Disclaimer:I do not own the characters, locations, or really anything even remotely related to the My Little Pony franchise. Nor is this story generating any profit.
A/N:So, for those of you who have been keeping up, or interested in my story, I do want to start by saying thank you for at least showing interest, and I want to apologize for the long gap in updates. Lost internet for a bit. But I'm back, and I'm going to try to continue a somewhat regular update schedule. I cannot promise anything though, between life and the occasional case of writer's block.
Chapter 4:
He still wasn't sure what had gone wrong, exactly. He just knew that he was frozen in place by the rather unsettling image before him. He was scrambling to gather his thoughts, to collect himself so that he could move, escape, do anything really. It was only by luck that he had managed to avoid the architect of this scene for as long as he had.
Meanwhile, the party was in full swing around him. The library was full of ponies. In fact, he got the impression there were simply too many. Something in the back of his mind nagged at him that there was no way this many ponies could possibly fit into one building. And everything seemed just way too loud. Of course, as he'd never been one for parties to begin with, that may just be him.
He had tried to sneak away to the kitchen, but that plan had been cut short when he'd seen Pinkie Pie in there, talking to a yellow-coated pegasus. He'd managed to duck back out of sight before she had turned to look at him. He had the unnerving feeling she was looking for him, and with all the noise going on at the moment, the last thing he wanted to do was talk to the hyper-active pink party pony.
He shuffled over towards one of the many walls lined with bookshelves, only to realize something; his usual strategy of just standing near a wall and blending in wasn't working here. Of course, it didn't help that his color scheme was chosen for him. His gray and black palette stood out noticeably among the far more vibrantly colored ponies. He'd had to keep on the move all night just to avoid awkward conversations.
"Hey! How are you liking the party?" The voice from his left side, elevated to be heard over the din of the party, caught him by surprise, and he jerked his head towards it while his body flinched away. Thankfully it wasn't the high pitched voice of Pinkie, but rather the more mellow tone suggested it belonged to his current caretaker, Miss Twilight Sparkle.
He cleared his throat, and cast a glance around at the party in progress. "I uhh... I don't know... I don't think parties are really my thing..." He said his voice almost lost in the sounds of happy ponies enjoying themselves.
Twilight nodded, and patted his shoulder with one of her forehooves. "Well, I think you should go out there and try to have some fun. Ponyville's full of great ponies. I was actually planning on introducing you to some of my other friends, but last I saw Fluttershy she was talking to Pinkie, and I haven't seen Rainbow Dash all night. I hope she's not napping through it. Anyway, you should get to know some ponies. Make some friends. And you really need to try some of these cupcakes Pinkie made for the party. They're absolutely delicious." So saying, the newest member of Equestrian royalty, grabbed one of the cupcakes with her magic, taking a bite and wandering off into the crowd, probably to find her still missing friend.
After she left, his eyes scanned the room while he debated how best to do none of the things she had mentioned. He had seen this coming, and he had tried to weasel out of it. As soon as Twilight came to pick him up from the hospital she had been acting slightly off. He had expected her to want to rush right home and grill him with questions. Instead, she had offered to show him around Ponyville, and take him to lunch (which would have been better, had meat been an option). It was right about then that his sixth sense started to tingle, informing him that something was up. The way she would occasionally glance at the clock tower on the town hall, the way her pace was a casual stroll until it picked up when she announced they should probably get back to the library. Sure, small things that seemed like a proper welcome to a new place, except there were also small things that didn't seem to add up in almost imperceptible ways. And of course, when they finally got back to the library, there was a surprise party waiting just for him that he really could have done without.
He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that his feet.. er.. hooves, had decided to relocate him, carrying him across the library where he was currently propped against a wall. He just had to wait it out, and eventually everyone would get tired, and go home. It was a tried and true plan that had yet to f-
"There you are!" The sudden loud burst of sound actually caused him to yelp and turn his head trying to find it. And there, standing on his back was Pinkie Pie. He found himself completely at a loss to say anything, mostly because he was unable to fathom how she could have possibly gotten there without his knowledge. Sure he may zone out from time to time, but he was pretty sure he'd have to be in a coma before he failed to notice someone climb onto his back.
