//------------------------------// // A Proper Welcome // Story: A Pegasus Horn // by Ignimbrite //------------------------------// The next day, Rarity burst into the library. "Twilight! Have you heard about the new ponies that moved into town?" "Yes, Rarity, I've already got Pinkie's invitation." "No, no, not that. I heard that one of them is a chimera." Twilight simply rolled her eyes. "Have they started printing Gabby Gums again?" Rarity produced a particularly shocked face at the insinuation. "Are you saying I'm gossiping?" "Well you do tend to be rather generous with information about other ponies." She snorted. "Well, it isn't that. I heard from Sweetie Belle, and she saw him announce who he was in front of the class. I just wanted you to come check it out, okay?" "Fine." Twilight stepped out with her. The sooner this mess gets cleared up, the better. They approached the schoolyard and waited for class to come out for recess. It would be rude, after all, to ask Cheerilee about odd rumors concerning her students in front of said students. The bell rang, and the students burst out the doors and into the open. As they all came out, Twilight looked for any newcomers. Clearing this up might be easier than she had thought. The last few students came out, and she was about to point out the distinct lack of monsters to her friend, when they both noticed a few kids sitting by a tree. Rarity spoke first. "The new family in town has an ALICORN COLT?!?!?" As all the other kids stared at the dressmaker, said colt immediately gripped the tree and began slamming his face repeatedly against the trunk. Twilight, while quite shocked herself, could already tell something else was going on. Ordinarily, she would have guessed it was a prank, perhaps using a stick-on horn or a pair of strap-on wings, but the colt's reaction to Rarity's outburst made her doubt that. "Come on. We won't find out from over here." They approached, Twilight wearing a fake smile as if nothing had happened and Rarity maintaining wide eyes and a gaping mouth. "Hi. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Rarity. Sorry about that outburst, she gets a bit overdramatic at times." Obsidian, whose face was now pressed firmly against the tree trunk, mumbled, "nice to meet you." He pulled his head away from the tree and looked at the two strangers. As soon as she saw his eyes, the ever-turning gears in Twilight's head processed Rarity's rumor. "You wouldn't happen to have heard of a chimera in town, would you?" Obsidian nodded, "Yeah, that would be me." As Rarity gasped again, Twilight nodded. "I think I remember reading about that condition in one of my books." She turned to her friend. "Come on, I think I can clear this up." She then looked back at the colt. "It was nice to meet you." She walked away, then paused and turned back. Rarity was still frozen in place. Rolling her eyes, Twilight picked up the seamstress in a levitation field and muttered to herself. "At least she didn't faint this time..." As one mare walked and the other floated away, Kind Face turned to Obsidian. "Are you okay?" "Sure. Ponies were bound to start spreading that rumor at some point." "Actually, I was referring to your head." Feldspar was bouncing along, almost leaping over Obsidian's back. She had definitely enjoyed school that day. Normally, Obsidian would have been upset by how his condition had made him the center of attention again, but watching his sister's excitement made it a little harder to focus on his worries. He chuckled a little, enjoying seeing her enthusiasm. Out of nowhere, a head popped out of a bucket on the ground. "HIYEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!" They both greeted the head with matching volume. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "No sillies, that's the greeting for Nightmare Night." The head rose from the bucket, followed by a body, which was then followed by four legs that stepped out as if absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary. "You're new here, and you haven't been welcomed yet, so I'm here to give you these." She dug around in her tail, pulling out a pair of envelopes with her teeth. The two siblings cautiously accepted the envelopes. Opening them, they found invitations to a place called Sugarcube Corner. You're Invited to a Welcome Party for the Stone Family! The pony suddenly appeared right next to Obsidian and examined his wings, followed by his face. She then took off in a cloud of dust that, for some reason, remained roughly shaped like her for a few seconds. They looked at each other as the pink... whatever she was... disappeared. Later that day, the Stone family arrived at Sugarcube Corner, not quite sure what to expect. Apparently, the same pink mare had given invitations to the parents as well, appearing out of Quartz's copier at work and dropping upside-down from a tree in front of Gneiss. Inside, they found what appeared to be most of the town waiting for them. How they were not crammed together to the point that nopony could move was yet another mystery, the first mystery, of course being... "HIYEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" the mare that had invited them, who was now smiling right in their faces. Fortunately, some slightly more recognizable ponies approached. Twilight stood next to the bouncing mare and introduced herself, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I see you've met Pinkie Pie." "Hi Quartz Stone! Hi Gneiss Crystal! Although quartz isn't really a stone and gneiss isn't really a crystal. Come to think of it, obsidian isn't a crystal either, and feldspar is. Did you switch names? That's funny! I know about stones and crystals 'cause I grew up on a rock farm..." As Pinkie soon continued on to her third, fourth, and fifth tangents, Feldspar sat there, mesmerized by her uncanny ability to weave almost entirely unrelated topics together, while the rest of the family snuck off to see the rest of the party. Quartz Stone turned to Twilight, "is she always like that?" "Yes. Yes she is. Don't worry though. You get used to it after a while, and she really just wants to make sure everypony's happy." The night was quite enjoyable for the most part. The only thing Obsidian wished for was fewer questions. Some of them, he was accustomed to answering, "...No, I don't have any earth pony traits..." Others were a bit newer... "I've never flown high enough to find out if I can walk on clouds." And others... "... so what do you think about putting marshmallows in a piñata? 'Cause Rainbow said it'll probably be fine, and Rarity says they'll get icky dirt all over them, and..." At least she wasn't asking about his appearance. Of course, she had taped wings onto some of the paper unicorns decorating the walls. Apparently, he was odd enough to have the decorations adjusted, but not odd enough to comment on. Granted, the town seemed rather accustomed to odd ponies and other assorted creatures. Among other things, he saw a walleyed pegasus, a zebra, and a even young dragon. This place was weird. Some parts were even weirder than he was. He smiled. Weirder than him sounded like a perfect place to be. "How'd ya get stuck in that well in the first place?" Applejack strained to listen for a response, but couldn't hear anything. She folded her ears back and sighed. She was missing Pinkie's party for the new family.