“Yes. YES Mom! I finished all my homework and stuff.”

“Okay! I was just making sure…”

“But why? It’s not like I don’t do my work any other time. You know how hard I work.”

“Calm down!” I rolled my eyes in agitation. If anyone needed to calm down, it was her.

“I just wanted to make sure. Good night,” my mother said as she closed my door.

I walked away and climbed into my bed. Great, now she put me in one of moods. Ideas of failure and low-pay jobs entered my mind. Why did life have to be this difficult? I have to spend another two years of high school and then find my way into a “good” college to have a happy life? Sounded impossible to me.

Me, Kevin Kim, straight A student with advanced classes, math and science league member, and track runner. Also, not too bad looking if I do say so myself. I had all the parts to get into a place like University of Wherever or even Yale, yet my mother was still worried about my future and thus so was I. I was barely getting enough sleep between keeping my grades up, club and sports responsibilities, and, of course, saving time to read some fan-fics.

Ugggh… and tomorrow was just another day, filled with work. My friends made every day unique, but the days that passed were just so monotonous. Just another day to a life of working to survive. There must be a world out there with a better work system than ours. Sometimes I wish I could just end it right now. Death surely seems much easier than all I’m going through. But I can’t stand the thought of losing all my friends and the sorrows my family would go through. So, I guess I just have to keep moving on. And so, I guess I can just finish that story about Octavia and Vinyl Scratch before I go to bed…

---

“So then I became a scout and with my Force-A-Nature…”

Lunchtime. Just eating my spicy ham and cheese sandwich, while I listened to my friends keep chatting about TF2. Of course, what I actually want to talk about is ponies, but my friends already thought I was overly-obsessed with the show. Or at least I thought I was. I was lucky enough to know that most of my friends were bronies. In fact, I wouldn’t even be one if it wasn’t for them. A few months after getting into the show, I am still in the obsessed phase. Same thing happened to me with Pokémon a few years back. The obsession will eventually burn away, I hope.

Luckily, the rest of the day would be easy, just gym and computers and straight on home.

“But then the Pyro kept on air-blasting me and…”

BOOM!!!

I was sent flying forward out of my chair as a sudden explosion came from behind me. All I could hear was a dull beep as my ears were trying to recover from the intense irritation that just blasted them. Slowly my hearing began to recover. Was that…. screaming? And I could hear just the slightest sound of crackling in the background. I opened my eyes to see a blurry view of the cafeteria engulfed in flames. Waves of yellow and orange were dancing along the floor around me. This would make for an interesting light show if my life wasn’t in danger. My fellow schoolmates were rushing to the doors as they tried to escape the rapidly spreading flames. I should probably start doing the same, I thought to myself.

I managed to stand up. Although my ears recovered, my head still felt as though it was hit by a bowling ball. The room was still blurred, but now it was shaking. Is the building collapsing or is it just my head?

I leaned against the wall and waited. Within a few seconds, my senses were refocused. I looked at the area around me. The front of the cafeteria was swimming in flames. I noticed some people lying on the ground; their mangled bodies obviously hit the hardest by the blast. Smoke was filling the air and I could hardly manage to breathe. I put a hand on my forehead and gasped as I saw my fingers coated with blood. I shook my head. This was no time to be observing the scenery. I had to get out of here as fast as I could, there was no need to help those who couldn’t get up. Was it self-importance? No, it was survival.

I started to move towards the door when I hear…

“Help! Please!!”

I turn to my right to see a girl with her foot stuck under a table. Ouch… that was definitely a broken ankle right there. I had no idea what her name was, she was just a familiar-looking upper classmen. I started towards the exit again.

“Wait, where are you going? Please, I don’t want to die here!”

I stopped. I had to consider my options. If I leave her behind, then I have a really high chance of getting out of here alive. Besides, I don’t even know this person. But on the other hand, how could I just leave someone behind? And then, how could I live with myself knowing that I could have saved someone’s life, but let them die? Time was running out, I needed to make a decision quick.

I rushed over to the table that the girl was stuck under. I lifted up with my strength, but the tables in my school must have been made out of lead.

“Hurry!” screamed the girl.

“I’m trying!” Thousands of ideas were rushing into my head, and my body was shaking. Panic was creeping into my mind. No… keep out panic, panic is the enemy. Keep your mind clear…

“Listen, on the count of three, we need to lift this table together. Okay?” Still able to think straight. Good job brain.

“Okay,” the girl replied.

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three!” I lifted up again. Whether it was our combined strength or the new adrenaline pumping through my body, we were able to lift up the table high enough to slide her ankle through.

“Sweet! Let’s move!” I exclaimed as I started towards the doors.

“Wait! I can’t run like this… I think my ankle might be broken.”

Ugggh… I was afraid of this, but I would have to carry her though the lunchroom. And fast. I didn’t like the look of the ceiling at this moment.

I bent down and picked her up like I would cradle a baby. Good thing I stopped by the weight room the past few weeks, she wasn’t too heavy. Too bad there wasn’t any time to celebrate for me. I heard a snap right above me. The fan above me had fallen off its holdings. I looked up just before. I didn’t have enough time to react. Too fast for me to even see my life flash right before my eyes. All I could feel was my head being split in two. And then blackness.

Funny thing. A lot of people spend their time in class thinking of outrageous stories where they would save their classmates from zombies, terrorist invasion, or whatever else. I was no different. There was nothing better than to be the hero of my friends in my own fantasy world. But in all the crazy situations I thought of, I survived in the end.

I opened my eyes to see a white ceiling. I rolled my head to the left. White and empty. I rolled my head to the right, but only saw white endless space. I checked to see what I was laying on. I was lying on…. nothing? Just more white. I sat up. What just happened to me? I closed my eyes and tried to remember how I got there. Visions of me sent flying forward, flames surrounding me, and a girl with pleading eyes flashed before my mind.

“Am I… dead?” I spoke to myself.

“Why, yes you are.”

I stood up. My eyes widened as I looked around me to see if there was anyone around me. Still the same white emptiness. “Did I just imagine that?” I thought.

“No. You are in heaven. Or, close enough,” spoke a voice that seemed to emanate from thin air.

“Heaven? So you’re God?”

“Well actually I’m St. Bartholomew. God and Jesus are too busy watching over the Earth to deal with dead people that weren’t priests or popes.”

“So I am dead…” I looked down as my mind tried to accept the fact that I was truly dead. I would not see my friends or family ever again. My body began to shake all over and I fell onto my knees. Tears streamed down my face as memories of my life on Earth went through my mind. I had thoughts of ending my life, but now that it actually happened, I wanted nothing more than to go back. I curled up into a ball and continued to cry.

It may have been a few minutes. It may have been hours that I continuously wept. There was no way to tell, everything was white, no way to tell time passing. I stood up again, wiping off the last of my tears. I sighed and looked up into the vast whiteness.

“Now, I know this may seem bad. But luckily, you have a chance at a second life.”

I gasped. “So I can go back to Earth and live again?”

“Well yes.” My eyes widened and a slight smile crept onto my face. I could go back home. “But, your life would never be the same. Your body suffered severe burns and your head was split. If you were to go back, you would never recover and suffer major trauma and brain damage.”

“Oh…” I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. So much for getting my hopes up.

“But don’t fret! You do have a chance for a second life,” St. Bartholomew said cheerfully.

I looked up questioningly. “What do you mean?”

“You have a choice to where you go next,” Bartholomew started, “You see, most people are able to live a life long enough for God to choose whether you go to heaven or hell. But there are special cases like yours, when you die unexpectedly. We don’t have enough eyes to look at every single person on Earth. Overall, your life so far had been good with just a few bad instances. Your life was short enough for you to have another chance to live again. So, you can choose to go straight to heaven, go back to Earth, or have a life in a different world with a new body.”

A new life. I could go anywhere I pleased. But first…

“What is heaven like?”

“I can’t tell you that unless you have chosen to go there. And so, I will leave you to your thoughts…”

“Wait wait! I have more questions!”

No reply came.

“Bartholomew! St. Bartholomew! Barty!”

“Don’t you dare call me that!” screamed Bartholomew.

I held my hands over my ears to drown out his yells. “But I have more questions…”

No response.

Ugggh… those saints with their need of respect. Barty is a nice short name for Bartholomew. I mean, who wants to say Bartholomew every time they address him? I shook my head. Might as well get started planning. The first thought was to go to Equestria and live life as a pony. Nope… I need to plan things out in case there is better options. This is my way to work out the problem.

I could go back home, but Barty’s warnings seemed serious. I could choose any world I wanted to live in, seems so much better than staying in the hospital for the rest of my life.

Then, there is heaven. The happiest world possible. But, there was too much I didn’t know about the place. How am I supposed to know what the happiest place in the universe is like? Anyways, if I died a second time in my new life, I would go to heaven no matter what, as long as I played my cards right.

So any world I want to go to. Equestria, Pokémon world, become a Jedi, Hogwarts, Land of Ooo. Too many options to think without seeing them all written down.

“Hey Bartholomew, can I have something to write with and some paper?”

No reply.

“BARTY!”

Something dark came flying towards my face. I held my forehead as a piece of charcoal struck me. It hurt quite a bit. Better not mess with this guy, he’s willing to throw rocks. I checked my head for blood. No red appeared on my hand this time. I guess since I wasn’t on Earth, my body couldn’t be injured. But it could still feel pain.

“What am I supposed to do with a rock, Barty?” Another piece of charcoal was sent flying. It struck me on the same exact spot as the other rock had. It hurt even more the second time. The name was just a slip-up too. I picked up one of the rocks and saw that it left a dark spot on the whiteness. I raised my eyebrows as I realized I could use the charcoal to write on the white floor. Even if there wasn’t really a floor there.

Alright, so first of all, Equestria. I wrote down “Equestria” on the ground.

Next, I could become a Jedi and live my life saving the galaxy. Spend my time mastering the force and protecting the peace. Darth Vader would have feared my name. I would make an awesome hero. But then again, my life would constantly be in danger, and I risked dying sooner than I wanted. And I don’t think I would have a third chance at life. That pretty much got rid of all places where I had a good chance of dying.

I spent more time trying to think of places. All of them were extremely risky. My eyes widened as I remembered another place to go. The land of Pokémon. I would be a great Pokémon trainer and the life wasn’t too deadly. I already thought up of great strategies when I was in my obsessed phase. I would love to start off in the Hoenn region with a Torchic.

Now, the decision of my life. Literally. Equestria or Pokémon? I could spend a peaceful life spending time with the Mane Six and adventuring. Or I could become the world’s greatest Pokémon master. Well, I really want to spend an easy life without too much work. So Equestria seems to be the better choice. Then again, there were some girls in the Pokémon world that I would like to… get to know better…

“Alright. Equestria it is,” boomed Bartholomew’s voice.

‘Wait! I never decided on that!” I argued back.

“With that inappropriate thought, you are going straight to the pony world.” I felt the ground under me slide. There was a large hole under me. As the sensation of falling took over my body. I looked up to speak my final words.

“You’re an old, ignorant virgin!”

I was falling through the sky. Blackness changed to sky blue. I looked towards the ground. The land was flying towards me like a bullet. I took a deep breath as I was about to hit the ground.

I woke up with a start. I was surrounded by trees. The sun was directly overhead in the sky. I looked down at my hands. I did a quick-double take as I saw my hands were no longer hands. They were hooves. I checked out the rest of my body. I had a jet black coat with a neon yellow mane and tail. I checked for wings. Nothing. I put a hoof up to my head to find a protruding horn. I was a unicorn. Awesome. I guessed I was in the Everfree Forest. That being the only forest that really came up in the show. Hmmm….. I had to think of a cool pony name. Of course, I spent time thinking what my cutie mark would be on the show back on Earth. I checked my flank and saw that it was empty. There was only one talent I had on Earth that would make a good cutie mark. And my name would have to fit my talent and looks.

So, time to start my new life. The life of Night Rave.

“So… which way is Ponyville?” I asked myself.

Grrr… A growl was coming behind me. My heart skipped a beat as I saw a manticore ten yards behind me. They were a lot bigger than I thought on the show. It was easily three times my new pony size and a mouth large enough to swallow me whole. And there was a hungry look in its eyes. It was ready to pounce.

“Ummm…. adventure time?”

I moved slowly, ever so slowly. The manticore kept its eyes on me, ready to pounce at any moment. I watched its eyes never move from me, never blink. Just my luck. First five minutes in Equestria and I was already about to be killed. I got myself ready for the dash of my life.

I loosened my muscles and I smiled at the beast. The manticore faltered at my smile for just a moment. It was all I needed. I started running as fast as I could away from it. The manticore soon started after me. I reckoned I had about a good 30 yards between us.

It was strange to feel how natural it was to run on all fours. It felt as though I had done it my whole life. The wind rushing through my mane and the grass below me acting as a cushion for my stomping hooves. If my life wasn’t in danger, this would have been a great feeling. Well if I died, at least I got a good amount of exercise first. I had to dodge left and right around the branches jutting off the trees. I took a quick peek behind me and saw the manticore going straight through the branches as though they were just toothpicks. I looked ahead again and saw the worst thing possible. For this situation.

A rushing river was flowing in front of me. The current was too fast for me to swim through, and even if I could, the manticore would probably catch up to me. I was trapped. If I could just get to the other side… if I knew how to teleport…

Might as well see how good my magic is. I should at least try, since I would never get another chance if I didn’t. How hard could it be?

As I continued to run, I closed my eyes and concentrated. Just envision yourself on the other side of the river. You have to believe you are there. Focus. Focus!! You ARE there. I felt my horn begin to burn and my body started feeling… fuzzy.

I saw a quick flash under my eyelids. I opened my eyes and looked behind me to see the river. It actually worked?

“Aww yeah! I’m going to be the best wizard pony ever,” I said to myself.

The manticore had just reached the river. It stopped before the rushing water.

“Ha! What now you stupid beast! Can’t get me now!” I taunted the manticore. Not exactly my best idea at the time.

The manticore let out a ferocious roar and spread its wings. It began to give chase again as it started to fly over the river.

Ugggh… it had to be a manticore. It just had to have wings. What happened during evolution that gave a lion the ability to fly? Talk about being overpowered. Then again, this was a world of ponies, hydras, and the ability to break the fourth wall. I sighed and began to run for my life again.

The manticore quickly crossed the river and flew straight towards me. It was twice as fast flying than it was running. I sprinted as fast as I could, but it was no use. I was shoved from behind and was sent tumbling on the gravelly earth. I landed on my back and looked up to see the manticore on top of me. It bared its fangs right in front of me. I was going to die… again.

I wonder if Barty will allow me to live a third time? I was only gone for like ten minutes. But with that last comment I gave to him, I highly doubted that. I guess it’s straight to heaven then.

As I watched the manticore go up to take its first slashing bite out of me, a green sparkly mist rolled in. The mist enshrouded me and the manticore and began to take form. I looked up to see a giant clear green bear over me.

The manticore shrank back from the beast and quickly turned and ran away. Well one beast was out of the way, but an even bigger one had me now. I looked up. A manticore and an ursa major on my first day?

But as quickly as the bear came, the bear disappeared just as fast. I looked around to see the mist beginning to clear away. I stood up again and saw a familiar face in front of me.

“A friend in danger is not good to see, tell me, are you ok my little pony?”

Only one person in the show spoke endlessly in rhymes. Zecora. The dark and light gray striped zebra looked at me with worry.

“Yeah, I’m just fine. Was that Ursa… yours?” I asked.

“A mirage made by a sparkling mist, it sure gave that manticore quite a twist.”

That rhyme seemed to be a bit forced. Then again, some of the rhymes on the show also sounded a bit forced.

“Umm…. well thank you. I guess I will be on my way.”

But before I could go anywhere, the zebra began to inspect my body. Her turquoise eyes checking out every part of my body. Her eyes stopped moving when she saw my blank flank. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but it looked like she decided that it would be better not to ask. I gave her a smile as a way to show my gratitude for her politeness. I didn’t have an excuse at that moment on why I didn’t have a cutie mark.

“I see that you came out just fine, now I can leave with a peace of mind. But you are a pony I have not yet seen, what brings you here in the Everfree?” asked Zecora.

“I was traveling here from Manehattan.” You have to go through the Everfree Forest from there right to get to Ponyville right? “My name is Night Rave. I’m just happening to be passing by. I’m planning to go to Ponyville.”

“Night Rave I see. We are by Ponyville, I can show you the way, just over that hill. I can lead you to the edge of the Everfree, and there I will let you be.”

“Thank you, that’s very kind of you.” As long as I don’t see any more monsters, I will be fine with this.

Zecora began to walk and beckoned me to follow. I was practically jumping in excitement as I grew ever closer to Ponyville. Zecora didn’t say much else during our stroll. Within a few moments, we reached the edge of the forest. I was able to see the roofs of the Ponyville homes from here. I looked to my left and was surprised to see a small cottage there. So Fluttershy was the first pony I would meet? yay.

“We have reached the place where I must go, but there is something I want to know. To me it does not matter the where and when, but will we be able to see each other again?”

I thought for a moment. “But of course! I mean, since you saved my life and all, I would go and visit you every day! You have my utmost gratitude.”

Zecora chuckled. “Daily visits are not needed, but I have some questions that need be completed. Answers I do not need for today though, but there is much about you I would like to know.”

“No problem,” I replied. We smiled at each other and waved good-bye. As I turned around I realized she didn’t show me the way to her house. I turned around again, but she was out of sight, nowhere to be found. Maybe she could teleport too? Anyways…

I turned my mind to the moment at hand. I was about to meet Fluttershy!!! I trotted up to the door. How should I greet her? Will she like me? Will she show me Angel? Oh, I am so excited! I thought to myself. As I was thinking, the door in front of me opened. A canary yellow pony with strawberry pink hair began to walk out. Her blue-green eyes opened in shock and she let out a small shriek. Then she slammed the door in my face. I guess that’s one way to greet her.

