//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: Ponyville 
// Story: Change the Heart 
// by FatesWinds 
//------------------------------//


Chapter One
Ponyville
"Ain't no two ways about it. Sometimes all ya need is a fresh start and friendly neighbors." —Summer Sweets



“Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no! Where did I put it?!”
Twilight Sparkle rushed through the library, her horn glowing as she pulled books off the shelves and tore through her supplies with her magic, her hair unkempt as if she'd just gotten out of bed. The lavender unicorn looked frantically everywhere she could for the letter from Canterlot that had arrived yesterday. 
“Oooohhh, where is it! Spike!”
“Where’s what Twilight?” asked Spike as he climbed down the stairs.
“The letter Princess Celestia had sent, I can’t find it anywhere!” Twilight looked desperately at the baby dragon. “Please tell me you know where it is.”
“I think you left it in the Daring Do book Rainbow Dash borrowed-.”
Twilight shot out of the library, galloping as fast as she could to Rainbow Dash’s usual lounging spot.
“-earlier,” Spike finished, staring at the cloud of dust Twilight had left in her wake.
Twilight dashed through the streets of Ponyville, sprinting around some of the ponies who were in the way. She couldn’t believe she had left Princess Celestia’s letter in that book! And of all the ones to lose, this one was one of the most important ones yet! Oh, how could she have done something so foolish? She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t see the cart in her way until it was too late to stop from crashing into it. Pony, bits of wood and apples tumbled into the dirt, scraping to a halt several feet from the now ruined cart. The orange earth pony who had been standing beside it ran over.
“Whoa there Twilight, what’s got y’all rushing ‘round in such a fret?” asked Applejack as she helped her friend to her hooves.
“I’m sorry Applejack,” Twilight said, hurriedly using her magic to repair the cart. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“Well I can see that. What’s the rush for?”
“Princess Celestia sent me a letter yesterday that I really need to find and Spike said I left it in a book that Rainbow Dash borrowed.”
“A letter? What’s so important about it that you need to go tearing through all of Ponyville for it?”
“Somepony she sent is going to arrive today, only I don’t remember when or where! Oh, what if they’re here now waiting for me? What’s the Princess going to think when she finds out I wasn’t there to meet them?!”
“Now just calm down for a tick, no need to get all worked up. I saw Dash down by Sugarcube Corner with Fluttershy just five minutes ago.”
“Thanks Applejack!” Twilight said, taking off down the street again back the way she came, causing Applejack’s hat to fly off as she ran past.
Applejack snatched it out of the air quickly and put it back on, shaking her head. “I swear, she’s gonna do more damage if she keeps rushing around like that than those Parasprites did,” she said. “Apple Bloom!”
A yellow filly popped up from behind the apple stand. “Yeah sis?”
“I need you to take care of the sales while I go keep Twilight from crashing into somepony else’s stand.”
Apple Bloom nodded. “Gotcha Applejack.”
“An’ I don’t want to come back and find out you were putting apples into somepony’s bag and chargin’ ’em when they didn’t ask for them.”
“I said I was sorry,” the filly whined as her sister ran after Twilight. “I was only trying to see if I could get my cutie mark in sellin’ apples.”


*  *  *


Rarity carried her bags full of all sorts of supplies for her new line of dresses through the road on her way back to her boutique, looking through them with her magic as she walked.
“I do believe that everything is in order,” the white unicorn said to herself. “Why, with all this new silk and velvet, I could make thirty new dresses that everypony will absolutely adore!”
A purple blur shot past her, causing her to throw the contents of each bag into the air in surprise. She yelped in distress, hurriedly catching each item and put them in their proper bag before they hit the ground.
“The nerve of some ponies,” she huffed. “Honestly, haven’t they ever heard of walking like a normal pony?”
Applejack hurried past just then. “Sorry, Rarity, Twi’s in a bit of a rush to Sugarcube Corner right now.”
“That was Twilight?” Rarity asked incredulously. “What on Equestria would cause her to run past like that without even a single apology for almost ruining this silk?”
“Seems she left a letter from Celestia about somepony coming to Ponyville in a book that Rainbow Dash borrowed, an’ she can’t remember when or where they’re arriving.”
