//------------------------------// // Party Hard // Story: Black Clouds & Silver Lining // by Lucky Seven //------------------------------// Black Clouds & Silver Lining Party Hard Written by HarimeNui777 As the party around Tenna continued to rage on, she found herself looking over at the pink party host. This party was supposed to be in her honor, a welcome of sorts to Ponyville. So then… why wasn’t she having as much fun as everyone else? Silently cursing her intense shyness, she looked away from Pinkie Pie and over to the refreshments table. Letting out a small sigh, she rose from her seat and walked over to it, intent on getting some punch. Just as she was about to turn around and go back to the chair she’d made her temporary home, a voice to her left caught her attention. “Hi!” Turning her head a bit to face the source of the voice, Tenna managed to say “hello” back, sounding almost scared as she did. “Not a fan of parties?” the pony ventured a guess, catching Tenna off guard, before continuing. “Yeah, I hear ya. I only came here because my friends insisted.” Taking a sip from her punch, Tenna examined the pony before her. She was blue, with a long brown mane, and her cutie mark was what looked like a quill next to a heart. She also seemed to be the only pony at the entire party wearing glasses, definitely an unmistakable feature. “Heh, see something you like?” the pony’s voice cut off her thoughts and made her blush. “S-sorry, you’re just the first pony to talk to m-me tonight,” Tenna seemed almost sad, and the mare across from her could tell. “Well, I’m glad I could change that,” she smiled, making Tenna giggle. “My name’s Novelle.” “I-I’m Tenna…” “Heh, I sort of gathered that from Pinkie Pie before the party got started,” she replied, laughing at the thought of it. --- “Oh my gosh guys, I met this super cute pony except she’s NOT a pony, she’s a changeling! And her name is Tenna and she has this weird hair antenna thingy that makes her look like an alien even though she really looks like a bug, so everyone say hi to Tenna!” --- Tenna, as shy as she was, had simply cowered behind Pinkie Pie. One of the other had simply said ‘that’s our Pinkie Pie’ as if it explained anything at all. “So what brings you to Ponyville, Tenna?” “O-oh, um… I just wanted to make some friends and s-show that not all changelings are mean.” “Well you definitely started in the right town,” Novelle looked out at the crowd of dancing ponies momentarily before looking back to Tenna. “The ponies here are definitely different, that’s for sure.” “H-how so?” Tenna asked, happy that she had apparently picked the right place to start her quest. “Well, nobody here really judges anyone else based on their race, or what they’ve done in the past. Here, it’s almost like every day is a chance to start over or meet new ponies. I remember when I came here from Canterlot. It was shortly after the, um, changelings attacked it,” she said carefully, hoping not to upset Tenna. “I-it’s okay. It’s not like you have to pretend it didn’t happen around m-me,” Tenna assured her it was alright, albeit shyly. Letting out a sigh of relief, Novelle continued her story. “Anyways, when I first got here, I thought I’d have a tough time making new friends. But life has a funny way of working, and Pinkie Pie met me first. That pretty much ensured that I’d know everyone in Ponyville within a day,” she laughed, causing Tenna to as well. Truly, the pink party pony was an oddball. She knew everyone, everyone knew her, and all she wanted to do was have fun. Tenna could respect that, since it most certainly made life a lot more enjoyable. “After that, life became really easy around here. It’s been a lot of fun, too.” “So do you think everyone will accept me?” Tenna asked her, curious. Sure, they seemed to be enjoying the party, but that didn’t necessarily mean they liked her. “As long as you’re nice to the ponies here, they’ll be nice back. Heck, everyone around here loves Discord now, and what he did was much worse than what the changelings did.” That bout of confidence made Tenna smile widely for the first time all evening. She had heard stories about Discord, and none of them had been very good. So if these ponies had accepted him, and even called him their friend, then her chances were pretty darn good. “Thanks. I just hope I can prove myself to everyone.” “Trust me, it’s not hard to prove yourself to all these goofballs,” Novelle gestured towards the many dancing ponies. “You wanna know how I met them all?” “H-how?” “I, being clumsy, fell down a flight of stairs and landed right on Pinkie Pie. I guess her twitchy tail wasn’t on that day…” “‘Twitchy tail?’” Tenna wondered what Novelle had meant by that, but she simply got a laugh in response. “You’ll find out, trust me. But anyways, have you found a place to stay yet?” “N-not yet. I need to get a job first, so I can buy a house,” Tenna explained, looking sad again. “Well… I’ll tell you what. Until you get a home of your own, you can room up with me,” Novelle suggested, stunning Tenna. “Y-you really mean it?” As soon as Novelle nodded in the affirmative, she was pounced on by Tenna, being pulled into what she could only describe as a choke hug. Tenna’s front legs were wrapped tightly around her neck, and she could hardly breathe. “Can’t… breathe…” In an instant, Tenna let go of her and began to apologize profusely until Novelle cut her off. “It’s alright, that was nothing compared to how Pinkie hugs…” At that, the two giggled. Both of them knew just how much it hurt to be hugged by Pinkie Pie, and it wasn’t something they liked to experience. “A-are you sure I wouldn't be intruding?” “Not at all! I was given the same opportunity by Lyra when I first move here.” “Well… okay then. Thank you, really.” “It's no problem, really,” Novelle assured her with a smile. “Anyways, there’s still plenty of night left. You wanna go meet some other ponies?” Pondering the question, Tenna found that she wasn’t entirely sure. On the one hand, all of the ponies she had talked to directly thus far had been very nice. On the other… no, she wouldn’t run into more ponies like the ones who had attacked her home. “S-sure. I’d like that,” she smiled.