4
(4)
Zack awoke calmly in place. His body now facing the basement wall, away from Pinkie and towards some barrels labeled: flour, salt, and vanilla. He sat up and clasped the back of his neck with his hand, his neck had an awful kink in it from sleeping on the cold, hard basement floor. It was still pretty dark and damp in the storage room under Carrot’s house, only a small sliver of sunlight lit the corner of the room through a crack in the building. Zack found out he had begun to grow a little stubble around his neck and chin as he rubbed his mouth and yawned. He felt a bit colder than last night, from that thought he realized his shirt was missing. He turned to see that Pinkie Pie was peeping her head into the neck of the shirt curiously.
“Hey now,” Zack blurted, “that’s my shirt!” Pinkie popped her head out with a eager smile, but the shirt remained stuck in her pink mane above her.
“It sure is dirty, and it smells just like you, with hint of sweat and poppies!” Zack leaned over and yanked the cloth off her head, making her mane jiggle back and forth. His shirt, like his pants, had holes ripped in them and dirt on them from yesterday’s adventuring, Zack sighed as he tossed on the wrinkled shirt.
“Say,” Pinkie inquired as she leaned toward Zack, “What’s a guy like you wearing shirts and pants any how? Why can’t you walk around without any clothes on like the rest of us ponies? Do you have an embarrassing cutie mark? What is your talent? Is it... embarrassing?”
She leaned back and continued, rubbing her chin with one hoof and looking away, “Well, if it was embarrassing, that would be the reason why you were hiding it obviously! Duh! Silly me!”
“I don’t have a ‘cutie mark’, Pinkie.”
“Whhaaaatt? How come? You don’t have any talents?”
“No no,” Zack assured, “my species, you see, don’t have cutie marks. We're just, I guess, bare.”
Pinkie presumed he was lying and took a step back, eyeing him up and down. “Is that so? It just can’t be a pony thing, everyone has talents!”
“Indeed they do, just people like me don’t have cutie marks.”
She stepped forward again, staring into Zack’s eyes, “Well what is your talent then, being tall?”
Zack moved his head back and answered, “Well, being tall isn’t a talent, but I use to play the violin.” Zack stopped, realizing violins probably didn’t exist in this world.
“Oohh, my Grandpappy Custard Pie played his violin when he visited us during last Hearth’s Warming Eve!” Pinkie hopped a little in excitement.
“Well I’ll be... I wonder how that works out? Oh, well if ponies can grab things without fingers, I guess that’s logical, logical in a pony way,” Zack thought. His stomach rumbled, reminding him of his starvation. He asked the filly, “Um, I think I’m going to sneak up stairs and grab a bite to eat.”
Zack sat himself up, but the pink pony put her two hooves on his chest and warned, “Wait! What if they–” She pointed with her eyes upward, obviously signaling Carrot and his parents. She continued, “–see you! Like you said, they would go bonkers!”
Zack took hold the horse’s hooves and set them back on the ground gently while affirming, “Relax, I’ll be as quiet as quiet can be. Plus, it’ll only take a sec, so just stay here, and be... well, quiet. I’ll grab you something to eat too!” Pinkie let him pass and climb up the stairs to the trap door, hoping her friend would be quiet enough.
__________
He gently lifted the door and peeked around. It was still early in the morning it seemed as the sunlight creeped across the wooden floors in the hallway. He could hear some birds chirping their morning sonnets in the distance as well as, what Zack presumed, construction of some sort. Some nailing, hammering, and sawing as well as the construction workers trying to speak over the noise. The sound was only faint, hardly disturbing unless focusing on something.
Zack crept out of the basement while straightening his back, which made the bones in his spine pop a couple of times. He stopped to listen if he had woken anyone up, but the house and the ponies in it were silent. He tiptoed to the kitchen, lowering his head to make it through the doorframe. The room he entered was a light shade of blue with matching floor tiles and cabinets, he thought it almost had a nineteen-fifties appearance to it, unlike the outside house's appearance. The room smelled of coffee beans, which made Zack begin to look for the source of the scent. There were some utensils such as a sink, coffee machine, and other little knick-nacks he found which didn't seem to suit the time of the world he was in. Zack was perplexed by the machinery they possessed, but the building structures in Ponyville mimicked the medieval era design. He noticed that the coffee was being prepared not be electricity, but by some sort of other, glowing light yellow energy source around the base of the pot. Zack was much more confused about where he was now than when he was teleported here.
