I never did get an answer from Rarity, due to the fact that Pinkie Pie burst in the door, grabbed me by the neck, and hauled me out of the boutique. How she can walk with enough strength to drag me, on only her hind legs, I’ll never figure out, but she seemed to manage without too much difficulty.

“Gah! Pinkie! Can’t breathe!” I cried out in the impressive grip of the pink pony.

“We gotta go! You can’t be late for your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!” At least she managed to loosen her grip enough to allow me to reply.

“Pinkie, I’ve been to Ponyville before.” I deadpanned.

“And you didn’t get a party then EITHER!” She shouted at me angrily, with fire in her eyes. “NOPONY escapes a Pinkie Party, and you're long overdue!”

“Who throws a party at 7:00 in the MORNING! It’s freezing cold, you’re dragging me through snow... is anyone else even up yet?” My question was answered when she tossed me through the door of Sugarcube Corner, making me land on my face in front of all the very much awake and accounted for guests.

“You’re gonna have a party and you’re gonna like it! Now say hello!” Her tone instantly changed from wrathful to perky as she skipped off to enjoy herself. Note, Pinkie Pie is scary.

Looking out at the crowd, who watched as I picked myself up off the floor, was a very awkward experience for me.“Uh... hello.” I said to the dozens of eyes all locked on me. It’s just like that nightmare, all silently judging me, waiting to hear what I was going to say. Standing there, I just wanted to curl up in a little ball and vanish.

“Hey everypony! Lets hear it for the guest of honour, Griffin!” Mercifully, the one who dragged me into this mess decided to help me out of it, her exuberant personality easily riling up the group. Their cheers did little to ease my nervousness however. Sure, they weren’t all staring at me any more, but being that close to that many strangers was unsettling. I preferred it when they were in the audience, and I was on stage. This was too close, too much.

Desperate to make everyone stop looking at me, I gave a meek greeting. “Uh... glad to be here, uh, just, enjoy yourselves?” That appeared to be good enough for them, because they all went about doing their standard partygoer things. Playing childish games, drinking punch, listening to the ‘pony pokey’ and dancing awkwardly. That last bit was particularly awful, considering my own coordination and fancy feet.

Looking out amongst the guests, there was one who hadn’t gone about the party fair. It was, surprisingly, a wolf, with a pair of wings neatly folded up against his side. Something about him, perhaps the way he carried himself, screamed danger, even though in terms of size, I was easily double his. Of course the first thing I did is approach him.

'Odd creature? Looks dangerous? In Ponyville? If he’s not a human I’ll eat my tail.’

“Hey...”

“Well, isn’t it a joy to finally meet the formerly infamous captain of the Griffin Pirates. Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Zeta the cynogriffin.” The wolf replied with a cold smirk on his muzzle, and a voice like ice. What the hell is a cynogriffin? They're just making shit up now. “What brings you around?”

“I’m just waiting for my crew to come pick me up. Shouldn’t be more than a month or so. Or, if you meant ‘right here’ that would be Pinkie strangle-dragging me from breakfast.”

“That makes two of us. My daughter refused to let me sleep, insisting I come meet you cause you are ‘Almost as cool as Rainbow Dash.’ Didn’t even get to go out to catch some deer.” Zeta answered with a slight growl of annoyance in his reply. Already I can tell he's the 'don't give a crap' kind of guy, what with how he casually talks about killing deer in a party full of herbivores.

“That’s high praise from Scootaloo.” It wasn’t all that hard to put the facts together, 'Almost as cool as Dash', only one filly I know of says that. “Seems nobody in this town has ever heard of ‘sleeping in’. Where do you go hunting, just out of curiosity? I’m more of a fish guy myself.”

The wolf stuck out his tongue at the mention of fish. “Those scaly things don’t satisfy my appetite unless its the size of a large tuna. I prefer red meat in the Everfree, though I’m not exactly above hunting in any of the woods when I travel for work. Speaking of which, I thought you were stepping out of the fight against slaves?” I'm not entirely certain I like him asking all these questions, though I suppose there's no harm in it, as long as I can get some info out of him.

“Yeah. I figure I’ve done my part. Reason I’m sticking around is my girl isn’t quite done yet, and she’s got a baby on board so... ya know. You said Scootaloo was your daughter. Adoption?” I turned the conversation back to him.

“The moment I got here I got one sniff of her scent in passing and knew she needed a place to stay. Took the invasion of Canterlot, a bad job, and nearly dying to make it official though.” His face softened after recalling the memories. “Nothing I wouldn’t do for her. If the only reason you’re sticking around fighting is for your kid, you’re alright in my books.”

I nodded with a bit of a scowl. He had something to do with the Canterlot invasion by the changelings? And again, being so open about it. This guy is either an idiot, which I doubt, or he's tough enough to deal with whatever comes his way, if he can afford to be so open about his actions. “So, you’re a merc then...”

He barked out in laughter. “What gave it away? The copious amount of scars, intimidating presence, or all of the above?”