"I've been looking for you all night! What do you think of your party?!" The hyper pony asked, hopping down to the ground so they were face to face. "I made it special for you to welcome you to Ponyville! Isn't it just the bestest party ever?! Have you played any games?! Ooh! Or tried the punch?! It's my own special recipe! And the cupcakes! You have to try the cupcakes! And then we can play some games, and I'll introduce to everyone I know..." Her voice seemed to fade into the background noise of the party as his brain realized it's mistake. By not speaking first, by giving her an opportunity to start speaking, he had trapped himself. His eyes, the pupils of which had shrunken to tiny pinpricks were scanning the area in a frenzied search for a way out. He was suddenly very aware why some animals would chew their own leg off just to escape a trap. The cold sweat on the back of his neck was growing more uncomfortable by the second, and while he couldn't exactly differentiate the sound of her voice, he knew it was still going because her lips were moving at a rate that he was fairly certain should not be possible. What was with this pony?!
He was mere seconds away from simply making a mad dash towards the front door and safety, when salvation came in the form of an orange hoof firmly coming to rest over Pinkie's lips. The sudden action shook him out of his anxiety attack, long enough to hear a somewhat familiar drawl. "Why don't ya' jest run along and see ta' tha' other guests Pinkie? He'll still be here ta' talk to later." Pinkie nodded with a muffled sound that he assumed to be affirmation, before she bound away into the crowd, stopping periodically to ask other ponies how they were enjoying themselves.
Applejack, his savior, turned to look at him, tilting her Stetson hat back on her head. "Whoo-whee... Sorry 'bout that Sugarcube. Ah know how Pinkie can be, and when Ah saw ya' over here talkin' to her, lookin' nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full o' rockin' chairs, I figured you could use a hand."
He chuckled a little, offering a grateful nod. "I uhh... Thanks. I know she means well, I just... I don't do well with parties. Lots of people, noise... Always kind of made me anxious." He said. The orange farm pony looked at him in a way that made him feel rather scrutinized, before she tilted her head. "C'mon then. We'll go outside fer' a bit." He nodded his assent and followed her through the front door of the library.
Once outside, he lowered himself to the ground, took a deep breath and turned his gaze to the sky. He was aware that Applejack was standing nearby, leaning against the tree that housed the Golden Oaks library, but he was just content to enjoy the quiet, to take a break from the crushing wave of ponies inside, and have a few precious moments to collect himself.
And of course, like all things he appreciated, it didn't last nearly long enough. The sound of Applejack clearing her throat drew his attention to the orange earth pony and he barely restrained a sigh. "I'm going to guess there's something you want to discuss?"
Applejack at least had the decency to look a bit abashed. "Well, it's jest that we don't know much about ya'. Ya' came outta' nowhere. Ya' say yer' havin' problems with yer' memory. Twilight's a good friend of mine, an' one o' the nicest ponies you could ever hope ta' meet..."
The gray colt lifted one of his forehooves in a placating manner. "I think I get where you're going with this. I'm not going to do anything to your friend. I promise... Though, I'm not sure you can hold me responsible if she works herself into a frenzy."
Applejack looked at the colt with serious scrutiny for a bit. "Alrigh', Ah believe ya'. And don' even joke 'bout that... No one wants ta' see another Smarty-Pants episode." At that, the orange mare shuddered, and before he could ask what exactly this episode was, she had vanished back inside, where a sea of ponies awaited. Needless to say, he wasn't that curious.
