A/N: Here is, technically, my third story. Both of my previous stories had really shitty beginnings. One, the first line was terrible. The other one was the main character describing himself, his situation, and some of his background. So this time, I am just going to go with the clunky and awkward characters-give-you-descriptions-and-it-feels-awkward-and-unnatural way. Like, in a Tv show in the pilot episode, siblings walk up to each other and say 'hey brother' or 'hey sister' and then they don't refer to each other in that manner ever again. I am posting this chapter because I don't want to forget the idea, and I don't want to lose interest in it as I am writing my fourth story (which was going to be, originally, my third), and I am posting it so it doesn't gather digital dust on my desktop. Here is 'A new place, New friends'. This takes place in the same world as 'A new start'. You won't have to have read it to know what is going on, it will just explain minor things. It takes place about six months after the epilogue. I had a few problems in 'A new start' with the calender so I am going to keep a strict timeline. You will most likely always know what day it is, unless I screw up the math (which is a very real possibility, I don't do well with calenders).
Sunday (August 1st)
Right now, I was on my way to my best friend, Rain swirler's house. He wanted to talk to me before I left to go to Ponyville. I was going there to find myself a job since being an Earth pony in the big city was not going well for me. I had to keep finding jobs, not being able to do much besides move things around with my strength, and because none of them lasted very long. It was very tiring.
I soon made it to Rain's apartment complex and started climbing the front steps. At the top, I hit the buzzer to his apartment.
"Hello?" I heard his voice come through.
"Rain, it is Light weight." I answered him.
"Oh, Lightweight. Come on up, I'll buzz you in." He said. I heard the buzzer make the noise and knew the door was open for me.
I opened it and started climbing the stairs, my weight making them creak as I walked up them. I made my way to the third floor and knocked on Rain's door.
"When I buzz you in, you don't have to knock, Light." He called to me.
I opened his door and slipped through the doorway, having to duck my head. I closed the door behind me and went over to him. "I am sorry. I just think it is rude." I told him.
When I was right next to him like this, he had to look up like he was looking at the sky. I was a lot taller than him. He would barely come up to my elbow when he was standing straight. It did not help he was short for a stallion.
"You don't have to apologize my dim friend. What you do is what you do." He waved his hand at the couch.
I went over to it and sat down, the springs creaking in the old thing. I did not know why he wanted me to sit here. He did not like it when I did.
"Now Light, we both know you are going to Ponyville tomorrow. I wanted to talk to you about that. You see, my sister lives there and I worry about her a lot. She writes me letters about all the animals she takes care of, but she has also mentioned that she lives near the Everfree forest. A very dangerous forest from what she has told me. I rarely have the time to check up on her, let alone protect her. Since you were going there, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind watching out for her for me?" He wanted me to take care of his sister? I was very shocked. He did not ask me to ever help him with things.
"I will try my best, Rain. For a friend like you, I would do anything." If my best friend wanted me to protect his sister, then I will protect his sister. It is the least I could do.
"Thank you, Light. I'm glad I can count on you. She looks a lot like me. About the same height, if not a little shorter, long pink hair, and yellow skin like I have. Her name is Fluttershy..."
Monday
And that was how I found myself making my way outside of the train, going to the edge of town to look for Fluttershy's house. Rain had said it looked like a hill with a few windows and a door. He said it would probably have a lot of animals near it. It was around mid-afternoon. I checked to make sure I still had my locket, and moved on. But before I could get to the edge, a pink pony came out of no where.
"Hello stranger!" She said.
I liked her, she seemed nice. "Hello." I said back, with a little wave.
"Wow, you are tall! I can barely get my finger to the top of your head. You might be taller than even Big Mac. You're also really green. Dark green hair, light green skin. Even your shirt is green." She said very fast.
"I like it." I told her, happy somepony else seemed to like the color green as much as I did.
"Will you do me a favor?" She asked. I nodded my head, wanting to help my new friend. "Come to Sugarcube corner sometime tonight."
"I will try. I also need a favor." I did not know where Fluttershy's cottage was, and asking this pink pony would help me, I hoped.
She stared at me. I took that as a yes. "Can you tell me where Fluttershy lives?" She seemed to get very happy.
"Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh! I know exactly where Fluttershy lives! Follow me." She turned around and started galloping through the street. I tried to hurry up after her, but she was really fast.
I soon started to lose her. "Pink pony!" I called out to her. I did not hear her call back.
