>The beginning of your first party didn’t go nearly as badly as you thought it would.
>Even if you kept trying to hide in Twilight’s room for a large part of it.
>Twilight found that really funny for some reason, but you don’t know why.
>She gave you an extra bandage, though, so that was one less reason for everyone to stare at you when you were forced out.
>You stayed close to Twilight and she took you around to meet some of her closest friends.
>As it turns out, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy are included in that group.
>Twilight said that her and her friends are the “Elements of Harmony,” but you’re not sure what that means.
>There was another one named Rarity who, according to Twilight, fixed your clothes, but she couldn’t make it for some reason.
>Applejack was nice and offered you some sort of food that you didn’t really like.
>Pinkie made you try something called a “cupcake,” and it was one of the weirdest things you’ve ever tasted.
>Almost as soon as you finished eating it, you felt sick to your stomach.
>Pinkie offered you another, but you quickly turned it down. She said, “Okay!” and shoved the whole thing in her mouth.
>That pony is scary.
>Twilight brought you to Fluttershy, and here you are now, standing completely silent as the two of you look on at the party.
>It’s not an uncomfortable silence, though. It’s actually pretty nice.
>Rainbow comes in a little later. “I never thought I’d find anypony else as quiet as Fluttershy,” she comments as she makes her way to you.
>You stay with these two for a while. After all, the more time you spend with them, the less time you have to spend meeting anyone new.
>Twilight eventually catches on and makes Spike take you around to meet some of the other ponies.
>Most of them just give you weird looks and quick greetings, but there are a few that stand out.
>Three shorter ponies—fillies, according to Spike—take a huge interest you, and they huddle around you with looks of amazement.
>It kind of scares you.
>”What are you?” one of them asks.
>”What’s your name?” another asks.
>”This is Anonymous,” Spike answers for you.
"H-hello."
>They start circling you, trying to view you from every possible angle.
>When your head follows one of them, they stop and look surprised. “How can you see with that thing over your eyes?”
>The other two immediately get in a little closer.
>”She’s right!” one of them says.
“U-um…”
>Spike jumps in. “You haven’t even introduced yourselves yet!”
>That stops them quickly enough.
>”Sorry,” one of them apologizes. “We’ve just never seen anything like you.”
> They tell you their names: Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.
>”We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” all three of them suddenly yell, getting the attention of most of the people at the party.
>You jump back a little.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders…?”
>”Yeah! We’re searchin’ for our cutie marks!” Apple Bloom answers.
>Before you can ask what a cutie mark was, Spike speaks up.
>”A cutie mark is a mark that appears on a pony when they discover their special talent, or their place in life,” he explains.
>Huh.
>”Howdy again, Anonymous,” a familiar voice comes in, startling you a little bit.
>You quickly turn to see Applejack chuckling at you. “Ah see you’ve met the girls, then.”
“H-hello Applejack. You know them?”
>”Yep, Apple Bloom’s mah sister,” she says, looking to the three. “Just checkin’ on ‘em. Is everythin’ okay?”
>”Yeah!” they all say at once.
>“Alrighty then,” she says, chuckling. “If ya need me, Ah’ll be with Twilight.”  
>Come to think of it, their voices are pretty similar.
>”So,” Apple Bloom begins, “do ya have any family ‘round here?”
“Uh, yeah, my dad.”
>”Where is he?”
>You’re honestly not sure. He said he’d be back, but he didn’t say when.
>Before you can answer, another voice interrupts you.
>”Hey, blank flanks. Who’s your friend?” the high-pitched voice asks, putting a lot of emphasis on the last word.
>You turn to see two new fillies looking at you.
>”Well?” one of them asks, her tone making you a little uneasy.
“I-I’m Anonymous,” you answer.
>They look a little surprised to hear you talk.
>”And what are you supposed to be?” the other asks.
>You don’t really know how to answer that. These are all ponies, but what are you? Human?
>Before you can answer, the lighter of the two jumps back in.
>”And why are you hanging out with these losers?” she asks.
>”She’s our friend!” Scootaloo says.
>”Yeah!” the other two Crusaders quickly agree, making you smile.
>”Ha!” the dark one says. “I suggest you pick better friends, Anonymous. These three fillies haven’t even gotten their cutie marks yet!”
>As she says that last part, the two turn to their side and proudly show off their own marks.
