Celestia lead Comet outside and down the steps, turning left at the bottom and coming face-to-face with the Royal Chariot, a grand throne-like carriage made of gold pulled by muscular guard pegasi. Celestia climbed onto it and Comet squeezed in next to her; the seat wasn't quite wide enough to comfortably fit two ponies, so they had to make do with the unicorn practically in the princess' lap.
“Take us to Ponyville, please,” Celestia instructed. The guards nodded. They took a running start, the carriage wobbled (making Comet uneasy) and they were off. Next stop: Ponyville.
The wind brushed through Comet's mane and tail and rushed past his face, and he found it exhilarating. He looked over the edge and watched the ground whizz by – the lush green grass and colourful flowers of the meadows; a farmhouse and the overturned soil of its land; the houses of, clearly, another village.
They finally came to rest at the edge of a small town with thatch-roof cottages and a busy market. Everyone looked around and as they saw Celestia, they bowed deeply. Once she had passed each of them, they straightened up and began to talk amongst themselves about the newcomer.
“Bless him, he looks so shy,” some pegasus cooed quietly to her friend. Comet blushed furiously and walked a little more briskly. He and Celestia turned a corner and came to the end of the street, where on the right stood a cottage exactly like the others except for its name: Truntsworth. Like the others its name was carved into a wooden sign hanging from a wooden signpost at head-height outside the gate.
“You will be living here,” Celestia declared, “it's nice and close to the library.”
“Thank you very much, princess. I'm sure I will like it.”
“If you need me, go to Twilight and ask her assistant Spike to send a letter.”
“Will do.”
And with that, Celestia turned and walked away, back to her chariot. Comet watched her leave, then turned and walked into his new house.
It was roomy in here, with a large-ish living room and other smaller utility rooms like the kitchen and the bathroom. While he was in his bedroom he took the time to mull over his new appearance in the wall mirror to the left of the bed.
He was fairly tall, with pale yellow fur and orange, light orange, gold and white-coloured mane and tail that matched his cutiemark. His eyes were a lovely amber. He looked quite handsome, actually. His mane and tail seemed to shimmer in the light, as if he had poured glitter on them. He supposed his new name fit him. Someone knocked on the door and he carefully, methodically trotted down the stairs before opening the door. It was a pink pony with no wings and no horn, but a very poofy mane and tail to compensate.
“Hi!” she greeted excitedly, “You're the new guy, right?”
“Uh, yeah,” Comet replied, “can I help you?”
“I am Pinkie Pie, Party Planner Extraordinaire! I'm here to welcome you to Ponyville on behalf of everypony here.”
“Thank you,” Comet said, smiling. Pinkie was quite an excitable pony, that was for sure.
“In fact, Twilight has agreed to have a housewarming party in the library just for you! Come on, let's go!”
There was no debating the matter. Pinkie pushed him from behind, forcing him in the direction of the library. Mercifully it was rather close, it was just round the corner – but his rear felt rather sore after being forced along the ground like that. He knocked on the door and, after a moment of silence, decided to let himself in.
It was dark in here. He looked around for a lightswitch, but before he could move anywhere the light flicked on and he was confronted with a large crowd of ponies.
“Surprise!” they cheered, causing Comet to jump in alarm.
“Thank you, everybody,” he remarked loudly so that they could all hear, “I feel very welcome already.”
“Everybody?” a unicorn asked, “but... huh?”
Comet frowned. What was so confusing about that? Did she not know the definition of everybody? But the way he said it – everybody – that had implied it was the second half of the word he didn't quite get.
… I'm here to welcome you to Ponyville on behalf of everypony here.
Comet cleared his throat and grinned nervously.
“Sorry – slip of the tongue. I meant everypony.”
A purple unicorn with deeper purple hair and a magena sparkle for a cutiemark approached him and shook his hoof.
“Nice to meet you, Comet,” she greeted, “my name's Twilight Sparkle. I've heard so much about you, it's all so interesting! I'd like you to meet my friends. They're over there.”
Comet was lead to a group of five other ponies, one of whom was Pinkie Pie. The other four were a white unicorn with curled purple hair and light blue eyeshadow; a yellow pegasus with long pink hair; an orange earth pony with nondescript blonde hair and a cowboy hat; and a blue pegasus with rainbow-striped hair.
“This is Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Girls, this is Comet Trail.”
“Nice to meet you all,” Comet said. They replied with many variants of the theme of 'hi'.
“I love your cutiemark,” the white unicorn, Rarity, commented, looking at his comet cutiemark.
“Thanks. Cool, isn't it? Celestia gave it to me. My talent's magic.”
“Celestia gave you that cutiemark?” Rarity gasped, “You should feel honoured! It's not every day a pony is given a cutiemark by royalty!”
“Your talent's magic?” Twilight squeaked cheerfully, “Oh, this is wonderful! I'll teach you everything I know –”
“Take my advice,” Rainbow Dash cut in, “don't let her. She's a walking library.”
“Don't listen to her,” Applejack sighed, “she's still a little upset after Twilight didn't give her the second ticket to the Gala.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes and did a nonchalant loop in the air. Rarity cantered over to the punch stall and poured herself and presumably Comet a goblet. Comet used his magic to take hold of the drink and keep it just in front of him, nodding in thanks.
“Don't keep him all to yourselves!” a male pegasus called irritably from the crowd, “I bet he wants a few more than 6 friends.”
“We'll be finished in a bit, don't worry,” Twilight told him. She turned towards the stairs leading up to the second floor.
