Harmony and Courage: Running Parallel

by SSJRandomMaster


Chapter 1: Some Details May Be Exaggerated

Chapter 1: Some Details May Be Exaggerated
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The train ride hadn't been the worst experience of Azure's life. Sure, he had to wait a few minutes after arriving for the train to Ponyville to actually get to its station, but once it arrived, it was pretty standard. Well, the cyan colt had only ridden the train once before, and that was really part of one of his cousins' pranks on him. However, the incident didn't leave a lasting impression on Courage, or at least, not that much of one.

The train arrived at the Ponyville station without much in the way of incidents happening along the way, though sitting down for the time of the trip wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. At least the cyan pony had that martial arts guide to look through, otherwise he might have been bored on the way there.

Of course, now that he was in Ponyville, Azure was feeling restless. He wasn't at all about to just crash in his new home like he'd hoped he would. For one thing, he was in a new city, and he really didn't know his way around, or at least, not as well as somepony who was born there would. Another thing, he'd figured he'd check out potential jobs while he was about. It wasn't like he didn't have money to spare, but he honestly didn't want to take the chance of that running out. He levitated the picture of his new home in front of him, searching for it by surroundings.

It wasn't his vice by any means, but from what he could see of it now that he was in the city limits, it wasn't going to be that hard. For about ten minutes, he trotted along, seeing if the surroundings somewhat matched the home's surroundings in the photo. During this search, he almost felt like he heard something following him. He folded the photo and whirled, but saw nothing but a fading dust cloud.

"That was odd," mumbled Azure to himself, trying to get back on track. "Let's see...am I almost there yet?" He checked the photo again. "Yeah, looks like I'm about there."

After making a couple of right turns, and then trotting to a spot closer to the outside of Ponyville, he found a home that looked like the one in the photo. Once more, he levitated the photo in front of his snout, and smiled when he realized what he was looking at.

"Found it..." he said to himself, taking the key from his saddlebag and immediately using it to unlock the door. True to form, the place was at least adequately furnished. A bed, a few shelves here and there, and of course, a simple couch and rug. It was a relatively simple house. Also, something that Azure found himself a little fascinated by; even though the place was simple, more or less made of wood, and brick and mortar in some places, it did contain a refridgerator and a stove, though the latter probably wouldn't be touched since he didn't know how to cook...yet.

He set his saddlebags aside on the bed in his bedroom.

"Well, I can't complain about the lack of decorations here. It is technically new, after all." Azure thought to himself. Even the new sheets weren't all that special, a simple white cloth stretched over the mattress. "Man, could do with some kind of blanket...Oh well."

His ear twitched as he registered the sound of falling hooves. For some reason, they sounded like they were coming down four at a time, repeatedly. Azure turned towards the sound.

"Who's there?!" he called out, a little annoyed with the sound. Nopony, or nothing at all, was there. He just screamed into empty air. With a sigh, he turned back to his things. "I guess I'll find out."

Azure picked up on the relative silence outside his door that now prevailed. The nothingness was almost soothing. Nevertheless, the cyan colt knew he didn't have it in him to take it easy now. He was too excited. It was still a new city, and he needed to know his way around these parts.

"Guess I'd better go..." The pony said to himself. "Go look around town, see if there's anything somepony needs a unicorn like me for..."

And with that, Azure Courage once more left the safety of home, to explore Ponyville. As he left, he had the presence of mind to lock his door. It was an old habit that his father had gotten him into, and he was probably going to follow it for the rest of his natural life.

If the light blue colt wasn't in such a rush, he'd have heard the sounds of skipping hooves going up to his door. And, if he'd paid closer attention to that dust cloud from earlier. he might have noticed a poofy-shaped cloud...
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Azure actually decided to check out the area closer to the outskirts of town first, given that'd be where he did physical training if he couldn't find a way to in the privacy of his home. Besides which, some of the spells he used he didn't want to be used around other ponies anyway should he choose to practice magic. If there was a mountain nearby, which he doubted, he wouldn't mind it at all.

The pony found himself getting close to a forested area, which wasn't too far removed from the city. Suddenly, his ear twitched in response to a distant feminine voice.

"--get back here, please!"