Zack searched multiple bureaus, drawers and cabinets in search of food. After sometime, he opened a brightly colored oven in the farthest part of the kitchen, his eyes widened and jaw dropped as he found the mother load. Rows of cupcakes in a tin dish filled the entire oven base, each was topped with a white frosting with sprinkles; his mouth began to water as he slowly lifted the tray of delectables out of the cabinet. While heading out of the kitchen silently, he stopped and noticed the only thing on the breakfast table he seemed to have overlooked. A small book with a blue feather on the cover and a starry, black backdrop. He sat the cupcakes down on the table and picked up the paperback novel for closer inspection. He read the title, “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Alicorn – by Richorse Buck, author of ‘Jonathan Livingsteed Seapony’.”
A sudden pair of hooves clopped above Zack on the second story of the house as he finished reading the title of the book. Zack froze in fear as he listened intently, he could hear the hoof steps making their way across the floor above him and on to the top of the stairs, beginning its descent down the flight of steps. Zack panicked as he frantically searched for a hiding spot in the kitchen as the hooves slowly stepped down the stairs. He couldn’t possibly make it back to the trap door without being seen, so that was out of the question. He couldn’t hide anywhere it seemed, either it was too tight of a fit or it would make too much noise, like opening the window and making a run for it; there was only one entrance to the room and it was the door the mysterious pony was about to enter.
The pony entered the kitchen in a shamble of fatigue. It looked like an older, taller version of Carrot, sporting a darker coat with a shorter, bed-head mane and a rounder stomach. He possessed a horn on the top of his head, which emitted a faint yellow glow, similar to the energy color around the base of the pot. He walked up to the coffee maker while mumbling some incoherent words under his breath. He took out a cup from the cabinets above and poured the hot, dark liquid into the cup and added a pinch of sugar, whatever amount that might be in pony terms. He stirred it with a spoon while ambling over to the breakfast table and sat down; as his horn stopped glowing, the coffee maker stopped brewing. Zack was now facing a pair of hind legs sitting in the chair in front of him as he cowered under the table, being as silent as possible. The pony let out a bemused, ‘Hm’ at the sight of the cupcakes in front of him being out of place. Zack held his breath in anticipation of being caught.
“Must’a been them dern friends of Carrot's, they done been goofing around again late at night. That boy ain’t right, I tell ya what." He took a swig of coffee and reached to where his book would have been.
“Now where did I put that book?” Zack nearly gasped aloud when had realized he was still holding on to the pony's novel. He quickly slide it underneath the table cloth to appear as if it had fallen off. The pony breathed, “Ah,” as he found the book on the floor eventually. He picked it up and sat back down. He opened the book and began reading, only to stop when the construction crew’s noise became present to Carrot’s father. He shut the book in annoyance and got up from his chair, taking the novel with him.
“Them buck’n party planners,” Carrot’s father grumbled. A yellow, ebbing aura swathed over the cup of joe and book as he began to walk out of the kitchen. Zack waited until he heard the pony leave the kitchen, go back up the stairs and closed the bedroom door. When it was safe, he let out a long witheld gasp of air. He silently chuckled and thought how lucky he was, though his luck seemed to have ran out when Zack suddenly felt something push him from behind.
“Tag! You’re it!”
Zack jumped in fright and banged his head on the bottom of the table. Pinkie Pie had been under the table with him the whole time, he didn’t know how she got there, but it made him a little tense on how easily she could sneak up on him.
“I told you to wait in the basement,” Zack spat in an irked tone.
“It was getting boring, so I went up stairs and followed you around. Then you went all crazy like and hid under the table, so I played along of course.” A small grin curled across her face while again invading Zack’s personal space. Zack backed out of from under the table and so did the little filly.
