funny, and over the past two weeks, even seemed to learn a few things about cleaning up the house while she was at work, and Vinyl sleeping. Yes, he indeed seemed to be a valuable asset to the Pie and Scratch household. No, not an asset... a friend. But, was that all he was?

Her hoof touched her right cheek for only a moment, the thoughts of the week before coming back to her once again. The ‘kiss’ she had received from him, was that a normal way for how humans thanked one another? Her cheeks burned bright red as the thoughts of that ‘thanks’ meant more than anything she had ever received before.

Sure, she had received kisses from her sisters, and mother, and father, and other family members, but to have a stallion you had only met a week ago, a stallion you knew almost nothing about, suddenly doing something like that to you... She shook her head, her mind trying to change the subjects. ‘The kiss meant nothing!’ She thought to herself. ‘It was just a heat of the moment of thing! There’s no need to get so worked up about something silly like that... Still...’

Her thoughts began to wander once again, this time imagining of a stallion in shining armor, a stallion that would be one day meet her and be the perfect stallion, galloping up to her in a bed of roses, the stallion heeding no mind to the pinpricks of the thorns. She, in a beautiful pink gown made of silk, a small tiara upon her head, would stand upon a pedestal of white marble on this bed of roses, and as the valiant knight proceeded to get closer, she would lower her body, her stomach pressing against the marble as she would extend her hoof out for her steed. The knight, as he finally reached the pedestal, would grab the lovely hoof with his own, and with a polite bow, proceed to kiss the hoof once, and pledge his undying loyalty to her.

Oh yes, how wonderful that would ever be. How she couldn’t wait for the day that would happen either, the day that a stallion was truly loyal to her. Yes, a loyal stallion, one who wouldn’t lie to her in any way, or treat her badly, or... hurt her...

Her once happy moment of bliss quickly turned sour as thoughts of old took hold. Thoughts of her old college life, of the stallion she once used to call ‘coltfriend’. She’d love to be with him as he seemed to be the perfect stallion that she had been looking for. One that was good-looking, who was intelligent and funny, oh how she loved him. Then, on that fateful day, the day that Vinyl had come to visit from her own school, as they opened the door to her dorm, the horrors that were placed within...

Tears streamed from her face, her hooves trying their best to wipe them away for her to see, but at last, it would not work. Her final thoughts before falling into slumber were of the stallion she used to call ‘coltfriend’, and the mare that he embraced in bed.

Author's Notes:

Oh my Jesus, after three-four months of inactivity, I’ve finally released a new chapter! We finally realize what the ‘horrors’ Octavia had to endure in college were (though it should have been pretty damn obvious if you ask me), and what silly events will come of Fiery calling Arc ‘mommy’? Who knows?
In all honesty, I wanted to extend this chapter, but decided to cut it here because I’ve made you guys wait enough, that means what was originally suppose to be chapter 13, will now be chapter 15. Yay! Anyways, hopefully I’ll get back into writing more, and you guys will see more of this soon enough! Until Next Time, Poodicus Out.

Bonus Chapter 1

It was another beautiful day in Ponyville and... Alright, that was absolute bullshit. The truth is that the weather was sucking completely. Some A-hole had decided to deliver not 80 clouds of the scheduled rain that was suppose to come, but rather 80 clouds of frozen rain, i.e. hail.

Because of this, and because of the fact that Ponyville had been in desperate need of rain for the past few weeks thanks to the delivery team from Cloudsdale being slow, the local weather team had no choice to but to use the frozen rain, not being able to wait for it thaw or wait for the correct delivery to come. I mean, what better weather for the middle of June than hail? Now, with hail ranging from the size of small specs to the size golf balls raining down and doing all sorts of destruction to the town, the local populace were to stay indoors for safety, including our protagonists of this story.

Oh, you thought that I was Fiery? Or perhaps one of the other ponies? You thought that this was going to be a first-person chapter because it’s a bonus chapter? Well, you’re wrong. It’s the one and only author, because maybe I want to talk sometimes! I have feelings as well, damnit! But enough about that, as our main ponies are right now sitting in their home at their dining room table, quietly enjoying their breakfast as they all hoped that the hail wouldn’t do any damage to their precious house.