“Princess Celestia is personally sending somepony here?!” Rarity quickly pulled the bags off the ground. “Who! No, no, if the Princess has somepony coming here, then they’re obviously someone of extreme prestige. Applejack, could you be a dear and keep her there for me? I simply must go and make myself look presentable for when they arrive.” She didn’t wait for an answer and ran back to the boutique to get ready.


*  *  *


“-Daring Do watched as Ahuizotl escaped with the Golden Claw and vowed that one day she would get it back.”
Rainbow Dash closed the book and leaned back in her chair, sighing contently.
“That,” she exclaimed, “was the best one yet! I can’t wait to see how she gets the Golden Claw away from him!”
“But Rainbow Dash, I thought you had already finished all the books,” Fluttershy said.
Both pegasi sat at a table inside Sugarcube Corner. Fluttershy was having one of Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s carrot cake cupcakes while Rainbow Dash had been reading Daring Do and the Secret of the Golden Claw aloud. The rainbow-haired pegasus had gotten over her embarrassment of liking books and now borrowed one from Ponyville’s library almost every week, though most were the Daring Do series.
“Yeah, but Twilight said that even if somepony’s read a book, there’s always more for them to find in it if they read them again and again,” Rainbow Dash replied. She looked down at the book with a grin on her face and moved to open it again when she saw something sticking out by the last page. “Wait, what’s this? A loose page?”
The door to the store burst open. Everypony jumped and turned to look at Twilight Sparkle, standing in the entrance way, hair disheveled, panting, with a crazed look on her face.
“Rain-,” she panted, stepping inside, “Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow Dash grabbed the book off the table and hid it behind her back. If Twilight found out she had broken one of her books, she’d kill her! “Twilight!” she said nervously. “Wh-what are you doing here?”
“I need the Daring Do book you got today.” The unicorn slowly managed to catch her breath.
“Book? I um, I must have left it at home.”
“Um, but Rainbow, you- Mmph!” Fluttershy began to say, silenced when Rainbow Dash quickly covered her mouth.
“Nope! No book here, ha ha!”
“Mm mhm-mph-.” Fluttershy tried to keep talked, but it was hard to with her mouth covered by Rainbow’s hoof. She pointed to the book behind her friend’s back.
Twilight saw what Fluttershy was doing and, before Rainbow Dash knew what was happening, pulled the book out, hurriedly floating it over to her even as her magic flipped through the pages. “Aha! Here it is!” she cried out as she reached the back of the book, pulling out the paper in the back.
“I’m sorry Twilight!” Rainbow shouted, pulling her hoof away from Fluttershy’s mouth and floated over to her friend. “I didn’t mean to break the book, honest!”
“Break the-?” Twilight asked, closing the book. “Rainbow Dash, what are you talking about?”
“The page! It must have torn out while I was reading the end of it. It was an accident, I swear!”
“Page? What do you mean? The book’s in perfect condition, or as perfect as it can be for one that’s been read dozens of times.”
“I didn’t-! Wait, what?” Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight, startled. “Then what was that page you just took out?”
“This isn’t a page from the book,” Twilight laughed, finally looking like her usual self now that she had what she had needed, “it’s a letter from Princess Celestia. She’s sending somepony here to Ponyville and asked me to meet them. I left it in the book by accident and I forgot when and where I was supposed to find them.” She showed the book to her friend. “You didn’t damage the book at all.”
“I-. Oh, well then, right. So, who’s the pony that’s coming?” Rainbow Dash asked, quickly steering away the conversation from the book.
“That’s the strange thing about this letter; she never mentions a name, just that he’d be arriving today.” Twilight held it open in front of her, reading it out loud. “To my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,
I understand that this may seem an odd request, but there is somepony that I believe would do better in Ponyville than where he currently is and I would like it if you and your friends could make him feel welcome in his new home. I’ve made arrangements for him to arrive tomorrow on the first train to Ponyville; will you meet him at the station when it arrives? He’s a little different than everypony, and has become very closed off as a result of the reactions to this from other ponies. Hopefully you and your friends will be able to bring him out of his shell. Please look after him for me.
– Princess Celestia.”
“Somepony’s coming here? Does Pinkie know yet?” Fluttershy asked.
“Not that I know,” Twilight replied, rolling up Princess Celestia’s letter, “but this is Pinkie we’re talking about, so if she doesn’t already know, she’ll find out somehow.”
“Do you want us to come meet him with you?”
“I think that sounds like a great idea Fluttershy.” Twilight smiled. “Besides, Princess Celestia did say that she’d like it if we made him feel welcome here.”