"I lost her." I said sadly. I hoped she did not think I pulled a prank on her.
"Yes?" I heard her ask behind me. I turned around to look at her. "I am sorry, you gallop really fast and I can not keep up."
"That's alright. I actually have some things to do, now that I think about it. Just follow this road and then turn left at the next fork in the road. That should take you right to Fluttershy's house. Alright?" She finished giving me the directions.
"Yes, thank you so much for your help. By the way, what is your name?" I wanted to know the name of the mare who had helped me so much.
"My name is Pinkie pie. What is your's?" She asked right back. "Light Weight." I answered. "Nice to meet you Light weight, don't forget about tonight."
"I will not..." I started before she galloped off, back into town. "I like her." I said to myself.
I followed Pinkie Pie's directions and saw what looked like the house Rain had described. I walked up to the door and knocked. The house seemed pretty small, so I did not know if I would fit into it.
"I'm coming. One second please." I heard somepony say behind the door. It sounded really quiet. Like she was whispering.
I took a step backwards since I did not think she could see my face when I was next to the door.
Soon, I heard a little creak and an eye was in the peephole. I thought I heard an eep on the other side.
I heard the door open and I saw a face in the crack.
"Uh...He...hell..hello?" She said, stuttering.
"Hello. My name is Light weight. Your brother wanted me to check on you when I got here. Did he say anything to you about me?" Her face seemed to be shaking. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I...I am alright... thank you. My brother did mention you in his last letter. Would you like to come in?" She asked as she opened the door some more.
I could see her whole body shaking. Was she afraid of me? Rain did not mention this.
"I do not think you want me in your home." I told her. I did not want to scare her anymore. It made me feel very bad. I turned around to leave her in peace.
"No wait." She sounded like she had spoken like a normal pony then.
I turned back to look at her. "Do you need me to do something?" I asked her.
"No... but I shouldn't turn you away. My brother sent you to check up on me. If he likes you and trusts you, I should too." She opened the door all the way. I had to duck my whole head and shoulders to get through, but the inside of the house was very roomy. I could stand up straight and not look down.
She looked like she wanted to run away. I do not think she liked me in her house. I probably looked scary to her, being very tall and, as Rain described me, bulky. She was shorter than Rain was, also barely coming up to my elbow.
"I do not want to scare you Fluttershy. It makes me feel bad. I should leave." I did not want to sound as sad as I did. I started walking to the door. Before I got there, I felt a hand on mine.
"Please don't...go..." She tried to say something, but feinted.
"Oh Celestia!" I dropped my bags and picked her up.
"What do I do?!" I asked myself. I did not like this feeling in my stomach that I was having right now. It made me scared and want to hurry and try to do what I was trying to do.
I looked outside for anypony to help me. I did not know where the hospital was in Ponyville. I took her upstairs. I started opening doors to find her room. The third door I tried, had a bed in it. I went inside and put her on it.
"What do I do? What do I do?" I asked myself again. The feeling was getting worse and worse.
"Hello! Fluttershy!" I heard somepony downstairs. "Help!" I said as loud as I could.
I could hear their hooves on the stairs as they hurried up here. A rainbow maned mare came through the door a second later. "Help me! I do not know what to do!" I begged them as I pointed to Fluttershy. I could feel tears running down my face and the feeling in my stomach was making me sick.
"What did you do to her?!" She yelled at me.
"I do not know!" I told her.
"What happened Rainbow Dash?!" I heard another mare call from downstairs. Their voice was really weird, it sounded very different.
"Somepony is up here, Rarity!" The Rainbow mare called down. I heard the other mare come up the stairs. She flew into the room and right past me to Fluttershy. "What happened?" She asked me.
"I.. I was leaving and-and-and-" I tried to get out. "Calm down, everything will be fine." She said. "And she grabbed my arm, and then she just fell! I do not know what to do!" My knees buckled and I landed on the floor with a loud bang. "I am sorry. I did not mean to do this. I failed Rain." I said as tears poured down my face.
"It's alright stallion. She just feinted. She will be fine in a couple of minutes." The white one told me.
"No, she was scared of me. I should not have let her invite me in. She did not want me here. I could see it on her face." I told her.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Look at me." I heard the white one say. I did not want to. I felt her hand on my chin. She pulled my head so I looked at her. She had a smile on her face. "Fluttershy will be alright, darling. She just feinted from shock. You didn't do anything to harm her." She said to me.