She opened the door again. She looked down at the ground and remained speechless. This was getting really awkward. I didn’t even have a real reason to show up to her house. I would ask for directions to Ponyville if it wasn’t for the fact that you could see the town not too far off. I should never have come here. What do I say now?

“I would like to ask… if…” my mind struggled to think of a question to end the silence, “you… know where…”

All of a sudden, a cyan-coated mare appeared next to me. I looked up to see her rainbow-colored mane. It was Rainbow Dash.

“Hey Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash began, “I was just passing by. Who’s your friend?”

“Actually, we just met,” Fluttershy responded. She spoke so softly, almost at a whisper.

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash looked over at me, “So, who are you?”
“My name is Night Rave. I’m coming from Manehattan on my way to Ponyville. I was here to…” my mind became stuck again.

“Ask for directions?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes… but then I saw the town as I approached this mare’s door,” I said, relieved that I would not need to think of a quick excuse.

“Well I can show you the way to Ponyville,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Really? That would be great!” I got to spend time with Rainbow Dash. The day was beginning to get better.

“Yeah, won’t be a problem at all. By the way Fluttershy, the girls are planning to have a picnic by Sweet Apple Acres this afternoon. Wanna come?”

“Oh that sounds delightful. I don’t have anything planned after I finish feeding the animals and grooming my sweet little Angel.” A small, white bunny appeared by her legs. It was the most adorable rabbit I had ever seen.

“Well that’s… cool,” Rainbow answered. “Anyways, I want you girls to see my new amazing trick.”

“How exciting. Well, I’ll see you at Applejack’s.” And with that, Fluttershy closed her door.

“Well are you ready to go?” Rainbow asked.

“More than you know,” I answered.

I was finally on the road to Ponyville. Not only that, but I got to meet both of the Pegasi in the Mane Six. Yay.

“My name is Rainbow Dash. What’s yours? Rainbow Dash said as she made polite conversation.

“The name’s Night Rave. I’m coming from Manehattan. I heard of you, Rainbow. You were the one that made the Sonic Rainboom at the Best Young Flyer’s Competition last year, right?”

“The one and only. It’s always good to hear my fame spreading. I’m going to join the Wonderbolts soon. It’s only a matter of time. I mean, I am the fastest pony in all of Equestria and the only to make a Sonic Rainboom.”

I rolled my eyes. Talk about being modest. “Yeah, that sounds awesome. You’re clearly the fastest Pegasus I know.”

“Thanks! So you came from Manehattan? That rich, snobby city where everybody talks like Rarity? Not that you know her yet.”

“Yeah, but I’m not into the same rich pony stuff like they are. So I decided to leave the uptight city and settle down in a more… loose town,” I replied. Making lies about my past was beginning to get difficult.

“Oh well that’s cool to hear. I visited Canterlot once and the ponies there were SOOO boring. Even the guards. I tried to make them smile or laugh, but they would just stare straight ahead. And the ponies kept walking around like they were better than everyone else. You’re not like that, right?” Rainbow asked.

“Of course not, I’m not better than anybody… anypony else just because I’m richer than them.” Should I ponify my words? Would it be fine whenever I said anybody or everybody? Better to stick with the safe ponified versions.

Rainbow Dash smiled in approval. Her eyes drifted over to my flank. Her eyes widened and she gave me a confused look.

“Where’s your cutie mark?”

I froze in place. “Umm… well, you see…” What do I say? I still haven’t thought of an excuse for my blank flank. I thought back to how kind Zecora was to let my lack of a cutie mark pass by. Zecora. She used weird plants.

“Well you see, I’ve been travelling in the Everfree Forest for the past few days. I was running low on food and I stumbled on a plant called… White Blanksprout. It’s a rare edible flower that temporarily makes your cutie mark disappear. I was really hungry, so I decided to eat it. I could live for a few days without a cutie mark.” White Blanksprout sounded real enough right?

“White Blanksprout? I think I’ve heard of that somewhere. Oh, I have a zebra friend named Zecora who knows a whole lot about weird plants. We could visit there after you get settled in Ponyville.”

“No, it’s fine,” I said, not wanting to go back into the Everfree any time soon, “the effects wear off within a few days, anyways.”

“Oh, ok. So you’re some kind of… adventurer? You sound like you know a lot about the outdoors.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you can say that.” Anything to make Rainbow Dash think I was cool.

“That’s SO cool!” Mission accomplished.

“Oh by the way, do you know anywhere I can stay while I try and get a house here in Ponyville?” I had to find somewhere to live and Rainbow Dash should have some connections. It’s much better than having to pay for a hotel with money that I didn’t even have yet. Ironic since I’m supposed to be a rich stallion coming from Manehattan.

“Hmm… well I would let you stay at my place, but I’m assuming you can’t fly or walk on clouds. Fluttershy is a wreck when it comes to strangers, so that won’t work. Hmm…. Pinkie Pie lives in a cake shop, but I don’t think you would like to live with a mare like her. Trust me. Rarity would probably think you’re uncouth or something. Oh, I know! You could live with my friend Applejack for a while. She has a huge barn with plenty of space.”

I turned away and rolled my eyes. Like I would ever live in a barn. No offense to Applejack. I’m just not a farmer kind of person. “Umm, I’m not much of a city pony, but I’d still rather sleep in a bed.” I stated, trying to not completely reject her suggestion.

Rainbow Dash put a hoof up to her head. “Yeah, I see what you mean. I guess I wouldn’t like waking up in the morning on a bale of hay. Even if it would be breakfast in bed. Well I think my friend, Twilight, should have some extra space. As long as you don’t mind being surrounded by some old books when you wake up.”

The library? I would like to check out some books to learn some magic. And maybe some Equestrian history. Also, I would get a servant to get whatever I needed. Spike.

“That sounds fine,” I said.

“Great. Oh, look we’re here!”

I looked in front of me to see the large houses of Ponyville loom over me. Directly in front of me, I could see the town hall. Clearly one of the largest buildings in the town. Most of the other houses were oddly shaped and had thatched roofs made of something like straw. They looked a lot more colorful in person than on the show. I could see ponies milling around town doing whatever business they needed to do.

I was brought out of thought as Rainbow Dash bumped my shoulder.

“C’mon, I’ll show you around town. And then we can meet up with Twilight.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow dash showed me how to get around Ponyville. We visited Rarity’s Carousel Boutique, but she wasn’t home. She told me the names of the ponies in town she knew. We were heading towards Twilight’s house when all of a sudden.

“Hey Rainbow Dash!”

“Oh hey Pinkie Pie!” A cotton candy pink pony came hopping in front of us.

“I was coming back from Twilight’s and then I saw…” She let out a sharp gasp. Her eyes suddenly grew very wide.

“Oh my gosh. Who’s your friend? I haven’t seen him around Ponyville. He must be new. Hey, what’s your name? My name is Pinkie Pie,” Pinkie Pie blurted out.

I remained speechless until my brain was able to process what had just been said to me. The pink mare could talk at the speed of light.

“My name is Night Rave. I just arrived here from Manehattan. I’m planning to stay here in Ponyville for a while. Nice to meet you.” I put out a hoof.

Pinkie Pie grasped in and gave a forceful hoofshake that caused my whole body to shake. Pinkie Pie let out another sharp gasp. A wide smile appeared on her face. Her bright blue eyes began to twinkle.

“You know what this means? A party! Ooh, and I can invite everypony in Ponyville. That way you can make a bunch of new friends. Not that your already friends with Rainbow Dash. Ooh! And since we just met we must be friends too! I’ll get the party preparations started right away!”

And with that, Pinkie Pie darted off. You know, if Pinkie Pie gets really motivated, she can probably go faster than Rainbow Dash. I should check this out sometime.

“Uhhh… yeah. That was Pinkie Pie, the Party Pony of Ponyville. She can be a bit… random. Don’t worry, she throws the best parties!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Yeah a party sounds fun.” I loved partying back on Earth. The excitement, the dancing, the music, and of course the girls.

“Anyways,” Rainbow began, “Twilight’s home is right over there.”

I squinted my eyes to see a particularly large tree that looked as though it had been fused with a house. So, there was my new home. At least until I had a house of my own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sure Night Rave can stay here. I have a spare room upstairs for guests,” Twilight Sparkle said. Rainbow Dash had just introduced me to Twilight and asked if there was any room I could stay in.

“That’s great!” I said.

“Oh by the way Twilight, Applejack is planning a picnic. And it’s going to start. Like right now. I would’ve come here sooner, but I wanted to show Rave around Ponyville and got sidetracked. So we should get going, like now.” Rainbow Dash said as she opened the door to leave.

“Right now? Well I don’t have anything planned for the next few hours. Sure, I would love to have a picnic,” Twilight said. “Night Rave, just make yourself at home. I have a dragon here in case you need help with anything. Don’t worry he’s just a baby dragon, he won’t bite. Just make sure you don’t let him get into the gem storage. He’s already chubby enough as he is. Well see you soon!” I waved good-bye as Rainbow Dash and Twilight walked out the door.

I trotted up the stairs to check on my room. It wasn’t too difficult to find. It was a pretty small room with a bed and desk. There was a window over my bed and a small desk lamp. There was a closet by the wall for clothes. Not that it would be useful, since I didn’t have clothes or even the money to buy clothes.

I sat down on the bed. I chuckled to myself a little as I realized I was in the same position as Lyra on the park bench. So, here I was in Ponyville. I already met four of the Mane Six. They were great ponies and all, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling of not having my old friends here. I told myself I would feel better after I arrived. But it’s never easy to forget people that you cared for so much of your life. I lay down on the bed and cried myself to sleep.

I felt a nudge on my shoulder. I tried to ignore it and fall asleep. I was nudged harder. I turned to my side. I was suddenly being violently shaken.

“Wha now?” I said after being rudely awakened. I rubbed my eyes to see Twilight in front of me. How long have I been asleep?

“Good evening sleepy head. I just came by to tell you that Rainbow Dash wants to see you at Sugarcube Corner. I’m on my way there too. Are you ready to go?”

I stepped out of my bed and quickly fell to the ground. I forgot that I wasn’t a human anymore and that pony bodies aren’t made to stand on their hind legs. This body would take a while to get used to. I shook my head and stood up.

“Umm yeah. Lead the way.”

I groggily followed Twilight towards Sugarcube Corner. The sun was just beginning to set, letting way for Luna’s night. I was practically half asleep as I trotted. I really should not take naps. I felt absolutely terrible and Twilight looked all cheery and excited. Where were we headed again? Oh yeah

“Sugarcube Corner! Here we are!” Twilight exclaimed. “Why don’t you go first?”

I nodded my head and headed towards the door. I opened it and was enveloped in darkness.

“Umm…. hello?” I asked, reaching around me so as not to bump into anything.

“SURPRISE!!!”

The lights suddenly flashed on. All around me were ponies and cakes and decorations and so much more. A wide smile appeared on my face. I began to jump up and down. A party! Just for me too! With cake, ponies, presents, DJ PON3 Vinyl Scratch, balloons, and confetti! All my drowsiness quickly retreated. I was ready to party.

Pinkie Pie jumped in front of me. “Well what do you think? Tell me your honest opinion!” Pinkie Pie said with a bright smile on her face.

I was lost for words. “This is really great Pinkie Pie. I don’t know what to say. I never had anypony throw a surprise party for me before.” Tears began to form in my eyes.

“Hey, this is no time for tears. This is time to PARTAAY!”

I wiped the tears from my eyes. “You’re right Pinkie. And so, hit it DJ POn3!”

Vinyl gave a quick nod and started the music. Everypony else started to converse with one another or danced.

I was about to join the dance floor when I was tapped on my shoulder. I turned to see Rainbow Dash with Applejack.

“Oh hey Rainbow! What’s up?” I was close to screaming as I tried to get my voice heard over the blasting stereo.

“Hey Rave! I just wanted you to meet my pal, Applejack.” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Nice to meet ya! Rainbow’s been talkin a whole lot about ya since this afternoon. Sayin your some kinda adventurer or somethin.” Applejack said in her Southern accent.

Rainbow Dash blushed. “Well I may have said a few things about you during the picnic.”

“That’s not what I remember. You couldn’t stop talkin abou… oof!” Applejack couldn’t finish her sentence as Rainbow Dash elbowed her in the side.

“Anyways,” Rainbow said trying to change the subject of the conversation, “You should come meet Rarity sometime. She was busy today filling an order to be shipped for Seaddle or something. You know she’s a clothes designer? Well she’s not much fun at parties anyways. She likes the big fancy parties that the Canterlot royals have. They’re pretty boring if you ask me.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” I actually never went to a fancy party, but I might as well agree with Rainbow.

“Well hay it’s a party ain’t it?” Applejack interrupted, “let’s quit with the chit-chat and dance like there’s no tomorrow!”

Rainbow dash and I nodded in agreement and went out to the dance floor.

I woke up with a smile on my face. The party last night was amazing. My body was still shaking from the excitement. I didn’t think Berry Punch could drink that much.

I climbed out of my bed and winced. Dancing was fun and all, but it made your legs real sore the next morning. I slowly walked out of my room and down the stairs. My legs really didn’t want me to go anywhere.

And I wasn’t planning to. I was a colt with no idea how Equestria worked and completely new to magic. I checked downstairs in the library to see if anyone was there. The room was empty. Twilight was probably still asleep and Spike was still a baby, he needed his rest. I needed to catch up on how to live in Ponyville. And there’s no better way to learn than books. And the Internet, but there’s no computers around.

I looked around the library to get some books to read. This place had almost no organization. How was Twilight able to be so organized when making lists, but be completely messy when it came to anything else? Some sections looked to be organized by topic and others alphabetically by title or author. Other books were just laid on the floor.

Eventually, I got all the books I needed. I didn’t need to learn any math or science or English. I just needed to know a little bit of history, magic, and a few other things. But I had to keep these books private. There’s no way it would be normal to have a full grown unicorn reading books on basic magic or books on history that was probably taught in elementary schools.

I snuck back into my room and locked the door. This wouldn’t take too long. Just one week to catch up on Equestrian life and be a complete social outcast. Everything will be back to normal after I finished these books. I sighed. I picked up The Beginner’s Guide to Magic and lay down on my bed. Time to start.

Day 1: Magic and Celestia

I was able to figure out how I was able to teleport in the Everfree Forest while I was being chased by the manticore. An excerpt from The Beginner’s Guide to Magic stated:

Magic is a skill that takes understanding and determination to master. It is a force of energy that cannot be explained through equations and reason. Magic can be brought out to full potential through emotions. It is believed that a unicorn’s full capabilities are enhanced when faced with dangerous situations. A unicorn in an excited state may accidentally shoot out sparks if they have no previous training. It is important for a unicorn to learn concentration and control in order to…

Because I was in a life-threatening situation, my magic was enhanced. Even though I had no practice of magic beforehand, teleportation is simple enough that even a unicorn with no training performs it in that situation. Apparently, I needed to learn to concentrate and focus to have control over my magic and perform spells.

After learning the basics of teleportation spells, I moved onto a book titled Rise of the Celestian Era. In summary, Celestia came to rule over Equestria when:

In the last years of the great Starswirl the Bearded, the wizard made the most famous prophecy of his life. He stated that two sisters of great power would save Equestria in its darkest hours. The two would rise to rule over Equestria and bring the land out of the Dark Era and start an epoch of long-lasting peace and happiness. Starswirl then created a flag that showed the images of the two sisters controlling the sun and moon in harmony. Several hundred years later, Discord the draconequus brought chaos over the land. Discord used his dark magic to send Equestria into a seemingly unending period of confusion. His rule nearly wiped out the entire pony population.

Upon Discord’s third year of rule, Celestia and her younger sister, Luna, find the Elements of Harmony. The strong relationship between the sisters activated the Elements. But their bodies were not able to control the power between the two of them. Celestia and Luna were transformed to Alicorns in order to maintain the power of the Elements.

Celestia and Luna face off against Discord. Using the power of the Elements of Harmony, the sisters turned Discord into stone. Celestia and Luna were praised as the heroes of Equestria. Being the only two Alicorns left in Equestria, the two took it upon themselves to restore Equestria to greatness. Becoming beings of great power gave the sisters enormous power and a bridge to connect with nature. Celestia had learned she was the new embodiment of the sun and Luna, the moon. Together they brought a peace to Equestria that remains today.

The book told of some other stories about Celestia banning Luna to the moon and other feats that she was able to accomplish.

Day 2: Discord

Twilight Sparkle came by yesterday to check if I was okay since I didn’t leave the tree at all yesterday. I told her I was fine and just needed to stay in the room for the next few days. I told her not to ask why, so she shrugged and leaved me be. So far, I’ve been asking Spike to bring food up to my room during mealtimes. Twilight must’ve told him not to bother me since he would leave right after he dropped off the food.

I kept on practicing magic yesterday and now I can flip over a page with my magic! I tried to teleport some books across the room, but it didn’t work. I wouldn’t try teleporting myself again, in fear of hurting myself.

After finishing the story about Celestia, I picked up another book called The Rise and Fall of Discord. It told me about how Discord eventually became a being of evil. It almost made me feel bad for him. The abridged version of the story is as follows:

Discord was born as one of the last draconequus in Equestria. During the Dark Era, pegasi made it a sport to hunt down and capture adult draconequi. After Commander Buckington was removed from power, the sport soon ended. Discord was brought up with no family to care for him. At an early age, Discord was forced to learn to fend for himself. He was rejected by the pony society for being a draconequus. Those who had no knowledge of draconequi, feared him for his strange appearance. Discord’s looks were normal for any draconequus, but his body of different animals made the ponies despise him. Having not seen any other of his species, Discord truly believed he was a freak of nature.

Discord is said to have started his rise to evil after meeting a certain pony. The book doesn’t state the pony’s name, but it says she brought out the feeling of warmth to Discord’s heart. Discord had fallen in love with this mare. After revealing his love to her, the mare declined his love saying she could not be with someone like him. With a broken heart, Discord fled to somewhere around Stalliondavia. There, he is believed to have learned the magic of chaos to the point of becoming its entity. Within the cave where he is believed to have lived, it is written, “If the world isn’t going to love me, then I’ll teach it to FEAR ME.”

