//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: The Boutique and the Party // Story: Magical Mission: Portal to a New Home // by Player 4 //------------------------------// ... I mean, she is right. I can't possibly keep wearing the same clothes forever. Eventually I'd feel like straight-up dirt, and I don't think many ponies would want to interact with someone who looks like that, even if it was a very friendly and understanding society. I know perfectly well that having more than one set of clothes is more important than avoiding a bit of temporary embarassment. But I still really, really don't want to deal with the embarrassment! It's like I'm fighting a battle when that battle shouldn't exist. It's incredibly obvious which side is correct, but the incorrect side somehow succeeds at keeping itself alive. As my mind brings itself back to this ordeal, it occupies itself with it completely, and I stall my walking. "Mmm... I don't think I can do it, though.", I say in response to Applejack. She notices, and pauses her own journey to walk up close to me and do the speciality she has been expertly handing out these past two days. "Ah know it won't be easy, pardner.", she says, looking at me with kind eyes. "This here cultural difference we've got will create some discomfort. But here's something ah know; the sooner you get it over with, the sooner the embarrassment will be over with too." Oh yes, there is that! Can't argue there. Applejack almost instantly shifts my thinking; that's probably the nail in the coffin here. She's absolutely right; consistently putting off this meeting with Rarity wouldn't get rid of the embarrassment; it would just delay it. Again, I need clothes. Better to go ahead and get it knocked out. "You know what, AJ, you're right. Let's just go and do it.", I say, picking back up my speed. No need to add more words there; my acknowledgement that she was right and more-enthusiastic attitude should speak for themselves. "Yup! You've got it; pardner.", Applejack says, reassuringhly. "And remember what we were talkin' about before; Rarity ain't no stranger to discomfort, even if this one is a bit different. She knows real well how to handle this kind of thang." That's also true! Now that I think of it, if I had multiple options on who carry out this business with, I would choose Rarity without thinking twice. I know her well enough from the show that I already feel like I can tell her about some things. Through seeing her on my screen, she's not a total stranger to me. If that makes sense. I, without any hesitation now, decide to take the plunge and head back inside town, towards the famous boutique. On our way, the social environment in Ponyville has changed a good bit. With the lunch rush now being over, the once-busy streets had cleared out. Ponies had gone back to work. Those that were still outside, though, continued to happily wave to me as I walked by. Again, the amount of comfort they had with having a brand new species roaming around town, on their first day of seeing me, was just astonishing. I still couldn't process it. And hey, that's another reason to not be so worried about the appointment with Rarity. Not a single pony has been scared of me so far, and I've met plenty of them. Why would this time be any different? Speaking of which, we have arrived. At the combined home and business building of Rarity - Carousel Boutique. "Let's check the door and see if Rarity's out or anythin'.", Applejack said. I agree to do the same. We walk up, and no "out" notice is present. So we open the door, causing the boutique's signature bell to ring, and this time, we didn't even bother having me wait outside for a bit. I was getting tired of doing that, in all honesty. Rarity was to be the first pony who would get a straight-away surprise. The fashion mare was currently upstairs, but came down as soon as she heard the bell ring, currently having no other clients or being busy with anything else. I'll count myself lucky on that part. "Good afternoon customers.", Rarity says in her elegant voice. She looks over at the door to find out who was in her shop today. 'Oh! It's you, Applejack, and...", Rarity pauses. Applejack makes sure no dead silence occurs. "Your eyes ain't deceiving ya.", she says to Rarity. "We've got a human in Equestria. This is Player 4." "Hi Rarity. I'm familiar with your show, and a big fan of it, that's how I know your name and why I'm here.", I say, holding my right hand out to her. Now how many times have I said that? Well, even if this explanation was getting old in that regard, it clearly still had its effectiveness, as, like everypony else, Rarity instantly drops all of her suspicion and confusion. "Okay. Well, hello, Player 4.", Rarity says, shaking my hand. I, with the embarrassment being fully present, decide to cede the explanation for our appearance at the boutique to Applejack, who, despite the lack of talking from me about this, notices it and acts accordingly right away. Did she already have it planned? "He's come here not only to meet ya, but also to get some clothin'. Ya see, he's been wearin' those the last full day and a half.", Applejack says. Well, here we go. It's out of the bag, and I'm the one getting the