"Huh?" Azure asked, turning his head in the direction of the sound. For a few moments, the cyan pony saw nothing, until he directed his eyes a little lower and saw a small rabbit, hopping furiously with what he swore was an angry look on its face. The cyan unicorn blinked twice, and realized what this rabbit might have been to somepony. So, before it could scamper on past him, the colt quickly focused his magic, and within a few split-seconds, the rabbit was hopping, but it was encased in a cyan glow, overexerting itself. Finally, it seemed to realize it wasn't going anywhere.

Azure brought the rabbit to eye-level with him. As soon as the small animal realized what had happened, he shot a glare so intense that it almost caused the cyan colt to break concentration, but with all of his will he maintained his hold, and looked in the direction where the rabbit had been scampering from. Within moments, he could spot a yellow and pink figure galloping rapidly toward him, doubtlessly a pony of some sort.

However, as the pony got closer, he realized that aside from being a mare, this pony was a pegasus pony, evidenced by the (closed) wings at its sides. And yet, she was going on hoof as though she'd done it her whole life, something that didn't bother Azure so much as it did leave him scratching his mane internally.

"Excuse me!" Azure called out, probably sounding a little ruder than he meant to in the process. The mare immediately snapped to attention, as though only just noticing the colt standing there. Almost immediately, she squeaked in surprise.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I was just..." her voice became inaudible at this point. For a moment, Azure took careful note of her appearance. Yellow fur, pink mane, which now that he got a closer-look at, seemed to frame her face in a heart shape. Her tail was half of the shape, and the same color as her mane. Overall, if he had to guess, she had a delicate personality to match that appearance.

"I was just going to ask if this little guy was yours or not," the cyan unicorn said nonchalantly, floating the small gray bunny in front of the yellow equine. Almost immediately, the blue-green eyes of the pony before him brightened, and she seemed to forget for the moment that Azure was a new pony in town.

"Oh, thank you!" The unknown pegasus immediately scooped the small bunny out of the unicorn's hold with her forehooves, and Azure physically stumbled from the sudden yank for a moment. "Now, you be a good boy and don't run away, Angel Bunny."

The rabbit said nothing, only folding its forepaws and appearing to sulk in place as she placed the animal on her back. She turned back to Azure.

"So, what's your name?" The cyan unicorn began to wonder if he should have asked. He wasn't here to suddenly start dating, by any means. Immediately, he blamed more of his father's values on that one.

"F-F-" She stuttered, suddenly once again unable to speak. This was until the rabbit thumped on the mare's back, causing her to immediately snap on it. "F-Fluttershy!" She said it at a louder volume than she intended, and the reaction caused Azure to look weirdly for a moment.

"I'm...Azure. Azure Courage." This was his response. "I just moved here to get away from the big city. Too much noise for me and all."

Another unintelligible reply from Fluttershy later, Azure quickly realized how fitting her name actually was. Well, he'd never seen her flying, so he could only deduce her name was at least half-true. She was shy, painfully so. Even the rabbit seemed to think so, for with another thump, the pegasus immediately spoke up. "That's nice. I take care of all the animals here in P-Ponyville. I-It's something I've done s-since I was a little filly..."

Clearly, this mare wasn't going to get out of her shell anytime soon, at least, not without that rabbit helping her.

"I see." Azure said. "Well, I guess I'll just be going along now. Guess I might see you around..."

"Y-yes, g-goodbye..." The meek pegasus awkwardly finished. Deciding to explore the surrounding areas later, the cyan colt left the yellow pony to her business, wondering precisely what the heck he just witnessed.

Well, I'm confused... thought the pony to himself. Which one's the pet, and which one's the owner? Meh, best not dwell on it.

The unicorn soon went back into town, deciding to get a good look at the town itself. After all, even though he'd be training out in the outskirts somewhere, he'd need to know his away around the actual city too, so he knew where he could purchase necesities when the time came.
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It was a signifcantly harder time finding his way around town. He didn't immediately retrace his steps back to his home, for one. Also, Ponyville was a lot bigger in person. For something that used the suffix "ville" in its city name, it sure covered a lot of land. Azure shouldn't have been so surprised by it, but hey, at least it meant he had some way to practice free-galloping should it come to it. As soon as he found his way around town, of course.

He was pleasantly trotting along, looking around and taking in all the sights he could for his first day. The cyan colt was regretting not having Fluttershy show him around, but given how he'd met her, he wouldn't be surprised if she didn't know her way around town as well as she probably should have. Not to mention, that bunny was probably the first animal to give him any real chills, but not because it was frightening in itself, but rather, its attitude was particularly unsettling. And the fact it seemed to have control over its owner refused to leave Azure's conscious mind.