The door to Sugarcube Corner opened and Applejack walked inside. Seeing Twilight looking much calmer, she let out a sigh of relief.
“Well from the look of things, I’d reckon you found that letter you were lookin’ for Twi,” she said.
Twilight looked over at her with a sheepish look. “Yeah, I’m sorry about destroying your cart before.”
“Shoot, t’weren’t nothing a little elbow grease wouldn’t have fixed. Besides, you did put it back together. Now, what did the letter from the Princess say?”
“The pony she’s sending here is supposed to arrive on the first train to Ponyville,” Twilight replied, “which should be arriving soon, if I remember the schedule correctly.”
Rarity popped her head in at that moment, wearing a teal frilly coat, the necklace she made from the fire ruby Spike had given her, and a light violet, long-brimmed hat. Everypony turned to stare at her, shocked by her fancy getup.
“Did I hear you correctly Twilight?” she asked. “The pony Princess Celestia is sending here, the one she personally asked you to meet, is going to be here as soon as the first train arrives?”
“Th-that’s what the letter says,” Twilight replied, looking her friend up and down. “What’s the occasion for those clothes?”
“What’s the occasion?” Rarity looked at Twilight as if she had just asked why the sky was blue. “Princess Celestia has asked that we meet somepony that she’s sending here! Oh, if she’s doing something like that, they must be a very important pony, so one simply must make a good first impression.”
Twilight frowned a little.
“Just because she’s sending somepony here doesn’t mean they’re going to be some fancy, regal pony. I mean, she did send Spike and me here too, and we’re not like that.”
“Be that as it may, it is always best to present oneself in a way to leave a pleasant, lasting impression. And that will not be able to happen if we do not leave for the station this moment. The first train arrives at precisely ten o’clock, which is in five minutes. It does not do well to be late, Twilight Sparkle, when meeting somepony you’ve been asked to meet.”
Applejack rolled her eyes at these words.
“Fancy getup or not, Rarity does have a point Twi,” she said. “Besides, all this talk has made me curious about this pony the Princess sent here.”
“Yeah, me too,” agreed Rainbow Dash, hovering a few feet in the air. “Come on, I can’t wait to meet whoever it is.”
Twilight chuckled to herself.
“There’s no need to tell me twice,” she said. “Let’s get going then. Has anyone seen Pinkie Pie?”
Everypony shook their heads, though Mr. Cake did say that, knowing her, she’d show up in time to meet them. Twilight had to agree, Pinkie did have that habit, and they couldn’t waste any more time if they wanted to get to the station to meet whoever Princess Celestia was sending in time. She thanked Mr. Cake for his help and she and the others hurried to the train station, Rarity, though, lagged behind a little so as not to mess up her ensemble.
“Twilight?” Fluttershy asked as they reached the platform.
“Yes?”
“If Princess Celestia didn’t say who we were meeting, and she didn’t give us a description of them, how will we know which pony is them?”
Twilight thought about this. It was odd that the Princess wouldn’t have given them any indication of who it was…
“Well,” she said finally, “I guess we’ll just have to see who’s looking for us. Besides, it’s not like there’s going to be a lot of ponies taking the train to Ponyville, right?”


*  *  *


Three trains later, and several dozen ponies getting off each one, Twilight regretted her words. She looked over the letter for the forty-third time, once again checking if she’d gotten the date of the pony’s arrival wrong, once again finding that she hadn’t. Rarity slumped against the station’s wall, taking off her hat.
“Well,” she said, “it seems that somepony never learned proper etiquette. We’ve been here for hours, and not one pony has arrived from Canterlot.”
“I don’t understand,” Twilight sighed. “The letter clearly said that he was supposed to be here on the first train today.”
Fluttershy pointed to the fourth train of the day.
“M-maybe he’s on that one?” she suggested quietly.
“He’d better be,” grumbled Rainbow Dash. “I’m getting tired of waiting for some no show pony.”
The train slowed to a stop in front of them and the doors slid open as the conductor’s voice rang out.
“Last stop, everypony out!”
Several ponies stepped off of the train, a couple earth ponies, ten unicorns, and about seven pegasi. As they had for the last three trains, Twilight and the others stood up straight, looking to see if the mysterious pony the Princess had sent was there, but nopony stood out. They let out a collective sigh of disappointment as the ponies who had been on the train made their way out of the station.