clothes, so confirmation from me needs to happen. I use the power of knowing I need this, to trusting that I'm in good hooves, to push me through. "Yeah.", I say to Rarity, clearly showing how I was feeling with both my voice and body language. "That is indeed what I am here for. So, I know that you ponies have heard of humans before, so would you, by any chance, know what we wear?" Oh yeah. There's also that! "Yes, I do.", Rarity says. "And I take it you have more strict modesty?" "Yep.", I say, guessing that my cheeks must be red right now. "It's just a cultural difference, I'll put it that way. Humans don't feel right without clothes on." "That is perfectly alright.", Rarity says. "We here in Ponyville always strive to make sure everyone is comfortable. And tell you what, P4, yes, I do already know about a human's clothing set! You don't need to give out any info at all. All that is needed is for me to to take your measurements." "Sounds good.", I say, walking over to the stand. I hop onto said stand, with its purple color. So things were going really well here! Rarity completely passed over the most embarrassing question; she needed no more info other than "cultural difference." And even among the multitude of other ponies I've met, so far, nopony has asked me why I can't just go naked like them. At least for now, that's lucky! Potential problems over, though? Erm, not quite. I had to stand completely stick-still here, unless Rarity were to ask me to move. What if I got an itch, for example? Well, that didn't happen. The process didn't take very long at all, and it went extremely well. It couldn't have gone on any more than a minute, and Rarity encountered no problems. With the process finished, she then told me that the only next step on my part was to wait. I'd have a fresh batch of clothes for me on the specified date for me to return. Well, that sure went better than I expected... Although, that is true of a lot of things we worry about, myself included. And yep, it has manifested before. What do you know, anxiety being wrong. Shocker, right? After the smooth conclusion of that period, Rarity checks the time, and picks up the idea to ask of me what almost everypony else whom I've talked to has been asking. (Not that it's a bad thing; it just clutters up my schedule a bit.) "Player 4, do you have anything else on your schedule today?", Rarity says. "Yes.", I respond. "In fact, Pinkie Pie is hosting a welcome party for me at 17:20, will you be there?" "Sure! I love Pinkie Pie's welcome parties.", she says. Rarity sees gold in this opportunity she has; with today not being busy, she can easily make it to this fun event. For once, there are no dress deadlines or the like getting in the way of it. But then, she also notices another golden opportunity, as in, gold inside of this gold. "But it's only 15:00 right now, so there's still plenty of time for you and Applejack to stay out here for a while!", she exclaims. "I get to have both! Are you two available for that?" "Not at all!", Applejack says happily. "We ain't got nothin' else planned." "Nope, we sure don't!", I say. "The next scheduled event is the welcome party. So yes, we can hang with you for the time being!" "Splendid!", Rarity says. "Just follow me and I'll get you two seated." Rarity was really lucky here! A rare day for her where she has little amounts of work to do coincided with the day I was to have my welcome party! I wonder how likely that was! Applejack and I giving Rarity the first part of this amazing time, we do as she says, stepping up through a purple-colored staircase tunnel and finding ourselves into a porcelain-white livingroom, moving from the business area of the boutique to the residential area. The similarly-colored mare leads us over to a small table area next to a window, an area of her house I didn't know existed. The three of us take our seats and spend a good time chatting with her, mostly catching up on what's been happening with me and the like. After all, I am the new one here. As part of that, I told Rarity the story of how I almost ended up going into a running around and screaming fit when I first arrived here, which gave her the giggles. Something you don't see a lot from her. Applejack also took time to mention how I've been put in good care at their farm; how I have a guest barn and the like. Rarity's mind did not gloss over her friend's hospitable nature, not one bit. "This is why you are such a good friend to have, Applejack.", Rarity says. This sentence made Applejack blush. I don't blame her, it is hard to take a compliment seriously. By the way, the existence of this three-member conversation with Rarity also means something: I won't have to add another meeting to my schedule! Yay! And that also adds onto the great treatments I'm receiving from the ponies! Both Rarity and myself are having lucky days! Crazy, right? Besides the talking, tea is also included as a part of the hang-out; Rarity could not resist it. Stirring up tea for her guests was a part of being herself. I'm more a coffee drinker, but Rarity's tea was different, and special. She clearly knew exactly where to find the best herbs and to prepare the drink correctly. It was also a good quiet spot in this