Discord worked for years to master his power of chaos. He soon unleashed his powers to the world. It was a force of evil unlike anything known to Equestria. Discord had no allies. It was the world against him, and he was destroying it. No one appeared to be able to match his power. Every day he would laugh as he heard the screams and cries of the ponies below him.

And then the story ended with Celestia and Luna saving the day.

Day 4: Creatures and Ponyville

I am now able to levitate books for a few seconds. I’m hoping to be able to master the levitation spell by the end of the week. I’m still having no luck on teleporting. It makes sense too. All unicorns are able to levitate objects easily, but there are only some unicorns that can teleport.

I spent the day yesterday learning about the different mythical creatures in Equestria. There are phoenixes, hydras, and manticores. Windigoes, timberwolves, cockatrices, griffins. I read up on parasprites and learned you can get rid of them by burning them. Apparently they tasted good roasted and dipped in chocolate sauce. There are quarray eels, ursas, dragons, serpents, Cerberuses, and much more. Many of them live in the Everfree forest.

I’m reading up on the history and traditions of Equestria. I learned about the Apple family’s struggle and how it eventually led to the creation of the town. I read about Nightmare Night and Winter Wrap-Up. Nothing too interesting there.

Day 5: War and more magic

I’m having fun levitating the books in my room and floating them around. It’s always cool whenever you learn to do something new. It’s still a bit of a strain to move them around, but I’ll get over it. Right now, I can lift up to three books! In addition, I found another spell that took me only a few hours to master. It’s called a Bubble Spell. The spell is used to keep out rain or smoke. It’s also used for ponies with sicknesses to quarantine them. Basically, you take the magic flowing around your body and try to inflate it. You try and pop some of your magic out of your body and make a force field of magic. The magic expands from your body until you are encased with a bubble. The bubble is permeable if enough force is applied and breaks if too much pressure is applied. There are many other uses for this Bubble Spell, so I decided to learn it. Luckily, it’s not too difficult.

I learned more about the history of Equestria around the Dark Era. The Dark Era started near the beginning of the founding of Equestria. The Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns needed to learn to create a system to cooperate with one another. No real system was made other than the same things they did in the time before Equestria. The Earth ponies would farm food, pegasi control weather, and unicorns doing whatever they do. Not only that, but the new unified ponies started to stir up trouble for other species. In the book Griffin Wars, I learned that:

The new peace brought onto Equestria by the unification of the ponies brought trouble to other nations. The country dominated by griffins paid little attention to ponies. The ponies were in no way intruding onto griffin territory or hurting the griffins in any way. If a group decided to settle in their territory, the griffin army could easily overpower them. It was not until the three groups of ponies merged as one did the griffins decide to take action.

Lord Gildrus was the ruler of Griffigan (griffin country) at the time. He was an experienced commander that had made it through many battles with dragons, manticores, and pegasi. The three pony groups divided had no power. But the three united as one, threatened the griffin power. Lord Gildrus decided to take action and sent Squadron 7, a group of ten griffins, to attack the ponies.

The surprise attack killed 4 ponies and left eleven others wounded. The attack was supposed to be a warning from the griffins. The ponies soon declared war on Griffigan and started a war that lasted twenty-six years.

Both sides took many casualties during the war. An estimated total of 12,000 ponies were either killed or went missing. Near 8,000 griffins were recorded to be dead. The war finally turned in favor of the ponies on the twenty-second year of the war when the ponies took over the Griffigan city of Talongrad. The unicorns were eventually able to surround the city and capture the griffin’s greatest commander, Commander Eagle Eye.

With the best commander of the Griffin Air Fleet gone, the ponies slowly, but surely took down the rest of the griffin army. During the winter of the 26th year, Lord Gildrus surrendered.

The griffins, intending to stop the ponies from continuing peace with one another, had to give up nearly a third of their territory. The Griffigan city of Talongrad was renamed to Stalliongrad and became the capital of the Northern area of Equestria. A peace treaty was signed in the Equestrian city of Horsailles. The treaty stated that…

And a few more feuds happened afterwards. The griffins and ponies were actually united when Discord came into power. Afterwards, Celestia has been able to maintain peace with the griffins.

Day 6: Weather and sleep

Twilight kicked me out of the house today. She told me even she didn’t read as much as I have been the past few days. I was fine with that. I had to work on my spells somewhere other than my room anyways.

I was sitting on a park bench, picking up rocks and garbage cans with my magic when Rainbow Dash passes by.

“Hey Rainbow Dash!” I said.

“Oh hey Rave. I haven’t seen you in the past few days. Where have you been?” Rainbow asked.

“I’ve been… getting settled into Ponyville. I’ve also been reading a few books in the library the past week. But Twilight kicked me out.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Ha, you got kicked out, by Twilight? That’s pretty lame.”

My face reddened in embarrassment, “It’s not easy when she uses her magic to have complete control of me! I couldn’t do anything about it!”

“Hehe, calm down, I’m just joking. Anyways, couldn’t you just use your magic against hers?” Rainbow asked as she took the seat next to me.

“Well she is the Element of Magic. It’s not like I’m any match against her.” I replied.

Her deep magenta eyes widened. “How do you know about the Elements of Harmony?”

“I… read a book about them. And then Twilight told me that you and the rest of your friends were embodiments of the Elements. You’re the Element of Loyalty, right?”

“Yeah. I am pretty awesome, aren’t I?”

We shared a laugh.

“So you like reading those boring books that Twilight keeps?” Rainbow asked.

“Well… just a few certain ones. I’m more into partying and stuff than those dusty old books.”

Rainbow smiled. “Alright, that’s good. I didn’t think you would be into that kind of stuff anyways.”

“By the way, I’ve always wondered, how do the pegasi control the weather?”

“Well it’s kinda hard to explain, but let me try. So…” Rainbow Dash began to talk about how clouds are formed and how to control the temperature. As I was listening, the past few days of non-stop reading hit me. Rainbow’s words started to sound far-off. The warm afternoon sun on my body added to my sleepiness. I tried to keep my eyes open, but it was no use, the force of sleep compelled me. I drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was nudged on the shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes to see the sun setting. A lavender mare came into view.

“Well I see that you’ve enjoyed the afternoon.” Twilight giggled.

I suddenly realized I was laying on something very soft and warm. I turned to see that I fell asleep on Rainbow Dash and that she decided to take a nap too.

I blushed and sat up. “I guess I dozed off.” I put a hoof to my face trying to overcome the drowsiness of being awoken. “Did you need something?”

“I asked Spike if you had returned from your walk. When he said no, I went out to look for you. And I found you here, sleeping with Rainbow.” Twilight said. She had a face that looked as though she knew something. “So, what exactly were you two doing in the park, together?”

I felt my cheeks redden. “Nothing too big. Just talking,” I replied.

Twilight gave me a look of disbelief. “Just talking?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, just talking. And then a little bit of nap time. That’s the honest truth.”

“Sure it is,” Twilight said, “anyways, you should head home soon, Spike is almost done with dinner.” She then trotted away.

What was she getting at? It wasn’t anything more than a conversation between two friends. I rolled my eyes.

I nudged Rainbow Dash. “Hey sleepy head, you should probably wake up.”

Rainbow Dash sleepily lifted her head. “Huh, where am I?”

“You’re in the park. We dozed off.” I replied.

“Oh yeah. I was talking to you about the weather and then you fell asleep on my shoulder. I didn’t want to wake you up so I decided to take a nap too.”

I chuckled. “Yes well, we should probably head on home. It’s almost time to eat.”

“K. Cya later Rave,” Rainbow said as she stretched her long elegant wings.

I waved good-bye and headed towards home.

Day 7: Magic

On my last day of reading, I pretty much mastered the levitation spell. I could pick up to five books without even trying. I’ve done the Bubble Spell quite a few times now. I found another easy spell to work with, but I needed Rainbow Dash to help with it.

But for now, I needed to work on the teleportation spell. I managed to teleport a book from one side of my room to the other. Nothing too fancy, but at least I was moving things. I read Advanced Teleporting Spells and learned that it’s actually easier to teleport yourself rather than other things. Something about more senses coming into play other than just sight for teleporting objects.

I took an anxious breath as I readied myself for teleportation. I was in my room and my target was outside at the front of the tree house. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I envisioned myself outside, the smell of the fresh air and the wind gently flowing through my mane. My horn let out a small spark. I concentrated harder. I have to FOCUS! My horn began to glow and I felt my body become… fuzzy.

A flash of light appeared around me. The sun was beaming down on me. I was outside! I actually d…

“OUCH!”

I rubbed my flank as I realized I had been teleported ten feet higher than I wanted. The subsequent fall made me land on my flank. But I did it! I could teleport! Mission accomplished.

Now to find Rainbow and try my new spell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I went looking through town until I managed to find Rainbow Dash sleeping on a cloud.

“Hey Rainbow!” I yelled. No response

“Rainbow! RAINBOW DASH!” I screamed. But still no response.

I guess I should come back another time. I didn’t need to do the spell today anyways. I turned and began to walk away. Something soft hit the back of my head and my mane became drenched. I turned around to see Rainbow Dash laughing her face off and a large chunk of the cloud missing.

After she had finished laughing, Rainbow flew down in front of me. “Sorry about the cloud thing. I couldn’t help myself. What do you need Rave?”

“Well I’m working on a spell, but I need a cloud to test it out. Think you can help me out?”

“No problem.” Rainbow said. She quickly flew up and got the cloud she was sleeping on and brought it back down. “It’s all yours.”

I closed my eyes and concentrated. I focused on the magic near my hooves and tried to compress it. When I felt the spell become completed, I opened my eyes with a smile on my face. Now for the moment of truth.

I put a hoof onto the cloud and stepped on it.

“Whoa!” I said as I thought I was about to fall through. But it was just the cushioniness of the cloud. I learned to walk on clouds!

“Awesome,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “You learned the spell to walk on clouds? Twilight used it last year to help my friends get to Cloudsdale.”

“Yeah! Now I can walk on clouds and stuff!”

“That’s so cool!’ Rainbow Dash said with a large smile. “So you can, like, visit my house and stuff?”

“Yeah, but first…” I stepped off the cloud and took a large chunk of the cloud off.

“What are you doing?” Rainbow asked with a confused look.

“Oh nothing,” I said. I took a few steps back and threw the cloud right at Rainbow.

It hit her dead-on. She was soon drenched from cloud water and had a surprised look on her face.

“Payback!” I yelled. I ran away as fast as I could.

Rainbow shook her head and came out of shock. “Oh no you don’t! You come back here!” She grabbed some cloud fluff and chased after me.

I woke up with Celestia’s sun shining down on my face. That was the first night in a week that I hadn’t stayed up all night reading. I never felt more refreshed in my life. But now that I finished with the reading, it’s time to start off my life. I can’t live with Twilight forever, I needed to make my own money and live in my own home.

I looked out at the sunny day outside. This was the beginning of the rest of my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I went downstairs to see Twilight making herself a bowl of Cheerilee-Os. I grabbed a bowl of my own and poured myself some. I sat down across from her and asked

“Do you know any places in Ponyville where I could work?”

Twilight brought a hoof up to her head and thought. “You know, I was wondering when you were going to go out and get working. Hmm… well if you’re any good at baking, you could work with Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner.”

I considered the notion. Then I remembered I would be working with Pinkie Pie, wouldn’t be the most peaceful job in the world. “I’m… not much of a baker.”

“Well what about Sweet Apple Acres? The Apple family is always looking for some extra help around the farm.”

Hmm…. working on a farm picking apples from trees? Seemed simple enough. “Sure, I’ll head over there right after breakfast.” But I wonder if I would get good pay. I mean, the Apple family isn’t exactly one of the richest families in Ponyville.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walked outside of Twilight’s tree and took a deep breath of fresh air. I took my first step when I realized my body started feeling fuzzy again. It was the same feeling I got whenever I teleported, but I wasn’t trying to teleport. My surroundings suddenly changed and before my eyes was the great Princess Celestia.

I froze in place. What do I do now? Why did the princess want to see me of all ponies? I trembled as I thought of what to do. In the end, I decided to bow down to her.

Princess Celestia just looked down upon me and smiled. “There is no need to fear me Night Rave. Or should I call you Kevin?”

My eyes widened. She knew who I really was?

“Yes, I do.” Princess Celestia stated.

My eyes widened even more. She could read my mind?

“Yes, I can.” Princess Celestia replied.

My eyes windened until they were almost bursting through my eye sockets. Will she give some privacy in my mind?

Princess Celestia chuckled. “I’m sorry Night Rave, but it’s something I do out of habit. Anyways, yes, I do know who you truly are. In fact, I’ve been expecting you.”

I gave her a confused look. “You have?”

“Yes, you see, I have connections to other worlds, like yours for example. I have enough magical prowess to look into other dimensions. I was forewarned of your death and your decision to come to Equestria.”

I remained speechless.

“I would have brought you here sooner, but I decided to let you enjoy yourself for a while before I brought you here.”

“So, why exactly am I here?” I asked.

“I am here to tell you not to tell any others of your world. Also, I would like to personally welcome you to my peaceful land of Equestria.”

“Thank you so much! And don’t worry, I’m not going to go around telling everypony that there are alternate universes and stuff.”

Princess Celestia smiled warmly at me. “I’m glad to hear that. I also brought you here to tell you I have a house here in Canterlot where you can live. Does that sound alright with you?”

Hmm… in one case I get to live in a large house surrounded by the best of pony society. I would be treated with respect from everypony outside of Canterlot. On the other hand, Ponyville had all of my friends. And it would be too much of a hassle to move between here to there every day.

“I’m grateful for the offer Princess, but I would rather live out in Ponyville where all my friends are.”

“I completely understand,” stated Celestia. “But, I could always give you a house in Ponyville. Of course, you would have to wait for it to be built.”

My jaw dropped. “A house. Free? Just for me? With no rent?”

“Of course,” Princess Celestia said. She gave me a quizzical look and said, “What is rent?”

I chuckled. “Umm…. nothing important.”

Princess Celestia just smiled. “Well, I apologize if I brought you out of something important Night Rave.”

“Oh it’s no problem at all. But if you don’t mind, can you teleport me to Applejack’s farm?”

“Yes, I can. Actually you’re already there.”

As soon as she finished the sentence, I was just outside of Sweet Apple Acres.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stood in front of the large red barn. I’ve been waiting there for at least half an hour waiting for someone to come by. Finally, I saw Applejack come by with a cart full of bright red apples.

“Well howdy Rave! How ya been doin?” Applejack asked.

“I’ve been well. I was just wondering if I could… you know help around the farm.” I said. This was the first time I ever asked for a job. Did I need a resume or something? How much should I ask to be paid? When do I get paid?

“Well sure, sugarcube. We sure do need more help around here now that it’s gettin to Applebuck Season. But first ya need the Big Macintosh stamp of approval.”

The what?

“Hey, Big Mac! Git on over here! This colt here’s lookin fer some work!”

A large roan stallion came trotting over with three carts full of apples. I shuddered as he towered over me.

“Eeyup.” Big Mac began searching me. Looking me over with his large green eyes. After he had a satisfied look he lifted up a hoof and stamped me on the side. I was sent flying to the closest tree.

I shook my head to get the stars out of my eyes.

“Good goin Rave! Ya got the Big Mac stamp of approval!” Applejack said.

“Yay,” I said, still dizzy from my unexpected flight. I think I’m going to be sick, I thought.

“Well hay, ya can get started right now!” Applejack exclaimed happily.

I stood up. “Yeah, but can you tell me the pay first?”

Applejack’s smile faltered. “Pay? Hmm… how bout three bits an hour?”

My jaw dropped. “Three bits an hour! Isn’t there like a law for minimum wage or something?”

Applejack gave me an annoyed look. “Darn you and yer fancy mathematics. Fine, how bout seven bits an hour?”

I put a hoof up to my head. “How about ten bits an hour?”

This time it was Applejack’s turn to drop her jaw. “Ten bits an hour! That’s… let me see here… one and two there… that’s three times my first offer!”

I gave her a pouty face in hopes this would make her accept my offer.

“Ya sure do drive a hard bargain. But sincin Applebuck Season is acoming, I can let this pass by.” Applejack said.

I gave her a quick hug. “Thank you so much Applejack! I’ll make sure you don’t regret your decision!”

“Yeah, yeah. Now git on workin before I change my mind.”

I gave a quick nod and grabbed a cart. I trotted off into the apple tree forest. I looked up to the apples hanging off the branches of a tree. I sighed. Time to get to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was literally crawling towards Twilight’s house. My hind legs were so tired from bucking the apple trees that they wouldn’t let me stand. I had never felt this sore in my entire double life! When I was working, I eventually got so tired that I used my magic to bring down the apples. It was much slower than bucking them, unbelievably, and now I didn’t have the magic to teleport myself home. Fortunately, I made a profit of 60 bits and I got a free saddlebag from Big Macintosh.

As I was crawling along the ground on my stomach, a mare came up to me.

“Are you ok?” asked the mare.

I looked up to see a light gray mare with a sunshine yellow mane looming over me. She helped me up onto my hooves. “Thanks, I’m fine. I just had a rough day at work.”

She smiled and nodded. “I know exactly what you mean. Back when I first started my routes, my wings were aching for weeks.”

I looked up into her eyes and saw that they were messed up. It was Ditzy Doo!

I chuckled a bit and winced. It even hurt to laugh. “I’m glad to hear someone know what I’m going through.” My legs began to wobble as they could no longer bear my weight. I fell down again.

“Do you need a lift? It won’t be a problem at all.” Ditzy said.

“Umm… that would be much appreciated, as long as it’s no trouble,” I replied.

She got under me and placed me on her back. She spread her wings and prepared to take off.

“Where are we headed?” Ditzy asked, “I know just about every building in Ponyville.”

