- ~Chapter 4~ -

The Search

We trotted at an even pace down the road. By now, I could walk pretty well with my new hooves. I stumbled only occasionally, and I was finally getting used to walking on four legs.

Walking down the street, we kept our eyes peeled for Cory. The sun was low in the sky, causing the surrounding hills to cast long shadows on the town. Flecks of red and orange lit the horizon, and the moon could be seen rising in the other direction.

A few ponies were walking around the town, happily going about their own business. Occasionally, when a group spotted me, they would stop and whisper quietly amongst themselves, casting quick, wary glances at me.

"Are the ponies around here always this suspicious of new arrivals?" I asked, a few minutes after we had started out.

"Not usually," replied Twilight. "It's probably because you're an alicorn."

"Isn't that normal?" I asked, puzzled. Cory hadn't mentioned anything about an alicorn being unnatural.

Twilight glanced at me. "Usually, the only alicorns in Equestria are princesses."

I halted in my tracks. "Then how could I be an alicorn? I don't know how I could have royal blood or anything, considering where I'm fro-" I froze in the middle of my sentence. Letting my gaze drop to the ground, I felt my skin prickle with the secret that I carried of my true identity.

I could feel Twilight's gaze on me, questions burning in her mind. But instead of speaking, she turned away, resuming her walk. I followed.

Twilight seemed like a trustworthy pony, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her everything. I would wait until we found Cory; he would know what to do. After all, he'd obviously been here before.

Guilt gnawed at my conscience as we approached the hill where I'd had my unfortunate accident. If I hadn't been so stupid, neither Cory nor I would be in this mess.

Oh, Cory, I thought. Please let us find you soon.

However, as we walked up the hill, a sinking feeling told me what I had already suspected. We reached the top of the hill to find no sign of Cory. Shame washed over me once again. I padded back down the hill, Twilight walking behind me. As if sensing my despair, she spoke up, "Don't worry, we'll find him. I know somepony who has probably seen him."

I glanced gratefully at the unicorn, feeling a little better.

As we trotted back into Ponyville, I glanced up at the sun. It was now almost completely hidden behind the hills on the horizon, glowing red and casting its light on the surrounding land and sky. We didn't have much time to continue our search for Cory; however, I wasn't ready to give up yet.

We soon arrived at a very… Different-looking house. It practically looked like a gingerbread house, with its pastel-yellow walls, bright pink windows, brown "frosting" roof with white edges, and a small tower in the middle with a pink roof. It had wide, magenta steps leading up to the pink, pony-sized door.

Twilight walked right up to the door and knocked with her hoof. I glanced at a nearby flowerbed, looking up as the door opened to reveal an aqua-blue pony. The front of her pink mane was sticking up in a frosting-like manner. She wore a yellow apron-like vest with pink ruffles on the sides, as well as a pair of pink pearl earrings. She had three cupcakes on her flank. "Hello, Mrs. Cake," said Twilight. The aqua pony greeted her gleefully. "What a pleasant surprise! Please, come in," she said, backing up to give us space to walk through the door. A look of surprise flashed across her face when she noticed me walk in behind Twilight.

"Oh! I didn't know we had a new pony in town. Welcome to Ponyville!" she said, warmth in her voice.

"Thanks," I replied. By now, I was pretty much used to the fact that ponies could talk in this world. Although, I wasn't exactly sure that any of this was even real in the first place; it seemed real enough, so I just went with it. Even if it wasn't real, then it wouldn't make a difference when I woke up, assuming I was dreaming.

"Now," said Mrs. Cake. "What can I do for you?"

"As a matter of fact, we've come to see Pinkie Pie," Twilight replied. "My friend Ashley arrived here with somepony else, but got separated from him." She said, gesturing towards me. "We wanted to know if Pinkie had seen him anywhere."

"Well, I-"

"Did I hear someone speak my name?" A voice called, interrupting what Mrs. Cake had begun to say. Suddenly, a face popped out from the top of a staircase in the back of the room. It was a pink pony – no doubt the Pinkie Pie to which Twilight had referred. Her coat was a light pink, while her big, poofy mane and tail were a darker pink. Her eyes were a sky blue, and on her flank you could see the image of three balloons.

The instant she saw me, she let out an excited gasp of astonishment. Twilight leaned over towards me. "Brace yourself," she said.

