//------------------------------//
// Meeting the Mane 6 
// Story: The Author 
// by nicojaller 
//------------------------------//

To say that I was surprised would be probably too weak, saying that I’m on the verge of an heart attack, that would be more accurate for my present situation.

'' SURRRPPRRRIIIISE !!!! ''

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about this whole welcome party, I don’t know why, I guess I was so focused on my tasks that it slipped past my mind. Well, I guess my bed will have to wait. Pinkie stares at me with her signature smile, I don’t even know how somepony can smile this wide ! Oh god, if during these last few hours, I felt in control, serious and everything. Now, I just feel like my social anxiety’s coming back.

'' Oh…uh…good evening ? ''

I feel the stare of the ponies here, I don’t feel that confortable right now. I consider planning an escape route when I get trapped in a crushing bear hug. IT’S A TRAP ! Oh wait, wrong universe. I must admit, those ponies are soft, damn. I would like that if my ribs weren’t being crushed into dust.

'' Um… Pinkie ''

This comes out softly, as there is not much air left in my lungs, she looks at me.

'' Yes, bestest-newest-friend ? ''

'' Can’t…breathe…''

'' What did you say ? ''

'' Hum… Pinkie… I think the fella need some air. ''

'' Oh ! ''

She lets go of me, oh sweet release, oh sweet air ! I missed it so much ! I retake my composure to see who was my savior. Hum, orange skin, blond mane and tail, farmer hat, green eyes and to top it all of, apples as cutie marks. Yeah, I think it’s pretty damn obvious who I’m talking about.

Applejack, not my favorite when I actually watched the show, but I did like the character and I’ll be honest, I’m a sucker for farmer accents, I don’t know why, it’s just a thing. She comes foward.

'' Are you alright ? ''

'' Yeah, I’m just… taking a second to figure out what’s happening here. ''

Then, Pinkie just randomly appears in front of me again.

'' Don’t be silly, it’s your welcome-to-Ponyville-party ! ''

'' My what ? ''

Of course I know what it’s about, it’s been showcased in the show enough for me to be familiar with that, this is my occasion to get close to the Mane Six, which is basically mendatory for all of this to succeed. If I can’t, well shit, this would make my job a lot harder than necessary.

'' Your party, silly ! Come on let me see a smile ! ''

Of course, I do, it is quite nice to see that someone organised a party for me, even if I did expected it. I would never get this kind of attention at home, I mean, I did have small parties for my birthday, but it was generally, my parents and my siblings, a cake, gifts and a movie. That was the most I ever gotten, not that it’s a bad thing, those were pretty good evening to spend with my family. Just that, no one ever planned something like this. This is pretty nice.

She seems satisfied and bounces away, I use that opportunity to get out of the entrance. I’m a bit nervous, I’m not that good with speaking with other humans, I don’t know what good I will be able to do with ponies, but well, I’m going to try.

I go towards Twilight, because she is the one I am way more familiar with. I look at her.

'' So was that all planned or something ? And why in your house ? ''

'' No, it was all Pinkie, she’s particuliary good at planning parties, and why my house, I didn’t really had a choice in the matter. Pinkie decided on a place you would most likely be at this time. ''

'' Ooook, how did she figured that out ? I don’t remember telling anyone of what I would do today. ''

'' I don’t really know, I figured a while ago to not question her, Pinkie is just Pinkie. ''

Yeah, pretty much what I remember from the character as well, if they don’t question it, why should I ? I know I probably should question at least at little, but it's the least of my worries right now. Ok, second part, don’t fall apart now.

'' So, who are your friends ? I met Pinkie, of course, I will have to guess Cowgirl here is one as well, no offence. ''

I only look to Applejack to see her nodding, ok, I didn’t offend her, that’s good, that would had been a fantastic start, getting knocked out by the mare with strongest kick in Ponyville.

'' Well, the other one is Applejack, she works on an apple farm, I can present you to the others if you want. ''

'' That would be hugely appreciated, it’s always nice to meet new people, and if they’re your friends, they must be alright. ''

She directs me toward the group, I look at them nervously. There is one that looks at me a bit suspiciously, I don’t really know why though, it’s not like I act any more suspiciously than anyone else here.

Well it seems to be description time, I never was very good with that, even when I was writing, I never really knew what was good and interesting to talk about. It’s always a pain, but I’ll do my best here. First of all, there was the cyan pegasus known as Rainbow Dash, I start by her, because she is easily my favorite from the Mane 6. Yeah, she has her iconic rainbow mane, that I always found kinda cool. I mean, I know people that dye their hair, but nothing can beat rainbow hair. Her wings are cool to look at to, a bit bigger than what I saw on the show, but it makes sense.

For the others, Fluttershy is god damn cute, that’s more of a fact than an opinion at this point. She hides most of her face behind her mane, I really like how her mane is dressed by the way, cute is really the word, everything about her is so god damn adorable.

There is also the fashionista known as Rarity, with a pretty fabulous purple hair, if I say so myself, looking at them with a stallion perspective is a total different experience, because I suddenly have different needs, it’s really weird to suddenly desire mares, while still having my human mind, it’s really confusing. Don’t worry though, I won’t jump on Rarity, although she is pretty beautiful, but that one is Spike’s. I know, they’re not technically a thing, but I have too much respect for Spike to run after his girl. But yeah, she looks good is what I mean to say.