“Well, this has been a waste of time,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Let’s get out of here, he’s not going to show.”
“What? But I wanted to meet the pony who was coming here!”
Rainbow Dash looked at the pony the voice belonged to, who had just stepped off the train. Actually, bounced out of the train would have been more specific for the pink earth pony. Pinkie Pie made her way over to her friends, doing little hops in the air as she walked, her bouncy, cotton candy-like hair bobbing up and down with each bounce.
“Pinkie, where have you been?” Twilight asked. “And why were you on the train?”
“Well, I heard that somepony was coming on the first train, so I ran over here as fast as I could to wait for them to arrive-.”
“But… you weren’t here when we got here,” Fluttershy said.
“I was here, but I went to get a snack, you can’t greet new ponies on an empty stomach after all,” Pinkie replied. “And when I got back, the train was here, but nopony on it was a new pony which I thought was a little odd so I went onto the train to see if somepony forgot to get off, and the train left.”
“So… you’ve just been riding the train back and forth all day?” Twilight asked slowly.
“Yes indeedy!” Pinkie said with a huge grin on her face.
“Well why didn’t you just get off at the first stop and catch the next-?” Applejack began to ask.
“Um, e-excuse me.”
Twilight and the others turned to look at the source of the voice. A blue pegasus approached them nervously.
“This is the Ponyville station, right?” he asked.
“That’s correct,” Twilight replied, smiling.
“Look at the size of his wings,” Rainbow Dash whispered to Fluttershy. “They’re huge!”
He seemed to have heard her voice because he automatically tried to press his wings – larger than those belonging to a normal pegasus, Twilight noted – closer to his body and looked down at his hooves, his black and red mane falling down to cover his eyes. Twilight shot her friend a look before turning back to the new pony.
“Is there something we can help with?”
The pegasus looked back up, but avoided making eye-contact with her.
“I… I’m looking for somepony named Twilight Sparkle,” he said. “I was told that they were going to meet me here?”
“Oh! So you’re the pony Princess Celestia said she was sending!” Twilight stepped forward and held out her hoof. “Twilight Sparkle is me,” she said as they shook hooves, “And these are my friends: Applejack-,”
“Howdy,” Applejack said, tipping her hat in greeting.
“Rarity-,”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Rarity curtsied a little.
“Fluttershy-,”
“H-hello,” mumbled Fluttershy.
“Rainbow Dash-,”
“How’s it hanging?” Rainbow Dash gave a little wave.
“And Pinkie Pie,” Twilight finished, pointing to the spot were Pinkie had been standing. “Wait, where’d Pinkie go?”
“Oh wow, so you’re the new pony everypony’s been talking about,” Pinkie said, jumping out from behind the pegasus, startling him so much that he jumped three feet in the air before landing with his wings extended out as far as they could go. “My name’s Pinkie Pie, well actually it’s Pinkamena Diane Pie, but everypony just calls me Pinkie, you can call me Pinkie Pie, Pinkie, The Pinkster, Pinkiepananza, Pinkaroo-…”
She continued to spout out name after name, poking her head out behind the poor scared pegasus every time he turned around to try and find her. 
“…or just plain old Pinkie if you prefer, not Plain Old Pinkie because that’d be  a silly name for anypony to have, but just Pinkie. Did you know Princess Celestia sent Twilight a letter asking us to personally come meet you here? Twilight’s her number one star pupil and she’s been learning under Princess Celestia ever since she was a little filly.” Suddenly she gasped as a thought came to her. “Are you somepony being taught by her too? Not in magic of course because you’re not a unicorn but maybe in some other area of study like archeology, mathematics, psychology, geography, chemistry-,”
“Um, Pinkie?” Twilight said as Pinkie began to walk the pegasus around backwards as she talked.
“-history, theatre-,”
“Pinkie.”
“-mime, painting, sculpting, fly fishing, dancing-,”
“Pinkie.”
“-cooking, socio-economics, wrestling, teaching, pie-eating, zoology, horticulture, physical education, martial arts, fencing, foal-sitting, high-diving, face painting-,”
“Pinkie!”
“Yeah Twilight?” Pinkie looked over at her friend, having backed the new pony into a wall. “Oh! Did you have some ideas as to what Princess Celestia was teaching him?”