Yes, that’s correct, all of them. For once, the rare and endangered species of Vinyl Scratch had come out of her den from the upstairs to join the other two ponies for their morning ritual. She takes a break from eating the grapefruit that sits in a bowl in front of her and looks up at the ceiling, obviously trying to figure out if the words mocking her are real or not... That’s right, words. This a text-based story, not an audio recording. Meanwhile, the other two ponies were either intentionally ignoring me or simply couldn’t ‘see’ me... feel me... touch me... feel me... and yet almost no one will probably get that reference.

“Xenophilia.” Fiery suddenly blurted out, garnering the attention of the other two ponies at the table, along with the author. Apparently we’re getting into some kinky alien sex today! Or at least explaining the definition for the sexual fetish of being attracted to ‘alien’ lifeforms.

“Pardon?” Octavia asked as she too looked up from her breakfast at the brown stallion across from her, with Vinyl soon following-

“What’s this about kinky alien sex?” Vinyl asked, with the brown stallion and grey mare looking at her with absolute confusion right after she blurted that out. “What? He said ‘xenophilia’ so that’s what I answered with. Don’t judge me for knowing its definition.” She lied. Yeah, she can totally see me.

“Um... nothing I suppose? But that wasn’t really what I meant.” Fiery replied, trying to get rid of the awkward mood in the room. He placed the paper he had been reading down onto the table, pointing at the headline of the page he had been reading.

“New trend of fictional works hits Equestria by storm.”

After reading the headline upside down, Octavia looked up at the stallion, still curious what this had to do with something as strange as ‘xenophilia’. “And?”

“What?”

“What does this have to do with what you just said?” She asked more clearly.

“It’s the name of one of the books listed here.” Fiery replied as he pointed to the page again. Indeed, there was a long list of titles on the page about the fictional works.

“And you just happened to pick that one for no apparent reason?”

Once Fiery figured out why she was asking about the title, he began to blush a bit, obviously embarrassed about it. “Oh, uh... I should’ve picked something else?”

Octavia rolled her eyes, going back to her breakfast as Vinyl tried to continue reading the article upside down, but gave up soon enough and flat out asked. “So what’s this about a new trend?”

“Humans in Equestria.” He said.

Octavia, having heard this, immediately stopped eating and looked back up at the stallion with concerned eyes. “You don’t suppose-” She was quickly answered with a shake of his head.

“No, I don’t think reading these would get me anywhere. From the sound of these stories, it just sounds like some ponies, or perhaps even people, making up stories as they live their lives here. Either that, or if they’re bronies like I think they are, are making up stories on what they wanted to happen when they got here only to find out life isn’t fair. In fact, I’m ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent certain that’s how it is, considering that again, ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent of these take place here in Ponyville.”

“How can you be so sure about that?” Vinyl asked him. He pointed down onto the paper and began to read aloud.

“Although this brand new trend seem to have taken the country, perhaps even the world by storm, it does seem that all of these share a similar setting of place. The human, whether he stays in his humanoid form or by some form of ancient magic is given the body of one of our own, is almost always placed in the small town of Ponyville.”

“Oh... Well, how do you know they’re all made by bronies and not some of the local Equestrians? We can write as well you know.”

“Because although I didn’t know what a brony was until recently, you Equestrians didn’t know what a human was until recently either.” He replied.

“How can you be-”

“The recent trend of the fictional humans was created nearly three years ago-”

“Alright, alright, so you were right.” Vinyl admitted as she huffed, crossing her front legs in defeat. It was sort of cute really, seeing her all pouty like that after being told she was wrong about something. In fact, it reminds me of this one time where-

“So what else is relevant to these new stories?” Octavia asked, now seeming to get interested in the topic. Perhaps, if the stories were good enough, she would actually be able to enjoy a good fiction now. She had been craving to read one for quite a while, but she either didn’t have the time to reread her favorites or find a new book and give it a chance. So why not just pick one from the list of stories that are posted in the paper? If they’re posted in the paper, then have to be at least decent at best... What? She reads as well, it isn’t just playing the cello 24/7. Also, don’t interrupt the author as he’s speaking! It’s rude!

“The human characters seem to always fall in love in your heroes, the Elements of Harmony, or vice versa.”

