//------------------------------// // Welcome To Ponyville // Story: Guess This is Home Now // by Night--Mist //------------------------------// It was early in the morning the next day when the carriage was a few miles outside Ponyville. Chad Harding was still asleep after being asked so many questions about life on his home world. He told them what he could, but didn't realize as the hours passed, more and more of the memories of his home world were beginning to fade. Perhaps there was some magic at work trying to help him eliminate the bad memories of his past. All he knew for certain now was he was leaving behind a violent world that was on the verge of collapse. If he hadn't known better, he would have said Discord was behind it all. He had also asked them questions about their world and the more they told him the more of his memory was being replaced with their history. As Celestia's sun rose, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy woke up. Rainbow Dash, Spike and Chad were still in dreamland unaware of the sunrise. The Ponies found it cute the way Chad slept, as if he was a child in their eyes. They knew he had much to learn, but were determined to see him through his journey. Soon Twilight see's that they were close to Ponyville and goes to wake up Chad. "Chad? Chad, wake up," Twilight says as she shakes him. "Huh, who, wha, what's up?" Chad says, surprised by the sudden awakening. Twilight chuckles and says, "Were almost in Ponyville, your new home town." Chad sits up and looks out the window to see the small town he would be staying in. It wasn't much different from the town he grew up in back in his home world, aside from the fact it was populated by ponies rather then humans. He says, "I hope the ponies here don't fear me or anything." "If Ah know the Princesses, They've probably sent word ta all Equestria by now bout your arrival and told the ponies ta give you a warm welcome. Ah'm sure they'll all be a bit nervous at first, but the ponies here warm up easy. I mean look how fast they accepted Spike. He's a dragon and his kind are a force ta be reckoned with," Applejack says. "You know it," Spike says as he tries to show off by flexing what little muscle he had. Chad raised an eyebrow and thought, 'Yeah, maybe the big ones, but Spike, I think he needs to grow a bit before he's a force to be reckoned with'. He then looks at Applejack and says, "Well thanks for raising my spirits a bit, but I think I'll be more nervous to meet them, than they will to meet me. I mean you saw how nervous a wreck I was when I was beginning to talk to all of you." "Yeah but you warmed up pretty fast ta everypony there after we opened up ta ya a bit," Applejack says. "Yeah, and nopony's gonna stick a weapon in your face when you talk to them here. Those guards were just wound a little too tight after the encounter with Discord," Rainbow Dash says, who had woken not long after Chad. "I know, and this Discord guy, well from what you told me that he does here, it sounds like if there is a Discord in my world, he already won and took over," Chad says. "That bad huh?" Twilight asks. "Eeeyup," Chad says. "Hey, your starting ta sound like an Apple member," Applejack says. "Well, I will be living on your farm so I'll pick up the accent sooner or later," Chad says. "Well, can't argue with that," Applejack says. "Well, I hope whoever lives with you on the farm won't be to shocked to see me," Chad says. "I doubt it. Besides, I already had the princesses send a letter via magic, to let them know you're comin," Applejack says. "Well, that's a relief," Chad says. "Though you might want ta watch out for my youngest siblin. She and her friends like ta do some crazy things ta earn their cutie marks, and they might ask ya ta help them out, so unless you don't think it's too dangerous, try ta not get caught up in their, what they like ta call crusadin," Applejack warns him. "Well, I've seen a lot of crazy things back in my home world. Can't think of any right now but, I'll keep that in mind," Chad says. "Well, um, guys, we're here," Fluttershy says. They all look out the windows and sure enough, they were in the streets of Ponyville. They soon pulled up to the town hall and Mayor Mare was there to greet them. As they step out she says, "Good morning girls, Spike. Oh, and you must be Chad Harding, the uh, Human, right?" Some of the ponies stop what their doing when they see Chad and he feels quite nervous with all the ponies staring at him as he says, "Yes that's me ma'am. It's nice to meet you." "Well, let me be the first to say, welcome to Ponyville. I trust you're going to enjoy your stay here. We will all do the best we can to make you feel welcome here," Mayor Mare says who had explained to most of the ponies in Ponyville of his situation that she had received in Celestia's letter. "I appreciate that ma'am, thank you," Chad says. "Well, I can honestly say you are a well mannered young lad," Mayor Mare says. "Well, I don't want to give anypony the wrong impression on my first day in town Mayor Mare," Chad says nervously again. "Well, I'm sure that these fine ponies are anxious to show you around. Do feel free to drop by if you ever need anything from me. I won't keep you all waiting," Mayor Mare says as she trots into Town Hall. Twilight was the first to break the silence as she says, "Well before we have him go to Sweet Apple Acres, what do you think we should show him first girls?" "Why not Sugar Cube Corner?" Pinkie Pie suggests enthusiastically. "Well I think We should show him my boutique to find him some new clothes to wear," Rarity says. "I could show him the animals at my cottage if that's okay," Fluttershy says. "We should take him to see the Wonderbolts perform in Cloudsdale," Rainbow Dash. As the four mares argue, Chad looks at Applejack and Twilight and asks, "Not to be rude, but, are they always like this?" Twilight and Applejack chuckle as Twilight says, "Sometimes, usually happens when they meet somepony new