The party had died down a bit later, much to his delight. He had stayed outside for quite a bit of it. He just preferred the quiet serenity of the approaching night over the far too noisy and crowded confines of the library at the moment. The more he thought on the very concept of this party taking place in a library, the more wrong it sounded. Granted, he still had to deal with a handful of ponies, but in smaller groups it was something he could manage. And he had to say that many of them were fairly pleasant. Like Ditzy, the blonde-haired mail-pony. Granted she did almost crash into him, but he supposed trying to fly with crossed eyes would do that. Still, her bubbly personality and optimism made it really hard to get mad at her, let alone stay mad. They didn't talk long, as she said she had to meet up with the doctor for some reason even she wasn't too sure of.
Lyra and Bon-Bon were two more he had met. Lyra was apparently a musician by trade, and Bon-Bon made sweets. Neither of these came as any surprise to him after the introduction. And talking to them was very yin and yang. Bon-Bon was rather laid back, quick with a joke and some easy conversation. Lyra was a bit more passionate, able to shift into high gear anytime a subject was brought up that she had strong feelings about. Among these was music, the pain of losing one's delicious slice of pie, and in a twist far more shocking than that of their occupations, the topic of hands. He had no clue how that topic even came up, but when it did, Lyra was all over it, talking about how they would work, and how they could be implemented to play her instrument without the use of magic. At some point, the conversation just got to be too surreal for the colt to follow anymore, and seeing them walk home side by side marked the ending to perhaps the single strangest non-Pinkie Pie-related moment of his night.
The meeting of Applejack's older brother however was a lot more to his liking. The massive red pony came outside, standing next to him, watching the sky, and chewing on a piece of wheat. "Yer the new colt?"
The gray mystery colt scrambled to his feet, slightly intimidated by the size of the red farm pony. "Yep."
Big Mac nodded. "Nice ta' meet ya'. Name's Big Macintosh. Applejack's brother." He said, offering one of his massive hooves for a hoofshake. The gray colt obliged.
"Nice to meet you. I'll let you know if I remember my name." He said simply. Big Mac nodded and went back to watching the sky. So did the new colt.
And shortly after, that moment of relative peace and quiet was shattered by Pinkie Pie bounding through the library doors, being followed by Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, the yellow pegasus he had seen her talking with in the kitchen, and another pegasus with a cyan coat and poly-chromatic mane. "See?! I told you we could find him! Man, I wasn't expecting him to play hide and seek at a party. It's not really a traditional party game. But hiding outside?! Is that even allowed?!" The colt actually felt like he could have wept at that moment. His eyes looked to the other mares that had followed Pinkie out. Twilight and Rarity both wore smiles, Applejack actually looked like she was trying to give him an unspoken apology, the cyan pegasus was giving him an appraising look, and the yellow one... Well, he couldn't tell. Most of her face was hidden behind her vibrant pink mane.
"Hello Pinkie... Yes, you found me. I never was very good at hiding I'm afraid." He started. Just because he was put off by her loud and boisterous attitude didn't mean he had to be a dick about it. Still though, as his mostly deadpan tone implied, he didn't feel obligated to be happy about it either.
"I know, silly! You didn't even try to hide in a bush, or a hay bale, or as part of a migrating balloon herd, or anything!" He almost wanted to comment on what she meant by a migrating balloon herd, but decided that if the rest of her friends could roll with it, he could at least not bring up how bizarre it sounded to him. "Anyway, I'm glad we found you! Twilight and I were going to introduce you to our friends!"
Twilight cut in at this point, though she looked a bit embarrassed. "We were, though it did occur to me after the fact that you have already met most of them. But since Rainbow finally decided to show up..." She said, causing the cyan pegasus to suddenly find the ground very interesting, as that's where her gaze shifted. He also thought he heard her mumble something about 'Daring Do' and an escape, but he couldn't be sure. "We figured you should meet the rest of our friends. This is Rainbow Dash." She said with a nod to the rainbow-maned mare, who wasted no time flapping her wings to hover a few feet above the ground.
