Getting Used to It

by Norad2

They Never See It Coming

The time was late afternoon and the weather was rather pleasant, considering the heat of summer had not yet yielded to Autumn. Travel Quill pulled his modest supply cart along the road entering Ponyville from the West, rather on the weary side from his travels. Despite the relatively cool temperature, there was sweat on his midnight blue coat and white mane and tail.

As Travel Quill got closer he noticed a wooden sign on the left side of the road with large print stating that, upon passing by said sign, one would officially be within the town limits. A not inconsiderable number of unofficial messages were also scrawled around the edges, and Travel stopped in front of the sign to read them.

Some of them were a bit concerning. In particular were three specific messages that seemed to play off each other and read, “We’re all a little crazy here,” “You’ll get used to it,” and “The best way to survive is with friends.”

On the right side of the road, a little ways behind the sign, a lone unicorn guard leaned against the wall of a lone Ponyville guard post, who, unbeknownst to Travel, was waiting for the show to start. Mind you, this unicorn was not a royal guard, but rather one of the dozen or so members of Ponyville’s own local town guard who spent most of their time watching the roads and seeing to ponies making their way into Ponyville. Thus his natural features, silver grey coat, and scarlet mane and tail were visible under the decidedly boring, non-enchanted metal armor.

After a few moments of indecision, Travel decided it was time to get moving again. He was steps away from crossing that invisible line into Ponyville. The unicorn guard counted down in his head.

Three.

Something moved in Travel’s cart that most certainly had not been there a second ago.

Two.

CONFETTI IN THE AIR! NOISE MAKER BLOWING! Deep breath! Right on schedule.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s yo-“

“SWEET CELESTIA’S FLAMING FEATHERS!”

“-ur name?! You’re definitely new to Ponyville I know be-“

“WHERE DID YOU COME FROM!?!”

“-cause if you were you wouldn’t have asked me that just now and besides I know every pony in Ponyville and ev-“

“HOW DID YOU GET INTO THAT SUITCASE!?!”

“-ery pony in Ponyville knows me! Rrrrrright, Warden ?” said Pinkie Pie as she climbed out of the cart, came alongside
Warden, and exchanged a quick hoof-bump with him.

“How did you unlock it from the inside?!” Travel managed to say in a small, strained voice.

“And I definitely don’t know you so what’s your name? I need to know so I can put it on the banner for your ‘We’re so glad you decided to move to Ponyville even though it was just attacked by Meany-lord Tirek and that was the last straw for some ponies!’ party”

“Bwuh, uh, wuh, zz-huh? Name?” said Travel as he attempted to gather himself and put a stopper in his leaking sanity, having just witnessed at least one physical impossibly, though maybe more – he didn’t trust his brain to count any higher right now.

In the pony before him was a flame that could not be extinguished, Laughter given Form. Indomitable joy, like a tangible force, poured from the pink (ninja?) party pony in waves. Cotton candy curls bobbed as she hopped up and down in place, causing Travel’s own aquamarine eyes to bounce up and down in his head. A huge smile was radiant upon her face as she waited now for his answer.

“Travel. Travel Quill, uh, is my, uh, name, um, yeah,” Travel strung together.

“Well, great to meet ‘cha, Travel Quill! I just love meeting new ponies! And griffons and zebras and there was this one time when we met this group of breezies trying to get back to their home, and one of them was kinda mean to the others but that was because they needed to get home soon or they would be locked out FOREVER!” Pinkie finished dramatically, whilst standing on her hind legs and waving her forelegs menacingly at him.

She seemed about to continue, but suddenly gasped in a rather spectacular fashion and put her forelegs to her head.
“Oh no! I almost forgot! The first round of cupcakes for your party should be done by now! I have to get them before they burn!” she exclaimed, before promptly speeding off into town.

In her place was a small piece of paper that slowly floated down to the ground. Travel picked up the pamphlet with his magic and brought it up to his eyes. On this piece of paper were the directions to a place called Sugarcube Corner and a time of 7:00pm. The only other thing the paper said was “YOU’RE INVITED TO YOUR PARTY!”

“Wait, I’m invited to my party? Well of course, if it’s my part- wait ‘my party?’” said Travel with some confusion as he began to put together the rapid-fire pieces of what Pinkie Pie had said to him.

A party to celebrate my move to Ponyville. Which nopony, but nopony, in Ponyville knows about. For which Pinkie Pie had cupcakes already baking before she miraculously performed her impossible escape from one of my suitcases and met me for the first time. Which either meant she was already inside my suitcase… but surely that’s not possi-

“Don’t think about it too hard,” the guard, Warden, spoke up for the first time in a smooth, roguish voice. His accent marked him as somepony not originally from the area. Trottingham perhaps, but maybe not. “In fact, for newcomers, I would recommend starting off safe and not thinking about it at all. A twitch probably tipped her off.”

“What? A twi- right don't think about it... er, so you know her, um, Pinkie Pie?”

Warden nodded, his expression that of a knowing smile. “Yes Pinkie Pie, the Bearer of the Element of Laughter. Well, more accurately I know about her, but then, how much does anypony really know, about Pinkie Pie.”

“Bearer? Her?”

“This guard tells no lie.”

“That pony played a part in the restoration of –wait did you just speak in rhyme?”

“So I did, but it wasn't my intention. Speaking in verse is the talent of another, why?”

“Oh, well, I’m a writer, I work with words and so, I guess I… have an ear for stuff like that. And sometimes I sorta get distracted by random things. Anyway, so she –Pinkie Pie –is one of the friends of Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

“Indeed she is. You sound rather shocked, not that your reaction is uncommon, I imagine.”

“It seems a bit cliche to say she’s not what I expected from an Element Bearer.”

“That it does. So let me tell you what you can expect of her. Nopony can do what Pinkie Pie can do. Nopony knows how Pinkie Pie does what she does. And nopony throws a party quite like Pinkie Pie,” Warden asserted. The way his voice sounded made him seem like he was talking in a permanently sly or sarcastic manner, but despite this, Warden was absolutely serious.

“You.. you make her sound almost larger than life,” noted Travel with cautious curiosity.

“Well, I do have a penchant for the dramatic. The other town guards say I’m a bit eccentric, like that Doctor fellow. Not intentionally, mind you, it’s just that some sometimes I say something I feel is completely reasonable, and everypony else looks at me like they’re surprised or something,” Warden explained.

Warden rubbed a hoof along the back of his neck and managed to look sheepish. “When it comes down to it, they’re ponies just like you and me, crazy quirks included. At the same time though, like everypony that’s been here long enough, I know that each of those six friends is special, make no mistake. More than that, they've proven that, together, they’re unstoppable.”

“Wow… so, I should probably go to this party then?”

“Definitely.”

Author's Note:

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, VIETNAM!!!

...
Er, wait no, I mean hello to any good sirs or madams that have just finished reading this little drabble! Thank you for reading (or skimming) through this piece. This is the second fanfiction I have ever written, and my very first pony story.

This story came from one little idea that wouldn't go away, so I decided to make it my Fimfiction debut. My name is not [insert great classical author here] or even [insert renowned pony author here], but I've been told I can write fairly well when I put my mind to it.

So stick around: I might surprise you with something decent, sometime down the road!

Maybe. Possibly.

It could happen...

Comments

[Ri2]

That poor stallion. He has no idea what he's gotten himself into.