overall hectic day. I don't mind the day being hectic, but it is nice to have a break. After a good while of more talking and tea drinking, the three of us take notice of the analog clock on the wall; the hands of it are moving closer and closer to the numbers of party time. "It is 16:22 now, I suppose we shall start walking over to Sugarcube Corner. It is a little ways away from here; you don't want to be late.", Rarity says. "Oh yes! Let's go do it!", I say. I did appreciate the fact that the party was being held at this time of day; to me it sounded like a good end-of-day activity. "Ah can tell you you're going to have a great welcome party, pardner!", Applejack says. "Pinkie Pie ain't never gonna let this kind of thang go to waste!" I agree! Following that double time, we close our session at the boutique and travel through Ponyville once more. Along the way, I can see several ponies walking in the same direction as us; is that a sign of something? I sure hope this is a sign of high attendance. Turns out, it was! We arrive at the venue of my welcome party, the one and only Sugarcube Corner, where a decent number of guests are already stepping in. More ponies than I usually see at the place. I look at my watch. It's 16:54, so there's plenty of time left for me to go over some behind-the-scenes things with Pinkie before the party starts. "Let's go!", I say. We enter Sugarcube Corner for the second time today, hearing the ringing bell once again. Several ponies are already in the bakery; there's even some recognition of me at rapid pace. "Hi! Talk to you later, when the party is active!", one mare said, less than two seconds after I walked in. "Awesome! I will be taking conversations!", I respond. So, this brings up something I had been intending to do as a part of this event. A setup where ponies would wait to have a one-on-one chat with me. Basically, a series of interviews. I would accept interviewing more than one pony at a time, but this feature, where I sit down at a table and ponies waited to have a close talk with me; I think it would be much easier that way. As for what else I'll do, well, eating food is the only other thing I can think of. It is getting close to dinnertime. But... uh, wait a minute on that. We have a problem here: Sugarcube Corner is a bakery. Not a main course restaurant. There were no non-sugary sweetness items to be found here. And I'm not going to roll with that. I don't want to eat only dessert; where will the rest of dinner be? Am I going to have to miss main course tonight? Well, at least I know who to ask about that! I walk over to Pinkie Pie, who is back behind the counter, the same spot as she was in last time, waiting for us. Knowing her, she's probably been doing that for a long while. Well, she doesn't need to now! Needless to say, she's rather happy that I made it here. But also for a reason I don't know yet. "Hi! So glad you could attend your welcome party, Player 4!", she says, placing her front hooves on top of the counter. "I am excited for it!", I say with a smile. "I was hoping you would be! I love doing these, but not everypony wants a big bash for their welcome party.", Pinkie Pie says. "Some of them don't even want a party at all! Of course, I won't force anything on them, but I really love throwing welcome parties, and new arrivals in Ponyville aren't a very common occurrence! It's a rare event that a welcome party will even get a chance to happen, so I get really sad when I miss one." "Well, you're getting it now, and hey, I think the uncommon occurrences is part of what makes these so great! Less common equals more memorable! You won't even have to journal about this day to keep it in your memories!", I say, trying to play Pinkie Pie back at her. The comforters need comfort too! "You're right! June 12, 2016; a day to remember without trying!", Pinkie says. I give her a thumbs-up. This thing about less common = more memorable is a principle I live by; I'd love to have it hanging on my bedroom wall. Now, of course, there are some things you should incorporate into your daily routine, for example, a new skill you're practicing. And routine can be helpful; it's comforting, and comfort is important. Repetition isn't always bad. But it absolutely can be too much. Sometimes, an event is great partially because it doesn't happen a lot! Rarer occurrences stick better in your mind, don't they? They sure do for me. But that's a topic for another time. We've run quite a bit off track here, which I realize, so I shift the conversation over to where I originally intended. "So Pinkie, I've got a question here.", I say. "It's getting close to dinnertime, but I don't know where I'm going to find dinner. Because, Sugarcube Corner is a dessert place. A bakery, rather than a restaurant. So, will there be any actual dinner? Or, maybe 'main course' is a better term?" "Yes there will be, Player 4!", Pinkie exclaims. "You're right; Sugarcube Corner is all about the sweets! But... I ordered pizza! Derpy will be here to deliver it, and that delivery arrival will also be her arrival at the party! She is attending, and it's so exciting!" Oh wow, that's awesome! Without me even telling her, Pinkie had chosen my dinner of choice! Pizza is