“Twilight’s tree house,” I replied. She bent down and jumped into take off. I quickly wrapped my front legs around Ditzy’s neck to make sure I didn’t fall off.

Ditzy Doo laughed. “My name is Ditzy Doo. I know just about everypony in Ponyville. How come I’ve never seen you around?”

“My name is Night Rave. I moved here from Manehattan, so I’m new to Ponyville.”

“Night Rave? Don’t you have any family that sends you mail from Manehattan?”

“Well I…. I left Manehat…. Whoa!” I yelled as Ditzy made a sudden decline. I nearly fell off, but she soon landed on the ground.

Ditzy laughed. “Sorry about that. What were you saying?”

“I was saying that… I left my family on a bad note and I don’t think they’re going to write to me any time soon.” I said, able to make up a quick excuse.

“Aww, that’s too bad,” Ditzy replied. She knocked on Twilight’s door. Twilight opened the door.

“Oh hey Ditzy, what are you doing here? You already dropped off my mail.”

Ditzy Doo turned to her side and allowed me to slide onto the ground. “You uh… have a package.” Ditzy and Twilight shared a good laugh.

“Alright, I’ll take him off your hooves. Thanks for the help Ditzy!” Twilight said. She used her magic to lift me up.

“No problem. I’ll see you around, Rave?” Ditzy asked.

“Sure. I’ll see you around.” I replied as Twilight magically close the door.

Twilight shook her head and used her magic to toss me onto a chair.

“One day out and you can’t even get home by yourself?”

I shrugged. “I’m sorry. I’m just sore from bucking all those apples.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Here, let me fix this.” She placed her horn close to my body and it glowed. I felt a warm sensation and then a cold one around my legs. I stretched out my legs. They felt absolutely refreshed!

“Thanks a bunch Twilight! I feel great!” I said jumping out of the chair.

Twilight smiled. “You’re welcome. It’s just a simple muscle relaxant spell. I could teach it to you sometime.”

“That would be great.” I replied.

Twilight continued to smile. Suddenly her look of content changed to a look of fear. She let out a small shriek.

“Oh no! I forgot to give these papers to Lyra and Bonbon! I told them that I would give it to them today!”

I shrugged my shoulders. “No big deal. You can just give it to them tomorrow.”

Twilight grabbed onto my shoulders and shook me. “No I can’t! If I don’t send them before sundown, I’ll be… tardy!!” She began to hyperventilate. “And it’s almost nighttime! And…” She let out a gasp. Her look of worry reverted back to a smile.

“You can go over to Bonbon’s Café to deliver her papers, while I go to Lyra’s place to deliver these papers!” Twilight exclaimed.

“But can’t you just…”

“No! There’s no time! You have to go now! Bonbon’s Café is one block down from Sugarcube Corner! Hurry, before the sun sets!” Twilight magicked me out of the room and back outside. I looked back to see Twilight running in the opposite direction.

Ugggh… first I had work, now I have to run over to Bonbon’s before sundown? I sighed and sprinted off towards Sugarcube Corner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I slowed down as I passed a few houses from Sugarcube Corner. I looked around until I saw a cream-colored pony with three pieces of candy as cutie mark brooming a patio.

I walked up to her and asked, “Are you Bonbon?”

She put down her broom and looked at me questioningly. “Yes I am. And you are?”

“My name is Night Rave. I’ve been sent by Twilight Sparkle to give you these papers.”

Bonbon looked over the papers and a wide smile appeared on her face. “This is fantastic! Exactly what Lyra and I were hoping for.” She put away the papers. “Thank you so much! I hope this wasn’t too much trouble for you.”

“Trouble?” My left eye twitched. All the work I had to do today came through my mind. “No trouble at all.”

Bonbon smiled. “That’s good to hear. Would you like to stay for a cup of coffee or a muffin?”

“Thanks for the offer, but I really should head on home,” I said.

Bonbon nodded. “Well thanks again. Hope to see you soon!”

I started to walk away until I realized the ground under was thumping. It sounded as though someone was playing a ridiculous amount of bass. I looked around and couldn’t believe my eyes. Right in front of the entrance to a club, I saw a particularly large roan-coated stallion.

I walked up to the club door.

“Big Macintosh?”

“Eeyup. How ya doin Night Rave?” Big Macintosh said casually.

“Umm… I’m doing fine, but what are you doing here?” I asked.

Big Macintosh looked at me and smiled. “This here’s my night job. If anypony causes trouble, I’m there to stop them. Tends to stop bar fights breaking out every night.”

“Really? Well I’ll just go and see how it is inside.” I was about to head in when Big Mac put out his hoof.

“Nnope. Ten bits per pony.”

“Ten bits! But Big Mac that’s an hour of work! Can’t you give me some sort of worker’s discount?” I looked up at him pleadingly.

“Nnope. Ten bits or I’m gonna have to ask ya to leave.”

I rolled my eyes. I took out ten bits and handed it to Big Macintosh. He counted up the bits and opened the door for me. I gave him an annoyed look as I passed.

I entered a large room with dim lights. All around me were dancing ponies. Up at the front of the room was the DJ PON3, Vinyl Scratch. She was bobbing her head to the beat of her music. Hmm… this was a perfect chance to try and earn my cutie mark! But I didn’t have any glowsticks with me…

“Hey Rave! What brings you here?”

I turned around to see Pinkie Pie jumping up and down with excitement.

“I just came here to check how this place was. But, what are you doing here?”

She gave me a confused look and said, “Well I only come here like every night! Every night I don’t have a party of my own that is. This place is the best for a party pony like me!” Pinkie Pie said gleefully.

“Every night? How do you have the bits to pay to come here every night?” I asked.

She turned her head to the side. “What do you mean? It’s free admission to this club.”

“But Big Mac outside said…” I facehoofed. Big Mac just tricked me out of ten bits.

I looked around me and saw ponies drinking and dancing and generally having a good time. I guess Pinkie Pie was right about this place being perfect for her. I looked down and my eyes widened.

“Are those glowsticks?!” I asked, looking down at the glowing tubes of light wrapped around Pinkie Pie’s feet.

“You bet they are! I have a bunch at home and they’re always so fun to use at clubs like these.” Pinkie Pie replied.

“Do you have any extra that I can use?” I asked Pinkie Pie hopefully.

“Yeah I have two right here!” Pinkie Pie pulled out two pink glowsticks seemingly out of nowhere.

“Thank you so much Pinkie Pie!”

“No problem!” Pinkie Pie replied. She bounced away and entered the dance floor.

A grin appeared on my face. I attached the glowsticks to their strings and wrapped them around my hooves. It’s time to give these ponies a real show. Time for them to know why they call me Night Rave.

Vinyl Scratch switched up the songs. Perfect timing.

I got onto the middle of the dance floor and began to swing the glowsticks around my hooves. The surrounding ponies backed away, afraid of getting hit by the swinging lights. Now that I had been given more space, I was ready to roll.

I brought out my front legs and started to glowstring like crazy. Even with hooves, I was still able to complete my wraps and do a 5-beat and so much more! The ponies around me began to cheer loudly for me as the song began to sped up. I was having the time of my life!

In the corner of my eye, I could see Pinkie Pie with her mouth wide open in shock. Out of the other corner, I saw Vinyl Scratch lift her purple shades to get a better view of my performance. If I smiled any wider, my face would have been tearing apart.

At last the song finished. I looked down at my flank to see my cutie mark, but it remained blank. I didn’t understand. This was my only unique talent I had on Earth. Why wouldn’t my special talent here be raving? I was definitely still as talented with glowsticks as I was on Earth, maybe even better. But my flank stayed as it was, blank.

I sighed as Pinkie Pie bounced up to me.

“Oh my gosh Rave! That was the greatest lightshow I’ve ever seen! You never told me you were that good with glowsticks! How come you didn’t do that at my first party? Where did you…” I tried to drown out her endless questions as I continued to ponder why I didn’t have a cutie mark. Was I going to remain a blank flank forever? If this wasn’t my talent, then what was?

I struggled to reach up and climb into bed. It has been four days since I started working on the Apple farm and I still had to crawl my way home. The only difference, the past three times were that Ditzy didn’t come to fly me home. Luckily, Twilight successfully taught me the Muscle Relaxant spell yesterday. After I climbed onto the bed, I started the spell. Immediately my legs left the hot and cold sensation. I kicked out my legs and they felt refreshed yet again. I lay down on my bed and thought back to the past few days.

I visited the club again, but my cutie mark still didn’t appear. I even practiced in my room, but my talent just didn’t form as a cutie mark. Was raving not my talent? Did I even have a special talent? Yes, I had to. If I was that good at swinging sticks around, then I had to have another more important talent.

I also managed to collect a total of 300 bits. The past few days have been pretty much the same. Wake up and buck the apples for eight hours, relax, go to the club, sleep. I was making a good profit, but I was getting really tired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was bringing in my fifteenth cart filled with apples. After this was my lunch break. Two cupcakes. I was too afraid to eat any other foods like hayburgers or daisy sandwiches. Maybe this was why I was so tired every day.

As I was getting ready to eat, I saw a Pegasus with a mailbag land on the barn grounds. She looked over in my direction and started coming my way.

“Hey Rave! Remember me?” The Pegasus said.

I squinted my eyes to check who it was. It was only until I saw her eyes did I recognize the mare.

“Hey Ditzy Doo! How could I forget eyes… I mean… a Pegasus that helped me out by flying me home?” I was about to mention her eyes until I realized it would be completely inappropriate of me to mention them as a way to identify her.

Ditzy Doo smiled. “What are you doing here at the Apple family’s place?” She asked.

“You know when you picked me up a few days ago? I was actually coming from here. I work here.”

A look of understanding appeared on her face. “I can see why you were so tired that day.”

I chuckled. “Yeah. So why are you here?”

“A new house is being built in Ponyville, so I had to change my route. Construction zones are strict no flying zones. So, I’m going to be stopping around this time for the next few weeks.”

“That’s cool. You know this is around my break time maybe we can… oof!” An apple hit me in the back of the head. I turned around to see old Granny Smith.

“Yer here to work, not socialize ya little filla! Every minute ya spend talkin stead a workin is another bit lost! Now git on back to work!” The old pony said as she came over to shoo me away.

I shook my head. “Sorry, Ditzy. Maybe we can continue our conversation tomorrow?”

Ditzy shrugged. “Sure. See you tomorrow!”

For the next few days, Ditzy would come to the farm around my lunch break. We would talk for a while before Granny Smith would drop in our conversation and tell me to, “Git on back to work ya lazy varmint!” or something along those lines.

I was considering on asking Ditzy Doo to have lunch with me sometime, but I couldn’t just leave the farm, especially since Applebuck Season started rolling. But for some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about the way her golden mane reflected the sun and the way her eyes gave her just the most adorable look. Was it normal for me to like ponies like this? I guess since I am a pony now, it should be acceptable. Still, the Apple family won’t mind if I extend my lunch break for one day right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How are you today Ditzy Doo?” I asked.

“I’m doing just fine. The Weather Team is planning a rainstorm later on today. but I think I should be able to finish my mail route by then.”

“That’s good to hear. Hey, I was wondering…” How should I say this? I thought to myself.

“What do you need Rave?” Ditzy said, giving me a quizzical look.

“Do you want to… you know, have lunch with me tomorrow?” I said hesitantly, “I mean, if you don’t have anything planned.

A smile appeared on Ditzy’s face. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“I guess so,” I replied. My cheeks were burning, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

“I would love to go!” Ditzy replied. My eyes opened wide. She said yes? No words could describe the happiness I felt at that moment. “I’ve never been asked out before,” Ditzy started, “I’ll meet you here at the same time tomorrow and we’ll head out to town?”

“That sounds great!” I exclaimed.

“I see, doin nothing again ya lazy varmint! Why I should git Big Mac to kick ya out right now!” Granny Smith yelled as she slowly walked over.

I rolled my eyes. “Well see you tomorrow, Ditzy!”

Ditzy gave me a warm smile and waved good-bye as she took off into the sky. Everything went better than expected.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I brought in my fifteenth cartload of apples for the day. Hmm… should I wash myself first so that I don’t smell like sweat? I sniffed my leg. I smelled like a combination of apples and sweat. The sweet smell of apples was fine, but I should probably wash off. I searched the sky above me.

“Aha!” I exclaimed as I found a lone tuft of cloud. I concentrated the magic in my hooves until I could feel a good amount of magic flowing in them. Next, I focused my mind on the image of me on the cloud. A flash of light appeared around me and I found myself on a soft pillow of cloud fluffiness.

“I’m getting better,” I said to myself. I jumped on the cloud. They were like giant water beds. I laid down on the cloud and began to roll around, making sure to absorb as much moisture as I could. When I felt my body had taken in enough water, I looked up to see Ditzy flying in place giving me a weird look.

I chuckled. My cheeks were on fire from the embarrassment. “I’m just… washing up before I go out to eat.”

Ditzy just shook her head and smiled. She landed on my cloud. She paused and leaned in to smell me. “You smell like apples.”

I smelled myself as well. The salty smell of a long morning’s work had been washed off. “Yeah, you know, apple farm and stuff.”

Ditzy giggled and landed on the ground below. “C’mon! We should hurry before your break is over!” Ditzy said.

I teleported myself off of the cloud. I trotted into the barn to pick up some bits to pay for lunch. I went back to Ditzy and we started our stroll to our very first date.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’ll have a daisy sandwich,” Ditzy said.

I didn’t know what to pick. I never ate any of the food the restaurant served. Hayburgers, daisy sandwiches, daffodil and lime salads? This was the first lunch I’d have that wasn’t cupcakes.

“And your choice, sir?” The waiter asked.

“Umm… I’ll just have whatever she’s having.” I said, unable to make a decision.

“Very well. I will be back with your food in a moment,” the waiter replied.

“Are you ok? You seem a bit nervous,” Ditzy said with a look of concern. “I hope I’m not making you feel awkward.”

“No. It’s just me being me.” I said. Mentally, I gave myself a facehoof. Yes, that was obviously the best thing to say.

“Oh, ok.” Ditzy said. We stayed in an awkward silence until the waiter returned with our food.

Ditzy took a bit out of her sandwich. “Mmm… the food here tastes great, but it’s not as good as muffins.”

I took a deep breath. Time for the moment of truth. I lifted the daisy sandwich with my magic. I’m a pony now, so I should have taste buds like a normal pony right? I took a small bite out of the sandwich.

Immediately, my mouth was filled with the taste of the sandwich. The sweet delicateness of the daisy matched great with the crunch of the crispy bread. The moisture inside the daisy petals counteracted perfectly with the dryness of the bread for an unbelievably delicious sensation. I thought of all the times I could have eaten these, and instead decided to eat cupcakes.

I took another satisfying bite out of my meal. After I swallowed I asked, “So you like muffins?”

“Muffins!” Ditzy replied. “I love all kinds of muffins! Strawberry muffins, blueberry muffins, chocolate muffins! Oh, and banana muffins!” Ditzy began a long conversation concerning her many muffin interests.

I merely nodded and gave a few words of my opinion. When she finished, I asked, “If you’re so into muffins, why is your cutie mark bubbles?”

Ditzy put on a big smile. “It’s a bit of a long story. It starts out when I was just a little filly. Both my parents were mailponies and I wanted to follow in their hoofsteps. Every day after school, I would help my parents out by walking to homes in Ponyville and delivering their mail. Mostly letters, I was too small to carry packages with me at the time. I would always wonder what my cutie mark would be. My mother’s cutie mark was three envelopes and my father’s was a box. I thought my cutie mark would be something like theirs.

Then one day, my parents decided to let me take out a letter to Cloudsdale. It was the first delivery I would make that was outside of Ponyville. I was so excited! My route to Cloudsdale was easy. The Pegasus city wasn’t too far away. But what I didn’t know was that the Pegasi planned a heavy storm for that night. On my return trip home, the storm hit. The rain was coming down so hard on me that I could barely see. The wind was disturbing my flight and I couldn’t stay on course.

I landed on the ground to stay away from the wind. It was too dark see much of anything. I was wet. I was cold. And worst of all, I was lost. I thought I was going to die unable to find my way back home. My tears mixed in with the pouring rain on my face. I stayed where I was for a while until I looked up to see a group of bubbles. The bubbles started to float away and I followed them. I must’ve been walking for hours. But when the sun just began to rise, the bubbles had led me to Ponyville. I was so happy to have found my way home. And from that moment on, I had these bubbles as my cutie mark."

My mouth hung open in amazement. “That’s such a great story! I would never have thought. But that doesn’t explain the muffin thing.”

Ditzy finished the last of her sandwich. “It’s just my favorite food. Anyways, once you get a cutie mark, it’s permanent. I can’t just change mine to a muffin.”

I bobbed my head in agreement.

“What about your cutie mark?” Ditzy asked.

“I don’t know. I expected it to be… I mean, it was glowsticks, but I ate a flower called White Blanksprout.” I said, sticking to the story I told Rainbow Dash. “It’s supposed to come back after a few days, but it hasn’t. I even raved a few times at Vinyl’s club, but nothing.”

Ditzy gave me a surprised look. “That’s weird,” she said, “Why do you think it hasn’t returned?”

Because I never actually had a real cutie mark or ate a flower, I thought to myself. “I don’t know. Maybe I have a new talent?”

Ditzy shrugged. “Maybe.”

“That will be 15 bits, sir,” the waiter said, taking our plates.

I took out the right amount of bits plus a three bit tip. I handed them to the waiter.

“Thank you very much, sir.”

“Well, I should probably get back to my routes. I had a good time, Rave,” Ditzy said.

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we should do this again sometime.”

“I would love to.” Ditzy said. She then walked up to me and hugged me. I hugged her in return and nuzzled her.

We shared a blush as my eyes met hers. Her wall-eyed expression fine-tuned by her eyes that shined like gold.

We waved good-bye to each other. Well this had been a very successful first date.