"Are you sure?" She nodded her head. "Definitely." I wiped away the tears, starting to calm down. I slowly stood back up. "I should leave. You are her friends?"
"We are." The rainbow maned one said. "Can you tell her I am sorry. I will stay away from her." I told them.
"Why were you here in the first place?" The rainbow maned one asked.
"Her brother asked me to check on her." I said.
"You're Light Weight?" The white one asked. I nodded.
"My, you certainly are a big stallion." She pointed out. "Yes, I am. It scares ponies." I looked down, ashamed of my size.
"Oh darling, it's nothing to feel bad about. I bet Big Macintosh would love to have some help plowing the fields and Applejack bucking the apples. Do you have a job yet?" The white one tried to comfort me. She placed a hand on my shoulder.
"No, I do not. I came to Ponyville to find a job. Hoofington does not have any use for a pony like me." I explained to her.
"Well then it's a good thing you came here. Many ponies around Ponyville could use your strength to help them. I for one, need help moving some things up from my basement to the second floor."
"Are you sure you want my help?" I asked her. I did not do well with fragile things. I was always scared I would drop them, and then I would by accident. It happened almost everytime.
"Of course, darling. A big, strong stallion like you helping me. It should only take an hour. Do you have a place to go for the meantime?" She was staring at me. It made me feel wierd.
"Rarity? Is that you?" We heard a quiet voice come from the bed.
"Oh Fluttershy, you're awake. We are so happy to see you've recovered." Rarity might as well screamed.
When she looked at me she seemed like she wanted to feint again. It made me sad that she was very scared of me. I started walking towards the door.
"Wait." I heard Fluttershy say. I did not listen to her. I could see she was very afraid of me.
"She said wait, Light Weight." The rainbow maned pegasus said.
"I know." I told her. "She is very scared of me. I do not want her to be like this in her own home. It is rude of me." I continued out the door. I walked down the hallway and down the steps. I was at the door when I felt a hand on my arm.
I looked behind me to see Fluttershy and the other two mares. "I should leave." I repeated myself. Why would they not let me leave?
"No, Light Weight. I want you to stay." Fluttershy said.
"Why?" I was very confused.
"Because she is like this with everypony when she first meets them." The rainbow maned mare said.
"I want to get to know you, Light. You seem like a very nice stallion. I also want to know how I got to the guest bedroom when my room was closer to the stairs." Fluttershy led me to the couch and sat me down. The white mare sat down next to me. The rainbow maned mare sat in the chair. Fluttershy went into the kitchen.
"What is she doing?" I asked them.
"Probably making us tea." The rainbow maned mare answered.
"I am sorry. I do not know your names." I noticed.
"My name is Rarity. My friend over here is Rainbow Dash." Rarity explained.
"Fastest flier in Equestria." She said with a smile.
"You're the fastest flier in Equestria?!" I couldn't believe it! How was I lucky enough to meet the fastest flier in Equestria.
"Wanna see some of my moves some time?" She asked me.
"I think that would be amazing!" I told her. I realized I was leaning forward in the seat and leaned back on the couch.
"I am a fashionista." Rarity said. She sounded very proud of what she did, just like Rainbow Dash.
"What is a fashionista?" I asked her. She seemed to pop like a ball after I said that. Rainbow Dash looked like she was turning purple from laughter.
"I make fashionable garments for the elite of the elite!" She said, with some of her pride still left.
"Fashionable garments?" I asked her. I could not follow what she was saying. She did not seem to want to talk anymore. Rainbow Dash settled down a few minutes later.
"By fashionable garments, she means fancy clothes for snobby ponies." She told me.
Rarity gave her a look. "Why did you not say that in the first place?" I asked her.
"Let's just drop the subject." She said with a wave of her hand. "Alright."
Fluttershy came in with a tray with some cups and a pitcher with a bag in it.
"Why is there a bag in that pitcher?" I asked her.
"It's for the tea. Without it, it would just be hot water." She explained.
She poured three cups then sat down in the other chair. "Why only three?"
"Because Rainbow Dash hates tea." Rarity said. She sounded angry with Rainbow Dash.
Rarity and Fluttershy picked up their cups and started drinking. "Aren't you going to drink any, Light?" Rarity asked. "I will try it. I have never had tea before."
I grabbed the cup, which felt really, really tiny in my hands, and tried to drink from it. I was only able to get two sips before it was almost gone.
