The summer sun was shining brightly down upon the streets of Ponyville, heating both buildings and residents alike. It was middle of the season, and the town was alive with activity. Trees were filled with full displays of leaves, birds flittered across the sky and animals ran in every direction near their respective homes. There had been no notable occasion of remarkably unusual activity in recent weeks, nor anything even remotely noteworthy. Routines had gone on as usual, shopping trips had been completed without any villain suddenly announcing diabolical intentions, and everything had run smoothly. In other words, everything was perfectly fine.
Twilight Sparkle and Rarity were standing in front of Carousel Boutique, talking in excited tones. Twilight had come to Rarity with the intention of changing out the curtains in the Library, completely unaware that a few months from now she wouldn't even have a place to hang curtains at all. But that was neither here nor there right now, and Rarity was more than excited to help out a friend.
"I have Ocean Breeze, Cerulean, Periwinkle, Sky, Cyan, Teal, Navy, Light, Dark, and of course, Royal," Rarity was going on, gesturing with her hoof in a circular motion as she went down the list. "What color did you want again?"
Twilight narrowed her eyes in exasperation. "Blue," she repeated, for the third time. "Just blue is fine. Really."
Rarity shook her head. "I don't have Just Blue, and there's so many shades, I need to know which one will go best with your decorum," she said. "Maybe I should go through the list again..."
Twilight groaned. She hadn't anticipated this turning into such an elaborate activity. All she wanted was new curtains. Further argument was delayed, thankfully, by Pinkie rushing past them so quickly that Twilight had to double take to make sure her friend wasn't actually on fire.
"Pinkie?" Twilight blinked, having not been prepared for her appearance. Although, when it came down to it, who was ever prepared for Pinkie's appearances? Her friend must have heard, as the pink mare skidded to a halt in a cloud of dust. Twilight took the opportunity to satisfy her confusion. "Where on earth are you going so quickly?"
"And without saying hello to your friends," Rarity added. "How uncouth!"
"My right leg went numb!" Pinkie said, cheerfully. "That means a new pony is about to arrive in Ponyville, and I need to be there to welcome him. Or her." She paused for only a second. "Or it," she added. "I don't judge."
"I thought right leg going numb meant a tornado was coming," Rarity said with worry.
"That's back right leg," Pinkie said. "Front right leg means new pony!" And then she took off again, racing towards the end of the road. Twilight and Rarity exchanged a glance, then followed. The debate of the new curtains was temporarily forgotten as they trailed after their friend, wanting to see exactly how his ended. After all, it was the most interesting thing to happen in a long time, which only proved how boring it had been around here lately.
Pinkie, it seemed, was not the only one who'd gotten the memo. The streets were littered with dozens of ponies, all whispering in hushed tones of excitement, several of the younger ones climbing over the adults to get a better look at the street in front of them. The street was crowded and lit up, and would not have been out of place during a major holiday.
"Was there a parade scheduled?" Rarity asked, confused.
Twilight's horn lit up, and she summoned a thick black book that appeared to have more pages and colored tabs sticking out of it than an unabridged dictionary. "What in the world is that?" Rarity asked. "Equestria's phone book?"
"Of course not," Twilight said. "This is my organizer. Everything is categorized by date, participants, and distance. If there's a parade, I'll know about it, and it'll be in here."
"Not alphabetically?" Rarity deadpanned.
Twilight gasped. "I forgot to organize alphabetically!" She sounded horrified. "I'm going to have to redo the entire thing!"
"How terrible for you," Rarity said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "But first, you might want to look up, darling. There's something you need to see."
Twilight did look up, and her jaw dropped open. With another flash of her horn, her organizer disappeared from sight and reappeared back home on her shelf. She saw what everyone else had already seen, and quickly understood why word had spread so quickly, as well as why the streets were so packed with ponies wanting to see the newcomer.
The creature coming up the road was unlike anything any of the ponies had ever seen. It was yellow and brown, spotted like a leopard; of which that alone appeared to be a bold design choice. Rarity felt herself twitching with anxiety as the creature approached. Spots were SO last year, and she made a mental note to inform the stranger of that as soon as possible, before any embarrassment could be incurred.
What Twilight was most impressed with was the height. Twice the size of Princess Celestia, the majority of its height focused in its spindled legs and ridiculously long neck. It breached the town limit on solid, cloven hooves, and recoiled with a loud grunt as Pinkie launched herself out of a cannon, breaking into her traditional 'Welcome, Welcome, Welcome' song.
"Already off to a fantastic start," Twilight muttered.
When the song had finished, kneeling on her back legs with her forelegs thrown up in the air as if she'd just finished a forward slide, Pinkie grinned expectantly. The long necked creature looked down at her, dark eye blinking slowly.
"I am quite surprised.
I've never had a welcome...
Quite like that before," the animal said.
There was a hushed gasp of approval at the creature's deep and soothing voice, and even scattered applause. Twilight pushed herself to the front, excusing herself.
"Pardon me," Twilight called, recoiling just slightly when it turned its dark eyes on her. She felt like she was being looked down on, and couldn't help her heart from racing abnormally fast. "What . . . I mean . . . who are you, if I may ask? You are more than welcome in our town, of course, and all its doors are open to you. But we've never seen anything quite like you... may I take notes?" She asked. "Princess Celestia will want to hear about this!"
"I am a giraffe," it said, as if this explained everything.
"I come from far overseas.
Near the southern coast."
"A giraffe," Twilight repeated in awe.
"I have traveled far.
From lands of cats and zebras.
Do you know of it?"
"Zebras, did you say zebras?" Rarity asked, and the giraffe nodded.
"That's great!" Twilight exclaimed. "Pinkie, do you realize what this means?"
"Cake frosting on bagels is a terrible idea?" Pinkie asked, hopefully.
"No! I'll bet Zecora would love to meet her!"
"Oh! That makes much more sense. But seriously, don't ever try frosting on bagels. It's awful. You're better off eating it out of the can, like I do." She made a disgusted face, then her features contorted into a grin again with an audible twang like a rubber band.
Twilight beamed with delight. "Let's get you situated with some food and a place to stay," she said kindly, turning her attention to the giraffe again. "Then as soon you're ready, there's someone you need to meet."