Lethe fluttered about his new loft apartment with a trio of small boxes in his arms. Unlike his friends besides the larger furniture he only had a few small personal positions. He laughed to himself thinking how long it would take the two bibliophiles to unpack and shelve all their books. He on the other hoof never read anything except the occasional newspaper. Dumping the boxes on the small dresser in the corner of the room, he carefully opened the larger of them revealing a set of ornate golden wing-blades.
“Couldn’t leave you behind, could I boys?” Lethe purred at the ancient weapon. He had acquired them on a random adventure with a pegasus friend of his who had a penchant for tomb raiding. She may have gotten a nice statue out of the escapade, but the beautiful set of pegasus battle tools was a better prize in his opinion. He splayed the wings out fully and placed them on a previously set couple of nails displaying the sparkling artifact in all its glory.
“Mines bigger than yours Daring,” he said aloud remembering the phrase when he and his companion had escaped then dungeons traps with their only prizes.
A loud series of knocks snapped him from his admiration. Hovering across the room he opened the door to be greeted with a pink earth pony bouncing up and down with an oversized pink envelope in her mouth.
“Hefro, Wanna comf ta a parfy,” she mumbled.
“Um… what?”
The pink pony took the letter out of her mouth and shoved it into his hooves. “Wanna come to a party? I already invited your friend Jotting. Oh, this place is huge. You could have a great party in here,” she said hopping around the room deftly maneuvering around the furniture boxes.
Pinkie Pie, Bearer of Laughter. Lethe said to himself immediately recognizing the mannerisms from the briefing. “So you met Jotting. He’s getting settled in then?”
Pinkie stopped and smiled. “Nope. He just had to meet Twilight, my best friend and the town librarian, and Princess Celestia’s student, and a really powerful unicorn, and the Element of Magic.”
“He had to meet all those ponies huh? Jotting hates crowds, good on him to coming out of his shell,” Lethe joked.
Pinkie stared at the hovering purple pegasus and giggled. “No silly, Twilight is all those things. That was funny though.”
“Thanks,” Lethe smiled. It was good someone appreciated his humor. “So when’s the party?”
“Eight o’clock sharp. It’s for all of Ponyville’s new friends. Oh you can meet all the people in town. Well all the ponies that show up, but for welcome parties a lot of ponies attend, more than if it’s one my Thursday parties."
“Everypony huh?” He remembered reading Pinkie’s parties ranged from foals birthday parties to drunken raves. “Is this going to be a simple get-together or a more grown up thing.”
Pinkie nodded. “Well since this is a welcome party there’s going to be plenty of cider and wine and even some honey brew. That’ll bring out all the ponies who like a more mature party,” she parodied a high class Canterlot accent on mature.
“Sounds good. By the way, don’t supposed you know a place I can get a new bed? I sorta need a new one. My last one wasn’t worth moving”
The pink pony’s smile widened to an impossible girth and she dragged the pegasus out the door. They passed a mix of colorful houses and businesses until she halted in front of the strongly named Sofas, Quills, and Stuff.
“Really?” he gave the party pony a quizzical look.
“And Stuff.” She said pointing at the end of the sign. “Beds are stuff. So are cakes, but they don’t sell food here.”
Lethe couldn’t help but to smile along with her. In Canterlot every item had a shop with few bleed overs. Here in this small burg with limited space a seemingly random assortment was much welcomed sight than the snootiness of the capital city’s business district. Pinkie greeted the shopkeeper as they entered and explained their reason for coming.
“A pegasus hmm? You’re lucky fella, we just got a new shipment of specialty cloud beds from Cloudsdale. Didn’t mean ta order em mind you, but maybe if a new fella such as yourself where ta but one and give em a good name around town I might be able to sell em a bit faster,” the elderly unicorn told him with a big salesmen smile.
Lethe’s ears perked up. He hadn’t had a cloud bed since he was a colt, but he knew the grounded versions were enchanted and expensive. “How about a reduced price if I’m going to be advertising for you.”
“Ten present off.”
“Fifty.”
“Twenty-five.”
“One-third off the price.”
“Deal.”
The two shook hooves and Lethe signed some papers to have the bed delivered later in the day. He was also talked into buy an entire living room set in the space of the paperwork making his bit saving attempts futile. Pinkie was still smiling was they left the shop.
“So I hear you’re going to be the new doctor at the hospital. Did you work at one of the huge hospitals in Canterlot?”
“I was more of a trauma surgeon than a doctor. I think my title here is something like consultant meaning I get a big important office and do no real work. I’m hoping to actually help though. I don’t like just sitting around. I love to make ponies feel better,” he gave a quick glance to his medical cutie mark.
Pinkie nodded. “Same here, but parties are my way of helping. So if you’re a doctor and your friends a doctor then why did Jotting call him THE Doctor?”
Lethe laughed at the memory of the three’s first mission together. Before that he and Hooves had separately been called Doctor as a codename during their individual missions, but while together Jotting had simply said Hooves call sign would be The Doctor and Lethe’s would be Feel Good. Lethe loved the name so much he used it on any mission and even a few club outing since.
“More to avoid confusion than anything,” he told the pink pony still bouncing alongside him. “Besides, Hooves has that ‘Doctor’s’ aura all the time. I get into the zone when working but otherwise I’m much more laid back. So I don’t mind him getting the title.”
It was Pinkie’s turn to laugh. “Yeah, if it wasn’t for your cutie mark and what Nurse Redheart told me I would have never guessed you were a doctor. Most doctors act a bit…” she pondered the right word not wanting to offend her new friend.
“Aloof,” Lethe offered.
“Yeah, aloof. Kinda above all us non doctor ponies.”
Lethe nodded. “Lots are. Hooves is. Most of the ones I know are… well grizzled is the best term I can come up with, but I learned to separate surgeon me from walking around me. If that makes any sense.”
Pinkie nodded sagely. “That’s good. I wish everyone could do that.”
“I don’t,” he said quickly sensing sadness in her voice. “It would be too hard to know if a pony is being real or if
they’re pretending. A serious pony pretending to cheerful one can harmful and the Doctor says it’s really unhealthy too. Most ponies can fake emotions for a situation, but isn’t it a lot better when you see a normally gloomy smiling and dancing at one of your parties.”
The party pony instantly brightened. “You’re right. That makes a party even better.”
“Then it’s something to work toward.”
“Right. That reminds me, I need to get ready for your guy’s party tonight. Remember eight sharp at Sugercube Corner.”
“We’ll be there.” He watched her bounce away. Her good mood affecting him and those around her. Lethe knew that the Bearer of Laughter would be a great friend in the new world void of war wounds and conspiracies.