Of course, the sensation of abruptly being studied broke Azure's stride and concentration. He stopped, feeling a pair of eyes looking his way. It wasn't the first time he'd felt that, but this sensation was slightly different from the previous time. After just a few seconds, he saw something, or rather, somepony staring at him.

What could he say? She did look proper. If she didn't speak with an accent, Azure knew he would have been surprised. Her purple mane looked as though she'd spent all morning curling it, and given where she was standing now-in the door of what appeared to be a salon, it wouldn't surprise the colt to find that she had done just that, if he cared enough to ask. Her body was snow white, and, judging from the horn protruding from her forehead, she was definitely a unicorn. Blue eyes stared him, obviously scanning him.

Is...is she checking me out, or...? "C-can I help you with something?" The cyan pony directly addressed the one that was looking at him, feeling somewhat discomforted by her staring.

"Oh!" She seemed to be particularly unaware she'd been staring, but judging from the lack of color on her cheeks, she either wasn't ashamed at this, or was surprised he'd noticed. Whatever the case, her eyes half-closed, revealing blue lids. Eyeshadow. "Actually, there is something I've need somepony to look at for a while now! Do you want to help me?" Her accent was clear, sounding incredibly...city-like, to say the least.

Azure immediately noticed she was batting her eyelids at him, but this was only a fleeting thing. There were two things in life that the cyan colt wasn't prepared for during his move. One of them was seeing a bunny able to control a pony. The other was feminine charm. With a heavy sigh, he gave up, hoping and praying that he wasn't about to walk into something more than this pony was letting on.

"F-fine..." He stuttered, trotting off after her as she lead him inside. What he saw inside, he realized was far different than a salon. It looked more like a boutique, a debonair sort of thing, far removed from anything "-ville" in nature. No, this was stuff he'd have expected to see in Canterlot somewhere, or at least some other big city. Why was this mare here of all places?

"Now, please hold on a moment, darling, I will be back for you in a moment..."

Azure swallowed. Again, he was never trained to handle feminine charm of this nature, so the pet name was pretty much new to him. Outside of 'Azie', but that was his mother's thing.

"Okay...what's your name?" The male unicorn didn't see the harm in asking the question. He knew he was going to be there for a while. The white pony immediately halted, and turned back to Azure, not really breaking her stride.

"My name is Rarity, and I am in charge of the decorations of this year's Summer Sun Celebration!" She sounded particularly proud of that last part. "Who are you? I haven't seen you in town before..."

"Oh, I'm Azure...Azure...Courage." He was hesitating, if only because he really didn't know what he was in for. Was she going to flirt with him until his coat and mane matched Blitz? He honestly wasn't sure. "I just got here. Looking around and all..."

"Oh," Her demeanor altered only slightly. The blue eyes of the pony softened somewhat, suggesting sympathy. "I apologize, I didn't mean to startle you. So tell me, Azure, where are you from?"

"Canterlot--"

The instant he said the name of the city, he noticed the mare's ears stiffen straight up, and once again her demeanor changed. He swallowed, not knowing the emotion he was detecting.

"My, my, my!" Rarity finally said after a few moments. "I've longed for somepony from that city to come into town to see what I do! This is perfect! You hail from the capital city of Equestria...where Princess Celestia's palace is!"

"Uh..." Azure said, once again at an utter loss for what to say. He quickly thought of something, however. "Yeah, that's true...so what is it you want me to look at?"

"Oh, that's right!" The snowy mare before him suddenly seemed to remember why she dragged him into her shop in the first place. "Here, follow me, if you would..."

The colt obliged, at least knowing that Rarity wasn't trying to lead him into something completely different. Soon, they were in a workspace of sorts. It looked impressive. Not only was there cloth, or what he could reasonably assume was cloth, in varying hues, but he actually could see a stash of gems in the corner there.

"So this is where you work?" He asked, pretending not to notice the precious stones. It was only now that he noticed the cutie mark this mare had. It was three diamonds...and given this room had a decent stash of them nearby, he'd assumed her talent had something to do with it.

"Yes," She was apparently trying hard to find something, and then her face lit up. "Ah, now I remember..."

Within moments, the light blue colt found himself looking at decorations--namely, ribbons, of a couple of colors, one of them being a dark purple color like the mare's mane. He blinked.