>The dark one’s mark looks like the thing you used to eat the soup, and the other one is a picture of what she’s wearing on her head.
“Why would someone’s special talent be something you eat with…?” you think aloud.
>They both seem really flustered by that question, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike all burst out into laughter.
“What?”
>You realize you probably said something wrong when the two storm off.
>Oops?
>The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike—no, your friends—continue laughing for a while, and every time you ask what you said wrong, they just laugh more.
>Spike winds up taking you back to Twilight before you get an answer.
>You decide to stick close to Twilight again.
>The rest of the party goes by uneventfully.
>Pretty soon, things are dying down and people are leaving.
>By the time everyone’s gone, it’s dark outside. You yawn.
>”Tired, huh?” Twilight asks with a smile. “Today must’ve been really exhausting. I remember my first Pinkie party…”
>She’s right, and you nod. She takes you to her room and points to one of the beds, the one you were on before.
“Hey, Twilight?”
>”Yeah?”
“This place is amazing. Everything’s so bright and happy, and the ponies are really nice.”
>She smiles wide. “Yeah, that’s Ponyville for you.”
“I can’t wait until my dad gets back so I can show it to him!”
>Her smile goes away really quickly for some reason.
>Her eyes widen and her mouth opens to say something, but she closes it and frowns instead.
“What’s wrong?”
>”...Nothing,” Twilight hesitates. “It’s fine. Goodnight, Anonymous.”
>She seemed really down. You stare at where she was for a moment, wondering what that was all about.
>Another yawn.
>Oh well, time for bed.
>As soon as you lay down, you’re out.
--
>”Anonymous.”
>...
>”Anonymous, it’s time to get up.”
“Mmmngh…”
>”C’mon, get up.”
“Five more minutes…”
>”Nope.”
>Something sharp pokes you and you jump up into a sitting position.
“I’m up, Dad, I’m up!”
>”...Dad?”
>Huh?
>You look over and see a confused Spike.
“Oh, uh… s-sorry,” you say, your face getting hot.
>”...Yeah. Anyway, come on.”
>You follow Spike into the room you hid in when you first met Rainbow Dash.
>Twilight’s there, but she looks… off. Not as bright and happy as she looked before.
>”She didn’t get much sleep,” Spike whispers as if Twilight couldn’t hear him.
>”I’m right here.”
>Spike doesn’t comment on that and instead looks to you. “What do you even eat?”
“Um…”
>”What about gems?” he asks enthusiastically.
“Gems? What’s that?”
>He gasps. “You’ve never had one?”
>”Spike!” Twilight comes in.
>”What? They’re great!” he defends.
>”She’s not a dragon.”
>”Oh… right,” he says, embarrassed. “Well, what do we do?”
>Twilight looks you over. “Try this,” she says as her horn glows and a flower floats over to you.
>A flower? That doesn’t seem like something you eat…
>You try it either way, but you’re right—it tastes horrible.
>Twilight notices. “Just as Princess Celestia said. Spike, can you make some pancakes?”
>”Yeah!”
>Spike starts making pancakes, whatever those are.
>”You can sit down, you know,” Twilight comments.
>You do as she says and sit down.
>”So,” Twilight begins, “what did you used to eat?”
“Um, I’m not really sure how to explain it…”
>”What do you mean?”
“It was a long, cylindrical object, and I sucked the gooey stuff from it until it was empty…”
>For some reason, Twilight looks very alarmed at this. “Did your DAD give you that?”
“Yeah. Occasionally he would get them from friends, too. It tasted funny at first, but I got used to it.”
>”I… I need to write a letter…”
“I think I actually had one when I came here. It was probably in my dress.”
>”Wait, what?”
>Spike says, “Yeah, you didn’t see it? Back when we first found her, there was some weird tube thingy on the ground.”
>”...Oh.”
>She seems kinda surprised. What did she think you were talking about?
>Spike finishes up not much later.
>You still don’t know what pancakes are, but they sure do smell nice.
>Spike places some of them in front of you.
>As it turns out, they taste nice too.
>A lot nicer than the stuff Dad fed you all the time.
>It fills you up really quickly, though. You’re full before you could even finish what was given to you.
“Wow, that was really good… Thanks,” you say, sighing in contentment.
>”You’re welcome. Now, hoof me your plate,” Spike says, pointing towards you.