my all-time favorite food in general, but I especially enjoy it on an evening day like this. I love it as a "first day" food, even though today was my second day in Equestria. Eh, it was still close enough. And then, as Pinkie said, Derpy was coming! Somepony whom I hadn't seen yet, not even a short sight in the air! So, the potential problem of no dinner? Nope. Thanks to Pinkie and her trusty thinks-of-everything mind, that is gone! Cross that worry out! "Pinkie Pie, you just always know what to do.", I say in gratitude. "It's like anytime somepony comes to you with a problem, the solution is already there." "That's part of being me!", she responds. And you're such a wonderful pony! I have to pursue a friendship with you. Pinkie and I, also with Applejack and Rarity, engage in some conversation while we wait for the party to start. We had arrived pretty late, so we didn't bother sitting down at a booth or anything like last time. Just stood around and talked to Pinkie from the other side of the counter. Pinkie continues checking the clock periodically, and eventually, when the magic number approaches close enough, she's ready. "Here we go, Player 4!", she says. "Stay there, you'll want to see it from this perspective!" I do just that as Pinkie presses an out-of-sight button and trots into a secret tunnel. It looks like she'll be using that so she can properly carry out the surprise start; to avoid being seen. After all, being seen beforehand would ruin the surprise, and we all know that Pinkie loves her surprises! Even if it wasn't a surprise party, which this one wasn't, she would include the shocker in another way! This tunnel thing absolutely bewilders me with how brilliant it is. How many ponies other than Pinkie would come up with that? After the super-duper party pony goes out of sight, sooner rather than later, the lights go dimmer, all the noise ceases, and Pinkie gets set up for the very Pinkie-style symbolized commencement of this party. A loud shot of one of her signature confetti-filled party cannons combined with the lights being flipped back on start the whole thing, followed by the beginning of music courtesy of Vinyl Scratch (aka DJ Pon-3) with her DJ setup, and Pinkie Pie's introduction. "Residents of Ponyville, thank you ever so much for coming to the honorary welcome party for Player 4. Today we unite to honor him and welcome him to our town!" The crowd cheers loudly in response to this. That only proved things further! My goodness, is it ever heartwarming. I can practically feel myself sink into their appreciation for me and my presence. Next, Pinkie Pie officially signals the party's kick-off. She shoots the cannon again, and yelps "Let's get this party start-ted! I hold up a fist, indicating a silent "Yes!" Oh boy, am I excited here! It's hard to explain why, but a welcome party was something I was really interested in having! The attendees for the party all play their part in getting it started, going off to do their things, whether it be dancing, eating, or chatting. Or a combo of those. Looks like a basic party at first. However, refer back to that feature I was talking about earlier. What I'm about to introduce should shake things up quite a bit. That table interview thing is what the feature is, to be precise. I walk up to Pinkie, who is back behind the counter working on a treat. I wonder what treat it is. "Hey Pinkie, I forgot to tell you this earlier, but now, I'd like to let you know that I want to do this thing where I sit at a table, I think I'll use that one over there, and do a feature where ponies make an appointment, and wait, to have a chat with me. I think that would make it easier for me to get to know everypony.", I say. "It would be more organized and would allow for conversations to not be interrupted. So, can you, like, give everypony a number, maybe, so they know what order they go in?" "Oh, absolutely! Super-rific idea, Player 4!", Pinkie exclaims. "That should be awesome!" This pony's demeanor, my mates. Her enthusiasm is so infectious. Oh yeah, and her complimenting. I say nothing in response. But Pinkie doesn't mind, and she keeps things rolling, with an idea I didn't think of. "Oh, and would you like to make the announcement?", she asks. "Well, I think we should do it together.", I say. "I would like to be a part of it, but since you know more about this place than I do, you'd be better at giving instructions. You'd also be better about grabbing the guests' attention, so let's take that microphone together." "Okay! This should be fun!" Pinkie returns to the spot in the back of the room where she was before when carrying out the party's now-history beginning signals, to send a call-out to the crowd. "Hey everypony, can I have your attention again?", she says, not over a microphone, but apparently, still enough! The crowd listens en masse, with nearly all of them turning their faces toward Pinkie Pie, to her gratitude. "Thanks.", Pinkie says. "So, we have a fun-event announcement to make! Player 4 here wants to do an organized meet-up where he sits at that table and conducts meet-the-new-human sessions with ponies one at a time." "Well, it can be more than one pony at a time, but yeah, something organized.", I