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// Chapter seven: A chance meeting and a hoof full of mud. 
// Story: From the Outside In 
// by DarkParable 
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	Red had been stuck waiting for awhile, and was bored as one would expect of someone told dawn and then left to wait until nearly noon. Sighing he hummed along to himself in an attempt to relieve the boredom, an effort that was quickly falling short. With little else to really do he sung to himself.

A somber sky above my head, a lonely path below.
And hand on heart I cannot see a light to guide me home.
And so it is the end of our days, so walk with me till morning breaks...
And so it is the end of our days, so walk with me till morning breaks...

We travel down this trodden path...

That was about as far as he got into the rather somber sounding song before he was blind sided by a blur of pink. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshsomeponynew!" his rather... huggy... attacker said, some how managing to string all eleven words together in a single mishmash of sound that was completely intelligible. "Hiya! You're new and I'm Pinkie Pie, and you're new! I've never seen you before today so I guess you're that new pony that just moved in! I'm using too many exclamation marks here aren't I...? Oh well, I blame the wri- My overly exuberant nature." rambled Pinkie, who was busy trying to look at her mouth and figure out just why it was she'd changed sentences right in the middle of a word. Red was still busy counting his ribs, a few felt as if they'd been squished together from the force of the sudden and unexpected hug. "I'm Red Wyne..." he managed to say after a moment or so.

To say the least he'd been startled by the sudden appearance of one Pinkiamena Diane Pie, Or Pinkie as she was more commonly known (providing one hasn't read Cupcakes). Satisfied he was intact he settled down, watching as Pinkie bounced around with all the exuberance he remembered from the show. "Nice to meet'cha mister Wyne, so is that whine like what little fillies do when they want a cookie, or wine as in the stuff made from grapes, or maybe-" she was interrupted by Red's hoof suddenly covering her mouth. "No, its spelled differently than either of those. Its not got any meaning other than my name. And I prefer just Red thanks. Nice to meet you too Pinkie." he said, removing his hoof from the mare with a soft chuckle. He'd been expecting a bit more randomness from Pinkie. That was one of the reasons he always liked her from the sh- How in the heck was she walking around upside down like that?! Shaking his head he settled back down to wait.

"Sooo.... You know Dashie's not coming right Red?" asked Pinkie, trotting back into view. Red cocked his head, raising an eyebrow and waiting for more of an explanation. "Yep yep yep, she's napping." Red sighed, facehoofing. "She told me to be here at dawn... And wait how did you know I was waiting on Rainbow Dash? ...Pinkie sense?" he asked, catching his mistake a bit too late to stop it. He probably shouldn't know about the whole precognition thing. "Yep! So whats it like having fingers? Oh wait... Never mind I have to go start putting together your welcome party!" and with that the most chaotic thing since Loki disappeared in a blur of pink mane and tail that left Red spinning on the spot, caught up in the wake of her running at mach gallop past him.

The now dizzied stallion wobbled on his hooves and shrugged slightly, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped a bit. Once he got the world to stop spinning he took wing and went looking for the mare who was supposed to be teaching him to control the weather. Well, least his morning had had a rather nice bit of randomness and a meeting with his favorite pony... Aside from Derpy that is. After another hour's searching he found Dash out by the lake, the cyan pegasus was sprawled out on a beach chair and dozing with a Daring Do book over her face. Well the universe hardly ever hands somepony such an easy mark for a prank, and while he wasn't one for such things this was just too good to pass up.He landed near by and trotted up silently, taking her book and setting it aside. A bit of mud on Dash's hoof and a feather brushed over her nose later and he was rolling with laughter as Dash was awakened by slapping herself in the face, splattering herself with mud. Shaving cream be damned, that worked just as well and it was far more satisfying. "What was that for?!" asked his would be teacher. "Leaving me to wait all day. Seriously, I was sitting in that field since a bit before dawn... Like you TOLD me to be." Dash had the decency to blush and fidget a bit. "Well then you should come and found me sooner... Nice prank though, got me good... Guess you're alright for a pegasi who can't fly worth their feathers. Yeah, Dark told me about that crash landing into that bed room." Red could only sputter at that, and it was apparently his turn to fidget uncomfortably. "Truce then... And we get to the lessons?" he asked, holding out a fore hoof. Dash met it with her own. "Truce for now... I'm still going to get you later." She flashed him a wicked grin and proceeded to make the rest of his day a rather hectic flurry of activity.

That evening a rather sore Red Wyne landed outside of Sugarcube  Corner, grateful for the chance to rest his wings for awhile. RD had told him to be here when they were done after he'd mentioned running into Pinkie Pie, and he had been a bit too busy trying not to accidentally shock himself as he dealt with a storm cloud dash had gotten together for him to practice on. He chuckled, remembering how his mane had stood on end when he'd accidentally set of a lightning strike and the residual static had gotten to him. Shaking himself and bringing his attention back to the present he went inside and was immediately assulted by several voices all screaming at once "WELCOME!!!!" After he'd been pried off the ceiling he had to admit... It was the best party he'd ever been to. He went to bed that night tired, sore, and full of cake, but with a huge grin on his face. He couldn't wait to see what tomorrow would bring.