"So, what do you think? I believe I did a marvelous job, wouldn't you agree?"

He took a closer look at the decorum before her. Not really one to ruffle a pony's fur or mane, Azure decided to be good and just scan the ribbons again. And, to his surprise, he actually found them to look nice.

"They...look nice. Perfect for the celebration, I'd say," The colt said, hoping that Rarity wouldn't completely lose her mind and just start hugging him. The fact her face lit up like it did when he mentioned his hometown was incredibly off-putting, and he really didn't want to accidentally make a marefriend on his first day in town. Getting to know the locals wouldn't be too bad though, at least in hindsight.

"Yes! I knew it! I wholeheartedly believed that this was the proper direction to take the decorum!" The white pony's reaction lead Azure to believe that if this pony were more "Ponyville-like" in nature, she'd have jumped about and done a few frontflips in celebration that he liked her product. "Thank you!"

"Uh...so...is that all? I mean, I was just looking around town, this being my first day and all..." said Azure in response, feeling out of place.

"Oh yes, please, do enjoy the sights. If you need a suit or something, just let me know..." the white unicorn said, and the cyan colt flinched a little when she winked. He quickly made his way out of the store, and became lost in his thoughts momentarily as he trotted along.

This mare seems like an out-of-place princess...But...there's something about her I can't place, something that I wouldn't expect a typical princess to have. I'm sure I'm imagining it. Whatever the case, I'm not the prince she's looking for.

With that, Azure continued his self-tour of his new hometown, not completely sure where he'd go look at next.
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"How'd I end up here?!"

This was Azure's new question after about an hour or two of aimless wandering through Ponyville. He'd passed the same cake-shaped building several times trying to find his way around. Now, for whatever reason, he was somewhat lost. However, he didn't quite give up yet. It was late afternoon by now, judging from the sun's position. He still had plenty of time to find his way back home.

So I did get lost...I really should have asked one of them to help me out with touring me... The light blue pony thought to himself. Anyway, let's see...I left Canterlot at about noon, and I've been wandering aimlessly for the better part of four hours. The day is long, though, but not as long as it's about to get...

Azure wasn't sure why, but part of him preferred the intermediary seasons, spring and autumn. The days and nights were pretty evenly spaced. The winters were too cold for him, a sensitivity that stemmed from the fact he never really got out into snow when it fell in Canterlot. The summers, on the other hand, were very nice, but sometimes it felt like the night was just too short.

Caught up in his seasonal introspection, the cyan colt was not paying any further mind to the sky. If he was, he'd have noticed a rainbow blur above, doing fancy loops and tricks. And he certainly would have noticed when the blur changed direction and began heading right for him. His ears pricked up as he picked up the sound of rushing wind, and just caught a glimpse of something immediately right in front of him.

He gave a strangled gasp and immediately strafed left, almost stumbling over his hooves from the quickness he needed. Unfortunately, Azure's evasive maneuvers left him a little off-balance, and he fell over on his side, grunting in slight pain when his ribs met the unmerciful field below him.

"Ahahaha!" This was a feminine-sounding voice laughing at him. The colt immediately stood up on his feet, searching desperately for the source. An instinct, brought on by all those sparring sessions with his cousins in his foalhood, came back to him, and he looked up, seeing a rather amused pegasus pony with an interesting mane and tail. It wasn't just one color, but rather, it was every color in a rainbow. The pegasus looking down upon him also had a sky blue coat color. "Oh man, that was priceless!"

"That was you?" Azure asked, still completely tensed up as though expecting her to start rushing him again. "Ugh, watch where you're going! You just about hit me!"

"I did?" the mare on the cloud asked, pausing from her borderline obnoxious laughter to regard Azure's courage. "Isn't that the point? Though I guess I've gotta give you credit, nopony should be able to react that quick! Still caught you with your head down!" Then she went right back to laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up..." Azure said. "Next time, I don't think you'll be able to pull that..."

"You wanna bet?" Now she was pulling the cloud up toward her, with a glare in her deep red eyes that suggested he'd just challenged her.

"Not particularly. I don't want to take idiotic gambles on my first day here..." retorted the colt. He'd hoped to make it very clear he just wasn't in a competitive spirit. Despite what he'd been spending the last three years preparing for, there was one thing Azure couldn't particularly partake in...showing off.