“Can you at least let him have some air?” Twilight asked, shaking her head as she and the others walked over. “Princess Celestia wanted us to make him feel welcome, not scare his feathers loose.”
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy pulled Pinkie away as she thought about whether or not she had been making him feel welcome. The pegasus gave Twilight a grateful look.
“Is she always like that?” he asked, tucking in his wings.
“Not always,” Rarity said, walking around to look at his wings. “She gets excited when new ponies show up, it gives her an excuse to throw such splendid parties to welcome them and allow them to meet everypony here in Ponyville. I do hope you’ll forgive me for being so bold, but your wings are absolutely beautiful. Why I don’t think I’ve seen a pair quite like them on anypony, well, except for Princess Celestia, of course.”
Uncomfortable under her gaze, he continued to press his wings closer to his body, trying to make them look smaller. “I-I get that a lot,” he mumbled.
“Rarity, will ya stop examining him like he’s one of your fancy dresses?” Applejack said. “Poor fella’s not even had a chance to tell us his name yet.”
“Oh dear, I had completely forgotten,” Rarity said, stepping back with a sheepish look on her face. “My deepest apologies.”
The pegasus looked at Applejack thankfully before speaking. “I-it’s all right,” he said. He stood up straight and looked at the six ponies. “My name is Heart Shield,” he said, bowing a little to each of them. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Heart Shield,” Twilight said, smiling at him. “Welcome to Ponyville.”
Pinkie popped over and hooked an arm over Heart Shield’s neck. “And now it’s time for your official Welcome to Ponyville party!”
“Par- Waugh!” Heart Shield said as she took off towards town hall, pulling him with her.
“Hey! Pinkie!” Twilight shouted, running after them, the rest of her friends in tow. “I don’t think dragging him around is what Princess Celestia meant by ‘make him feel welcome’!”


*  *  *


The building was packed with every single pony in Ponyville, all of whom were already well into partying by the time Heart Shield was yanked inside by Pinkie Pie. He’d been here less than five minutes and he was already questioning Lady Celestia’s decision to send him here. Why had she thought it would be a good idea to suddenly have him move to a place where he knew absolutely nopony there? Well, almost nopony. The moment he’d been brought inside, he heard a familiar voice from across the room.
“Heart Shield! Are you here to say hi to the new pony too?”
He looked up as Derpy waved to him from the other side of the room, accidentally splashing the punch she’d been drinking onto a light brown earth pony. The stallion said something to her, though he didn’t look upset at her action, rather like he’d grown used to things like that, and she offered an apology and a sheepish look before waving at him again. Heart Shield waved back a little, noticing that everypony’s eyes were now on him.
“Oh good, you’ve already met Derpy!” Pinkie said, startling him. “This means you’ve already made a friend here! Let me introduce you to everypony else, trust me, you’re going to have lots of friends and fun here in Ponyville.”
“Y- Wai- Wha-?” was all he managed to get out before she pulled him over to the nearest ponies, beginning to name each of them.
“This is Cheerilee, she runs the school in Ponyville and teaches all the fillies and foals here. This is Mr. Cake and Mrs. Cake, they own Sugarcube Corner, the most amazing confectionary and bakery you’ll ever find,” she said. “And these two are Lyra and Bon Bon, they’re…”
Heart Shield’s head was spinning as he was led around the room, meeting every unicorn, pegasus, earth pony, even a donkey – whose name even Pinkie Pie found a little amusing, Cranky Doodle, if Heart Shield had heard right – and Zecora the zebra, who lived in the Everfree Forest outside Ponyville. He struggled to remember all the names he’d been given. Pinkie’s friends had shown up sometime while he’d been introduced to somepony called Filthy Rich, who seemed to have little interest in him, something he was grateful for. He managed to slip away from Pinkie as she got into a long discussion with Mr. Rich, and made his way over to where the punch bowl was, keeping his head low, aware of the stares his wings were getting, and of several ponies whispering to each other.
At least nopony’s noticed I’m still blank, he thought to himself, pouring a glass while he tried to make himself look smaller, and sat down by the wall.
“A little overwhelming at first, isn’t it?”
He jumped at Twilight Sparkle’s voice as she walked over to him.
“Sorry,” she said, sitting next to him, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“I-it’s fine,” he mumbled, taking a sip of the punch.
They sat in silence for a while before she spoke again.
“Heart Shield?”
“Yes Miss Twilight?”