interject. "Where we can lock our conversations up and not have to worry about multiple ponies wanting to talk to me at once, if you get what I mean." There's practically no possibility I would get swarmed or anything in Ponyville; I'm really just doing this so it feels more organized and comfortable. "Locking the conversations up"; might be a bit overkill in this society. Eh, whatever. They probably know what I mean. "Yes.", Pinkie says. "So, here's how it's going to work: I'm going to give each of you a number label, like this one, so you'll know what order you go in to have the meet-up. If it's your time and you don't notice, Four will call out to you." I wasn't planning on that last part, but I agree to it. "Yes.", I say. The ponies smile at us in large numbers, and we can hear a sea of "OKs" in the background, indicating they're on board. Having gotten the go-ahead by popular vote, Pinkie Pie trots around the bakery and randomly hands over the numbers. She's only choosing the order by virtue of what order she sees everypony. It's totally random. And nopony at all seems to be bothered at all by their given number; I look around and am unable to see any dissatisfaction. After Pinkie Pie finishes up the number hand-outs, she asks for info on when the guests need to shift their traditional party routine. "P4, when you do want to start this meeting thing?" "I'll start now.", I say. "I can't think of anything else to do right now." This was true; I jumped right into this welcome party with no particular plans other than the meeting event and eating food, and the eating part was still a ways off from now. The pizza was still on its way, and per my preferences, that was going to come before cake. "Okay, good!", Pinkie says. "Hey everypony, the meetings with P4 starting now! Number 1, if you're ready, he's ready!" And #1 is ready too, right now! The pony with that number responds to the call as soon as she hears it, and walks right up to me. I also realize that I'm still standing up, so I make my way over to the designated light-brown table and take my seat. Looking over to the side, I recognize #1 perfectly. This pony has a lilac coat, ocean blue mane, and two dolphins as her cutie mark. This is Sea Swirl, somepony who I have really wanted to meet. Back on Earth, it was confusing to me as to why she hardly got any attention from the MLP fandom. Her cutie mark and name easily made it sound like she had something to do with the sea. But what exactly? There are multiple things that have something to do with the sea! This is a pony who you could easily conduct a full interview with; plenty of questions. Well, luck was certainly on my side right now in that regard. Here she was, right in front of me, volunteering for a one-on-one chat! "Hi.", she says, waving a hoof. "You must be the new human." "Yep, that's me.", I say. "I'm called Player 4." Good thing the news was continuing to spread without me having to directly interact with everypony. That would get tiring. Sea Swirl sits down at the other side of the table and holds out her hoof for me. "Nice to meet you, Four." I reciprocate her greeting, and then say nothing, deciding to let her start the conversation. As intrigued as I am to find out what her day job is, what exactly she has to do with the sea, and all that, I'm a new species in Equestria. It just felt right to me to let her go first. "So, basically I wanted to talk about work and stuff.", the sea mare says. "What do you do as your profession?" Hey, if she's asking me this, she'll probably give her side without me asking! "My title is data specialist, where the primary thing I do is, you could say I basically do puzzles with data.", I say. "I take the bits of info that I do have and piece it together to answer a larger, overarching question. There's more than that, but that's what I usually do." "That's awesome!", Sea Swirl responds. "That's a really useful talent; to be able to create a big answer out of little pieces. We need more of that in this world." Okay, I think that was a bit too far there, but I'll let her have it. Trying to ward off compliments was getting old, in all honesty. Sea Swirl then proceeds to finally reveal exactly what her profession is. Out of all the oceanic possibilities you could conceive of, I am about to find out once and for all which one is correct. "For me, I work at a place called Big Blue, which is basically a combination of aquarium and waterpark. And it's not like there's an 'aquarium side' and a 'waterpark side'; they are both very much blended together. You can catch glimpse of a rare fish species while travelling up the stairs of a waterslide structure, or receive a lecture about dolphin behavior while swimming in a pool. In fact, that latter thing is part of what I usually do. Like you, I do have multiple areas in the job. I have five different "stations" and usually take at least one trip around the park per day, but my specialty is teaching about dolphins, taking care of them, and studying them. Hence, my cutie mark." Alright! So there it was! The name-and-cutie mark-fitting confirmation we were waiting for! As if I wasn't already interested in what this pony does, now she's made herself even more interesting! A place that's a