“Is that what’s reported in the paper?” She asked, to which he responded with a nod this time. “How-”

“In almost the dumbest or most unrealistic ways possible.”

“How can you be sure about that? Or does it say that in the paper as well?”

“Intuition.” He simply replied, to which Octavia rolled her eyes again.

Huh, that seems to be one of her favorite things to do, rolling her eyes... or is it because I can’t think of anything else to portray how the characters don’t simply care about the answer...? Probably the latter. Ooh, ooh, he’s speaking again!

“Let me give you an example. This one story they talk about- Well, let me just read it for you. Ahem. ‘One of the hit books, ‘Through the Eyes of Another Human’, was highly acclaimed among the new human fandom for it’s humorous, romantic, adventurous storyline. Critics gave it high scores, some claiming that it’ll be remembered throughout the years. The human character of course, turns into one of us in order to save the world from the horrible Nightmare that infected our dear Princess Luna years ago. Speaking of which, Princess Luna is apart of the story itself, and with a special interview with her majesty, we asked her about what she thought about the book.

Shockingly enough, after all the praise and fame it had received, her majesty Luna seemed to have disagree the critics, calling the book “an insult to the Equestrian language” as well as some other choice words that we forced to keep to ourselves due to political reasons. We can’t tell you what she said, and as Princess Celestia told us that we would not face any consequences for repeating what was said in that interview, we still do not want to take the risk of having our company being forcibly shut down.’”

“Anything else?” Octavia asked. He nodded and continued to read the article out loud, the mares continuing to eat their breakfast.

“You know that title I said out loud earlier? Well, it’s about a guy who doesn’t turn into a pony, original right? Not to mention he ends up boning those two mares I managed to piss off. What were their names again? Twilight and Rainbow?”

Octavia groaned. “So you mean it’s one of those types of stories?”

“Yep, but wait, there’s more!” He explained as he tried acting like some sort of announcer. “There’s a guy that turns into a diamond dog and goes on an adventure, and another about a guy turning into a gryphon and going on an adventure, and another one about a guy crashing from outer space and going on an adventure!”

The grey mare put a hoof to her chin, becoming bored of the conversation quite quickly after hearing nothing but dribble from this article, or at least what she presumed was the article. “Anything else?” She asked again.

“Romance, romance, adventure, romance, adventure, historical, adventure, adult novel, romance- Oh hey, here’s one about you guys!”

The ears of both the mares perked up as he said this, both of them suddenly becoming interested in the story for the same reason. “Us?” Vinyl asked.

“Yeah, let’s see here... Ahem, ‘Though this story only received mediocre reviews at best, the author showed perseverance as he continued writing despite what editors told him. He has been quoted saying “If that crappy vampire romance series can make it big, then I should have at least some sort of chance.” While it is true that many authors feel as though that the hit tween vampire romance novel series “Dusk” shouldn’t be allowed as it’s giving our young a false sense of hope when it comes to romance, we here at Manehatten Times would like it to be known that we have no quarrels with stories that are ill-received by those with some form of intelligence. Speaking of which, going back to the story “Into A New World”, the main character is that of a young human living in Ponyville with, not one of our dear Elements of Harmony, but of world-renown musicians Octavia “Philharmonica” Pie and our very own Manehattenite Vinyl Scratch.”

Fiery had taken a break from the reading to look at Vinyl with confusion. It seems she had something else she hadn’t told him about herself just yet. Octavia though, being her best friend, already knew.

“What? I was technically born in Manehatten. My parents moved us to Canterlot after a year or two in Manehatten.” She said before pointing back to the paper. “Now keep reading.”

With a shrug, Fiery did just that. “Critics gave it poor scores for fast-pacing and grammar problems, but when it came to the story itself, it held up decent, bringing its scores to average. The story of a young man being stuck in a world he doesn’t know, only to find out he truly belongs here. Finding his true mother in Canterlot, the new love of his life, Octavia Pie, bearing his child as-”

“Wait, what?!” Octavia interrupted as she slammed her hooves onto the table and got out of her seat. “What was that?!”