I was pretty much the happiest pony in Equestria. I was getting a new house for free, I had a well-paying job, and I had a beautiful marefriend. I sighed in relaxation. Ditzy and I shared a few more hours together the past few days. We had planned a romantic stroll this evening after we finished working. I couldn’t wait!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So how was your day Rave?” Ditzy said as we started our stroll.

“It was definitely long. But luckily, Applebuck Season is pretty much over, so I can spend more time with you.” I gave her a wink.

Ditzy blushed. “Oh hey, want to stop here and watch the sun set?”

“Sure,” I replied. We picked a spot on the grass and sat down there. She rested her head on my shoulder as we watched Celestia’s sun fall.

“The past few days have been the best days of my life,” Ditzy said. She picked up her head and looked into my cyan-colored eyes.

She leaned in and locked me in a deep kiss. This was the first real kiss the two of us shared. Sure, we gave each other small pecks on the cheek the past few days, but this one was the real deal. We finally broke apart after then sun had set and Luna’s moon came into the sky.

There were clear spots of red on her light-gray colored cheeks. She gave a small giggle. “Well that was fun, but I should really head on home.”

My head dropped in disappointment. “Are you sure? We can go to Bonbon’s Café and order some muffins or something.”

She giggled some more. “That sounds like a lot of fun, but I have a lot of packages to deliver tomorrow.”

My head fell again. She lifted my head up again with her hoof and our lips met again.

My cheeks were on fire. If they were any hotter, they would have burst into flames. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then Ditzy.”

I waved good-bye to her as she flew away. This was quite easily the happiest day of my pony life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stepped in front of Vinyl Scratch’s club. I had stopped going the past few days because every time I went, Big Macintosh would put a hoof out and make me pay ten bits. I watched plenty of other ponies go in without having to pay at all. Big Mac just liked to take back the money I earned from the apple farm.

But today was different, today was a day to party. When you receive your first kiss, you have so much energy in you, that you feel like you’re about to explode! The best way for me to get rid of this feeling was a night of dancing.

I walked up to Big Macintosh and handed him ten bits. “Satisfied?”

Big Mac pocketed my money and said, “Eeyup.” He opened the door for me and I glared at him as I walked past. I paused for a moment as I heard an uncommon sound coming from the stereo. It sounded as though someone was playing a piano. I slowly walked into the room, unsure of what was happening. I was reassured as the piano music quickly changed to a fast-paced techno/rap song. I laughed to myself. The party don’t start till I walk in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later…

I sat down on a chair in front of the bar table. I was tired, maybe I would go home after this.

“Would you like to buy a drink?” the bartender asked.

“No, I’m not much of a drinker,” I replied.

The bartender shrugged and walked away.

I saw a quick bouncing blur of pink move towards me. I sighed in fatigue.

“C’mon Rave!” Pinkie Pie said as she pulled on my leg. “Let’s get to partying! The night’s still young and I’m still rolling!”

“Pinkie Pie,” I said wearily, “I’ve just been dancing with you for the past two hours. I need a break.”

Pinkie’s smile faltered for a moment before it came back with full force. “Okie dokie lokey!” And with that, she bounced back onto the dance floor. I loved to party and all, but Pinkie Pie was like an unstoppable party machine. I don’t think she even sleeps at night.

The bartender returned and placed a drink in front of me.

“’I said I wasn’t going to drink anything.” I told the bartender.

“The mare over there requested it for you.” The bartender pointed across the room to a cream colored pony with a burgundy mane. She smiled and waved at me when she saw the bartender point at her.

“I wouldn’t deny a free drink from a lovely mare if I were you,” the bartender whispered in my ear.

He walked away. I looked down into my drink. It was clear and somewhat beige. I put my nose over my glass. I turned away as the smell of alcohol entered my nose.

I looked over at the cream-colored pony and she waved again. I didn’t want to seem impolite. I looked back down at my drink and gulped. I bent down and took a sip from my glass. It actually tasted quite good. I took another sip. Within the next few minutes, I quaffed the whole glass.

After I downed the glass, the mare stood up and walked over to me. She sat in the chair next to me. “What did you think? Manzanilla is my favorite drink.”

Her words sounded far-off. My head started to spin. I shook my head. No! I will absolutely not succumb to the effects of alcohol. “It was great! Thanks for buying me the drink.”

The mare giggled. “No problem. My name is Rose by the way. I love your light shows.”

My head started feeling dizzy, but I got over it. “Thanks! Practice makes perfect,” I exclaimed.

She leaned in and gave me a seductive look. “Why don’t you come over to my place and I’ll give you my own private show?”

My head spun as it tried to process what she was asking. “Umm…. sure?” I replied, the alcohol beginning to do the talking for me.

She gave me a lustful look with her eyes. She stood up and beckoned me to follow.

It wasn’t until we had reached her house until my mind was finally able to interpret what she meant. Private show?! I didn’t even think about ponies that way. I was disgusted by all the rule34 ponies back on Earth. But then again, I was a pony too right? So it wouldn’t be wrong to accept this? It was too late to go back. I had already entered her home.

Somepony was pounding on the front door. I got up only to have my head scream in pain. I had a massive headache. And the knocking wasn’t making it any better.

I got out of the bed and walked downstairs. I swayed to one side before I steadied myself. I went to the front door and opened it.

“Hey Rose, there’s a package here from Trottingham and… what are you doing here Rave?”

Ditzy Doo was standing in front of me. I gave her a confused look and said, “What are you talking about? This is my home.”

Ditzy Doo tilted her head to the side. “No it’s not, this is Rose’s house.”

My eyes widened. I realized she was right. I thought back to everything that had happened last night. How do I get myself out of this mess?

“I… umm…” I started.

“Rave, love, who’s at the door?” Rose said as she went down the stairs.

I looked back at Ditzy and saw tears appearing in her eyes. It wasn’t that hard to put two and two together at that point. A feeling of great regret crushed my heart. “Ditzy, I can explain…”

Ditzy threw the package at me and flew off crying. I shrugged off the package and yelled out,

“Ditzy come back! Any kind of foal could see
There was something in everything about you
Ditzy come back, you can blame it all on me
I was wrong, and I just can't live without you!”

My ridiculous 70’s song reference didn’t make Ditzy come back. I could continue to hear her cries as she flew off into the distance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, let me get this straight, you were completely intoxicated last night and Ditzy is actually your marefriend?” Rose asked.

“That pretty much sums it up,” I said. I smiled at her nervously.

She gave me a stern look. “Get out.”

“But I…”

“GET OUT!”

I quickly got up and rushed out of the house. The door immediately slammed behind me. I sighed and began my long walk home.

Warm tears rolled down my cheeks on my walk. How could I have done this Ditzy? The poor mare. I was her first coltfriend too. I opened the door to Twilight’s tree and walked in. Maybe I could cry to myself in bed before I had to leave for work.

I suddenly felt myself being picked up. I was suddenly thrown out of the tree house and landed on my back. I saw the effects of purple magic come off of me. I looked up to see Twilight with a disgusted look on her face. Something told me I wasn’t getting back in that house anytime soon.

“Ditzy Doo came by this morning to deliver a package. It would have been completely normal, if there wasn’t tears rolling down her eyes!” Twilight said as she gave me a glare. “And since you didn’t come back last night, I can only imagine what you did.”

Tears appeared in my own eyes. “It’s not my fault! I can explain this!” I exclaimed.

I told her of how I became intoxicated and was taken to Rose’s house. I was careful to exclude any extraneous details about my time with Rose that I could still remember.

Twilight’s expression hadn’t changed. “So you’re going to completely blame it on the alcohol?”

I smiled nervously. “Well if you put it that way, yes.”

Twilight shook her head in disapproval. “I’m sorry Night Rave, but I can’t have a pony that breaks a mare’s heart and then completely take away the blame, live in my house.”

My mouth opened in shock. “You’re kicking me out?!”

Twilight nodded. “Pinkie Pie told me that losing a friend’s trust is the fastest way to lose a friend forever. Earning yourself a reputation for being deceitful wasn’t your smartest idea.”

“But I didn’t mean to do it! Please don’t kick me out! I don’t have anywhere else to live!” Twilight merely shook her head and slammed the door in my face.

I facehoofed. Ugggh… Twilight was right. Everything was my own doing and I pretty much lost the trust of every pony in Ponyville in one fell swoop. No doubt Twilight is going to tell the rest of the group of what I did. And the relationship between Ditzy and I wasn’t very subtle. We could be seen in town together a lot the past few days, now that I thought about it. In addition, Ditzy is going around town crying her eyes out. My eyes grew wet once more. Nothing else to do, but go to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re firing me?!”

Applejack nodded. “Listen sugarcube, now that Applebuck Season is over, there’s no real way for ya to help out on the farm. Don’t take it personally.”

“But don’t you ponies have any way to make money during the winter months?”

Applejack shook her head.

I facehoofed. First I lose my home, and now this? “And this doesn’t have anything to do with Ditzy right?” I asked.

Applejack gave me a confused look. “No, why? What’s wrong wit Ditzy?”

“Umm… you’ll find out later,” I said. I walked out of the barn.

What do I do now? I had no home, no job, nobody to hug me to make me feel better, and no cutie mark.

I walked into the middle of town. Most of the ponies on the street turned away at the sight of me. No doubt Ditzy dropped off their packages with an extra bit of tears as well. How did everypony find out I had been with her? I mean we could be seen together, but it’s not like everypony could know about it. Then again. she is known as the best mailmare in Equestria. I facehoofed again. My face was starting to hurt.

I took a seat on the bench in the park. Everypony that passed by either turned away or gave me a glare. I dropped my head in shame and wiped a tear from my eye.

It didn’t help. Soon enough, streams of tears were rolling down my face. What was I going to do? I had no job to earn money. I had no house to live in. I was the most hated pony in all of Ponyville. I still didn’t have a cutie mark. I had nowhere to turn to. I shuddered and got up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stood in front of the Everfree Forest. The shadows creeped around the forest and brought on an unknown darkness ahead of me. Trees loomed high over me and the whispering winds beckoned me inside.

This was the place where my new life had started. There was no real reason for me to go into the forest. Simply put, I had nobody and nowhere to go to. Maybe I would find Zecora’s hut and she would help me out.

I sighed and took my first step into the forest. “Adventure time,” I said to myself.

In life there is no undo button. No matter how bad you want to go back and change something, you can’t do anything about it. Whatever happened, happened. There’s no use in trying to fight it. I would have loved nothing more than to go back and never have went to the club that night, but in its own special way, I had to.

I went about twenty yards into the Everfree forest and immediately regretted my decision. The sun was already beginning to set and I didn’t want to move around the forest in the dark. I shook my head. I had to stay resilient. I marched further into the forest.

My stomach grumbled. Maybe I should have thought about eating before I left. I facehoofed. I probably should have remembered to take my bits from Twilight’s house too. I’ll have to fetch them later. I need to be alone right now.

I walked further into the Everfree Forest. Every inch was covered in plant life and Luna’s moon was now high in the sky. If I knew anything about edible plants, I would’ve eaten any plants I found on the spot. My stomach growled again.

“Quiet you!” I told my noisy stomach.

I reached a clearing in the forest. In the middle of the clearing, I could see a pile of berries in the moonlight. I cautiously walked over to the pile of berries. They were blueberries! I looked around. Why would anything leave a pile of berries in the middle of nowhere?

My stomach growled once more. I looked down at the berries and could almost taste the plump, sweet delicious fruits in my mouth. I took a closer look at the berries to see if I could find anything strange. Definitely nothing suspicious about a bunch of blueberries lying around in the middle of nowhere.

I didn’t really care much, it was stomach over brain. I took a bite of the pile of berries and my face immediately puckered up. My eyes teared.

“Sour!!!” I yelled. But at this point it didn’t matter, I was too hungry. I continued to munch down on my berries.

Suddenly, I heard a rustle of leaves come from behind me. My head immediately shot up. I looked from side to side to see any kind of movement. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow flash by and heard more rustling of leaves.

I looked over to where I heard the rustling of leaves last. I stared into the dark shadows. A pair of eyes opened. And another pair. And another pair.

I picked a spot at the edge of the clearing. If something really was about to attack me, I would teleport there in an instant. I stared directly into the three pairs of eyes. It felt like hours passed. I was too scared to look away from the eyes, too scared to blink. A cold drop of sweat rolled down my cheek. I was having a hard time trying to stop my body from shaking.

Finally, when I decided to loosen up, the eyes began to move. Three barking heads popped out and were rushing towards me. But it only had one body. It was a Cerberus! As it was about to pounce on me, I concentrated my magic and teleported away.

As the flash of light disappeared around me, I saw that I had only teleported five yards away from my original position. All three heads turned my way and growled. I yelped and started running for my life.

I thought about it as I was running. The berries were in a clear spot in the forest. Nothing would be able to escape from a sneak attack without some kind of special trick. The Cerberus, being a meat-eater, would place the berries there to attract prey. The three-headed dog would attack as the prey was distracted by the food. I mentally gave myself a facehoof. How could I fall for such an easy trap?

The Cerberus was hot on my hooves (heels). I tried to teleport again, but all that happened was sparks came out of my horn. I thought I mastered that spell? I definitely completed that spell before. How am I supposed to get away from this thing without teleporting myself out of sight!?

I looked back again and my eyes widened. The Cerberus was deadly close and all three heads were trying to get a bite of my tail.

“Whoa!!”I yelled. The ground in front of me suddenly disappeared. I fell forward with a splash into a river. My body screamed as the freezing cold water surrounded me. I resurfaced again shivering. I looked over to see the Cerberus on the bank of the river glaring at me. It slowly walked along the side of the river as I let the current carry me. The closest head leaned over the river to try to reach me, but it was no use. I was a good few yards away from the bank.

I swam to the other side of the river and climbed out. My body screamed again as the cold night wind attacked my body. I shivered all over and curled myself into a ball.

When the water had mostly evaporated from me and half of my body became numb, I looked up to see the Cerberus still sitting on the other side of the river. I turned my head to the side wondering why it wasn’t chasing after me.

That’s when it clicked. The Cerberus couldn’t swim! It was smart enough of trap me, but it still couldn’t go through some water. Weird, considering some dogs could swim.

It just stared at me with a look of defeat. No doubt it had let its prey get away. It let out a long, distraught howl and walked away.

I almost felt bad for the beast. It was just hungry like I was and looking for food. Still, better to be alive than dog food.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At this point, I really wanted to turn back. The only problem was that I didn’t know which way was back. I just kept on trotting forward. My eyelids felt like they were made of lead, but I couldn’t let myself doze off. If I fell asleep, there was no real way to be sure that I would wake up the next morning in one piece.

I looked forward to see a ruined castle pretty close. Only the bottom half of the castle looked to remain. The only thing standing between us was an old bridge and a bunch of fog coming from the bottom of a ravine. I put a hoof up to my head. Did I see this somewhere before?

I crossed over the bridge. I entered the first part of the castle. There was absolutely no ceiling. Vines and other forms of plant life were beginning to grow inside the ruins. Everything was pretty much dusty and grimy.

I looked outside of a window pane to see another part of the castle. A tower that actually had a roof.

I entered the top room of the tower. I looked up. Yep. Definitely a roof there. The top of the tower was a few flights above the forest ground. I had a better chance of surviving the night up here. I could actually fall asleep without having to worry about a beast coming up to me and eating me for a midnight snack. I shuddered at the thought.

I went over to the window and looked up at the moon. It was a crescent up in the sky. The tower was higher than the surrounding trees and it was a cloudless night. I had a perfect view of the moon’s beauty. I thought back to the situation I was in and sighed.

“Yes, it is beautiful isn’t it?” A voice said from behind me.

My heart skipped a beat and I quickly turned around. My eyes immediately fell upon a midnight blue mare. Her hair glimmered like a starry night. She had beautiful eyes of a teal color. What was most surprising was that she had both a horn and wings. I stood there in shock before I finally realized my impoliteness.

I bowed down. “I am humble to be in your presence, Princess Luna.”

“You may rise,” Luna replied. Her harsh Canterlot voice had disappeared. The Fluttershy treatment must have worked out well. Now that I got a second chance to look, I saw that she was much more attractive than her sister, Celestia. I shook my head. No bad thoughts now, Rave. She might be able to read minds too.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Night Rave,” Luna said.

I did a double-take. Maybe she could read minds. “You know my name?”

Luna nodded. “My sister Celestia told me all about you. A creature called a human from the planet called Earth that had been given a second chance at life. Brought to Equestria at your current age, instead of having to grow up once more. No real reason given as to why you were able to keep your memory of your past life. Tia also gave me a fairly accurate description of you. A jet black colt with a neon mane and cyan-colored eyes. A young adult unicorn with no cutie mark. Yes, I can tell this is you.”

“Yeah that just about sums me up,” I replied. “What exactly are you doing here?”

“Surely, you jest. This was the palace where I ruled hundreds of years ago before I turned on my sister.”

My mouth made a perfect circle as I realized where I was. That takes me back a long time. Back to the very first episode.

“But that still doesn’t answer my question.”

Luna sighed. “I like to come here once in a while to remember how everything was a thousand years ago. Before I spent my time on the moon.” Luna shuddered as she finished her sentence. “But pray tell, what brings you to my old domain?”

“I don’t really know how I got here. I was wandering around the Everfree forest to have some alone time. I wanted to spend the night inside where it was safe,” I answered.

Luna merely nodded and silence fell between us. My mind scattered to many different ideas. It wasn’t every night that you were able to be alone in a room with a princess. Whoops! Can’t let those thoughts enter my mind.

“By the way Princess, can you read minds?”

“Please, call me Luna. And no I can’t. Being away from pretty much anything for a thousand years, I didn’t really get a chance to hone that particular skill,” Luna said sadly.

“Oh, sorry,” I replied, “it’s just that your sister…”

“Can read everypony’s thoughts? I know. There is actually quite a simple spell to stop her from reading yours whenever she wants. I can show you sometime, if you’d like,” Luna said.