hybrid of waterpark and aquarium? Dang, I'd have to go there someday! I wonder what Sea Swirl's dolphin lectures in front of the pool are like! "Wow, that's really cool!", I say. "So, you are a sea pony!" "Yep! And in fact, that segways into what I want to talk about next.", she says. "So, I love my job, it does fulfill a dream, for sure. But it doesn't fulfill my all-time biggest dream. You want to know what my biggest dream is?", Sea Swirl asks. "Yes!", I say enthusiastically, very much ready to hear it. If she was working her dream job already, then what was her biggest dream? "My biggest dream," Sea Swirl begins, is to be able to really be a sea pony. To swim down deep into the sea and travel all around it; to really meet the place and the creatures who inhabit it. I know that oxygen suits can get you down there, but that wouldn't cut it for me. The all-time thing I want most in life is for there to be some kind of magic that would allow me to breathe underwater, so that I could really feel the sea. Be touched by the animals. Know what the water feels like. Going in an oxygen suit wouldn't feel as... natural. To be undersea without any layering; it's something I've been dreaming of ever since I was a filly. Wow, that's such a great story! That sure would be incredibly useful; to explore the sea freely without worrying about oxygen supply. And that experience in general would be awesome, to outsiders as well! I'd love for her to get some of the adventure on tape. Maybe even a hybrid documentary + vlog out of it? Sea Swirl is totally as interesting as I thought she would be! "That would be so awesome!", I say. "I hope you do find that magic, and, to be honest, I think you will! This is a magical land, after all!" She does make note of some progress on this. "I have talked to Princess Twilight Sparkle about it, and she agreed to try and find a breathing-underwater spell. She was spending a good bit of time on it at first, but it just so happened that I brought it up right before she became the Princess of Friendship. So she's had very little time to work on it, and she even says that it's nowhere near complete and that it's a really hard spell to make. But I'm still holding out hope every day.", Sea Swirl says. This instantly strikes a chord with me, as it's something I can relate to very well. "Yes, I do that too.", I respond. "My biggest dream is to be a popular musician; preferably in a band. A band that has multiple #1 hits and sells out stadiums. And let me tell you, when I try and work for those dreams, optimism really does help over pessimism. Those who did achieve their biggest dreams didn't do so by saying they couldn't." "You're right! It's important to know that you can achieve it!", Sea Swirl says. Wow, this is somepony I'm really enjoying conversation with! She and I have incredibly similar plans for our work lives; we're both day job holders who aspire for something bigger. I have to talk with her more in the future; this kind of thing can't be covered enough in one session. Especially now, because the "time up" buzzer on the table just rang. Something I didn't even think of before; good thing Pinkie Pie did. "Oh, well, guess it's time for number 2 now.", Sea Swirl says. "I had so much fun talking to you, P4! Let's meet again someday!" "We will!", I say to her with a smile. And I meant it. Sea Swirl heads off to elsewhere in the party, and another pony steps up to where I'm sitting and waiting. It's #2's turn now. Who #2 is? Turns out, she's another little-known background pony whom I had given a lot of notice to: Sprinkle Medley. The mare who is a forest-green pegasus with two shades of that same color on her; a light forest green coat and a dark forest green mane. Then, she has a raining cloud for a cutie mark. "Hi.", she says to me fairly quietly, sitting down at the table. "It's really nice to see a new species here." My perception of the way she speaks is that it's excitement-showing, but also soothing. Her personality fits her name and cutie mark! As I run my one-on-one chatting feature with Sprinkle Medley, the pleasantly revealing interactions I'm having with these ponies continues. It's really astonishing how comfortable they are with sharing their personal lives to someone whom they've just met. Maybe that's a cultural thing here. In this case, Sprinkle Medley, the pony with the raining cutie mark, reveals to me that she loves being in the rain; flying in it, splashing in it, and even having picnics in it! (Not exactly sure how that works out for the food.) She also reveals that she is a BFF of White Lightning, and is in a bit of a rough patch in her life right now. She wants to quit her job, but has no idea what she wants in replacement. Meaning, she's basically lost. Yet, she still looked happy throughout the chat. I hope that's genuine; I'd hate to find out that somepony was hiding their true emotions. Regardless of that, though, I just have to give her support in whatever way I could. I do notify her that my schedule is on the verge of being extremely cluttered and that I didn't want to add anything more right now, but that I would find my way to a long meeting with her someday, which she agrees to. We also exchange a hoof-bump. (I'm just