"So, what, you think I'm stupid or something?!" Now she really looked mad, immediately floating down to his level and staring daggers. While Azure was not at all intimidated by this, there was another thing he didn't want to do when entering Ponyville: start a fight, least of all with a mare.

"No...just haven't been feeling myself...I've already been frustrated today before..." Azure said, calling upon his talent of making split-second decisions. Most of the time, it was a life-saver, and other times, he'd be able to walk away from situations without gaining or losing anything. "I think we got off on the wrong hoof...my name's Azure Courage, and you are...?"

The rainbow-maned female was looking upon him now, with an expression that suggested she wasn't sure if she could buy the sudden reversal.

"Me?" she finally asked. "You're looking at the head of Ponyville's Weather Control, and the future Wonderbolt..." Just then, the pony rocketed away, leaving behind a rainbow blur as she did so, and executed a series of manuevers which the cyan colt had to admit were pretty impressive. This performance ended with her using the cloud she'd previously been using as a perch, and slamming into it with her back, causing it to disperse into several smaller pieces. "Rain-bow Daassshhh!!!"

Azure almost felt compelled to applaud, but he merely nodded, trying to keep his inner thoughts at bay.

Kch, showoff...

"So how 'bout that?! Bet'cha won't see anything like that out of most pegasi!" the sky blue mare boasted. All the newcomer could do was nod, not really in the mood to get her going again.

"I guess you're not interested in why I moved here, huh?" the colt asked, half-joking.

"Not really..." Dash said.

"Well, I'll shorten it. Canterlot is noisy, Ponyville is quieter by comparison." Azure answered, already trotting off.

"Hey, where are you goin'?"

"It's almost evening now, and I've still gotta find my way around the rest of Ponyville," the colt said, turning back to the sky blue mare. "This would be the part where I'd say 'see you around, I guess', but c'mon, you're hard to miss, speed or not."

And with that, the introduction ended, leaving Azure Courage to once again wander around aimlessly, hoping to the sun princess that he'd get home before night time came...
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"How did I end up here?!"

The sky had changed from blue to orange by the time Azure asked himself this question again. This time, he found himself hopelessly lost in a grove of apple trees, which provided him little relief. Maybe he was in a garden, at least, but whatever the case, the cyan colt was a little tired of wandering around.

"Man, really should have invested in a map or something...I don't even know where I am..." With a sigh, Azure pressed his back against a tree, and sunk into a sitting position. "Guess I'd better try to retrace my steps since leaving my new home..."

He tried desperately to remember basic compass directions that he traveled. He headed, south, if memory served, then east. That was when he met Fluttershy. He then changed direction, going into town, and somehow wound up in the company of Rarity. From there, he'd be lucky to remember any direction he went up until meeting Rainbow Dash. By this point, Azure distinctly remembered that he really should have tried to ask the sky blue mare for directions.

Far too caught up in his introspection once again - a lapse in consciousness one would think he'd learn wasn't precisely the best thing around these parts - he failed to notice the sound of hooves rapidly falling opposite of the tree. Had he noticed these, he might have peered around the bark in time to see something. Instead, he got a rather rude wake-up call, from yet another feminine voice.

"Yee-haw!!"

The amount of southern accent he could detect in the voice was enough to tip him off precisely where he could be. Before he could round the tree and see who made that bellow, the sound of hooves kicking a tree hard entered his ears, followed by a cracking noise coming from above. The colt's ears stiffened, and he dared to look up.

A cascade of red apples, probably as ripe as they were ever going to get, rained down unmercifully. It was all Azure could do; shield his head with his forelegs until the apples stopped falling. As soon as they did, the cyan colt began using his forehooves and began batting them away. He already knew he was going to have quite a few bruises that would result from being pounded by apples. As soon as he cleared through the fruits, he could hear that same female voice giggling at him. Turning, he saw the pony that likely caused the cascade of unmerciful fruit rain.

She wore a hat, probably a Stetson, that appeared to have held up quite well. The mare was orange-furred, but her mane and tail were light yellow or blond, and appeared to be tied off close to the end, rather than where the hair began. She had one of her hooves just starting to move toward the ground, indicating she'd just gotten over whatever laughing fit that had befell her. To Azure, it was obvious she was laughing at him after dumping a huge load of apples on his head.

Though he had to say, if she was able to do that in one kick, she was certainly strong.