“Wow,” she exclaimed when she saw the desserts on the table top. “What are these little, neat what’cha-ma-call’ems?”
Zack, puzzled at the sight, responded, “Haven’t you seen cupcakes before?”
“No sir-e! They look so soft and yummy!” Pinkie opened her mouth and rammed her face into the delectables, causing frosting to fly in every which direction. Zack lifted his arm to cover his face from the flying food particles. He dropped his guard when he thought she was done and saw that she had ate every single cupcake in the tin tray, she had even licked the frosting off the insides of the tray, making it shimmer in a thin layer of saliva.
“Holy....” was all Zack could reply with after witnessing the messy event that just took place. “Aww, I never got any cupcakes...” Zack sighed in displeasure. Pinkie Pie had a blank expression on her face as she looked down and stared at her front hooves which were holding her up against the table.
She whimpered, “Zack... that.. was..." she then drastically turned toward Zack and her expression instantly changed from blank to an euphoric, beaming facial response. “The best thing I've ever ate!” She threw her hooves up and pressed the sides of her head.
She continued, “I MEAN LIKE, IT WAS STUPENDOUS! INCREDIBLE! ASTOUNDING! AWE-INSPIRING! STUPEFYING! A LIFE ALTERING MOMENT EXPERIENCE!” She leaned over to Zack and placed one hoof around his shoulder and another in the air as she looked upward towards where her hoof was. Zack couldn’t help but crack a smile as she became calmer for no apparent reason.
She cooly concluded in a shudder, “It was a moment in time, that will never exist again!” Pinkie let out a silent moan of ecstasy while putting her full weight on Zack’s shoulder.
Zack grinned and said, “Oh sure it will exist again, just wait until you try muffins! My favorite!”
__________
Zack and Pinkie Pie crept back down into the basement, waiting till everyone left the house. While waiting noiselessly in the damp basement, Zack had come to realize he doesn’t have a real plan anymore. Was he going to continue running and hiding from these ponies? He had to make himself known to the world somehow, but not seem like a threat. He explained his situation to the pink pony.
“Well why don’t we visit Princess Celestia in Canterlot? I bet she won’t be afraid of you! And plus, I’ve never been to Canterlot! I’ve heard it’s an amazing place with super uptight ponies and has huge mountain side spires! And plus-plus, I heard there are fancy-shamancy-dinner partiesss!”
“Wait,” Zack interjected, “Princess Celestia? Canterlot? Why do you think she will have a change of heart for a creature she’s never seen? Why don’t we just talk to the King and Queen instead?”
“Uh," she said in a dry tone. "There is no King... or Queen.” A look a sudden realization formed on Pinkie’s face. “What happened to the King and Queen... Was there even any?"
Zack went back on the discussion, “Well, let’s go visit this, 'Princess Celestia' anyways. So where exactly is Canterlot, Pinkie?”
“I have no idea,” She said with a gleeful cheer.
“Ughh,” Zack moaned. “I don’t think I can take another adventure, wandering aimlessly through–”. Zack heard some chattering noise upstairs and became silent. There was a shuffling of hooves swiftly moving around the house, and in an instant the noise stopped. Zack and Pinkie both began listening intently.
“Hey mom,” the voice upstairs said, “I’m going out!” The voice had the resemblance of Carrot, and judging by what the voice had just said, they were sure of it.
“What was that, dear,” said another voice which seemed to stem from the second story of the house. They had figured that this new, feminine voice had come from Carrot’s mom.
“I said, I’m going out!”
“Can you speak u–”
“I said, I-am-going-out!”
“Where are you going?"
“Gezz, mom! I’m going out with friends!"
“With who?”
“Friends, mom! My freaking friends!”
“You watch your language, young colt!”
“I’m not a young colt anymore, and I didn’t even say anything bad!”
“You knew what word you were replacing!”
“Ahh, forget you! Stop trying to ruin Maredi Gra for everypony!” The front door was opened and immediately slammed shut, rattling the old house.
“Ha! Wow, what a nerd,” Pinkie Pie giggled.