"Tea is delicious!" I told them. I wanted more.
"May I have some more?" I asked Fluttershy. "Of course you can, Light."
I leaned forward to grab the pitcher. Picking it up, I moved it over my cup. I started pouring but it went in too fast. It spilled over really fast. The feeling in my stomach came back and I accidentally dropped the pitcher. I stood up to try and clean it up, but Fluttershy had moved the table closer and I could not move forward. I took one step and I fell forwards, crushing the table and all that was on it.
"Oh Celestia! Light are you okay?" I heard Fluttershy ask. I could also hear Rainbow Dash laughing and Rarity mumbling 'Oh dear'.
"I am alright, Fluttershy." I tried getting back up but I could feel pieces of the cups and pitcher underneath me. I slowly stood up but felt something hurting my leg.
Before I could look down, I heard the girls gasp. I looked down to see a large piece of glass sticking in my leg.
"Oh my Celesta! Light, we have to get that out of your leg. Sit down on the couch." Fluttershy told me. I had never heard speak like this until now.
I could feel the blood pouring into my pants. "I do not want to get blood on your nice couch, Fluttershy."
"Where did you get this stallion Fluttershy? He is amazing!" Rainbow said, holding back a laugh.
"Light, sit on the couch." Fluttershy demanded. She was scaring me now. I slowly sat back down on the couch.
Rarity used her magic to pick up all the shards of glass and table and put them outside in a bin. While she was doing that, Fluttershy was looking for a first aid.
She came back and started working on my leg. She slowly slid the piece of glass out. It hurt a lot but I did not cry. She cleaned it with some stuff that really hurt and then put bandages on it.
"So you don't even shed a tear when you have a shard of glass in you, and get it patched up. But you bawl like a foal when you thought you hurt Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked me.
"You cried when I feinted?" Fluttershy asked as she was finishing with the bandage.
"You should have seen him, Fluttershy. He was bawling his eyes out and panicking like he had just robbed the royal palace and the guards were at his door." She explained.
"All that over me?" She asked. She seemed to be very surprised.
"Of course. You are special to Rain. That makes you special to me." I told her. She looked at me with a smile but Rainbow made a puking sound.
"What is wrong Rainbow? Are you sick?" I asked, concerned for her.
"Just ignore her, Light." Rarity said as she sat down. "Why? She is sick." I asked her. Did she not care for her friend.
"It was a joke, Light. I am fine." She said. "You should not joke about being sick. It is a very serious thing." I told her. She just stared at me.
"Is he for real right now?" She asked Fluttershy.
"Rain did mention that Light was a little...different, from an average pony." She said. What did she mean by that? How was I different?
"Different-" I started, but Rarity started talking.
"That doesn't matter to me. I like him all the same." She wrapped her arms around mine.
"Why are you doing that?" I asked her. It felt wierd. She did not answer me and let go. I decided to forget about it.
"So Light, where are you staying tonight?" Fluttershy asked me after we all got comfortable again.
"I was going to stay at a hotel. Could you tell me where the nearest one is?" I asked her. I had not seen one yet.
"I'm sorry, Light. Ponyville isn't a place where ponies like to visit. Most of them have family or friends to stay with, so we don't have anything like a hotel." She explained to me.
"Oh." I said sadly. "I guess I will just have to find a place to sleep outside. I am glad I brought my sleeping bag with me. I just hope I find somewhere to stay before the rest of my things arrive next week. Do you have an apartment in Ponyville I could rent out?" I asked them.
"Sorry, we don't really have anything like that here. Apartments, hotels, inns, all of that stuff would never make it here. We only had one Inn, but that went out of business sometime last year." Fluttershy said.
"What am I going to do?" I asked myself. I put my head in my hands, I had not thought this through at all. I would have to move back to hoofington and stay with my sister until I earned enough extra bits to buy a house here, which would never happen with the jobs I got.
"You... c-could..stay with m-me." I heard Fluttershy whisper. I noticed this was the first time I heard her stutter in a while.
"I would not want to be a burden. I do not even have a job, and you seem to do just fine by yourself." I told her. To be truthful, I did not believe it was my place to stay with my best friend's sister.
"You wouldn't be a burden. You could help me around the house. I have a lot of chores I have to do every day and some of the things I have to carry are really heavy." She said, trying to get me to stay.
"I still do not think it is a good idea." I said, my head still in my hands.