“Spike!” she called, “Come down and meet our new friend!”
“He likes readin' his comics when the library's taken up by a party,” Applejack whispered to Comet. He chuckled.
“I like to do the same now and then.”
A small, bipedal purple dragon with green spines and a cream underbelly hopped down the stairs and made his way over. He really was quite small, about shoulder-height with Comet. He shook his hoof.
“Hey there,” the dragon said, “I'm Spike. Twilight's number 1 assistant.”
“Charmed,” Comet replied, “Comet Trail. Professional new guy. Celestia tells me if I need her I can just ask you to take a note...?”
“Oh, yeah, that's my main job. Faster than mail.”
Comet frowned. But surely there was no other way of transporting letters? He was about to enquire when Spike burped, sending green flames and a roll of parchment onto the floor. Comet picked it up with his magic and gave a questioning look to Twilight, who nodded her consent. He opened the letter.
Dear Twilight –
“Oh, it's for you,” Comet said, handing her the scroll. She read it then dashed out, clearly in a rush to get wherever she needed to go.
“She's off to do some magicky thing, I bet,” Pinkie remarked, rubbing her chin contemplatively with her hoof.
The rest of the party was spent talking to ponies other than the main 6 and Spike. Ponyville was quite an interesting place, with ponies of all shapes, sizes and talents in such a small square-area. He met a pony whose talent was potion-making and alchemy, who was certainly good at his craft.
After a good amount of punch and a lot of cupcakes, hay burgers and the like, it was getting late. Comet followed the main 6 out, talking to them some more.
“There's the annual Gala coming up in a few weeks,” Rarity told him, “perhaps you could come by my Boutique tomorrow and I could tailor you some fabulous new clothes to go in.”
“That sounds lovely,” Comet agreed.
“And you could always visit the Apple Farm for some apples and apple-based products,” Applejack suggested, “and to meet my folks.”
“Sure.”
“Alright, see ya later!” Rainbow called, waving, as they each parted ways.
* * *
Comet drew the bed covers back and hopped into bed, then wondered how on Earth ponies slept. His normal way of sleeping felt too uncomfortable, so he tried hooking his legs under him and sleeping like a cat, but he found that he was the wrong way round in the covers. He turned around and slept for hours on end like that. He looked largely like a yellow slug with hair.
* * *
The next morning was bright and warm, and the sun's rays felt lovely on his cheeks as he opened his eyes, discovering that he had gone back to sleeping like he usually did. He sighed and got up, stretching every possible muscle, then trotted downstairs to get himself some breakfast. He then realised that he had forgotten to get any groceries, so he went to the local café for a warm toasted bagel and hay.
As he promised, he then cantered over to Rarity's Boutique, a fancy tent-like structure with ornate decorations inside and out. He found Rarity working on a dress in one corner of the shop, and when he cleared his throat she took a moment to turn around and realise who it was.
“Ah! Just the pony. Come over to the mirror and I'll measure you up.”
“Do I have to pay you, or...?”
“Oh, no, darling! This first one's on me. You will have to pay next time, though, yes.”
Just as well, because he hadn't brought any money with him. In fact he didn't have any money to begin with – or at least in the accepted currency of Equestria, whatever it was. Bits, was it? He'd overheard as such from a pair of shoppers yesterday evening. Bits and jewels, he thought. Ooh, that sounded like a nice catchphrase.
“How long does it normally take you to make a standard dress?” he asked.
“Define 'standard', dear.”
“For example, a plain white dress, no decorations, no fancy stuff.”
“A few minutes. Dressmaking and fashion is my talent, you see, and magic helps me be that little bit faster.”
“You must earn a lot of money for being so quick and so meticulous, then.”
Rarity 'mmm'ed in response, flashing her eyebrows up for a moment, as if to say that she couldn't really answer that but she might as well give him a good indication. She levitated a tape measure, a pin cushion (with pins) and a roll of string from some compartment under the stool Comet stood on. She measured him and attached a length of string to a particular portion of his body, then repeated until he was divided up into sections. Rarity then took a roll of bright orange fabric and compared it to his side, nodding and getting straight to work.
It was only a couple of minutes before she had finished a lovely waistcoat and crisp white shirt. She helped him into the new clothes then frowned, looking at him from all angles.
“No, no, that won't do. A little too gaudy.”
She used the pattern she had made for the orange waistcoat to make a black one, then sewed some orange gemstones as buttons onto the front. She put this new waistcoat over the top of the shirt, which clearly she had deemed acceptable.
“Ah, yes, the citrine gems really bring out your eye colour. Yes, that'll do nicely.”
“This looks fantastic, thank you very much.”
“No problem at all, darling. Now, try not to get it soiled before the Gala!”
She took a sip from a glass of water she had placed on a side table.
“Oh, yeah, I've been meaning to ask,” Comet said, “what exactly is the Gala?”
Rarity almost choked on her drink. She coughed and spluttered for a bit then composed herself, correcting her frazzled mane.
“My darling Comet! The Grand Galloping Gala is only the most stupendously splendid event you will ever participate in! The lights, the sounds, the garden, the ponies! The sophistication! Goodness gracious, how have you never heard of it?”
Comet shrugged. It wasn't so much a shrug as it was a slight bob.
“In fact, to prove it is so delightful, I will take you there on my honour. My plus-one, if you will.”
“Oh, thank you! You're so kind.”
“Oh, no, that's Fluttershy. I'm just generous.”