“Plate? This thing?” you ask, pointing to the thing the rest of the pancakes were still on.
>”...Yeah?”
“Oh, uh, okay.”
>You grab the plate and walk it over to him. He mutters something, but you don’t quite catch it.
>”Hm…” Twilight hums. “Anonymous, how do you feel about going with me to a friend’s house?”
>”Which friend?” Spike asks before you can answer.
>”Zecora.”
>Spike opens his mouth, but Twilight interrupts him. “And no, you can’t go. Anyway, she lives in the forest, Anonymous. We’ll have a nice talk and some of my favorite tea. How about it?”
>You don’t know what tea is, but if Twilight likes it, it’s probably a good thing.
"Okay."
>”Great, we’ll leave in a secon—”
>She’s interrupted as Spike makes a really weird noise and something shoots out of his mouth.
>It scares you a little and you jump back.
“What was that…?”
>”A letter from Princess Celestia!” Twilight says, more to herself than to you.
>She picks it up, unfurls it, and then just stares at it.
>Shouldn't she be reading it? If it's from something like a princess, your fingers would be all over the braille!
>After a few moments, she looks to Spike.
>”Hey Spike, do you think you can keep Anonymous amused for a little while so I can take care of something?”
>”Sure,” he says with a smile.
>Twilight goes off to some other place while Spike takes you into the other room.
>”So,” he begins, “how do you like the library?”
“Wait, this place is a library?”
>”Yeah, don’t you see the books?”
“Books? Where?”
>He walks over to one of the walls and pulls out a colored… thing.
>”Here, it’s just a random book, but it’s a book.”
>Taking it, you look it over and open it.
>You search the page with your finger, but you can’t seem to read it.
>”What are you doing…?” Spike asks.
“Where are the bumps?”
>”Bumps? What bumps?”
“How do I read it if there are no bumps?”
>”...Huh?”
“Um… How else do I read it?”
>”...What?”
>You close the book and give it back to him.
“S-sorry... Here’s the book back.”
>”Wait, why are you sorry? I’ve just never heard of that way of reading… I’ll just ask Twilight about it when she’s done.”
“So how do you read, then…?”
>He gives you a really funny look. “I read the words.”
“That’s what I do.”
>”But with bumps?”
“Yeah.”
>The rest of the time is spent much like this. Spike brings you a book, you try—and fail—to read it, and he puts that one back and grabs another.
>When Twilight comes back, she’s very confused. “Why are you feeling the pages?”
“Looking for bumps.”
>”What?”
>”She said she reads by feeling bumps, but none of the books we have here have them, so she can’t read them,” Spike answers.
>”What do you mean by “feeling bumps”?” Twilight asks.
“My dad called it braille a few times.”
>”I’ve never heard of that… Could you explain it to me?”
“Um, I feel the page for bumps, and that’s how I read. How do you do it?”
>”I look at the words to read them, but you feel them? Spike said you couldn’t do it with any of these books?”
“Yeah, they don’t have the bumps that the ones I read do.”
>”Fascinating! Another thing to ask Zecora…” she mutters. “Speaking of which, we should probably get going. Are you ready?”
>You nod. Spike seems a little down, but that’s probably because he can’t go.
>And so you follow Twilight out the door.
>You take in the bright colors of the world as you walk toward the forest.
>You don’t get to look for much longer though, as three familiar fillies rush past you, almost knocking you over.
>”Hey Anon!” you hear Scootaloo say.
>You and Twilight are still recovering from that when Fluttershy walks past, likely chasing after the Crusaders.
>”Hello, Fluttershy!” Twilight says, getting her attention.
>”Oh, hello Twilight and Anonymous! Where are you off to?”
>”We’re heading to the Everfree Forest to Zecora’s to get some of my favorite tea.”
>”Th-the Everfree Forest…?” Fluttershy asks. “You’ll be careful, won’t you?”
>”Of course!” Twilight assures. “What about you? What are you doing with the girls?”
>”Rarity has a big order to fill tonight, so I volunteered to take the girls over to my cottage for a sleepover.”
>”Wow, sounds like everyp0ny has their hooves full today! Taking care of those three fillies, all by yourself? You sure you can handle it?”
>”What, these sweet little angels?” Fluttershy says.
>As if they were waiting for her to say that, the Crusaders all line up next to Fluttershy and put on huge smiles.
>”They’ll be no problem at all!”