He continued. “The new love of his life, Octavia Pie, bearing his child as he grows accustomed to his pony body, only for Octavia’s pregnancy to end in tragedy as a spell mishap causes her to miscarriage. The cri-”

“First he fucks me and then I get a miscarriage?! I-I, I’m gonna throttle whoever wrote this crap!” Octavia screamed as loud as possible. Vinyl was on the floor rolling in laughter now as she thought Octavia’s reaction to this news was priceless, and even Fiery had begun to chuckle as he watched Octavia storm off in the direction of her office.

“Where are you going?” Fiery asked through his chuckles.

“To write a complaint letter! Nopony, and I mean No Pony makes my name look bad!” She hollered back, only to make Fiery begin laughing harder now.

And that my dear friends, was just another day in the household of the musicians. Sure enough though, the publishers responsible for the recent trend of humans had begun to see lawsuit after lawsuit not just Octavia, but from the Elements of Harmony, as well as others. Needless to say those publishing groups soon went out business.

On another note, one such lawsuit was from a minty unicorn by the name of Lyra Heartstrings. Apparently for some reason it was a peculiar sub-trend within the trend where she would happen to know a lot about humans. Because of this, many ponies across the country would come and search her out for more answers about said creatures. The irony of it all though? She had no clue what a human was.

Well, that just about does it for me. Anything to share, Vinyl?

“Yeah, if you’re state is trying to pass a law legalizing weed, for all that is holy, pass it, pass it, pass it.”

We both laugh at her silliness.

“No, but seriously, stop making up stories about us ponies screwing you humans. It’s bad for business.”

Welp, you heard her folks, enough with the human clopfics. This is the author saying, Goodnight.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the short and not-funny chapter. Been busy i.e. lazy and haven't written anything past 1400 words in chapter 14 in nearly 3 months. Hopefully I can get back into writing very very soon. Welp, see you guys, until next time.

Chapter 14 and Announcement

Hey guys, in case you didn't see before clicking on this chapter, Into A New World is cancelled. Now, before you get upset at me for cancelling, please redirect your attention to this blog post I had created yesterday but didn't realize you guys hadn't been notified of it until tonight. I'm sorry for this, and I honestly hope you guys can forgive me.

P.S. To the admins reading this, this isn't me trying to take advantage of the system, this is really just me notifying my readers of the circumstances that they would have otherwise wouldn't know about.

P.P.S. This chapter isn't finished at all, and I apologize for not finishing it before releasing, but I thought you'd guys would at least enjoy seeing where it would go.

“So, tell us again why you brought him here?”

The pegasus known as Cloudchaser was using her wings to hover above the ground, her front two legs crossed as she looked at another certain pegasus in an upset way, tapping her hoof against the hardwood floor of the apartment she lived in. The reason for the tapping was that no more than half an hour ago, she, along with her sister Flitter, and her friend Arc Flash, were walking home from a girl’s night out and had run into a drunk earth pony who had been sitting in the middle of the road, blocking their path. Cloudchaser and Flitter decided to leave the earth pony for dead as he was of no concern of theirs, but for whatever reason, the roommate Arc decided to help the pony. Now, that same pony was sleeping on their living room couch as Cloudchaser began to interrogate her friend. Flitter wasn’t there as she was sleeping in the room that the twins shared.

“Well Arc?” She asked once more, her tone an unpleasant one. It was pretty obvious she wasn’t all too pleased about this. Rather than answering, the bright yellow pegasus who was being questioned had placed a blanket on top of the brown earth pony to keep him warm. He had managed to pass out outside shortly after screaming for his mother and hugging Arc tightly, believing her to be the one he was calling out for. “Arc!”

Arc flinched a bit as her named was screamed, the one who did it only a few feet away. “Geez, no need to yell Cloudchaser, I can hear you just fine.” The pegasus replied in an annoyed tone as she looked over her shoulder to the lilac pony. She knew she was going to an earful for bringing the fellow human home, but it would have still been nice if her roommate would butt out of her business for once.

“If you can hear me just fine, then tell me. Why did you bring this earth pony home with you and why did you put him on the couch?”

“A little racist, aren’t we Cloud? Acting like he’s spreading some type of disease on the couch simply because he’s of another race?” Arc asked with a smirk. Cloudchaser could only reply with a groan, and right as she was about to make a rebuttal for the comment, Arc continued on, fully facing the frustrated pegasus this time. “I know, I know, you didn’t mean it that way at all. I know you’re better than that.”