“You said it... I can't believe that he forgot about you being in the basement too. How irresponsible.” Zack turned toward Pinkie and questioned, “What did Carrot mean by ‘Maredi Gra’?” Zack probably knew the answer, but wanted to stay safe and ask anyhow. He thought back to other instances where certain names on Earth corresponded with the one’s here in this world, he thought how weird it was that Earth and this place are so affiliated with one another in the strangest ways.
“Ooooo, I know, I know!” Pinkie hopped up, waving her hoof in the air as if she was answering a question during school.
“My sister, Inky says that Maredi Gra is when all the ponies get together and dress up all silly like and eat lots of yummy, super delicious food a few days before The Summer Sun Celebration!” Zack’s mind gave off a spark of creativity and a brilliant plan was processing in his mind to sneak out of town and go to Canterlot.
Zack raised his finger between Pinkie and himself and said, “Pinkie, I just thought up a brilliant plan to get ourselves to Canterlot!” Her eyes twinkled as she moved a little closer towards Zack.
“Since today is this Maredi Gra, let’s find some clothes to disguise me in so that the ponies will think I am a pony in a disguise already! Then we just ask one of them where Canterlot is, he or she will point the way and off we go! You think we could do that?”
Pinkie jumped back and saluted, “Ab-sol-ut-ely, Whacky-Zacky!” She paused and asked, “But wait, where are you going to get the clothes from?”
“Well, I was thi–”
“No!” She speed over to Zack and covered his mouth with her hoof, she came closer to Zack’s head and stated, “I can do this, I can think up a plan this time!”
She turned Zack’s head with both hooves towards her head, eyes locked in his, and beckoned, “I am about to be brilliant!”
__________
Pinkie poked her head out of the front door of the house and saw the enormous amount of ponies crowded in the streets in costumes galore. She was surprised at the amount of ponies that had showed up so quickly, in fact, she had never seen a crowd of ponies this big before in her life. Streamers of green and yellow hung across houses and street lamps, the smell of exotic and flavorful food filled the air and performers of all sorts filled the edges of the streets. Ponies on stilts, ponies that juggled, ponies with crazy masks and costumes and all sorts of others stood out from the bead wearing civilians who strolled the small town adorning them. Pinkie’s attention was fully captured by the bizarre and colorful holiday festives that she had forgotten what she was in the process of doing. A sudden cough from behind her shook her bewilderment away and back on to the unfolding plan.
She turned her head around and blared, “Alright, let’s go!”
She hopped off the front porch of the house and down the steps onto the street. A white, fully blanketed pony with an awkward sashay shambled out of the house. Tt wore a white hood with torn out eye holes in it, resembling that of a poorly depicted ghost. Its jaw was rounded and back was arched in a strange fashion. The clumsy equine made its way down the stone stairs of the porch one step at a time, being very careful not to fall. It stepped next to Pinkie who was watching over the crowd, the pony raised a sock for a hoof upward and pulled the sheet up revealing a plastic cup with holes punched in it and a string tied around the pony's head underneath the cloak.
“How do I look,” Zack asked underneath the cheesy disguise.
“Like a mentally deranged pony! But a pony nonetheless,” Pinkie squeaked.
He sighed, “Let’s just get this over with.”
The duo began making their way through the packed and diverse crowds. Zack took note of the different types of ponies he encountered which he knew weren’t disguised. He saw some gliding around above, helping with decorations, these winged ponies intrigued Zack greatly. Though he was at a loss of words when he saw a couple ponies lift a large banner with what appeared to be a glowing aura that formed around their horns and the banner itself much like the coffee pot he saw earlier. He stopped to witness the casual pony job taking place, he couldn’t believe that magic (or whatever it was) existed in this world. Pinkie realized Zack wasn’t walking anymore and had to go back and try to push Zack along.
“Oh, come on! It’s nothing special, just magic! Remember we have to find out where Canterlot is!” Pinkie tried budging Zack, but made no progress until he zoned back in and heard Pinkie Pie. He began walking again, which made the little filly fall over face first into the ground.
