Brook sat idly behind the umbrella. Pinkie had somehow managed to angle it so that it hid the entirety of his colossal body and he couldn’t help but smile... or... well... you know. Pinkie, meanwhile, was busy talking to herself. Well, she was talking to Brook to, but with how fast she was talking he never saw an opportunity to respond. Luckily, the ponies who observed her acting like she was merely passed it off as Pinkie being Pinkie. While still listening to the excited mare, Brook sipped some of the smoothie from his cup and let his gaze move across the open area.
An odd being caught his attention and he immediately pointed it out to Pinkie. “Oh.” She replied, losing some of her enthusiasm. “That’s Gilda.” Brook nodded and the duo observed her as she approached an apple cart. With dexterous use of her tail she reached over and tapped an elderly mare on the hindquarters, scaring her and causing her to try and slowly flee the area. Then she stole an apple using her tail to it’s maximum effectiveness once again.
“Quite rude of her.” Brook said, disappointed by the actions of the griffon.
“N-no. We’re probably being too judgemental.” Pinkie offered weakly, neither believed it though. From his position Brooke noticed an approaching problem before anyone else had and was preparing to deal with it even as the griffon blindly ran into Fluttershy, who had been leading a train of ducks through the middle of town. The two collided and Gilda instantly went on the offensive, yelling at Fluttershy for being in the way.
Fluttershy burst into tears and was running away. Pinkie, who had had enough, began to speak under her breath. “Oh, now I’m going to have to do something. And it’s gonna be Pinkie Pi- huh?” She stopped and looked to the side, only to realize that Brooke had disappeared. A haunting melody filled the air and everyone in the plaza froze. Fluttershy’s feet slowed down when she recognized the singing voice.
Simultaneously, everyone seemed to find the source of the voice and looked behind Gilda, including the griffon herself, and they were all met with the sight of a large skeletal horse standing behind her. Gilda was frozen in fear, as was everyone else, and Brook leaned forward. His signature laugh leading the way.
“That was incredibly rude.” His voice was haunting, whether it was the atmosphere of the sudden words or his actual tone was impossible to tell. “You really should apologize.” Gilda merely looked back in fear. In the distance Applejack had to come to a sudden halt with a load of apples because some of the ponies who had stopped moving had been in the middle of the road. Dozens of apples filled the air.
Brook noticed them first and closed his mouth around the handle of his sword. With movement unseen by even the likes of Pinkie Pie he dashed forward, the sword hanging loosely in his jaw after he had done so. “Three verse humming.” He said softly, yet perfectly despite the handle in his mouth, as the apples flew toward Gilda, about to collide with her face. He lowered his head, sliding the sword into it’s sheath. “Arrow notch strike!” He shouted, slamming the blade fully into the sheath. The apples immediately split, narrowly missing Gilda’s face.
Brook turned, about to ask Gilda once again to apologize, only to see her taking to the skies as she decided flight over fight to be the best choice. With a laugh of ‘yohoho’ Brook turned to Fluttershy. “I’m sorry Fluttershy. I must have gotten in your way, would you like to continue escorting the ducks?”
Fluttershy nodded happily and turned towards the ducks. It took some convincing but eventually she managed to walk past the skeletal horse. As she passed she offered a brief thanks and Brook nodded in return before he headed back towards Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie smiled as she looked around at the ponies who all stared slackjawed at the skeleton and jumped on top of the umbrella that sat on the table. “Hey Ponyville! This is me and Fluttershy’s and Twilight’s and Rainbow Dash’s and Applejack’s and Rarity’s friend. Go ahead and introduce yourself!” She pointed excitedly toward the towering being who promptly turned and doffed his hat.
“Hello everyone! I am ‘Dead Bones’ Brook! It’s a pleasure to meet you all!” Brook said, deciding to follow Pinkie’s lead. “I shouldn’t be here long, just until Celestia finds a way to get me back home. Until then I hope that I don’t inconvenience you all too much!”
“We’ll be throwing a party right here in the plaza in two hours! Bring your friends and we’ll all eat a bunch of cake and it will be so completely and totally fun!” Pinkie’s voice echoed in the area as it built up speed, the very idea of that much sugar making her move faster.
“And I’ll be playing the violin!” Brook added, trying to make the offer as tempting as possible. If this went wrong, well, he knew what it was like to be alone.
“So make sure you all come ready for an amazing time!” She shouted, breaking the ponies from their stupors. Though, as they all shuffled away, they kept their gaze on the weird stallion. In a quieter voice Pinkie started talking to Brook. “Help me set up! Oh this is gonna be so amazing!” As she walked past the perfectly sliced halves of apples that Brook had cut she turned around. “You can help me cut the carrot for the carrot cake!” And then she ran into the gingerbread house directly behind her.
Brook paused for a moment, hoof raised as if he were going to say something against the idea, but then he shrugged. “This is going to be quite the party! Too bad Luffy can’t be here, he would certainly liven things up.” Brook’s mind went back to his memories of his crew and the insane, wonderful times he had spent with them only a few days ago before coming to this odd world.
“Sanji had better protect Nami and Robin.” He said with finality before he followed Pinkie into the house, an almost imperceptible spring in his step.