Cloudchaser rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks... You still haven’t answered my question about bringing him home though.”

“I was just getting to that, calm down.” Arc said, then, took in a deep breath. Waiting for a few seconds, she closed her eyes, trying to get a focus on her bearings. She didn’t need to do all of this, she just knew she was making the pony across from her more frustrated and was having fun with it. Exhaling and letting out all of the air in her lungs, her eyes fluttered open as she peered at the pegasus, a smirk curling on her lips. “He’s a friend.”

“A friend?” Cloudchaser repeated, her eyebrow raising as her mind questioned the answer. “Tell me, why did you have to bring your ‘friend’ here then?”

“Well, I couldn’t have just let him sit outside cold and alone, now could I? Besides, he’s actually a pretty decent pony once you get to know him... and when he’s not completely ‘plastered’ like at the party...” She finished. She tried to seal the deal with a cheesy grin, but she could easily tell that Cloudchaser wasn’t having any of it, as she was glaring at Arc as if she was trying to read her mind. Even if he was a friend, which she couldn’t exactly prove at that moment, it was going to be difficult to convince Cloudchaser to let him sleep over for the night when she got this way.

“Plastered? He only had like three drinks! Besides, what happens if he wakes up and decides to do something that we’ll both regret? What then Arc?”

“Like?” Arc asked, not quite understanding where Cloudchaser was coming from.

“Like he decides to wake up and steal something, then walk out? Remember Arc, you say he’s friend, but I’ve never seen him in my life. Excuse me for being paranoid, but with how he acted towards us earlier, it shouldn’t be a real surprise that I feel extremely uncomfortable with him sleeping under the same roof as me.”

“Well, I suppose you have a point there...”

“Of course I do! Now, what are you going to do to help me feel more at ease Arc?”

Arc sat on her haunches for a few seconds, thinking of how to please Cloudchaser without having to throw out her newest human friend. “I, I can sleep in here? You know, make sure he doesn’t do anything crazy when he wakes up?”

Cloudchaser, seeming to like this idea, smiled and nodded, uncrossing her front legs and landing with a quiet thud as all four hooves touched the ground. “Alright, I suppose that’s acceptable. Waffles in the morning?”

Arc giggled a bit as she covered her muzzle with her hoof and nodded. “Sure, sounds great.”

With that, the two pegasi went to their separate rooms. Cloudchaser, to join her sister in slumber and head to bed, and Arc, to get the materials she would need to sleep out on the floor in the living room, a peaceful rest ahead of her.

Fiery was pissed, and for good reason. Although the night before was somewhat of a blur to him, he could easily say that him waking up that morning was not a pleasant experience at all. He was in an unknown house that he slept in, on an old rickety couch, an undesirable sound piercing his ears. Now, if that wasn’t bad enough, it was the manner in which he woke him up that probably pissed him off the most.

He was peacefully sleeping there, laying on the couch and dreaming about being back home. Sure, it wasn’t the best dream he had ever had, but it sure beat being stuck as a pony for another day. Then, that dream was of course crushed, as his body flipped off the couch, his face planted firmly into the floor below, and his ears being assaulted with loud music first thing in the morning. One minute sitting down at a desk inside the library of the university he had been attending, the next, nothing but drums and guitars.

“Aaahhhhhh! Aaahhhhhh! We come from the land of ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow! The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands, to fight the horde and sing and cry; Valhalla, I am coming.”

“Flitter!” A new voice screamed out over the music. Fiery knew this voice, not to mention this music. Maybe, maybe that dream was having was actually reality? Maybe the reason why he dreamt of being in the library was because he really was in it?! He opened his eyes slowly and the first thing he saw was the deep colors of the wooden floor below him, with chestnut coloring soon rubbing his left eye. Very soft, almost like fur...

‘Fuck.’ He thought to himself as his hoof continued to rub his eye. ‘Still a pony I see.” He thought again, an internal sigh following soon after. But, if he was still a pony, then why in the hell was Led Zeppelin being played? Sure he liked the band, but he kinda preferred not waking up to it, even if it was imagination. And what was that voice? He knew it but he couldn’t quite place where he had heard it before.