In the midst of the crowd, some strange music began playing that piqued Pinkie’s ears. She galloped over to where the interesting noise was while Zack had a taste of some free food at the snack tables. He grabbed a sandwich with his sock hoof and put it under the sheet. He slightly removed the cup that was acting like a fake jaw line of a horse and took a bite out of it. He realized it was nothing but bread, lettuce, and maybe a hint of undefinable sauce.
He shrugged and thought, “This is probably the best it’s going to get.”
Pinkie maneuvered through the taller, adult ponies to see where the source of noise was coming from that drove her curiosity. She soon found the source of the tune to be a one pony band. The talented, polka playing stallion played the accordion, harmonica, cymbals, drum, tuba, trumpet and banjo all at the same time in cadence. The instruments he played were all strapped accordingly to his back and neck. It was incredible sight to see and the crowd of horses around him applauded when he had finished.
“Cool,” Pinkie yelled as she stomped her hooves in approval. “I want to learn how to play an instrument! Or maybe two, or three, or five!” Pinkie zipped back toward where she left Zack to tell him about her new interest to learn how to play and create music. When she arrived, Zack was no where to been seen, and most of the free food from the snack tables were gone. She began jumping as high as she could, trying to look over the herd of ponies; she eventually saw the hooded fake pony and sprinted over to him. She walked up next to him unannounced to overhear a conversation he and an older, green mare with a white mane and tail, and an apple pie for a cutie mark were having.
Pinkie overheard, “... The reason why I refuse to take existentialism as just another French fashion or historical curiosity is that I think it has something very important to offer us for the new century. I'm personally afraid we're losing the real virtues of living life passionately, the sense of taking responsibility for who you are, the ability to make something of yourself and feeling good about life. Existentialism is often discussed as if it's a philosophy of despair. But I think the truth is–”
“Hi Zack,” Pinkie piped in.
“Oh, right. Do you happen to know which way Canterlot is? We’re visiting from out of town and would love to see the place.”
“That’a way, sonny,” said the feeble, aged mare as she pointed toward a road leading out of Ponyville and into the mountains.
“Thank you, ma’m!”
Pinkie pulled on Zack’s disguise to usher him down the road. The pink filly hollered, “I can’t wait to tell you what I saw!”
Zack turned his head and yelled back at the green pony while being pulled along by Pinkie, “Thanks for the chat! Just remember, we should never simply write ourselves off and see ourselves as the victim of various forces!”
“Indeed!” She waved her hoof back to say goodbye as the duo galloped down the dirt road, out of the Maredi Gra festival.
__________
It seemed Zack was right, the two friends were off on another adventure, only this time with a goal in range, the ivory castle was in sight. Canterlot seemed so majestic and calm from a distance. It hung on the mountain side looking as if it was on the verge of falling, but Zack assumed it never would, due to the magic of this universe. The road ahead took many detours, but there was a single path which eventually snaked up the base of the mountain and curved along the steep banks, spiraling upward. The road they traveled didn’t have too much traffic on it surprisingly, though whenever a pony or donkey came trotting down the path, Zack would throw his cloak on and get on all fours to try and hide his true form.
The entire trip to Canterlot was filled with the pink pony’s constant chattering about all sorts of odd and random subjects. She told Zack how she wanted to learn how to play instruments, and he promised her that he would teach her to play the violin once he got his hands on one. She hugged Zack’s chest, getting little pink curly hairs over his stained shirt. Zack didn’t mind her mile-a-minute talking abilities too much, he was a patient man and her voice gave him a little comfort for some reason. Maybe because he had grown use to it during his times here in what Pinkie calls, ‘Equestria’, or maybe she was interested in talking to just him, Zack hadn’t had anyone interested to talk with him in a long time.