"Sorry 'bout that!" said the mare at last, still trying to contain her laughter. "Really should watch where you sit though when you're on the orchard, especially since our family's annual reunion's comin' up and all!"

"I was on an orchard, huh..." Azure quietly observed, making a mental note to try and not nap under any apple trees while in Ponyville. He supposed that he might as well introduce himself to this pony as well, seeing as how he'd accidentally wound up on her family's farm in the first place. "Well, I'll keep that in mind for the future; anyway, I'm Azure Courage. I just moved here today, and--"

He paused, noticing the orange hoof extended his way. He raised his, and looked into the green eyes of the still chuckling pony, and really wished he'd picked a better place to try and retrace his steps.

"Pleased to meet ya, partner, I'm Applejack." The orange mare took a few moments, and said, "So you're lost, huh? Where're you from?"

"C-Canterlot." Azure was suffering from deja vu. Thankfully, Applejack did not go spacey on him like Rarity did.

"Oh, so you're a city pony," the orange mare observed, releasing the hoofshake. "Would explain why you got this lost..."

"Yeah, just trying to find my way home, that's all...I live close to the outer edge of Ponyville...do you know how I can get back?" The green eyes of the pony before him brightened somewhat as she processed this statement.

"I do," said Applejack, "I passed that house before once or twice while going into town to sell these here apples..."

"That's good!" responded Azure. "I'd been wandering around since about two o'clock, and...I got lost."

"Well, can't let'cha wander into anythin' else..."

She then began to tell him how to get to his home from where he was now. The directions were much appreciated, and indeed, Azure felt like smacking himself in the face, preferably with a large branch, for not realizing it sooner.

"Though, before I leave, I have one question...why are you harvesting at this time of day?" The cyan colt asked, really curious. "I get that farm work is demanding, but still...'

"The Apple Family Reunion is comin' up!" The orange mare stated. "Give it a couple more days 'n this farm'll be bustlin' with activity! The whole family's comin' up to Ponyville for the reunion..." She then began listing off, enthusiastically, all the apple-based food that the extended family would be feasting upon. It was probably also meant to be a Summer Sun Celebration union as well, but Azure couldn't tell. "Think you'll be able to come for a little?"

"Don't know, isn't it a family affair?" Azure asked. "At any rate, I really can't. I've got...other things, on my mind." He kept his tongue in his cheek about his "fixation" on Nightmare Moon. For all he knew, he was probably the only one getting ready for the potential of catastrophe to fall on this year's Summer Sun Celebration. Of the things he wanted to keep intact for his move to Ponyville, his explicit status as "mentally stable" was among the top of the list. If his family gave him flak for it, this pony would definitely do it too.

"I get it, you've probably got a celebration of your own..."

With nothing more than a nod, Azure began trotting away. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you...whenever, I guess."

He didn't take more than twelve paces before hearing her voice call out to him. "Wait, Az!"

"What?" He circled around to face her, only to find that she was even closer to him that she was during the introduction. She seemed to be still very happy about something. More so, she was moving in for his head. Azure was completely at a loss for words.

I-is she...about to--? The cyan colt quickly shut his eyes. Oh man, Virid'd kill me if he saw th--

Chomp!

The pony's eyes shot open, blinking. He looked up to his horn, just in time to see Applejack bobbing for an apple that was impaled on it. More specifically, she was pulling the wayward fruit off.

"Can't let'cha go home with that on your horn..." Applejack noted aloud. Immediately, the cyan colt felt his face grow warm, and cursed the fact he wasn't gifted with red fur to hide it.

"R-right, you can't." Azure immediately turned away. "Thanks for the help...I've really gotta get back home..."

"See ya soon!" There was still a little bit of a giggle in her voice. The blue colt immediately began galloping, calling upon the directions the farmer mare had given him, while at the same time hoping that she didn't see the redness on his face. The last thing he'd wanted was to accidentally have charmed the farmer's daughter, or have given her the wrong impression.

Unlike Virid, he thought all the pony races had some level of magic to them, and believed that earth ponies like Applejack shouldn't have been sold short based on their lack of wings or horns. Besides which, he just didn't want to date somepony so soon. He doubted he'd ever be ready for it, though. More importantly, he was on his way back home. All he wanted to do was crash out...
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Thanks to Applejack's direction, Azure Courage had finally found his way home. The evening was still relatively young, but all the colt could do was try to rest a little. The first day had certainly been exhausting. He'd been introduced to more mares than he ever thought possible.