I felt her place a hand on my shoulder. "It's fine, Light. You and I can go look for a job for you to do, tomorrow. Stay at least one night, please." I looked up at her and saw a smile on her face.
"Okay, one night." I told her. "I still have to pay you back for destroying your table and cups and pitcher." I said, remembering the fall. I could not leave yet, not with a debt.
"That's fine, you don't have to worry about-" She started. I stood up. "No. I will pay you back. I will not leave until that debt is repaid in full." I told her. She smiled at this. "Alright, if you say so." She said it weird, like she was mocking me. I did not think she would do that, so I decided to forget it.
I looked out the window and saw the sun setting. "Fluttershy, I like to go to bed when the sun goes down. Is it alright if you show me to your guest bedroom?" I asked her. I did not like staying up when the moon was out. It made me feel uncomfortable.
"You go to bed this early? What are you a foal?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Rainbow dash!" Rarity yelled at her.
"What, I was just asking a question." She said, with her arms out like a bird.
"The moon makes me uncomfortable." I told her.
"Why?" She asked.
"I do not know." I told her. It always did.
"Sure, Light. Follow me." Fluttershy said. I went over and picked up my two duffel bags with my bare essentials and extra pairs of clothes. I felt like I had forgotten something. I checked for my locket, which was still there under my shirt. I could not put my finger on it, but something was wrong.
Fluttershy led me up the stairs and to the room where I had taken her to. I set my stuff down by the bed and took my shirt off, ready to head to bed after a long day.
"What are you doing?" Fluttershy asked. She sounded worried.
I turned toward her after I pulled my shirt off. "I am getting ready for bed." I answered.
"Oh." Her face turned red.
"Fluttershy, are you getting a fever? Your face is turning red." I walked up to her and put my hand on her head. "I do not feel anything. That is weird." I took my hand off of her forehead.
"I'm fine Light, thank you. I will see you in the morning." She was about to turn around and leave but she saw something.
"Is that a locket?" She asked, pointing to my locket.
"Yes. It was my mother's. When I moved out, she gave it to me to remember her by. I keep it on all the time. Unless I am in the shower." I explained.
"It's beautiful. May I?" She asked. I nodded. It was beautiful. It was a silver oval with my mother's cutiemark engraved on it, a rose with a sun inside of the bud. It always reminded me of my mother. Even when I could not see her face in my memories.
She let go after looking at it for a long time. "Goodnight, Light." She said. "Good night, Fluttershy." I called after her. I turned around and took off my pants as well. I climbed under the covers for a long night of peaceful sleep. I would get my life here started tomorrow.
A/N: In 'A new start' I made a joke about the body styles of the mares. The base, and average, is a C-cup (sexist but I don't really care. It holds more importance in 'A new start' anyways. All of this does) and all three races of pony's mares had a different attribute that was enhanced by the growing magic of their race. For Earth ponies, it was the butt (farmwork, plowing, kicking, can all be made easier with a bigger stronger butt(if you don't think that, then you don't know jackshit about human anatomy)). For Pegasus, it was a sleaker body (more aerodynamic). And for unicorns, it was breasts (it was all that was left. I didn't feel like making them look like brain from pinky and the brain). The larger they were, the better they were at their races magical attribute ie. strength, magic, or flying. For reference, (cause some people are wierd that way) let's make Fluttershy a D, Rarity a D, and Dash a B (I also just really like pushing feminazi buttons (nothing against equality)). Again, all for reference. I am writing Light Weight a certain way (most of you have probably already noticed) and the narrative is in his perspective, so the descriptions will be, 99% of the time, the way he see's something. The way I have made him, doesn't allow me to use my full vocabulary so sorry if there isn't much detail in the describing details. Personally, I don't know anyone just like Light Weight (I know people like him, just not equal to him) so I don't know exactly what goes on in someone's head when they are like him; but I do have a general idea, so I will stick with that. Unlike my other two stories, there is no greater goal. This is a romance story, so expect something along the lines of that. Keeping that in mind, I have no idea how long this could, or should, be. It could be 50 chapters, or it could be 10. I don't know. Just stick with me. I don't know whether or not I will continue with this story right away or if I will delve into my fourth story after I am done with the first arc of my first (which will be within the next two or three chapters). I was only halfway through the first arc when I posted the first chapter for my second story, and I just started writing that and finished it a few weeks ago. So, it could go either way. I need to end this. See ya on the flip side.