I realize I’m pretty much staring at them, I cough, a bit embarrased, and I present my hoof.

'' Hey ! My name’s Grey Ink, it’s an honour to meet you all ! ''

'' Same for us darling ''

'' A friend of Twilight is a friend of mine ! ''

'' … Same … ''

It was nice to feel welcomed, still doesn’t feel less weird to be meeting the protagonist of a fictional show, but hey, can’t really complain, can I ? Ok, now, I need to find a way to keep a conversation going… Shit, god damnit myself ! Why can’t you talk to anybody without looking way too awkward.

'' So… I know that Twilight here is the one who manages the Library, what do you all do ? ''

Applejack was the first one to answer, of course, I know what all actually do, but I have to know them for real, if they suspected me of knowing things in advance I would only make myself suspicious and it wouldn’t help my case. So I have to ask all of these things that I already know, pretty tidious, I will say.

'' Ah work on the apple farm, not far from town, you must surely have seen it before, mah family has been working these lands for generations. ''

'' Oh yeah, I did see that farm, before, great apples by the way, I kno=ew that I had heard of the Apple family before. ''

She smiles at my comment and nods. I turn myself towards Rarity.

'' Okay, I think I have a good idea, but still, I’ll ask, what do you do ? ''

'' I am a designer, most of the time, I design dresses and costumes, Ponyville may be a small town, but the demand is surprisingly high. Of course, my dream is still to open a boutique in Canterlot. Or the design a dress for a royal wedding. That is more of a fantasy right there, but that would still be simply fabulous ! ''

'' Great, so if I need any fancy clothes one day, I know where to go. ''

Then I look at Pinkie, only to see her bouncing, clowning around and eating sweets. You know what ? I’m not even going to ask. Then I talk to Rainbow.

'' The others I could figure, but you, I actually have no idea what you do. ''

She looks at bit offended for a second, before recomposing herself.

'' Well, I probably have the most awesome job of all, I’m the pony who makes sure that your sorry mane doesn’t get wet or anything. Unless it’s planned of course. ''

'' Or you make everybody wet except Twilight to try to get a ticket for the Gala '' says Applejack, grumbling.

'' Hey ! I said I was sorry, and like you were any better ! ''

Oh boy, this is going off-track, I can’t let them argue here. One, it won’t help anything in what I try to accomplish, second, it’s annoying as hell to here people arguing. I put myself between the two before anything can actually happen.

'' Hey hey, you two, I don’t know what happened before, and honestly I don’t care, anyway, there’s a party going on here, so let’s keep it fun ! ''

They look at each other before agreeing, oh thank god, friendship crisis averted…I guess ?

Finally I look at Fluttershy, and I realize, I genuinely want to know what she do, because from what I remember from the show. They never gave her an actual job ! I really want to know if she actually has one. Like, where does her income come from ?

'' If you don’t mind, what do you do. ''

She struggles to say anything, still hiding most of her face behind her mane, but she softly says.

''…I take care o-of the animals. Some people pays me to take care of their pets for a day or two, for different reasons, sometimes because their sick or because they have to go away for a while. ''

Of that makes so much sense, I can’t really say I expected anything else. After I was finished making the tour of Twilight’s friend, she came up to me and asked.

'' What about you ? Before coming here what was your job ? ''

'' Oh, I don’t have actual working experiences, but I just graduated in journalism, so my idea, and I talked about it with the Mayor, would be to start a newspaper here, because it’s one of the few towns that seems to lack one. ''

'' Oh, this seems like an excellent idea ! I’ll be glad to help if you need any help with that project. ''

I smile at her.

'' Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you very much. ''

The rest of the evening is not really that much noteworthy to talk about, mostly because I am really tired and really want to go to sleep. I danced a bit, and ate probably a lot more sweets than I should have but I don’t care. That’s a problem tomorrow-me will have to deal with.

At the end of the evening, Twilight guided me to the guest room, I entered, and all the adrenaline that I had went away. I feel like falling in a coma for one thousand years. The room was cozy and simple enough, a bed, a closet, a window, a bookshelf, a drawer and oh, good, a mirror. Finally, I can actually know how I look like. I guessed the grey fur thing, but for the rest I don’t actually know, so let’s take a good look at myself.

My mane is black good to know, it makes my name seems even more fitting. Wait. My eyes were a light grey. It seems that I don’t have a huge variety of colour. And there’s a bit coming out of the mane, I move the hair a bit to see a horn. Oh great, how did I not felt that before ?

I mean, it makes some sense, if I want to be able to use the Book, I should be able to use magic at all. It’s a bit much to me, elements just seems to appear out of nothing. Everythin here just seems so random. It’s like some cartoon bullshit, elements that you don’t feel or aknowledge until you see them.

This is all I can take for a day, I struggle a bit to go in the bed and to pull the covers, but I manage to do it eventually. Honestly, I’m still surprised I haven’t collapsed today. Reality will catch up eventually, that’s for certain, but for now, I will give my mind a rest for the moment and let the worry for tomorrow, because tomorrow is another day.