His depression seemed to have faded, he hadn’t felt it bearing down on him since he woke up in this bright new landscape. He was glad he could express his true character towards his new friend, something he could never do in his previous life either because of his low self esteem or his lack of personal friends. Sure he didn’t tell Pinkie Pie everything about his life like she had been doing with him, Zack never let anyone into his mind or true opinions on certain things. He kept his ludicrous and unstable thinking patterns to himself, hoping not to harm or scare off anyone from spouting his true feelings over his life. This never meant he had to lie about them, but he merely avoided them. Zack tried to avoid lying as much as possible, ever since his father looked him in the eyes and told him he was going to come back home and never did, he had a real trust issue and a tendency to never try and lie about serious matters.
Zack was contemplating these things, rethinking his former life and zoning out, hardly listening to Pinkie Pie’s one sided discussion. She called Zack’s attention when she hopped in front of his way of direction.
“Hey Zack, can I ride on your back? Hey, I rhymed!” Zack stopped, looking down into those light blue orbs, they seemed beyond his reality of how pretty they were.
He took a second to get a mental snap shot of this moment, then genuinely smiled and responded softly, “Of course, Pinkie Pie”.
She hopped on Zack’s shoulders, drastically pointed her hoof forward and cried out, “Onward, steed!”
Zack chuckled, grabbing the filly’s dangling hind legs and began jogging up the mountain side. Pinkie held her hooves up high, giggling and bouncing while perched on Zack’s shoulders; her hair blowing in the mountain breeze with Zack’s. With new found energy, he made quick haste up the mountain side road, even climbing the side of mountain, off the road, to skip the round about and make better time. Zack had a feeling this is what Heaven feels like, and if he was in Heaven, he didn’t want to meet any other person, he felt alive and carefree. No worries in the world, no end to this paradise, he had craved a life like this for a long time. No feelings of guilt, depression, sexual desires, anger, or hate passed his mind once while in Equestria. Something awoke in Zack’s heart, a beautiful, divine creation he couldn’t express; it felt new, it felt warm, it felt right. These feelings, these emotions, these ponies felt so real to Zack, much more real than his cold, depressing former life. He was glad he was here, confused still, but so happy. He closed his eyes, took in the mountain air, listened to the little pony's laughter, and felt the warm rays of the setting sun massage his skin. To begin from the beginning again, a feeling only a second life would know. Zack didn’t want to leave, he wanted to stay here forever.
He reached the mountain top, and in front of them spread the the vast white city of Canterlot, with the spiral castle towers hanging off the mountain.
“That’s where the princess lives,” Pinkie pointed toward the sunset bathed citadel.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Zack smiled at Pinkie as she smiled back in confirmation.
“Waiting on you, silly! Now let’s keep going!” Zack sped forward, approaching the market place which was near the entrance of the city. At this moment, Zack truly felt for the first time, peace.
__________
Zack and Pinkie trotted through the city gateway arches into the market place, where in fact Maredi Gra was also taking place. Zack had dressed back as the white, hooded pony before getting too close to the city. Large, armored colts armed with razor sharp spears stood on the walls and front gate of the city, Zack felt like he was being watched. The festivities were only getting wilder as the crowds grew larger and as night approached. The sun was hanging on the western horizon, giving a deep pink glow to the clouds above. He noticed a particular large cumulous cloud off in the distance beyond the cream towers of the castle. It had a wild array of loops and arches, he had never seen a cloud like that before in his life. Zack was thrown back into reality when a light green coated mare pushed into him.
“Hey! Watch it, peasant filth!” She flung her tail in Zack’s face and stomped off, this didn’t phase him at all, it just got his thought process back on seeing Princess Celestia. Zack did look into the crowd and noticed something very off. Just like in Ponyville, there seemed to be more mares than colts, at least a one to ten ratio by far. If this was the case in the entire pony civilization and history, then the male and female roles must be swapped in certain aspects. He thought this might be a draw back for him over time being in Equestria.
“Some ponies,” Pinkie stomped her hoof on the ground and yelled back at the prissy pony, “Hey you, watch out! That’s my friend you’re telling off!” The pony ignored Pinkie and went to frolic and mingle in the crowd, or at least the rich part of the crowd.
Pinkie turned toward Zack looking rather upset over the ordeal that just took place. Zack informed in an light tone, “Don’t worry about it. Let’s get going, follow me.”
