"...Well, that sure raises a lot more questions than it answers, doesn't it?"
Scarlet, Tank, and Mirielle found themselves standing in the moonlight's shadow beneath a well-decorated oak tree, past which ponies of every size and color imaginable shuffled on their way toward a large cylindrical building in the center of town. Mirielle smiled as she watched them wander by, waving at any who happened to glance in her direction.
Scarlet rubbed the back of her neck. "Quite so. I think this all but confirms it..."
Tank quirked an eyebrow. "Care to share with the class?"
Scarlet's gaze turned skyward. "Before I do, have you had a look at the moon?"
"Huh? No, I was - oookay, that's... not normal," Tank declared. "Is that actually supposed to be the moon? It looks way too solid, and there's some kind of pattern on the surface that I can't quite make out..."
Scarlet nodded. "An unfamiliar landscape featuring an apparent civilization of sentient ponies, all under the light of a foreign moon... I can only conclude that we are no longer anywhere on Nexus."
Mirielle turned to stare incredulously at Scarlet.
"What." Tank merely blinked, unsure of how else to react. "Okay, but that's ridiculous though. We're nowhere near that level of technology, and even if we were, who would just drop three random people on another world for no apparent reason? And that's even ignoring the whole... pony thing." He lifted a forehoof and stared at it to illustrate the point.
Scarlet shook her head slowly and glanced over at Mirielle, who had resumed waving to the townsfolk. "I can offer no insight into how it happened, but I have little doubt that we are much further from home than I initially suspected."
Tank sighed. "Right... well, I guess that means our next order of business ought to be - "
"GASP"
Startled by the sudden loud voice, the three whirled around to find an unfamiliar pink pony staring at them. Her mane was tall and poofy in untidy yet consistent curls, and she seemed to be positively beaming, as though she had seen nothing more delightful that evening than the three of them awkwardly gathered there beneath the tree.
"Omigosh omigosh omigosh! More new ponies!" She danced in place excitedly at this discovery, but soon came to a halt, her grand smile rapidly degrading into a frown. "Aww, but there isn't enough time before the Summer Sun Celebration for another welcoming party..." As though on a toggle switch, she perked back up almost immediately afterward. "I know! You'll just have to come with us for now, and we'll have the party after!" She punctuated this declaration with another beaming grin, leaning so far forward that she nearly bumped noses with them.
The three companions simply stared for a moment, entirely unsure of how to react to so outlandish a greeting. Thankfully, they were spared the trouble of doing so by the appearance of a second pony, emerging from a doorway in the trunk of the tree. This one was purple, her very neatly kept mane parted in the front by a horn not much unlike Scarlet's, and a small reptilian-looking creature sitting perched on her back.
"Sigh... You seriously do this to everypony, don't you?" The purple pony's horn glowed softly for a moment, resulting in the door shutting behind her. "If they are new in town, I'm sure they're only staying for the Summer Sun Celebration before getting on their way, so there's no need to make such a fuss."
"Er...?" Scarlet looked confused for a moment, prompting Mirielle to nudge her with a hoof. "Ah, yes, of course! We came a long way to join in on the festivities."
The pink one seemed satisfied with this, and began bouncing up and down as though her legs were made of elastic. "Great! My name's Pinkie Pie! And this here is Twilight Sparkle. She's new in town, just like you! I bet we're all gonna be really good friends!"
"And I'm Spike!" The small reptile on Twilight's back stood up, pointing at himself with his thumb.
"And he's Spike!" Pinkie echoed the introduction for good measure. "So what are your names?"
Despite still being somewhat taken aback by the unorthodox introduction, Tank cleared his throat. "Right, uh. My name is Ale-mmph." Before he could finish, Scarlet had planted her hoof directly over his mouth.
"Would you pardon us for just a moment, please?" Scarlet gave a pleasant smile before reeling Tank and Mirielle close enough to whisper, turning away from their new acquaintances for a moment. "I would not advise revealing our identities here. We ought to maintain a low profile to avoid arousing suspicion or disrupting local affairs until we have a better working knowledge of this world."
Even in a whisper, the disdain in Tank's voice was clearly audible. "So you want us to come up with names that'll blend in with 'Pinkie' and 'Sparkle' over there, is that it?" Scarlet nodded, and the three of them turned back around.
"Ah, apologies. Now then, my name is, er..." Scarlet paused for a moment, struggling for whatever inspiration she could find. "Scarlet... Star...beam. Yes. And this is, ah..." She stared at Tank for a moment. "Tank... Buster."
Tank shrugged. "It's as good a name as any, I guess."
Scarlet nodded and turned to Mirielle, happily floating beside her. "And we also have, ah..."
Tank blurted out the first thing to come to mind. "Waterwing!"
Mirielle's smile faded, her wingbeats gradually slowing and lowering her back to the ground. Once landed, she fixed Tank with a blank stare. In response, he offered her a shrug and as disarming a smile as he could manage.
Twilight gave another impatient sigh. "There, we're all nice and introduced. Now can we get moving? We're going to be late."
Pinkie took the lead, bouncing along happily with Tank and Mirielle close behind.
Tank sighed once again and lowered his voice. "Look, I'm sorry if you're upset. It was just the first thing I thought of, since we couldn't really play off your actual name. Plus, water wings are for keeping people safe, and that's kinda your job too, so it seemed fitting enough..."
Mirielle smiled and briefly gave Tank's neck a gentle nuzzle.
Scarlet, meanwhile, noticed Twilight behind her staring rather intently at the moon and slowed a little to let her catch up. "Miss Sparkle, was it? Is something the matter?"
Twilight gave her an oddly meaningful look. "I guess we're going to find out."