//------------------------------//
// Welcome To Ponyville, Mr. Pines 
// Story: Written In The Stars 
// by The Phantom Joker 
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As Dipper walked through the city of Ponyville, he had never felt more out of place in his life. True, he was surrounded by other humans, but these beings were not humans as he’d ever known them back in his dimension.

Just like that painfully shy girl he’d met back at Daisy Stream, some of this town’s citizens had colorful wings growing out of their back, and unless Dipper’s eyes were deceiving him, it appeared as though they were using those wings to take to the skies and actually move clouds around.

Closer to the ground, Dipper saw that there were people who at first glance appeared to be more like the people he was used to seeing back home, but on closer inspection actually seemed to be quite strong as they pushed around heavy carts full of apples, oranges, and various other fruits, in addition to what appeared to be fresh fish, beef, and other types of meat.

Among them were people who Dipper noticed had some of supernatural abilities, judging by the way their eyes became a solid, glowing color, ranging anywhere from baby blue to magenta, and their purchases floated through the air or moved strollers or pretty much anything.

As Dipper continued his journey through town, he was bowled over by something very pink and very fast.

As Dipper rubbed his head and got up, he felt something help him up sharply to his feet. "Omigosh! I'm so sorry! Are you alright. I normally don't need to see where I'm going all the time because I know this road like the back of my hand and I know everyone and what they're doing and where their going and..." Dipper was barely able to keep up with the girl's words until she stopped. Suddenly, she was behind him, then on his right, then, somehow, hanging above him. "Wait a minute... that's why I bumped into you! You're new here, aren't you?!"

"Um, yeah," Dipper replied, uncertainly.

"Oh. My. GOODNESS! This is great! I mean, not the slamming into you part, I mean that I bumped into someone new just as I was getting new party supplies!"

"Uh... and?"

"And I get to use them to throw you a "Welcome to Ponyville" party! It's gonna be amazing! There's gonna be cake, and balloons, and cake, and punch, and cake..." She continued listing things, although cake was probably the main part of this list.

"Wait, party? Look, sorry, but I'm kind of in a hurry. I won't be able to stay long enough for a party. I don't have time."

Suddenly, the girl's cotton candy hair went flatter than a pancake. "You... You don't want me to throw you a party?"

"Look, I just don't think I can-"

"You don't like my parties?" Tears began to well up in her large cerulean eyes.

"Um, look, please don't..." Too late. The eyes. The cuteness factor in the eyes alone could have leveled the entire town in mere seconds. Dipper groaned, fighting off the guilt and the sadness and... "Okay, okay! Fine! Throw the party! Just stop with the eyes!"

The girl's hair puffed up again in an instant. "Really?" She gasped. "You won't be disappointed!" She picked up the many boxes she was carrying and shot off, leaving a trail of dust and a surprised Dipper.

"Wait, what just happened?"

“Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie happened.”

Dipper turned around to find a girl around his age with dark blue hair with a magenta stripe in it wearing a purple hoodie with a lavender shirt underneath, blue jeans, and purple and white sneakers. Standing by her was a boy of just around thirteen with green hair wearing a purple jacket, a green shirt, black jeans with a belt, and purple and green sneakers.

“Pinkie Pie?” asked Dipper, confused.

“Yes, Pinkie Pie. And, if I just heard her correctly, I’m guessing that you’re the new arrival that Fluttershy told me about… Dipper, right?” the girl asked.

“Yes, but who’s Flutter… oh, so that’s that winged girl’s name! I could hardly hear her, her voice was so quiet… but, uh, who are you?” asked Dipper.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle. This is my assistant, Spike,” said Twilight, jerking her head over at the newly turned teenager. “Now, we’ve got a couple of hours before Pinkie Pie finishes setting up for your party, and if you don’t mind, I’ve got a couple of questions I’d like to ask you.”

"You have questions? I'm the new guy here."

Twilight thought for a moment. "Okay. What do you want to know?"

"Well for starters, what did she do to me?" he asked, clutching his chest. "It felt like my heart would rip itself out if I didn't let her throw a party. Was it some kind of magic spell?"

Twilight chuckled. "No. That's just her. She did the thing with the eyes?" Dipper nodded. "Yeah. She has a way of convincing you into saying yes. It's kinda her thing to throw a party for any newcomers to the town."

"I see. So this isn't new?"

"Nope. Now I get to ask a question. Where are you from?"

"Well I came from a town called Gravity Falls. It's... pretty far from here."

"I've never heard of this place. Where exactly is it?"

"Um... That's kind of hard to explain, especially considering I have no idea how I got here. I can't exactly give you a very precise Cardinal direction."

"I see." She rubbed her chin in thought. "Well, might I ask what you are planning to do here?"

He opened his mouth to answer but came up short, he had no idea what he was going to do save for the party. "I honestly have no idea, I just thought I'd find something that could help me put together what's been happening to me recently."

This peaked Twilight's curiosity. "It must have been a lot if you said it like that. If you don't mind, would you come with me to my library where we can continue this conversation in private?"