The two rushed around the crowd and went into a shadowy, brick alley way. They followed the cobbled streets, with the glimmer of the sunlight washed castle in the distance. The sun was almost completely down, and the first stars of the night flickered above the wide awake city. A parade of lights and fantasy began in the main streets of Canterlot, ponies tossing beads at one another and firework displays lighting the city blocks a glow. The commotion from the party goers exceeded in loudness, but was muffled in the ever growing dark alley ways.
The duo made a sharp corner and around a candle shop where they came face to face with dark russet coated stallion. He had a black mohawk and sharply trimmed tail, his orange eyes glowed menacingly in the twilight. Pinkie jumped back in shock behind Zack and Zack froze in place. The pony wielded a hooked dagger which he waved in front of them. He pinned the two between the corner of a wall and a run down shop.
“I ain’t looking for trouble,” the stallion said with a dark, sly impulse. “But what are two dimwits like you doing away from the party?”
Zack stepped in front of Pinkie Pie shielding her, “Get out of our faces!”
“Or e-else,” the pink filly stammered in fear.
“Or else... what?” The pony took another step, bending the knife downward at Pinkie this time. That had set Zack off, seeing that this malevolent thug would harm a child instead of the pony look-a-like in front of her. Zack then stood up, towering over the stallion. He clinched his fists together, ready to defend the frightened pony he had grown fond of. The pony stepped back in fright and dropped the flimsy knife as Zack stepped forward directly in front of the thug.
“Wha...What are you?”
“Leave.” As soon as those words left his mouth, the wicked stallion took off into the party scene, tripping over himself in terror of the sight of Zack.
Zack put his cloak back on and said to Pinkie, “Come on, let’s make a run for it before we try to get mugged again!” Zack and Pinkie took off down the alleyway, night had fallen and the moon rose over the distant, snow covered mountain tops.
__________
They reached the walls of the citadel, far from the gate to the castle and away from the guards. It was a shadowy spot in the alley way, merging with the high castle walls. Zack noticed that he could probably climb up the wall with a running start.
“Why don’t we just enter the front of the gate,” questioned Pinkie.
“Well, for one, they probably wouldn’t let anyone in on Maredi Gra, and two, I’m a human.”
“Oh yea, woops, forgot. You make a convincing pony.”
“Pshh, oh save your flattery!” The two tittered at each other's sarcastic remarks. He focused back to the objective saying,“Alright, so I’m going to gently toss you over this wall, and I’ll be right behind you!”
“Gotcha!” Pinkie rubbed her hooves together, “This plan is thickening to the point of oatmeal...”
Zack retorted with a confused expression, “To the point of oatmeal?”
“Uh, Ya? Haven’t you eaten oatmeal before? It’s thick, of course!”
“Yea but–” he stopped and realized what she meant, he couldn’t believe he questioned if oatmeal was thick or not. “-oh never mind!” He grabbed the filly underneath the forearms and tossed her on top of the wall.
“Weeee Heeee,” she cheered while in the air. She gracefully landed on the top of the wall, and bounced off onto the other side.
Zack rubbed his hands together and walked back a good distance. He took three, quick deep breathes and took off towards the wall as fast as he could. He ran up the side of the wall and reached as far as he could with his right arm extended. He grabbed the edge of the wall and swung his other arm up to get a firmer grip. He pulled himself up, swung his legs over the wall, and dropped to the ground on the other side in one, swift motion. Zack looked up and saw that he was in large, exotic, garden of some sort next to Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie asked, “Well where do we go from here?”
Zack looked around, “I’m not sure, I guess to find a way into the castle.”
The two snuck silently between to the shrubbery. Pinkie noticed unicorn guards patrolling the outer rim of the garden, which she informed Zack of with a silent gesture. The only noise on the palace grounds was the fountains which were in the center of the garden. The white, marble fountain had an elegant design of the sun and crescent moon eclipsing each other in the center with water spouting out of the pools below the design. It took another look from Zack to realize the the eclipsed objects were hovering over the pool, though he couldn’t stop and witness the subtle magic now, he couldn't afford getting caught by the guards. The two darted in between hedges of flowers and bushes when they would notice guards coming. The unicorn guards had some sort of purple spotlight illuminating out of their horns and onto the ground in front of them. Once the guard would pass, the two would jump back up on their feet and hooves and make their way deeper into the royal garden.