“Flitter, will you turn that off already?!” Another voice yelled. Whoever this ‘Flitter’ was Fiery thought, was the one being responsible for the music he was hearing.

“Sorry girls.” A third voice called out, presumably trying to sound innocent.

“If you’re sorry then why in the world did you touch my machine in the first place?! I told you to wait a little while!” The first voice scolded.

With a groan, he began to pick himself up from the ground, hoping to get at least some type of answer for both the intrusion of sleep and for his whereabouts. As the three voices argued, or what Fiery could only guess was arguing, he began to look around the room he was in, trying to get a bearing for his surroundings.

He began to hope that this was indeed some type of bad dream, or at the very least was back at the musician house. No such luck for him though, as he was in an entirely new place, with the same old pony body. This meant two things. Either he went home with some random mare and they had fucked all night, or he was kidnapped. His mind was suggesting (mostly hoping) that it had been the second one.

He began to dwell on the night before, trying to remember when he seemingly got kidnapped by three mares. He wasn’t that desperate for sex, yet, so he knew that having a fun night like the good old times was out of the question. Then again, when you’re drunk, you’re never really in control of your body, and sometimes you end up regretting doing things you normally wouldn’t have done. Speaking of which, why didn’t he have a hangover like before? What, was his pony body now suddenly not only able to play any song he wanted to like some sort of guitar god (something he still didn’t understand to the fullest), but now he didn’t wake up with hangovers anymore?

If there was some sort of deity out there, why in the world were they both fucking with him and granting him his wishes and dreams?! Why do they torment him so?!

“Uuuugh, what time is it?” He drearily asked.

All three voices, or at least the second one, seemed to have picked up his groaning as ‘she’ continued speaking, but this time about him. “And he’s woken up. Great, just great.”

“Hey, hey, that’s no way to greet our guest when he wakes up CC!”

“Don’t call me that. You know I don’t like that nickname!”

“Whatever you say CC.” The first voice said to the second, before answering Fiery’s question from before. “Anyways, it’s time for breakfast if that’s what you’re asking.”

Fiery turned his head to where the voice came from, and with the help of not having a hangover this time, was able to recognize the voice in the form of a pegasus. “A-Arc?”

“The one and only!” She proudly replied, happy that he had taken the time to remember her name, before taking her seat at the dining room table that rested only a few feet away from Fiery. “Now, go wash up and then come join us for some breakfast, k?”

“Wha...?” He said absentmindedly. Obviously he was still half-asleep and couldn’t exactly comprehend what was going on, thanks to the fact that he was still in an unknown place with no explanations whatsoever. “Where, where am I?” He finally managed to get out. “Why am I here?”

A lilac pegasus that Fiery somehow recognized, though he didn’t understand why, had just taken her own seat at the table when she began to answer his questions. “You’re in our house. The reason of you being here is because Arc here felt bad about you being outside last night, drunk off your flank and thought she’d be a good samaritan and bring you here so you could rest up.”

Fiery turned his attention to the yellow pony in the room. ‘So that’s what happened.’ “Uh, thanks I guess?”

Arc nodded, appreciating his thanks. “No problem. What are friends for after all?”

‘Friends... right...’

“Anyways, go down the hall behind us here and take the last door on your left. You’ll find the bathroom there. After you’re done we’d love to have you come and join us, isn’t that right girls?”

“Sure, whatever you say Arc.” The one on the left said bitterly. Was she upset at him for some reason? Who knows.

“Sounds good.” A new lilac pony, almost seeming to be a twin of the pony on the left said in a more chipper mood. Fiery had guessed that this one was called Flitter, as was mentioned by the voices earlier.

“Alright, I suppose I can do that...”

With the feeling of not being wanted by the first of two twins, Fiery had quickly made his way to the bathroom like Arc suggested, going into the shower and washing up. Meanwhile, Arc, Cloudchaser, and Flitter continued a conversation they had begun from before Fiery woke up.

“So, are you two an item or what?” Cloudchaser asked casually, making Arc drop her utensils in surprise. Arc quickly turned towards Cloudchaser, cheeks flushed as she became embarrassed from her friends harassment.