First, the incredibly meek Fluttershy, whose pet rabbit almost seemed to act like her backbone, given that it was the one shooting all the dirty looks.

Next, the glamour pony Rarity. It wouldn't surprise him if she started hitting on him, but hopefully the properness he could pick up on in her mannerisms and accent would intervene.

After that, it was the tomboyish prankster Rainbow Dash. She also really enjoyed showing off. He had this funny feeling that they would not get along.

Finally, it was the farmer pony Applejack, who was kind enough to help him find his way home...and be terminally misleading at the same time.

He didn't know why, but he had asked for their names. Maybe he just didn't want to give the locals the wrong impression on the first day? Whatever the case, Azure unlocked and opened the door to his home with the key that he'd stored under the mat, given he didn't take anything with him during his day-long tour of his new town.

The pony trotted in, seeing nothing in front of him or to his side. While he certainly expected the dark to be welcoming him inside-he did not turn on any lights in his home, after all-it felt somewhat unsettling all the same. For some reason, he once more felt like he was being--

"SURPRISE!!"

The sounds of what could only be described as one hundred colts and mares assaulted him, and from the sudden shock of it all-the loud voices, the sudden switch from dark to light, his trained reflexes took over, and caused him to springboard off the floor, executing a rather randomly-timed forward jump over quite a few surprised ponies' heads. His landing was a little less than spectacular, but thankfully, he did not appear to have landed on anything. He remained standing in that position, frozen while he assessed precisely what happened in the rather awkward silence following this manuever.

Wait...they said "surprise"...who's the wise colt behind this... "...how did...?"

He couldn't even get two words out before an unfamiliar voice greeted him. Wait, no, that isn't accurate. The mare to which this voice belonged to was already in his face as he opened his eyes after gathering himself.

"Hiiiiiiii!" she said. Azure took a couple steps back out of sheer surprise. Apparently this pony was responsible for everything, and one look at her made the cyan colt's former questions fade away. Her mane and tail were curled, almost like she'd been sleeping all day, a dark pink color. Her fur was a light pink color, contrasting this. Cyan eyes, glazed over with happiness of some sort, bore into his with all the sugar of several birthday cakes. "I noticed you were here, and usually I know somepony, but I didn't know you, and since I know all the ponies here, I realized you were new, so I followed you so I could set this all up! What took you so long?"

...Is...is this mare for real? Azure quickly tacked on "hyperactive party mares" onto the growing list of things he wasn't prepared for, and just as quickly explained himself. "Well, I didn't expect this--"

"That's why they call it a 'surprise party', silly!" the pink mare continued, completely unbothered by the fact she'd essentially broke into his house to do this, "And judging from how you entered, you've probably never had one before!"

"N-no, I haven't..."

"My gosh, you must have had a very boring life! No wonder you came to Ponyville!"

Azure was just about to point out the irony in the mare's statement when a familiar, accented voice called out to him. "Goodness sake's, Pinkie, give the poor pony some space!"

Was that...?! His head turned in the direction of the voice. Sure enough, there was that white unicorn, Rarity, over at the table. A look off into the corner of one of the rooms confirmed another pony was there: Fluttershy, true to her nature, and her name, she was off somewhere relatively quiet.

Before Azure could question what the heck was going on, another familiar, feminine voice called out to him: "Nice flip! Why didn't you do that earlier?"

Another quick turn of the head revealed that Rainbow Dash, that pony that "almost" barreled into him earlier, was also there, hovering above the heads of some of the partygoers. To Azure, it seemed like she thought herself "too cool" to stand on her hooves.

"I didn't see the reason..." Azure then noticed that somepony that he'd met earlier was missing. Applejack. Then again, when he reconsidered on that line of thought, he immediately realized that she was probably up to her hat in chores to be done before the reunion occurred. "That, and I had even less time to react."

"Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses..."

And unlike you, I don't value showing off...

His train of thought was once again cut off by the pink party pony, "Pinkie", as Rarity called her, practically dragging him over to a table, which he realized contained refreshments. Namely, a lot of baked goods.

"Here, try this!" Pinkie squealed, immediately holding out, on her hooves, a small cupcake, topped with chocolate icing-at least, Azure thought it was chocolate icing given the color. Not wanting to be rude today, Azure took the item in his magical hold, and chomped down, the taste of sugary sweetness exploding in his mouth.