"You probably already know about me! Fastest flier in all Equestria!" She said with a smug grin, which deflated slightly as she took in the blank, and decidedly unimpressed, look on his face. "C'mon, surely you've heard about my awesome exploits?! My daring adventures?! My..."
The gray colt raised a forehoof to the side of his head, tapping it lightly. "Memory." He said simply, which brought Rainbow Dash up short with a confused look. Applejack took over from there. "RD, the colt cain't even remember his own name..."
"Well, then I guess I'm just gonna' have to remind him why I'm the awesomest pony ever!" Applejack facehoofed, and the colt sighed slightly, wishing he had fingers again to pinch the bridge of his nose. Wait, did he even technically have a bridge of the nose anymore?
His thoughts were cut short by Twilight speaking again. "And this is Fluttershy." She said, gesturing to the yellow pegasus who, unlike her light-blue friend, seemed to try to shrink back away from him. She said something that may have been a greeting maybe, or possibly just a trick of the wind. It was hard to tell. He just smiled and gave a nod. "Well, it is nice to meet you both. And thank you for the party, Pinkie. It was certainly... something I'll never forget." 'No matter how hard I try.' "But I'm kind of feeling worn out. Miss Sparkle, if it's not too much trouble, could you show me where I'll be sleeping tonight?"
Twilight nodded. "Sure. And Twilight's fine. Miss Sparkle makes me sound old." She then said goodbye to her friends, and turned to lead him up the stairs to the newly cleaned guest room. Though on the way, he had to pause for a moment, as he noticed a purple reptile of some sort putting a collection of cleaning supplies into a closet. He was still putting off his freakout moment for being in a land full of talking ponies, and now there was this.
"Spike! Oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot to introduce you to Spike!" The sound of Twilight's voice edged his confusion to one side where it could probably develop into a full blown psychosis at a later date. But it wasn't quite enough to completely shake him from his thoughts. The purple reptile, hearing his name, smiled and trotted over. "Hey there! Name's Spike! I'm a dragon, and number one royal assistant to Princess Twilight Sparkle!" He said, offering a claw for the gray colt to shake. Which he did.
"Nice to meet you Spike, I am super confused right now. So, I think I'm going to go to bed and try to sort this out." He said plainly, earning a quizzical look from the baby-dragon, and a slightly more concerned one from Twilight. "Oh gosh! I'm sorry! I didn't even think that you probably haven't seen a dragon before!"
He shook his head, something about her words nagging at him for a reason he wasn't entirely sure of. "No, it's okay. This has just been a trying day, and I'm a bit overtaxed." He said, offering a smile that he hoped was equal parts weariness and understanding, and not teetering on the border of maniacally deranged, like he kind of worried it might be.
Twilight nodded with a small smile of her own. "Of course. Your room's this way." She said, once again taking the lead and resuming the trip to the guest room on the second floor. He had gotten used to walking on four legs easily enough, though as he was finding out stairs may prove to be another issue altogether. He took them slowly and still almost tumbled down them twice. But shortly after his near-tumbles on the stairs, he reached the guest room, and after this day he was only too glad to crawl under the covers and drift off to sleep.
Meanwhile, somewhere far away, a man named Nathan Klein was knocking on the door to an apartment. His friend was known to fall off the radar for up to a month at a time, and for the most part nobody thought too much about it. But Nathan was worried. Because there were a few things that his friend never did. And first among those was miss a game night without informing anyone. Like he did last Wednesday. To make matters worse he wasn't answering his cell or responding to any of his texts.
He sighed and knocked again. "C'mon man... Open the door..." He muttered, looking at his watch. It was half past seven. Another sign something was wrong. Seven o'clock on a Friday. He was always home then because his favorite show was on. If nothing else, there should have been an annoyed shout for interrupting his TV time. Instead, there was only silence.
Nathan knocked sharply once more on the door. "William! C'mon man! This isn't funny! Answer the door!" But even as he called out, he knew. He knew that something had happened to his friend.