>With that, you start back on your way to the forest with Twilight.
>This time, you’re not almost killed by three fillies.
>”Oh yeah, we’re going to stop by where I found you to look for that… thing you mentioned,” Twilight says as she takes the lead.
>You make it to the forest in little time. It’s really close to the town, after all.
>The forest looked dark from the outside, but it’s a lot worse on the inside.
>It’s extremely different from the bright and colorful town just outside it, and something about this place makes you feel uneasy.
>Twilight doesn’t seem bothered, but you stick close to her either way.
>The walk is very uneventful, aside from the times where you think you hear something moving behind you and by the time you look, there’s nothing there.
>You make it to an area with a lot less trees. On the ground, you see some of the familiar white flowers.
>”This is it,” Twilight announces. “Can you help me find that thing?”
>You nod and start to look around through the flowers. There really are a lot of them.
>The flowers glow as you walk through them. Twilight stops what she’s doing for a moment just to look at them.
>”Pretty…” you think you hear her mutter.
>It doesn’t take long to find what you’re looking for. The tube—or “food,” as Dad called it—was a little dirty, but otherwise fine.
“Here it is,” you tell her, holding it up.
>Her horn glows and the tube is removed from your hand.
>You don’t know if you’ll ever be used to this magic stuff.
>She inspects it for a while. “And you said you eat this stuff…?”
“Yeah. You just open the cap and suck it.”
>”Please tell me that’s not all he fed you.”
“Well, there was another type of tube he gave me...”
>She just stares at you. Instead of commenting on it, she starts walking again.
>The tube just kind of disappears after that. You’re not really sure where it went, but you figure Twilight did something with it. Stupid magic. How does it work?
>You soon arrive at a place that looks like a smaller, darker, and considerably more evil version of Twilight’s house.
>Twilight walks up to the door and knocks on it.
>When it opens, you’re greeted by something that’s both very similar to a pony and very different at the same time.
>”Hello, Zecora! This is Anonymous,” Twilight motions to you.
“Uh, hello…”
>Zecora looks you over with interest. “Greetings. Had I known you would bring a guest, my home would have been made to look its best.”
>Her manner of speech is a lot different from what you’re used to.
>”I apologize, but I do come with quite a bit of a progress report on the flowers you mentioned.”
>You notice one of the flowers from before at Twilight’s side. She must’ve picked it when you weren’t looking.
>She holds it up for Zecora to see.
>”It is a truly mysterious flower. What have you discovered about its power?”
>Twilight brings the flower to you. “Anonymous, touch the flower please.”
>You do so and it glows in response. Zecora’s eyes widen.
>”They react directly to Anonymous’ emotions,” Twilight adds.
>”That is interesting, but please come in and sit. I am sure you would like comfort to talk about it.”
>You both enter her home.
>Zecora gives you some of the tea Twilight mentioned earlier. It’s one of the best things you’ve ever tasted, and when you say so they both smile.
>The two talk, and Twilight goes on about how she found you.
>It turns out that Zecora took notice of your flowers a little while ago, and Twilight found you while trying to find them.
>Truth be told, you feel kind of silly for getting scared of Twilight and Spike. They turned out to be really nice.
>At one point you hear Twilight ask about braille. Unfortunately, Zecora doesn’t seem to know anything about it either.
>Then Twilight asks if Zecora has seen anything like you.
>”There is a tale from the land of the wingéd bird-cats, of an ape that would solve all quarrelsome lovers’ spats. He would come and he would go, helping all, both high and low. One day, they say, he decided to get up and leave, causing many to lie down and grieve. Where the man went, many still wonder. They say he ripped a heart asunder. That is all I know of his tale. Does he have to do with your braille?”
>You don’t understand a lot of that, but does that mean there was another human like you here?
>The way Zecora talked about it, he was alive a long time ago.
>What about your dad, then?
>When they started talking about “African simians,” you realize the conversation is going off into areas you don’t understand, so you just sit quietly and watch as you take small drinks of your tea.
>By the time you and Twilight are ready to leave, it’s starting to get dark outside and you've already had three cups of tea.
>”Alright, we should probably get going. Thanks for your time, Zecora!” Twilight says.
"Thank you, Ms. Zecora.”
"We will surely meet once more; I have much more tea in store."
>You can’t help but smile.