"Not bad," the cyan colt commented.

Okay, something's not right here. Call it being raised in Canterlot, but in all honesty, these ponies in Ponyville just seem...really, really nice. Rainbow Dash may be a jerk, but she's not nearly as much of one as Virid... thought Azure to himself, taking in all the sights. Huh. This town isn't as quiet as advertised, but...somehow, I think I can live with this...

"Azure, here," said Rarity. "Pinkie told me about your bedding situation not too long after you left. I hope you like it..." A white, rectangular box, encased in the blue glow of Rarity's magic, levitated down to Azure's eye level. The colt took it, feeling even more confused. "I did not have much time to put a design on it, so I went with a color that complements your coat..."

Wha--how long did it...how long were they waiting? Not wanting to waste anymore time, the unicorn male quickly opened up this box. He saw a red cloth, which was a complementary color. But it seemed to be folded up. As soon as Azure realized what he was looking at, something in his brain clicked.

A princessy sort of pony...with a generous heart...?! Is that what I was picking up on earlier? The cyan colt couldn't mask his surprise any longer. His eyes widened. ...The locals...they're...wow...

It wasn't that hard to thank Rarity for the gift of the blanket, but it was sort of hard to listen to her go on for a while about how she wished she could have put more of a design, but she was caught on such short notice that she didn't have time for it. Azure had to assure her that he actually preferred the simplicity of it; besides which, he already had a special item on his person tailor-made for him.
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The unexpected party had completely thrown Azure Courage for a loop. There wasn't a single doubt in his mind that Ponyville was worlds different from Canterlot. As the party drew to a close and clean up was made with the help of a few ponies, including, "Pinkie Pie", was her full name, Azure felt ultimately satisfied with his decision to move.

The town wasn't as quiet as indicated, but the locals themselves more than made up for it. They weren't so stuck-up and rude (or at least most of them were in this category, Azure still couldn't get Applejack and Rainbow Dash's respective encounters out of his mind; but even then none of them were that rude). Even Rarity had caught him off-guard. He usually didn't expect her type to be so...generous.

If any of the five mares he met today had to be the quirkiest he'd met in his life, he'd choose Pinkie, without question. That pony was something else. One second, he's watching ponies play Pin the Tail on the Pony, the next, his band is suddenly up around his eyes and he's the one playing it. Not to mention he swore there was a time the pink mare was walking on the ceiling...

Overall, he knew there was one thing he had to do: write his family about his move. This was simply too golden to pass up. He was glad he had some writing supplies with him.
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To my family:

It's me, Azure Courage. The first day in Ponyville was a bit awkward, in more ways than one! Let's see, first, I run into this pony and her pet. She was so meek the rabbit got mad! Next, I ran into somepony that I probably should have already known...and a unicorn, Rarity. She was generous given that her proper mannerisms usually would be seen back where you guys are.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I got lost...meeting two more mares, Rainbow Dash, who I swear is a showoff; Applejack, who kindly pointed me in the right direction to get home...

Then we have Pinkie Pie. Quirkiest earth pony in Equestria, without a doubt. I swear she was walking on the ceiling.

You know, I moved to Ponyville for a little quiet, and after my first day, I don't know if it's going to be as quiet as advertised...but I'm okay with it. I can make do...the locals here are incredibly friendly. I really shouldn't have trouble finding a job before I run out of bits...

Well, that's it, really. Just wanted you guys to know how I was doing.

Oh, and if Virid is reading this, kindly tell him that there are more unicorns here than he thinks there is.

From Ponyville, My New Home

Azure Courage

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"Guess I'll send it in the morning," Azure thought, putting the letter up for now. He looked up to the night sky, and felt that same ominous chill he'd gotten whenever looking at the moon again.

Sweet Celestia, I hope I'm wrong. I really do. But...something tells me this year's gonna be it...this one's going to be the one that the ponytale becomes a living nightmare...A living Nightmare Moon, as a matter of fact...

"No use in worrying about it. I've just gotta be ready for when that day comes." Azure said aloud. "Still need to get a job in any case...better start looking for that tommorrow..."

And with that, the cyan colt known as Azure Courage went to bed, pulling the red blanket given to him by Rarity over him using his magic as he fell into sleep.
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The letter-writing thing won't be too common, at least, I don't think it will be. Wanted to introduce the canon main characters before cutting away...