“It would be an honor, Luna.” Luna smiled. “But, my magic hasn’t really been at its best lately. I tried to teleport earlier this evening, but I only managed to move a few feet. When I tried again, nothing happened. I performed the Teleportation Spell before, but now… Do you have any idea what is happening to me?”

Luna shook her head. “I know much about the arts and crafts of wizardry, but nothing about losing the power. I know there are several plants and potions that can take away a unicorn’s magic. I don’t really know what to tell you since I only lost my power once and that was when I was sent to the moon. And even then, my power was only weakened.”

My ears drooped in disappointment. I really thought I could get some answers. I looked over to a relatively small rock on the ground. I tried to levitate it, but all that happened was a faint black glow appeared on the rock and quickly disappeared. I sighed. How saddening.

I lifted my head as a sudden idea appeared in my head. Hmm…. “Princess Luna, how were you like on the moon?”

Luna looked taken aback. A slight quiver of fear passed through her body. “I… I’ve never been asked that since I came back. I don’t know how I should answer…” Luna looked down to the floor.

“No no no! You don’t have to tell me everything!” I exclaimed, unaware that my question would cause such a reaction. “Just tell me. Did you feel… sad, lonely, or full of regret on the moon?”

Luna nodded her head. I thought back to the intro of The Beginner’s Guide to Magic.

Magic can be brought out to full potential through emotions. It is believed that a unicorn’s full capabilities are enhanced when faced with dangerous situations. A unicorn in an excited state may accidentally shoot out sparks if they have no previous training. It is important for a unicorn to learn concentration and control in order to take full advantage of their prowess.

I read that section to help me find out how I was able to teleport for the first time. I didn’t really much for the next section since I didn’t think it would ever apply to me:

But just as a positive boost is added with positive emotions, it is obvious to understand that negative effects occur with negative emotions. A unicorn in a depressed state will most likely lose most of his/her magical capabilities. If a unicorn allows this state to be extended for a long period of time, his/her magic may be lost forever. However, if a unicorn channels his/her energy through…

It all made sense. This has been the saddest I’ve been since I entered this world. My magic wasn’t becoming worse, my emotions were stopping it from having any effect. And Luna’s decrease in power on the moon probably wasn’t because of Celestia, it was because she had to spend the next thousand years all alone and her last memories would be of ponies running away in fear.

Wow, talk about overkill. First everything that happened in Ponyville and now I could lose my magic forever? I dropped my head in anguish.

No doubt Luna could tell there was something wrong. She came in closer and said, “You look distressed Night Rave. Would you care to tell me if there is something wrong?” I looked into Luna’s eyes. They were full of concern.

I sighed. “Well you see…” I told Luna everything. About Ditzy, Manzanilla, Rose, Twilight kicking me out, Applejack’s farm, and how everypony thought about me.

It felt good to tell somepony all that I’ve been through. It felt like a weight had been taken off my chest. When I had finally finished, Luna had a glum look on her face.

“I can see why you seem so miserable. Although you must understand, this is partially your fault.” Luna said,

“I KNOW!” I yelled, allowing my temper to take over. Luna stepped back in fright.

I realized what I just did and dropped myself to the ground. Tears streamed out of my eyes and made dark spots on the dry bricks below me. “I’m sorry,” I sobbed, “So much has happened to me, I don’t know what to do any more. I’ve never felt more alone in my entire life!”

Luna wrapped a leg around me to try to comfort me. She sighed. “I can understand what you’re going through. And I do understand, you weren’t in a right mind when you went with Rose. You cannot be completely blamed for your actions. I know it’s rough, but you must push through. When I was on the moon, I would always think of the pony’s hatred and fear towards me and the cruelty of my sister, Tia. It wasn’t until I came back to Equestria and was taken by the effects of the Elements of Harmony, did I realize that Celestia had done what was best. And it turns out, the ponies have learned to accept me as their princess again.”

I sniffled and managed to stop my tears from falling. “But you had a thousand years. Almost everypony from then has died, other than Princess Celestia. And my actions happened today. Nopony’s going to forget this anytime soon.”

Luna nodded. “That may be true. But you could be surprised by how forgiving some ponies are. There are ponies in Ponyville with an unwavering loyalty that can forgive you and understand what happened last night. I was utterly shocked when I had returned. The ponies had brought on happiness and joy when seeing me, instead of fear and misery.”

“Again, thousand years. Maybe I should just move to another town. Start off fresh like somewhere in Manehattan or Trottingham.”

Luna shook her head. “I do not believe that is needed. You are clearly in a dark stage in your life. But you must keep on fighting. You had even gone through the pains of death! There aren’t many challenges higher than that. Sometimes life is like a dark tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel. But if you just keep moving, you will come to a better place.”

I shook my head and got up.

Luna looked at me and made a comforting smile. “Now, don’t you think it’s time you head back to Ponyville?”

I just nodded.

Luna nodded back. “Well I hope to see you soon Night Rave. You certainly are a strange pony. Now this might feel weird, I’m not used to teleporting other ponies just quite yet.”

I closed my eyes and waited for her to cast her spell. I felt a slightly warm feeling around my body. And then a burning sensation. It grew really hot, it felt like somepony had placed a steam iron on every inch of my body.

And all of a sudden, the pain vanished and was replaced by the refreshing night air. I checked myself for any signs of burns. There was nothing. Off in the distance, I could see the roofs of Ponyville in the night.

I took a deep breath of the night air. I was going to make a fresh start. But not any place else. A new start, right here in Ponyville. It’ll take a while to get things back to the way they were, if it could ever reach that point.

But Luna was right. I looked up in the sky and watched the moon shine in the starry night. I had gone through a lot more than the average pony, or human. I even died once! No matter what challenges, faced me ahead I was ready to take them head on. A new feeling of determination rushed through my body. It could possibly have been newfound confidence or maybe it was just late at night and I was tired. But I definitely felt ready for tomorrow.

I felt a warm sensation returning onto my flank. I looked back and gasped.

My cutie mark appeared!!! It looked like a rainbow flower within a flower in a flower. There were many colors on my cutie mark. It had a bunch of overlapping shapes and ovals. At first, I thought it looked really cool, but when I thought about it…

“What the hay does this even mean!?!?”

I sleepily trotted through the streets of Ponyville. I couldn’t wait to go to the hotel and finally lie down in a warm, soft bed after this long night.

I facehoofed as a thought occurred to me. I still had no money on me. I would have to get it from Twilight’s house. But it was only two in the morning. She wouldn’t be too pleased to see me and even less pleased to see me this early.

I walked to the front of the tree house. I knocked on the door. I waited for a few minutes, but there was no response. I didn’t want to wake Twilight in the middle of the night. Time to improvise.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. A flash of light appeared around me and I found myself in my old room. Luckily I was only gone for one night, so I didn’t forget how the room was like. I was also able to use my magic now since I was feeling more confident in myself. I looked around the room to find my saddlebag full of bits. I shuffled around the room, but I couldn’t find them anywhere.

“Twilight, is that you?” a voice said. My vision was distorted as a beam of light hit my eyes.

I heard a gasp. “It’s you!” the voice said. I shook my head to get the stars out of my eyes. My vision eventually returned to show Spike in front of me holding a flashlight.

“Twili…!” Spike began to yell before I stuffed my hoof into his mouth.

“Shhh! I’m just here to get my bits back and then I’ll be out of your hair… or in your case your spikes,” I whispered.

Spike spit out my hoof and glared at me. “Why should I believe you? I mean, Twilight was the one that kicked you out. How do I know you’re not back to get revenge?”

I let out a small chuckle. “C’mon Spike, I lived here for nearly a month. Surely, you must know what kind of pony I am.”

I thought back to all the times I had with Spike. All I could remember was ordering Spike around to go and get me stuff and making him cook whenever I got hungry. I turned back to see Spike with an annoyed expression on his face. Clearly, he was thinking the same thing.

“TWILIGHT! Wake up! Night Rave is back to get revenge on you!” Spike yelled out. My eyes widened.

“Huh? What is it Spike?” I heard not too far away.

I closed my eyes and teleported myself out of the house. I darted away to make sure Twilight didn’t catch me with one of her spells.

I stopped after I thought I was safe. I waited a few moments for my breath to catch up. Looks like I don’t have a place to stay tonight. I sighed.

I walked over to the park and decided to sleep on one of the benches. I slowly lied down on the bench as the cold wood froze my body. It was going to be difficult to fall asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I slowly opened my eyes as the light of Celestia’s sun woke me. I looked up to see the ground above me. I found myself in a very awkward position that I managed to put myself into during my sleep. I untangled myself from the bench and stood up. I swayed side to side as the blood rushed down from my head.

My stomach grumbled. I hadn’t eaten anything since those blueberries last night, and they weren’t very appetizing. I gagged as the sour taste of the blueberries came back to mind. I couldn’t order anything to eat without some bits. I sighed. On the bright side, Twilight should be in a better mood than if I woke her up last night.

I knocked on the door to the library. Twilight opened the door with a smile on her face. “Welcome to the Ponyville… You!” Twilight said as she realized I was the one at the door.

I felt my body tighten and be lifted as Twilight’s magic encased me. I pushed my own magic out of my body and a bubble appeared around me. I also regained control of my body.

“Nice try Twilight. But can you please listen to me for just one second?” I pleaded.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Listen to you? I’m not the one breaking into ponies’ homes trying to get revenge on my enemies.”

I facehoofed. Spike was a little devil. “Ugggh…. Please don’t listen to Spike. I'm just here to pick up my bits. I left them here yesterday since you wouldn’t let me back in the house.” I gave Twilight my best puppy dog eyes.

Twilight shook her head when she saw my attempt. She looked inside her house and levitated a bag towards my bubble.

A wide smile appeared and I burst my magic bubble. The sack landed on my hoof, but it felt…. light. Really light. I checked the contents of the bag and rummaged through all of the coins.

“There’s only 35 bits in here! What happened to the rest of the bits I earned?” I asked.

A mischievous smile appeared on Twilight’s face and she let out a small laugh. “Oh nothing, I just decided to use the money for a good cause. You see, my books are getting pretty beaten up from me moving them around so much. So I ordered new ones from the Canterlot library. I also bought a few dozen muffins for Ditzy.”

My jaw dropped. “But there were like, 500 bits in here!”

Twilight simply nodded.

My eyes widened in shock. There was nothing I wanted more at that moment than to use every ounce of my magic to torture her. But I had to control myself if I was to regain her and everypony else’s trust.

I tried to push down my anger and let out a fake smile. “Thanks Twilight! I’m glad to hear that my bits are being put to good use!” I said.

“I’m glad to hear that you are fine with it,” Twilight said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some old books to dispose of.” She turned away and closed the door behind her. I facehoofed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“10 bits a night! That’s outrageous!” I yelled at the hotel clerk.

“Sir, there is only three hotels in Ponyville and this is the cheapest one plus the cheapest room we have,” the clerk replied. “Now are you going to give me your bits or not?”

I rolled my eyes in agitation and pulled out twenty bits. If I did my math correctly, I would use up all of my money for staying here two nights plus the money I would spend for food. Who spends over 400 bits for muffins and books anyway?!

Although, I guess I really did deserve it. I broke Ditzy’s heart and I’m sure she’s enjoying all those free muffins. Free for her of course. But Twilight could still have left me some more bits for myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three days came and passed. Every day passed pretty much the same. Wake up in the morning (feeling like P Hoofy), go out, get evil looks by everypony I passed (and occasionally get hit by a cupcake or something), eat, ask for a job or lounge, eat some more, then go to bed wondering how much easier my life would be if I didn’t leave with Rose.

I hadn’t seen Ditzy Doo at all. I hoped she was okay. I wanted to meet up with her so badly and apologize for all I had done. When I saw Rose, all she did was glare and me and turn away with a “Humph!”

I saw four of the ponies of the Mane Six, other than Twilight who I saw on the first day back. When Applejack saw me, she just turned away and pretended not to notice me. Fluttershy shrieked and ran away. Pinkie Pie’s smile fell whenever she saw me. I tried to talk to her several times, thinking she would be the easiest to suede over, but when I opened my mouth she would always stuff a muffin to hush me. Rarity and I haven’t formally met, but she heard of my exploits. She just raised her head and gave me a “Humph!” similarly to Rose, then trotted away.

I asked around to see if anypony saw Rainbow Dash. Everypony just decided to ignore me, so I eventually gave up.

On the third day, I ran out of the small amount of bits that I still had. Nopony would accept me a worker for A: my new reputation and B: I didn’t have much of a working resume other than working at Sweet Apple Acres.

That night, I held onto my stomach in pain. I had never suffered starvation on Earth and it was definitely an experience I wouldn’t have tried out. My stomach wouldn’t stop grumbling and tighten every time I gave even the slightest thought about food.

I looked up into the sky to see the moon. “C’mon! I thought you were going to help me out Luna!” I yelled.

A tear slid down my face. I felt my body be teleported and my surroundings changed. I looked forward to see Princess Celestia. Normally, a princess like her would smile when first meeting her subjects. But I didn’t like that stern face she gave when she looked at me. Moments passed as I waited for her to tell me something. Finally, I decided to spark the conversation.

“What’s up Princess Celestia?” I asked. Celestia raised her eyebrow. A light bulb came on in my mind. I bowed down.

“That’s better Rave. Now then, I suppose you’re wondering why you’re here?” the Princess said.

I nodded.

“Well, too tell you frankly, I am very disappointed in you Rave,” Celestia said shaking her head.

I gasped. The Princess disappointed…. in me? “Is this about Ditzy Doo? Because I can understand if it is.”

Celestia continued to shake her head. “She has something to do with it. But I'm more disappointed in how quickly you gave up. Luna told me about your time with her and so I decided to look over you the past few days.”

“Well that’s just a little creepy, but Princess Celestia! How am I not supposed to give up? I don’t have any more bits to survive and no job to get bits! I’ve been left to die in a hole,” I yelled.

Celestia brought a hoof to her head. “I suppose you don’t know what your cutie mark means then?”

I peered over to my flank. “What this thing? No idea.”

Celestia showed a smile for the first time of this meeting. “How about I help you then?”

My ears perked up. “How so?”

“How about I hire you as a special field agent? This will help you figure out what your cutie mark means in due time,” Celestia replied.

I tilted my head. “So you know what my special talent is?” The Sun Princess nodded.

“Can you tell me?” I put on my puppy eyes again.

Celestia gave me a quizzical look. “You really shouldn’t do that, your face looks quite ridiculous.” I dropped my puppy dog act. “And your talent? Wouldn’t you find it better to realize what your talent is rather than me simply telling you?”

I put a hoof to my head in thought. “I’d rather you tell me here and now.” I smiled widely waiting for the princess to tell the secrets of my cutie mark.

The white Alicorn shook her head. Her face became serious again. “YOU WILL DISCOVER YOUR TALENT ON YOUR OWN!” the Princess said in a royal Canterlot voice.

I jumped back in fear of her sudden raise in tone. I didn’t think the royal Canterlot voice was that powerful. I shuddered, “Okay! But what exactly am I supposed to do?”

“Well you see,” Celestia started with her tone softened, “every once in a while, a mishap occurs in Equestria. Ponies get lost, animals from the Everfree roam into towns, and others. All you have to do is remedy these accidents from time to time.”

“And this will help me find out the meaning of my cutie mark?” I asked. The Princess nodded. “And how will this help me in the situation I’m in?”

“Well you’ll be paid for your work, of course. How about one hundred bits a month and three hundred bits for every mission I send you out on?”

I pondered the pay for a moment. One hundred bits a month seemed pretty small. I could have received that much bits for only ten hours of work at Applejack’s. But 300 bits to go out and find a lost pony seemed like a good idea. “That sounds like a good offer Princess.”

Celestia nodded. “Also, I brought you here to tell you that your house in Ponyville is ready. Completely furnished and everything.”

My heart skipped a beat. Everything was finally starting to go my way again. I got a job again and a brand new house.

I bowed down. “Thank you so much Princess!” I exclaimed in joy.

The Princess smiled and nodded yet again. “You are welcome Night Rave. Now then, it’s getting late and we both should be getting are rest.”

My surroundings began to blur. “Until your first mission…” were the last words I heard before I found myself looking at my new house.

It wasn’t anything special. It looked exactly like the other houses. Two floors, a patio, rooms for sleeping and dining, and more. But it was a home all to myself. My first home since I first arrived in Ponyville.

I woke up to the plain white ceiling of my new home. I yawned relaxedly. It felt good to wake up in a comfortable bed with Celestia’s sun gently nudging you awake. But as friendly as the sun would be, there wasn’t too many others that would do the same.

It was nice for the princess to give me 100 bits per month, but it wouldn’t last me the whole time. Maybe if I starved myself it would work out, but I definitely needed a second job. I continued to search for another job, but I faced the same problems as before. Bad reputation.

As I roamed through Ponyville aimlessly, I finally caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash. Somehow, I managed to miss her the past few days I was in Ponyville. I rushed to catch up with her. She turned around to see me, and I noticed her ears droop.

“Umm… hey Rainbow,” I said.

“Oh, hey Rave…” Rainbow said nervously. She looked side to side to see if anypony was watching. “Can we talk another time?”

She began to fly away, but I caught a good portion of her tail in my mouth, and I pulled her back to the ground. I fought back hard to stop the tears coming to my eyes. I was really hoping Rainbow would at least hear me out, I mean she is the Element of Loyalty. Not only that, but she was the best friend I had in Equestria. It hurt a lot to see her trying to avoid me.

“Come on Rainbow,” I started, “can’t you at least hear me out?”

“No!” Rainbow yelled, clearly agitated after being forced onto the ground. “What makes you think that I’ll listen to you?”

“Because you’re the Element of Loyalty, and that means you should listen to your friends when rumors appear.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “So you’re telling me, this whole deal with Ditzy Doo and Rose is a rumor?”

“Well… no, not exactly. But can you at least hear my side of the story?”

Rainbow put a hoof up to her head to consider the notion.

“As a true friend?” I added.

Rainbow looked at me and sighed. “Fine.”