going to refer to these gestures by their Equestrian names from now on; after all, I am one human in a land full of ponies. It made more numerical sense.) After Sprinkle Medley's time was up, my #3 table visitor was Amethyst Star, an all-purple unicorn who also talked to me about work. I really like talking about work; for me, I don't say "life" when referring to the time I'm not working. Work is part of my life! Then, vistor #4 was Berry Punch, who, like Sprinkle Medley, talked to me about her struggles. Again, how do they already have that much trust in me? Well, I mean, it's not like people don't talk about their problems to strangers on Earth, now that I think about it. Maybe it's not so unusual after all? I don't know. Either way, I happily continue to hold this event with the inhabitants of Ponyville, so far, all with varying chat topics and body colors, but on the other hand, all mares. This is an aspect of Ponyville that I've always found interesting; their highly uneven gender distribution. Looking around, I can see a few stallions in the bakery during this gathering, but they are very clearly outnumbered. Whereas, in a city like Manehattan, at least from my memories of the city from watching the show, it appeared to be more even. I'd like to go back to the Castle of Friendship and research the library for info about this one day. A while later, after I've now gone through seven visitors, Pinkie Pie goes behind the microphone and sounds herself over it to announce that the welcome party's special cake for me was to come out. Special cake, she said? Well, let's see what it is! I walk up, along with several ponies, including my lovely friend Applejack, to the welcome-party specific cake stand that was symbolized by a shiny silver color. Looks awesome! Then, on the white plate, the cake was covered in yellow icing, had blotches of pink icing around the sides, had multi-colored icing flower decorations and green-colored shaved coconut to resemble grass, then in the middle, in pink, all-uppercase letters, "welcome." "It's meant to resemble Ponyville!", one mare says. "The flowers and grass; it's perfect, isn't it?" Yes, it is. It really is. I stand there in silence, still unable to comprehend the treatment from these ponies, even if it had clearly displayed itself time and time again throughout this day. All I could get out of my mouth was "You... really did this for me?" "Of course we did! A special cake is what all newcomers to Ponyville get! It's a tradition!", Pinkie Pie says from behind the table. "Today, you are the newcomer, this is your party! You can share the cake if you want, but it was made... for you!" Well, it is what it is! Standard practice! Still though, all I can say is a huge "thank you." In response to that, I get, from another mare: "I heard Lyra and Bon Bon say this earlier, and I will repeat it. Player 4, welcome to our world." Oh yes. This sentence again. ... What I was feeling about the treatment is just too much to put into words. I decide to save collecting my thoughts for later. Right now, let's talk about the cake; absolutely delicious. Thick, flavorful, and moist chocolate; smooth, sweet icing, the addition of shaved coconut (which I like), etc. Sugarcube Corner living up to their reputation for the 3rd out of 3rd time I've tasted their products. And I don't see that 100% streak going away, not a chance. I bring my slice of cake back over to the visitor table, where I continue inviting chatters. I'm having loads of fun with this component of the party. Most of them are eating the cake as well; I did take the option of letting others have some of it, without any hesitation at all. They deserve it, especially with what they've done for me. And I love to share my special-day treats in general. The amazing chats continue, and so does the remainder of the party the whole way through. Vinyl Scratch, or DJ Pon-3, was here, still scratching it out. That kind of music made for good background noise in this setting, and the party would have sounded empty without music. Overall, it's what a party should be. That also holds true with the addition of it being centered on welcoming me to Ponyville. They executed that perfectly as well. I have a wonderful time all-around. At bedtime, I'm now back in my guest barn at Sweet Apple Acres, after this (lovingly) long and awesome day. Starting with a taste of the Apple family's cereal and coffee, then giving Ponyville a surprise new-species greeting, to lunch with Lyra and Bon Bon, then going into the science-filled visit with Twilight, to the better-than-expected boutique visit, to the welcome party, this day was... something else! And due to all the new things going on, like yesterday, the day felt incredibly long. And I find that to be a good thing. What is a feature that most of these events shared in common? They featured worries that I had last night getting crossed out. No way to tell my parents that I'm here? Nope. Twilight will find a way. Ponies being scared of me? Nope. Having to explain in detail why humans wear clothes? Nope. With these fantastic results, I go to bed with 100x better results than yesterday. All I feel is good. The ponies of Ponyville really do know how to make others happy.