//------------------------------// // Party Time // Story: A Variant Issue // by Sandvich Brony //------------------------------// ---------------{]Chapter 5: Party Time[}--------------- Jace's first reactions to the scene in front of him. "What did you just say?" Inside the barn was a party, seemingly set up for him. There were many ponies around. Some with a smile. Some with an astonished look. And some that were somewhere in between. He quickly scanned the crowd for familiar faces. Jace found Rarity, Jackie, and other faces that he only new from the show as background ponies. He eventually noticed a stirring in the crowd that was progressively making its way towards the front. He didn't thin much of it until it stopped at the front line. And from that spot popped Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle, expectant grins plastered on their faces. "I'm guessing I have you three to thank for this setup?" Jace raised an eyebrow. "Well," Sweetie Belle started. "it was more Applebloom's idea. Scootaloo and I just helped." "It wasn't all me though either," Applebloom said looking over at her fellow conspirators. "Sweetie Belle, it was yer idea t' invite everypony in town. And Scootaloo, yer to thank for the rain idea to make sure he didn't come while we were settin' up." "Wait a minute. That rain wasn't planned?" Jace asked. He crossed his arms. "Actually, that's kinda clever." He thought to himself. "I can answer that." Fluttershy stepped forward. "There was a planned shower later this weekend. I just cut some of the time from that storm and let it loose now." "Huh, that makes sense. I do have to wonder though, how did you get everything up so fast?" Jace tried. "Dianne was a big help there," Sweetie Belle credited. "Though it was weird when we asked. She seemed to be arguing with herself on whether or not she should help." Dianne seemed visibly embarrassed at this fact. "Well then, what's keeping this down? Lets get this thing running!" Despite the ponies' mixed reactions, the party was soon in full swing. Though for Jace, most of it was spent trying to meet the other ponies. Some were skeptical at first. Some were not to sure of how to react to him. Some were simply scared. But the ones who surprised Jace the most were the ones who were fine with or exited to see him. The whole time, though, he was trying to find the one pony left on his most wanted list. Yet Rainbow was nowhere to be seen. However, he did meet some ponies who weren't even shown on screen. One of whom caught his attention in a different way. It was a pegasus named Sea Foam who asked him a question he had not expected. "Would you happen to know a girl named Megan?" She asked. Jace was taken aback at this question. His limited knowledge of G1 was enough to remember that name. "Uh, I may. Why do you ask?" "Well, from what I understand from the stories, she and another pony were saved from drowning by my people, the sea ponies. I didn't know if the stories were true or not, so I decided to ask." "Uh... um... I don't know what to say abo- Wait, your saying there are actually sea ponies?" Jace was somewhat interested in finding out more. "Yes, that's my belief. Nopony believes me though." "I can't imagine why." Jace thought. "Anyway, you should try some of the cupcakes. I baked them myself." She said gleefully. "Actually, I was just about to head over to the table before you caught me. Thanks though," he started walking away. "Well, that explains who Pinkie's job went to." Three cupcakes and a cup of punch later, Jace finally had a chance to talk to the crusaders. "You guys really outdid yourselves. Thanks for doing this!" he thanked. "It was nothing," Sweetie Belle responded before going wide-eyed. "Girls! We almost forgot!" The three stopped to look expectantly at their flanks. They then pouted and sighed. "Nothing," they said in unison. "Hey, don't look so down. This party is awesome!" The three were still looking down. "Quick Jace. Think of something quick. Wait, that could do it. Not to mention I'm kind of curious." Jace cleared his throat. "If you don't mind me asking Applebloom, since you were apparently the head of this project, why did you do this for me?" "Well, ya did say that ya weren't going t' town 'cause you didn't know how everypony would react. So ah thought that a party would be th' best way ta meet new ponies." "Wait, you mean you did this just to let me come into town without fear?" "Pretty much." "Wow. You barely know me, and yet you did all this." Jace waved around him. "Why?" "Can't a friend do nice things for a friend?" Applebloom asked. Jace was taken aback at this. "Well, I never thought of us as friends." "Well, start thinking then," she said with a grin. "Okay then," he simply replied. "And I'm going to try to not take that as an insult" At that moment, a familiar song came on. "Girls," Sweetie Belle said, "let's head to the dance floor." The three fillies ran through the crowd. Jace watched with a smile. A small distance behind him, a mint-green unicorn was slowly sneaking up on him. Not noticing, Jace walked away, the unicorn in close pursuit. He walked through an area that was clearer of ponies. It was then that she pounced. "Gotcha!" "Gah!, what!?" Jace found himself on the floor for the second time that day. He looked up at the pony who had done this to find... "Lyra?" She wasn't really doing her best to keep him down. She seemed more interested in prodding and poking his hand. Jace was able to get up easily, but she still kept prodding. "You know, you could have just asked," he said. "Huh? Oh, sorry. It's just that for the first time in my life, I am seeing a real, actual hand!" Lyra said, finally pulling away from her incessant poking. "Uh... okay then? That still doesn't justify you tackling me." "Well, I didn't know how you would react if I just asked," she simply replied. "Um, I'm going to leave that up for debate. I gotta go." Jace started walking away. Lyra just watched. "Well that was interesting" Jace thought. Eventually, Jace moved on to try and enjoy himself to the fullest at the party. The games were much more fun than he thought they would be. The music was getting him in a mood to dance, even if it got some looks. The snack table took quite a few raids throughout the night. The best part was the fact that by the end of the night, most ponies were over their initial shock and treated him like any other pony. The party started slowing down eventually. It was getting very late, ponies were saying their goodbyes, and the music was slowing down. Jace followed suit much later. He started towards the house wondering if his sugar rush was going to keep him up overnight. His answer soon came when he was soon fast asleep in his bed. (]----------{][}----------[) A/N: Here's another short chapter. Expect the next chapter to get set back. I have an idea of where I want this to go, though I don't know how I'm going to get from point A to point B. In all honesty, I'm surprised I got this far just writing these chapters off the top of my head. In any case, I hope you've enjoyed thus far.