“The way you carry yourself, and a couple other hints, gave it away before I even started talking to you. Same way I can tell that you’re not exactly from ‘this’ side of the multiverse.” I narrowed my eyes. “What is your preference regarding bananas?”

He returned my gaze with one of his own. “If you even try to finish that statement, I may just have to kill you on principal. That meme wasn’t funny even after I was a brony...” Bingo.

“Sorry, just my way of finding out without asking up front. Sounds less crazy than ‘Are you an alien?’ And as for killing me, well, you might find a little trouble if you tried that.” I grinned. “There’s a reason I’m still alive after all this time.”

The wolf just shrugged his wings, looking bored. “You aren’t the first to tell me that, and I doubt you will be the last. Though you will be the first one to stay breathing.” He answered without a hint of malice in his voice. And now we've come to threats. This got awkward fast. *Abandon Thread*

“Welp, I’m gonna see if I can’t hide from this party upstairs. Keep in touch. I may be needing you at one point.” And with that, I walked off into the crowd. ‘I think I like him. Odd, considering he gave me a death threat... Am I attracted to people who cause me physical or emotional harm?’

Before I could get too far, the wolf called out to me. “I didn’t exactly get to thank you for taking care of Scoots while I was out of town. It was nice to take her and the other fillies to Canterlot and to hear her have a new hero. So if you need a job, it’ll be at a discount.”

I turned my head to look back at Zeta. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Looking around me, I noticed a fair number of the Ponyville crowd I recognized, Twilight and friends, the CMC, who were busy getting into some kind of trouble, Zeta dragging Scootaloo out of it, Stanley Silver, my gem buyer, Filthy Rich, and the pair's brats, still looking stuck up as ever. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The music was loud, the food was decadent, the mood, jolly. I got the heck out of there, heading up the stairs that, thankfully, were made for 'larger' ponies, (what do you expect in a sweet shop and bakery?) and out onto the balcony.

Taking a deep breath of the chilled air relaxed me, taking in the silence of the still morning as respite from the madness that was taking place within. To my surprise, however, I found that I was not alone. Big Macintosh was already out there, chewing on a piece of wheat as he usually does.

"Oh, didn't see you there. This your spot?"

"Eeyup."

"Want me to leave?"

"Nnnope."

"Okay." So, I sat with my head hanging over the railing, and let out a sigh which turned to mist in the late February air.

"What are ya doing out 'ere anyways? I figured you'd be inside, enjoyin yerself."

...
...
...

Did Big Mac just talk?

"I don't like all the loud and crazy right up close. I prefer to keep it at a distance. You?"

"Eeyup." He nodded. "Sometimes ya gotta take a few steps back ta see the big picture."

We just sat there for a time, in complete silence, the only sound the howl of the wind coming in from the forest at the edge of town, the only sight the gentle snowfall illuminated by both the brilliance of the dawn, as well as the stars and moon who had not yet relinquished their duty to their brighter sibling.

"I don't really get it." I found myself speaking absentmindedly. The stallion raised an eyebrow. "Everyone's down there throwing a party for me, but I just can't find it in me to enjoy it. It feels like, I dunno, like it's all that effort being wasted, since it's on me."

"Ya don't feel like ya deserve it?"

".. yeah. That's exactly it. I know what I've done, and a lot of it was bad. After everything, how can I just sit here and have a party?"

"Do ya regret it?" Those words echoed in my head. Did I? Did I truly?

"I..." I started thinking back to all the things I did that I could have done differently. The mayor of Wethoof, I went too far, but he was a scumbag who needed to be taught a lesson. The changeling invasion, when I tortured 'Drone' to get info about the attack, information which wound up helping us all survive. When I fought Ember.. no, in that state, trying harder to talk wouldn't have helped, and an apology would have been an insult.

"I guess I don't. Sure, I'm better than I was, but all the while, I always did the best I could with what I had. And even before I came here, I had a lot of problems with my life, but I never really complained about them, I just tried to make things better."

"An tha's all anypony can really ask fer, ain't it? We all make mistakes, an we pay the price fer those mistakes, an then they're done. Can't change the past. Ain't no sense dwellin on it." I looked up at Big Mac and saw in his face something strange. Strength, endurance, and an odd calmness, as though he could weather any storm, and carry the world on his back. He stared right into the cold wind, unblinking.

"Thank you. I think things are a little clearer now."

"Eeyup."

"Get back in here!" I suddenly found a piece of cake being crammed down my throat as I was dragged back into the building by miss hyperactive. "How can you enjoy the party when you're outside!"

'Some things, however, are just plain inevitable.'

Author's Notes:

All these quotes at the beginning, I am coming up with on my own. They may have been said by someone other than me at one point, and if they have, well, I don't know who said it or when, so that's just coincidental. All these little tidbits come from my own time in philosophical thought, and shape my understanding of people as a whole, which, for most of my life, I have had trouble comprehending.

I wrote this chapter while sick with the flu. All better now though!