“Woohoo!” I shouted. I continued to tell her about the entire situation, another rant about how this was not completely my fault and that booze is evil, but also delicious.

“I guess it’s not that bad when you put it that way,” Rainbow told me after I finished my story. “Did you apologize to Ditzy yet?”

“Well, I haven’t seen her at all the past few days,” I answered. “Have you seen her?”

“Not personally, I’ve heard she’s been staying at home a lot more lately, ever since…. well, you know, you. But, have you told anypony else your side of the story?”

“I keep on trying, but everypony keeps on shutting me down before I can actually tell them anything,” I replied.

Rainbow sighed. “Well, I’ll try my best to tell the others about what happened.”

I embraced the cyan Pegasus in a friendly hug. “Seriously? Thanks so much, Rainbow!”

I pulled away from her to see her cheeks flustered. She chuckled nervously. “No problem, Rave. Listen, can you not do that, at least until everypony knows what really happened?”

I looked around to the ponies in the area. They were all shaking their heads at us. Clearly, I was tarnishing Rainbow’s good reputation.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” I said.

“Don’t worry about it. See you around, Night Rave!” And with that, Rainbow took off to the clouds. I waved good-bye as I watched her fade away into the distance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And what makes ya think ah’ll let you in here ever again?” Big Macintosh asked as I approached Vinyl’s club.

Funny thing. You would think that I would learn my lesson about drinking considering what happened to me. But alcohol works in strange ways. Once that good stuff goes down your throat, you can’t help but want some more. I was ashamed in myself for wanting it, for needing it. But it was my second time around, my body is more used to it in my body, right? I’m not going to lose myself in drink like last time.

“But Big Macintosh! You already swindled like 100 bits in me just for entering here. And it’s free admittance!” I retorted.

“And?” Big Mac replied.

“Well…. I…. but…” I facehoofed. “Fine. How’s twenty bits sound?”

Big Mac looked up in thought. “30 bits.”

‘But… wha… uggghh…” I took out forty bits and handed it to Big Mac. Anything for a drink. Was I wasting my money? Oh yeah, definitely. But like I said, I needed this.

I entered the club, and there it was again, the deep bass blasting from the stereo. Sounded like Skrillex back on Earth, but not quite the same. I went over to the bartender and asked for a drink.

“Oh! It’s you again. You earned yourself quite a reputation since the last time I saw you. Lucky for you, the mare from a few nights ago isn’t here,” he told me.

I shook my head at him. “Just shut up and get me a drink.”

“Touchy. What do you have in mind?”

I raised a hoof to my head. I had absolutely no experience with drinks, all I knew was that they tasted good. “The least strongest thing you have,” I finally replied.

“So… orange juice?” the barcolt said with a mighty laugh.

I facehoofed. This stallion was really beginning to bug me.

“I apologize,” the barcolt said after finishing his outburst of giggles. “How’s about a margarita then? It’s not too bad for a lightweight like you.”

“I’m not a…” I started, but decided to stop myself, realizing there would be no point in arguing and the faster the transaction, the better.

We exchanged my beverage and five bits and I took a seat alone in the corner of the large room. I raised my glass and felt the sweet tanginess reach my tongue. No wonder Berry Punch likes this so much. Maybe I’ll invite her for a drink sometime.

I must’ve been sitting and drinking for quite some time, for the next thing I knew, a white unicorn was sitting right next to me.

“Ahh!’ I screamed when I finally realized the pony sitting there. I let out a deep breath when I recognized the electric-blue maned mare next to me, Vinyl Scratch.

Vinyl snickered. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Umm… I wasn't scared… I just… you know what, it’s fine,” I stuttered.

Vinyl laughed again. “What happened? Why aren’t you out there with your light show like you normally are?”

I sighed. “C’mon Vinyl, surely you heard of what happened.”

Vinyl shook her head. “Well not really, all I have been hearing is rumors.”

Again, I went on with my rant about alcohol and Rose and such. Vinyl continued to nod every once in a while and take a sip of her Buck Daniels.

“Doesn’t sound too bad. I’ve had plenty of nights where I woke up in somepony else’s house.”

“Vinyl, it’s not the same thing. Everypony in town hates me! Well, maybe except Rainbow Dash.”

Vinyl laid a reassuring hoof on my shoulder. “I don’t hate you. Sure, what you did was wrong, but you can’t be blamed for that kind of stuff, nopony has control over what they do when it comes to booze.”

“Finally! Somepony that understands,” I replied.

“Listen, how’s about we make a deal?” Vinyl took off her glasses. “I’ve been noticing a lot more ponies stay longer whenever you’re doing whatever you do, so I was thinking that…”

I couldn’t make out the rest of what she was saying. I was lost in the vast beauty of her gorgeous red eyes. They were like two perfect shining rubies staring right at me. I was mesmerized by them.

“Hello? You there, Rave?” I felt a hoof make contact with my cheek.

“Ow!” I yelled. My cheek began to burn where the DJ PON3 hit me. “You didn’t have to hit me!”

“Sorry about that. What were you thinking about?” Vinyl asked.

“Your beautiful red…” I started before I caught myself. “beautiful red… carpet.” I looked down at the brown wooden floor beneath me. I mentally gave myself yet another facehoof.

“Umm… maybe you should lighten up on the alcohol…” Vinyl responded.

“Don’t be silly…” I said. The sweet alcohol running through my veins tired me, and I fell asleep on the spot.

“Umm… Night Rave?” Vinyl said looking over my sleeping body.

I rubbed my cheek against the plush pillow underneath my head. I turned on my back and let in a deep relaxing breath.

“What the…?!” I exclaimed as I shot straight up. The air stank of must and…. pizza crusts? “Where the hay am I?” I looked to the other end of the couch to see a white lovely mare sleeping.

I closed my eyes to try to get myself to remember what happened last night. Okay, so I went into the club… I’m hungry. What sounds good for breakfast? Cheerilee-Os, waffles, pancakes, oh and then there’s that…

I shook my head furiously. I bonked myself in the temple to try to get my mind to cooperate. Clearly, my mind did not want me to think this early in the morning. And then I ordered a margarita… That was a good drink, much fresher than that Manzanilla Rose gave me… speaking of Rose…

I sighed. My mind just refused to concentrate on one topic. I stretched my legs and sat back against the couch. On a normal day, I would have gotten myself ready for the day, but considering this wasn’t my home, it would be more courteous to wait for my host to wake up.

Half an hour passed before the white unicorn finally stirred. Her normally messy mane was even more disheveled in the morning. She rubbed her eyes and squinted when she looked at me.

“Oh hey Night Rave,” Vinyl said, “how did you sleep?”

“Umm… it was fine,” I answered. “And how exactly did I get here?”

“Well I was talking to you last night about a job offer when you just went off and fainted. So, I brought you over here to crash for the night.”

“Well, I’m sorry if I caused you any trouble,” I responded.

“It was no problem. Besides, we had plenty of fun last night,” Vinyl said with a seductive look.

A sharp gasp escaped my mouth. Horsefeathers, not again! Dam you, alcohol, dam you! I hope this doesn’t get me a reputation…

Vinyl proceeded to laugh at me. “Haha, you should have seen the look on your face! You were all like…” The unicorn let out a gasp accompanied with a surprised face. She continued to laugh as I facehoofed. Still, better than the alternative.

Vinyl let out the rest of giggles and wiped a tear from her eye. “Sorry about that, I just had to do it. Wakes me up in the morning.”

I rolled my eyes and nodded. “Well, thanks anyways, but I should really be heading back home.”

“Aren’t you going to stay for brunch?” Vinyl asked. “And what about my job offer?”

“I got plenty of food at home,” I lied. “And what job offer?”

“Weren’t you listening at all when I talking to you last night?” Vinyl asked irritably.

“I told you… I was looking at your beautiful red eyes!”

“Oh…” Vinyl said. A clear shade of pink appeared on her white cheeks.

I facehoofed. I could feel my own cheeks beginning to burn from the words that just escaped my mouth. Two strikes in one morning, not a good way to start off a day. “I meant to say, you’re beautiful red chairs.”

“But you said floor last night…”

Facehoof. Three strikes, I’m out. “So what exactly was the job offer again?” I inquired, trying to change the topic of the conversation.

“Right… so I was wondering if you wanted to come over to the club some nights and do that stuff you do with the glowsticks. Your raving actually brought in a lot more people when you started doing that… so what do think?”

Well I do need another way to make bits other than Princess Celestia. And being paid to rave is fun enough in itself.

“Sure,” I beamed.

“Great! How about twenty bits a night, and you can do it whenever you want?”

“Sounds fine with me,” I answered. And of course I get to spend more time with Vinyl… I mean… get into the club without having to pay Big Macintosh all the time.

“Awesome! See you around Rave!” I waved a hoof good-bye to my new boss and trotted out the door.

A pair of bright eyes met mine as I opened the door. Apparently it’s not a good idea for me to open doors in the morning when I sleep over somepony else’s house. But this was the perfect opportunity.

“Ditzy! Please, we need to talk,” I pleaded.

Ditzy shook her head as she threw me a look of disgust. “We need to talk? What’s wrong? Decided to cheat on Rose too, so you took it up with Vinyl?” If looks could kill, I would have died on the spot.

“Ditzy, please! If you just hear me out…. I promise I can make everything better.

Ditzy turned around, and the next thing I knew, two cold hooves slam my jaw closed. I winced as I heard the cracking of my teeth, and the warm sticky fluid that filled my mouth soon afterwards. My vision began to blur and the world was spinning. I spit out on the ground, but soon regretted it. A dark red puddle showed where I spa. I closed my eyes, and felt the cold floor slam against my body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beep. I opened my eyes a slit. Beep. There was some commotion outside of the room I was laying in. Sounded like somepony was arguing. I looked over to the corner of my eye to see a machine monitoring my heartbeat. It seemed pretty useless, since I wasn’t injured. Beep. I looked to the other corner of my eye to see sunshine pouring in through an open window. Now that I realized it, all of the lights in the room were off. My cheeks felt numb. Beep.

I slowly lifted a hoof to inspect the numbness. As soon as I made contact with my head, I began to writhe in pain. It was as though somepony was drilling screws into every corner of my mouth. I couldn’t even scream out, since there was a brace over my mouth. All I could do was endure the unimaginable pain silently until it went away. Beep. That took a lot more energy than I thought. I drifted back into my slumber.

I opened my eyes again. My cheeks didn’t feel quite so numb, but they definitely ached. I turned my head towards the window to see what time of day it was. Unfortunately, my view was blocked by a white unicorn. She was sitting in a chair facing me with headphones covering her ears. The lights in the room were turned back on.

I looked around to see an aquamarine wallpaper decorated with vines. The ceiling was filled with the same wallpaper, only in olive green. On the side of my bed stood a lone drawer with a desk lamp on top. I turned my gaze back towards Vinyl and waved a hoof up. The mare didn’t respond at all. I waved my hoof faster. Still no reaction. What the buck?!

I tried to say something, but the jaw brace restricted me to a mere “Mmmph!” There was no way she would hear something like that with those headphones in. I sighed and relaxed back on the bed.

Well this was not how I wanted my day to turn out. For all I knew, the day was already over and it was nighttime. I couldn’t tell, there was no clock in the room. Who would’ve thought a mare like Ditzy would have such a forceful buck. I lightly grazed my jawline with my hoof and winced ever so slightly.

Just when I thought things were beginning to turn my way with the new jobs, this happens.

“Huh? Oh, Night Rave, you’re awake.” I turned to see Vinyl take off her glasses and rub her eyes. I nodded to myself in comprehension. She wasn’t ignoring me, she was sleeping, and I couldn’t tell because of those shades.

“Can you talk?” Vinyl asked. I just barely managed to shake my head.

“Oh, okay. I’ll just fill you in on the details and you nod every once in a while, okay?”

I nodded.

“Well this is what happened. I heard a crash downstairs, so I went down to check it out. I found you lying on the floor and a Pegasus flying away, but I couldn’t tell who it was. You were bleeding all over the floor, so I called you to the hospital. That’s where you are now, follow?”

I nodded.

“It turns out that several of your teeth were cracked. Nothing too serious, no broken jaw or anything.” Nothing too serious? What the hay is this annoying pain I’m feeling then? “The doctors said you can check out of here in a few days. Until then, you’re going to have to wear that brace in your mouth. They’re going to stick this tube thing into your arm every time you have to eat and you can’t talk for a while.”

I nodded again. Even after all of this, it still wasn’t as bad as it could have turned out. Back on Earth, it would probably have taken at least a week before I could talk again and another month before I could eat hard foods. With a world full of magic, the possibilities were endless. A few days couldn’t hurt.

“After that, everything should be fine. But the doctor said you should stay away from apples or anything like that for at least a week. And you don’t have any insurance so…”

Wait…. they have insurance in Equestria?

“so…. your medical bill is going to be pretty high,” Vinyl stated.

“Mmmph mph mmph!” I muttered. It hurt just to make those sounds.

“I’m going to assume that means ‘How high?’. The nurses told me anywhere between… umm…. 500 to 800 bits.”

If I could have risked it, I would have facehoofed right then and there. 800 bits!?! I don’t have that kind of money! Even if Twilight didn’t use any of my money, I would still be short.

“Miss Scratch?” A nurse called as she entered the room. “Oh, there you are. Visiting hours are just about over.”

“Thanks Nurse Redheart. I’ll be about in just a bit,” Vinyl replied. Nurse Redheart nodded and walked out of the room.

“Well that’s my cue. I’ll see you tomorrow, k Rave?” Vinyl said with an assuring smile.

I nodded and waved a hoof good-bye. Vinyl waved back and left the room.

I sighed. How the hay am I supposed to pay 800 bits?! I don’t have anywhere near that kind of money. I hope I don’t have to sell my new house…. And it’s all because of…

My jaw tensened. My heart began to race as my anger rose. This is all Ditzy’s fault. I used to feel bad about cheating on her, but now this… This is all HER fault! If she had just listened to me on that morning with Rose, or even this morning, I wouldn’t have to be in this mess. I was going to apologize to her, but this…. this is taking it too far.

And Vinyl. What was she doing here? I wanted to ask her why, but I didn’t have any way to ask. She’s the only pony in town that actually gave me a second chance. Not only that, she even gave me a job. And those gorgeous, gorgeous eyes of hers…

I sighed. Might as well head off to bed, nothing to do for now… or the next few days either.

Pain. In the experiences of life, there are only two physical kinds. One was the sharp, stabbing pain and the other was the dull, nagging pain. The worst was when somepony felt both. And that’s exactly what I was going through.

The pain would always be there, right at my mouth, and I couldn’t do anything to get rid of it. And even if I tried, it switched to the stabbing pain and it hurt a lot.

The worst part of it all was the sheer boredom. I couldn’t move at all, in the risk of moving my jaw and the pain returning. And because this was Equestria, there wasn’t any TVs, computers, I didn’t have any iPods, or anything. All I could really do was read. And even the adventures of Daring Do couldn’t help with my annoying mouth distracting me from the story.

All I could do was stare at the wall in front of me. It was horrifying to listen to every tick of the clock that passed. Every hour the tick tocks seemed to grow louder. I even got tired of sleeping I was so bored.

There was only one bright moment in my day. And they came from two shining rubies.

“You okay Rave?” Vinyl asked worriedly. Because she spent working only during the night when she was DJing, she didn’t have much to do during the day. Every once in a while, she would make a new remix. But nothing for now, so she came by to visit.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied. I was able to talk now. It didn’t hurt too bad if I kept my voice down at a whisper.

“Aren’t you bored?”

I paused. As terrible as the situation was, I didn’t want to make Vinyl worry. I got the impression, that for some reason, she blamed herself for my injuries. I couldn’t see why, but it just seemed like she did.

“No, of course not… I have this awesome…. wallpaper to look at…” I replied. “If you look at it close enough, it looks like the wallpaper is moving.”

Vinyl gave a quick glance at the look and changed her gaze towards. She let out a small giggle. “Oh Night Rave, if you’re bored, you could just tell me.”

“But… I’m… not bored?”

“Really?” Vinyl asked, giving me a skeptical look. “What did you do so far today?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came. Actually, I pretty much did nothing the entire day. “Well, I… got some great sleep…”

“You didn’t do anything, did you?”

“Well I… buck it! I’M BORED OUT OF MY MIND!!!” I winced. Screaming was definitely a no-no.

“See, now was that so hard?” I nodded. “Anyways, I brought you this.”

Vinyl handed over a metallic disk. On top of it lay a pair of headphones. Next were a few CDs.

“I thought some good music would brighten your day. These are some of my favorite bands. You got Deadhor5, Skrillex, Iron Maredon, Metallapony, and some others. So what do you think?” Vinyl inquired.

“And you’re going to take it back after I leave the hospital?”

“Nah. I got another MP3 back at home. And I got plenty of songs to listen to.”

“Are you sure Vinyl? I mean, this setup must cost at least 100 bits. I can’t just take this from you,” I argued.

“It’s 180 bits actually, those are some pretty sweet headphones. But it’s the least I could do.”

“The least? What exactly do you think you did?” I asked.

“Umm… oh hay, look at the time. Sorry Rave, I better head off to the club. I’ll see you tomorrow!” Vinyl exclaimed, rushing out the door.

I turned my gaze back towards the gifts I had just received. I laid the MP3 aside and shifted through the disks. Well, if anything was certain, Vinyl definitely had a good taste in music. Still, I’m not sure if I could just take all of this.

There was no real reason for her to be doing this. So why was she? I sighed and let the thought pass. I had the next week to think about things like that. For the moment, nothing would be better than to end the boredom that went on for far too long. I placed the headphones over my ears and placed a disk into the music player. I laid back onto the bed as the beats pulsed into my head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few days carried on the same way. The nurses would bring me whatever food the hospital had to offer and check some of the monitors around me. Vinyl would come in for an hour and we would talk. Mainly about music, as it seemed to be her forte. I would sleep, listen to music, and engage in staring contests with the wall. I would win most of the time…

Of course, I had other things to think about as well. Like how in Equestria I was going to pay off the medical bill. I could write a letter to Princess Celestia for some help, but I wasn’t too keen on having her help me any further. And I doubted whether or not she would actually help me. As helpful as she was, I had the feeling she wanted me to be a bit more independent.