“Twilight is just fine,” she chuckled. “Anyway, would you mind if I asked how you know Princess Celestia? It’s a little out of character for her to send somepony out here like that.”
“I’ve known Lady Celestia since I was a foal,” he said, putting his glass down. He looked up at the ceiling, a small smile forming over his lips as he began to talk. “We met a few times when she visited the houses of the families that were taking care of me, and at a couple Galas. She always had time, when we ran into each other, to talk to me, and she’d always listen to me and help me with… certain insecurities.” He glanced down at his wristband. “Lady Celestia gave this to me, years and years ago, back when I was in Cloudsdale. I used to be picked on because of the size of my wings, and because I never had a cutie mark, so when she came to Cloudsdale one day, she gave this to me. She told me that it was magical and would absorb all the negative feelings I’d get from the teasing and rumors, and amplify any good ones. It’s not, but it helped me a lot over the years.”
“Wait a minute!” Rainbow Dash, who’d come over while he had been talking, said. “You’re that pegasus who always stayed off of the flying course! Large wing!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight scolded as Heart Shield pressed his wings as close to his body as he could.
“What?”
“It’s fine Twilight, I’ve been called worse,” he said.
Fluttershy has been walking past when she overheard Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow Dash, you mean you didn’t remember Heart Shield?” she asked.
Pinkie popped up before Rainbow Dash could answer.
“Ooo! So you already knew Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy too!” she said, not noticing how Heart Shield was squirming, intimidated by the strange pink pony. “This is great!”
“We were just in Cloudsdale at the same time,” he said quietly.
“Well, all the same, y’all still already know three of the ponies who live here,” said Applejack, joining the small group, Rarity and a baby dragon in tow. “That’s more than Twilight knew when Princess Celestia sent her here.
Heart Shield looked at Twilight after this bit of news. Pinkie had said that she was a student of Lady Celestia’s, but he just figured that Twilight had come to Ponyville on her own, or had already been here when she started being taught by the Princess.
“Lady Celestia sent you here too?”
“Yeah, me and Twilight were sent to Ponyville a little over a year ago,” the dragon said. “I’m Spike by the way, Twilight’s number one assistant.”
He held out a hand to Heart Shield, who shook it with a wing seeing as it was the only thing long enough to reach Spike since the others were in the way.
“Heart Shield,” he said, hiding his flank with his tail before anypony could see. He turned back to Twilight. “Why did Lady Celestia send you two here?”
Twilight rubbed the back of her head, a sheepish look on her face.
“I used to be more interested in my books than I was in interacting with others back in Canterlot. Princess Celestia decided that I should come to Ponyville to learn about friendship, and I met these five. We’ve been friends ever since.”
Applejack and the others smiled. Rarity asked him if he’d always lived in Cloudsdale, which led to him explaining about his foalhood. All of them looked surprised that he’d been an abandoned orphan; Spike seemed to understand how he felt though, and Heart Shield learned that the dragon had never known his parents either. Pinkie asked him why he took a train rather than just fly down, so he explained that Lady Celestia had sent him a letter telling him to come to Canterlot a day ago, and that after she’d told him that he would be moving to Ponyville, she had him stay in Canterlot for the night. He’d overslept though, and missed the first train, then he had trouble finding out which train went to Ponyville, and after that he’d gotten off at all the wrong stops until he’d reached his destination. As the discussion went on, leading into the other ponies talking about their lives, Heart Shield became more relaxed. They talked for the rest of the party, not even noticing that it had died down until the last of the party guests said good night to them. Spike let out a loud yawn, which the seven ponies ended up echoing.
“My, is it that late already?” Rarity asked, glancing at a clock. It was half past midnight. “I’d better be heading off to bed. Good night everypony.”
“G’night,” Heart Shield said before turning to Twilight. “The letter that Lady Celestia sent you, did it say anything about an inn or someplace where I can stay?”
All six ponies and Spike looked at him, startled.
“You mean you don’t know where you’re going to be?” Fluttershy asked.
Heart Shield shook his head. “She never told me, just that I’d be coming here and that Twilight was supposed to be meeting me at the station. But that’s not a big deal is it? I mean, there is someplace where visitors or new ponies can stay… right?”
They all shook their heads.
“Cranky moved into the last house in Ponyville,” explained Pinkie. “And there aren’t any inns here.”