“Cloudchaser!” Arc whined, but she was only met with chuckles from the pegasus.

“Sorry, sorry... but seriously, is it because he’s human and stuck here like you?” She asked, taking a big bite of her pancakes afterwards.

Arc’s embarrassment turned to confusion as she continued to face Cloudchaser, unable to remember if she had told Cloudchaser of the new human. In fact, she was pretty much positive she had never said anything about him being human. “How did-”

“Oh fease Hark.” Cloudchaser started as she swallowed her food. “You honestly think I wouldn’t notice? I’m insulted. Flitter, little Arc doesn’t think I can put two and two together.” She said as she started to fake being emotionally hurt, quivering her lower lips to make it more dramatic as she looked at her twin sister, who only giggled in response.

“That isn’t true and you know it.” Arc corrected. “It’s just... was it really that easy to figure out?”

“Again, oh please Arc.” Cloudchaser answered, waving her fork around with pancake stabbed through it. “First, you instantly defend a pony who shows up two weeks ago knowing nothing about pony society. Second, I know you aren’t the type to try to risk embarrassing yourself making ‘friends’ with the pretty boys in town, so you end up making friends with all the ugly stallions in town.”

“Hey!” Was all Arc could answer with, before Cloudchaser and Flitter giggled some more as Cloudchaser teased her friend.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding... Anyways, the second part of my deduction is that name of his. Seriously, who names their kid ‘Fiery Strings’? I mean, from the stories you’ve told me it seems that you humans can be pretty creative, but to be that uncreative is just... wow.”

Arc had settled back into her own seat quite some time ago as Cloudchaser had been talking, munching on a few bites of pancake when the issue of the name came up. She paused for a few seconds, starting at her pancakes without making a sound, only look up with worried eyes. “It’s that bad?” She asked.

“It’s that bad.” Both Cloudchaser and Flitter answered in unison. Arc didn’t really know how to reply to that answer, she was really hoping the whole ‘Fiery being from another planet’ was going to be extremely hard to figure out, but with how quickly Cloudchaser and Flitter caught on... Without saying another word, she went back to eating her breakfast, waiting for Fiery to come out of the shower.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Octavia was having a nightmare of sorts. She had been dreaming a dream of unspeakable horrors. She was tied to a chair in a dark room, no windows, no doors to the room, just a single lightbulb hovering above her. But the blackness would soon fade away, as the room would reveal a dreaded scene; Her most hated animal, a four headed Hydra, eating a mound made entirely out of her favorite ice cream.

“No!” She would scream out in protest, but to no avail, as the orangey scaly creature continued to devour the cool, creamy substance in delight. Kicking and screaming for the beast to stop, she would continue to watch as her precious “Fudge Brownie” ice cream disappear. Her mouth dripping in saliva, wanting to taste the sweet, almost orgasmic confection, as the chair continued to hold her back.

In the real world, Vinyl had been watching the grey mare on the couch for quite some time now. The DJ knew that she had to help wake her friend up from her nightmare, but for some odd reason, the view she was witnessing was just too adorable for her. Like a puppy kicking it’s back legs as it dreams of running, Octavia had been kicking hers in an attempt to free herself in her dream. That kicking would only stop though when Octavia finally managed to push herself off the couch, and as she hit the ground with a thump, papers from the night before were sent flying everywhere.

Groaning from the pain of the impact on the ground, the cellist began to pick herself up, rubbing her snout in an effort to relieve some of the pain. As she picked herself up though, she was hearing the laughter of one certain pony who wasn’t going to get any dinner that night. “And what time did you get home?” Octavia asked the DJ, her mouth forming a disapproving frown for not helping her.

“Ooohh, just a few minutes ago.” Vinyl answered with her usual gleeful smile, a smile that could only rival Pinkie’s in comparison.

To know exactly what time she got back, Octavia lifted her head and looked up at the wall with the antique clock hanging from it, the hands showing it to be a little past nine o’clock. Knowing Vinyl, this wasn’t really a huge surprise for the cellist. The true surprise however, was with how late she had slept in.

“Have any good dreams last night?” Vinyl asked with fake curiosity. It was evident she already knew the answer having just seen the mare wake up with face plant in the ground after shuffling around in her sleep.