in town. In this case, you." "I'd hate to see them on a bad day," Chad says, as the three of them watch the mares continue to argue. Finally the girls come to a decision as Applejack buds in and says, "Alright, that's quite enough girls, now Ah think the most logical explanation is ta get Chad here fitted for some new clothin, then we'll show him ta other parts of town before ya four fight over what he should do first. Ya'll got that?" The four friends nod and apologize as the lead Chad to Carousel Boutique. Once there, Rarity begins on measuring him fore the right fit. He asks for nothing too fancy, for he didn't want to look like something he wasn't, and Rarity agreed, even though she wanted to make him something of outstanding fashion. Once she had finished his clothing she showed it to him and he says, "Well, I honestly can say I'm impressed. I'll try it on and see how it looks." He put's on his new attire and walks over to a mirror. He was given a blue t-shirt like his old one, a silver colored light jacket and blue jeans that were a bit lighter then his torn ones, and some comfortable tan boots (kind of military style). He was also given some silver gloves to match his jacket and he says, "I will say this. It looks good on me. Thank you very much Rarity. I promise to find a way to pay you back." "Oh, don't worry about that, consider it a welcoming gift from Ponyville," Rarity replies. "Well, once again thank you," Chad says. "You're very welcome dear," Rarity says. "Let's be on our way there's still so much of Ponyville to show you before the day is over," Twilight says. Just then, Chad's stomach rumbles loudly making his cheeks go red with embarrassment. "Maybe we should make that stop to Sugar Cube Corner first. I'm pretty hungry myself and Chad, well, we all know he hasn't had anything to eat since before he sort of...dropped in," Rainbow Dash says making everypony, Spike and Chad laugh. Soon all of them head to Sugar Cube Corner and say hello to ponies they pass, introducing Chad to them, and it seemed easier then they expected for the ponies to warm up to him, with some asking quick questions about him. He answered what he could and finally they make it to Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie Pie knocks on the door and the Cakes Open the door to greet all of them. They were a little nervous about greeting Chad, but after a little while of the girls explaining what happened, they warmed up to him. "So what can we get for all of you today?" Mrs Cake asked. "Well we would like to see what selections you have Mrs Cake. Chad's gonna need some time to get used to things around here," Twilight says. "Of course Twilight," Mrs. Cake said. "Well let me just check on the foals and I'll be right there with you dear," Mr. Cake said to Mrs. Cake. "Wait, you have little ones here?!" Chad asks in alarm. "Yes," Mrs Cake says, a bit confused at his reaction. "Oh dear, I'd better find a place to put this out of their reach," Chad says, gesturing towards his sword. Mrs. Cake sees the sword and says, "Oh, I know just the place dear, let me take you there so you can have it out of the way." "Thank you Mrs. Cake. I should have done this before coming in," Chad says as they walk. "It's no trouble dear, I knew your mind was in the right place when you realized you needed to put away that sword of yours, here we are," Mrs Cake says nervously as she shows him the closet to place it in. Luckily, it had been foal-proofed to make sure the twins couldn't get into it. Soon they head back to Twilight and the group and look at what they would like to order. Soon everypony selects something and they soon enjoy their meals while swapping conversation while the Cakes place the foals in their play area so they could continue working. Chad would have kept talking with his new friends when he noticed one of the foals had escaped the play area and was on top of one of the high cabinets. The foal was about to fall and without hesitation, Chad got up from his seat and ran to where the foal was. As the foal began to fall off, Chad was there in the nick of time to save the little pegasus foal from crashing on the floor as Chad catches him and falls onto his back to cushion the foals fall. When the Cakes saw what happened, their jaws dropped as did everypony else's in the room. A creature they barely knew had just saved Pound Cake from serious injury. "Phew, that was a close one there little guy. You almost got hurt," Chad says. What happens next surprises Chad as Pound Cake jumps up and attempts to hug his neck with his little legs, giggling. All the Ponies see this cute scene and say, "Awwwww." Mr. and Mrs. Cake trot up to Chad and Mrs. Cake says as she picks up her son, "Thank you so much for saving our son. I hope you can forgive us for being so nervous upon first meeting you. We were just so unsure of you, but you obviously show you don't want to hurt any pony. How can we ever repay you?" "No need for that ma'am, it's not in me to see little ones get hurt and I forgive you for our first encounter. I'm sure I would have been uncertain of me too, since I'm new to this place. Your hearts were in the right place to be suspicious. You have little ones to protect, and I respect that," Chad says. "Well we clearly had the wrong ideas go through our heads, and we have never been so happy to be proven wrong. Looks like we'll have to teach Pound Cake a lesson now," Mr. Cake says, looking at his son. "He's just a foal, he doesn't know any better, that's how we all were at that age," Chad says. "I guess you're right. He is just a foal, let's get him back to where his sister is," Mrs Cake says. She soon sets her Son back in the play area with his sister and then fetches Chad's sword and gives it back to him. Chad and his friends wave good bye to the Cakes and Chad hears, "Chad," from the pegasus foal and, "Hawding", from the unicorn foal and he smiles as he and his pony friends take off to the next place the ponies wanted to show him.