>”So, what’d you think?” Twilight asks as the two of you head back into the forest.
“She’s really nice, and the tea she gave me was amazing!”
>”That’s one of my favorite kinds of tea.”
“You mean there are other kinds?” you ask in awe.
>”Yep! You really liked that tea, didn’t you?”
“It was the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I wonder if Dad’s ever had it before…”
>”Yeah, I come to Zecora’s every now and then to enjoy it with her.”
>That sure does sound nice.
>”Wait,” Twilight begins, “did I ever tell you about how we met?”
>When you shake your head, she starts telling you the story.
>Zecora came into Ponyville every now and then and the whole town avoided her just because of the way she looked.
>Unlike Twilight and everyone you’ve met so far, Zecora is a zebra who comes from far away.
>Now that you think about it, she is a little different—her body is colored differently and the way she talks is odd compared to Twilight and the others.
>Still, you don’t think that’s much of a reason to avoid someone.
>”And that just goes to show that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Somepony the whole town thought was evil turned out to be a—”
>She jumps back and lets out a yelp.
>Directly in front of you is something you’re not really sure how to explain.
>”Cockatrice!” Twilight yells. “Don’t look it in the—”
>She doesn’t finish her sentence. You look over to see her standing completely still.
“Twilight?”
>No answer.
“T-twilight, what’s wrong?” you ask, reaching your hand out to poke her.
>What you touch… well, it doesn’t feel like Twilight. It’s completely hard, almost like a rock.
>You scream. What’s going on?
>Turning your head, you notice the “cockatrice” again.
>It’s staring straight at you with glowing eyes.
>You try to back away, but your legs don’t listen to you.
“S-stop, get away!”
>The cockatrice’s eyes glow brighter.
>You see a flash of yellow out of the corner of your eye, but then everything goes dark.
--
>”What… What happened?” you hear Twilight ask.
>You suddenly become aware of your surroundings—you’re in the forest with Twilight and Fluttershy.
>You feel stiff, like you’ve been sleeping for an entire day. It’s hard to stay balanced. You try to walk, but you fall.
>Fluttershy runs to you and helps you up.
>What in the world happened?
>You didn’t notice it until now, but there are yellow flowers all around you.
>Twilight said they react to your emotions, but where do they keep coming from?
>A trio of screams is what brings you out of your thoughts.
>Fluttershy gasps. “The girls!”
>After recovering, you and Twilight run after her.
“What happened?” you ask Twilight.
>”We were turned to stone by that cockatrice,” she answers.
>Turned to stone? What?
>When you catch up with Fluttershy, she’s face to face with the cockatrice.
>Directly behind her are three familiar fillies—the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
>Fluttershy’s staring down the cockatrice with an intensity that honestly kind of scares you.
>”You! Just who do you think you are, going around turning others into stone?”
>The cockatrice’s eyes glow, but it looks nervous.
>Fluttershy’s legs begin to turn to stone. It’s slowly spreading over her body.
>You didn’t think it was possible, but Fluttershy stares even harder at it.
>”You should be ashamed of yourself! What did I just get done telling you? I should find your mother and tell her what you’ve been up to, young man!“
>The cockatrice’s eyes glow even brighter but Fluttershy doesn’t let up, despite the lower half of her body being stone.
>“Now go over there and turn Elizabeak back to normal, and don’t ever let me catch you doing this again!”
>The stone covering her starts to crack and eventually falls apart.
>”Do you understand me?”
>The cockatrice nods and with a whimper, it runs off.
>Fluttershy looks visibly calmer. “Are you girls alright? I was so worried…”
>“Yeah, fine!” Scootaloo answers.
>”Thanks to that stare of yours…” Sweetie Belle adds.
>”You’re like the queen of stares! You’re...” Scootaloo says.
>”The stare master!” all three of the Crusaders yell at once.
>You follow Twilight the rest of the way to Fluttershy and the Crusaders.  
>”We’re sorry we snuck out of your house and into the forest,” Sweetie Belle apologizes.
>“Yeah, we’ll listen to you from now on,” Apple Bloom adds.
>”We promise,” Scootaloo finishes.
>”Oh you do, do you?” Fluttershy asks. “Well you better, or I’ll give you… The Stare!”
>After a moment of silence, they start laughing.
>You and Twilight smile at the scene.
>”Let’s go home,” Fluttershy says after they finish laughing.