I wasn't too sure what that meant, but I took it to heart the instant that Pinkie Pie had scrambled as fast as she could down the stairs to stand right in front of me. "Hi! You must be new here! My name is Pinkie Pie, though you probably already knew that since you were looking for me. Wow! Somepony new in town, and they've already heard about me! That's so cool!" She paused for a breath. "What's your name?"

I glanced at Twilight, who smiled somewhat sheepishly. I turned back to Pinkie. "My name is Ashley," I said, bracing myself for another stream of replies.

"Wow, that's such a nice name! I think I had a cousin once who was named Ashley. Or was it Ashton? Anthony?"

Twilight cleared her throat. "Sorry," mumbled Pinkie. However, she didn't look that sorry.

When she was satisfied that Pinkie had stopped talking, Twilight explained, "We're looking for Ashley's friend, Cory. They were separated when they first arrived in Ponyville, and we were wondering if you've seen him."

"Oh, I did see somepony walk by Sugarcube Corner not long ago. I didn't get to say hi to him, though," she added, a little downcast.

Hope flickered in my chest. "Was he silvery-blue?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

I sighed with relief. "That's him," I said. "Which way was he going?"

"He was actually heading back towards the library," replied Pinkie.

"Oh, great. So we came all this way for nothing?" I asked, groaning inwardly.

"I'm afraid so," said Twilight. "I guess we'll just have to head back, then." "Thanks for your help, Pinkie," I added as we walked out the door.

"Goodbye!" Pinkie Pie and Mrs. Cake said unison. "Thanks for coming!" Pinkie called after us just before the door swung closed, shutting behind us.

"Well, that was a waste of time," I said. Twilight looked at me. "At least we know that your friend is safe." "Yeah, I guess it wasn't a total waste of time" I replied.

We walked back down the road towards the library. By now, the sky was a dark purplish-blue color. The sun was completely set, and dozens of stars could be seen twinkling in the sky.

We walked in silence until we finally arrived back at the library. Just as we were about to open the door, it swung open to reveal Spike.

"Oh, Twilight, you're back!" He exclaimed. "I was just about to come get you. Silver Moon showed up at the doorstep, asking for you. I let him in, but you didn't show up for a while, so I thought I would have to go and look for you."

Just then, Cory came up from behind Spike. When he saw me, a look of joy and relief flashed across his face, followed by a rather forced stern look. I laughed nervously, stepping into the library. "Hey."

Cory sighed, his stern look vanishing. "I thought I told you not to try to fly before you were ready," He said, trying to sound upset at me. Twilight looked at each of us, confused. "Wait, this is Cory?" She asked.

"Yeah," I said, puzzled by her reaction.

"We know him as Silver Moon."

I was now even more confused. "Since when did you two know eachother?" I asked Cory, somewhat accusingly.

"Whoa, calm down there. I've been here before, remember?" He replied.

I shrugged. "Whatever. I'm just glad I found you,"

Spike parted his jaws in a huge yawn. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to go hit the hay," he said sleepily.

"I think we've had enough exciting events for the day," Twilight agreed. She turned to us, "You two can probably sleep down here. I'll go get some sleeping bags."

I muttered by thanks, plopping down on the floor. I watched Twilight climb up the staircase until Silver Moon walked over and sat down next to me. "So, how do you like Equestria so far?" He asked. "Well, it's been interesting enough," I replied, grinning slightly. Silver smiled back. "I thought you might say that," he said.

Just then, Twilight came back with the sleeping bags, levitating them with a pink glow that I now realized was her 'magic'. She is a unicorn, after all, I thought to myself. She set them down in front of me and Silver. "Thanks, Twilight," I said gratefully. "It's no problem at all," she replied, smiling. However, another moment, and she was yawning sleepily. "Well, goodnight," she said, turning back towards the staircase. "G'night," I murmured.

Rolling out my sleeping bag next to a wooden statue of a horse's head, I glanced around the room. The walls were lined with bookshelves containing hundreds of books of all colors and sizes. This was definitely the town's library. I wonder why Twilight lives here, I thought.

However, I soon found myself yawning. Climbing into my sleeping bag, I murmured, "Goodnight, Silver."

"Goodnight, Ash," he breathed in reply.

I soon felt the soft tug of sleep, and felt myself drift into a comforting, deep rest.