As they crept along between the dingy hedges, passing by what appeared to be a patch of orchids, Pinkie whispered, “This place is crawling with guards!”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Zack assured. Out of the corner of Zack’s eye, he noticed a flower from the patch of flowers he just passed bloom instantly, which gave off a spectral white glow.
“What the–” Zack and Pinkie spun around to see at least five of the same flowers do the exact same thing. The guards noticed the array of lights coming from the flowers and soon after saw the human and filly lit up in its glow.
“Hey, stop,” yelled a pegasus guard who was unknowingly high above the estate. The duo looked up to spot the flying pony charging them at an incredible speed, spear in front of him. Zack grabbed Pinkie Pie and dove out of the way of the oncoming pegasus. They hit the ground and slide, but Zack pushed himself up with one hand while holding Pinkie in the other like a football. He sprinted back towards the wall, trying to escape the palace grounds. A sudden glowing, magenta sphere formed in between them and the wall, and a flash of light blinded Zack. One of the royal guard unicorns teleported in front of them, blocking his escape. Zack came to a halt as he panicked and didn’t know which way to turn. One of the pegasus guards came up behind Zack and with the blunt end of his spear, struck the back of Zack’s head, knocking him unconscious.
As Zack fell to his knees, then stomach, Pinkie jumped out of his arm and made a break for it. She frantically galloped as fast as she could, but her little legs couldn’t move as fast as the unicorn’s. The guard magically conjured a sack and tied it over Pinkie’s head while she was still galloping. She hit the wall and became disoriented due to being blind from the sack tied to her head. The pegasus hovered over and grabbed the pink horse, flying her unsteady body low to the ground. Pinkie went berserk in a fit of rage and flayed her legs and arms like a maniac trying to break free.
“I'm going to get whoever put this bag over my head! Let me go, you big meanie!” Another pegasus guard nearby had to help detain the pony as they tied her hooves together and dragged her along the ground. She flailed like a fish out of water, scrambling to try and get out her bondage.
She screamed, “Zack! Help!” Zack only heard the faint echo of Pinkie Pie’s shrieks of terror in his ears.
His vision blurred dark, and the last thing he heard was, “The Princess will want to see this... whatever it is.”
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MOAR plz
My Face:
472144
I'm glad you're enjoying it
Here i am reading your story, while i need to start writing mine x.x UGH
Good read, want to know what happens next.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MAOR!
And then the plot thickened to the point of oatmeal....... just like their plan at bypassing a wall....
Fantastic work. Looking forward to more.
Really, I'd be really worried about who Pinkie is and what had happened to her.
473743
You gotta admit, the plot did thicken
474689
Excellent
2.bp.blogspot.com/-bLajhH13sgg/TbIvJhyXsBI/AAAAAAAACK4/kKyBTVlXLpA/s1600/Mr%2BBurns.gif
Why do they always make whatever you're doing seem worse. Instead of 'the human went to see Celestia peacefully' it's 'we found this... thing climbing over the walls with a small filly in hand. Likely to be a new threat come to assassinate you, your majesty.'
Wait
I am thoroughly confused........
Alright Pinkie has her cutie mark...means every other Mane 6 has their cutie mark due to Sonic Rainboom.
But Twilight went to the Summer Sun Celebration before getting inspired to study magic and then later went to exam and got her cutie mark.
But this says Maredi Gras is before Summer Sun Celebration
Where in all the magical flying fucks...WHAT TIME IS THIS...IS THIS EVEN!? WHATHEWHATHEWHATHAOHFSJBANFKJQBWIUFA
Fuck im confused
Have you played legend of Zelda: Ocorina of Time or Assassins Creed by any chance?
The plot thickens
Um, isn't Zach on all fours, it must be freakin hard to travel fast