I couldn’t ask anypony else to lend me some bits. I didn’t have a family here and I pretty much had no friends. If I paid the hospital what I already had, I wouldn’t have any left to survive on my own. I was pretty much stuck I in a trap. There was one another way. It wouldn’t be easy or morally correct, but as far as I was concerned, anything was better than selling the small amount of things I had.

And then Vinyl. The more I thought about it, it just seemed like there was only one logical answer. That she, perhaps, was in love with me. Why else would she come here every day? Why else would she give me all these things and help me when nopony else would? Because, she liked me. And in all honesty, I liked her too. Her perfect white coat that seemed to shine like snow in the morning sun. Her ruby red eyes and shocking electric blue mane. And also, her amazing personality and love for music.

But as with everypony, I had my self-doubts. What is she’s just being nice? Why would she like me, if I broke Ditzy’s heart? How could a mare like her ever be interested in me? It’s just the way that most people think. There’s always just a little bit of uncertainty when it comes to this kind of stuff.

The day before I was supposed to be released by the hospital, (Sweet Celestia, I need some money) Vinyl came back to visit one more time. By this time, I was finally able to talk freely without pain. Whatever medicine the doctors gave me worked to perfection. Other than a few dull aches that could easily be remedied with some aspirin, my mouth was back to normal. Thank Equestria for magic. And who would’ve thought an entire week of doing nothing could be so boring…

“Hey, Rave!” greeted Vinyl, taking the chair beside the hospital bed. She appeared with her usual dazzling smile and trademark glasses, which she laid down onto the dresser.

“How’s it going Vinyl?”

“The same as usual,” Vinyl responded. “Happy that you’re finally going to leave this place?”

Other than the money, I could finally get on with my life. “Of course.”

“I thought so. So, what do you plan to do once you’re out of here?”

I had made a plan for receiving the money to pay the bill, but I hadn’t bothered to plan for anything else. There wasn’t much to do except stay at home like I had done the days before my injury.

“Umm… I don’t have anything planned honestly,” I replied.

“Oh,” Vinyl muttered. A little bit of color appeared on her cheeks and she asked, “Well, do you want to stop over by my house sometime, and maybe help me make a few songs?”

Check I thought. That was the thing I needed to start my question. I needed to ask her now. The question had been burning in my mind, but there never seemed to be a good time to pop the question. “Sure, Vinyl, sounds fun. But I have a question.”

“What is it?” Vinyl asked curiously.

“Are you going to answer with the complete truth?” I asked sternly.

Vinyl paused for a moment before nodding. Those kinds of question could be easy traps. And my question was just that, a trap.

“I was wondering, Vinyl, why have you been so nice to me?” Checkmate! There was the question. If my assumptions were correct, she would finally say how she felt about me.

Vinyl opened her mouth to respond, but ended with a sigh. The shimmer in her bright eyes appeared to be gone. She got up and sat next to me on the bed. The blush reappeared on her cheeks. “Well, Rave, to tell you the truth…”

Here it is! In the next second, Vinyl will say she loves me. I’ve imagined this for hours as I laid on this very bed. I felt my heart begin to race as she started her response. Everything was going to be explained in her next answer. The moment I’ve been waiting for. She would say she loves me, I will squee in delight, and we’ll finally spend some quality time together.

“To tell you the truth…” I held my breath as I waited for the answer. I stared right at her, my anxiety nearly bursting out.

“I feel really guilty.”

“YE…. wait…” No, that’s not right. That was not what I was expecting at all. My breath slipped out and the smile on my face faded. Guilty? “What do you mean?” I asked.

“Remember that night? Well, of course you do. You know how Rose offered a drink to you?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Well… I was the one who told her to do it. She was complaining about being lonely for quite some time, and I remembered that you were the new pony in town. I recommended you to her and asked her to give it a shot. She eventually agreed to do it, so then I saw Rose come over and talk to you and…”

No words could describe how I was feeling at that moment. It was like having to relive every horrible moment I had in my Equestrian life. If I wasn’t so flabbergasted, I would’ve slapped myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

“And I was so happy for you two. But…” small tears formed in Vinyl’s eyes. “but I didn’t know you and Ditzy were together. So when I heard what had happened to you… I tried my best to make it up. That’s why for the past few days, I’ve been doing my best to keep you happy. Rave, please don’t be mad at me…” Vinyl ended.

I just sat there with an emotionless expression. As flat as I looked on the outside, emotions and thoughts were flying around on the inside.

So when it comes right down to it, it’s all Vinyl’s fault? VINYL’S? She’s the entire reason that I’m sitting here on this bed, hated by pretty much everypony in town, and about to lose all the money I currently have?! If she hadn’t been there, everything would be fine?!

But the thing that really put it over the top, was realizing that she had absolutely no feelings for me. She never really liked me. She just felt bad, that’s why she acted so friendly towards me. After she felt better, I would be nothing more to her than a scrap of paper. It was like taking a knife through the heart.

Vinyl gathered her things and headed towards the door. She stopped in the doorway. “Listen, Night Rave. I understand if you never want to see me again. I would feel the same way. I just want to let you know, I really am sorry…” And with that, she disappeared.

I couldn’t tell how I felt at that moment. It could have been anger. It could have been misery. It could have been outright fury. But as I looked over to the dark spots on the bed, created by Vinyl’s tears, a new thought occurred to me.

Vinyl didn’t mean for this to happen. As angry as I can be at Ditzy and Twilight, it’s not the same with her. Ditzy and Twilight both chose to hate me after what I had done, even though it’s perfectly reasonable. Vinyl, even though she started this whole hullabaloo, she had no intentions of doing it. She even spent her time to try and fix everything. I could’ve hugged her for all eternity, let alone never want to see her again.

Just then, a nurse entered the room. “Mister Rave, you are clear to leave the hospital. The nurses and I will gather your things as you prepare to leave. Would you like to pay the bill now or after you return from your home?” she asked.

“When I return from home, please,” I replied. My focus changed gears. As important as talking to Vinyl was, I had a bill to pay. And since I didn’t have long to gather the money, I only had so much time to get it. So, the plan has already been made. Once night rolls around, off to Rarity’s place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note: In the event that this would probably never happen, let’s just say that the bill has a pretty high interest rate. An interest rate high enough that Rave would not be able to pay off at only 100 bits a month. And 100 bits a month is a pretty small amount. And if he were to wait for the first mission, the debt may have increased pretty high.

The moon loomed high as the night enshrouded my body. I looked up to the symbol of the moon princess. No doubt she would be disappointed in me if she were to see me now. My breathing was low and unsteady. Nearly my entire body was shaking from the tension. I crept along the walls of Carousel Boutique. It was a difficult decision, but one I had to make. I could still remember the argument I had with myself.

What’s the fastest way to make money?
By borrowing. But since we don’t really have anypony to lend the money, stealing is the next best option.
But stealing isn’t the right way to do things.
Hey! It’s that or I die.
But steal from who?
Rarity of course. She has plenty of bits. I mean look at all the gems she has! She has plenty of money to spare.
I barely know her.
That makes it even better! Less regret.
How am I going to do it?
Easy. Sneak into her house at night and look around until you find her stash. Then sneak out before she notices.
What if I get caught?
I’m as dark as night. She won’t be able to see me.

I didn’t know I was so convincing. Propping my head over the windowsill, I could see a clear view of the living room. Next thing I knew, I teleported myself in there. Hopping and crouching into a dark corner of the room, I waited.

For what seemed like an hour, the only thing I heard was my own breathing. Every time a pony teleports, a loud pop is heard wherever the pony is teleported to. Luckily for me, it didn’t seem as though anypony heard it. They were all sleeping soundly in their beds.

Rummaging through some of the drawers and closets of the first floor, I found nothing. Just the normal silverware, books, and candles. Occasionally I would stop and listen to hear if anypony was coming down. You could never be too sure.

Satisfied with the thoroughness off my search downstairs, it was time to head to the second floor. And it made sense to me. Why would anypony leave valuable possessions on the first floor? They would obviously have it in their own rooms. But that was my worst fear. Having to sneak through the rooms where ponies were actually sleeping.

As I lay a hoof on the first step, I quickly drew it back after it made a creak. It wasn’t that loud, but compared to the silence around it, it might as well have been an alarm clock. Slowly I went up. With every step I had to stop as the creaks appeared to get louder and louder. It must have been at least half an hour before I finally reached the top.

I let out a sigh. I quickly drew the air back as a pair of eyes glistened brightly in the darkness. The light green eyes stared into mine. For a long moment, we just stared at each other. I gulped as I tried to move, but wasn’t sure if the eyes actually saw me or who they belonged to. I nearly jumped in fright when I heard a meow. I sighed once more as I realized it was just Rarity’s cat, Opal.

“Quiet!” I whispered to the cat. A sharp hiss was its response.

“Shhh! You’re going to blow my cover,” I whispered. Opal hissed one more time before jumping onto my face.

I let out a few screams as the cat began to claw at my face with its tiny paws. The cat shrieked loudly as it reached for every part of my head. My face was burning in pain and the streaks of blood I felt flowing down my cheeks. Each scratch brought a new wince of pain.

“Get off of me!” I muttered.

“What’s going on out there? Is that you Opal?” I heard. Through the swinging claws of death, I saw light pouring out from under a door.

Heart pounding, I threw the wild beast off of my face. As I saw the knob begin to turn, I scrambled into the room next to me. Gently, I closed the door behind me. I placed my head against the door to hear what was going on out in the hall, the cold wooden surface soothing my scratched cheek.

“What are you doing out here Opal? Don’t you know a lady needs her sleep?” a voice said. With the only voice as high class at that, it had to be Rarity.

I heard yet another meow along with scratching on the door I was leaning on.

“What’s that Opal? Was it Sweetie Belle that was bothering you?”

Buck! I searched in the darkness for some place to hide. Looking around frantically, I found yet another room to escape to. I jumped inside, closing the door behind me as I saw the first door open.

Letting my heart beat at its normal pace once more, I leaned my head against this door as well.

“Hello? Sweetie Belle?”

A groan was heard before another pony began to talk. “Yes Rarity?”

“Were you out in the hall just now?” Rarity asked.

A pause. “No, I was sleeping in here before you came and woke me up.”

“Are you telling the truth Sweetie Belle? Opal here said you were outside just now.”

“Rarity, I have school tomorrow. I’m not going to roam around the house in the middle of the night, picking fights with Opal. I can do that in the daytime. Can you just go and let me sleep again?”

“Oh, alright,” said Rarity. “But first, let me use your restroom. It’ll only be a quick moment.”

Some muttering came before I realized the knob on the door I was leaning on began to turn.

Buck! Why does this keep happening!?! Feeling around the room, I tripped over and landed into what seemed to be large bowl. Feeling around some more, I realized I fell into the bathtub.

The lights flashed on into the room. I quickly drew my head into the tub, holding my breath as I saw the top of Rarity’s head pass by. I held my breath the entire time, not wanting to make any sound at all. My heart was thumping loudly in my chest, the anxiety numbing my body.

Finally, Rarity finished her business and trotted out of the room. I let out a large sigh of relief and pulled myself out of the tub. Peering my head under the space between the door and the floor, I checked to make sure all the lights were off. Luckily, they were.

I strolled back into the room and was about to head out to the hallway when a shout came from behind me.

“Rarity! Come back here! There’s somepony else in here!”

I turned my head to find the outline of Sweetie Belle sitting up on her bed. Turning forward to rush through the door, it slammed open into my face.

Brining my hooves to stop the pain, the lights flashed on around me.

“What the…? What are you doing here?”

I lifted one of my hooves just in time to see a frying pan about to slam onto my head. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough to react. Darkness ensued as a hard knock came onto my head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I opened my eyes again to find myself tied to a chair. As I tried to teleport myself out of there, all that came out of horn was a spark.

“Oh no you don’t,” a voice said. I turned to face a very distressed Rarity and Sweetie Belle.

“Don’t think you can just simply teleport away,” said Rarity.

I struggled and writhed in my ropes as I tried to free myself, but it was to no avail. I looked forward again to face Rarity.

“Why, exactly, were you in my home, Night Rave?” she asked.

“I…I got lost.”

OUCH! I screamed in my head as she smacked a hoof across my face. Okay, so I could have made a better excuse than that, but still. The pain was doubled as the cat scratches opened once more.

“Don’t play smart with me Rave. Tell me, why did I find you sneaking around in Sweetie Belle’s room?”

“I was….” I started, trying to think of an excuse. But nothing came to my lips. The situation was just too strange to find a reasonable excuse on the spot. I bit my lip nervously. “I was trying to… to steal your money.”

Rarity shook her head in disapproval. With a shocking glare at me she stated firmly, “Sweetie Belle, run off to the police station. It looks as though they might have their first criminal.”

“Wait, Rarity! Hear me out first!” I pleaded. The last thing I needed was a criminal record.

“Why should I, Mr. Rave? I should have expected this kind of behavior from you. Breaking poor Ditzy’s heart and then breaking into Twilight’s home. Why, I should have expected this sooner from you. And to think Rainbow Dash said you weren’t like that…”

My ears perked up. “Wait, Rainbow Dash? She actually… Never mind that. Please, at least me have my say first, then you can do whatever you want with me,” said I.

Narrowing her eyes, Rarity brought up a chair. She sat down and waited for me to start my story.

I sighed. I wasn’t sure how many times I would have to say that story before the entire situation blew over. If it ever did. On I went, only this time, I had more to say. The extra bit of information with Vinyl brought things into a different perspective, along with the fact that I needed money for the hospital bill.

I expected Rarity to feel some sort of sympathy, but she just shook her head with the cold look she had always given me.

“Resorting to stealing I see. Is that how you plan to make your money now? By stealing?”

“Well I got a job from the Princess. And I got a second job from Vinyl, but I don’t know how well that will turn out.”

“So why do you need to steal money if you’re making your own?”

“Because it would take me years to pay off the entire thing! It’s only 100 bits per month from Celestia and that would only last about two weeks, if I really skimped. So I need some more money before the debt piles up,” I answered.

“Well I hope you enjoy your suffering. Maybe now you’ll understand how Ditzy feels.”

“How Ditzy feels?! She got her revenge by sending me to the hospital!”

“And she had every right to do so,” Rarity responded sharply.

“Wha…? No she didn’t! Nopony has the right to hurt somepony! No matter what!”

“Yes, but you aren’t a somepony. To put it roughly, you are a worthless pile of rotten apple cores that I cannot believe I wasted my time with.”

I bit my tongue hard to hold back the tears. It was like everypony was against me. Well they were, but I didn’t expect this kind of pure disgust from somepony, especially Rarity. I swallowed the lump in my throat and continued.

“Rarity, I know we may not be on good terms. But please, I’m in a tough fix and I really need some help.”

The white unicorn let out a loud laugh. “Help you? Don’t be so ridiculous.”

“Hold on, please. Miss Rarity, I don’t have any money on my own right now.”

“As it should be.”

“But! But I would be ever so grateful, if you just give me a chance. I admit, I am…. a worthless pile of rotten apples. And yes, I do deserve some of the things that happened to me. But if anything… I want you to believe that I was unlucky. That I’m not like that. I just need to get out of this hole in my life. I promise…”

“Unlucky? You chose every decision that brought you here. Are those the policeponies I hear, coming to get you?”

“I promise that I’ll do everything I can to help everypony. And I will forever be in your debt. If you could just let go of everything else, every single nasty thing you heard about me, can you find it in your heart to lend me some bits?” Element of Generosity, right?

“Never.” I would have facehoofed if I could. The situation was looking hopeless for me.

“Rarity, if I was somepony like Twilight or Fluttershy, would you forgive me if you heard my side of the story?” I reasoned.

That made Rarity think for a moment. She opened her mouth to retort, but seemed to have lost her words.

“I guess I would,” she finally answered.

“I know I’m not either one of them and you don’t know me as well. Don’t you see that Rainbow Dash helps me, even though no one else will?”

“Well I…”

“And surely Applejack told you of how hard I worked on her farm?”

“Yes, she did but…”

“And Twilight didn’t find me to be a problem before the Ditzy issue, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“So why do you believe that I am such a bad pony? Like I said: I’m. Just. Unlucky.”

The mare seemed to be at a loss for words. My eyes stared intensely into hers, burning with all the cruelty and unfairness I have received. Shuffling around in my chair, I straightened up into a more dignified position.

A long pause passed as Rarity thought quietly to herself. She kept looking at different locations as she pondered about what to do with me. The mare rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe I am saying this, but I suppose you are correct.” My eyes brightened as I heard those words. “And perhaps I was a bit harsh on you. Maybe there is a reason to help you.”

I nodded quickly, my voice locked away as I anxiously awaited for her to continue.

“So, surprisingly enough, I will help you Night Rave.”

“YES!!” I yelled out in glee. “This is absolutely unbelievable! Thank you so much Rarity!”

Bringing her face dangerously close to mine, a new seriousness was on her face. “But if I catch anything like this one more time. Just one more time. Then I will personally be the one to make sure you don’t see a pony ever again.”

I nodded slowly as she backed her head away. Scary Rarity is scary…

“So what now?” I asked.

“Well I suppose I had enough excitement for one night. And I need my beauty sleep. Tomorrow, I will go to the hospital to pay your bill. I expect full compensation for this. And for you?” Rarity took out some scissors and cut the rope that bound me. Finally able to move again, I stretched out my hooves.

“Go to her,” told Rarity.

“Go to her?” I responded.

“Go to her,” she said again.

“I’ll go to her,” I answered, understanding what she meant.

As I headed for the exit, I decided to thank her one more time. “Thank you Rarity. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

Turning an eye towards me, she answered, “What are friends for, Night Rave?”