Dipper shrugged and began following her and Spike to a large oak tree with a door and windows.

“That’s the library? A giant tree house?” asked Dipper, who seemed somewhat interested by the concept.

“Yes, that’s the Golden Oaks Library,” said Twilight.

“Yep, that’s home sweet home,” said Spike. Dipper hummed to himself as they entered, taking in every detail of the interior. The shelves carved into the walls, the tree stump table in the centre and the wooden stairs leading up to the living areas.

"With all the stuff I've been through I'm actually surprised by this, never would I have thought someone could carve a home or business into a tree like this." He mumbled to himself as Twilight's eyes started glowing and two chairs floated over to them.

“Okay, Dipper, have a seat, and we’ll see if we can’t get to the bottom of this and figure out what’s happened to you. Now, what’s the last thing you remember?” asked Twilight while Spike grabbed a notebook, a quill, and a jar of ink.

“Uh… well… the last thing I remember was that me and my twin sister were trying to get away from… something, so we hid in the basement. Then, the thing we were trying to get away from caught up with us, and the next thing I know, I wake up next to a river in a completely unfamiliar land,” said Dipper.

"Do you remember what it was you were trying get away from?" asked Twilight.

Dipper shivered. "Believe me you don't want the details. Let's just say he's not from anywhere either of us are familiar with and he can do things you don't even want to think about."

"Wow. I haven't heard of anything that bad since..." Twilight trailed off. "Anyway, do you remember anything else? Any details that could explain how you wound up here?"

"I remember a light and a giant upside-down triangle," Dipper said. "But like I said, we were running for our lives."

"And... your sister?" Twilight asked hesitantly.

Dipper's heart sank. "She... didn't make it. I'm not even sure if she's still alive. But knowing what we were running from, I fear the worst."

Twilight felt his sadness. It was so real it was almost tangible. "I'm... I'm so sorry."

"It's the only reason I can think of why I'm here. If I can find help and get back home, there may be a chance for us to stop the madness that's destroying my home!"

Twilight stopped writing. "Well, unless I know the specifics, I'm not sure what to do. Neither of us even knows if anything from around here will even help."

"Well, if there's a chance that something here can help me, I'll take it," said Dipper. "Nothing in my town is very good with dealing with magic and the only people who could have helped have already met the monster. People here seem to know a lot about magic."

"Magic is a part of daily lives here," said Twilight. "You don't have magic in your town?"

"Not exactly. We have a lot of magic artifacts and creatures, but as far as I can tell, no one can actually levitate stuff with their minds or lift a tree with one hand... unless you count Manly Dan," he added under his breath. "But here, it's like a normal thing."

"It is," said Twilight. "People here can use different types of magic depending on their race. Gaians have what we call Strength of the Earth. As suggested, they have abnormal strength to various degrees. Flyers like Fluttershy have Wings of the Pegasi, which lets them fly and control the weather and forces of nature in general. Finally, Spellcasters like myself can manipulate magic energy to cast a variety of spells, as long as we know the mechanics of the spell we're casting."

"I see. And the pink girl..."

"Pinkie? She's a Gaian."

"Guessed so. Even my sister couldn't tackle me with that much force."

"Your sister, what was she like?"

Dipper thought for a moment about all their summers in Gravity Falls. "She's... Well, I'm not sure where to start. Pinkie, was it? She almost reminds me of her: hyperactive, optimistic, and always finding a way to drag me into one of her big ideas."

Twilight smiled. "She sounds nice."

"Yeah. I mean, sure she can be a little..." Dipper searched for a word. "... Wild, I guess. Sometimes actually kind of annoying. But she's still my sister. She's done a lot for me. She's the reason I'm still alive."

Twilight dropped the notepad and placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry. If there's any way any of us can help you, we'd do it in a heartbeat."

Dipper smiled back. "Thanks."

“Now, then, I suppose we’d better get ready for Pinkie’s party. It’s been awhile since she’s thrown a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party, so I don’t know what to expect,” said Twilight, standing up along with Dipper and Spike.

“Well, I guess we’ll find out when we get there, won’t we?” said Dipper.

Spike snickered. “Oh, man, you have NO idea what you’re in for!”

“Oh, trust me… erm…”

“Spike.”

“Spike, right. Anyways, trust me. I’ve been through much, much worse than a simple party. I’m sure I can handle it.” Ah, famous last words. The group opened the front door and began walking towards... "Hey, did Pinkie Pie even tell us where the party was being held?"

Twilight stopped and facepalmed. "No, but it's most likely at Sugarcube Corner, the local bakery. We'll try looking there first, if she's not there then I'm sure she'll show up out of nowhere and drag us to it." Dipper nodded and they walked through the city until they were in front of a large building made entirely out of various kinds of sweets.

"Ok, I've seen a lot of weird stuff in my time but this takes the cake, pun not intended."

Twilight giggled at Dipper’s expression as he took in the details of the bakery. "Yeah, I still can't figure out how the place stays fresh, best guess is magic."

"Yeah, with magic you ain't gotta explain anything." They both shared a laugh before walking into the bakery.