He blinked, surprised to hear this. Lady Celestia hadn’t mentioned anything about that to him. He just assumed that there would be someplace he could move into like his room in Cloudsdale. Applejack patted his back.
“Don’t you fret now; y’all can come back to Sweet Apple Acres with me. We may not have any rooms free, but the barn has a loft in it that’s been cleared out and cleaned up for when Apple Bloom has her friends come over; you can sleep there while we sort things out.”
“Sleep in that dusty old barn?” Rarity sounded appalled that Applejack would even consider asking the new pony such a thing.
“My barn ain’t dusty, Rarity, nor old,” replied Applejack. “Besides, we can’t just let him sleep out on the streets, an’ none of y’all currently have room in your houses do you?”
Her friends all looked away, not a single one spoke up. Fluttershy currently had a sick bear taking up the only spare room, since everywhere else, even the couch, was occupied by raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and all sorts of other small animals. Rainbow Dash had managed to lock herself out of her own house a week ago and had just taken to sleeping on whatever cloud she could find. Rarity’s family, except for Sweetie Belle, who had gone to spend a night over at Twilight’s house with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, were all there, and Sweetie Belle had told Rarity that she and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders had something they were working on in her room, so she couldn’t even allow the pegasus to take her sister’s room for the night. Pinkie had agreed to take care of the Cake’s babies that night, and had taken them to the room she had at Sugarcube Corner. Twilight, obviously, had her hooves full with the Cutie Mark Crusaders having a sleepover. This just left Applejack. Like Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom had said that her room was being used for something they were working on, so, as she had said, the only spare place with her was the loft in the barn. Rarity, despite all of this, tried to get her friend to understand that an old barn, filled with dust, hay, and possibly crawling with insects, was no place for somepony to sleep, and besides, it had to be dreadfully uncomfortable to sleep on the cold planks or bushels of hay. This sparked an argument between the two about the barn and what was and wasn’t a good idea or place for Heart Shield to stay in. Heart Shield looked from one to the other, uncomfortable with the argument over him that his predicament had caused.
“I-if I get a say in the matter,” he said, interrupting the two of them, “I would be fine with sleeping in the barn.”
Rarity sighed and lowered her head in defeat, the matter settled, though she insisted that she didn’t feel that he’d be comfortable at all sleeping there before she left. Pinkie had left during the argument, saying that she needed to go and take care of the Cakes' foals. Fluttershy followed Rarity, wishing all of them a good night. Rainbow Dash stuck around for the argument, as did Twilight, but left when she saw that a decision had been made, yawning loudly. Twilight and Spike accompanied Heart Shield and Applejack out of the building, walking them as far as Twilight’s library. Spike went inside, but Twilight stayed out long enough to say goodnight to Heart Shield and Applejack, and that she’d write to the Princess about the lack of housing for him before she too went inside.
Applejack turned to Heart Shield and smiled, leading him down the streets of Ponyville as she talked about Sweet Apple Acres and the Apple family. She was surprised when he asked about what life on the farm was like, even more when he seemed truly interested in the work she and her family did there. She told him about everything as they walked, and the more she told him, the more interested he seemed and the more relaxed he became, to the point that by the time they reached the barn they were throwing jokes at each other like snowballs in the winter.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d reckon y’all had your special talent in farm handlin’.”
Heart Shield tucked his wings into his sides, making sure they hid his lack of a mark.
“Yeah,” he said, chuckling nervously. “It’d certainly be something if that was it.” He looked at the barn before speaking up again, this time in a more worried tone. “You’re sure it’s okay for me to stay here? I don’t want to be a bother…”
“Nonsense sugar cube, y’all need a place to live don’t you?” she said, patting the nervous pegasus on his back. “I’m sure that we can get somepony to make you a house of your own, but in the meantime, y’all are more than welcome to stay in the barn if ya’d like. Apple Bloom and her friends already made a nice spot up top back before I showed ’em my old tree house.”
He shifted his wings around uncomfortably and looked at the ground. Applejack smiled and nudged his shoulder.
“However,” she said, “don’tcha go thinking you can skip out on rent. Y’all can pay me back by helpin’ out around the farm, nothin’ too big mind ya; mostly odd jobs like fixin’ a leak on the roof or repainting the house. Think you’re up for it big guy?”
Heart Shield looked up at her and nodded.
“Then let me welcome you to your new home in Ponyville. Feel free to stay as long as you need, okay?”